Overlord Kirin sat brooding atop his throne… such as it was. Little more than a cobbled together amalgamation of the debri in the throneroom of Canterlot Castle, it was ill-suited to his size and form. Still, he’d at least made the point of smashing all the windows and destroying the thrones of Celestia and Luna. He’d also taken great pleasure in using pieces of those thrones to keep his new pet in place. It was one of the few pleasures he’d had that night.
He had expected setbacks. In truth, the overt attacks on Equestrian cities had not been intended to cause significant damage before his troops were to withdraw. The statement to be made was simple: we can and will attack you in your homes, and kill you at will. Be afraid.
One or two cities would have resisted, certainly. In truth, the total losses in Cloudsdale had been anticipated, but he’d also anticipated some results. He’d taken Canterlot, but with almost no ponies left in the city, and most particularly both princesses escaping, it was a hollow victory.
As such he had no real results. He looked sternly down at his Grand Marshal, who had kneeled at the bottom of the steps leading to his throne. Grand Marshal Maegren was nearly seven feet tall, and thin. Light blue skin contrasted ebon claws on his four fingered hands, along with three horns of the same hue. His ears were little more than holes in the sides of his head, under the curling horns that rose from his temples. The third resembled a unicorn horn, not unlike what Kirin’s pet had once had. Aetheryte had been embedded into all three horns, as well as in his body. It had taken three times what Kirin had used to bring out Garken’s full strength, but the result was worth it. Maegren was more loyal to him than Garken had ever been, and now he was even stronger than that traitor.
“Report.” Kirin demanded… though to Maegren it was King Briareus making the demand. The disguise would continue to be necessary for some time. It mattered not.
“The last holdouts in the castle have been routed, my king,” Maegren said, keeping his eyes downcast.
“The pegasus thief?”
“...We were unable to capture her, Your Majesty. Several of the guards escaped, and her with them. Three of them paid for that escape with their lives. We lost a Warbrave Elite in the process.”
Kirin ground his teeth. He didn’t have that many strong warriors to spare, and almost no remaining aetheryte to enhance them. Even worse… “So… no captives?”
Maegren tensed. “No, my king.”
He looked over at the Discord statue, which was still lacking its head. Kirin held that head in his left hand. It was the only way to be sure… With the Giottus Sphere gone, plans would need to accelerate. “I see. What of the expedition beneath the city and into the mountain?”
“We have unearthed a great deal of aetheryte, but it is of low grade, unsuitable for storing large quantities of magical energy.”
“For the short term, it will suffice. We can refine it enough to use for at least the lesser alicorns, or some of the other potent souls of this world,” Kirin said, glancing a moment at his pet.
She snorted dismissively, looking brazenly back at him.
“Luring them apart will be the key now. Do we have any further information about the attack on Ponyville?”
Maegren shook his head, still looking at the floor. “No, Your Majesty. No survivors got out, the opening attack was destroyed in mid-air, and most of our soldiers were hurled into space via an anti-gravity enchantment. Records were scavenged from the wreckage of Clades, on the Moon. ...The destruction was nearly total.”
Kirin grimaced, careful to keep the half of his face on his pet’s side neutral. He had anticipated Celestia using the sun against him. The Eastern General had been an absolute menace during the previous war here, and she hadn’t even been an alicorn for a good part of that. Now she was linked to Equus’ false star? He had no intention of letting her use it against him.
But he’d underestimated Luna. The younger sister was an artist... a painter! She was a quiet, shy thing drawn into that war only reluctantly, when her sister and their allies had required the help of another alicorn. The power, and the isolation of that power, had slowly driven her to madness. And yet...
...And yet a painter had smashed his ship, his home for 1500 years, with an oversized, glorified rock. He would take her home from her in exchange. In truth he already had, but he’d only just begun.
Besides… the Clades had been his home in exile. Equus was his home again. And he intended to redecorate. “It matters not. The Spires have successfully landed. Have there been any responses?”
“No, my king. We’ve kept careful watch around them, and each General reports no activity nearby. The stealth fields are intact, and the turmoil of our attacks on their cities has diverted attention perfectly. Just as you predicted, my king, we can detonate all eight at any time.”
“Excellent. Send General Ferrana to Hollow Shades, to begin mining operations. You are dismissed.”
“Yes, my king,” Maegren stood, bowed, and spun sharply on his heel.
Raven snorted derisively as the double doors shut behind him. “Spineless sycophant… your people could be on the verge of ruin and you’d never hear it from him.”
Kirin’s eyes met hers, though he didn’t turn his head. Her horn was gone, and one eye was swollen shut. Her fur was mottled with dried blood and two of her limbs were broken. You’d never have known it from the calm strength in her voice. Kirin couldn’t decide what he wanted to do about that. For now, it amused him to let her keep her defiance.
Yes… do keep telling yourself that…
His eye twitched… That damn voice in his head… He looked down at the petrified visage in his hand. Discord seemed to grin back at him. He shook away the thought. “He knows his place, and has faith in his king.” He replied to her.
“He fears you. That’s not the same as faith.”
“Hmph. ...I could break you, you know. What you’ve suffered so far is nothing… though it proves your pain tolerance is more impressive than expected. It’s nothing compared to what I could do, or have done, should I wish it. Perhaps I’ll give you to that ‘spineless sycophant’, and see what he thinks of your opinion.”
“I’ll turn him against you in a day, and watch you kill him for his betrayal.”
Kirin snarled, and the wall next to her head exploded, showering her with white hot shards of marble. She shut her good eye briefly as her coat charred in several places. She looked at the hole his power had made. “Little to the left,” she coaxed, smiling placidly.
He stared at her, briefly enraged, before laughing again. “You should join me, little pony. If my Grand Marshal is so spineless, perhaps you can show him how it’s done.”
