Life Lessons
Celestia was torn as she took in the odd situation before her. On the one hoof, Twilight, her one time student and a mare who had suffered terribly under the Nightmare, was once more learning. Something the purple pony had always enjoyed.
On the other hoof, it wasn't Celestia giving the lessons.
"No, you're pushing yourself into the drone. You are not moving from drone to drone, you are directing them. Exert your will, not move your whole spirit. Again."
Twilight was breathing hard as Pulmonus instructed her, the wings on her back buzzing every now and again to help dissipate the heat she was building up in her constant exertion. Her eyes were alight with power and she was standing across from ten true drones, not one of them moving.
Pandinus was also watching from nearby, a knowing grin on her face, as was Cimmerian. He too was smiling slightly, as though they knew something Twilight didn't. Moving closer to them, the stallion whispered the answer to the white mare.
"Pulmonus is testing her intelligence versus her ego. Right now the ego is winning and as a result, Twilight's losing."
The white mare looked over the field where Twilight was practicing, not quite understanding the context. Cadance had mentioned doing something similar, saying how Din had been training her and she had gotten up to...
'Oh. She's laying out too much for Twilight to handle,' she realized. Twilight had always been worried about disappointing her teachers, so if something was asked of her...
Pulmonus shot her a dirty look as the drone-rider began to tremble under the strain and Celestia found herself flushing with embarrassment.
"I...likely was not as forward-thinking on that as I should have been. It had always been a good trait when I was teaching her and she was always good at finding ways to succeed..."
"But she doesn't know her limits now," Din responded. "I know how many drones I can control. Knowing my maximum capacity and knowing when I have improved enough to increase that number is important. As is knowing how much magic you are able to safely channel at once. Twilight has burned herself twice in the last ten minutes. Our maximum capacity for magic is something every changeling needs to be aware of. Without it we could easily kill ourselves."
Celestia frowned but otherwise didn't say anything. She'd already had her chance to teach Twilight these things and she'd ignored some of them, thinking she'd get around to it.
'That was the lie, wasn't it? There was always something more important. Always something else that came up, until eventually I just...left her to fend for herself.'
The young mare had not been taught anything about her newfound immortality, and now that Celestia thought about it that was probably the greatest disservice she had done her pupil. Twilight just hadn't been prepared for the new outlook, hadn't been able to mentally adjust to the new life expectancy. She had not been taught to find her limits, in fact Twilight's quick growth seemed to enforce the idea that she had none.
'And every time she found one, I would teach her the trick, I would show her a way to surpass it. Because I couldn't stand how negative my teachers had always been. They always shoved your limits in your face, always made certain you knew they were your superior. And the moment you did something they could not...
Celestia turned and left, vaguely hearing Pulmonus lecturing Twilight and telling her she was losing the 'tree in the forest'. Maybe one day she'd learn. Maybe one day, Celestia would be able to forgive herself for her own mistakes.
"You still can't let it go, can you?"
Celestia turned to the voice, a small smile on her face.
"Hello Luna."
"You still blame yourself for anything and everything wrong that occurs. We make mistakes, Tia. We always have and likely always will. Others will suffer, but that is not something we can always avoid."
"But I am the one making these mistakes," the white mare argued, her wings sagging. "I am the one who makes these mistakes, and yet others suffer in my wake. You, Twilight, our country..."
"And you internalize every single creature's suffering," Luna shot back. "Everyone's pain, from wondering what I was going through on the moon to your latest musings on Twilight's experiences to the years of suffering our country experienced. You let it all sit on your back and it does you no good."
"Yes, you should be upset that these things come to pass, but you need to know when to let it go as well. Twilight needs a different teaching method right now. She needs someone who will push back if she pushes too far, someone who is used to dealing with those who will be living longer lives."
"I...I know. It is just strange-"
"Do not dance around the this, Tia. You feel uncomfortable seeing someone else teaching her."
The alicorn of the Sun nodded.
"I just...I do not know, Luna."
"Yes you do. You feel jealous. You feel anger at this situation, possibly at Pulmonus, and the idea that the changeling queen could teach her something you could not eats at you. She has taught many over the centuries, sister, many who were much longer lived than any student you have ever had before."
"Instead of hating this, learn from it. Isn't that what you always tell me? Isn't that what you always tell everyone? To not allow your feelings to blind you to the experiences you have available to you? You have an opportunity, Tia. You can watch and see the differences between the teaching methods. Instead you retrieve your ball and go home to pout."
Even as the larger alicorn looked away in shame Luna stepped closer, setting a hoof on her sister.
"Go back and watch. Look at the situation from an outsider's view. Twilight is not doing well but Pulmonus wants her to fail this first task. It is a simple lesson, the first that we should learn. Just how much we do not know."
"That is something I've instilled in her, Luna. That there is always more to learn-"
"That is not the same thing," Din added, walking up to the alicorns. " As I've been told, Twilight is used to being able to succeed. She is always doing things no other pony is able to accomplish. Right now, Pulmonus is setting her amongst peers, amongst other beings who are born into this sort of power. Twilight is not a star student here, she is just another mare, another mare who will need to learn these things step by step. And the first step is asking the teacher for clearer instructions."
