In the Third and final installment of The Shadow Trilogy, Twilight Shadow seeks to bend the world to the will of her mistress - Umbra. Can Princess Celestia find a way to save her in time, or is it far too late to do anything but the unthinkable...
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I would just like to say that I am loving the mental image of Pinkie Pie's Post 'Partially Parasitic Possession' Party Purge.
Wait! I know Octavia was taken, but is she dead too?
3650477 Mrs. Cake is making a 'worst case' assumption here, mostly because Vinyl hasn't been talking much about what she saw.
... Oh my. Twilight seems to be going to take the worst conclusion here... and things will be ugly when she discovers the truth. Although at the same time, I feel she won't do anything to really hurt her friends, but I doubt Twilight will hurt... her friends... But then, you never know what one will do... Especially when Twilight has started to rationalize a lot of things...
3650520
Don´t forget who is the one who severed Pinkie´s conection to the Shadow
I´m still awaiting to her reaction when Twi discovers that, between so many and powerful enemies in her path, the Chosen One is a filly she actually knows. And which side will choose Loyalty then ?
good chapter
Good chapter! I wonder if Pinkie's world view has changed at all?
damn thats intense... please moar? :D keep going if you can
I wonder what Twis reaction will be to this.
Great chapter!
Makes sense that Pinkie would be capable of rejecting the Shadow. She did seem to have the most free will out of the group. Let's see. Next up on the free will list would be Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo is probably the key to getting her. Then we have Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy.
Fluttershy was physically transformed by the Twilight. Even if she rejects the Shadow we have no idea if that would reverse her transformation. We also have almost no information on her post corruption. Not sure how much free will she has left. In the end I think it will be Discord that becomes the key to saving Fluttershy or at the very least he can reverse the physical part of her transformation.
Rarity is another odd ball. She was changed with a simple kiss. To me it seems as if her romantic notions of "knights in shining armor" has been turned inside out to have Twilight fill that role. So, she might actually have a lot of free will left it's just that her view on reality has been heavily altered. I honestly don't know what the key to freeing her is. Freeing Sweetie Belle and having her help might do it. I do want to see more of how Rarity thinks. With Rainbow it was about supporting Twilight. With Pinkie it was about one massive party. With Rarity...I'm not sure. Not sure how teaching Sweetie Belle to rape a mind controlled Diamond Tiara fits into anything. Maybe that side story Lapis was talking about will shed light on this.
Applejack is the most problematic. Unlike the others her mind was destroyed and rebuilt. She's basically a shell. In her current state I doubt she could even process the idea of rejecting the Shadow. Granted, a very tiny piece of her true self is buried deep under all the reprogramming though we have no clue as to how to get that piece out. I would say that freeing Big Mac, Granny Smith, and Applebloom would do it. There is also the chance that getting other Apple family members from Appleoosia might do it as well. Still, she may very well be one of the hardest to set free.
What will be interesting to see is if freeing Pinkie made Twilight weaker. Her Shadow powers grew every time she took one of her friends. Will freeing her friends reduce that power?
A few interesting things this chapter brought to light. Pinkie's view on what is happening isn't affected by the Shadow! The Doe basically said that Pinkie herself was creating her own world view. I had always assumed the Shadow was just altering her sense of reality. Still, it does seem odd that she isn't comprehending death and enslavement on her own. I hope we get a better insight as to why that is. We also see that using an "anti shadow" weapon combined with willful rejection CAN purge the Shadow. The willful rejection part will be the hardest to pull off. Especially with Twilight.
As for future events, Twilight will probably continue her plan to assault the Changelings. This should prove interesting. Chagnelings are pretty strong. They can fly, are strong physically, and have magic. They're almost mini-alicorns. Chrysalis herself is also very powerful. With some love to feed off of she can go hoof to hoof with Celestia. Also, at this point in time, Chrysalis should have some idea of just what kind of threat Twilight is right now. A species of shape shifters will always keep spies on their enemy and I'm sure Chrysalis knows all about Ponyville and Roam. The instant Twilight mobilizes and starts heading in her direction Chrysalis will know. There will be no element of surprise unless Twilight has something like mass teleportation or cloaking spells. Should prove to be an interesting siege.
