The castle itself seemed to shake as the gold Pegasus screamed at the drake who barely hung in the air. “Is that all you got!? Maybe I should just have Discord take your wings since you obviously can’t use them! You’re not a damn bee, slow your wings and propel yourself forward with that ugly thing you call a tail!”
Normally, Spike would have been thrilled to even get off the ground, but the last hour of being degraded was wearing thin. His wings hurt; the muscles ached worse than yesterday. All he wanted was-
“Get your ass back on the ground! I can’t stand watching this anymore!” Pride glided down slowly, allowing Spike to watch and mimic the action. The drake was rather impressive, completing the action with a perfection rarely seen in new fliers. His landing was a little rough, getting a mouthful of dirt for not slowing down as he fell face first into the ground. Pride offered his hoof to the drake to help him up. “Your wings’ gargantuan size allows you to displace large amounts of air with slow beats, remember that. It’s not like being a Pegasus; your tail propels you and the angle of your wings controls your ascent, decent, and turning. Hard to believe, but I’ve seen a lot worse than you.”
“Well that’s… good, I think.”
“I think it’s time we move on to marksmanship training. Discord jumped at the opportunity to make us a range which, in retrospect, was a bit strange. Come on, it’s just on the other side of the castle where you trained with him.” As Pride rounded the corner it all made sense. “That bastard.”
The range was filled with targets that bared a striking resemblance to Pride in a number of very awkward and embarrassing positions, while it had Discord in a number of regal ones and wearing a top hat that said good guy across the band.
“Well… it’ll have to do and later, I’ll kill him. Now watch.” Pride aimed, taking his time to focus on his target. He took in a deep breath and, in one motion, released it quickly while flaring one of his wings, sending three feathers out. They soared though the air, almost too fast to see, and hit the mark; one between Discord’s eyes and the other two right up his cardboard nose. He smirked before suddenly shooting out a flurry of feathers, each hitting every single Discord target in equally unique and insulting ways. “The key is to know just how much force is required to make the shot and then visualizing it in your head. See the finished shot,” he tapped the drake’s head, “in here. Finally, in one heartbeat, you strike.” His hoof pointed to the first target he attacked. “I want you to replicate my shot with your fire-”
“Got it.” Spike blew a fireball, taking off Discord’s entire head and burning it to a crisp.
For his effort, he received a quick, sharp pain to the back of his head. “Next time, let me finish. This isn’t an exercise in speed but in precision, patience, and control. Do it again on the next target but this time aim, take a deep breath, see the shot up here, press your lips together for a small burst of fire, and make the shot.” He moved behind Spike, placing his hoof on the dragon’s shoulder. “Take your time.”
Doing as he was instructed, Spike planned out his shot. He felt the air enter his lungs as his inner flame heated up in preparation to mix with the oxygen and ignite outwards, and then, he released it.
Pride looked at the damage. “Better; this time you only took out half his head and, as much as I enjoy watching Discord’s face burn, that’s not bad for your first real attempts at weaponizing your fire breath. Still, we need to work on your control. We’ll have to bring Discord in; he’s a lot more knowledgeable at producing different levels of flame with dragon breath than I am. For now, we’ll work on your range.”
“I have a question.”
With an eyebrow raised, Pride decided he would at least hear out the drake’s query. “What do you want to know?”
“How come you’re being so much nicer with this than with the flight training?”
“Flying requires a lot of physical force; it’s messy and hard to learn. I need to be firm, demanding, but here, this is about being calm.” He looked off into the distance, at something beyond Spike’s comprehension. “In battle you won’t have time to organize your thoughts, calculate, or take your time to make the perfect shot. You have to be able to create your own peace inside of you so that you can do it all in the heat of the moment. I choose the best method for the lesson.”
Spike rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and nodded his head gently. “Fair enough… sometimes you have to be the bad guy; I can respect that. So how do you do that thing with your feathers? I’ve never seen another Pegasus do that.”
“It’s part of my power as a Sin, and, before you ask, I won’t tell you anymore until you can light my feathers on fire without so much as singeing one of these targets. Think of it as motivation to do better. Now, if we’re done with story time, we need to get back to work.”
Reinvigorated by curiosity and a new goal, Spike prepared to give his accuracy another try.
Above him, on one of the castle’s balconies, Wrath and Discord stared down at the training. Discord was the first to break the silence, “He has a lot of talent.”
Wrath sighed. “It comes with being a Sin, but we don’t have enough time. I had hoped to at least get a week’s worth of training in, but, with Luna and Celestia now in play, working together to find us, I’m afraid our time will be limited even more. The boy may be a fast learner, but time is too short. Sooner or later, we will be found.”