"What do you mean?" Celestia asked. "Did Pulmonus not explain this lesson?"
"Of course she didn't," the queen snorted. "My mother did this same thing to me. She set me to an impossible task and watched me fail, needling me constantly about how every queen can pass the test. It is not an issue of power, the lesson is not about control, or being able to succeed on the first attempt."
"We must be able to look at the problem in multiple ways. We cannot approach openly and trample a problem, we must use caution and care. Right now, Twilight is attempting the same thing every proto queen does. She's trying to force a solution."
Celestia's follow up questions died on her lips as the words registered. The same mistakes every proto queen makes.
"Pulmonus is training her as a queen?"
"Well she's certainly no drone," the younger mare snorted. "Her power, her learning curve, her lifespan, all of these things place her on the same level as a changeling proto queen. The only thing she's missing is the reserves and a proper form of link."
Luna burst into laughter a moment later, and after thinking about it Celestia felt a flush of anger. Not only was it a difficult task, but the queen wasn't even leaving her properly equipped for success. As a drone, Twilight's connection to the hive wouldn't allow the control the queen was asking her to exert. She was setting her student up to fail.
"Oh settle down, Tia. There's nothing wrong with this. I remember several of our own teachers doing this sort of thing over the years. And it is not like she's telling Twilight she cannot eat until she figures this out. Remember Tough Love?"
She shivered at the memory of the ancient stallion. It was a testament to just how bad he was, too. She rarely remembered anything from that long ago, but those nights of going to sleep without a single bite...
"Okay, it could be worse. In fact I have known worse. But I still do not like this."
"You do not have to like it," Din chuckled. "You merely have to stand aside and let the mare learn. She'll be embarrassed, we all are, but that's part of the process. Mother let me know when I needed to stop following her orders directly and start thinking bigger. Right now, Twilight is thinking big when she's just starting. All her knowledge of the arrays and changeling links will not allow her to overpower her body's biology. When she realizes just how little she knows, in this instance it would be in practical application, she should be able to begin learning."
Celestia looked back to the field, where Pulmonus was staring at a struggling Twilight with disinterest while throwing a few snide remarks at the fact that she wasn't able to finish a lesson a newly hatched proto queen could.
"I, I understand. I still believe it would be best if I distanced myself from this for a while."
<-(0)->
Later that day Cimmerian was flying to a nearby town, one that still had a few functioning flying ships. Pandinus, still riding her hive-sister's form, was following along easily while Twilight and the alicorns were staying behind, as was Pulmonus. The two older alicorns were certain they could handle things until he returned, so it was time to handle one last problem. One last bastion of the Nightmare.
"Do we even need to take this ship?" Din asked. "I am fairly certain we could make it there on our own power."
"We'll see how long it will take to get a ship together and on the way to Silver City. If it's too much, we'll head there on our own."
"Good. Zelus had some delightful memories of the city, and I wish to see the city myself."
Cimmerian chuckled as he looked to her in confusion.
"Technically, you still aren't going to be seeing it for yourself."
"You know what I mean," the mare grumbled, not even slowing a bit.
"I do, but I find it funny. Sometimes you phrase things oddly. I get what you mean, but still..."
Looking down, he nodded.
"Let's stop here. It's about lunch time anyway."
The two landed on a hilltop, not much in the way of snow remaining nearby. The winter, with many of the weather control companies being wrecked during the Nightmare's takeover, had been cut short and was already fading in Equestria. He'd already listened in on several of the Weather Panels coming to Celestia and offering suggestions on how to recover the seasons, from a mild summer to a much colder winter next year to make up for the early break-down of the season. There were also hundreds of pegasus currently trying to put the weather system back together, a monumental task from what he'd seen. The earth ponies were going back to construction and farming, the unicorns were going back to their crafts and...
'What else do those guys do?'
Shaking it off, he pulled out his lunch and found himself fighting off a bug-queen as she tried to steal bits and pieces of his lunch.
"Zelus doesn't need food, Din. You're in a normal queen, remember?"
"I cant help it," the mare said with a laugh, using a bit of magic to snatch part of his sandwich. "I'm used to eating now. It's your fault anyway, so you have to deal with it."
"Okay, fine. I understand," he said with a pout. "Your comfort is more important than my health. No, no its fine, I'll just starve. It's fine."
"You won't starve," Din retorted, opening one of her bags and pulling out an extra sandwich. "You really think I left without anything when I've gotten so used to eating?"
"If you had your own food, then why-"
"It's not about the food," she giggled, pressing up to him. "It's about having fun with you. Something I've been unable to do recently. And since you wont allow for other kinds of fun while I'm using Zelus like this, I'm left to find other ways to entertain myself. I could always ask if we are almost there repeatedly."
The dark alicorn rolled his eyes.
"I'll pass," he replied, taking a small section of her sandwich.