She tilted her head, frowning as though confused. “I doubt you could match my current job’s perks. It’s pertinent to our situation as well: I even cuddle with the embodiment of the Sun in my off hours. One must develop a thick carapace. These thuggish beatings don’t really register.”
He chuckled. “I’ve just been passing the time. It amuses me to hear your take on things, for now. But consider the offer… What I want from Celestia need not end her life. Sacrificing her as an alicorn… I could spare her as a pony. She would be… broken, but alive. A gift, for my newest General. You could nurse her back to health. I’m sure she would be most grateful...”
Raven laughed. “I do believe I lack the raw combat prowess of most of your military. Not to mention my magic is working rather poorly just now." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Ugh, pouring the tea is going to be a nightmare, for awhile…”
Kirin shot up, smashing one of the arms of his improvised throne in the process. “You mock me?! How are you so calm?!” He stomped over to her, cracking the marble floor, to tower over her. She looked up at him, unmoved. “It’s impossible! You’ve scarcely reacted to anything! Drugs?! Some spell?! TELL ME!!”
Raven stared up at him a moment, and then looked around as though checking the room. She gestured him forward, as though to whisper a secret. His eyes narrowed, and he refused to play along. She shrugged, and went back to staring placidly. He sighed angrily and leaned down. She leaned towards his ear, and whispered:
“Love sustains me.”
He shouted in rage and smashed his fist into the side of her face, knocking out more of her teeth. She grinned up at him, showing off the bloody mouth with aplomb. “You asked,” she said simply, with a slight lisp now.
“You…!” He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her until the shackles holding her to the wall clanked. “...I will find your secrets, in time…” He dropped her roughly to the floor. “Until then… stop trying to get me to kill you. At the rate you’re going, by the time I do you won’t even notice, no matter what it is you’re doing to avoid the pain.”
“I wasn’t lying, though,” she said simply, picking herself slowly up from the floor.
“Hmph. We’ll see, in time. If hurting you doesn’t matter… we’ll see what hurting others means to you. Remember, I gave you the chance to save her.”
“She’ll save herself… and me.”
He kicked her one last time, getting no response, before storming from the throneroom.
Had he walked back in, he’d have seen her break down into rough, racking sobs.
------------------------------------------
Ponyville had taken the attack more or less in stride, at least from a local standpoint. Then again, it had been the second least affected target. As Aiden looked up at the shimmering shield surrounding Canterlot, he suspected he knew the most affected...
A twitch in the aether heralded her arrival. She’d become quite adept at using his power, almost as much as he was, in such a short time. Then again, if that gravity magic was any indication, he had more he could learn as well… “Hello, Rarity.”
“Hello, darling. Come up here to brood?”
He chuckled. “Whatever do you mean?”
She rolled her eyes, looking down from the highest flat roof of Twilight’s Castle, where they now both sat. “Setting aside that any pegasus could get up here easily, I assume you came up to be alone. But if you really wanted that, you could have shut me out of your ability.”
“I could have…”
She tapped her horn lightly to his elbow, getting him to raise his arm. When he did, she sidled up next to him underneath it, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for not doing so. Now, what’s troubling you?”
He put his arm back down, hugging her lightly and tracing a hand down her foreleg. With a quiet sigh, he replied, “I reached for Keia’s sword when I saw those bastards. Not my bastons, and frankly I didn’t even need those. They were all weak, just the lowest level grunts." He exhaled loudly. "...At first I thought it was a flashback… like I was remembering the first attack I experienced.” He shook his head. “But that’s not it. I was angry at myself. I should’ve seen this coming, should have prepared for it, should have… done something. We knew, when Garken vanished, with all the knowledge he’d gained, that this was possible. But even saying that…”
She nuzzled him. “What could we have done? Handed out doomsday warnings to everypony we passed? For something that might not happen? Something that Sidera’s Veil was supposed to prevent? This isn’t all on us. We can help fix it, but we don’t need to do it alone.” She smiled. “I didn’t get home on my own… and we’re not on our own here, either.”
“Yeah… I just hope they’re all okay. I can’t imagine nopony was hurt, but I can hope for it...”
“Ponies are resilient… everything Equestria has been through in the last few years speaks to that.” She smiled at him. “Another thing we have in common with humans, I think.”
“I’d make a list… but we’d never get anything else done.”
“Don’t worry, darling, I’m sure Twilight will get around to making one. But speaking of Twilight, I told her I’d bring you. She wants to put together a plan of action before anyone sleeps tonight.”
Aiden cocked an eyebrow. “Surprised she’s willing to sleep at all, under the circumstances. It’s a prudent choice, though. Running off in the middle of the night to try to help could play right into the Oni’s hands.”
“Princess Celestia said the same. She sent Twilight a letter, from where she and Luna are, along with most of Canterlot. With what she’s said and Twilight's gathered, the other cities attacked have fared well, too.”
“Wait, back up… they aren't in Canterlot?”
“Discord teleported the citizens all out before the shield went up, and the princesses shortly after.”
“...Huh…" He let out a sigh of relief. "Well that’s impressive. So why’s the shield still up?”
“I…” Rarity frowned. “I honestly don’t know.”
Aiden nodded, considering. “It means at some point they replaced the princesses’ shield with one of their own and we missed it. Then again it wouldn’t have taken long and we were pretty busy here. Either they want to fortify, or it’s a lure. ...Or both. Either way, let’s get going.” He stood up, stretching lightly as he did so, but also running his fingers along the edge of her ear.
She made a contented little noise as he did so, rubbing said ear along his fingertips. “Shame we didn’t get a full day together here before something went wrong. Not even one spa trip!” Her magic pulled him back down, and she leaned up, kissing him on the lips. “I’m not sure how I feel about stealing small moments in between saving the world.”