A shadow appeared behind them. “Then why don’t we cheat time?”
Without turning around, Wrath replied to the voice, “And how do you suggest we do that, Power House?”
“If Discord can speed time up around Spike, surely he can speed it up to a lesser extent around the castle to give us more time.” Power House stepped onto the balcony, joining them.
“Is it possible?”
Discord stroked his goatee while sipping on a glass of chocolate milk. “Yes, but I don’t have the power to use such a spell over such a large area for an extended period of time.”
“Plus, you won’t be able to work with him under the strain from the spell.” Wrath smiled, watching Spike accidently incinerate an entire Discord dummy. “The good news is that the other two might be able to provide the solution we need.”
“So for now, we stick to the original plan and tomorrow, when they arrive, we can look into this further.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Discord looked down at the range. “I think I’ll head down and give them some help. If my focus is going to be on making time obey my will the next few days, I better make sure he has everything he needs. That, and, if he destroys anymore of those handsome devils, I’ll have to have him tried for crimes against beauty.” In a flash of light the god of chaos was gone, reappearing below in an explosion of whipped cream and apple jelly, angering a now covered Pride greatly.
On the other side of the forest lay Ponyville, where all seven Elements of Harmony convened inside the local library, freshly released from the hospital. All eyes fell on Celestia for guidance, except Luna who appeared to be humming quietly. “I have ordered teams consisting of Wonderbolts and Royal Guards across Equestria to look for any strange phenomenon, as well as Wrath, Discord, and Spike. As soon as they find something they’ll report to me and we can begin our search.”
Dash was fidgeting around; patience was never her strong suit. “So you expect us to sit around and do nothing while we wait?”
Looking over the other six, Celestia spoke calmly but with the direness the situation required, “No. I don’t know how long this is going to take, or… if any of us are coming back. I want you to use this time to get everything in order. Say goodbye to your families, tell them you love them, find someone to take over your responsibilities while you’re gone, things like that. In my case, I’ve put Cadence and Shining Armor in charge of Equestria and the Crystal Empire in our absence. This will be the hardest thing I’ve ever asked you to do, and for that, I am sorry. I’ll get in contact when we’re ready; for now, go.”
The six ponies bowed to their leaders and headed for the door. Once outside each went their own way, including Twilight who teleported off in a flash of light. However, before long a certain white unicorn returned and knocked on the door. “Celestia, Luna, it’s me, Rarity, may I come in?”
A white aura enveloped the door and it opened slowly for the mare. “Of course, come in Rarity.”
Luna laid on a couch next to Celestia with a romance novel held in her magic grip. “Back so fast, Rarity?”
Placing her own book on cake designs down, Celestia looked up at the young mare. “I believe Rarity wishes to discuss matters of the heart with us, sister.”
“I would have never guessed.” Luna rolled her eyes at her sister and tried not to laugh as she watched the blush on both white mares. “So, Rarity, what was it you wished to discuss specifically?”
Rarity was blushing lightly, moving her hoof about in the air. “I might, sort of, have feelings for a close friend of mine, but we’re so… different.”
Smiling evilly, Luna looked at Rarity playfully. “I see, you feel quite strongly for the young drake, Spike.”
That was it, Rarity’s entire face lit up a deep red. “How-”
“I’ve been alive a long time, dear Rarity. Plus, it’s my duty to watch over the dreams of our subjects. While you might not be too direct about it even in your sleep, it’s no coincidence he keeps showing up in your nightly adventures. Think about it, purple and green are your knight’s colors when he comes charging in on two legs, even with a face mask, not a hard connection to make.” The Goddess of the Night let her book close so she could show Rarity the cover, a dashing knight and a beautiful maiden with a striking resemblance to her.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s kind of creepy you spy on ponies in their sleep…”
Luna smirked mischievously. “I only look in on those in turmoil in order to provide guidance, even when it’s simply a heart that can’t have what it wants.” She threw Rarity a wink.
“But that’s it isn’t it? I can’t have him, can I? Look at us, we’re different species, we’re different ages, and we’re into different things. So why can’t I stop thinking about him now that he’s gone?” Her hooves went up in the air as Rarity looked as if she was about to break down, tears on the edge of her eyes.
Celestia draped her wing over the distraught unicorn. “You are not the first pony to fall for a dragon, Rarity. In a sense, even Luna and I have fallen for the charm and dangers that come with a dragon love. When a dragon loves you, it considers you its greatest treasure. No creature will protect or care for someone it loves as much as a dragon. Sometimes they’re possessive, but, usually, it’s only because they’re worried. When they make a mistake they go to great ends to fix it, for they are proud. They look for beauty on the outside and the inside; only something they consider worthy is worth their time, for they are vain. They may threaten anything that endangers them or what they love, but they aren’t evil, for they are passionate. Dragons aren’t monstrous beasts, but majestic noble creatures.”
