//------------------------------// // Session 36 // Story: Ponies and Dragons (Just Have Fun) // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Session 36.0 Alex Warlorn (SPOILERS FOR EPISODE S6E21 AHEAD!) It was a few days after the 'Starlight tries to do five friendship lessons at once, brainwashes the mane six minus Twilight to make it more orderly, and it backfires spectacularly' incident. And the girls were back to their plain vanilla Oubliettes and Ogres campaign. Tracking down the dungeon owned by the Squizzard being used by the Ogres as a main base of operations. Discord and co weren't having their LARP in the next room this time... as Discord told Starlight, "WE'RE PART OF A EXCLUSIVE CLUB NOW! Here's your 'I managed to brainwash the Elements of Harmony' T-shirt! And here's your complimentary mug! I'm ordering pizza! We can trade notes on how to bend minds to your will! Just imagine if we combined our methods! Chryssy is going to be so jealous! She never got to brainwash Fluttershy and her friends! She has to keep sitting outside the club house looking in!" Fluttershy glared at Discord. "Uh, that is, talk about -WRONG- and -IMMORAL- it is!" Discord belatedly backtracks." That's right! UH! Let's go!" Discord quickly retreated with Starlight in tow. Now the game was underway. Twilight noticed that the party was running into an unusually large number of giant spiders and spider swarms. "Finding an outlet for your fears Spike?" Twilight asked. "I bet that hallway is the one that leads to you Friendship Dungeon." "IT'S NOT A DUNGEON!!! IT'S A BASEMENT!!!" "Keep telling yourself that." But Spike did notice something else. The girls, sans Twilight, weren't jumping off the rails, weren't attacking random NPCs, weren't getting fixated on characters who were there just for scenery. Twilight began to dimly notice as well that the girls were acting like a perfectly well oiled machine, no arguments, no Rainbow Dash kill stealing even through they all got equal XP for group efforst, no Fluttershy arguing they should reason with the blood thirsty beast that only wished it could murder them twice, no Pinkie Pie going off on wacky ideas just as likely to backfire as work. They were just going along with her carefully perfected plans like clock work. Applejack had not even complained when they had to set fire to a tree to flush out some goblin snipers. And Rarity had healed her teammates without going into role playing of praying to her goddess. It all came to a head when they had captured a gang of goblins who were working for the ogres and knew the whereabouts of their base. "What do you think Starlight would do?" Rarity asked in all sincere honesty. "She'd want the prisoners to be treated equally." Applejack smiled and nodded not a trace of sarcasm or irony in her voice. "Then that's what we should do," Rainbow Dash said happily. "If we let one goblin go, we should let them all go, if we kill one, we should kill them all," Said Fluttershy. Twilight had seen the 'anti equality' symbol Starlight now had in her room, and while it seemed comforting at first that Starlight had gotten it out of her system... it left the worrying idea that Starlight now saw equality itself as wrong, rather than FORCING ideas on others... To be honest, it was actually a little disturbing in hindsight. Spike leaned in over the table as best he could and whispered, "Uh, Twilight, are you SURE you got that spell off our friends?" "... It was a MESS of a spell, with a LOT of raw power behind it, a lot more than needed, I think that's part of why the spell strangled so much of their self initiative, not to mention it was composed of THREE LAYERS of mind magic... but I'm sure I cleaned it up." "Okay girls, prank's over." Spike said. "What prank Dungeon Master Spike?" Pinkie Pie asked. As much as Spike LOVED the girls finally giving him the respect he was due while behind the screen... "Where you all pretend that you're still trapped in your own bodies by Starlight's spell." "Oh we weren't trapped in our bodies darling, but everything we did felt so natural and reasonable." Rarity said. "Everything was so clear!" "And... when is the last time you talked to Starlight?" Twilight asked. "Last night when I work her up in her bed asking which color to go with for my new scarf." Rarity said not seeming to realize the oddity of that. "So that's what that was." Twilight sighed. "She said that if I felt the need to ask her again when she was already doing something else, to ask myself 'what would Starlight want' and to think about it, and then think about it again, and then do it if it still made sense," Rarity said in a causal tone. "I... kinda liked it too..." Fluttershy admitted. "No fears, no doubts, no worries..." She was some disturbingly genuine wistfulness in her voice. "I didn't like how I let all my animal friends just wander off because Starlight told me to stay right there... but I did get to meet all those new friends, Mr. Rat, the snakes, the bugs, the centipedes, the spiders... did you know they're friends with Snails?" Applejack admitted, "No limits, no blocks, no little voice saying I was being rude or forceful telling EVERYTHING about my family history to somepony, even smoke and flood wouldn't stop me..." Spike hated to admit it, but that was on one note he was actually sympathetic to Starlight about. "You did like the Chillax spot I built right Twilight?" Rainbow said looking at Twilight with an odd smile. "Starlight said find a spot, and once I was free of all those pesky distractions, I realized there was a great spot on top of the castle..." Twilight said, "Don't worry Spike, it'll fade sooner than later." "Tell what wears off?" Rarity said with a distant smile. "I hope," Twilight said. "Spike," Fluttershy said with a smile on her face. "I politely ask the goblins, if they can show us the way to the ogres lair. 'I don't know how much longer can I hold my friend back.' " "Ah keep a lit torch raised right near 'em all menacin' like so Fluttershy's the 'good guard.'" Applejack said, when normally, Fluttershy and Applejack would argue about the 'stick and the carrot' method when it came to interrogating prisoners. "Well..." Spike said reluctanlty. "It IS kinda nice to see them work together." Twilight subtly glared. "Not that that justifies using mind control magic on someopony at all!" Spike quickly added. Spike rolled the dice. "The goblin breaks and begins to tell Fluttershy everything he knows about the way to the dungeon, along with the traps set up along the way and the password." Rainbow Dash said, "I'll be sure to scout again for the good of the party." Even though Twilight hated to admit it, but it was nice to hear Rainbow Dash not suggest they murder prisoners for the XP. "I'm sure to heal the goblins before we let them go, and tell them about the glories of my goddess." Rarity said. Twilight and Spike were slightly surprised, but they did remember Starlight saying that Rarity had acted surprisingly initiative compared to the others. "Alright Rarity." Spike said. "It's what my character would do in game," Rarity said. "And Starlight would want us to play by the rules and actually play our characters in game as they would act, not how we would act that would give us the greatest advantage with out of game behavior to get in game advantages." The other four ponies nodded in agreement. Spike was VERY torn, it was the dream of every Oubliette Overseer to hear those words. Twilight looked carefully at her friends, their eyes weren't shrunken, and they weren't taking everything said blindly literally... But Starlight had created a three way spell monstrosity... Twilight hope this didn't turn out like Suri/Buttons. Button was still living in Ponyville feel every scrap and needle prick that Suri Polomare got countless miles away in Manehatten. Twilight wasn't sure she could handle her friends all developing split personalities (though for Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie it might have been just a new roommate for a mind that was already cohabited by multiple personas). 