Watch that Recoil
After leaving the nest and the surviving changelings in Pandinus' care, Ted found his eyes drifting closed despite the fact he didn't feel physically tired. Though his body was capable of continuous exertion for days on end, at least according to Luna, his mind was still that of a mortal, raised with mortal ideas and with mortal weaknesses. As it stood, he'd need to sleep, and give himself some time to process the sheer amount of horror he'd encountered the night before. True most of the drones were downright feral, but there was no telling how many sapient drones there were near the blast. Now that he had a chance to think about it, he was plagued by doubt, wondering if he'd in fact done the right thing by destroying the ship. It wasn't a retaliatory strike from Equestria that he feared. According to the griffons they'd been driven out of their country nearly a month prior and were just now arriving, so even if the Mad Queen tried to send a team to investigate the disappearance immediately, it would be a while before they showed up, if they even knew the final position of the ship.
No, the issue was he'd committed himself to being willing to fight another country's army for the safety of those in the Temple of the Shadows. The soldiers weren't a bunch of bandits, like the gnolls. They were a military force, trained by and paid by a country to enforce the country's laws and policies, no matter how lax they were at security. Actually when he thought about it, the possibility of something sneaking past that swarm of ravenous feral changelings was infinitesimally small, so it wasn't surprising most of the lookouts weren't particularly alert.
Another problem was that the blast damaged the abandoned port pretty badly, he was certain of that. Even not being able to see much in the torrential rain, he'd walked on the glassed sand just shy of the waterfront. Add the physical damage to the fact that there were now bodies rotting in the rain scattered around the town, the bodies of the changelings pilled so high in some places they blocked buildings; it would set back his plans for reclaiming that town and putting it to use. As much as he wished to avoid doing so, he'd have to visit that place again once the weather let up and asses the actual damage.
With a jaw splitting yawn as he wandered into the dining hall, he made up his mind. Something to eat, whatever meal was relevant to the current time (it looked like lunch, actually), let Weaver and Gleam know about what happened, and head to bed. His mind made up, Ted grabbed a plate and hastily tossed a few sandwiches on it. He wasn't even in the mood to eat here. Heading to the war room and Shadow Weavers probable location, the alicorn didn't mind the stares. He just removed a threat to the town while they were all sleeping, warm in their beds. It he wanted to eat in his room, he'd eat in his own fucking room.
<-(0)->
Explaining the situation to his second in commands, both of whom were in the war room, Ted slowly made his way to his own bed, wings drooping slightly from fatigue. Setting the plate, remaining sandwich, and a glass of water on his nightstand, he made a note to clean the now gored-crusted and bloody armor next chance he got. A stray thought had him wondering how a bath would feel with it on, but it was quickly hijacked by a thought of a certain mare lightly grazing the neck armor with her teeth, causing a shudder to wrack his body.
'Stop it, man.' He thought to himself. 'No need to complicate things even more at the moment.' There was no denying she was physically attractive, but he almost felt like he'd be taking advantage of her desperation at this point. He'd let everything settle and see where the queen ended up mentally. Besides, the new drones, some of which he could guarantee would seek the safety and reassurance of her hive, would keep her busy for a while. He was just about to hop up on his bed, in fact he even had a hoof on, it when a knock came from the door. The dark alicorn sighed in exasperation, looking to the door and pulling it open, his drooping eyes taking in the unexpected form of a, once more, worried changeling queen.
"I'm getting some sleep Din. If there's another one of those hive things nearby it's going to have to wait."
"I just wanted to-" She started, before her ears perked up, sniffing at him curiously. Slowly her worried expression morphed into a grin.
"If you don't drop it, I'm going to say no to whatever it is you're going to ask." He told her.
Still smiling, she powered on. "So if I ask if you not to-"
"I'm closing the door if you don't tell me what you want now. I need sleep." He told her, voice still dead of emotion. He should have known the second a lewd thought entered his head she'd be here to sniff it out.
Pandinus pouted slightly at being shut down, but continued. "I wanted to know if you could stay with me for a bit." She said, dragging a hoof nervously across the floor.
"Din, what's wrong? You can tell me." He urged her, moving closer to the doorway.
"I... I bled a little again today." She said. When he failed to respond, she explained. "It, the clutch nurse was right. She told me I may have trouble after the incident, and she was right. It hurt. I know your tired, I can taste that, but I just..."