“And they’re amazing under the covers.”
“LUNA!”
Feeling quite proud of getting her elder sister to lose her composure with her now red face, she took an extra bit of enjoyment. “What? It’s true.” She turned and faced Rarity, the picture of seriousness. “Look, Rarity, you can have him. So what that you’re different species? If it was good enough for Seeker’s parents, if it was good enough for the two Princesses of Equestria, than it’s certainly good enough for you. The drake is what, four or five years younger than you? Who cares? That’s hardly a age difference at all. Look at me and Tia, we’re over a thousand years old, but if I hooked up with Twilight Sparkle or any of your other friends do you think anyone would say anything? Of course not, you are mentally capable and mature enough to be in a relationship and, from what I’ve seen, the drake is as well. In fact, I’ve heard he’s led Twilight on the right path a few times when she’s… how did you put it Tia, lost it?”
Celestia coughed slightly. “That’s not important.”
“As for being into different things, that’s good; it’ll keep things interesting. You have a lot in common too, a love of gems and beauty for instance. You both aim to see who someone is, not simply what they look like. A good relationship is about having things that you can relate to as well as broadening each other’s horizons. It’s a mixture,” Luna smiled, “a balance, if you would.”
“But what about when he acts childish?”
Shrugging, Luna floated over to the conflicted mare. “It’s not a bad thing to be a kid at heart; I think you’ll understand better when you meet Wrath again. Our poor friend has lost his happiness and any sense of the innocence that most of us are graced with has been ripped from him. I doubt he’s the only one like that among the Sins.”
Celestia removed her wing and stood next to her sister. “What matters most is that you try. Regret is a horrible thing to live with… trust me.”
With that they returned to their books, leaving Rarity to her own thoughts.
Then, with a streak matching the color of the sky following behind, a Pegasus in a blue and yellow suit flew into the library. He stopped and saluted. “Soarin’, second in command of the Wonderbolts, here with urgent news for the Princesses.”
Celestia tried not to roll her eyes; she had always hated the formalities of her job. “At ease, Soarin’. What information have you brought for us?”
The Wonderbolt relaxed ever so slightly as he prepared himself to debrief the Princess. “There appears to be some sort of unexplainable phenomenon occurring when we tried to fly into the Everfree Forest. We would fly over and find ourselves suddenly back where we started. Of equal importance, the unicorns from the Guard that were powerful enough in my squad attempted to teleport a few feet into the forest; they were completely unable to get even a few inches in. As a last ditch effort, we attempted to enter by hoof. Our results were only slightly better. We had no problem moving into the forest, but the whole place was booby trapped. Nopony was hurt thankfully, but a few of our less… quick members, were splattered by cream pies. I decided to pull my squad back and report to you, as were your orders if we encountered any of our targets or something strange.”
“I see. Thank you for the information, Soarin’. You’re dismissed, and send a message to the other teams to cancel their searches. I believe we have found what we are looking for.”
“As you command.” The Pegasus saluted and was gone.
Rarity, who had sat quietly through the proceeding, turned her attention to the Princesses, but when no orders came she found herself a tad lost. “Aren’t you going to call the other girls back so we can begin our journey?”
Without looking up from the book she had started reading again, the Sun Goddess considered the mare’s words. “Nope. It’s getting late; they will be much more effective after a good night’s rest. Plus, it would be unfair to offer them this time to get their houses in order and then take it away.”
“But this is urgent!”
This time, Luna was the one to respond, “Charging headfirst would be dangerous, and it would only make matters worse if we had to stop to camp. When you faced me as Nightmare Moon, I had very limited time to set up my traps; Discord and Wrath have had almost four days. Trust me, when it comes to those two, a few hours alone would have sufficed. We need to go in prepared.”
“I suppose that makes sense…” Rarity took a deep breath and tried to relax, “I’m just worried.”
Celestia sympathized with the unicorn, under her calm demeanor a feeling of anticipation and concern stormed. “I understand, but you need to be ready as well. We don’t know what we’re walking into. Go, get ready, enjoy some time with your family because, first thing in the morning, we leave.”
“Of course, your majesty.” As worried as Rarity was, the thought of spending what was left of her night with her family that she normally estranged was very appealing. Her parents might have embarrassed her, and Celestia knows Sweetie Belle can be a handful, but she loved them very much. They had always believed in her, supporter her, and they were very proud of her. She could only think of one other she would want to spend the night with given the opportunity. “I think I’ll do just that.” Rarity headed for the door.
