In the blink of an eye
~~~ ⚕ ~~~
It was well in the afternoon. We were having lunch. Shining and Cadance were sitting close, interacting playfully while they ate and did almost all of the talking. Since I only had experience manipulating a single chess piece with my hooves, Luna took it upon herself to feed me as well, though she needed to tie my hair back so it stopped getting in the way.
My attention was fleeting, there were two matters of primary concern for me. The fact that I was meant to be a royal now, one of some particular manner of mystical importance, and the fact that I was such a thing in a world that reacted to my presence in a definitely rejecting manner, for one reason or another.
Which made sense, since someone like me was definitely rejectionable for several reasons in regard to eligibility to become a part of a world like this. A world this peaceful and idyllic, it was certainly far too good for the likes of me.
‘For the likes of the Living Lich. But is it truly so set in stone? I do not need to hold on to past habits and measures. Where do I even stand anymore?’
My initial plan was to find a new world where I could live as unassuming and as peaceful a life as I could possibly fashion for myself. That went out the window moments after I arrived. I also needed to change my species as a calculated loss due to circumstances I couldn’t possibly foresee… except I should've scried a destination before attempting a voyage.
‘It seems I was in a more foul a state than I thought, if I was unable to muster the presence of mind to even make that much consideration… no wait, I remember. It was because I was in such a hurry to fashion a stable spell for the voyage in the first place, which I wasn’t even entirely certain I could pull off. After all, you’d never know if there were any bugs in the final version until after you tested said final version. Truly I should count myself fortunate, except I was so unfortunate as to have no other recourse than to try such a stunt in the first place. That, and I didn’t really mind that much either way. Either the spell worked or I died, either scenario would’ve been acceptable to me at the time.’
‘And now I found myself in a position I would’ve never anticipated. Rather than taking on the identity of an average stranger from a distant land, I happened into the queer position of becoming a demigod royal. So… currently processing that.’
No fallbacks, no safety in anonymity. I needed to do the exact opposite. Go about politicking for my worth and safety, as well as the worth and validity of my craft. What was surprising was that I actually managed to do just that, which was nearly as surprising as Luna’s desire to adopt me as her own.
Which came with a host of other issues that further complicated matters. On which was finally added the latest matter of the creatures hunting me due to some manner of global immune response.
‘So much to consider… It seems almost impossible to not make a mistake. Yet I need to decide on a direction to take.’
Either risk the lives of unwitting innocents or take my chances in unpopulated areas, these were my options. Well, going at it on my own was not only prevented by those who considered me a potential threat, but it was also risky for my well-being to try such a thing in my current weakened state. And while the open road may be fun to roam, it would be rather lonesome.
‘So I came upon two undesirable choices. Nothing else to it but to try for a third option.’
I interrupted Shining’s riveting life story which I was only barely hanging onto anyway. “I will do it again, you know.” Once he stopped speaking, I elaborated, “These assaults on your guards. Either you let me leave, or you let me help you train your soldiers so they’d be able to not die immediately should they face against a Kikimora or Nevermore. Those are your options.”
“But-”
“Please save your posturing, Shining. He makes a valid point, no matter how you look at it.”
I’m having difficulty describing how much I appreciated Luna’s understanding on the matter.
"Thank you.” I was aware of the silent discontent on Shining’s part, “Just so you know, I never wanted to become an alicorn. All I wanted was a peaceful life, unassuming and boring. Since things developed this way instead however, I do plan on handling my responsibilities thoughtfully, only at my own pace, not yours.”
“Well maybe you should try a little harder,” he retaliated.
“And perhaps you should acknowledge the difference between us before you apply your own shallow standards onto someone you know next to nothing about.”
“Well,” Cadance offered tentatively, “You didn’t really tell us much about yourself. What do you like?”
“What I like?” I repeated the question to myself. “Well…” I took the time to set aside my snark, “traveling is always nice. So is decent company and conversation. But as far as passions go, I’m sorry to say that they’re not something you would care for. Studying necromancy for the sake of understanding life and death is, of course, generally regarded as unseemly at best, as Shining would no doubt like to agree and elaborate on.” He was about to offer his expected input before I quickly added, “That is not an invitation, Shining. Shut up already.”