"Your hurting, maybe a little scared, and want your comfort food." Ted said with a tired smile. Looking back to his bed, he shook his head. "Fine." He grabbed a pillow and blanket off his bed, levitating them to his back before turning to follow the now smiling queen back down to the nest. 'Don't worry, sleep is coming' He thought to himself. 'I'm feeling pretty stiff right now, so a buzzing massage would be great.'
The first chamber of the nest was currently housing the still sleeping survivors, most of them already looking less sickly after they'd ate their fill. Stepping lightly past them, he followed the queen into the second room. The bed was a bit nicer than the first time he'd seen it, more linens on a raised platform that had a more give than he would have expected. He chuckled as he stretched out comfortably on the pedestal. It wasn't surprising he'd not thought of asking her about it last time, as he'd been a bit distracted. Pulling back the covers to get a good look at what he was laying on, he was surprised to see the strange clear film that had been part of the changeling pods, filled with a green goop that provided the give of the 'bed' he was on.
"Has one of these things ever popped on you?" He asked her as he laid down his head on his pillow, his wings fluttering lightly as he settled in.
"Um, no. The film reseals even if it gets punctured. It doesn't bother you, does it?" Pandinus asked cautiously. "One of the ponies saw it and they got kind of panicky. I think he was worried I was going to shove him into it. Not that I would. I don't want something moving around in my bed."
"I'm on an alien planet, in an alien body, surrounded by more aliens, I talk to other aliens in my sleep, I have magic powers, and I've met several mythological creatures." Ted listed off. "Sleeping on a puke bubble that doesn't smell and won't pop on me isn't that big of a deal at the moment. It also helps that I'm too tired to care. Now get on."
"What?" The changeling asked in shock.
"I said get on my back. We're going to practice some give and take. I'm going to give you safety and food, and your going to give me physical comfort. Ever since I got back and dropped my hold on the armor, my bodies been cramping up something fierce." He said. "That buzzing purr you do would probably feel heavenly right now."
Cautiously, the queen made her way onto the bed as well, resting comfortably between the dark alicorns wings. Settling in properly, she focused on the safety and warmth, a happy purr resounding from her throat. At Ted's moan of approval, the purr massaging his cramping neck, she started to buzz her wings, the much stronger vibrations being sent down into her living pillow, only to be echoed and bounced back from the jiggling bed, doubling the intensity of the massage.
The next thing Din was aware of was a strong wave of pleasure and contentment rolling off the alicorn, which she happily feasted on as her purring redoubled. Sure she wasn't very hungry at the moment, but he'd mentioned the day before how some creatures ate for pleasure. If he thought she should do it, she would. And his emotions were some of the best tasting foods she'd ever sunk her fangs into. Besides, the happiness could be saved for later. The new drones would need something to feed on until they made their own connections as Mirage, Grift and she herself had done.
Even as Ted drifted off to sleep, he heard the queen giggling happily as she buried her snout into the fur on his neck. It was good to know he'd finally gotten something besides drama from the queen. Honestly it was about time, and from the sounds of it, she didn't mind doing it. He'd call that a good trade off; food and safety for a massage.
<-(0)->
Ted was sprawled out on his usual private beach when it happened. He was so tired, letting his mind recover from the long night and the horrible experiences, that he actually didn't sense the mare until she impacted his dream-self.
"Cimmerian!" Luna shouted in his ear, clinging to his neck. "You found her! I saw her, I talked to her, she's alive! We, I mean you need to find her, help her!" She babbled, even as the stallions eyes slowly opened. "Are you alright?"
" 'M fine, just tired." He mumbled. "Didn't sleep much last night, had to take care of something after I spotted the dream. Hell, I didn't even get to check if that was her before I was woken up by Din."
"What happened?"
The larger alicorn brought up a memory, the picture of a mountain of dead changelings appearing in the air before them. Luna was silent, merely tightening her grip on his neck reassuringly.
"Pandinus detected another link nearby, a huge one. From what I could tell the Nightmare has all the drones being controlled by arrays, and there was a ship near us that had one of those arrays on it." He conjured the memory of the crystal, and Luna stared long and hard at it, a hoof at her chin. "I didn't even know you could do arrays that way, I thought they were all written down on paper or carved into armor."