“Haven’t you sort of been living your life that way for years? I mean… to hear you tell it…”
“Oh, it hasn’t been that bad, darling, I mean, it’s not every week or… anything…” her eyes narrowed. “I need a vacation.”
He chuckled. “Darling, I’m with you. So let’s walk the road together. We’ll find a nice place to stop and have a picnic… somewhere down the line.” He held out his hand, giving a half-bow as he did so.
She smiled up at him, and placed a hoof in that hand. “Oh fine… but can that ‘nice place’ be a hot spring? With masseuses?”
“I’ll keep my eyes open.” With that, they vanished from the rooftop.
------------------------------------------
With Rarity gently directing their exit portal, they set down in the map room. Twilight and the other Bearers were already there, along with a few other ponies Aiden didn’t know, and a couple of griffons in light armor. While he’d seen a few of their race in Canterlot, he hadn’t viewed one up close. They were slightly larger than ponies, though they (or at least the ones he’d taken note of so far, including these two) seemed to possess slightly lower magical reserves. He suspected the two aspects balanced out, giving what he’d heard of their generally cordial (if limited) interactions with Equestria. And these two, at the least, were well-armed, competent seeming, and here to help. Good enough for Aiden.
Twilight nodded to them, and her horn lit, drawing everyone’s attention. “Thank you all for being here. First I’d like to introduce Knight Lieutenant Aiden Windborne, of the planet Earth, for those that hadn’t met him yet. He’s a hero of his world, and has faced the threat we now see before us for much of his life. I’m sure his advice and help will be invaluable if we’re to repel this invasion.”
“I’ll do everything I can,” he said, saluting her and giving a nod of respect to those in attendance he didn’t recognize.
“To clarify, he brought Rarity home to us, after she was magically taken to his world via an artifact left on our own, from these very same invaders. The war we face played out once before here, fifteen hundred years prior.”
“Nice to get a break from the old ‘one thousand years ago’ cycle,” Spike muttered.
“Spike, this is serious.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean we stop laughing. If we do they’ve already won.”
“Preach it, my dragon brother!” Pinkie shouted, raising a hoof, which he bumped with a grin.
Twilight smiled proudly at him. “You’re right… my mistake, Spike.”
“Nah, you were right, too. It is serious. Keep going.”
She nodded. “Aiden, allow me to introduce Sir Gram and Dame Gwendolyn of the Knights of the White Wing. They’re a band of Knights-errant that roam Equestria, with Celestia’s approval, and lend help where needed.”
Gram bowed to Aiden. “We’re a small group, but we’re well-connected throughout the land, Equestria and Griffonia… though back home we mostly answer to the Knights of Griffonstone as a branch of their chapterhouse. Though that’s mattered less since Sir Gawain took charge, thankfully.” Gwendolyn elbowed him, and made a circling ‘get on with it’ motion with one claw. “Ahh, yes… so. Here, we have more autonomy. And recently, twelve days ago to be exact, we witnessed an attack on a small village, where a particular pony had been staying. That in itself would be odd enough, though the occasional chimera or even dragon attack around the wilder borders isn’t unheard of…”
“But the attackers were Oni…” Aiden surmised. So they had gotten here first... damn it.
“Got it in one, my boy, yes!” Gram replied with a wide grin. Aiden blinked, realizing Gram was a bit older than he’d first realized. It wasn’t easy to tell. Then again, how does he know I’m not old? Eh, whatever. Gram continued. “Also of interest was the pony they attacked, for she was no resident of that village. Tempest Shadow was taken, but not without quite a fight. Unfortunately, the neophyte who witnessed the conflict couldn’t bring himself to intervene. Bout of nerves when he saw what he’d have been up against…”
“No, I don’t blame him. The Oni can be damn scary, the stronger ones anyway… I remember you telling me about a Tempest Shadow, Rarity. The pony with the broken horn that tried to take over Canterlot, wasn’t she?”
“...She got better.”
“Right, I just mean she’s a solid fighter, which is why I assume they went for her… Oni prefer a good fight. The whole point of their shock and awe approach to warfare is to draw out challengers brave enough to take them on.”
“Well! They’ll find plenty here!” Gram stated boldly.
Aiden grinned and nodded to him. “Damn right. But what would they want with this Tempest? You said they took her?”
“Cost them a couple of their number, but yes. They all teleported away somehow after she’d been subdued.”
“She’s already free,” Twilight put in, and all eyes turned back to her. “She’s in Baltimare, helping with the recovery there.”
“And how do you know that, darling?”
Twilight smiled. “Because I’m there, too.” There were several startled noises.
Rarity’s eyes narrowed. “...Darling. Am I speaking to a changeling right now?”
“What? No, no, nothing like that. Starlight and I perfected her combination spell of Accelero and Similo Duplexis. We call it Duplex Crepusculum. It uses a lot of magic… but it lets you be in two places at once, even for long periods over long distances! Best of all, you can share the experiences of both places and have your full repertoire of spells available for both halves of yourself… so long as you’re okay being at half power.”
“So… since before we’d arrived… that's why you’ve been at half your magic,” Rarity said.
Twilight nodded. “My other self has been searching for Tempest, along with the White Wing Knights.” She grimaced. “It hadn’t occurred to me she’d been taken to a ship that was hiding behind the moon…”
“Understandable,” Aiden said. “...I hate to ask this… but what happens if one of you gets hurt… or worse?”
“Oh, well… I assume you mean ‘if one of me dies’?”