'It's okay, you already removed the spell, it'll wear off in time... it'll wear off in time... I am having a talk with Starlight when she gets back.' "So uh, how's Gilda Rainbow?" Twilight asked. "I'm doing my hardest to spend an equal amount of time with her as I do with all my very close friends, it's what Starlight would want. And to respect her culture values as being different from ponies, that's also what Starlight would want." "And how's Alisa?" "I've been dressing up in disguises with her in my off hours, it's what Starlight would want, me to experience her culture, in exchange I've had her spend an equal amount of time with me at tea parties so she can equally learn about Pony culture as I learn about Diamond Wolf culture." Rarity said with a smile. "I've got to admit... " Spike, well, admitted. "This is the farthest we've ever gotten in a campaign session without everypony arguing." He shook his head. "Rarity, some of the goblins say they'll consider your works, since you didn't slaughter them as they've been told all adventurers do to goblins, and they bid you good luck." "'May the blessings of my goddess go with you.'" Rarity said in character. Spike himself was still bedazzled as how effective the girls were being, they got through the combat encounters with clockwork efficiency, and the NPC encounters with guile, charisma, and logic. Including bribing the young troll that was guarding the bridge to the dungeon rather than fighting him and possibly raising an alarm. Brainwashing residue or not, at least they weren't staring like zombies. And at least they weren't suggesting Twilight be 'fixed' to make the group dynamic complete, then again, that likely wasn't what Starlight Glimmer would want. Session 36.1 Grogar-the-ondser "Twilight we need to talk," Applejack said. "About what?" Twilight asked as she look at the girl. "About yer mind control fetish." Twilight blinked, looking at Applejack as if she grown a second head "WHAT!?" "You know, yer-" "I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID, But... why would you say that!?" Twilight demanded. "The want-it-need-it spell," Rainbow Dash said. "That wasn't mind control! That was more... mind coercion." "Trying to use the reform spell on Discord, which I doubt would even work on him," Rarity said. "HEY! Anypony would have done the same, Discord was a monster when he was unreformed." "Starlight finding two mind control spell she can use in your library with the one she had," Fluttershy deadpanned. "... Okay that one does look bad but-" "And then there was game night last week," Applejack said. "What about it?" "You use mindflayers, vampires and lich creatures known for their mind control abilities," Applejack said. "Now Ah get that everypony has their needs, but could you avoid using the mind control thing at least with ponies who don't share it?" "I don't have a mind control fetish!" Twilight snapped. "She so in denial," Pinkie said. "So sad," Rainbow nodded. "It's not what Starlight Glimmer would want," Rarity said. Session 36.2 Kendell2 with a little extra by Alex Warlorn (AN: I wasn't GOING to do this, because it felt too much like Discord going too far...but given the situation, it now feels like it fits because...well, Discord is DISCORD and he's VINDICTIVE.) Discord had thought of a new game to do the 'make the game real' with. The group were high school students investigating an urban legend of the 'Midnight Channel' and got sucked an alternate world with a strange fog.  "So...other than fight random monsters, what ARE we doing?" Starlight asked, the group dressed in typical Japanese high school uniforms (Rarity hadn't been fond of that).  "Oh, you'll see..." said Discord, giving a smirk that made her blood run cold for some reason. "Just wait until we meet the boss." "...I don't like it when he gets that look on his face..." said Spike, for some reason dressed in a red suit more at home on a toy. "I know, but Discord won't do anything, Fluttershy's here. He'd never hurt her..." Twilight replied. Discord then smirked. "Ah, here we are..." The group suddenly heard the sound of voices...or friends bickering. Of arguments. "What's going on?" Applejack asked, looking around. "Well, we ARE in a radio..." Discord commented, innocently.  "I wish things had been different..." Starlight gasped. "That's...my voice..." "I wish everypony was special or no pony is, then I could be happy..." Starlight's ears pinned. "W-what?" "Discord, what's happening?!" Fluttershy asked. "Well, apparently the game needed to customize the enemy AI, we aren't a bunch of Japanese high school students, now are we?" Discord asked innocently. "I don't think that way anymore!" Starlight exclaimed. "I'm a new pony!" "Of course you still do, myself..." The group turned to see a SECOND Starlight, this one surrounded by a blue shadowy aura with her old Our Town mane style. Her eyes glowing bright yellow. The main difference was she was wearing an old Hooviet Empire officer's uniform (probably the most sterotypically evil thing Starlight could think of).  "It's why I wish I was still a 'completely evil' bad guy," replied the Other Starlight. "N-No...I don't!" Starlight replied, taking a step back. "That way I could go back to my happy place: where everypony is equal and I don't have to feel inferior, or superior. Where I don't have to pretend that desire is a BAD thing," Other Starlight replied, slowly trotting forward.  "SHUT UP!" Starlight yelled, her anger getting the better of her and fired a magic beam at the Shadow...to no effect. "Why? You know I'm right. We want equality. We don't want haves and have not's. Nobles and everyponies. We don't want superior and inferior. We MISS being the bad guy because the bad guy doesn't CARE what anypony things about what they think!" Other Starlight said. "When we were the bad guy, we never WORRIED about if our beliefs were right! We could make the world the way WE wanted it! A world where no pony ever has to worry about losing a friend again!" The shadowy Starlight looked her in the eye. "You try to be the nice little goody goody two shoes who FORGETS she was ever the bad guy. Goody goody two shoes, goody goody two shoes! That's what you WANT to be. But you know you aren't." "STOP IT! YOU DON'T KNOW ME!"  "DISCORD, STOP THIS!" Twilight yelled. Discord just shrugged. "And leave little Starlight in the middle of a tantrum? Good luck dealing with THAT." "Of course I know you, after all, I AM you," replied other Starlight. "I am the Shadow, the true self. There's nothing I don't know about YOU!" Starlight now had tears running down her face. "I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU! YOU'RE NOT ME!" Other Starlight smirked.  "Well, we're only allowed to have so many ponies in a party at once, good luck dealing with the boss!" Discord said, grabbing Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie and vanishing. "DISCORD!" Twilight yelled. "Why are you doing this?!" "Simple: if little miss Starlight keeps bottling herself up, she might hurt Fluttershy, and the rest of you, again when that bottle leaks," said Discord's voice. "It's for the best she faces it NOW rather than letting it build up like a volcano and erupt! Now go on, be good friends and help her pull out that nasty thorn." "...Discord..." Twilight replied, a realization coming to her mind. "Starlight hurt Fluttershy..." Applejack followed her. "...He might be on our side now, but he's still a vindictive bucker..." Other Starlight started laughing. "Go on, say it again." "YOU'RE NOT ME! YOU'RE NOTHING LIKE ME!" Starlight screamed. The look her copy got made her feel faint. "Yes, that's right. I'm me now. I'm not you anymore..." said Other Starlight. = Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself = Other Starlight rose up into the air, red shadows erupting and swirling around it in a vortex as the real Starlight fainted. The shadows finally disappeared, revealing the most monstrous, sterotypically evil Nightmare version of Starlight they could imagine, with barding embroidered with Starlight's old equal symbol covering her.  "I am the Shadow. The True self." "...Twilight?" Applejack asked. "Yes, Applejack?" "Ah know when we were in her Equal Hut Ah wanted tah buck Starlight in the face...but Ah'm not glad Ah have tah now..." Applejack replied as they prepared to fight. "Still want those nasty Cutie Marks? I guess I'll have to FIX that!" Shadow Starlight yelled. The normal Starlight fell to her knees looking up at her inner most monster. "I'm conflicted." Fluttershy said, "Starlight wants this and doesn't want this... But Starlight wouldn't want a friend to hurt themselves, and it wouldn't be in character for me since I wrote down my character was kind and considerate." "Let me free you from cutie marks' mind control!" Shadow Starlight flapped her wings by a typhoon, and an big red 'x' floated above their cutie marks. - Special abilities sealed. Use item to remove or wait for it to wear off. - Starlight wasn't even fighting back. The girls circled around her. Rarity went into her pack and brought out items to cancel out the Shadow's status ailment. Meanwhile, Discord felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned around... and came face to face with himself... "Hey! That isn't supposed to happen! I'm just running the game!" "Since when have we ever cared about the rules?"" Said the Discord holding a paddle and a judge's wig. And... he was a unicorn stallion. "You say you want to punish her, to see her suffer for damaging something precious to you... but the you really want to punish is yourself! She's a kindred spirit! You both didn't want to stop until the world suited you. And you BOTH took Twilight and her friends and customized them! Made them like how YOU wanted them to be! But they accepted her with one heartfelt speech from Twilight, and all it took was one heartfelt speech from Twilight to get her to turn 'good.' She even made friends. BECAUSE SHE LOOKS LIKE THEM! If we forgive her, it means forgiving ourselves. You WANT to forgive yourself... but you're scared what you'll do again... isn't that right? But... does that mean giving up who we are? Will her becoming good mean giving up who SHE is? Oh oh oh! What fun!" "Oh please, I remember how this works, all I need to do is not deny you, and you can't do a thing." "Oh goodie! Because I'm just getting started!" And a very very VERY long list materialized into front of the shadow Discord. "Oh dear..." OOC: I'll leave this for Alex or someone else to pick up, since I imagine there's so many ways this could go. Session 36.3 Zaku789 (with edits) Flash Back! "So what with the anti-equality sign?" Trixie asked as they were playing cards in Starlight's room. "I thought you were still pro-equality." "I am, that represent my old understanding of equality," Starlight said. "The one that doesn't realize she was sitting on a time bomb and subconsciously treated everypony as not a real friend but like a cog in an orderly machine." "That's funny, I heard Twilight mentioning how after your freak-out she thinks you were subconsciously treating it like one of those human world game.... sim something or other." "Point is, I'm still for equality but that picture is there to remind me not to go extremist," Starlight said. "I just wish I remembered that just cause I prefer order, doesn't mean I should use multi-component spells." "Speaking of said spells are the other still acting all-" "'What would Starlight do?' Only a little, the after-effect is finally fading out thank goodness," Starlight said. "Or at least I HOPE it is, and they're not just faking it because they know it's what I want." - Five mare across Ponyville sneezed. - "But hopefully it'll fade out in a week or so, hopefully. Personally I'm worried what Discord has plans for me, he's being far too cool about it." "Maybe he not holding a grudge due to Fluttershy admitting to enjoying meeting all those new animals?" Trixie suggested, Starlight gave her a look. "You're right he's up to something. What are you going to do." "I'm going to try and take it like a mare and hope he's not planning on sending me to a sock dimension," Starlight sighed. Session 36.4 Alex Warlorn Rarity waved goodbye to the huge transport airship as it carried away the giant dresses she had made like Starlight had wanted. Rarity had found a market for them with the Pony Grande. It was what Starlight had wanted, and it had turned out well, Rarity didn't consciously realize how utterly good that made her feel. But Starlight would want giant ponies to have equal opportunities to afford fancy clothes as well wouldn't they? Session 36.5 Kendell2 (AN: Since Alex ASKED me too and I feel Discord DESERVES to have this blow up in his face... ) Discord grumbled. "And for the record, I KEPT the 'can't hurt them' rule! I'm vindictive, I'm not THAT vindictive." Shadow Discord laughed. "Really? Since when have we ever NEEDED physical pain to hurt anypony? I'm sure Shadow Starlight just did plenty of MENTAL pain to little Starlight...but