Luna nodded. "Under normal circumstances they are, though the more common way to do something like this is a joining array, allowing multiple rooms to be used if it's needed. This sort of thing is nearly impossible to do with any truly complicated arrays such as this one. It was most likely only done because the space available is at a premium." She said, gesturing to the floor in the image. "How did you deal with it?"
"I used the Nightmare armor. I used it to get past the changeling patrols, and messed with the safeties and surge protectors, turned the protectors into batteries instead and surged a weak point in the array."
"You caused a thaumaturgic melt-down?!?" Luna shouted at him. "Are you mad? That would kill anyone in the blast radius!"
"That was kinda the plan, Luna. The ponies around it were Equestrian soldiers, who could report my location back to the Nightmare. The rest were changelings being controlled by the array." He said sadly. "I know, at one point they were your ponies. But right now they'd put everyone I'm watching over in danger. We'll mourn them properly when we have a chance, Luna, but for now, I'm not taking any chances with them hurting my people."
"I, alright. But I still want you to try to avoid killing ponies if you can help it." She said.
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not going out of my way to murder innocents, Luna. That's not my thing. Those were soldiers looking for blood. Believe it or not, I think they killed the other griffons, be it by ordering their deaths or through negligence. I didn't see the other griffons in the dream realm, and they were supposed to be headed to the port to the north of us."
Luna sighed, hanging her head. "Very well, Cimmerian. I only ask that you remember mercy. It can be very easy for some to disconnect the horror of killing when they rationalize it properly, but that is also how we fall. You understand my descent better than most. Do not forget the lessons I learned, lest they cost you just as much."
"While I am glad your mission was successful, I must also ask that as soon as you can, you help Cadance. I've directed her to you, giving the name of the dragon and the port to your north as a starting point for her, she is weak right now, though she says she has somepony to protect her."
"Think she'll be asleep now?" Ted asked. "I mean, I'm tired, but if she's in danger or hurting..."
"No, I don't think so. She's getting close enough to you that it will be night for her when you're asleep, so right now I doubt it. Just introduce yourself to her when you get the chance." Luna said. "Rest well, Cimmerian. Magical exhaustion is nothing to dismiss for a being of magic such as yourself."
With that she left, leaving the stallion alone in his dreams. He dismissed the image of the crystal, still hanging in the air before him, before curling back up on the sands, summoning up a radio that immediately started playing an old favorite of his. He let his body go limp, and hummed along to the intro. It fit the scene well, he thought as he watched the waves roll in from the ocean.
"Livin' on sponge cake. Watchin' the sun bake. All of those tourists covered with oil..."
<-(0)->
After an indeterminate amount of time, the dream shuddered, a sign that someone was waking him up. The dream collapsed around him, leaving the groggy alicorn to slowly try to piece together his current location. He recognized the hive fairly quickly, took note of the faint purring still buzzing from his back. The only thing that seemed out of place at the moment was the chunky changeling giving him the stink eye.
"What do you want Mirage? I'm really not feeling well right now." He mumbled.
"I couldn't find Gem this morning." The changeling mare said, voice seething with anger.
The mention of the nymph being missing immediately brought Ted's focus to her. "Couldn't find her, wait, don't you have a link with her? How can you not find her?"
The mare pointed a hoof to his side." Because she decided she wanted to sleep with 'daddy' and the queen buzzin' linked with her! That nag stole her from me!"
The yelling woke up both of the other changelings, Pandinus looking at the smaller mare with a confused expression for a moment before her head darted to her left and down, the nymph giggling at her and climbing onto Ted's back to join her. Ted watched the hatchling for a moment, seeing Gem curl up between his wing and the queen. Looking at the queen he asked her if she knew it happened.
"I was asleep, Cimmerian, I didn't even know she was here." She said, leaning down to give the nymph a cautious nuzzle.
Turning back to the irate shape shifter, Ted scrunched his face in thought. "Can you take her back? Reconnect to her?" He asked.
"No, it doesn't work like that. The queen's link takes priority to a simple link between drones. Besides, now that she's linked to the queen, she's not going to be content with me anymore." Mirage explained, sending another glare at the queen.
