It's a Start
Octavia ran her bowstring across her cello, producing a low, moaning tune. She tapped her hoof against the stage floor and snuffled. “Not quite right. Not quite.”
As she adjusted the instrument, the other members of her quartet were busy with their own. A scale on the grand piano announced the arrival of the Big Cheese, one Princess Celestia.
Octavia bowed and tried to stop her lips from trembling. “We-we are honored to p-play at the Gr-Grand Galloping Gala once more, Your Majesty.”
Celestia smiled as she looked around the ballroom. “It is an honor to have such talented ponies as yourselves return… even after that slight disaster the last time you attended.”
“T-that was a long time ago.” Octavia cleared her throat. “I-I am, am sure that tonight will run smoothly.”
Celestia’s ear flicked down. “Too smoothly.”
Octavia was taken aback by a strange occurrence: Celestia gave her an uneasy grin. “Sorry. This will be the first time since… quite soon after she returned… that I’ll spend a Gala without Luna. I have a few ponies I’m missing.”
Octavia looked at Celestia’s eyes. They sparkled like the sun, but held a twinge of overcast skies. “I, as well. I had hoped to see my friend Vinyl Scratch tonight, but she’s off fighting monsters. Or whatever it is princesses do.”
Celestia raised a regal hoof. “You’ll see your friend soon enough. This Nightmare business can’t last too much longer.” She sucked on the inside of her cheek. “I feel it in their air.”
Octavia felt a shiver run down her spine as a breeze tickled her mane. “That might just be the dirigible outside.”
Celestia craned her neck to peer through the ballroom’s pillars. A large airship trundled through the sky beside Canter Mountain, level with the ledge the palace sat upon. Slots decorated the hull, behind each of which sat some type of weapon. “The flagship,” Celestia said. “Looks like Stonewall got right to increasing the guard.”
Octavia moved back to her cello and gripped it absentmindedly as a pair of pegasi guards flew overhead. “Is all the security necessary?”
Celestia sighed as the royal crest appeared on the flagship’s starboard side. “I don’t know if it’d be enough.”
She gave the quartet another smile before walking away. “Don’t worry. We’re due for some good news.”
Blueblood’s eyes fluttered open. It was as dark as it ever was in Tartarus. It had almost stopped surprising him, but hadn’t quite stopped depressing him.
It took him a moment to remember the dream he had just experienced.
Sitting close beside Redheart in Canterlot. Watching the sunset. Feeling that maybe, just maybe, he was not alone.
His chin rested between his hooves. He scowled into the shadows. “Few things are as heartbreaking as a sweet dream.”
“Huh?” Redheart yawned and stretched, clocking him on the back of his head. “Whuzzat?”
Blueblood gasped. He sucked in enough air to fill five lungs before finally tumbling onto his side. He stared at her, his mouth agape, his face blue.
Redheart pushed her pink mane out of her face. She rubbed an eye as she yawned again. “Mornin’.”
She lay still with her head raised, her eyes squinting at nothing. She snorted and jolted, before settling down into that same sleepy pose.
Blueblood exhaled with a mighty whoosh. “Hi.”
“Mornin’,” Redheart mumbled. Her nose dipped down before she caught herself. She blinked a few more times before a gentle snore escaped her nose.
Blueblood reached out with the tip of his wing and poked her in the side. She muttered something as she turned to him.
“Mornin’,” she said again. “G’night.”
“Um.” Blueblood rolled onto his stomach and lay just a few inches from her. “Thank you for your help in the dream.”
“Y’ welc’m.” Redheart’s eyebrows lowered as she stared through him. “Bad dream.”
Her eyes widened. “Bad dream.” Her jaw dropped as her suddenly-bright eyes looked him up and down. “Hokey Smoke, did last night actually happen?”
“Well…” Blueblood lifted a hoof and waved it around. “Well, that’s a funny question when you’re talking about dreams.”
“Alrighty.” Redheart tapped her hooves together. “Did we, in actuality, actually smooch in a shared dream?”