He grimaced, but nodded. It was war, after all…
“Whatever magic, and well… me that survives transfers to the other me completely, via a subspace teleportation contingency variation of Starswirl’s Third Aetheric Conduit Transfer, supplemented by Minute Hand’s Counter-clock Tick and Clover’s Mortal Coil Recoil.”
Aiden blinked. “Well okay then.”
Spike chuckled. “Welcome to my world.”
Twilight continued as though nothing had happened. “If a 'me' is somehow completely destroyed, it'll just take longer for the other to recover... sort of like using half your magic in an instant. So... a couple minutes at most."
Aiden blinked. A couple minutes, she says, from one of her dying? ...I may have underestimated this mare... and I like it.
"The point, for now, is that when they took Tempest they interrogated her for information about Equestria. We’re lucky they did; she’s tough enough to make it through that experience and even gave them false information, maybe, while she was at it. Their attack was a result of that."
She highlighted several points on the map, which Aiden had already realized was emanating crazy amounts of magic. The aetheric concentration was higher than a Creation Engine, and yet there was something calming about it. Looking at the map, he suddenly wished they could just make friends with the Oni, solve this peaceably and just go back to partying. I'd rather be dancing with Rarity... but I mean duh...
"The Crystal Capital was unaffected," Twilight went on, pointing to the representation on the map. "Shining Armor and Cadance shielded the city so perfectly that even the gravity drive opened out into the snow. ...And then there was a dragon.” A tiny, pink shield covered the Crystal Capital's map image, and a little dragon swooped in to freeze even smaller Oni images into comical blocks of ice.
Rarity snickered, Aiden laughed aloud.
"The worst hit was Manehattan, simply because nopony was able to stop the tower that took the first shot from falling. There were many injuries, but the City Guard finally repelled the invaders." Aiden grimaced at the more familiar scene that played out. A burst of fire smashed through the tallest building, and there was open fighting amongst the tiny images in the streets. "They’ll have a lot of work ahead rebuilding. Ponyville will be sending a construction team to help with repairs and building design. Coco Pommel has already volunteered time and bits to the endeavor."
Rarity smiled. "Of course she has."
Applejack nodded. “This town’s gotten pretty good at rebuildin’, too. We won't leave her wantin' for help.”
“Hoofington was also hit, though damage was minimal. Apparently, a crazy pony with some sort of gambler Cutie Mark took down most of the invading force, while drunk, with the help of a few of her friends." Aiden blinked as several images representing a motley crew of ponies engaged a group of Oni images, only for the whole thing to vanish covered by the word 'censored' in red. "The first shot fired there hit a well-shielded tower that absolutely doesn’t house a branch of a secret agency that operates in a clandestine fashion throughout Equestria…” she trailed off into nearly a growl, staring daggers at the mare Aiden remembered as Bon Bon, who looked away while whistling in complete nonchalance.
Twilight rolled her eyes before continuing. “Unfortunately, while we know the citizens of Canterlot are safe, along with Celestia and Luna, we know little that's happening in the city proper. We'll be addressing that in the morning with a scouting party. But before that, last but not least of those represented here is Cloudsdale. I present Captain Spitfire, commander of the Wonderbolts.”
A fiery maned pegasus stepped forward from the small group of ponies that had been seated together in the corner of the room, listening quietly. Alongside her came a copper coated filly with a white mane and red eyes. Aiden looked at her, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. Huh… weird.
“Nice to meet you,” Spitfire said, holding up a hoof, which he absently bumped. “Cloudsdale made it through fine, not even any serious injuries... or anyway nothing that won't be healed up in a few weeks tops. They really weren’t too good fighting in the air, and shooting an empty stadium constructed of cloud bricks isn’t too big a deal. Frankly, this whole thing feels like a smokescreen. They hit us with a bunch of rookies. If it weren’t for the question mark surrounding Canterlot I’d think this whole thing was some big prank.” The little filly poked Spitfire’s foreleg, getting the Wonderbolt’s attention. “Oh yeah… and this is Joyous Riot, who wanted to meet you. She, well…”
Rarity stepped forward, smiling at the filly. “She’s the pony who was having dreams about us, and what we needed to know, while I was back on Earth. You gave me just the bit of inspiration I needed when I needed it. Thank you!”
The filly smiled back. “You’re welcome! I’m really happy I got to help a friend of Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow chuckled from her seat at the map table, buffing a forehoof against her chest airily, but Aiden barely noticed…
Joyous… Riot? ...Riot’s blade divides the wind.
But that had been…
‘I don’t suppose I could get my sword back?’
‘Sanity, however you pretend to define it, does not entice us.’
‘...Be well, little hero.’
Aiden exhaled sharply, astonished. It couldn’t be…
...Keia?
Ooooh, reincarnation madness.
Also no surprise Garken? I am anticipating the heart attack of our knightly duo when he pops up.
No one thought to mention Garken? That's not a reveal we want happening in the midst of a tense combat zone, that's how friendly-fire happens.
I am getting a feeling that the Oni’s are not going to walk away for this alive.
O this is going to be so good.
pass the pop corn Pinkie.
...Blackjack?
Oh, Hoofington. And the details are censored. Gotta be Blackjack.
Hey now, you know I was kidding about that megaspell remark earlier, right?
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Well... it would be a couple hundred years early in the wrong timeline... but it's not like we'd expect her to fully make sense anyway. Just a fun little shout out though; I have too many characters already
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Hehe, that comment came through while I was responding to another. But yeah, just a fun little shout out; I didn't ask Somber to use his character (although technically would I need to? Ain't like I called Hasbro about the others...).
The closest thing the Oni have to Megaspells is the Spires. Then again... I did mention those here and earlier when Garken and Tempest were escaping, didn't I...?
