This story is a sequel to Lethe
Ten years ago, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash spent two days embroiled in the murky waters of the Lethe, an Equestrian river that stole their minds. Those two days have shaped their lives, both professionally and romantically.
Ten years ago, Luna disappeared, leaving Equestria across its southern border. Not in a thousand years had anypony considered such an act, and the motivations of the Lunar Princess remain a mystery to the public, as well as her continued absence.
But now, as Twilight turns her considerable talents to perfecting the art of Coromancy, a new enemy arises. One unbound by the rules of society everypony so unthinkingly follows, a common morality that, to him, is nothing more than a restriction.
With a troubled azure mare named Trixie in tow, he hatches a plot that will shake Equestria to its very foundations, and question the nature of reality their society is built upon. Just what did Luna find out there, beyond the Veil?
// Exists alongside Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere
// Thanks to Dr Strangelove and Mister Morden for their services in improving my writing.
Trixie... I have some problems regarding Trixie, mostly because I think she is the "perfect OC" . The majority love her, is accepted as a character in the series, but have so little run time that gets easy to mold her, fits anywhere your heart desires
fair's fair, what makes any character good is how it is written, and I do not doubt you, tracking
ps. WEEKLY YEAAAA, man how that is hard to find
edit:
I forget one thing, i love the way you describe the scenery and give the atmosphere to the story,tha is so often overlooked
I liked this chapter. Finally catching up with Twilight, consulting Unicorn!
Great chapter!
I put more details into my reply for the blog post.
“I know, I know, impossible, right? Well, that’s what it takes to become an Arch-Magus, Trixie. The impossible.”
that sentence sent chills through my spine, very well written, the dialogue and whole scene
Well ,Trixie. It was nice knowing ya. I fully expect either Twilight or a freshly arrived Cadence to turn you into a burnt grease spot in the next 30 or so seconds...
stupid cliffhangers
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But I love cliffhangers! Funnily enough, my pre-reader said the same thing: rest assured, a reckoning is coming. I will say, however, that it isn't going to be in the way one might expect.
It's also great to hear from someone new! I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
I see you've written a considerable amount and haven't gotten much feedback. Let's correct that.
I've read through most of this and think the concept is interesting. Rather dark, but interesting. The idea that such heavy acts such as murder have been repressed and are starting to reappear has some credibility in a world like MLP:FiM. Not the most pleasant way to develop the characters, but I can't fault the results.
Writing wise, your prose is pretty clean. A little telly in the way characters deliver their internal thoughts, but nothing too distracting.
I just wanted to give you encouragement to keep going! It can be frustrating to post a work and feel like nobody is looking at it. Don't despair and keep at it!
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Thank you.
A while back I decided that, damn it all, I was going to finish this thing. That holds true regardless, but this kind of feedback is nonetheless tremendously appreciated. I hope you all enjoy the story, for as long as it takes me to get it out.
If you're up for more in-depth discussion about TMAR, I'd love to chat.
-Nicroburst
Something's fishy in the water...
So now Pinkie and Spike are on the hunt. This will be one heck of a test on Fluttershy and Pinkie's part, dealing with ponies who suddenly have emotions boiling within them. Will kindness and laughter be enough to stem the tide?
Till next time!
The Back to the Future episode!
Interesting dynamics between Luna and all the ponies she's working with. I wonder who's being pushed harder.
And it looks like Rarity may be the weak link in all this planning.
Till next time!
Kinda poignant, how Rainbow Dash has never seen her own Sonic Rainboom. At least, not from a distance.
That Twilight and Trixie scene was a long time in coming. Perhaps now the healing can begin.
Yikes. Nasty battle at the end there. Just what has Rarity and Rainbow Dash stepped into?
Keep it up!
Hmm, seems to be a lot of setup in this chapter. Let's see where this all leads to.
Nice to see Trixie back and regaining control. Her interactions with Twilight are stiff and awkward, but I can't think of a more appropriate way for the two to deal with each other after what's happened.
Interesting changes going on in the past. Rainbow Dash and Rarity must be chomping at the bit wondering why things are so different.
Keep at it!
You have me on the edge of my seat, waiting for more.
