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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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So Serenity finally tries talking to ponies.
And with this chapter, we've hit an interesting milestone. The Chrysalis is now longer than my other three stories combined. That's a lot of ponywords. Kind of impressive for a story I'd originally guessed might be almost as long a A New Way.
'A house divided against itself cannot stand', huh? Some interesting tactics, but very sloppily applied, if professionally handled.
Echo has gotten much better at socializing. Looking forward to her becoming the next Celestia. XD
Yeah deplomacy fell flat when hail burst joined the fray. I expected more drama with the megaspell threat followed by a if we lose you lose more sort of line. I get the vibe that the loyalist might have been infiltrated with the way hail burst hesitates on certain things.
I've been thinking about it for a while, and the longer the story goes on the more it terrifies me. I just can't shake the feeling that Bloodbeak is a changeling from Serenity...
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I'm fairly certain that 'writing far more than expected' is Fallout: Equestria tradition.
Always lovely to see this story updated. Good chapter, looking forward to the next one!
9007446
..........yup
Or perhaps (hopefully) a random changling from another hive that is just rolling with it thinking 'WHAT IS GOING ON'
Bloodbeak is way too suspicious. But on the other hand, her being a spy would be so obvious that she has an equal chance of not being one as she has being one. Always subverting my expectations in the best of ways, you are!
9007169
This is one of the greatest stories on fimfic, and without a doubt the best FO: E fic, so I find myself totally okay with this! The more quality bughorse words from you, the better!
There is no ominous cliffhanger on this chapter >.>
I am very suspicious.
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At this point, I think it's just a "one of my stories" kind of thing. Every story I've written ended up being longer than I expected. Sometimes much longer. Even Fragments! I'm just bad at estimating how long a story will be, it seems.
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High praise, there! Thank you. Though we are getting towards the end of the story. Still got several more chapters, but it should end before it reaches the length of the original. Though given the above, maybe I shouldn't bet on it...
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How ominous!
That went well. A little too well...
Maybe misinformation wasn't the only package Cheerlight was supposed to deliver.
Yeah, she's made physical contact, and she was practically breathing in Dusty's face. Wouldn't be surprised if they wake up the next day to see him and half the army stricken with a virulent disease...
I'm rather shocked that Whisper would tell anyone outside of her inner circle about the eggs, even to assuage any doubt Hail Burst might have after this encounter. Considering she still hasn't entirely ruled out the presence of embedded infiltrators among the army, and the fact that there's a distinct possibility that Serenity was trying to find out about projects Sweetdreams and Permafrost (such as from the Paradise Beach data), I would think she'd be extremely careful about revealing this information and potentially putting the future of her hive in the greatest possible jeopardy. Even with the fatigue, I'd think the Mint-als would keep her alert enough to watch out for such an important possibility.
"Hail Bust said"
"Hail Burst said"?
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She already had to say that her hive was in such a precarious state that she was the only surviving adult, just to get their little alliance going. Clarifying that the rest of her hive were eggs rather than merely young isn't really giving any useful information. Whisper's friends are the only ones who know of her hive's involvement with C.L.T., much less how Sweetdreams and Permafrost might tie into things, and the rest of her hive being eggs or not doesn't really give any information that would suggest anything to do with those.
The exception would be if Serenity already knew Whisper's hive had a survival plan involving C.L.T., but if they did, those eggs probably would have been smashed (Or stolen!) more than a century ago.
So Whisper traded a secret that poses virtually zero risk (Especially with the army closing in on Serenity) in exchange for possibly gaining some trust from Hail Burst by appearing more open and honest (And possibly even more sympathetic). It was a combination of friendly sharing and careful calculation.
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You see nothing. (Fixed! )
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The ominous part is how the chapter repeatedly emphasizes how quiet Serenity is being over the radio. It ties in nicely with Whisper's comments about the "many forms danger can take" at the beginning of the chapter.
Awesome as always!