The changeling queen just laughed, stealing a kiss that left the stallion feeling a bit odd. He shrugged it off though. Din was always affectionate, so the fact that it was the farthest she'd pushed was a bit of a surprise in and of itself.
"I need you to be ready, Din. Either by switching back with Zelus or by starting to pay attention when we get closer. There's fighting going on there. After we finish you can enjoy the sights, but until then.
"I understand, Cim. I should be fine though. Most of us queens know how to fight, and I've been pulling from the guards recently as they are taught by a few of the griffons."
"Just remember that knowing the fighting styles is different from using them. You're larger than they are and that will change how the styles work."
"I know," the queen answered. "Zelus and I spent some time discussing this. I will be cautious."
"We have a target. The Nightmare is apparently leading one of the factions. If we can remove her, we should be able to finish this all up and be able to go home. Then, you won't have to swap out with Zelus to be with me."
"Well that's assuming it all goes well. The Nightmare's been fairly straightforward in her goals so far and I do not think there's anywhere else she can run. Actually I don't think she planned this out. from what I've been told, the thestrals arrived just before your mission. I assume she took their airship back."
"You mean that if they hadn't shown up she'd...wow, she really doesn't know how to plan ahead, does she?"
The changeling queen chuckled, leaning into his side.
"Well, I guess we'll just need to catch her and ask, wont we?"
<-(0)->
It was a few days later, the pair deciding to skip out on an airship since it would have taken even longer(but still asking that one be sent along just in case. The thestral loyalists may need supplies, after all.), that they finally arrived on the outskirts of the Silver City. Landing lightly and stretching his wings, Cimmerian noted there was no external guard set this time, nor were there any visible individuals as they walked into the main entry cavern. The first pony they came across was a full patrol sneaking through the city. A stray arrow bounced in front of them before several more shouts were heard from across the way as another patrol began firing both on the alicorn and his guard as well as the other patrol.
Cimmerian raised a shield of magic before watching the 'skirmish' with confusion. He could barely see either side, and he knew they'd not actually looked or one side likely would have tried to approach. Instead they were shooting randomly and hoping to hit something.
"Ponies really have no idea how to fight in an urban environment, do they?"
"It doesn't seem so," Din said, watching with the same confusion. "The overabundance of cover and the close proximity between enemy and ally seems to have made them jumpy. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if they've killed more of their own with this method than enemies."
He shook his head, blanketing his wife and himself in the shadows before moving forward, ignoring the tiny arrows that would sometimes land on his back or wings. They didn't even really pinch, and Zelus' body would probably be impervious to all but a ballista bolt.
"This is silly. Where are we going?"
"I'm going to look for someone I recognize," he called back. "Silver Light said she would be staying here and the Night Wing's had a ship that was supposed to be headed back here a while ago. I haven't heard anything from the thestrals since well before we left. Their ship should have been able to make a full return trip by now."
Wandering the city, a bit more difficult considering some of it looked worse for ware, he found himself a little upset as he came across different places he could vaguely recognize. The city hall was in ruins, a few small fires still burning here and there. The market was still on fire, a spatters of blood here and there. Finally he found the underground waterfall, still not flowing at the moment but his tree was still present. Bits of it at least. Someone had shattered most of it. There were also several signs along the waterfront bearing a pony skull.
"Some idiot poisoned their own water supply? No points for guessing which side ordered that," Cimmerian muttered.
After walking a bit farther in the direction of Silver Light's home, or at least he thought it was the right direction, he started to see more and more thestrals. Slowing and stepping up to a stallion who seemed to be in charge, he released his grip on the shadows and coughed.
The pony jumped, turning around as everyone else who was present scattered in a stampede of terror.
"Really? I mean I understand you guys might be a little jumpy but-"
"T-the, Lord Cimmerian! What are you doing here?"
Looking to the stallion in charge, he smiled.
"I'm tracking down the Nightmare. Equestria is all but cleared of the Nightmare's influence and Cairn is back in Minotaur lands for the time being. High Talon is back under griffon control, and now all that's really left is seeing to Silver City. Who's in charge?"
"It, it's uh, actually I don't know. The entire City is in chaos and nopony really knows who is on which side. The Nightmare also advocated infiltrating the different groups and attacking from the inside as well as setting some attacks against her own followers, so we really can't trust anyone, and..."
"A stallion blew up the airship we were supposed to use to leave," a mare cried, throwing herself around his foreleg. "I want to leave, but I don't know who to trust. Nopony does! What do we do?"
Cimmerian took a breath, looking to Din with a nod. The changeling looked about before shrugging.
"I don't sense anything. Everyone here wants to leave as far as I can tell and they're looking at you as a possible way out."
"Alright. What I'd like to do is find a way to check others, get everyone out of the city and scan everyone. We could use some more changelings, actually. I need a place where Din can settle in. A defensible position we can use to rally against the Nightmare's forces."
"No, I think it would be best if we found her. The faster we remove the Nightmare, the faster we can either get her minions to fall in line, or the faster we can start weeding them out. I'll send a request for additional changelings to Heart, but I think we can get her faster than that. We just need to know where she's hiding," Pandinus said, looking to the alicorn.