you never thought about that, did you myself?" Discord's inner demon looked him in the eye. "Because good guy, bad guy, or neutral, you're nothing but a CHILD!" "I'm n-" Discord bit his tongue before he could say those words, glaring. Shadow Discord began juggling building blocks and other baby toys. "After all, who wants that pesky thing called RESPONSIBILITY that comes with growing up? Certainly not us. So here we are, stuck back in pre-school. Throwing temper tantrums every time something doesn't go our way! But who cares about CONSEQUENCES to our actions! That would be taking responsibility for them!" Discord growled. "I don't need to take this..." he said, snapping his fingers to deactivate his spell...nothing happened. "What?!" He kept snapping his fingers. "No fair!" "What?! Discord not playing fair? Perish the thought!" Shadow Discord replied. "Perhaps we haven't met, I'm Shadow Discord. The True Self of Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony! HELLO! This spell is as much mine as it is YOURS." "Ironic hurtful echos is only fun when I do it!" Discord replied. He then bit his tongue again. "Which I am." "Nice catch, myself, but we both know that sooner or later, you're going to throw one of your little temper tantrums and say the words I know you're thinking right now without thinking. Just like we always do," Shadow Discord mocked, giving a smile Discord was tempted to say was only fun when HE did it. Fluttershy opened her mouth...but more than just magical left overs was keeping her from saying anything.  Session 36.6 Zaku789 with edits by Alex Warlorn 'Really wishing for the sock dimension now.' Starlight winced, her shadow self was really giving her a bad flashback. She knew she has to do something cause shadow her was going to attack her friends soon, but what, shadow starlight probably know her spells as well, not to mention having the ruthlessness of her old self... 'Wait... if she represents the old me, then maybe.' Starlight was forming a idea, and she could only hope it worked. "Hey shadow starlight! your against cutie marks right?" "YES! ONCE I DEAL WITH YOU FOOLS, I CAN FOCUS ON BRINGING REAL EQUALITY WITH THE REMOVAL OF CUTIE MARKS WITH MY EQUAL ONES!" Shadow Starlight roared. "But that's just foolish. Creating equal cutie marks, are still cutie mark. You even inflict them on changeling, creature that don't even have those in their real form." Shadow starlight grimaced but then said "Then I will create a spell that will get rid of all cutie marks permanently." "Okay A) even if that was a good idea, I'm positive sure the CMC will kill you, no if's about it. B) that wouldn't work in a long term goal cause there no proof we have the magic necessary to stop future cutie marks. all you be doing is canceling current one and leaving future cutie mark safe." "STOP QUESTIONING ME!" Shadow Starlight snapped. "No, you're acting without reason! You refuse to see that all you're doing is hurting ponies without considering the consequences. Your right in saying were no longer the same, I'm learning what friendship really means, and I never felt happier." "I'm glad starlight thinks that," Pinkie said with the others nodding (Twilight like to thing they would have done so regardless of the spell.) "Stay out of it." Shadow Starlight snapped but scream in pain as everyone began attacking (While Starlight was distracting her shadow, Rarity was able to heal them from Shadow Starlight effect.) Meanwhile with Discord.  "LALALALA if I can't hear it, I can't deny it!" Discord said. Shadow Discord just kept talking as he knew Discord was going to crack sooner or later. Then... Shadow Starlight GREW BIGGER... It gained a centaur lower body, and very large horns. She flapped her wings. "I am Starlight Glimmer! And I want to see this world equal! Even if my philosophy gets proven wrong, that just means I need to make or adopt a new one! And I'll bring THAT on the world instead! Other ponies NEED to be made to do good! Why waste time and effort on teaching ponies to be good when you can MAKE THEM be good? We love it! The sense of order! The sense of control! The sense that we won't be judge or every looked down on! BUT IN THE END! You never stopped to think! That maybe what you really wanted was for everypony to do what you wanted! Customize the world to how you wanted it to be! Starlight Glimmer is right, therefore, everypony doing what Starlight wants is right! Admit it! YOU LOVED HAVING YOUR FRIENDS BRAINWASHED! It felt like you were back in Our Town! Where the pain never found us!" Twilight shouted, remembering what she's heard of psychology. "STARLIGHT! You can't just JUDGE YOURSELF! You can't just say how wrong you were! You have to accept how you feel now! What you want now! The good AND THE BAD!" Session 36.7 Zaku789 with edits by Alex Warlorn Starlight winced, but knew Twilight had a point. "Fine yes, I admit I loved mind controlling them," She saw her friends wince as much the residue of the geass allowed, "but only due to what I miss in Our Town and not due to it being a fetish like Twilight." In normal circumstances, Twilight would object but kept quiet. "I could pretend for just a little bit I was back in Our Town, NOT because I was charge in everything, not because I had power over others, but because everything was orderly! There was no arguing or fighting! Maybe if everything worked out, they'd thank me, and they'd agree to do it again once they'd gotten a taste of 'for free'! Twilight would be so proud, and my friends would want to be part of my happy place where I never had to worry about alienating others! And I never stopped to think if I even had the RIGHT to do that! Ponies aren't furniture to arrange!" "And yes I admit that there is a part of me that likes having things in my life in my control. But not because I want power, but more along the lines of having control over a situation in a way I'm comfortable with, things going at my pace and the direction that I'm used to. But I learned you can't just do that." "YOU STILL DENY ME!!" Shadow starlight snapped. "Not at all, all I'm doing is adapting, like you said we do." "... what?" Shadow Starlight asked confused. "You said and I quote 'Even if my philosophy gets proven wrong, that just means I need to make or adopt a new one!' yes?" "You despise chaos!" "And all I'm doing is making my philosophy work in a different way and adapting on how to handle things in a different orderly manner with the help of others." "But no- it- she's... right." The shadow said confused, "But... she can't be right! But she proved that w'ere still connected." The shadow began growing smaller and and turning into the normal Shadow Starlight. "But that means were wrong." "Look I understand, you're a part of me that I tried not to think about, but you are a part of me, and I can't deny that anymore. so in a sense you lost but you also gain something." "... your logic... is sound." Shadow Starlight muttered as she transformed into a floating transparent Alicorn holding weight scale in a greek