I look forward to the next; so many revelations in the altered worldview, the assumptions that are being proven wrong.
Pretty gruesome and terrible what Boundless is doing. It's going to be a satisfying confrontation when Trixie catches up to him.
Keep at it!
Seems Rainbow and Rarity are feeling things they would never have felt before. That'll be something to see how they continue to deal with it.
I wonder if that mind read that Celestia did is the reason she's so well prepared for the future. It would explain a few things.
Time travel can be such a pain!
Nice, quiet scene with Luna and Cadance after the blowout last time. Touching, really.
Neat fight at the end. Applejack and Fluttershy seem to have evolved into super ponies. Too bad all that work doesn't seem to have any affect.
Glad I'm not the only one to get enraged by chains of puns. But I wonder if the situation he's found himself in is really as out of his control as he thinks it is, or is this a case of a small time brain getting ambitious?
Meanwhile, Trixie... grows. It was beautiful to see, all the while Twilight debates whether or not ponykind itself should be made to grow.
The Veil... A veil against Sight? A veil over a specific time that stops seers from seeing? Need some time manipulation magic. Or to go check out the Remembrance mountains. They sound like they might help. Although "Seek yourself; not in memory..." They might not help.
Poor Luna. Even if time does go faster for her wherever she is, still.
Also still don't know the powers of a Dreamer, so I look forward to seeing that.
Heh, "Looking forward" XD
...This has got to be cheating. Or something. This is terrible.
But more importantly, the Crystal Heart. And magic.
Naw, it's cuz it's easier to hide a knife when you always wear clothes. And Unicorns do so love stabbing people in the back. OOHHHHH BUUUUURN!
But seriously, the bad guys are always unicorns. Don't trust 'em.
Also seriously, I totally love unicorns the best. Pegasi and Earth Ponies literally can't hold a mote of light to them.
I feel that since Twi has the complete faith (ha, ironic turns of phrase) of the ruler of Equestria, and is an extremely capable arch-mage, every problem can only get closer to being solved by letting Twi have a crack at it.
JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!?!?!
*horn starts glowing, then sends a spiraling purple blast into the sky*
Awesome. Good job, Joe. Also good for Twilight, going on the offensive, even if she doesn't know it's a fight yet. Actually, I don't even know it's a fight yet. Maybe if I hope hard enough and just act like it's a fight, I can twist the fabric of reality three years ago when this was written and make it a fight. Yeah. That sounds perfect.
Also Poor Trixie. I hope Twi and Trixie become good friends. Don't get jelly, tho, Dash.
Well, I really don't think so, but maybe a shard power? Or perhaps a sliver/splinter of it? The shard of... well, choice is now actually "Autonomy" which is in his new graphic novel, but I will assume that you can't See that far ahead, so it might be "Choice", but I could see Luna and Celestia each having part of the shard of "Choice".
...On the other hand... Maybe it's simpler than that. Maybe Celestia's is actually the Shard of Friendship or something. And Luna's is the Shard of Fear? I could see "Friendship" or something like it giving the ability to connect one's mind to others, and I could see "Fear" giving one the ability to see the future.
Ha! Twi's an archmage now, that's practically a wizard. She gets to be cryptic all she wants. Besides, you're a Seer. I'd be surprised if you've never given someone cryptic advice.
It's a good day when someone gets threatened with annihilation. Even indirectly. Especially if the one doing the annihilating is Twi.
YES! NO! Why not, Trixie!?! You're awesome, Twilight is awesome, you'll be awesome together! It'll be awesome! Why no awesome!? Boundless can go jump off a cliff! He's an ass anyway. I mean, not to be racist or anything. Donkeys are usually nice. It's just a figure of speech.
Well, that's a little strong, there. controlling fire could let you easily end a life, and if used correctly could beat off cold or invaders, but "control life" is a little bit of exaggeration. Very cool ability with dragon fire, tho. Wonder if they could animate things with their breath? It does have a thing about colors.
Luna... Well, it definitely sounds like Odium. Although it could even be a broken facet of her own personality torturing her.
An ironically self-defeating prophecy used to her advantage. I like it.
Interesting. Seems to be a very spiritually focused ability. Feels a lot like the magic of Soulstamps in some ways.