"Oh, right. Dream magic," he said, tapping his temple. "I should have her by tonight then. Do we go and pick her up afterwards or-"
"I would like to do this quickly and quietly," she responded. "Less damage to the city and less dead ponies. After all, a dead pony is no good to any of us. And less damage means less time before I get to enjoy the beauty of Equis' cities."
She looked over the exhausted ponies and smiled.
"If you have a house with a basement I would like to use it. I can fortify it a little and then see about confirming the allegiances of any who pass by."
"That's not a guarantee," Cimmerian whispered into her ear as they were led into a nearby household. "There are ways around it."
"I know that and you know that, but what do thestrals know of changelings? Besides, these ponies need something. Some guarantee of safety they can rely on. I know you will do what you can, so let me provide them with a little comfort."
The alicorn grinned and bumped her with a shoulder.
"That's what I want to hear. I'll settle in and start checking every hour for her dream. It may take some time, but I might also be able to find some other friends nearby. Give them some hope."
"Go do your part, Cimmerian," she dismissed with a grin as he was ushered into a storage room covered in blankets and pillows. "Even if it is mostly sleeping."
<-(0)->
It wasn't a particularly difficult job he found himself with. He checked dreams at random, not really certain if the Nightmare's dream was even active at this time or if the mare had some special protections. If she did he'd call it in a few hours. If not, then he'd have her exact location and they'd be able to hit her when she was asleep.
'Best time to hit an alicorn, I think.'
Both of them were carrying nullification rings sized and attuned to the alicorn. Even if one of them made it while the other dealt with the zealots, the Nightmare would still be captured. At this point, with most of the plans the mare had set up burning to the ground around her, he really wasn't in a rush to put her down. He was more interested in why. Why would she do this? What was it that she gained from this mess she caused?
One dream was a Nightmare enthusiast, though as far as he could tell the stallion didn't know anything about his master. Only the orders, orders to cause as much damage as possible. Cimmerian approached him under the guise of a thestral as the dreamer slept, calling to him and asking him what he planned afterwards.
"After? After what?"
"This," the alicorn said, gesturing his hoof to the dream of a burning city. "This battle wont last forever. Win or lose, you have to have some plans."
"I, I follow my lady where she leads, don't you?" the stallion asked. "Or are you a traitor?"
"A traitor? No, I've not betrayed anyone. I'm just curious. I mean, the entire towns water supply will need to be purified at this point or we'd just have to chalk it up as a loss and leave. Where will you go afterwards?"
The stallion opened his mouth to retort only to pause, his brain hitching on something.
"I, I don't know. The commander said the Nightmare had plans for us, big plans. That we had a mission and."
"The Nightmare was the one who purged your ambassadors to Equestria," Cimmerian retorted. "She doesn't have a plan."
"And how would you know?"
"Because she's throwing your lives away. I don't know why you cant see this. She's lost, she's lost and she's now trying to cause as much damage as possible. Why are you helping her?"
The pony was silent before looking to him in horror.
"No, no I wont let you turn me against them! You won't steal my body!"
"Excuse me?"
"The commander said you'd come in the night, stealing our bodies! Turning us against our fellows! Well you wont take me! Not now not ever!"
The dark alicorn sighed in disappointment, weaving a simple spell that would prevent the stallion from waking up.
"You will sleep through this, and when we're done you'll have a choice. Goodbye."
He left the stallion, stepping through several more dreams and nightmares before stopping as he caught a glimpse of a familiar emblem. The symbol of the Night Wings, or at least the flag that had been hanging from their ship.
'I wonder if Lance is sleeping?'
He stopped before the Night Wing, a shaken stallion who seemed immensely heartened by the idea of this fiasco coming to an end soon,and directed him to their current hold-out before leaving the dream and pinpointing the dream of Lance.
The commander was exhausted, the dream almost falling apart due to either paranoia or exhaustion. The pony at the center of it didn't seem that much better off, jumping at every shadow in his dream. Considering Lance was dreaming about the caves Silver City was built in, that was not a small number.
Cimmerian flew around, making certain his target had plenty of time to recognize him so as not to spook the stressed thestral awake. The moment the Crimson saw him the dream buckled, the pony not certain if he was hallucinating or not. Cimmerian put out a little magic to steady the dream. He didn't want to keep the stallion asleep if something occurred in the waking world but neither did he want to lose his chance to contact the commander. Making certain the dream was stable but not enforced, the alicorn approached the dreamer.
"So you've finally arrived. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about us. Good news from your end I hope? When will you arrive?"
"Pandinus and I just arrived in the city earlier today. We're actually with a few loyal thestrals near Silver Light's home. I'm looking for the Nightmare right now, hoping to remove the primary motivation of the loonies."
"That's...excellent news actually. I thought you'd only be checking in. This entire situation is horrific. Foals being used as bait, poisoning the cities water supply, it doesn't even make sense from a strategic standpoint. They've killed just as many of their own as our ponies. It's...like you said I suppose. The mare's just trying sow as much destruction as she can."