The Sun Goddess smiled warmly at her young subject and friend. “Celestia is fine, Rarity.”
Her sister’s ears perked up. “And Luna.”
“Of course, Celestia and Luna. Goodnight.” Rarity left, closing the door behind her.
Once Rarity was gone, Twilight stepped down from upstairs. “So, Rarity actually likes Spike back, guess I owe him a few bits.”
Celestia cocked her eyebrow at the unexpected visitor, even if it was technically her home. “Indeed, my student, but perhaps we should have a talk about eavesdropping?”
“It seemed like it would be rude to interrupt, and Rarity might not have been as forthcoming had she known I was here.”
Frowning, Celestia realized that Twilight may have become a bit too rational. “That does not make it acceptable.”
“My apologies, Prin- Celestia.”
“As long as you understand.”
“I’ve been doing some reading. “Twilight levitated the book over; already open to a specific page. “Is it true?”
Celestia did not need to look; she knew exactly what page it was. It was inevitable. “Yes.”
It was as if Twilight had been backhoofed with that single comment. Tears began to form in her eyes as she tried to fight them back. “Why- Why didn’t you tell us?!”
There was regret in Celestia’s voice as she spoke, “It seems you’ve had a lot of time to think about it. Many ponies would think such a thing a blessing, but you’ve realized it’s a curse.”
“How am I supposed to act knowing this! Knowing that everyone but us will…” Her defenses fell as tears streamed down her face.
Celestia hugged her young student; the poor mare fell apart in her hooves. “The same way Spike, Luna, and myself do, by appreciating what time we have with those we love.”
“It- It’s not fair.”
“I know.” Running her hooves down Twilight’s back, Celestia attempted to calm her down.
Luna had sat quietly observing, until now. “It is not so bad. Think of all the books you can read, all the things you will learn, what you’ll be able to see that so few others have even dreamed about, and you won’t be alone. Not like Celestia, myself, or even Wrath were. Make the best of an unwanted situation, there are worse fates.”
“But I’ll lose so many…”
Loosening her grip, Celestia looked Twilight in the eyes. “You will be graced with getting to meet many more, to teach them about the world.”
“What about the rest of the girls?”
She bit her lip. “I would appreciate it if you kept this between us for now. I believe there will be a better time to inform them, when their perspectives on the matter will be different. It is a hard fate to face, but not one that must be faced alone.”
“You’re asking me to keep this from them…” Twilight turned away from Celestia, unable to face her, “and like every time you’ve asked anything else of me I can’t seem to stop myself from saying yes. Why is that? Why am I letting my friends wait to find out instead of telling them!?”
Using her hoof, Celestia made Twilight look at her. “Because, you trust that I know best… and, I’m afraid, that’s not always true. But know that I always have your best interest at heart.”
Twilight dried her tears and smiled ever so slightly. “I know.”
That night, six ponies fell asleep after having a number of heartfelt talks with their families. Some had stayed, sleeping in the bedrooms of their youth, while others spent time with new families. Each was graced with having someone who loved them nearby. Only a few miles from them, a dragon collapsed utterly exhausted into a deep slumber as four others used the night to prepare for the future.
Morning came, as it always had, and with it, the dragon stretched his wings and slowly awoke, still lost in between reality and dreams. With blurry eyes, he stared at a familiar blob of colors, the most beautiful colors in the world to him. They made his heart flutter in ways he never truly understood. “Rarity? Rarity, is that you?”
“Hello, darling.”
That sing-song voice that carried with it a touch of regality was unmistakable as it cascaded over his ears. “How are you here? Are the rest of the girls with you?”
“No, it’s just me, Spikey-Wikey. Aren’t you happy to see me?”
Happy was an understatement. “Of- of course, I just didn’t expect-” A white, well-manicured hoof covered his mouth.
“I have to say, I like the improvements. You’re so muscular and handsome now.”
Spike had to be dreaming still; Rarity was flirting with him! “Um… just a little time altering magic.”
“If it’s done this much for the rest of your body, I bet you’ve grown in other places to, huh?”
Spike’s entire face lit up. He may have been younger than the rest of the girls a few days ago, but Spike was fully aware of what Rarity meant. She was getting closer and closer to him, her lips inches from his own. He could feel her breath; this had to be real!
“Maybe, you’d like to show me just how much? It is just you and me here, after all.”
Spike pushed her away, growled, and sprang to his feet, putting some distance between them. “You, you’re not Rarity!”
“Perceptive, aren’t we?