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Well, I guess I see how it's less potentially harmful as long as it's only the leaders who just got more details to fill in the gaps to foster trust and they keep it to themselves, but there's still this (research binge incoming):
I've thought about that as well before. Serenity found out about the megaspell from Starlight's PipBuck, so they could have also found the location of Experimental Site Alpha as well (they may have already known it existed if they checked the same data cache in the Serenity C.L.T. facility from Chapter 24, but just had no idea where to look for it). Just because the backup power ran out doesn't mean Serenity doesn't have access to Spark generators, or even if they don't or can't get one there, they could see the remains of the hibernation chrysalises, since I don't think Whisper burned those (see Chapters 1 and 14).
If Serenity did find such evidence at Alpha, and especially if they could recover data (from other parts of the facility that Whisper didn't have a chance to visit while it was powered), they might look harder into C.L.T., and since (if I remember correctly) Whisper never reviewed the entirety of the data from Paradise Beach, there could be more hints toward the C.L.T.-Hive (Ephema or otherwise) projects if C.L.T. employees passed project data through all of the local research facilities like the silly InfoSec-challenged ponies who left passwords on sticky notes they were. Even with NDAs, compartmentalization, and C.E.O. Gleaming Facet being the only pony completely in the know about the Serenity deal, it's not completely infeasible that something leaked about that or other projects.
I find it a bit of a stretch to believe that the C.L.T. message sorting/routing data could only be found at the Baltimare regional HQ, or that Serenity had such poor luck that they couldn't find an alternate source in 200+ years (unless C.L.T's corporate headquarters was never explored by Serenity due to it either being in Canterlot or too far away in the Crystal Empire or something, since they apparently never went to Baltimare). Also, we still have no idea what the Canterlot Medical Research Group did, and whether any potential cooperative efforts or corporate espionage involving them (or any other company at Paradise Beach) could have led to C.L.T. information leaking out from yet another source.
On a completely different subject, did Backlash91 ever finish the art of Whisper and Starlight's first kiss?
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7599695
The day always gets better when this story is updated!
So glad nothing seriously bad came from that talking changeling spy.
But what will become of the megaspell and mareford?
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The rest of Whisper's hive existing only as eggs doesn't contribute anything to that, at least. The chance of it aiding Serenity's search is minimal.
But yes, there is a chance that Serenity could eventually track down the current location of Whisper's hive. There's just a lot of factors working against it.
First off, while they could get the location of C.L.T. Experimental Site Alpha from Starlight's PipBuck, it's just one of a great many locations stored over several generations of scavengers. They already know C.L.T. is a thing, so it doesn't stand out as new information. It's in the middle of a string of locations along a caravan route, so it's not an apparent outlier in travel patterns. Heck, they might have even already known about all the C.L.T. sites (I'd even say the odds are pretty good; extensive scouting and information gathering might have found them many decades ago, assuming they hadn't simply kept address books from before the megaspells!). That would mean it doesn't even stand out as a location they're unaware of. They might have given the sites a basic investigation already, and just judged it not currently worth the expenditure of resources to break into the sealed or heavily defended facilities (Similar to how Mareford didn't devote resources to breaking into the sealed area of Site Gamma).
Knowing that a changeling hive might be hiding out there might prompt a follow-up investigation of any sites previous deemed not worth the effort, but they have limited resources to devote to an investigation, potentially hundreds of location markers to investigate, and no reason to believe Starlight has even been to Whisper's hive. That's a lot of places to investigate, with the possibility that none of them even point them in the right direction. Remember also that they have even less information on where to start looking than Whisper started with. And finally, if they were to suspect a location from Starlight's PipBuck, it would probably be that outlier way out in the Badlands, where Changelings were known to hide back before the war. Thoroughly searching an unfamiliar hive and piecing together recovered information might take a good while (Heck, getting through the Stable door might take a while!), but it's the most obviously promising location they would know of.