Since he’s a nice guy, he decided to finally give the matter a rest for the moment. “What I wanted was to live in peace. That’s all. Travel for a while, see the sights in this new world I’d found my way on. Gain new experiences, meet new faces, sing new songs in taverns. I don’t suppose that’s too much to ask for, is it?”
I would also try to prove that my craft was worth a damn in the interim. It was a simple plan, but so many complications made it necessary to go about this goal in an entirely different way. I needed to learn more about this world quickly, as well as to take measures to study my craft without any of the physical effects. Wouldn’t want for rumors to spread about the ‘dark prince’ adopted by a princess with a history of going insane and trying to bring a catastrophe to the world.
My new lack of anonymity also came with a completely new set of potential benefits. High risks, higher resources, and yet even higher complications. I can adapt to the risks and I don’t need the extra resources, however the complications are a real problem. Simplicity is vital to the process of research in general, let alone research into a highly dangerous and volatile field of magic.
And yet.
“No, it sounds wonderful!" Cadance offered cheerily. "Oh, there’s so much you can see, so many sights in the world. I’ve been to the Gryphon Isles and that alone...”
And yet I did enjoy Cadance’s presence. Her patience and desire to potentially gain a family member. Even Shining Armor, despite how polar our differences, he was no less valiant and well-meaning. Though he did try my patience, he was nonetheless entertaining to quarrel with and he was only further endearing in his storybook righteousness.
And then there was Luna. Who went so drastically far out of her way for me, merely because she saw herself in me and wanted more people beside her during the coming eternity. As cynical as I was, I couldn’t bear to disregard what she, as well as Celestia, were doing for me.
Perhaps I was getting a little accustomed to them.
~~~ 🌙 ~~~
He was oddly quiet. It seemed he was more preoccupied with whatever was on his mind than with what was being discussed at the table.
Cadance didn’t seem to mind overly much. Shining Armor, however, was only content to remain quiet, for the moment at least.
‘Honestly, can that stallion truly not let the matter lie?’
It wasn’t like I didn’t understand what they were arguing about. Shining was concerned with my charge’s destructive and malicious behavior and was trying to get through to him, while the child was weary and wanted time to himself. One was incensed by the other’s refusal to admit what he did was wrong, while the other was doing everything possible to deconstruct the argument merely because he was too proud to allow the stallion some perceived satisfaction.
‘...At least I think it’s perceived. To be fair, Shining is behaving a bit incensed.’
I wasn’t willing to take sides, but when one makes a valid argument, I would rather just end it decisively and move the matter forward. They were both being immature, it was as if they were- were they establishing dominance?
I shook my head. At least Cadance was understanding and succeeding in playing peacemaker. Heavens knew I didn’t have the patience for it.
‘That’s what mothers do, however,’ I recalled from previous experiences. ‘Being patient while at the same time drawing the line. Encouraging while also disciplining. It’s coming back to me gradually… together with memories of tiny smiles and wide eyes. Perhaps this one won’t die in the blink of an eye.’
I held him tighter at the memory. I liked to think he was less unresponsive by a small amount every time I held him.
Cadance went quiet at the display. “So, what were you going to name him? We can’t really go about without referring to him by name, now can we?”
“I have a few ideas,” I answered. “Nothing certain yet. I need him to synch properly to the magic field before I can Imprint on him.”
“Of course,” she nodded.
Shining furrowed his brows, “How is that even going to work, anyway? Won’t the fact that he’s not really newly born interfere with imprinting?”
“What imprinting?” was my charge’s own addition to the discussion.
“It’s how ponies name their children,” I clarified. “How else is a parent going to give its child a name that would best fit them?”
“...Huh. That’s actually… nice. Must make things easier to figure out who you are and what job would make you happy. Unless that’s some manner of divine self-fulfilling destiny treachery that’s going on.”