"I've asked that a flying ship be sent this way. We can get thestrals to some of the nearest Equestrian settlements until things are safe here. Elderly, young, the ones who shouldn't be in this sort of situation. Equestria's stabilizing so it should be safe. The Minotaurs are still a threat but we've not seen hide nor hair of any of them for a while now."
"That's nice, but I think I'm going to be suggesting the families head to Shadow Talon Port when we can. The jungle...it's a nice place you have created and there wont be any questions about loyalty. I still have my list from before, so those will be priority. Ponies I know wont cause trouble."
"I understand lance, and I'll do what I can but there may be more who want to leave now. After all this death, all this fear they've felt, some may prefer a new place to trying to repair this one. I will do everything I can to help you guys clean up shop, but there's not much I can do beyond that and offer you a place to retreat to."
"That will have to be enough. It's all I can really ask at this time. We don't know who's on what side, so if you could announce yourself, having a point to rally towards would be helpful."
"But it also gives them a target as well," Cimmerian pointed out. "Right now the entire city is in confusion. Yes it will help you, but it will also paint a lovely target on our back."
"If you could, I'd suggest pulling out of the city altogether. The water supply is ruined, the market's trashed, supplies are likely running out. I'm always going to put emphasis on lives, Lance. That's why I didn't try to take Canterlot before the Minotaurs got there and that's why I didn't announce myself. Right now my objective is to find the Nightmare before she can get out of here again. Otherwise...I really don't know where she'd go, but I don't think she's ever going to stop."
"Then you need to catch her. You need to make sure this doesn't happen again."
"That's why we're here, Crimson," he said. "I'm here to find her. Din and I both have inhibitors for her magic and we're going to drag her back to Mareland to hopefully work on getting Twilight back in her body. If not...well, we'll work on that if it comes to it. First we need to catch her though. Then we find something to do with all these Nightmare Loyalists."
"I understand a little of that. Can't make plans when you don't have all the things you need. I would appreciate if before you left though, you contacted me. Those who are on our side would respond to your presence. We could use you to rally when you're ready to leave, maybe take a lot of the less combat-oriented ponies out of danger. Unless everyone agrees to leave, which I doubt will happen..."
"There's an airship headed to the city as we speak. I'll see about contacting the captain and warning her about this mess. We'll get the ship to drop anchor a distance away though to prevent saboteurs and i'd like you to send some trusted guards to watch it. If you do have to evacuate, Crimson, my offer still stands. You can tell that to anyone else you meet."
"I shall, though the chances of meeting anyone else are slim. Farewell and good luck, Lord Cimmerian. I hope to hear your call soon."
Once more the Alicorn moved into the realm of dreams and once more he tried focusing on the Nightmare's dreams. It just didn't work though; he didn't even get an idea of if the being was asleep or even existed.
He sighed, making a quick stop with one of the night-crew of the ship and giving them the necessary warnings before returning to the waking world. He'd be doing this the hard way it seemed. Slipping out of the house and into the streets he faded into the shadows. There were a few large mansions he wanted to check, as the Nightmare seemed drawn to power. Maybe she would be drawn to shows of it as well?
'If not, I really have no idea where to look. There's no telling what kind of trouble that thing's getting in to.'
<-(0)->
"More wine!"
The Nightmare drank deeply of her glass as she sat at a table in an opulent bedroom, allowing the alcohol to blind her to her troubles. It normally took a lot of the substance for the alicorn body to be impaired but in its weakened state only a few glasses were enough to make her mind fuzzy.
More than enough in fact.
"I don't remember the last time I felt this good. Actually I don't think I have," she muttered, her eyes crossing slightly. It was nice, feeling so relaxed. Not something she'd had time to enjoy lately. In fact she didn't enjoy it at all before as she wasn't so tightly bonded to the body before...that.
No, that wasn't right. Not that she didn't enjoy things but that she was no longer bonded to another soul. It was her body now. It was her body as certainly as each of these bats owned their own bodies.
The nightmare swirled her wine, staring into the cup without seeing it. It was odd, finding herself in this situation. The sensations, the emotions...she wasn't even sure if she was capable of destroying herself at this point. After everything became so real to her, the idea of it destroying everything, which she now realized would have included herself...it scared her.
'I'm not even a Nightmare anymore, am I? I'm...I'm a being of flesh and blood.'
"Your majesty, one of the guards, he isn't waking up. There are also reports of other thestral groups, they're rallying. I think...I think It is here."
"Prepare yourselves as I ordered. That thing needs to be destroyed."
The stallion bowed deeply before walking out the door. A few moments later a young stallion walked in and set another bottle of wine on her table, asking if there was anything else the mare would like.
Night stared at the bed, or more clearly the supplies she'd hidden therein. It was about time for her to leave, it seemed. She wasn't going to die, not even if it meant destroying the world at this point. It would be less comfortable, but she would need to leave, she'd need to find somewhere else to stay. Somewhere an alicorn could disappear. At the moment, though, with how the world was, that left either the badlands or the east. West was the dark alicorn, east was...the minotaurs. After them, the lands were fairly rough. Not many creatures made their homes there, but as an immortal creature who was now actually eating and sleeping, she found herself regaining small fractions of her hosts original power.
