NMN Update and Teaser · 9:06pm Oct 1st, 2020
4000 words in, and as usual, the chapter's taking a bit of a turn from what I initially intended as I find myself shifting from section to section, working on each a little in turn. But that's fine. There remains at least a slight chance I'll have it done by this weekend; it depends on whether I finally break through and start knocking out the rest quickly, which sometimes happens in my writing. The first half comes slowly, and then the rest comes rapidly as I get more into it and the chapter takes firmer shape.
But in the meantime, have a teaser. This will actually open the chapter:
“Greetings, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor!” said General Nocturne, the overall Nightborne commander of the Canterlot Lunar Guard garrison as the royal transport appeared at the docking station in streak of light, having ridden a Ley line all way from the Crystal Kingdom. “We are very glad to see you! From the most recent reports of the Castle, the situation appears dire, and we fear we cannot contain it much longer."
“We are aware, General,” answered a tired-looking Shining Armor, now wearing his old Royal Guard Captain’s attire after having discarded his pirate costume, having been engaged in some Nightmare Night roleplay with his Alicorn wife before receiving the emergency call from Princes Luna. “We were briefed by Luna herself on the way over and diverted here from Ponyville to deal with this new threat. And if that bucking Blueblood had something to do with subverting my new security, I swear by my sister and Celestia herself that I’ll pound his plot into the pavement!”
“Peace, my hot-blooded Prince,” Cadance answered as well, laying a wing over him. “Be assured, we are fully aware of what is happening, Commander. Has this curious curse broken containment at the Castle yet?”
“Not to our knowledge, as by all reports, we would know quite quickly from its… effects if it had. But we fear it is only a matter of time, Princess,” the General confided, his feline eyes daring nervously, looking for any sign of arousal in his subordinates--or worse, Prince Shining Armor or Princess Mi Amore Cadenza themselves. “We lost contact with the Command Center just after they said it was about to be overrun. The containment shield around the infected wing can only be deactivated from within it. But once it is…” He swallowed visibly.
“It won't matter,” Shining Armor promised. “We'll throw up our own shields. If Sombra himself couldn’t break through Cadance's, than neither can this curse, especially if her shield spell is backed by mine! Honey? We can’t waste time.” He offered her his hoof.
“You are right, my noble Prince.” She hid her own concern for not just the City of Canterlot, but Twilight and her friends as well, to say nothing of her disappointment of being taken from their roleplay session, where they’d been imagining her kidnapped by Avian Harpie raiders just as it was getting interesting. “Keep your forces back behind us, General, and await Luna’s arrival. We will hold the Castle’s perimeter and seal it off until then.”
“By your command, my Princess and Captain,” he nodded his head. “But, uh… what should we do if this curse gets the two of you?”
Shining Armor exchanged a glance with Cadance. He then gave her an unseen wink before turning to the Nightborne commander and pinning him with his hardest Captain’s stare. “If it gets us, then you’re as good as tucked, General. Because knowing me, I’ll trap you all in a shield spell and then go for converting the high-ranking officers first!” he informed him bluntly, causing the General to flinch and tailhole to pucker while his subordinates stifled snickers.
“And knowing me, I’ll make you all fall in love with each other, and then make love to each other regardless of age, rank, race or gender in order to convert you en masse,” Cadance added with a wink back, causing the chuckles to instantly cease as every thestral mare and stallion exchanged nervous looks with each other. “So in that case, don’t fight it—just enjoy yourselves as all Equestria falls.” She closed her eyes and smiled, then took Shining Armor's hoof and teleported them both out in a flash of light.
“That isn’t very reassuring,” the sorely unsettled General muttered under his breath as he sensed the pair re-materialize a mile away, followed shortly by a glowing pink-and-blue shield dome descending over the entirety of Canterlot Castle.
I only realized I'd forgotten about these two until I went back to earlier chapters and remembered I'd said Luna was summoning them to Ponyville to quarantine the town. So I retconned an earlier chapter to have Luna explain they were being diverted away once she learned of the threat to Canterlot, and that's why she summoned the High Priestess there instead. Sorry about that. I hate it when I lose track of my own story threads like I did here.
OK,
, those two have too much fun with the situation. Cadance seems especially eager.
Don't worry about the retcon.This story is massive. It's easy to forget about something.
I'm going to try my hardest to divest Cloppy's headcanon on Shining from yours. Does Flurry Heart even exist in this timeline?
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See these apples? They mean "not welcome!"
The Generalissimo isn't a fan of their gallows humor.
This is going to fun ride!
This is certainly interesting and and Shining Armor and Cadance are having a bit too much fun with the whole situation it seems.
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Who knows? Give she's the Princess of Love, she might actually see something useful and redeeming in the curse.
Thanks. It just bugs me when I do stuff like that, especially when someone else ends up pointing out.
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I mentioned them briefly earlier--like ten chapters earlier--and then forgot about them and what I was going to do with them. Oops.
Be assured, Shining is anything but an idiot here. And yes, she definitely does. I should probably mention who they left her in the care of for the night.
There really is a pony meme for everything! And better yet, an AJ one.
Not when it's your tail that might be tucked!
That's the idea!
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A touch of gallows humor, maybe. Or maybe they both secretly like the idea of the curse...
Guess we'll find out in due course!