dress. - Starlight Glimmer has gained the mask to face life's hardships. - - Starlight has gained her Persona. - "So how are you feeling?" Twilight asked. "Well, aside from some mental scarring. I feel better, like a bit of weight is off my chest," Starlight said. Session 36.8 BrutalityInc “I’m glad our giants finally defeated that dragon Goreshade.” Applejack noted, sagging with relief, “Honestly, that dragon is far too tough for his size. I thought we may never get through him!” “I’ve already written a letter to BBBFF about lowering his stats for starting players, although he hasn’t replied…” Twilight noted, “Too bad Pinkie couldn’t join our game tonight, being at the Crystal Empire. We’ll just going to have her being knocked out by the dragon fight for this session.” “So what’s next?” Rainbow Dash asked, “We got that Griffon merc out of the dragon’s lair and… ‘interrogated’ him,” There were a few rounds of snickering from her, Applejack and even Rarity, “And found out where the crown was last headed. Anything to expect on the way there for our merry band of giant pony adventurers?” “Well, there are rumours that in the countryside between here and the City of Marbleheim,” Spike the GM began, “There are a few remote settlements that are said to be under the rule of a singular giant. It is not known who he or she is, or even what kind of giant he or she might be…” “Oh, great, we’re going to be facing one of our own kind – I mean, one of our characters’ kinds – who is playing tin-pot dictator or evil deity to a bunch of scared pony villagers?” Rainbow Dash groused. “Actually, the hearsay is pretty inconsistent.” Spike noted, “Some rumours say that he or she is actually kind and generous to her subjects, protecting them from brigands and monsters whenever called, in exchange for food, and is actually a fairer ruler than many other noble and overlords in this land. Others say that she’s a cruel and petty tyrant who won’t hesitate to crush or devour those who don’t obey her every whim, like building giant statues of herself…” “From the looks of it, darlings, it seems Twilight’s brother is being deliberately ambiguous about the true disposition of that character.” Rarity noted, “Do you suppose she wants us he wants to give the Game Masters room to portray him or her in either way? Maybe take a road in between?” “Maybe… But I don’t like there being no clear picture.” Applejack asked. She always hated ambiguity of all kinds. (And not to mention rumours; hurtful and callous deceits that serves only to distort and destroy the truth. She REALLY hate those) “Is there something that IS consistent in those rumours?” “Well…” Spike the GM read further, “One thing that stands out in all those hear-says are that… he or she is a bit of an egotistical blowhard who likes to show-off.” There was silence amongst the table as the Mane Six took this in. “… We’re so going to get Trixie into our ‘March of the Giants’ campaign, aren’t we?” Rainbow Dash stated the inevitability that now confronted them, to which the others nodded. Spike read ahead… and winced, “Geeze, look at all this. Some of these giant characters are like incarnations of every single ignorant or bad stereotype about giants from around the world. I don’t want to know how the REAL giants are going to take it if they ever find out about this campaign.” “Well, they are pretty insular, so no-pony knows about them enough to separate fiction from facts.” Twilight mused, “But really, it’s not like they’re going to lay siege on the Crystal Empire or something.” = = = "Shining, dear,” Princess Cadence asked, “why are there not one, but SEVERAL armies worth of angry giant ponies, deers, griffons and other assorted colossal beings laying siege to the Crystal Empire right now?" Indeed, there is now a veritable horde of giant ponies, giant deer, giant griffons, and giant other sapient creatures standing outside of the city-spanning magical shield that had been hastily put up to hold their advance. The irate group were howling, shouting profanities, pounding at the shield, and otherwise showing extreme displeasure over something. The streets were empty as terrified Crystal Ponies hid in their homes, shuddering in fear. “Cadence, honey, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever why they are doing that.” Shining muttered, feigning innocence. His gaming group friends behind him are doing the same, eyes-shifting and whistling. “WE DEMAND RECOMPENSE FOR OUR PORTRAYAL IN ‘MARCH OF THE GIANTS’, A GAME MADE AND SPONSORED BY THE PRINCE-REGENT OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!” The voice of Seismos, Gigantes warlord, could be heard over the giant horde. The other giants roared in agreement. Princess Cadence gave Shining an annoyed look that made the stallion wilt. "I think we'll need to lay low and take a vacation somewhere." Shining suggested. "If we can get past all the giants pounding on the shield.” Princess Cadence said, shooting it down, “And who's going to stop them from making a buffet out of our Crystal Ponies?!" Shining grumbled. “Bah, I've dealt with Diamond Dog lawyers and Yak emissaries, this can't be any worse." Session 36.9 Zaku789, Ardashir, Alex Warlorn "Alisa wants what Mistress Rarity wants." "I want what Starlight Glimmer wants!" Starlight groaned. "I want you to both just go away right now." Meanwhile, when the Cutie Mark Crusaders had caught when that Princess Twilight Sparkle's apprentice had apparently repeated her mentor's antics except with brainwashing their big sisters instead of brainwashing them... they took with amazing stride. A temporary opportunity offered by Glimmer's fading mind control spell? - "Ah always wanted ta not have ta eat my alfalfa, big sis." "Why would Starlight want me to keep ya from eating alfalfa?" Applejack asked.  "Why wouldn't she want me to eat my alfalfa?" Apple Bloom said. "Good point, Ah better ask," Applejack said as she went to ask Starlight. "... Huh didn't work as expected... but it did buy me time!" Apple Bloom said as she began putting the alfalfa back in the fridge. + "Thanks for letting me eat all that ice cream, Rarity!" "You're welcome, are you sure Starlight wants to help promote a CMC board game?" Rarity asked. "Yeah! she uh... said it would be good way to show how she mature she is about cutie marks," Sweetie Belle said. "Mistress if I may, this seems like the ploy your sister uses on you whenever she wants to go camping but replaced the camping thing with Over-Mistress Starlight Glimmer," Alisa stated. "That's a good point Alisa." "But... what if she really did say that?" Sweetie Belle asked. "That's another good point, I shall consider both with equal measure and come back to you both with an answer," Rarity said. + "Thanks for getting us those three tickets to see Zomb-Ponies from Space part VI, Rainbow Dash!" + Twilight learned about the movie tickets, she decided to give Glimmer another 'friendship lesson'. Glimmer gasped. "Wait, I have to take them to see that revolting movie? Why me?!?" Twilight stern expression