'And perhaps once I have learned enough magic for myself, once I can alter myself in large enough ways to not be recognized, I could return to where it is more comfortable. I just need to learn...patience. Oh stars this is going to be painful.'
She sighed as she returned to the present, her eyes catching sight of the thestral still waiting for her orders. Looking to the meat-puppet that was still standing guard, albeit looking worse for wear(she really should have fed it, shouldn't she?) the Nightmare made several snap decisions.
First was that her toy had to go. It was broken, it was easily recognized, and now that rot was starting to set in at the bodies actual death, it was starting to stink. Not something she usually worried about but without a host to hide behind, yuck.
Second was she would be leaving as soon as she sobered up a bit. She needed to get out before that male figured out where she was. Otherwise she'd never escape and they'd catch her. After that, they'd likely have all the time in the world to figure out how to rip her from this body.
Third...
The mare's eyes glazed slightly as she let them run over the young male that was tasked with serving her. She'd never really thought about it before but with her thoughts bound to the flesh of her puppet and exposed to all the strange chemicals creatures of flesh generate, she'd found herself with odd thoughts. The one before her might not last long in the harsh wilds, but there was at least one thestral she knew about who would. He would also likely prove invaluable in learning how to survive in the wilds.
Stumbling off of her cushion and over to her bed she climbed into the sheets and looked to the puppet.
"Go to the City Hall, then the, water place, then find that alicorn and kill him."
The puppet nodded before walking out the door, leaving the air feeling clearer already. She knew it wouldn't win, but maybe it would at least slow the damn alicorn down.
Turning to the serving pony, she grinned wickedly.
"On the bed. You will address me as Mistress Night, and you will teach me everything you know about the topic of sex. Afterwards we're going to have some, some real-world lessons."
It wasn't as much enjoyment as she usually received from such a thing, but the young male's look of confusion and terror at her orders was something she still very much enjoyed.
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I am happy that this story is now in the swing of updating. This is my number-one ponystory.
hmm....not even a true Night,are anymore eh?
Oh no the nightmare is become a weird Nyx clone...
Her scale of havok-wreaking is steadily shrinking. Didn't expect Shining to actually did, but it makes sense. The real question is, will there be any Nightmare left once they reach her?
"Less damage to the city and fewer dead ponies"
Damage is uncountable. Ponies are countable.
What kind of mare is the nightmare becoming? It's like she's just starting to go all over the place, shouldn't she at least have a little idea how to handle flesh? She did spend forty years with Twilight even if everything was diluted for that time, she had to have gleaned something?
Wow , so looks like she has become more and more entranced by the ongoings of having a actual body xD. She got wasted and having sex lol
This is getting interesting(more than normal anyway). The Nightmare losing itself. Can't wait to see what you do with that. Also, I hope Twilight gets her body back; it'd be a shame if she was permanently stuck as a changeling. Actually, I hope all the ones that have been branded with that changeling seal have the option to have it removed and return to normal life(relatively speaking).
Can't wait for the next chapter. Oh, and is there any ETA for the next chapter for Twisted Fate?
Shining Armor?
I’m just wondering, will the Nightmare try to find Twilight at all? I mean ... Little Miss Magic free and potentially a problem? Just a question.
Nightmares fleshy mind is breaking down because she hasnt yet learned the basics of living?
Good thing they brought two alicorn class null rings, or do they mean large enough for the horn, which means too largee to remain on a unicorn?
8605492
Oh... NO! Nooo! Nooo!
This bitch needs to die
8605537
Another scheduled rescue coupled with drone body replacement. I wonder if Shining will appreciate the irony.
8605560
Hope a rescue could be done. Many of the ponies already given up about Shining. And Cimmerian & co. don't know about Shining if I am not mistaken. I am sure Shining would prevail though. It will be a bit ironic if he cannot shield his own personality from total corruption.
8605482
She's going to be a crying wreck by the end of this..Will..they even need to kill her at that point?Seems like if she keeps this up she may just mentally break and revert to a more child like blank slate to save her sense of self...
8605439
Less vs Fewer used like that is not only not the way the majority use it, but it also arose from an incorrect generalization of a grammarian's preference in 1770. Less has a counterpart in More, but Fewer has no counterpart.
The Nightmare is becoming an actual person instead of being a parasite....
This complicates things significantly....
I do have some problems with the methods they are using to teach twilight. Still great chapter all around. Can't wait to see what happens next
8605439
8605639 Might I point out that this is in dialogue and no one is perfect in correct word usage... especially when casually speaking.
Interesting, the Nightmare has found a fear of death. Having sampled/indulged in the pleasures of the flesh, maybe Cimmerian can bargain with her (no longer an it after that chapter ending I don't think). Information on how to stop incursions for her life, or at least another body that will be less of a threat than an alicorn. Probably going to have to concede to her getting an immortal body though. Fear of death means she would see anything less as just a delayed death sentence.