“Funny,” I responded to my charge’s bleak interpretation. “That’s exactly what Lady Death inferred regarding cutiemarks. Have I told you what they are?”
“Not really. I just assumed they were a fashion choice mixed with tradition,” he lied.
“Did you really?”
“No, I thought they were brands made with a magical hot-iron as a rite of passage into adulthood by adolescents once they figure out what they want to do in life.”
Silence. Shining was the first to speak up, “...You’re messed up, kid.”
“Where I’m from, it’s a lot less uncommon than it should be. It’s also not as bad as other types of rites one might come across, especially if they’re magical.”
“Let me rephrase then,” Shining replied. “You’ve been messed up.”
“Oh dear Shining, you don’t know the half of it,” my colt answered self-deprecatingly. “It’s more, one fifteenth rather than one ha-”
“So you wanted to travel?!” Cadance interrupted in a panic. “Was that all you wanted to do? Certainly you’d want to settle eventually, right?”
I assumed she tried to hook towards settling where he already was. I also guess that my colt saw the hook and tried to dodge the subject.
“There’s a saying where I’m from. Men plan, the gods laugh. I try to not make a habit of making plans.” That seemed to upset Cadance. I suspect my colt noticed, because he started again, his tone even having a hint of being more caring. “But yes, I did plan on settling down eventually.”
Cadance smiled, “Really? What did you have planned?”
He sighed. “While keeping my less… sociable interests to myself, and once I’ve gathered some amount of coin to myself, I would likely one day like to build myself a cabin, at the outskirts of a country village. Perhaps work as an alchemist, though I’d probably take at least a year until I got the house just right. Then I’d just make an average living, interacting with the town just barely enough to be a recognized part of the community. I’d find a friend that’s actually intelligent enough to hold an interesting conversation with, whom I’d pressure into learning how to play chess. I’d marry an average girl, not too beautiful or too ugly, and have two kids. Then I’d retire when my children were either married off or successful, then spend the rest of my life playing chess with my friend and bothering my kids.”
'So much for not wanting to make plans.'
“And what about your wife?” Cadance inquired.
“Oh. She’d probably get tired of hearing me constantly prattling and divorce me as soon as the kids moved out.”
Shining guffawed at that. Cadance couldn’t help chuckling as well, “Really now? That’s not a very nice thing to say about your eventual wife.”
“What can I say? I’m not a very nice guy.”
She smiled leisurely. “Still, I’m sure you could find someone that’s right for you.”
“I already did once. I’m fairly certain it won’t happen again.”
That immediately put a damper on the two’s moods. Shining scratched his head awkwardly while Cadance seemed to have a dawning realization on her face.
“You really do miss her, don’t you?”
I didn't know what answer she expected for that. For his part, the colt seemed to take it in stride. He leaned back and let out a breath through his nostrils. “Yes, I do. Unfortunately, this matter isn’t something that can be helped, neither with necromancy,” he focused his view my way, "nor through mere talking."
“Certainly you’d be able to find a way to at least speak to her, couldn’t you?”
“No, I can’t,” he answered more tersely.
“Why not?” Cadance followed up, not relenting for a moment.
“Because of the circumstances of her death. Now leave it be.”
“No.”
I blinked in surprise at the retort. Going by my charge’s sudden silence, he wasn’t that much more cohesive either.
The pink alicorn followed up, “Aunt Luna said we have the Endless of Death here. We’re talking to her.” She stood up from the table, her face showing more fury than Hell in its entirety. Apparently, the matter scorned her quite a bit.
After a moment, my charge countered in frustration, “And do what? Ask her to just hand my wife over? While Death is laxer than her siblings, she does not work that way, far from it. Either we ask her for an exchange of some kind, or we ingratiate ourselves enough to her so she’d be willing to offer us just enough leeway to work for what we want. And let me tell you, you need to dedicate gallons worth of blood, sweat and tears for every inch.”
“Certainly she’d be willing to at least let you speak to her?”