He was furious now. How dare something attempt to impersonate Rarity and say those things? His claws unsheathed, ready to tear the impostor to pieces. “Stop looking like her, sounding like her, now!”
“Fair enough, but what gave me away? I thought I was quite the exact copy.”
Spike would have laughed if he had not wanted to throw up. “Rarity would never do something so unladylike!”
The flesh started to burn away in a pink flame, revealing black skin underneath. “This is why I do random existences, too much effort doing someone real. I would hate to be like the rest of my kind.”
A third voice, one very familiar to Spike but completely unexpected, joined the conversation. “Trixie thought your portrayal of the white unicorn was quite inspired.”
The remaining parts of what had once been Rarity disappeared, and, in her place, stood a black insect-like pony-shaped creature with a red plate on top of its back, two insectoid like wings, a horn, and almost completely light scarlet eyes. The voice that came from the changeling was feminine in nature. “If a disguise doesn’t trick the target, it’s a failure; although, I appreciate the compliment, Trixie.”
A light blue unicorn with a silver mane and tail stepped out of the shadows. She wore a purple wizard’s hat and cape with stars on them and had a wand and crescent moon Cutie Mark. “Well, after last night, Trixie can think of a few more.” She looked at the changeling with half-lidded eyes. “You truly exemplify lust at its finest. Don’t you agree, Wrath?”
Wrath dropped in from above, barely making a sound. “Very cute, Trixie. Lust is very good at what it does.”
A minotaur appeared behind Spike, chuckling. “More like, who it does.”
Dive bombing his way inside, Pride stood next to Lust. “Must we really call Lust an it? I know she swaps between mare and stallion, or whatever the equivalents of whatever species she’s pretending to be, but she does tend to choose female and it’s the voice she always uses.”
“Trixie thinks that Pride just doesn’t like the thought that he’s slept with someone who’s been a stallion before.”
His wings flared threateningly as he stared the unicorn down. “That’s it, when I’m done with Discord, you’re next.”
Floating up through the floor, Discord took his place, finishing the circle around Spike. “Are we making sex jokes? Cause if we are, I have a few about Celestia’s flank I’ve been saving for centuries.”
With a look of pure bemusement, Wrath shook his head at the group. “The seven most dangerous existences in the worlds gathered for the first time, the first meeting of the Sins, and we’re cracking inappropriate jokes. I shouldn’t even be surprised.”
Discord was having a lot of fun at this point, Trixie’s harassment of Pride helping greatly. “Loosen up, Wrath. I was only gone for a thousand years; when did you have time to become such a wet blanket? Coincidently, something Luna was very good at making.”
“Enough!” Wrath was fuming at this point. “We don’t have time for this! You five may have forgotten, but we need to train Spike. We’re far more limited on time than we had originally planned.”
Spike was feeling rather relieved. As much fun as getting yelled at by Pride was, it was a hell of a lot less awkward than this.
“Now, I believe some introductions are in order. Trixie, why don’t you start since you’ve already met him? Albeit, against my instructions.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie, greatest showmare in all of the world and the Sin of Envy, at your acquaintance.” Magical fireworks went off behind her, spelling Trixie in the air. “My powers as a Sin allow me to copy any spell, ability, or talent instantly using my vast amount of magical power, knowledge, and creativity.” In a display of her ability, she released a torrent of flames into the air from her mouth. “Of course, it drains my reserves much faster than the natural form and is often just the slightest bit weaker, unless it’s a creation of unicorn magic in which I am naturally adept. And as for you Wrath, you are not the boss of Trixie. I was curious about the Element of Magic so I went and took a look.”
“And almost destroyed a town showing off. To make matters worse, you couldn’t even stop the Ursa Minor without giving yourself away.”
Trixie cleared her throat. “Yes, well, it allowed me to see the Element of Magic at work. It is not Trixie’s fault she was being so stubborn about challenging me.”
“Hey!” Spike felt the sudden need to stand up for his lifetime friend. “Twilight saved the day, even if Snips and Snails are technically the ones who put everyone in danger.” To Spike, it seemed as if Trixie’s eyes lit up at the memory of Twilight putting the Ursa Minor to sleep.
“Yes, she’s quite splendid with magic. I do wonder what else she can do.” Trixie was biting her lip now.