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That particular revelation was put off for a reason (in universe, even), but nothing like waiting until a fight. We've all seen crap like that devolve into an easily avoidable misunderstanding and it just feels like lazy writing in the form of Idiot Ball. I'm not doing that. And... it's not much of a spoiler, since the next chapter is titled 'Reunions' and will be sometime early next week at the latest.
As usual, you guys are awesome, and thanks for reading and commenting!
Wait, now I'm confused - why is Tempest confused about Twilight being able to teleport?
So that's what Twilight has been up to. Being in two places at once is kinda an awesome trick, but the downside of having your power halved seems pretty steep. I mean, getting information from far away is a good trick, but that just screams to me "they need proper long way communications equipment in Equestria!" Granted, I dunno how strong each half of Twilight is, but I doubt it's anything too impressive - seems like a very good way to lose both halves to enemies/attacks that a single, fully powered one could have withstood.
Also - can't wait to see Rarity's and Aiden's reactions when Twilight reveals what company Tempest keeps these days, she didn't quite get to it during this briefing
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The teleport thing is a joke about the movie... because in the movie Twilight never teleported, and I was annoyed about it. It's basically her signature spell and she never used it. As such... Tempest has canonically never seen her do it, and is probably scratching her head because it would have come in handy a few times.
As to the upside/downside of Twilight's ability... while you make a fair point, who says 'use it in combat'? Or, if you do, don't stand next to each other so that one massive attack can hit you both. The only way right now would be taking down both of her, in separate locations, at the exact same time. Otherwise the survivor knows what happened and can make herself scarce (maybe by teleporting... which she can do, movie writers ) while recovering the lost aether.
Twilight, for all her power, has never been a warrior, never had that mindset. I do not consider that a weakness, or a bad thing. Really, the Princess of Friendship probably shouldn't be developing spells based on 'how well can I kill things with this?'. To me, it's the reason Starlight held her own in a duel with Twi, despite being weaker in terms of raw power (even if not by much, Star's pretty damn strong and I'm fine with that too).
If I were to write up a brief synopsis of those two, and throw in Rarity as our protagonist (or one of them anyway), while focusing on their differences, it'd look something like this:
Twilight: in terms of raw magical ability, she's at the top of this list. She learns and practices magic the old fashioned way and she's damn good at it. She can and does innovate, but as often as not the innovations are for their own sake, or for magic's own sake, rather than practical application (unless you think mustaches serve a greater purpose... and you may be right). On the other hand, really analyze how she got rid of the Ursa Minor. And that was years ago... More recently, a mass stun/hold spell that stopped a pretty large melee, and held them all in place long enough for Fluttershy to give a whole speech about why they should stop fighting. A wizard, in DnD terms.
Starlight: extremely gifted unicorn who made some bad choices that would end up defining her development. Self taught, she has no respect for magic in itself, rather as means to an end. She develops and improves spells based on what she can mold them into to suit her purposes, even twisting Starswirl's time travel magic into something horrifying. Her willpower and drive push her past the limits most unicorns wouldn't even attempt. A sorcerer, in DnD terms.
Rarity: another unicorn for whom magic is means to an end. Rarity is an artist, and magic is as much her medium in creating beauty as fabric and gemstones. Her spells aren't as advanced or powerful because her talents run a broader spectrum than magic alone, and we note in the show that she's much more physical than the other two here, while still capable of impressive magical feats from time to time. A bard, in DnD terms.
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Ah, got it on the teleport thing. Yeah that was pretty silly, considering teleporting is indeed Twilight's most signature spell in any manner of situations. To be fair I tend to pretend the movie doesn't exist (and thankfully, there is no real reason to consider it canon) because, like you alluded to, much of it depends on plot inducted stupidity. Don't even get me started on the sheer insanity that is using - and succeeding!- what is essentially petrification grenades against a bunch of powerful telekinetics The whole movie should have started and ended when Tempest tried to lob one of her stones at the princesses and had it thrown back at her mid-throw
*Ahem*
And true, Twilight's ability to split herself in two does have applications in non-combat situations. It's just that ... this is a story about combat, with a war on the horizon no less, and as such one's ability to perform in combat is effectively more important than anything else and the most direct and important measure of a character's worth. As such, it's hard not to immediately jump to the "how is this going to hold up in combat" lens for analyzing things, because that's what ultimately matters - perhaps the only thing that matters at the end of the day, because if your side doesn't hold up in the combat role then nothing else will matter at all in short order
I mean, it's all well and good if Twilight has more powerful magic than Rarity and some parlor tricks, but if Rarity can kick Twilight up and down the street like an empty can if it came down to a fight, then all that magic is basically useless as it's only the end result that matters when the chips are down :P (And I think the Princess of Friendship (which is just a self-assigned title anyway) definitely should develop some spells with the explicit purpose of combat in mind; as a Princess and one of the stronger mages of the realm, the safety of her subjects should be her primary concern, and she is in a unique position to do so thanks to her magical affinity. Considering all the danger Equestria keeps being subjected to as of late, and the skin of the teeth they are pulling through, I'd say it's supremely neglectful of her not to give it at least some thought).
If you don't mind a few more questions about the spell: can Twilight willingly "merge" at any given point? Can she choose which location she appears at? If she does so willingly (as opposed to it being triggered by one copy being destroyed), can she regain her magical reserve instantly? How intensely do sensations transfer over? Could you incapacitate one by, say, delivering an electric shock to the other? Does stealing/suppressing the magic of one impact the other, or their ability to "recall" said affected half of the magic?