So, a search that likely requires extensive investigation, while they're already undergoing a full-scale operations to infiltrate major settlements, repair the Cumulonimbus, and prepare for straight-up taking over the Wasteland. On top of that, they now have a proper army gathering to strike at their home, and likely a moderate confidence that Whisper's hive is not currently a major direct threat aside from herself (Who they have tried to directly target at least twice). They've got much bigger problems to deal with. They might even still have a few changelings investigating possible hive locations (Or scouting out the old hive), though every changeling they devote to that task is one less devoted to protecting their hive from impending destruction.
You are absolutely right that they could eventually track down those eggs, but that was always a risk from the moment Serenity found out Whisper was a changeling. From that moment, they knew there was (very likely) another changeling hive out there. They would absolutely go investigating it at some point, and even delaying measures (Such as removing any signs of changeling presence from Site Alpha) wouldn't prevent them from eventually investigating Site Bravo, and even eventually putting in the resources to get into the locked-down area of the facility. Once Serenity puts resources into finding Whisper's hive, it's merely a matter of time before it's discovered. It might be weeks or months or even years, but it would come eventually. That's part of why Whisper decided that her hive's survival depended on Serenity being stopped. They'd never be safe so long as Serenity is out there doing its thing.
...As for the art, it hasn't happened. As I understand it, life got in the way. I still hope it might happen in the future, because it sounds super cute
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I've been saying the same thing since she first appeared and now she knows about the eggs...
Also isn't it convenient that Whisper just so happens to become to tired to listen to the radio right after telling her that information?
Wow, it's already been over two years since I followed this story? That feels crazy. This is definitely my favorite story on FF right now.
Now every pipbuck and power armor of the ponies has a serenity program installed. What could possibly go wrong.
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Not so fast. It's encryption software that Whisper reverse engineered herself. She knows exactly what she put in there. The only question is whether Serenity will break the encryption there.
That is very ominous.
Get Whisper a safe and secure room, then let her do her military intelligence thing. That's what I was thinking during the last chapter, and now here we are!
Doubt she'll stay there long, if only for the reason that reading about someone listening to the radio for several days would not make a very interesting story.
Well, someone rolled 1 on persuasion
Lies weaved in lies, you will lose sight of all in the web of lies
Man was this chapter shorter? cant say for sure, this gets me really fast in the zone
I'm sorry I havn't commented on recent chapter updates, I must have been so excited to read them that it slipped my mind!
Anyways, I would love to say (if I havn't already) that I love this fic and your style of writing in general. This fic is what got me into fics in the first place and that was a year ago! The fact that you have continued to update this at your steady pace is amazing as others have petered out when it comes to something of this scale. Your writing is among my favorite ever, with your attention to detail (I still remember how that security guard almost died from blunt-force trama after being "knocked out" in Without a Hive) and every time I see an update from you I drop everything to read it. Most of your changeling canon I have based my own changeling headcanon off and is part of the reason I love the buggy fellas so darn much. Nothing compares to your style of writing at when this is done I hope it gets a printing like the original FoE, 'cos this is just something I would love to have on my shelf.
Sorry for the dump, I'll go back to lurkihg now that I've gushed my feelings everywhere.
Bottom line is; I love your shit, keep doing it!
Dang...this story never ceases to please.
I have to say, the envoy trying to turn things around on Whisper was particularly enjoyable to read, mostly because of how bad it went considering the seeming false information she operated under (I say seeming, because these are changelings. This might be according to plan.)
As much as I looove the espionage and intrigue, the simplicity in the scene where she gets all comfy and snuggled in is just so refreshing and adorable ❤ I love Whisper and changelings in general, especially when they do cute silly things.