"Stop it, Mirage. She didn't steal Gem from you, Gem bonded with her while she was asleep. That can happen right?" He asked the smaller mare. At her nod, he continued. "Then you can't blame her for this. It was an accident, and we'll work with it. Din? I want you to promise me something." He said, turning to the mare still on his back. "Promise me you won't suppress her unless her life depends on it, ok?"
He asked the question softly, but the queen could taste the force behind the request. In that way it was more of an ultimatum, his emotions telling her the hatchling's well-being was her priority now. Slowly, she nodded her head. "I promise." She said quietly, turning to give the nymph another nuzzle. She could hear Gem's childish voice over the link, the young mind reveling in the contact with two large parental figures.
Ted nodded. "If you have any questions about her, ask Mirage. She'll help you with Gem's care, right Mirage?"
The mare glared one last time at the queen before deflating with a heavy sigh. "Yes Father."
With that the clutch nurse left, Gem looking up long enough to chirp happily and wave goodbye before curling back up in in her spot. Seeing the mare leave, Ted turned back to Pandinus, a somber expression on his face.
"Your being trusted with her care, Din. She's not like the drones you already have. This one is like those you want, she's fully sapient and is a thinking drone like Grift and Mirage, like the ones sleeping just outside. She's going to rely on you to take care of her. I want you to guard her with your life, guard her with the same ferocity you guarded those eggs." He grabbed her head in a light aura, guiding it closer to his own. He bumped her muzzle with his, breaking out into a smile. "I know you'll do fine."
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Yay, an update! I didn't want to go to bed anyway.
CAFFEINE!!!
6281010 You and me both, I've got work in a few hours
look forward to Cadance getting there though from what ted over heard in last chapter she's gonna be pretty messed up.
as always great chapter.
Sleep is for other fandoms!!
"Your" should be "You're" here.
Otherwise looking forward to the meeting with Cadance.
Cadence is alive? Hurray! Hmmm, wonder if she's got a phobia of changelings now?
What if her 'guard' is a changeling? 
So Queen Huggle Buzz is a mommy now. Yay!
Ted and Din and Gem and... HNNNNGGH!
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She's been a mommy.
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I don't think her first clutch of drones count. Do they? They're basically just golems. They wouldn't even be able to call her "mommy" unless she commanded them to.
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Even then she still protected them like they were her children. Even a mother could still love a damaged child.
A chapter dedicated to sleep?
Finally!
I'm surprised at how little pleasure Ted took from the deaths of those guards. After everything the mad queen has done and what those guard ponies were willingly going along with I would have laughed as they were chopped up and fed to each other, let alone given a quick death by explosion.
I'm going to guess that Cadance's protector is a grown up Spike. We never found out what happened to him, and at this point, those two are what's left of Twilight's family.
Yeeeesssssss, let the desire side flow through you.
No brain! I am shipping Ted and Pan, not Ted and Cadance!
img1.derpicdn.net/img/2013/2/22/251737/thumb.png
I didn't think of that...
th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2012/308/5/0/sweetie_belle_thinking_by_nintendoxs-d5jwyzx.png
Brain, you are a genius!
img04.deviantart.net/dea4/i/2012/233/1/1/luna_s2_cheer_by_parttimebrony-d5byvnq.png
img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140505210452/mlp/images/a/a9/Twilight_Sparkle_cheering_S4E24.png
6281217 Who says they're going along willingly?
All signs point towards the Mad Queen ruling through intimidation, and mind control.
6281217 there is little pleasure in death. For one to show pleasure in such an act is a sign of mental problems, of disregard to life, of at least slight insanity or something else that is concerning, no matter what are the circumstances.
To sow death with pleasure is a path to murder and tyranny. He'd end up as the Nightmare himself.
6281217 Reveling in your enemy's anguish is still bad, regardless of who's good and evil. Take an example from real life: Kim Jong Il - I would've smiled watching him die, but not his soldiers. They were merely following orders under a dictatorship. This is the same concept as the mad queen from what I can guess
Hahaha, thinking about it, that's actually really funny. She is pretty much a literal drama Queen, isn't she?
Also, I'm kinda laughing my ass off at all the tough-guy talk coming from people who have probably never even killed anything, nevermind had to watch someone die. Grow up under a totalitarian dictatorship and personally get stabbed by some random crazy, then come back and tell me all that silly "lol chopping dudes up for revenge makes my dick hard" bullshit again. As it is, it's just really hilarious to watch.