He was defensive. I knew what he truly wanted, the same thing any widower would want no matter how much time passed. A natural want for something forbidden, the want to deny death and keep his loved one.
I decided to intervene, “I understand that this is immensely difficult for you.”
“And I sincerely doubt that you’ve lost anyone in the particular fashion I lost my wife.”
I was about to snap back at him at that, then took a breath to compose myself. ‘He’s very certain of what he said. And considering the kind of world he hails from…’ “...Yes, I believe you. But I must ask you to believe me as well when I say you do not wish to attempt to bring her back. Not because of the typical reasons why it is… problematic, to interfere with such matters of life and death, but because unlike in your world, here such spells are harmful in catastrophic ways. I have explained to you the nature of our magic, did I not
The last time a unicorn using forbidden magic had free rein, the entire realm descended into endless winter. Luckily such instances are extremely rare, otherwise, my sister and I would’ve had a far more difficult time uniting the clans over a far harsher realm than it is today. Especially considering how we’ve only been offered the Elements of Harmony some time after we’ve finished uniting the clans.
My charge realized what I was referring to, “...It springs from an empathic field connecting your kind. No wonder this realm reacted the way it did to my presence. I must be like a toxin to it.”
Spells drawn from hatred and fear poison the world. I was hoping he could find a way to draw something wonderful from his own craft, but this was not the way to do it.
I confirmed his revelation, "It's one thing to speak to the deceased and apply your magic to medicine, it's another thing entirely to resurrect the dead. There are some lines that must not be crossed."
He remained silent for a time until eventually, my child took a deep breath as he came to grips with the truth of the matter. He nodded stiffly in understanding. “...I would, like it very much, if I could see her again.”
One flash of magic and we found ourselves facing a peculiar sight. At another table in, oddly enough, my own bedchambers, surely enough there were two figures having tea. Also surely enough Celestia was in the midst of excitedly retelling some of her memories whilst Lady Death was paying attention with an easy smile on her face. Miss Delirium was spinning around the room, playing with her little sprites that were now either shifting in color or sparkling and dimming like Hearth’s Warming lights… with the addition of a certain draconequus laughing and literally swimming through the air among the diminutive beings, himself similarly alternating colors and light level across different parts of his body.
“...And when I arrived, the entire town was fighting over a little foal’s doll! Oh, the poor dear was- oh, hello Luna,“ Tia wrestled her attention to our arrival.
“Tia,” I answered in kind. “Uhm… why is Discord out?”
The second, darker figure at the table decided to answer, “After you left, I’m afraid my sister eventually became bored and wandered off. By the time we’ve noticed her absence, she already came across your… acquaintance? And had already released him…”
She briefly trailed off looking sheepish, and the odd amalgamate in question decided to speak up as he sprang up out of the ground amid our newly arrived group.
“Permanently!” the amalgamate cried out joyously with a flourish. And like any flourish from Discord, it involved fireworks, confetti and several noisemaker sounding off. Unlike any flourish however, it was then followed up with fair Delirium’s sprites being adorned with various particular instruments and apparel, then start performing what Shining Armor had at one point described to me was a mariachi song(*). To Delirium’s obvious delight, as she clapped her hands and started dancing to the melody.
The mismatched spirit then proceeded to wrap the four of us into an unwanted hug while expressing his joy, “I’ve been set free indefinitely through good ol’ chaotic magic, never to be held captive by such a pitiless punishment again! Oh, wondrous day!”
I held onto my charge tightly at the news, while seeking Tia for some manner of guidance on the matter. “He’s pulling a prank, right?”
Discord feigned being upset at my words as he let us go, surprisingly without dropping us. “Why Luna, I’m surprised at you!” He covered his eyes with the back of his lion's paw in mock grief, “After all we’ve been through, is that any way to greet your oldest non-sibling friend?”
I ignored the unhinged spirit and turned back to my sister, pleading, “Please tell me he’s pulling a prank.” Celestia could only shrug apologetically, an oddly un-distressed look on her face.
Discord seemed to quickly recover from his intense anguish, “Oh, don’t be like that! What ever did I do to deserve such treatment?”