didn't wave. "Because you're the one who made it possible for them to make Dash buy those tickets, that's why! And no running out of the theater or sneaking into another screen, you have to watch the movie with them." "Alright, but if those fillies get scared, I'm taking them out." Afterwards Apple Bloom said, "Eh, Ah think Zomb-Ponies 2 was better. Less yankin' ponies in half in that one." Sweetie Belle added, "Well, Gabby told us to try and see this one because they hired griffon SFX artists for it to make the gore scenes 'more authentic'." Scootaloo snorted. "Well, they blew that. Come on, a zomb-pony's severed head hides in the fridge and jumps out to bit that mare right in the throat when she opens it? That was just stupid! Every filly and colt there laughed at it. Isn't that right, Miss Glimmer?" Starlight Glimmer was behind them, in shock. "Severed heads... Ponies torn in half... Innocent fillies and colts laughing at it all... Oh Celestia, what did I just see?" And for the next week Starlight would wake everypony up over her nightmares of having a zomb-pony head jump out from the fridge or the desk drawer or her saddlebag to bite her in the throat. She also found out a little something from Rainbow Dash... FLASH BACK! "Thanks for buying tickets for me and the others to see that movie Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo said excitedly. "Sure thing squirt," Rainbow dash said. "Granted I would've done so anyway, but it's nice to know Starlight has good taste in horror comedies." Rainbow Dash stated. She'd already known that the girls wanted to go see the movie and treat them... but knowing Starlight approved made the decision so much easier. Starlight couldn't contain herself. "WHY DID YOU WAIT UNTIL I WAS TRAUMATIZED BEFORE TELLING ME THAT? And why would you buy tickets to that movie for three little fillies anyway?!?" "Nopony asked me. If I had known it was what you wanted Starlight Glimmer, I would have burned the tickets."  "Ugh, maybe I should tell you to never buy tickets to send fillies to one of those movies ever again. They'd be better off." "Whatever you want Starlight Glimmer, that's totally cool with me!"  "I'm tempted, but I know you'll change your mind once the brainwashing fully wears off anyway." "But doing whatever you say is really awesome Starlight Glimmer!" "You're not making this easier ya know. You HATED the headache, and you HATED me casting mind control magic on you AND OUR FRIENDS remember?" "Oh yeah, well if you say it was wrong Starlight ..." "... I wonder if there are any reformed changeling queens who have days like this."  Spike meanwhile, found the CMC after the movie to inform them. "High girls. I'm here in my official role as Twilight messenger. Ahem. Princess Twilight wanted me to tell you, your big sisters are going to remember everything they did after the last of Starlight's spell burns itself out... Thought you'd want to know." The girls looked at each other. "Uh-oh." They said together. Session 36.10 Grogar-the-oneser (with a big addition by Alex Warlorn at the end) All the changelings blinked as they saw Queen Chrysalis was covered in tar and feathers. "Err... Your Majesty," a brave drone said. "Yes?"  "What happen... was- was this another assassination attempt by your daughter?" "No, my daughter's usual more deadly than this, however, when I find who's responsible.... I will break there knee caps!!!" Chrysalis roared angrily. +++ "Pinkie what's that smudge on your hoof." "What this? Certainly not me getting revenge on a certain changeling queen as I suspect you want some payback against." Pinkie Pie stated. "... This is one of those moment where I don't wanna know do I?" "Indeed you don't Starlight Glimmer," Pinkie Pie smiled. Starlight hoped it was a sign that the brainwashing residue was properly fading if Pinkie Pie was anticipating her wants, instead of simply acting how she was told and not that it was assimilating their minds, their lives were complicated enough WITHOUT that. As a precaution, Princess Twilight had asked Starlight to tell their friends NOT to join the local chapter of the equalist cult, and then quickly amended that they shouldn't join any of the other chapters, nor start their own. Which seemed to disappoint Buttons, Thorax, and the flower trio as they already had the make-up kit ready for their faux equal marks and an appointment at the shop belonging to Snip's family for a traditional equalist mane cut. The five friends seems actually disappointed at not joining the cult they had helped unravel and been reconstructed by its true believers. But Starlight knew she wouldn't live through the night when her friends were completely free of the mental suggestion if she let that happen. Starlight explained that while she still believed in equality, she no longer wished to be part of the very social movement she founded. Session 36.11 Kendell2, Grogar-the-oneser, Alex Warlorn "So...why isn't Discord coming to 'brag about the lesson he taught me'?" Starlight questioned. Twilight's eyes went wide. "That's...a good question." It wasn't like him to NOT instantly appear the moment his plans had either succeeded or failed. It didn't take them long to find him...and him. "...Okay, I'm going to admit, this wasn't what I expected..." Starlight admitted. "Good, you girls are here, now will you please kick Shadow Me's butt so we can leave!" Discord yelled. Shadow Discord turned and looked to the girls. "What he means to say is sorry." "No I do-" Discord covered his mouth. "Sorry for once more causing you girls trouble with one of our screwups. Sorry for Tirek. Sorry for the Hedgemaze. Sorry for EVERYTHING," Discord's Shadow replied. "...But he's too scared to say it. Because he's a coward." "I'm not a coward!" Discord yelled, that having hit a nerve.  "Of course you are, and you know it," Shadow Discord said, producing a cart. The Y axis was labeled 'Discord's Courage' and the X Axis labeled 'Power Of Thing He's Facing'. It was a steady downward arc. "As you can clearly see on this cart, our courage is directly proportional to how much more powerful we are than what we're facing. And that's why the words 'I'm sorry' scare you so bad, isn't it? Because saying 'I'm sorry' and meaning it means actually LEARNING from your mistakes. And you're too afraid of yourself to trust yourself not to repeat it again, and again, and again. Just like you always do. And what being has more power over us than ourselves?" "I'M NOT SCARED OF ANYTHING! I'M DISCORD!" the Spirit of Chaos shouted. "Of course you are, you're just a scared little cowardly child. Afraid to admit he can be wrong. Afraid to trust himself to not make the same mistakes. Afraid to be forgiven because he's afraid to trust himself. We just want to stay a child for all eternity, so we don't have to worry about doing any of that. Because who expects any of that from a CHILD?...But I'm even afraid of that..." Shadow Discord remarked, giving a familiar chuckle. "Because without responsibility. Without actions. Without growing and becoming