If Twilight wins against the changelings but fails to capture Chrysalis, well, I see a new ally for Scootaloo in the near future then.
...This comment was stupidly long.
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3651129
Well no one said any more had to be freed. They could very well have to be killed. Rainbow and AppleJack may very well willingly go down with the ship if it comes to that. But personally I believe darkness will prevail. No fire lasts forever, even our sun will extinguish itself and darkness will take the rest.
I am loving this story, It feels a little bit like a Tolkien novel. I am psyched to see how this ends.
3651350
Applejack may go down with the ship because she's been programmed to. Rainbow...I can see going either way. Her loyalty to Twilight is strong but it is also strong to her friends as well. Scootaloo and Gilda may very well drive the point home and that could turn her around. Pinkie Pie might add in as well if she ever sees things from a different perspective.
Light finds a way to keep on burning, usually by passing the dying embers to another so a new torch can flare to life. We'll see how this plays out. There is still a lot of firepower out there that can be brought to bear against Twilight's army.
Of course, in the ultimate sense of irony Twilight is getting her wish. She wants to unite the world to bring about peace and that is what's happening. All the races of the world are slowly uniting into one...against her. She's the threat that unites the world. Funny how that works, eh?
I still think the Changelings have some of Star Swirl's lore. He did mention they had a part to play, after all, and they are very good at keeping secrets- their entire race is a secret, though a poorly kept one (though that may just be in Equestria- the Griffons, Zebras, Minotaur, Saddle Arabians, any donkey nations that may exist*, Ki-Lin and Diamond Dogs might be completely ignorant of their existence). I think they have a surprise for Twilight and Umbra.
*My personal headcanon is that the donkeys had to evacuate their homeland because of a dragon migration and the official map has an arrow marked 'Dragons Be Here' that points toward it. This may explain why donkeys are seen more often than any other non-pony race; but I prefer dark stories and this is unlikely to be anything approaching canon.
3651641
I can agree with you there. They would either have some of his lore directly from when he was still around,not sure how old the Changelings are, or at the very least would have lifted the information by infiltrating archives and copying it. I would assume the Changelings would amass all kinds of information and file it away for later.
3651129
Uh?
Maybe I've missed something, but I thought the implication was that Twilight was going to offer Chrysalis and the Changelings a temporary alliance, not just go and crush them (I recall Umbra sounding impressed by how unconventional/unexpected Twilight's plan was).
But whatever. The irony will be sweet if the Changelings do, in fact, break into outright war against the shadow forces as well - or, better yet, join/ally with the Crusader camp. Like you said, the sweet, sweet irony is that the rest of the world is uniting against the shadow forces, including all the races that Twilight thinks are Equestria's age-old enemies (it would be especially awesome/hilarious if the good guys managed to get a resurrected King Sombra on their side).
3652117
My impressions that Twilight is going to crush them in some way comes from this tidbit from the last chapter concerning their plans for the Hive:
That sounds very ominous.
Concerning Sombra, we don't know if he was just using dark magic or had the Shadow in this setting. Umbra hasn't mentioned Sombra at all and he isn't on Twilight's mind. He would be a surprise wild card if he came out of the woodwork...
3651767 I think Star Swirl left something with them rather than anything else, but I hadn't considered that they might be gathering lore from around the world. I'm sure Star Swirl mentioned that they had a place in his plans to Celestia, but I can't recall which chapter. So I think they have prophecies of their own they've kept hidden.
3652372
Hmmmm. I kinda took what Star Swirl said as a sort of vague. Like, they have a part to play but they don't necessarily know it. This does raise an interesting question: What did the changelings do all those times the Shadow rose to power? The Zebra, Ki Lin, and Griffins all have some story or lore from when the Shadow last attacked them. The Changelings wouldn't be ignorant about this, like I said a race of shape shifters will have eyes and ears everywhere. I'm looking forward to what Lapis does with them.
3652453 That's a good point; I may have been too literal. Not the first time, either.
I'm also looking forwards to what happens with the Changelings. I like Changelings; they're my second-favourite non-pony species, I think.