“You tried to turn the entire world into a pandemonium of insanity,” I offered flatly.
“Ah yes, good times...” after a while of reminiscing of ponies screaming and dragons crying, he suddenly snapped back to the present, smiling sheepishly at me. “What I meant to say was, that I wish to put our past behind us.”
I gave him a deadpan, while Cadance and Shining shifted into more aggressive stances.
The former captain most certainly didn’t believe the spirit. “It doesn’t matter if we can’t use the Elements anymore, Discord! Somehow we will figure out another way to stop you!”
“Why how valiant of you… uhm…”
“Shining Armor,” I supplied.
“Shining Armor!” Discord resumed. “Truly, such inspiring words are the sort that poems are made from!”
My charge decided to voice his opinion, “I agree, it was pretty impressive.”
Upon hearing the new voice, the music slowed to a stop while the spirit blinked and stared as if finally noticing the foal in my grasp. “Huh. So I also meet someone who likes chaos like me, and another who makes similar jokes as mine on the same day I get out. Is it my birthday perchance?” His gaze briefly glanced over the Dark Lady before looking to the side at some point no one else could see, “Or did something happen that you’re not telling me?” He started rubbing his chin in deep thought, “Did I leave the stove on and burned down Aquastria? Did I tie someone to a set of train tracks in my sleep? Did my stamp collection mail itself to Tambelon causing a rift in space-time that will inevitably refract-”
“I am fairly certain nothing of the sort happened,“ I cut him off.
“Hmpf. Oh well, fine. I’ll just go over there to my new friend, who is a far better friend than either you or your sister have ever been, I might add.” He then walked away on his hind legs, appearing genuinely upset.
Cadance was about to address the Lady Death before the draconequus stretched back over to us and added, “Anyone who appreciates a bit of humor and diversity in their lives is welcome to join us.”
My colt realized he was likely the one being referred to. “I would like to, but we’re a bit of in the middle of a delicate situation right now. Definitely later though.”
The spirit shrugged in acceptance, “Alright, fine. Have fun doing your thing in the boring side of the pantheon.” Then he snapped back to his usual length with a distinctly wet elastic sound, and proceeded to show what seemed to be a card trick to young Delirium. A card trick that somehow involved a floating set of billiard balls.
“As much as I’m concerned about the literal antithesis to modern pony society, I’m still slightly more concerned with something else,” Cadance finally spoke, concern and pleading in her features as she turned to face the Endless in question, “Could you find it in your heart to reunite this poor colt with his dead wife?”
“So we meet again,” the Lady Death greeted the colt. He merely waved back in acknowledgement.
“...Wait, you already know each other?”
“I’m a necromancer,” my foal supplied. “It would be fairly difficult for me to be one if I didn’t know her. Also, you should know that it’s easy to reunite with the dead, but it’s not so easy to do so while not harming the one you’re bringing back. You should really be more specific about these things, you never know what entity you’re talking to that would merely do the minimum amount associated with the wording of your request. Death isn’t like that, but this is still very important.”
I interjected, “Child, perhaps you could be more straightforward on the matter. I know this is difficult, but unless we try-”
“There’s nothing to try,” he cut off. “She was exorcised, there’s nothing left to bring.”
Death had something to say about that. “Now child, is that really your knowledge on the matter?”
“...Very well, I’ll reiterate. There’s nothing I can grab onto in order to tether her back to the living realm, she passed on too far into a realm separate from our own in ways beyond mortal comprehension, because the realms beyond reality are a separate context where not even time or meaning work the same. Same reason why one can’t scry into the afterlife. Unless I’d have an immortal’s relationship with reality, with an immortal’s mental capabilities and an immortal’s boundless powers, then it would be akin to using a row boat and hand-length fishing net to catch a particular fish in an ocean that literally has no boundaries. Without either a map or compass.”
At first, we merely stood there. Then I started, “My colt, you literally have three demigods to help you with that.” He snapped his head to face me, his gaze shifting from sudden realization to careful contemplation.