At this point I think of Nightmares like the Racnoss, "[we] are born starving. Is that our fault?" Nightmares are estranged from and thus indifferent to corporeal reality; they neither understand nor care what happens to the worlds they invade because doing so would mean starvation.
They are quite a bit like changelings were in that way. Deception and destruction is just a survival mechanism for them. If this comparision can be brought up, I think it's very plausible that Cimmerian could convince the Nightmare to give up it's secrets, or at least participate in testing to prevent further incursions from other Nightmares. Ya'know, assuming he can get past everyone who isn't a fanatics' blind rage regarding the Nightmare, including his own.
One possible solution would be, like so very many other things in this story, subsuming the NIghtmare into the Hivemind. We've seen that connections and control within the Hive can be limited as with ponies like Trixie and the others who don't have a Queen's connection. It would make the numerous Queens the very aware jailers of the threat, and allow the Nightmare access to a supply of replaceable but low-power true drone bodies to use. Or if the Nightmare wants to escape being in a body and ugh, feeling things, she could simply float around in the hivemind. Also, her body's dependence on positive emotions could be used to help her progress toward being a feeling being capable of sympathy and moral judgement. Instead of feasting on misery, a changeling drone's body would be rapturously pleased by spreading and receiving postive emotions. The ability to shove knowledge from the Hive into the Nightmare through this link could also help it to understand the consequences of what it was doing.
Hell, maybe they could find a way to make Nightmares no longer dependent on destroying entire worlds without having to shove them into a soulless body to make them sympathetic to a mortal's plight. Imagine an inverted Nightmare spreading joy and happiness by possessing some evil dictator and slowly maneuvering them towards making a less oppressive regime. it would be similar to what i think the changelings' role will be post reconstruction, looking after the health and well-being, both physical and emotional of the other races.
Only major problem I see with this theory is the same sort of thing we saw with how others reacted to Twilght's integration. I doubt the Queens will be thrilled to share the same mindspace as the cause of their near extinction and preventing them from torturing the Nightmare within the hivemind would be difficult. It might be a little easier if Twilight was able to be returned to her body so she didn't have to interact with the Nightmare, but Twilight has also expressed her desire to separate herself from the face that spent the last few decades plunging the world into chaos.
Perhaps she could simply be branded with an array like Trixie, but that would still leave the Nightmare in a powerful immortal alicorn body rather than a much easier to limit drone one. In an alicorn body, the Nightmare could eventually learn magic on her own, possibly enough to cause some real damage before she ccould be stopped.
I still think the best case scenario here would be hive integration and imprisonment in a drone body and a sequestered Hive link, but there will probably be a lot of screaming before such a thing could come to pass.
That said, Din is still being adorable, and the hijacking of Cimmy's sandwich was good for a laugh. Honestly, I can't wait to see her babies.
She is also lying to her student which damages the student-teacher trust agreement. What reason would Twilight have to trust any task that Pulmonus sets in front of her going forward?
8605928
Up until recently, trust was detrimental to a queen's survival. As such, distrust is in and of itself a lesson that would be important to teach.
Old practices die hard.
8605693
I dispute that. The correct usage in dialog is the usage which communicates the character's nature with a minimum of friction or immersion-breaking and in a way that grabs attention as proportionally as possible to how significant it is. (Not to mention, minimizes the "forget immersion, do pay attention to that man behind the curtain (the author)" effect that arises from mistakes in spelling, syntax, grammar, plot, or characterization which exceed certain thresholds for plausibility. See also Lampshade Hanging.)
Using controversial grammar such as "less <countable noun>" is in the same class of mistakes as using abbreviations such as "Sgt." outside of quoted in-universe text. They act as a needless mental speed-bump to many readers while "Sergeant" would have worked just as well. (And even if it were something like "irregardless" which is famous enough for being a mistake that everyone can be expected to agree, you'd only want to use it in a situation where the character's poor grammar is a noteworthy and relevant element of their character, thus justifying how much attention it's liable to grab.)
8605639
Nobody ever got fired for
buying IBMusing "fewer".Seriously though, I see it as akin to "to who" displacing "to whom". I know English is working to jettison needless complexity under the influence of being the rising the lingua franca... but, here and now, it still serves as a glaring intuitive "this author is uneducated" flag to the minority who do use it and it still grates on me.
Weird Al did a whole song about these sorts of things.
I wonder if Twilight's changeling body is really immortal. If it isn't would she be stuck as a ghost and have to pull a Professor X and move into one without a mind in? Also, it was stupid that at the end of that movie they pulled the "he survived" card, but ended up rebooting anyway.
8605928
8605691
this is a lesson that needs to be taught though and one that Celestia failed to do or didn't try to teach. Think about how many times Twilight freaks out when she freaks out ether do to one thinks she'll disappoint her teacher or when she thinks she's failed.
Err 'is twilights body really immortal' - no. It's just a drone, and she can switch randomly between bodies at this point, probably needing a little help. The hivemind is immortal.
8605901
If so, she may even try to escape into the child when eventually captured if that’s the case...