I kind-of wonder if Pinkie will ever divulge in her more primitive desires now that the Shadow is gone...if she'll be good at helping everyone understand what Twilight is doing and why she thinks she needs to do it. The Doe obviously knows but has she explained to everyone?
The origins of the White Doe are never fully explained, it's just she's the immortal Doe who fights Umbra. I wonder if those two have more in common than they let on.. Now, I personally believe no matter how dark and 'evil' you are there's still light. Vice versa for the light and 'good'. Umbra for once has fallen in love and is starting to truely care for others, while the Doe has convinced everyone else she's pure evil. I wonder if for once the incorruptible is finding her inner darkness. Just a thought and I'm curious about the Changlings, it would benifit them to join freely and get a world of unending food... Ah, but, I'm sure whatever will happen in the end will be unexpected
Hope to see you soon!
And on another note...
Welp, there's no hope of the Crusaders using Pinkie as a double agent, since the Shadow immediately knows when somepony's turned tail on its wonderful teachings. Still, I wonder what precious info Pinkie's going to share about The Enemy. Will she spill her guts about everything that she's seen/that Twilight's told her? Hmmm...
3651490
Truly the world is an amusing place. And as for those embers well, I do believe Twilight is consign burning material. While the core members of her army have connections the rest will follow her where ever and she is also consuming the world. The only problem will be that blasted unicorn army. They will be tough cookies.
3653252
I'm kinda thinking she's a piece of the original being that Umbra was a part of. Or that the doe race was created when that original being was around and that's why the White Doe knows so much about how Umbra works.
Umbra may be falling in love with Twilight, but we saw in a few chapters back that her attitude towards all other living things is that they are expendable. Her core desire is to spread out and consume. Only if Twilight starts to change will those changes get fed back into Umbra. That might happen if the Crusaders can free the rest of Mane Six. We'll see.
I don't think the Changelings would benefit from joining with the Shadow at all. They need love. We've see a lot of lust and desire by the Shadow touched but very little love. Besides, the end of the previous chapter sounded like Twilight had something nasty in mind for the Changelings. She views them as a major threat to Equestria and the whole point of this war is end all threats.
Also, since I'm a cruel bastard who constantly wonders what it would've been like if Celestia had indeed been executed at the end of "The Code's Apprentice"...
If this conflict indeed ends with Twilight (but no other "important" character save for maybe Umbra) dying, is anyone outside of Celestia, the other Elements, Spike, and Shining & Cadence likely to care?
3654122
If Twilight dies during the war...there will more than likely be celebration. The common citizen that lost homes and family due to her war will cheer for her death. Only those you mentioned will really mourn. I'm sure they will try to pain a different image of Twilight but there will be many who are glad she's gone.
3654011
Twilight's true strength isn't her army. It's her instant corruption ability. Corrupting Griffins as she went is what got her Roam, it's also what got her Ponyville. If that ability got neutralized then she would have to switch to conventional warfare and we haven't seen any evidence she's good at that seeing as she has no true war experience.
The ultimate goal of the Crusaders should be to find a way to neutralize Twilight's instant corruption ability. Whether they can do that or not remains to be seen.
Still, we are going to switch tracks to Twilight fighting the Changelings. This should be a good fight. Will be interesting to see who wins.
I think part of Pinkie being so free in the Shadow's grasp is that she was so little changed to begin with. This chapter shows it as Pinkie was sexually active (to some extent) early in life. So unlike some of the ponies taken by the Shadow Pinkie was changed little she just had her restraints removed whereas on the other extreme you have Applejack that had to be broken down and rebuilt in order to be with the shadow. Pinkie did not need to be controlled as heavily she wanted to do most of the things she was called upon to do to an extent. I think that Pinkie's innocence is the key to how she operated in the shadow. It allowed her to do some of the things that she did without needing to be controlled to not feel bad. Pinkie just did not see what the issue was. However this innocence causes the problem because without the restraints she normally has (in terms of social norms) Pinkie could allow herself to do things such as approaching Mr. Cake. She thinks that doing all that can spread happiness but without restaint to keep her from doing something that she knows is not appropriate she ends up making a terrible mistake.
This chapter was great. It brings up so many interesting answers and questions. I hope we get to see bad ass Pinkie soon like we did that one time in the previous story. I would think that a cleansed Pinkie will be very important to the rest of the story and I wonder if Pinkie's love for somepony will be a key component to this fight.