And yeah, that seems like a fairly accurate description of the three! (Though if we are nitpicking, I dunno if I would consider Starlight nearly as strong as Twilight, magic wise (though Starlight is still very powerful, obviously!) - it's true that she held Twilight off, but considering that Twilight had to go through a hostile mini adventure every time the portal sucked her through and waste more magic and energy in the process, plus having to recast time travel spells by herself each time, as opposed to Starlight who only had to disrupt the race to have the portal appear and suck Twilight away through no extra effort on her own and could use the time in-between Twilight's reappearances to recuperate ...
It's like one of them was running on a straight and clean racetrack, while the other one was trundling through a swamp-filled obstacle course. That they seemed to tire at roughly the same rate despite Twilight's vastly more difficult ordeal and more difficult goal (subduing Starlight non-lethally, as opposed to Starlight simply having to disrupt the race in some way) was a very good showing of Twilight's endurance. Still, while she might not have Twilight's magical reserve, Starlight obviously has plenty and by far the sharper mind at dissecting and analyzing problems and the better mindset for reaching her goals.
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I probably shouldn't spend so much time thinking on these things
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This got lengthy... so the TL:DR is as follows: Twilight is more awesome than you're giving her credit for, simple answers and power numbers don't do her (or anyone) justice. Now then...
Hmm... I don't really agree with a lot of that. So let's get started...
I uhh... know what my story's about. This isn't a fighting game; I don't measure a character's value based on their ability in a 1 vs 1. War is not that simplistic. Compare Grumman's worth to Aiden's in the whole scheme of things, either the war on Earth or just getting Rarity home. Grumman can't fight worth a damn compared to pretty much everyone else in the story, but he certainly still had great value to the conflict as a whole: a tactician, planner, and organizer. If you think those things don't matter in war, and don't benefit from geniuses handling them... then I'm not sure I can help you.
You don't think we should determine our own way in the world? If you're right, and it is self-assigned, then she decided who she would be. I support that idea.
Setting aside that she barely has subjects, especially since you just said it's a self-assigned title... She's not a warrior princess even if she has magical ability. Celestia and Luna don't fly around solving crimes (that we know of), and not just because it's not that kind of show.
Fluttershy could easily train her animals to kill invaders. Should she? I'll just leave that as a rhetorical.
As to 'neglectful to dangers' ...well that lack of prep is on the show writers, but it's never going to happen. The show isn't a fighting anime and it's not going to become one. You're never going to see it go that direction, all military/training montages. Just... no. It's not in the show's tone. They break from it, slightly, during finales and such, but you're not going to see them gear up for fights, magically or otherwise, the way you describe. 'Skin of the teeth' will continue in canon, like it or not.
As such, I didn't want to just turn Twilight into Goku. Her brother went into the Guard; she didn't. Keep that in mind, even here when I DO take things in a more violent direction than the show tends to. You will see her fight, I promise you that. But she'll fight like Twilight Sparkle... not a Dragonball Z shout out (as much fun as that Tirek fight was to watch...). I look forward to writing it, but until then, I suggest you don't sell her short based on your obsession with punching power.
Twilight has organized this whole meeting, coordinating an entire nation's worth (more actually) of fighters almost before the first attack had happened. The meeting isn't even over yet; I just reached a good stopping point (for those wondering about the Garken revelation...). Not focusing on combat? I think you missed the part where Twilight is basically wearing a General's hat right now, and you don't even know what else she's capable of, because it hasn't happened yet.
No, I don't mind discussing my own work... clearly XD.
Yes, yes, and yes.
Not at all, just memories; the two don't share physical bodies or nervous systems, just aetheric consciousness (similar to what keeps Garken alive when his brain is torn open, from an earlier chapter). Second question here: No, you would only affect the one you hit, though that example wouldn't affect either of them (electrical shock on a pony that's part pegasus? Even Derpy barely cares about lightning...)
No impact on the other via theft/suppression, same as your other question. Sharing awareness doesn't mean you're actually there. And the unaffected half can break the affect (the same as anypony could break a cage, or shackles, or whatever) in terms of suppression, given proximity. This could even include a separate teleport spell to grab the affected half if normal recall is blocked. Twilight doesn't need line of sight to 'port something; we've seen that much in the show. Theft would affect recall though, since stolen magic would no longer be hers to recall. So she'd have to reclaim it from the thief, assuming that's possible, or just recover from the loss. As we've seen in canon when Twilight exhausts herself... she recovers quickly.
Which plays into your point about her endurance and the fight with Starlight. Granted, I did say 'even if not by much'... I completely agree that she had more endurance and a larger pool of magic to draw from. Since then, I'm of a mind that they've both improved... we'll see where I go with it.
And don't worry... I think we all think about this too much. But hey, it gets me through my boring (but bill paying) job.
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I can do TL:DR!
War can be that simplistic, depending on the power discrepancy of the sides involved. And given the exotic abilities and personal prowess that can allow specific individuals to be exponentially more powerful than the norm, that's more murky than usual. The abilities of your planners, your generals, your tacticians only start to matter when your soldiers can actually put up a good fight against the aggressors. If you lack that basic ability then the rest don't matter.
To use the Tirek example: it doesn't matter how good at coordinating and leading and organizing Equestria's troops Twilight would have been against him, because in the end they lack the strength to contribute in a battle against such a foe and are chaff to be pushed aside. In the end what mattered was Twilight being physically strong enough to force the other side to the proverbial negotiation table and getting something from it. This is a universe where singular powerful individuals can put whole countries on their knees - and have done so. Past a certain point, you need similarly potent individuals of personal ability to counter them, else everything else unravels and ceases to matter. This is, obviously, quite different from how wars have been fought on Earth, because we can't become individually powerful enough to no-sell conventional forces and personally threaten countries. And thus the incentive and impetus for individuals of great power to be ready to defend those who cannot is much higher in Equestria.