Man all those plans and it's all pointless because discord can find her anytime he wants ..... fluttershy activate cuteness ......fluttershy activates cuteness ...... what have I done when something naturally cute activates cuteness it creates ...... a cutie black hole phenomenon. Who knew.
8606711
Hopefully still get ripped out of her stolen body.
8606032 just bc its 'technically' correct does not mean it needs to be technically corrected mr/s Bigshot-Editor-wanna-be-nick-picky-grammar-Nazi-snob. Also Word Crimes is written as COMEDY intentionally being over the top. If the author had use "there" instead of "their" or vice versa I can see correcting him bc that mistake is very noticeable to practically everyone that it's the wrong spelling thus breaking immersion. Less/fewer not as much... bc most would have to break immersion to see if that is correct or not. I didn't notice that it was 'wrong' until it was pointed it out because one the prementioned reason and two it was dialogue and thus could have been intentional. so that two if I had noticed it I would have told the character wrong word usage thus not breaking immersion if I did at all.
IF you want to play editor you would be aware as an editor that there are times intentionally incorrect word usage on the part of characters in dialogue.
8607029
I'll accept grammar Nazi, but I'm neither a bigshot nor a snob... I'm just a guy with an uncommon knack for noticing these sorts of things and I'm trying to give the advice I'd want to receive were the roles reversed.
(Upping the verbosity and vocabulary is how I've reacted to being challenged since I was a little kid... I've only really started to become properly aware of it fairly recently.)
...and, to rephrase what I just said:
Sure, each character speaks their own little dialect of the language... but in a case like this, where it's just one small error in what, until that point, had seemed to be aiming for "unassuming enough to fade into the background", it sticks out and draws attention because it's far more likely that the author made a mistake than that it's intentional.
The difference between good, great, and amazing authoring is the author's ability to write great details without losing sight of how they affect the story as a unified whole.
8607062
well technically grammar nazi = grammar snob.
That's great that you over came those challenges and bettered yourself. Just remember that challenging and nick picky are not the same and that the line between them can easy be crossed.
Good points as long as you realize that this is also a fanfiction site and this is not a professionally released book though one could argue that this story is on par with most well done, professionally released books.
8607112
Given the enforced non-commerciality of fanfiction and my sickly budget, feedback is the only way I can give thanks for all of the free entertainment I get and fine details of grammar just happen to be one of the things I'm good at.
I don't mean to be a snob and I wouldn't nitpick someone's day-to-day communication, but I strongly believe that a piece of fiction (even fanfiction) is something that really should be polished, so it can give the best possible impression of the author and their skill to the widest range of readers possible.
(Especially given that it's subtle things people tend to miss which, taken in large numbers, are key to the tone/mood/atmosphere side of writing that becomes increasingly important for further progress as you get skilled.)
8607147
So true
8607147
I firmly believe that characters are allowed to misspeak, and I personally think the error you mention is one subtle enough that I would mention it as a prereader but not bother complaining about the final product—but I do think it was actually the author's error rather than the character's, given the other evidence.
pegasi
won't
town's
won't
won't
city's
Lance (caps)
Nightmare (need to be consistent with the capitalization)
body's
(Note: not a comprehensive list since I only started noting them part-way through, and I gave a pass to a few minor typos.)
As for the chapter itself, there's a lot of good action and actually quite a lot of character development in many corners. I won't write off Shining Armor completely until the body is in the ground (gangrene is survivable "rot", for instance) but the odds are getting longer.
Will this be like Bound to Darkness?
8605904
In earlier chapters the Nightmare reflected on having used Shinning Meat-Puppet as a sex toy as a means of psychologically torturing Twilight. So Twilight has already lost her virginity to incestuous rape... double rape even!
8607690
She mused about the idea, but had not acted upon it. And considering how quickly things fell apart for her, she apparently didn't have time to implement that random bit of cruelty before Twi was removed from her control, taking what knowledge she had about such things away from her.
Cancer in this chapter's comments aside, I'm happy I've finally caught up.
I truly hope Cim finds the Nightmare in time, her actions have become...pretty silly. I think the best form of punishment would be for the Nightmare to somehow be bound, whether into an entirely new body or stuck in Twilight's for whatever reason, albeit without any power, and forced to live the civilian life, coming to understand just how exactly it was impacting the world and forced to endure being flesh and blood. Forced to endure the psychological trauma of everyone hating its existence, yet being unable to die unless whoever acts as its "warden" (be it one of the queens, or whoever performs the binding, probably either Cim or Twilight) wills it. One of those times necromancy shouldn't be discouraged, as then it could be revived continuously, forced to live and die in eternal penance.
I had hopes that there would be a way to help shining armor.and you killed him off through starvation? Or was that another puppet and she left armor behind?
8609775
Ah the Curse Of Cain. Also know as A Sinner's Penance.
The Nightmare is going to end up pregnant from this, and that will complicate things immensely. I wonder if it will develop protective motherly instincts, or if it is too selfish for that?
Funny that the Parasite had to lpse it all to find herself...
Wonder of Shining Armors body will die now...