Blueblood nodded slowly. “I think we did. Yes, I do believe that’s what happened.”
Redheart looked at her hooves, her eyes never quite focusing. She sucked on her lips. “Huh.”
Blueblood felt the urge to stretch his wings, though he held back for fear of bumping Redheart. “I think we often find ourselves emboldened in our dreams. Able to do impossible things.”
Redheart’s chest expanded to take in a gulp of air. “And would you do it again?”
Blueblood touched her shoulder. When she turned to face him, he pressed his lips against hers.
They lay beside each other, snout to snout. Redheart smiled. “Huh.”
Vinyl Scratch stirred. She smacked her lips as she slowly got to her feet, one leg at a time. She looked across the room at the sleeping bodies, her eyes droopy.
She caught sight of Blueblood and Redheart. She blinked at the ponies for roughly half a minute before grabbing her sunglasses and planting them on her nose. She stared for another half minute, rubbed her eyes, and then let a wide grin spread across her face.
“Aw, heck yeah, Redheart!” Vinyl Scratch shouted. The various ponies around the central room, plus one diamond dog, one dragon, and one changeling, either jolted awake or rolled over with a groan. Vinyl fluttered over the assembly, pumping her foreleg in the air. “Aw yeah! You go, girl!”
Luna peered through a tangled knot of ethereal, sparkly blue mane. She frowned. “When did this happen?”
Vinyl landed beside Redheart and wrapped a leg around her. “About time, too! Though let’s not get into the injustice of you getting a coltfriend before me. You rock!”
She jumped to the other side, thumping Blueblood on his back with a hefty pat. “Way to go! I’m gonna chain you upside-down to a subwoofer if you hurt her. You couldn’t ask for a better gal!”
Blueblood stared up at Vinyl with his eyebrow cocked and his jaw hanging loose. “I feel like I just won a sweepstakes.”
“And got a tax audit all at the same time?” Redheart mumbled in his ear.
“I wasn’t going to say that part aloud,” Blueblood muttered back.
“You’re all heart,” Redheart giggled.
Flash Sentry extended his wings and glided lazily towards them. He sat a short distance away from Blueblood, his ears dipping down to the sides of his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Luna.
“Blueblood,” the princess said, “may I have a word with you?”
Blueblood and Redheart shared a glance. She shrugged her shoulders. “Go for it? I guess?”
Blueblood got to his feet, tied his bowtie, and followed Luna down one mostly-empty corridor. She sat facing an empty cell, her muzzle scrunched up in thought. He sat beside her and eyed her.
“Well,” Blueblood said, “I get the feeling you have something rather—”
“You got over Twilight pretty quickly, didn’t you?”
Blueblood drew back. “I hardly think that’s any of your business!”
“Isn’t it?” Luna shot Blueblood a look out of the corner of her eye. “You dream about her almost as often as you dream about yourself. I consider myself the Princess of Dreams. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?”
Blueblood turned away. “I admit to a severe infatuation with Twilight, which is exacerbated by our friendship.”
“Yes, that.” Luna’s back grew stiff. “And yet here you are, laying beside another mare, smooching the night away.”
Blueblood narrowed one eye. “You’re making it out to be a little raunchier than it actually was.”
“My point is…” Luna made a “tsk” sound. “My point is, are you going to stretch your heart thin with this? What is this, Blueblood?”
Blueblood folded his wings tight. “She approached me—”
“That is not what I asked!” Luna frowned at him, deep lines tracing across her face. “How serious are you taking this?”
Blueblood met her stare. “Dead serious.”
“And what is it,” Luna asked, “that you are taking deadly serious?”
Blueblood’s eyes went to his hooves. He breathed quietly for a time, mulling over his thoughts. “This is infatuation, yes. Respect. Perhaps healing.” He lifted his head and shrugged his wings. “It’s a start.”
Luna searched his face. She nodded, turned, and walked away.
Blueblood leaned against the cold stone wall and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He watched until the princess rounded a corner, then left in the other direction.
Charity peered through the bars of her cell.