mature enough to ADD anything to this world, we'll be forgotten. AGAIN." "WHY WOULD THAT SCARE ME?! I'M DISCORD! WHY WOULD ANYONE FORGET ME!" Discord shouted back, snarling. Twilight blinked...then gasped. "...Because it happened before..." "Ding ding ding! Trophy for the princess! Celestia and Luna are beloved Princesses. Even you six have ponies who know what you've done and big stained glass windows in your honor. Twilight is even a PRINCESS...but not me. We ruled the world for a thousand years...but the Era of Chaos isn't even in the history books! Everypony FORGOT about us! And do you know why? Because we never added a gosh darn thing that ponies would WANT to remember! That's WHY! It's why one of our nightmares is you all sitting around a table, chatting about your adventures...except for your fight with us. Barely remembering our name," Shadow Discord explained. "Even now, we're just freeloading on Fluttershy and focused on 'us us us!' Let's face the facts: it's only Fluttershy's infinite kindness that let's her TOLERATE us! We're afraid to grow up, afraid to stay a child. Tell me Discord, what does that MAKE us then? How do we JUDGE ourselves? Because I judge us as the biggest coward and biggest FAILURE I've ever seen in my life!" Shadow Discord explained, banging a gavel. "Don't say it Discord!" Starlight shouted. Discord looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel. "NOT YOU! YOU'RE NOT ME!" Shadow Discord gave a 'the game is over, and I win' smirk. "That's right, not anymore!" Shadow Discord erupted into red smoke. when it cleared, the result was...a giant stuffed animal version of Discord sitting at a judge's chair made of building blocks with a novelty inflatable hammer as a gavel, tears running from the button eyes. "I am the Shadow, the True Self." Discord just gave a annoyed look. "It's bad enough you tricked me into saying that, but do you honestly have to look like that?" "Don't hate me, hate the game?" Shadow Discord cackled. "Come to me my Princesses!" - Shadow Discord Summoned Doll Celestia - A life size plushie of Celestia appeared on the battle field. -Doll Celestia cast Heat Raiser - - All of Shadow Discord's stats have increased!- "I've waited for this!" Rainbow Dash Sonic Rainboomed Shadow Discord. "Ditto!" Applejack said as applebucked Shadow Discord. -Fluttershy used the stare- -It was ineffective- Spike wished his character was actually part of the battle. - Rarity used diamond shower!- - Pinkie Pie used party canon! - - Starlight and Twilight used Duel Tech, Mega Spell Blast! - "OW! That hurt! Now now! No need to be jealous!" "WAIT! NO! DON'T!" The real Discord begged knowing what was coming next. - Doll Celestia Heals Shadow Discord - "Come to me my blushing brides!" Lasers shot out of Shadow Discord's eyes, hitting Fluttrshy, Twilight, and Starlight Glimmer... all three were now in pretty white flowery dresses. - Twilight, Fluttershy, and Starlight's attack/defense sharply dropped - -Fluttershy is Charmed - A little heart appeared over Fluttershy's head. "Oh Discord you hot dreamy stud you!" "NOOOO!!!!" Discord said ready to die of embarrassment and fainted. Session 36.12 Alex Warlorn 'So Starlight used mind magic to turn the girls into her happy little puppets, and then it all blew up in her face because they didn't have any free will to interpret what she said except literally.' Twilight write in the journal. Sunset wrote back. 'I have taken a programming class, I an probably help her see where she went wrong with her spell.' Twilight balked at the words. She wrote quickly back, 'WHY WOULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT?! At least she seems to have realized using brainwashing on your friends is not a good thing, at last!' '... Calm down. Geez. Down girl down. I thought you had her do it as part of a controlled experiment, and it went wrong, and since I've used mind control magic before, I though you wanted me to help give her pointers.' 'WHY WOULD I EVER WANT THAT?!' Twilight wrote furiously. 'Well, I read about what you've done before, and even though it always seems to backfire, you still use mind magic a lot to try and fix things. I thought the girls volunteered to help work out the bugs for next time.' Twilight slammed the book closed. (Inspired by this comic: http://rvceric.deviantart.com/art/Extra-lessons-636456929 ) Session 36.13 Alex Warlorn "Shining... where did all the angry giant ponies, griffins, and other logistically impossible beings outside our city vanish to?" Cadence asked. "I think... " Shining Armor took out a telescope. "Remember how we had Sunburst and Thorax baby sitting Flurry Heart?" "Yes?" "It looks like Throax tried to get word out to the outside world about the siege, and they thought 'a channeling, squish' and Flurry Heart I think may not have liked that... which might explain the several doll sized creatures that she's having play in the snow with her." Cadence groaned and covered her eyes. "Just once can't we have one of your friends' games not invoke the wrath of some oversensitive tribe?" - Meanwhile, via her spy base embassy, Chrysalis snarled at her youngest child. "Why couldn't you do THAT when that giant neighponese nag came to the hive to ruin my day?!" "... I'm sorry mommy..." Session 36.14 Alex Warlorn "Starlight, Trixie knows basic stage hypnosis, and wants you to teach her more." "You're not planning to use it to overthrow Twiight and become Ponyville's new princess are you?" "Perish the thought, ruling Ponyville would remind me too much of the Alicorn Amulet." "... Trixie, it's not that I don't trust you... but I created that spell and I still messed up using it. And I'm not sure a unicorn at your-" Starlight stopped seeing the look in Trixie's eyes. "Uh, ponies would say you're cheating if you used it instead of stage hypnosis." Trixie didn't like that answer, but she accepted it. "... Alright. But please tell me at least you took embarrassing photos while you had the girls enchanted." "Sorry." "Double drat." "Pinkie Pie popped out form somewhere. "Would Starlight Glimmer like me to do embarrassing things while under mind control?" "It's... " Trixie said. "Not the same when you do it on purpose." "I'm technically suffering from brainwashing residue." "And you do embarrassing things every other day Pinkie Pie." "Want me to tell the others-" "NO!" Starlight said. "I don't want that AT ALL!" "Ookey, dooee-lokee." Pinkie Pie slipped away. Starlight said, "It was freaky when I first spied on her, and saw how happy she always was after she was always so sour in Our Town. She told me... she told .. it was because all the smiles there were 'fake.'" Starlight shivered. "Just like all the girls listening to me was fake." Trixie hugged her. "Just like the power Trixie had was fake... it owned her, not the other way around." Starlight hugged her back. "Wanna play Harmony The Gathering?" "Sure." Session 36.15 Grogar-the-oneser Twilight created a bucket of water and dumped it on Discord. "Wake up!" Discord spluttered a bit. "You know there are nicer ways to do that." "Listen up Discord, we're keeping shadow you distracted but the only way to defeat him is if you do the same thing Starlight did." "Do I have to," Discord whined. Twilight gave a annoyed look. "Fine, but I'm only doing it cause I don't like how fluttershy going all lovey-dovey on shadow me." Session 36.16 Grogar-the-oneser "Listen up shadow me!" "Listening." 