6281277 I'm going to avoid any real life examples to avoid a political discussion. Simply put there will always be those who flock to cruelty and want power to be as cruel as they like. There is nothing wrong in delivering that same cruelty back to them. You prove nothing by showing mercy to an enemy that shows none themselves. I respect the character of Ted for wanting to take care of things quickly and quietly, it shows he is being smart about how he fights. But really he should take some pleasure in his work (minus the regretful loss of the enslaved changelings. at least for many it was a mercy killing)
As for the guilt of the guards in my eyes, unless expressly shown to be controlled, it is perfectly reasonable considering their behavior and the things they said that these guards are knowingly, and willingly going along with the queens monstrous actions.
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if you assume all of them are mind controlled and not willing participants then that makes the assassins job that much easier
6281029 Messed up? I just hope she isn't one shock short of being broken. Still, it'll be, er, interesting to see her reaction to Ted, but moreso when she finds out this Temple of Shadows is loaded with changelings. Hopefully she will realize, like the old gryphon matron (who's name I forgot), that this bunch is living quite nicely in harmony with the rest of the populace. Heh, I know it's a cheap shot but unleash a few nymphs and fillies on her, that should squelch any negative thoughts.
Well... after she's had time to heal and clean up. I am dreading the moment we all find out how literal "put through the meat grinder" is for Cadance. I mean, I'm already starting to get too many feels and I only just finished this chapter!
On a side note, changeling style goo-beds are neat! And you don't even need to put quarters into it for the vibro-matic option.
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I like to think it's more or less like a water bed, except kind of... squishier, what with the snot filling and all.
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I disagree. I feel quite content whenever I eat a cow or a chicken. Before you ask, I consider all self-aware life to be of equal value. That cow and chicken's life is realistically worth no less or more than any other human's life.
Killing and eating other living things is mandatory to staying alive. If I was in a situation where a group of other individuals were trying to kill me and my family, I would feel pleasure and relief at killing them first if escape wasn't an option. There is absolutely nothing wrong at all about feeling good about ensuring your survival and pride in protecting your family.
ah, the age old rule of kill or be killed. its one thing to kill an innocent, but entirely another to kill a soldier/warrior that might have orders to kill you. Cim has a good heart for feeling slightly bad for what he has done but they (the guards) knew the risks and accepted the possibility of death when they became part of the guard/army, and i highly doubt Cim will be "falling" as Luna says any time soon, after all he had plenty enough chances before with the gnolls and such. nah, im sure he will do what is necessary.
is the one protecting cadence her's and shinings child?
I read the last part as "he'd eat his fucking room". I now have the idiotic mental image of Ted chewing on furniture stuck in my head.
Wow, there's quite a few weird posts in this chapter's comment section... I badly want to say something, but I would probably just spark off an argument that Reykan probably wouldn't appreciate in the slightest, so I'll just shut up here.
6281133 Actually, I think they fall into the realm of observant animals, like ravens and crows. They do have rudimentary self protective instincts, and a small amount of intelligence. Hence them asking Ted to "Stop the pain." a few chapters previous. They tried to follow the order of not letting any one near her, but they couldn't stop Ted in the slightest. So they told him to help the one in control of them.
This chapter needs some editing. There are quite a few spelling errors throughout, especially places where "your" should be "you're."
Given the glass crater runs well up the beach, Im suprised there is anything left of the port at all above a load of deformed post holes.
I bet the Zebras felt that blast. Its like a million changelings cried out, and were suddenly silenced.
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I completely disagree with you.
2edgy4me m8
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If you've never killed any of them yourself, you're frankly pretty much talking out of your ass. It's easy to talk big when the only way you've ever seen a dead animal is packaged and out of freezer compartment. The first few times you kill your own food and watch something bleed to death because you decided you want to eat it, though? It's both disturbingly easy and just plain disturbing - and it sticks with you at first, at least for a little while. The kind of person it doesn't stick with at all we call psychopaths.
This only goes quadruple when dealing with actual people. There's a reason a major part of modern military training consists of just making recruits capable of shooting at a person at all without freezing up or intentionally missing.