Also: Sight. Even better than TV. Always something interesting on cuz you can catch reruns whenever you want and skip all the boring episodes.
And about the shardic power... The power is in all the ponies... I guess it would be the thing that makes cutie marks appear. Individuality? I dunno. Could still be friendship. Or really, it could even be Harmony, and forget the god who tried to steal that name. Elements of Harmony as splinters of shardic power? Plausible. Part of me is still assuming there are multiple shards contributing to the magic here, but ultimately Coromancy is usually used to describe most of the magic, which implies that it would only be a single shard. Then again, the term "Metallurgic Arts" refers to all three arts and they all originate from different places.
Well, I hope I'm at least asking the right questions.
Alright, definitely feeling some parts of the magic system define themselves. But really, Twi. The solution is obvious. Ascend to Alicornhood and you'll probably have all the powers... And really, even if you don't have all of them, worst case scenario, you'll still be an alicorn.
'Course, being an alicorn is probably a symptom of having all the powers, but eh, equivalent statements, right?
Ha! Did Rarity discover the porn channels on her personal TV?
For some reason it took me until right now to realize that the fire was dragonfire. Stupid of me.
Or not? You can feed emotion into any spell? Or at the very least fire.
INTENSE. That scene. I like it. So definitely some of that shardic magic at work enforcing thoughts and behaviors. Hmmm. If the shard's power was given to all the ponies, not in the way that allomancy manifested because of preservation's existence on Scadrial, but directly, like a shared bond to the shard across everyone... And that shard's power was opposed to killing/harming... That might explain the inability of ponies to really hurt each other. It could just as easily be sheer influence/magical domination on the world, rather than an actual bond to the power, tho. I'm hesitant to call the shard at work preservation, considering that already exists, but it is looking a lot like it.
The Young Eternal, huh? Alright. Doesn't say much, so far as I can tell. Maybe that he is still looking for himself, still learning. Could imply some things about his future.
I'm just curious, is the Daerev part the "eternal" or the "young" part?Looked at the blog post and followed the link. Now I'm imagining everyone calling him "kid" when they see him.Also new name, new habits. Maybe try a little bacon? Eh? Eh? You'll love it!
That... That is fascinating. Each emotion provides a different effect, and is used up in the process... I will be watching for more.
Fascinating. One can call upon a vast store of power when one embodies one's true self.
This mean that the shard is "Identity"? or something like that? I could see that giving sight of future and past. Emotions of the individual could be "used" or burned as the manifestation of identity in a person. I could easily see that having an effect relating to connecting two individuals. And apparently in a mental or spiritual way. Also they keep saying that something isn't possible because non-unicorns don't have magic, but Luna said they did. No idea what that means, but it seems kinda important.
Gods, a planet full of Slivers. I mean, small Slivers, certainly, but still. Assuming Boundless has this connection (and he uses magic, so I'll assume he does) then that eliminates my theory of the shard's power itself stopping them from doing anything bad. Unless Boundless has a link to a different shard.
Stay tuned for ALL of the wild speculation EVER.
So it sounds like Boundless' plan is to create some sort of anti-harmony bomb.
Too bad Pinkie and Spike are left feeling so helpless when the culprit is practically right under them.
And Darth Luna helping Boundless out as well. So many pieces to keep track of.
Keep at it!
Getting closer to the point of Nightmare Moon; Yet we're still very far away it seems. Celestia was the one who left, yet hints everywhere suggest that it was Luna. So something of serious impact has yet to be told.
This story just got a few degrees more entertaining and enjoyable. I've always liked the whole "bringing down tyrannical harmony" plot, and this ones comes in high quality wrapping.
Trixie learning how to teleport. May Celestia have mercy on our souls.
Ew, already getting an awkward encounter with Cadance.
I wonder if the Crystal Heart can be damaged or corrupted? You'd think Sombra would have tried since that's the only thing that can stop him.
Keep at it!
This is getting retarded, the veil stops murder and that is unquestionably a good thing, the arguments to remove it that have been presented so far have been rubbished in the real world, it is getting harder and harder to ignore how broken ones mind has to be in thinking that the ability to murder a human, pony or whatever can be placed above having a way to prevent it.