It occurs to me that whisper is a lot more skilled then she lets on or possibly even belives her self to be. Having read the source material i have come.to the conclusion that a lifetime of evading the ministry of moral (pinkie pie and her party time mentats enhanced pinkie sence along with her army of undercover operatives and the spritebots) she has vastly superior skills to those of the modern changlings who have never had to deal with the MOM looking over their shoulders. Heat and preasure make diamonds. If this was the best sancuary could come up with as a deception. Then i can assume that they are ill prepared for a true infiltrator. But then when it comes to changelings... assume nothing, suspect everything. And never let your guard down.
I think Bloodbeak beeing a regular spy instead of changeling is the best explanation for now...
Also, I want that mediator given to a raider mob for execution. Hate shittalkers like that.
Hey, that coffee comes from your hive's facility anyway. That's your coffee!
Sickle to the rescue!
A saner choice than Littlepip's "more mint-als"
Yeeeah, that is a little odd...
You just know she actually wanted to say "annoying"
Echo should've grabbed one of the Serenity ones
Ohey. They got Serenity ones. Nice
Pfffhah. This will take a while
Next lesson: sarcasm
I just had the mental image of a little foal Echo pouting and looking up at Whisper with puppy-dog eyes, and being all "B-but... I'm a superior lifeform!"
Hehe. About time.
9074975
that's an awesome image.
Wait, that brings up a number of questions that have been bugging me. Essentially, as far as I can tell, the Serenity changelings opened fire on a bunch of burny feral ghouls, focusing particularly on an observation bunker the ghouls controlled/lived in. I remember one mention of a spear though.
But none of the forces involved seem to have actually investigated this. Whisper's group, the Riders, Gemstone and Mareford, and even the Dashites were there, to some degree or another, but nobody seems to have looked seriously into the battle's effects on the town, what the bunker was and why it was a target, whether there was anything more than a bunch of ferals living there, or even if there were survivors. I know Serenity was gearing up for something, which is distracting, but everypony seemed to up and forget about everything at Pale Sands without really asking why.
Like, Whisper (and maybe others) wondered multiple times about who was activating the town's air raid siren, but that question never seems to have been looked in to.
And suddenly Hail Burst is using that incident against the Serenity negotiator. I thought the town was just a mystery full of feral ghouls; I don't remember this story presenting anything else about it. And nopony really gives a crap about feral ghouls, except for that moment in the conversation.
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Pale Sands is like that area of the game that you pass through on the way to doing something else, intend to get back to, and then forget about until you see the end-game slide mentioning the bad things that happened there because you didn't intervene. For me, that was the Vault 19 Powder Gangers in New Vegas.
In any case, Two Bits reported seeing signs of habitation at the observation bunkers, followed by at least twenty dead ponies. I perhaps didn't emphasize that these really were ponies instead of ferals, but I figured the mention of habitation and weapons might do that.
As much as they would have liked to investigate the bunker and discover any more information, they really didn't have the time for a thorough examination. Serenity had just gotten the megaspell, and might be on the way to use it against the main army; time was of the essence. That said, they did send a Ranger squad (Alpha) down to investigate, though they never reported anything of interest.
Incidentally, I haven't been replying to all of your posts, but I've greatly enjoyed reading them. Thank you.
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I guess, even if nopony spent much time looking around 'cause there were more important things happening, I would have liked to have had somepony explicitly state that the bunker/surrounds looked like it had be actually inhabited, though wiped out. Things would be clearer then and later, Hail Burst would have better reason to mention it, and I think that would have further emphasized some things that you were going for anyway. Namely that the Serenity changelings were decidedly discriminate with their assaults.
That said, it's a relatively minor thing. I just got caught wondering why Hail Burst cared about seemingly feral ghouls.
And you just claimed that was another group of changelings, therefore proving that you have lied during this conversation, which invalidates many, if not all, of your claims
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Ah, not quite. The "not our changelings" response was in reply to a witness seeing changelings attack Rust. She figured there was some possibility of selling that claim, or at least plant some seeds of doubt, since some ponies didn't exactly trust Whisper. The connection between Serenity and the Cumulonimbus, on the other hand, was way too clear to even attempt to lie about that.