6281765 I'm a borderline sociopathic asshole who wouldn't have a hard time with killing. Sure I wouldn't want to kill without necessity, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. If someone broke into my apartment, I would make sure they leave in a body bag, because I'm vengeful like that.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
10:29_4/8/2015
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And we're all very impressed, I'm sure.
6281816 I wasn't trying to be impressive, I was simply trying to state that we don't necessarily have to be psychopaths to be able to kill without issues.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
10:46_4/8/2015
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And with it coming from someone who has never actually done so and is just talking big on the internet, I hope you'll forgive me for not taking you in any way seriously.
6281033 Sleep? What is this sleep you speak of? Is it one of those under caffeinated beverages? Cause if that's the case then I have new targets for fire practice.
6281357 It is mine and I shall call it Squishy, and it shall be my squishy.
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And I will hug it and pet it and hug it and squish it and never ever let it go!
6281858
It's the internet. Everyone is EdgeLord von Slaughterhouse. I agree with you, taking any life is hard at first. Hunting pigeons is easy. Shooting them out of the skies is easy, but as soon as you clip a wing it becomes hard for the first time. You gotta pick up the bird and break its neck. While the action itself is merely a quick twist, the feeling can be unsettling at first. Feeling the bones pop in its neck, the struggles of the bird in the throes of death, and finally the stillness. If killing something as simple as a pigeon still gives me pause for thought I can't imagine what taking a human life would be like. Justified or not, death is never something to take neither lightly nor with pleasure.
6281924
The worst part is that it starts to be pleasurable after a while. Not gonna lie, I enjoy hunting, or I wouldn't keep doing it. The first time I had to watch a boar choke on its own blood, though? Not a sound I'll forget any time soon. Anyone who says otherwise is deluding themselves or broken in the head.
Also, <insert obligatory 'praise the sun' here.>
and now we wait to see how close to story canon that A Father's Love actually is
6281904 This gives me so many ideas.
Elvira moment, inbound!
You deserve a medal just for using that.
6282064
Oh my, and a fellow old fart, too! This day just keeps getting better, doesn't it just.
6281951 Never hunted boar before, although I've heard of their reputation for being tough little bastards. I took a bad shot on a deer once. He went down, but the grass was too thick to get the follow up from a distance, meaning I had to walk over to him and take it not 3 feet away. Not pleasant
Yes, there were a lot of butts involved. Twilight is a butt, the ship captain was a butt, the guards were butts, the feral changelings...
(..."assess the damage..."
)
6281029
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Hopefully Luna took the time to tell Cadance, "There's a fully grown changeling queen living there. She's friendly and on our side." I just haven't seen mention of such a thing and Ted might not know to warn Cadance so she can prepare herself.
6282116
Like you wouldn't believe. Continental boar, too, the kind with tusks the size of your fingers, not the escaped feral house pig variety you get in most places these days. I used to hunt with this weirdo who doesn't believe in sidearms and prefers to use a Saufänger instead, basically a huge broad dagger you shove under the ribcage and collapse the lungs with.
That's the kind of experience that'll damage you for life. It's not even actually legal anymore.
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I do have to wonder what ponies would be like in our world where chaos rules, when compared to Equestria. Is the human nature a product of Earth? At times violent and unforgiving, predictable at times only after great study, yet having it's own beauty and endlessly nurturing side which is taken advantage of with great hope when possible.
Ted is still human in mind, his actions at the bay were not unexpected at all. Yes, an Equestrian would be absolutely horrified at what happened, the Princesses less so due to their longevity at seeing far more of life's ugly side, I believe that while the Elements of Harmony might be the counter to that parasite Nightmare, Ted the human is Nightmare's boogieman. He won't try to negotiate, he won't try to "reform" Nightmare, nor is he going to throw Nightmare into a dungeon into the place he banishes Nightmare to. Ted is going to end Nightmare with all the vindictive hatred evolution has graced humanity. It's gonna be messy. And in the end, Ted will probably regret the collateral damage, some unavoidable and some intentional, but he should not apologize for his nature.
p.s Why can't the pony protecting Cadance be Shining Armor himself? I know Earth ponies live a ridiculously long time (case in point; Granny Smith) but unicorns should have a shot at it too.
Poor Poor Mirage. Mirage is going to have to link with Din sooner or later. That requires so much trust though -- I know I would be unnerved by a link where you could be suppressed at any moment.