“Hmm, yes. I can taste the lust from here.” Trixie’s face took on a red hue as her loss of situational awareness hit her. “Anyways, my name is Lust, young dragon. Before you ask, no, it’s not my real name, but changeling rarely translates well into the common tongue. As such, much like Pride, I choose to take my Sin as my calling. Because of my Sin, I can feed off lust or love, unlike most changelings. I prefer lust; it is much easier to simply transform into a hot mare or stallion than attempt to replace or lie to someone long enough to garner their affection. Plus, I never really liked the practice, I understand why my kind does it, but such cruel deception is not for me. My Sin provides one other unique ability, I can transform into anything. Usually, a changeling is limited to only being able to transform into something of similar size and shape; I have no such limitation.” Once again pink flames encased Lust’s body, but this time an almost full grown dragoness appeared with black scales and pink spines. “It’s quite useful.” She demonstrated how complete the transformation was with a quick breath of pink fire.
“Is it always pink?”
In response to the drake’s question, the spikes changed to blue and her next stream of flame mimicked the color change.
Wrath could not help but smile. This was more like it in his opinion. “Now that introductions are complete, Spike, go train with Pride. Trixie and Lust, I need you with Discord and me. We have something we’d like to test.”
With almost everyone having their own things to do, Pride looked at the last remaining free-hand. Luckily for him, it was exactly who he needed. “Power House, mind helping me with Spike’s flight training?”
“Not sure how much I can do without wings, but sure.” The minotaur moved from his spot leaning against the wall and followed the Pegasus and Spike outside.
That left the four others to discuss their plan. “Trixie, can you mimic a time distortion spell? We want to speed time up around the castle to give Spike more time to train.”
“It’s possible, but that sounds rather draining. Wouldn’t it be smarter to only distort time around where Spike is training?”
Simultaneously, Wrath and Discord face-hoofed and face-clawed.
“I thought so.” The smugness in Trixie’s voice escaped no one.
“Yes, of course.” Discord was not one to overlook details; being out-smarted by the other showoff was not helping either. “But are you sure you can do the spell? Chaos magic isn’t like normal magic.”
She shot him a look of annoyance. “I can do anything you or anyone else can do. Hell, the Great Trixie can even use Wrath’s Fury.”
Wrath looked less than amused at the thought of someone recreating his extremely dangerous and hard to control power. “The Great Trixie would be smart not to do that for long if she doesn’t want to end up killing herself.”
Amidst the conversation, Lust returned to her changeling form. “So what does this have to do with me?”
“I was hoping you could funnel some of your excess power into her. We both know you keep more than enough in reserve.” Wrath had personally seen Lust lead three stallions and a mare away at the same time one night.
“Best to be prepared.” Lust took a moment to consider it. “Very well, but I’ll only relinquish so much of my power to her, and only in small increments as needed. If this is going to get as bad as you claimed, I’ll need all the power I can get.”
“Then we have plan. And Trixie, you will have to maintain the spell alone when Discord is needed to train him.”
“Understood.”
Discord giggled like a schoolgirl. “And if Lust needs more power, she can just turn into Twilight and take it from Trixie.”
Before Trixie could attempt to send the God of Chaos to the moon, a boulder smashed through the window and landed between them. Power House’s unmistakable voice followed, “Sorry, my bad.”
Wrath looked at the window, already self-repairing itself thanks to Discord’s magic. “Right, let’s get to it then.”
And just like that, the six eldest Sins began working to train the young Sin of Greed, while on the other side of the forest the Elements of Harmony prepared to march on the castle.
And all seven of the Sins are revealed, yay. Pride is probably one of my favorite characters in the story because his backstory and how he's spent his life is pretty cool.We'll get to that next chapter though, as well as getting to find out what his power is Lust is a lot of fun too.
The Sparity is strong in this one, and we get hints about another's romantic feelings
I'm sure most of you noticed that Twilight never actually said what she had learned, hopefully the hints were obvious enough. The point was that she couldn't quite bring herself to actually say it.
Heh, this story reminds me of my choices for the homunculus 'Sins' as my (eventual) ridiculous farce "Full Pony Alchemist".
Spike = Greed
NMM = Envy
Chrysalis = Gluttony (FMA Gluttony feeds on people, Chrysalis feeds on ponies!)
Celestia (acually Molestia) = Lust
Trixie = Pride (or maybe wrath now with the Alicorn Amulet... not sure)
Gilda = Wrath or pride
Blueblood = Sloth
>>>Usually, a changeling is limited to only being able to transform into something of similar size and shape; I have no such limitation.” Once again pink flames encased Lust’s body, but this time an almost full grown..>>>
... black alicorn with red stripes. The other Sins, furious at the mere appearance of such a horribly cliche OP OC, beat Lust to a gooey green pulp.
"Well, we need a new Lust," Discord sighed. "Thankfully I've got Chrissy on speed-dial..." He takes off his antler and speaks into it, "Yo, Chrissy! Wazzzzzuuuup! Yep, just chillin' drinkin' a Bud. True... true... So yeah, that Lust position opened up unexpectedly. Yeah, he did the OC alicorn bit, like you warned me he would. You were right. So you're in? Great!" *click* "She'll be right over."