I also wonder what Umbra will think. In the previous story Umbra actually talked to Pinkie before she came out to everybody. As I recall Pinkie was the only other pony to have that happen and Umbra was impressed by Pinkie Pie.
FUCK YOU AND YOUR LIGHT LOVING CHAPTERS!
Nice chapter. I was a bit confused that Mrs. Cake viewed Pinkie this way but maybe because I have a little different viewpoint of this (and less forgiving than her I assume) but I´m also happy that Pinkie found her way back to the light. I guess that not everyone will be pleased with the fact that a (former) shadowtouched is now in their base.
3657424 In a sense, Mrs. Cake is simply trying to preserve the family she has left. With her husband gone (And pinkie continually unable to just outright say what happened.) She sees Pinkie as a sort of connection to her old life, as well as a sign that things can get better. For her, it's more than just the reuniting with a friend, it's about saving what's been lost to prove that the world can be brought back to the one they knew before.
3651490 I'm less sure about Applejack. When Twilight corrupted her in the last story, she told Twilight something along the lines of "I'll let you break me, but not completely." Add to that how weary Winterlight is of the Apple family in general due to their stubbornly strong wills, and I think she's still got a card to play. I'm more worried about Rarity. She's convinced she's in love, and we don't really know how far she'll go in order to maintain that. I agree with your assessment of Rainbow Dash, and I think it'll ultimately come to a decision; what is the Element of Loyalty MOST loyal to.
More than any of them though, I'm curious about what will happen with Fluttershy. She's hanging on to some melancholy in spite of the Shadow connection, and if Starswirl's opinion is worth anything than she could well have a role to play Umbra's downfall. Even if she doesn't, there is that little detail of a pissed off, lovesick spirit of chaos with a fallen domino and a harmony-approved day to rain pure, unrestrained madness on whatever he so chooses.
THAT is gonna be good
3657424>>3658016
And when Pinkie finally tells Mrs. Cake what happened... shit may very well hit the fan. Mr.Cake's death doesn't just affect Mrs. Cake. All of the Ponyville survivors knew Mr. Cake and were deeply saddened at his lose. If they find out it was Pinkie who caused it there may very well be some unforgiving ponies in that crowd...
3660378
I remember Applejack saying that. I also remember the Shadow not being very concerned about it. I honestly believe that it will take an outside source to resurrect that spark still left inside AJ's head. Still, even she manages to wake up...what Twilight did was brutal. The idea that there will be no permanent damage is far into the realm of wishful thinking. Seriously, if there is one event that should aid in waking Twilight up it's that she tried to create peace by violently destroying a friend who trusted her. I put AJ's corruption in the top 5 messed up things Twilight has done.
You're spot on with Rarity. Her romantic ideals have been heavily altered and Twilight fits into this "Prince Charming" image she's had in the past. So, now she commits atrocities in the name of her beloved. Breaking past THAT won't be easy.
We have so little information as to how Fluttershy is working now. Plus she's been physically altered in addition to whatever mental changes. I think Discord is the key to changing her back but not sure what is needed to break through to her.
As for Discord...in previous comments I already stated that he should be acting NOW because Umbra has already violated their past agreement. They had an agreement to not mess with each other's stuff or plans. Umbra walked into his home and stole his only friend. That's kinda messing with your stuff...>_>. So, yeah, that agreement is null and void. Not sure if Discord just hasn't seen that yet or what. Kinda weird...
3661069
How does Fluttershy look now?
3661095
Butterfly wings have replaced her Pegasus wings, her wings are coated in mind control dust, and her tongue has been replaced with a butterfly's proboscis. At least that's all the changes that have been shown. There may very well be more.
3661232
Fluttershy the flutterpony? I wonder if Twilight is going to give her control over the changelings she captures and "modifies" in her next conquest?
3661239
Fluttershy has been moodily staring out towards Canterlot most of the time. Not sure she's up for controlling anything. Really would like more insight into what she's doing. Maybe the side story Lapis is working on will paint a better picture of her.
I was rewarded with a sense of satisfaction at Twilight's pain.