“There’s more however. The exorcism complicates the procedure. There’s also the matter of the ten years since it happened, and I don’t even have anything from her for a tether-” His head snapped to Cadance, then pushed out of my hold and started pacing, now completely focused on the logistics of the matter.
He faced Death, “May we pass?”
She looked back at him quizzically, then regarded the table. “I suppose this counts as an offering.”
“I’m not courting you, all I’m asking is that you let us visit your realm. Do we have your permission?”
“You do.”
“I thank you,” he bowed again and resumed pacing. “Cadance can offer a line to follow once we pass the boundary. Unfortunately she’s very far gone, we’ll need to dive into realms the mortal mind is not meant for - and I don’t care how unaging you are, you’re demigods of balance and order, not even full-fledged gods of death can go that deep without dying themselves. We’ll need a buffer and a perception filter included in the spell. We can use my Reanimation spell, I’ve put every possible protection I could think of into it already for my travel through the Void Eternal. All we need left is a lot of power,” he faced me, “and a navigator experienced in traveling through astral projection.”
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I like it.
9027135
I'm happy to hear it.
9027170
Is hiatus means that this chapter will be the last one for a few months? Or you will be continuing the story with frequent (once in two weeks, once a month) updates?
Nice, new chapter ^^
Constructive criticism..? Duno, I quite like it.
Its not the "original"... but then again, that was never the point.
That its on hiatus always is kinda a bummer tho... but hey, free stuf/story... so see no reason to complain ^^
Cady needs a chill pill.
ol’ necro here has points, valid ones and she is being a bit of a bitch.
9027256
he has utterly infrequent updates ATM. i forget the reason why, but stick around, this is worth the wait.
9027256
Hiatus typically means "don't expect regular updates" when it doesn't mean "Don't expect any updates until I say otherwise."
An experienced navigator you say?
*looks at Discord*
I do like the banter between Shining and Necy and love the idea that he has the misguided idea of trying to be a role model to follow for him, I am sure Necy will delight torturing the pores soul until he tragically realizes that he actually bonded to Shining and actually seeks his approval to en extent. my minor gripe with the story is that I feel like it is stalling too much with a lot of exposition and info dump in explaining the nature of necromancy and while interacting gods spirits is interesting I feel it would have been better to show them much later when Necy is more established in this world. I think it would be best to space it apart more with several small slice of life stories while he explores and discover this pony world for himself along with using his skills to help ponies all the while creep the hell out of those around him. One of the story arc that I had wished the original had explored was to see Necy in a school setting for him to torture the foals with. I just feel that the story itself is stalling in in you desire to expand on everything.
By the way if you are ever interested in a personalized cover art for you story, you can do a commission for you if you are ever interested.
here is my DA gallery if you want to take a look.
https://www.deviantart.com/amalgamzaku
I think you're doing a very good job so far. My one complaint is that Luna mentions that he shouldn't try to get his wife back rather out of the blue. He was talking about how she's irrevocably gone... and then she tells him not to try? Did I miss something? That whole conversation felt weird.
The ending sounds promising. I wonder if she is/will become an alicorn, for balance (or will he just do something clever that stops her from aging, so she can stay with him)? I am slightly surprised that Death is going along with this, and it does seem sudden that they just zip off to go fetch her, though.
Dude this is nearly word for word of what Shikamaru from Naruto says instead of chess it was shogi, and minus the part about building a cabin and alchemy.
9027256
It means I'll be busy with real life and unlikely to upload at regular intervals. Regardless it will take less work to make these next few chapters since I had plenty of time to decide on what goes down in them, all the same my schedule will be no less unstable. It will be a possibility that I will go for weeks on end without internet connection due to work.
9027615
A matter that needs going into depth with. On one hand death is a component to being alive and what I was going for was closure, while on the other hand... well sorry but you'll have to wait lest I foreshadow and slip something out. But yeah, I'll likely look over that area of the update. The whole ending seemed a bit rushed after I saw it again.
Note to self. Upload link to google doc file onto site once I finish the next chapter, and then update the story.