'I admit you have a... glurgh, you have a blurgh," Discord groaned before slapping himself a few times. He then grabbed both his upper and lower jaws and began to say the words "A point about the forgotten thing. It's true I hated that my history was forgotten, even Luna was able to be remember during her Nightmare Moon phase as a fairy tale/holiday while I was swept under the rug. Even Tirek was remember albeit as the pony equivalent to Satan." "And?" Shadow Discord asked. "Oh come on you're killing me here!" Discord snapped. Session 36.17 Richforce (Based on Stellaris) Trying to keep human Rainbow Dash studying human Twilight started using the computer to play a different game than World of Horsecraft. Cosmosis was a grand strategy game where she had to develop a civilization from first discovering faster than light travel into a lasting interstellar empire. It was quite a task handling resource management, system surveys and building up a battle fleet to handle potentially dangerous space borne entities. And this was BEFORE she was able to successfully build her first extra solar colony and meet another sapient species. After introducing Sunset to Cosmosis they decided to team up in a multiplayer campaign. Having luckily had their respective homeworlds close enough together to gain quick contact yet far enough apart to build a fair amount of territory before establishing a formal alliance. Then came contact with another player empire whose first move was aggressive. "The United Planets of Equality?" Sunset said. "Just who is this Glimglam99?" "I don't know but they have a friend," said Twilight. "The Grand Academy of Sciences created by Readinginthesun. Seems like they have the same strategy we do." "Well they will be no match for the Celestial Harmonium and..." Sunset sighed. "The World United Senate of Societies." "Hey, it's a good name for a group of nations coming together in peace." Sunset shrugged. "Ok W.U.S.S." "Why are you calling me a..." Twilight then widened her eyes. "Oh, too late to change it this game, guess I'll just have to take my medicine." "Along with some humble pie!" came Trixie who was using her own laptop. The girls just noted her empire had made contact with their alliance. "Prepare the to fall before the Great and Powerful Empire of Trixie!" "She's right about one thing," said Sunset. "That's exactly what she named her empire." "I don't think she's that big a threat," said Twilight. "It looks like she's spread her fleets too thin." Trixie smirked. "Oh I'm building more, and I've just finished researching two technologies that will give me the edge. Let's see how Glimglam99 handles my battle fleets and robotic army supported by Synthetic Intelligence, especially since my ships are now equipped with Jump Engines for their FTL needs!" "Now I'm not worried at all," said Twilight. "Huh?" "You did notice that certain research projects came in different colors right?" "Well yes, to indicate how rare they are and Synthetic Intelligence and Jump Engines are red making them super rare!" "Actually they are only as rare as a blue or purple, but they are red for a reason. You see to speed up the endgame one of three crisis situations will pop up that offers the chance at salvaging hyper advanced tech but it also introduces a threat that has to be dealt with and usually takes out the empire that triggers it. You've researched two potential crisis inducing technologies." An in game warning popped up. "And would you look at that?" said Sunset. "Seems like your Synthetic Intelligence has rebelled is declaring war on all organic life." "And you probably weren't treating them well either, that could have reduced the chance of rebellion but is by no means a guarantee of..." Another warning popped up. "Who are the Uninvited?" asked Trixie. Twilight gasped. "Energy beings from another dimension that could invade through rips in universe." "Another dimension like the one Trixie's Jump Engines take her ships through?" asked Sunset. "Yes but they shouldn't be here! One crisis is supposed occur per campaign, you can't have the Uninvited AND an A.I. Rebellion!" Sunset looked at Trixie looking miffed. "Congratulations Trixie, your plans backfired so bad they broke the game!" Another warning popped up. "The Kaloxian Swarm invades from beyond the galaxy and begins to infect planets?" asked Trixie. "What did I do to get them?!" "That crisis in only supposed to happen with an increased chance over time in case no one researches crisis technology! One crisis I think I think we can handle, but three?!" Sunset got a notification. "Looks like the United Planets of Equality and the Grand Academy want to join our alliance to handle all this." "Then our alliance will become a Federation! We may have a chance!" Another notification popped up. Sunset looked at the teenaged magician. "Now you want to join us?" "Safety in numbers right?" Sunset sighed. "Ok you're in. Now how do we fix this mess?" "According to Readinginthesun, the Uninvited are focusing on a really old and stagnant empire controlled by the server," said Twilight. "The Swarm is approaching Harmonium space and the Synthetic Intelligence is focusing on spreading itself to other machines. If we shut down the robots we do have and turn our efforts on the Kaloxian Swarm first, we might just have a chance." "Ok, let's do this!" the united fleet started to move towards the first engagement with the Swarm. Another notification popped up. "The Synthetic Intelligence has formed an alliance with the Kaloxian Swarm!" said Trixie. "It's sending reinforcements!" Twilight's eye started to twitch. "But if anything the Swarm and its tech are MORE organic than our forces! The Synthetic Intelligence shouldn't WANT to form an alliance with them!" "It also shouldn't exist in the same game as them," said Sunset. Another in game notification. "Now it looks like the Uninvited have joined as well and the notification is literally saying we're all screwed." "That makes even less sense! The Uninvited just want to consume all physical matter in the universe why would they even bother to team up with beings made of said matter!" "Whatever the reason they just took out my fleet and half of Glimglam99's!" said Trixie. The untied scourges of the galaxy proceeded to annihilate the coalition fleets and continued to destroy their colonies and homeworlds. "But none of this make sense!" yelled Twilight getting stares from all around her. +++ Back in his office Discord looked in glee at the chaos his little code modifications were causing in Cosmosis, his company's second most profitable game behind World of Horsecraft. "Oh what fun is there is making sense?"