Rather surprising that Whisper there is a master of ways to adress others calls a griffins tallons for a hand "lifting a hand to cover another," sure it have fingers and such, but they are not really handsy.
Also, chapter 42 a thousand lies? Nah 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything, not lies!
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Nice reference.
Also my own lil thoughts on this chapter: did Serenity really try sending a surrender filled with lies? A lot of these are folks she either helped directly or that have been with her 2 months. Hell, even captured Whispers group of friends outright. With Trotsen, ya had tried crap with one or two of their own, one of which was clearly good friends with Sandstorm or something. Then ya threaten to Nuke Two Bits' home? Dunno if ya knew this lass but... Peace was never an option.
Okay, so why was Cheerlight really there? Chrysalis can't possibly think so little of Whisper and the others that she thought simple trickery was going to work.
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Oh, they didn't expect to convince Whisper, but they didn't have to. They only had to convince other ponies that she was a manipulator and a liar (which... she is) and get them to question what was really going on. Getting the army to fracture was probably considered very unlikely, but it could still cause dissention and conflict in their ranks, diminishing the army's effectiveness and morale, which in turn would make the remaining fight easier. They were even probably aware that there was little chance of having meaningful success, but even if it didn't work, it cost them basically nothing to attempt. They can give it a try while still doing everything else they were doing.
And there was at least some chance that "don't attack us or we megaspell your little town" could convince Mareford to back off, and that would be the core of their army's strength gone for basically nothing. Granted, they were probably convinced that they could still win the battle on the ground, but thought that they would take more casualties than they would like, so they'd like to reduce that.
Great writing with Cheerlight! I got actually angry because of all the bullshit she was spewing and was genuinely nervous that it might work. Glad to see it didn't amount to much, but Serenity are not stupid, so I wouldn't be surprised if Whisper and co end up playing right into their hooves somehow. Also wouldn't be surprised if the team find a smoldering crater where Mareford used to be in a few chapters. Hopefully the Loyalists that were sent back can evacuate the town before Serenity decide to glass it.
How big is Mareford anyway? I can't really compare the way I'm thinking about it to anything from Fallout, but I imagine there would be nearly a thousand ponies living there, considering how many soldiers they have. That might make evacuation a bit tricky.
On another topic, I'm getting increasingly suspicious of Bloodbeak. I don't see how she can be a spy unless she was replaced during her stay in Mareford, which wouldn't have made much sense back then Still, she's suspiciously hyped about everything.
And that is simply adorable
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I kind of intentionally avoided giving too firm of numbers, but it's somewhere in that ballpark, or bigger. It's the largest settlement in the region, though it's hard to pin down exactly how large that should be. In the original, Friendship City apparently had a bit less than a thousand people, while Tenpony Tower was said to have "thousands" (though this was said in an emotional moment and might have been hyperbolic). I was picturing somewhere around there; a big settlement by Wasteland standards, but tiny by pre-war/wartime standards.
And yes, evacuation would be a challenge. Even if you get the roughly thousand people out of there, they have needs. You need food, water, shelter. All of that would have to be organized and brought with them, which takes time. You've got the very young, the very old, and likely some injured or disabled ponies who will need assistance. And it's a lot of stuff, so hauling it all around is going to be challenging. And you need enough stuff to last... how long? After all, if they evacuate, Serenity might not use the bomb. They've got decent intel, and it'd be pretty obvious that the place was evacuated even if they didn't have spies (which they presumably do). Instead, they can just dangle the threat of the bomb overhead and force the entire population to stay out in the Wasteland with no infrastructure and only what supply they could bring with them (conveniently also shutting down Mareford's weapon production). There are no other settlements large enough to support the population, except maybe Trotsen, and then they just target that city instead. And that's assuming they don't just megaspell the refugees themselves, who are probably more vulnerable in the Wasteland than they were at home. Definitely a bit tricky!