9027702
And pressuring a friend. But yes, I do confess to the distinct possibility that I may have looked that quote up on google.
9027355
Yeah, I agree entirely. Pacing-wise this is kind of a mess, with a lot of exposition because at the time I started I had no precedent or inspiration for main character anti-villains and needed to fit a lot of exposition to endear him to the reader.
As for the pacing, I'm kinda just taking this story one character interaction at a time. It certainly would've been a good idea upon retrospect if I added a few days's preparation as a condition to the spell contacting the Endless...
I am now tempted to make a minor edit and add said requirements to the spell, meanwhile inserting a few extra chapters in the time addition with nothing but miscellaneous shenanigans going on.
This is the type of thing why I take so long to update.
No school setting though. Unless it's a section of Tartarus filled with other villains. Actually, that would be brilliant...
I'll certainly keep your info in mind, but now is just not a good time.
9027332
It's Cadance. Love is, like, 80% of her identity. The idea was that this would be personal to her.
Thanks for the input, i really appreciate it.
I don't know why but I pictured this scene so vividly at the end of this chapter, also thanks for writing enjoying this fic
9028003
i get that, imma just sayin’ that she is coming on a bit stronk.
Plans are an invitation to disappointment.
9028003
I suppose I will put what I want to say as a spoiler just in case, but... Didn't this story use to have more chapters? It's been a while since I've read this story, but I'm pretty sure I remember someone from the necromancer's world trying to scry him out with a divination spell, Luna teaches him how to access his domain in which he ends up befriending the spirit of a bucket headed knight he killed, and not sure about this one, but, something about fixing the souls of the changelings because they were broken in a sense? I read a lot of stories on this site, sometimes up to 4 at once, so I could just be confusing this with other stuff. If I am remembering this right though, what happened and will it be added back?
9046621
As this is a remake of the original, I intend on avoiding the things that happened in the original. While it did have its unique charm that I'm having trouble putting my finger on what it was, I am trying to recreate it through similar themes to the ones in the original.
So no, no crippled mage scrying for the necromancer, and it's now evident that alicorns aren't gods leading afterlife realms in my interpretation. Or gods at all.
As for the changeling battle? I went over several ideas, noted down some of the better ones, decided on a creative twist on their origin that I may or may not have briefly poked at, and am ultimately leaving it for when I get to that point. Cross the bridge when I get to it.9028846
9044954
On one hand, we have world peace, and petty thefts are rare to say the least, hence the lack of field practice Cadance mentioned. On the other, we have a constant threat in the form of manticores, hydras and what-have-you coming out of the Everfree. My argument was that it would be better overall to forgo hoof-to-hoof specializations and drillings a bit in favor of a bit greater competence in dealing with the odd Sombra Jr. or magic dinosaur or body-snatching changelings.
As for their lack of organization during Necky's rampage, I estimated it would take about five minutes for them to finally understand what was happening and five more minutes for Shining to catch wind and gather a mob. If he didn't do that, then they'd need another twenty or so minutes to finally stop twiddling their thumbs and admit that he's far more competent than they were willing to give him credit for.
9061742
Did you just use the reply function to get my quote for use as part of a reply to someone else?
9061793
I figured it was fitting. Crossing bridges, not making plans. I may have been wrong.
9062000
Just checking.
9062000
Well, glad I'm not going crazy. Guess time will tell if this new direction is better then, keep updating it and I will pop back in from time to time for some binge reading.
9061742
Having read both, I do enjoy both but maybe cut back on lines that sound (to me at least) as passive aggressive.
I will admit bias though in that I really enjoy the original and I hope that one day that story is also continued.
9158447
Since the world threw the necromancer a bone and he managed to get his wife back, I can afford to make him mellow out and not be as likely to make a mountain out of a molehill. However expect his paranoia to be put into high gear since he now has something to lose.
How dare you ask me to criticize you in the way you please. You get the criticism you deserve, not the criticism you want.
11417749
I suppose that part was a little awkward, wasn't it?