Obviously I can't know if that's going to be the case in this story specifically - perhaps not, as it seems that the regular soldiers held up reasonably ok, at least to the first "invasion", and perhaps even the big bad can be taken down by throwing enough bodies at him.
But I'm saying that it's prudent to consider and perhaps prepare at least a bit for such a possibility, because a situation might - and has - come where having the biggest stick you can get is more important than anything else. And after a couple of such occurrences it might be a good idea to consider how you are going to handle it the next time.
I don't recall saying that. I would, obviously, respect anyone's choice to do what you want with your life. Just don't expect me to necessarily respect you for said choice if you lucked into phenomenal magical powers that allow you to prevent death and suffering in situations where literally no one else could no matter how hard they wished or tried, but you couldn't be bothered because that's not how you roll.
Her title "of Friendship" is self-assigned, the "Princess" part is not; she was crowned as such and accepted it. Celestia and Luna don't fly around solving crimes because, I imagine, your regular criminals don't exactly rate as alicorn-level threats that the regular police don't have a prayer in handling. If something like that popped up, I imagine they would. And something tells me the Oni aren't here to establish an oat smuggling ring.
If said animals were actually capable of meaningfully contributing to the war effort? Without a question, if the situation is dire enough for your regular soldiers. "Oh no, I could never ask Mr. Bear to do that!" isn't exactly a sympathetic position with me while actual people (or ponies) are dying on the streets, or if your personal pacifism matters to you more than the deaths of your countrymen during an ongoing war.
Thankfully for Fluttershy, I don't think there is a realistic situation that the animals could actually help where actual soldiers are trying and failing, so that's unlikely to ever be a concern.
Obsession with punching power? Hardly, and even if it were that's better than irresponsible refusal to consider what you are going to do when a fight does break out (or practical applications for ones spells, as you put it), with it already having repeatedly been proven that you are likely to be the last thing standing between victory and defeat.
Doesn't matter whether she fights like Goku or Twilight Sparkle, so long as she does recognize that she likely will have to fight and puts some thought into how she is going to do that, whatever form said result takes so long as it's effective and ponies don't die needlessly because you were caught with her proverbial pants down.
Hm, so having the magic from one "half" stolen would basically be the same thing as if said half died and all that magic went poof anyway? (So long as you dismiss said half anyway, I imagine)
That's pretty good then - sounds like the spell doesn't have many vulnerabilities in such case (beyond the halving of one's power anyway). Sounds like either a pretty robust construct or where they made to some paints to identify potential weakspots and guard against them. My opinion of it went up a notch
And yea, guess you are right - thinking too much about ponies is how we all help the hours pass on by
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To be fair, knowing Blackjack, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if she stumbled across some MAS artifact or something relating to time travel and/or interdimensional travel.
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Reminds me of this classic.
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This'll be my last response on this matter, since I have other things to do. I mean that literally, not dismissively, and because I know that this debate is, in this case, academic. I have no need to continue it beyond this post.
Which is literally what we are seeing the beginning results of her doing here. You're armchair quarterbacking before the game's really gotten going.
Quoting you, to you:
Pretty disparaging sounding there. I assume you'd have preferred she take something like 'Princess of Magic'. Again, the show was never going to go that route... no matter how awesome it might have been. Little girls' show, lest we forget. As to 'Princess, therefore subjects' which I think you're implying ...not really established. Ponyville still has a mayor and we see no evidence of Twilight administrating. She didn't even officiate Cranky and Matilda's wedding... whether or not that was because she was busy with a monster attack. No pacifists in that group... I see her more like Blueblood (ugh, I hate that I'm making that comparison): nobility but without specific subjects. Her purview as a princess is Friendship matters in Equestria and beyond. In this canon, that's actually a pretty big deal. But specific subjects? Eh, I think I know what you mean in general, but I don't really see it that way. In every occasion she's stepped up, without an anime training montage. You can go ahead and write grimderp about how she wasn't strong enough and everyone died, and edgy little teens will gather around and go 'yep, told ya'... and I'll wonder what they were doing here to begin with. This is Equestria. Not Sparta.
You're arguing (in very specific, will-never-happen language) as though she does nothing in those situations and that simply isn't the case. I'm not here to defend the inconsistencies between the canon and your desired head-canon... which I suddenly realize I've been doing, and it's stupid of me. You don't like what's happening in this story? Go find another. Sincerely, thanks for giving it a shot and best of luck out there.
Hmm... yeah probably not... though gem smuggling is on the table, after a fashion. Although... Now that I think about it, a comedy about Luna being a costumed crimefighter (whom everypony recognizes but plays along with) might be pretty damn funny. Hmm... oh geez I think I'm going to write that now. ...Thank you!
Clearly that quote is not about my story. Because again... so far I've demonstrated her as the most prepared one in the fic. If anything, I was waiting for someone to complain 'how could Twilight organize all this so fast?!' Twilight will be Twilight; I will not radically reinterpret a canon character to turn her into something else, but I will write her within the bounds of what I feel she's capable, while staying in character. Thing is... I feel that's a lot, so we'll see whether you agree, if you stick around. If not, all good (again, no sarcasm), and thanks for reading so far.
Yep, but it actually gets better, particularly given those contingency spells Twilight built in, which I mentioned in the chapter and you didn't ask about. Keep in mind she was working with a former super-villain on this. But, spoilers.
Anywho, crap to do, work shift to sleep before. Enjoy your day
Twilight iz OP, plz nerf.
...
Just kidding. I'm perfectly fine with a powerful Twilight. In fact, I like it.
MORE POWER TO PONIES! And favorite characters in particular.
Also, poor Raven. Broken horns are permanent, right? Well, at least there's somepony who can emphatize with her. As morbid as it may sound, why not start a "club" for unicorns with broken horns? In fact, while you're at it, add in pegasi with crippled wings and earth ponies with debilitated... umm... debilitated limbs(?) too.