2441227 Um, what? Lust's can transform into any creature, that's not really OP in fact it's a rather common abillity in a number of other sources. Ever hear of Beast Boy? He can transform into any animal including dinosaurs. He uses a T-rex and even a number of alien animals commonly.
And she's a changeling, her species natural ability is transformation. Hers is more powerful because she's a Sin and because she's capable of garnering far more power, but like any changeling she gains her power from outside sources, she doesn't generate it. The whole point of her ability is that she can gather lust from any creature she wants. In fact, pink and red were chosen because they're different than other changelings in the show that have teal carapaces and eyes, and because red and pink are the two colors associated with lust.
2440964 I can only say this better then most (if not all) current releasing anime, Brillient show.
2441373 And that's why I read the manga!
2441345 Just being silly. Cuz I want Chryssie to be Lust. So I had to think of a way to kill Lust off.
2441345 Speaking of which, does this mean Chrysalis is gonna become a good guy or anti-hero in this?
Maybe she'll be like Vegeta!
Chrysalis lies on the ground before Lust, who has taken on her most powerful 4th transformation! But just as Lust is about to give th final blow, who should arrive but Derpy (who is actually a changeling who has lived among ponies and stopped King Sombriccolo in the past!)!
Derpy, "Hi there! Are you that Lusty whore?"
Lust, "I am Lady Lust, yes."
Derpy, "Imma buck you in da schnozz!"
Chrysalis, "Her power was no where near this strong in Equestria! *gasp* COULD IT BE?!?"
Lust, "What the buck is this? Chrysalis! Explain!"
Chrysalis coughs from green blood, "Heh heh heh... you see Lust, you're not dealing with an ordinary changeling anymore..."
Lust, "Have we been here before? I think we've been here before..."
Chrysalis gurgles onward, "She has surpassed all the limitations to become the legend that you fear..."
Lust grits her fangs in frustration, "Oh my god..."
Chrysalis, "Derpy has become the ultimate shape-shifter! The legendary Super Changli- *ZAP*-GAK!!"
Lust glowers at the fallen Queen, her horn still smoking from the sudden blast, "Seriously you have no idea how old that got."
Great chapter. Glad this updated. Also, with the hints? To be more obvious without saying it, you would have needed a neon sign, a megaphone, and a 5000 pound block of cheese.
2441425 Okay... Chrysalis will have a very brief appearance later on.
2441503 I thought so as well.
A 5000 pound of cheese sounds good, except the whole fact it would go bad quickly without a fridge large enough to put it in
I just started reading this and I have one thing to say.
MOAR!
Path you do not disappoint, this chapter is AWESOME! Pride is a cool Sin, but I think I'm going to have to go with Discord as my favorite Sin. Dude is just too damn funny, and Luna is now my favorite Element, mare really knows how to speak her mind.
Trixie and The Changeling Lust as the other two Sin's was genius! At first I thought it was going to be Chrysalis, but this is much better, start with another fresh face in the story.
As always great job! Can't wait to see the laugh's, tear's, smile's and more awkward moments when they all meet.
Again for some
If we are going to be forming Twilight-like teams (because ever since that movie happened we have to have Team EVERYTHING) I'm going to lead the charge in team Lust! Hooray for changeling boobies!
Great chapter as always, lets see more Lust the best changeling!
2442053 Pride's character is getting seriously fleshed out next chapter.
Devious Luna is best Luna.
I like Chrysalis, but she's not quite right for the job.
Oh, there will be many.
This is a great story. Having Trixie be Envy was totally unexpected. Can't wait for the next chapter!
2442516I have no doubt he will. I also predict some heated 'in your face' moments when he meets Rainbow, but that's 'up in the air' so the speak.
Calling out pairings; SpikeXRarity, TrixieXTwilight, DiscordXLuna and Celestia, and Lust with EVERYONE AND ANYONE ELSE, HAHAHAHA!
Also, seeing as this is 'dark' tagged, maybe have Spike give a friendly but deadly serious threat to Trixie if she even thinks about mistreating Twilight. Just for laughs!
2442453
2442676 Oh. there is one pony who will be driving Pride insane, have no doubt.
We ain't there just yet.
2442638 no if you know about the sin's it actually was quite obvious (also he did say that trixie was going to play a role in the story.)
2444030
True, but I was not expecting her to be a sin. Still, very cool.
Now if only their was a time dilation field for us writers......
Know any Asgard?
2444831 It would make life so much easier.
Nay, mortal, only what I picked up from Thor!