The is no morally acceptable argument for allowing oaks the "choice" to murder and as a person who has been the victim of attempted murder I have to say that this story is a slap in face.
I understand that i did not Have to read this (it was interesting at the start and is not an absolute horror show) or comment on it but i feel i have to voice my views on your work, no insult intended.
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I . . . don't think I can properly empathise with a position founded on being the victim of an attempted murder—that's far and beyond my personal experience. Nor do I entirely feel it's my place to offer sympathy. I will admit I dwelt over this paragraph for quite some time, trying to find a way to properly phrase the sentiment: horror, compassion, morbid interest, and so on.
What I can talk about is the themes and ideas I'm trying to raise here. The concept of perfect prohibition seems inherently divisive, to me, and I'm fascinated in exploring the moral fallout from that sort of construct. What I wasn't trying to do was to come down on either side. The story isn't intended to be a definitive answer, or even really an opinion, so much as a . . . question, I suppose. I do love that you've engaged with that side of it. And if you do feel that the narrative is suggesting at one particular answer, then I've failed in that regard.
You say that the arguments to remove it have been rubbished in the real world. That's exactly the sort of thing I'd love to discuss. Lest this come across as sarcasm, I really am sincere—could you point me to some examples of those? That's the discussion I'm trying to provoke, no matter what your views happen to be.
Again, I can't really imagine what going through that sort of experience would be like, nor what impact it might have on one's world-view. So, thanks again for both the time and the opinion. No insult taken.
An interesting debate. Not sure I follow all the philosophy being thrown around. Never was good at that subject.
Gotta say, I'm not sure I know where this is going. I suppose I'll have to keep reading to find out!
Oh, boy. It's like Revelations and the seven seals are now broken.
Still not sure on everyone's intent here. Thoughts and actions seem all over the place, but, given the premise, I suppose that's the point.
There's going to be some heavy fallout due to this. Looking forward to it!
So Discord is just a piece of a much bigger puzzle, eh? That's pretty scary.
Cool fight scenes. Rainbow's as much in her element here as anywhere else.
It's a scary thought to have a Discord who's even more unhinged and willing to go to more extremes. What a time to be alive, am I right?
Wouldn't want to be in the Equestrian's horseshoes, not after this little development. It's going to be a trying few days...
Wonder if Discord is affected by the dropping of the Veil, too. That's a scary thought.
Lot's going on all over the place. Guess we'll see what the fallout will be from all this soon.
http://kisscartoon.se/G/151269?l=http%3a%2f%2fkisscartoon.se%2fCartoon%2fLa-Luna
Time travel makes my head spin.
Nice fight with the dragon! Wonder how this will play out down the line. My suspicions tell me Rainbow Dash isn't done dealing with big reptiles.
There's an ancient proverb I heard a while ago that seems apt for this situation:
"Never make a deal with a dragon."
Yeah, I think that about covers that.
Good to see that even if Rainbow and Rarity argue, they're still friends that look out for each other. Seems they'll be needing that more than ever.
Title Drop!
Looks like all the ramping up is starting to pay off. Discord unleashed, Typhus on the rampage, and civility itself teetering over the edge.
And three little ponies looking for salvation. I look forward to finding out if they manage to find it.
Till next time!
So... many... new chapters...
I was wondering if the story was in its home stretch when the flood of chapters began, so held off on reading until I was certain.
Time to start reading! I am looking forward to it.
Finished!
Having marathoned these last few chapters, I think I found the theme you were going for with this work. Ruin leads to rejuvenation.
Everything was leading up to a cataclysm of unparalleled heights. It came, and it destroyed. However, in its wake, new life was seeded. The result is a better balance to the world than what was before.
I think it works, though there were times I had trouble following what was going on and what the characters intended. Perhaps a little too much abstract thought?
I enjoyed this piece and I'm glad you stuck it out to finish it. It always feels good getting a big project like this to its end.
Till next time!
i have to admit, i only started reading this story because i was curious about the relationship between twilight and dash after the end of lethe, I really want to know how they were after having their minds merged and separated, like, was there any collateral effects? if yes, which ones? I will probably have these answers as I continue my reading