Blackjack probably had found Tardis.
Honestly, aetherite theory, Onis and humans would explain a lot about FOE mysteries. A timeline whee everything would go sour.
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Those grenades were warded somehow, one went through shield.
Something like Bypass enchantment from FO:E
*peers more closely at the chapter*
HOLD IT!
Carapace? Since when do ponies have carapaces? No, don't explain just yet miss Inkwell, because I'm also interested in something else you said.
'Love sustains you?' I'll admit it sounds nice, and it could also be true methaphorically, but is it just a metaphor? Or were you truly not lying? Because there is one kind of creature in this world that both has a carapace and is sustained by love.
You, miss Inkwell, are a changeling! In fact, given your resilience to beatings and interogations from even powerful Oni generals and threats from a draconequis, you must be a rather powerful one. But changelings have no more reason to hide, the reformation ensured that changelings have become a mostly accepted species.
Except for those who haven't been reformed. And there is one un-reformed changeling still known to be at large. And she is quite powerful.
Right? Queen Chrysalis?
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I regret that I have but one upvote to give because, right or wrong, that comment was amazing.
Obviously I cannot confirm or deny at this point. But that comment? Well done.
Next chapter in a couple days. Monday probably, but we'll see how work goes.
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It certainly seems Tempest's was permanently broken, since it happened when she was quite young and is still the same. Whether or not that's because it was done by an Ursa or because that's the norm for any broken horn I can't say for certain in a general sense. We don't see a lot of broken horned unicorns walking around; in fact it's so rare that Twilight was stunned to see one, despite all her knowledge and all the traveling she's done. That tells us that either they normally can grow back, or they're really hard to break... or both. Add to that the fact that Tempest obviously couldn't just hit up a hospital for some sort of reconstruction (or else why didn't she?) and we have fair evidence for it being exceedingly rare, for whatever reason. They can heal a wing in three days but a broken horn gets nothing? It clearly doesn't happen often at all.
With that in mind though... necessity is the mother of invention. Twilight and company didn't have a reason to study fixing broken horns before, but that may change. To me... Tempest wouldn't have felt right asking anypony, since she had a fair amount of guilt after the events surrounding the Storm King. Plus I feel she sort of accepted who she was, broken horn and all, there by the end. Whether or not anything will happen with that somewhere down the road... well I won't say here.
To anyone reading this: sorry about the delay on the next chapter. My intention was Monday but this week has been busier at work than I'd hoped and I've been too tired to write as much as planned. That said, I'm 2600 words in and it will be posted Thursday afternoon (EST) at the latest. Yay days off!
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I think that horns are usually hard to break, or at least, not easy to break. We did see Party Favor ram his into a wooden door without any obvious detrimental effects.
Also, I agree with you about the "necessity is the mother of invention" thing. There probably been little need for a treatment for broken horns. Equestria has had a thousand year period of peace before Nightmare Moon, so there was no major crisis then; on the other side of the spectrum relatively little things like Ursas don't usually meet ponies. Also, accidents tend to not break horns if they're as strong as I believe them to be. Thus, no reason to have broken horns. Even if there were a few broken horns, the number might be so few as to be not much help into researching a treatment, which I think is happening here – nopony knows how to treat a broken horn because they haven't even thought of it, and those that have don't really know what to do with it. Sad, really, a horn is a unicorn's greatest tool, to have that taken away would cripple them. Well, now that Twilight has a reason to do delve into the matter, I'm sure a lot of progress will be made into helping those like Tempest.
There is one other thing I'd like to mention. If there's any period of history where broken horns might not be that uncommon, I bet it's before the Unification of the Tribes. If the tribes were more violent than the show has shown us, it is entirely possible that unicorns captured by earth ponies or pegasi would have their horns lopped off in order to take away their ability to cast complex spells. On the wince-worthy scale, I'd say the thought of it goes right beside castration. *wince*
9139551 That movie was written so badly... it should never have become canon. It makes even LESS sense now than it is.
For instance, WHERE THE HELL WERE DISCORD AND THE CHANGELINGS?!
How about the DRAGONS?!
You know, all the allies they had in the show by then who'd have crushed the Storm King instantly.
It makes no damned sense.
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Yeah... I don't want to go into how little sense a lot of it made. Equestria had the flu! Moving on!
I knew it.
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Don't forget where she threatened to turn the boss's minions against him within a day. They just took the second-deadliest prisoner possible right after Garken.
All the hugs for this bug. Though I am curious whether Celestia knew. I mean I'd be surprised if she didn't, but IIRC Raven's also a pretty well known character predating Chrysalis's more recent antics and whose schedule likely wouldn't overlap with said queen's free time. So this kind of raises more questions than answers.
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Funny thing with that... In show there are two 'Raven' ponies. One earth pony, as seen in Ponyville during Luna's first Nightmare Night visit, and one the unicorn seen in a couple Canterlot throne room shots.
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I know these are older comments by now and this may have been addressed by a more recent chapter, but this is all assuming Chrysalis's hive was the only one. Raven may be queen of a different hive, who are properly symbiotes rather than the aberrant path Chrysalis took.
That would actually be a happy surprise for Tia when she found out, since changeling queens seem to have an extended lifespan compared to normal mortals.
Didn't comment on this last time through, but Twilight really is stupidly powerful. If she were more militaristically inclined, and not prone to forgetting to use magic at all when surprised with high stress and anxiety, she could be terrifying. As is, she can perform support in exemplary fashion with her incredibly huge pool of magic and refractory period that's almost instantaneous.
Chrysalis!? Da Fuq are you doing as Celestia's lover!?