2440964
Oh, it still hurts.
This should be interesting. Hopefully the main 6 won't stir up to much trouble. They'd just their flanks handed to them by 6 ageless jack of all trades. Also, are you going to explain why the sins are almost all different races while the main 6 are all pony? or is it just because the show is like that.
2484246 I'll touch on it, but it's not a huge, spoiler-like secret. The answer is that the Elements have to be friends to work, and, since pony society is really 99% ponies with the occasional cow, zebra, donkey, or gryphon, obviously they'd most likely be all ponies around the same age. The Sins however have no such need to work. Their powers and their use are strongly based on their own emotions and desires. The Sins for the most part are loners by nature. It's mentioned a little here and there that they may have travelled and worked together for spans of time, but they always went their own ways. The next chapter will show how Pride has spent his immortality, and the difference between how him and Wrath have lived their lives will be rather obvious. The whole thing is an excellent contrast between the Sins and Elements really, as they are very different in nature.
Oh, and the girls have a way of making things interesting
Omg yes! Update!
Enter The Great and Powerful Trixie and Lust! I was waiting on this for so long....
And this phrase, right here...
If find that many who are opposed to Spike x Rarity support the princesses x any pony despite the thousands of year age difference. Lovely statement.
And Twilight x Trixie? Ha! Twixie is always a fun bout to read.
2631882 Yeah, it's as bad as the species thing. I mean when was the last time you heard anyone complain about Superman and Lois or Dick Grayson (Robin number 1/Nightwing) and Starfire? There are tons of movies, stories, cartoons, and comics where sentient beings from different planets or species hook up. Even in games, of particular noteworthiness the very famous Mass Effect.
Yeah, I'm excited to get to write a little Twixie, they're a fun pairing.
I like it but it taking to long s...no real nice why to put this so WILL YOU MOVE YOUR ASS. pleas and thank you :{)
*deep voice* Ooh yeaaaaah!
So far this story is amazing, Im enjoying it a lot.
The 7 Sins concept is pretty interesting, and I love how each of them is being portrayed.
I definetly hope the next chapter comes up soon!
One thing that makes me curious though...
As you said, Spike's Sin ability is controlling his Greed-Growth, right?
Well...when compared to the other one's abilties which trascend those of their races, Spike's seems a bit underwhelming since it basically grants him access to a power that it would already be his in the first place (in time), right? I guess he also has teleportation with his magic fire breath, but Twilight and the Princesses can do that too since its just an advanced spell for unicorns. Again, it seems a bit underwhelming considering all other Sins have VERY unique abilities that no one else can copy.
I mean, don't misunderstand, turning into a full-grown dragon at will would be amazingly strong yes, but it gives him nothing that's not intrinsic of a dragon anyways...while the others get stuff that goes way beyond their races, Spike seems stuck with just getting the power he would eventually get as he ages.
-Wrath's ability for example, while making perfect sense of his sin, is completely unrelated to an Earth Pony's natural abilities, which makes Spike's ability over controlling...his own dragon nature...a bit simple in comparition.
-Lust's confuses me even more, since her free-transformation ability basically allows her to imitate Spike's FULL ability; turning into an adult dragon. And that's just one form of the many she could take.
-Discord's powers are broken...but Discord was always broken so I don't think there's much you could have done there aside from nerfing him a little, which I think you did by putting an energy limit to his powers.
-Trixie's abilty seems ridiculously overpowered as well, since she can essentially do anything even if it costs her a bit more energy. Shouldn't there be some kind of requisite she'd need to fulfill before copying an ability?
-Power House's ability makes him lethal in close combat. While not as OP as the others, its still a MUCH greater improvement from other Minotaurs, when compared to Spike's over other Dragons.
-Pride Im guessing will also have more than just feather daggers, since he told Spike its "part of his ability".
All in all, Im loving the story, but I feel Spike is kinda getting the short end of the stick when it comes to the Sin's special abilities.
2686291 Spike's Greed Growth is unique in aspect. I can't really explain too much without giving out some spoilers, but let's just say there's a reason the other Sins have not yet worked on Spike's Sin abillity. I will say though, I am very pleased someone noticed all of this. All of the Sins have some interesting things still hidden about their powers. Things that will come to light in time, but their personalities aren't the most trusting or open.
All of this means that you're paying attention, questioning, wondering, and thinking, which in aspect means I'm doing things right
Dude this is absolutely amazing. I can barely wait for the next chapter!
2868927 Personally, I thought it tasted like rainbows and clouds.
I absolutely love and can't wait for more of this story.
more please pinkie put the knift down from my computer and fluttershy stop crying now! please more.