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// #MountainView - Main Story 
// Story: Pen Stroke's Scattered Pages 
// by Pen Stroke 
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With the pages from the Book of All Stories popping up all around Equestria, strange sights were becoming commonplace. The power of the pages was shifting reality back and forth, and yet, other smaller occurrences paled in comparison to the sight of Mount Aris within Equestria’s borders. The great coastal mountain and home of the Hippogryphs had, with no warning, appeared one morning adjacent to Canterlot Mountain.

You, among those seeking the pages, were immediately dispatched to the newly appeared Mount Aris. And it was fairly easy to see, even from your initial arrival, that it was no facsimile or illusion. It was the real Mount Aris, now sitting in a deep lake where rolling green hills had once been. And the lake itself was salty and very deep, revealing that Seaquestria had been brought along as well. 

With the credentials given to you by Twilight Sparkle, it’s fairly easy for you to get an audience with Queen Novo. The regal ruler of Mount Aris, of the hippogryphs and the hippocampi, was in her throne room upon your arrival. The stately white stone of the hippogryph castle was surely a rival to the beauty and regal radiance of Canterlot. Yet there were differences you noticed. The castle itself was more airy, with higher ceilings and taller doors suitable for the naturally taller residents. 

Queen Novo looks up from some scrolls upon your arrival, her guards announcing you and your association with Princess Twilight Sparkle. Queen Novo grimaces a bit at the name, and you were warned that of Equestria’s four princesses, Queen Novo’s opinion on Twilight was perhaps the most problematic. Still, she gestures you closer and sets the scrolls off to one side.

“Welcome, [USERNAME], to Mount Aris. I’m guessing Princess Twilight sent you here to ask why we’re suddenly her next door neighbors.”

You nod your head and confirm Queen Novo’s suspicions. Who wouldn’t be concerned to find a mountain had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the night.

“Well, I’ll admit, this is a bit of my own doing.” She reaches to a table beside her throne. She passes over the scrolls she had been looking at earlier and picks up a single piece of paper. From the color, size, and shape, you immediately recognize it as a page from the Book of All Stories.

“For so long my kingdom has been isolated from our allies here in Equestria, and above all, I ain’t fooling myself about its size either. At best, we’re comparable to the Crystal Empire, and even that is a vassal state of Equestria anymore. And when I heard about Celestia and Luna retiring, leaving me to deal with Princess Twilight… well, I guess that gave me a whole lot of reasons to make a little geographic change for the better.”

You are perhaps tempted to point out that moving a mountain isn’t exactly a “small” geographic change, but you don’t. Instead, you ask Queen Novo if she’s sure a decision like this is really wise. She’s causing a very big change to the world.

“You say that like I didn’t do my research. This bit of land in Equestria was being used for a whole lot of nothing. Just rolling grass fields. And sure, maybe I displaced a few animals, but you Equestrians are all about managing the wildlife populations and everything else. I’m sure any animals I’ve displaced can be rehomed to Mount Aris proper or someplace else in else.

“Besides, Mount Aris is a bustling city and, since I brought a little bit of the ocean with us, a hot new tourist destination that’s landed right in your backyard. I imagine Princess Twilight will be thanking me once everyone gets used to the change. So really, I think I’ve done both our kingdoms a favor.”

You can see that Queen Novo made up her mind, but perhaps there is still a chance you could convince her to not abuse the power of the page.




What will you try to convince Queen Novo to do?



Return Mount Eris to the southern coast, where it belongs.

Agree that Mount Eris is better in Equestria. You can’t wait to hit the beach!