Flash Sentry watched as the mares gathered around Redheart, eager for details from the night before. Strike that—the mares and Mandible, who was not above feeding on ambient love. He noticed that the nurse was hesitant with certain details of the story, as if she was considering what to share and what to keep private. She never blushed during those pauses, but sent nervous glances towards the archway Blueblood and Luna had escaped through.
She had an unabashed blush when talking about walking around Dream-Canterlot, though.
Spike sat beside him, his head propped up by his hands and a silly grin on his face. Flash leaned close to him and whispered, “How’re you doing, Spike?”
Spike gave him a thumbs-up and wriggled it. He kept smiling. “Not bad. I’m glad to see Blueblood get a happy moment, you know?”
Flash shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah. Happy moments are pretty sparse around here.”
“Aw, don’t say that.” Spike chucked him in the shoulder. “You’ll be having lots of happy moments once we save Twilight.”
Flash watched Pinkie subtly wipe a tear from her eye as she giggled. “Will I?” he asked.
Spike blew a puff of smoke out of his nostrils. “Whadda yah mean, ‘Will I?’”
Flash sucked in a breath, but coughed when he accidently caught some of Spike’s exhale. “Ack! Can, ahem, can you keep a secret?”
“If it isn’t gonna hurt anypony,” Spike said, “sure.”
“After Blueblood blew up—at his going away party, remember?—and Twilight stalked off… I got mad. I was gonna chase after her and… probably do even more damage.”
Spike crossed his arms. “Except that you could probably have fought off the Nightmares.”
“I don’t think so.” Flash shook his head. “That’s not important. The thing is, I was gonna charge off. Cadence stopped me, and said she would cast a spell to let me see things how Twilight saw them. I saw…” Flash felt his mouth dry out. “I saw a very dear friend of mine. She’s gone now, but… I think that Twilight…”
He cleared his throat. “I think Twilight loves Blueblood.”
Spike interlaced his fingers. “Well, sure she does. They’re friends.”
“No, I mean—” Flash clomped a hoof on the floor. “You know what I mean. I—Spike, I…”
Flash let his wings droop. “I loved Sunset. And I saw Sunset, so maybe Twilight feels that way about—”
“Hold up.” Spike raised his hands. “You mean Sunset Shimmer?”
Flash turned towards Spike and put a hoof on his shoulder. “How do you know who she is?”
“I… I mean, Twilight and I…” Spike gave Flash an uneven smile. “We met her.”
Flash’s hoof dropped. “And?”
“And she’s fine. She’s fine, now.” Spike stood and rocked on the backs of his feet. “She’s got friends. She’s, um, she’s gonna be alright. She’s okay.”
Flash bowed his head. Spike walked up to him and hugged his foreleg. “And Twilight’s gonna be alright, too. She loves you, I can tell. Not just as a friend. She’s gonna need you.”
Spike stuck a hand out and waved it in an arc. “She’s gonna need all of us.”
Flash Sentry stood up, his jaw clenched tight. He patted Spike on the shoulder. “Thanks.”
Spike continued rocking as Flash walked over to a bag and pulled out a sack of sand. The baby dragon went back to watching the mares—and changeling—talk, that same silly grin on his face.
Meanwhile, Wishbone snored uproariously.
The cool, foggy morning chilled Sombra to the core. He never quite liked the mountains, preferring instead the flatlands and valleys of the Crystal Empire. He decided at that moment that he would move the capitol from Canter Mountain to the ground, in the event of glorious conquest.
Glorious conquest, at the moment, was not quite exactly on the plate.
Twilight walked in front of him through the silent streets of Canterlot’s industrial sector. She still wore the white coat and curly mane of her Rarity disguise, which distracted Sombra to no end. She had the look down right, and the voice was nigh-identical, but she was still so… off. There was no other way to describe it.
Rarity would walk with her head held high, but not with her nose in the air. Her eyes moved lightly from object to object, a sparkle behind them, searching for beauty. She walked with a fluid grace that swayed her body just so, allowing her mane to shift and bounce in a million captivating angles. Rarity carried herself like a princess.
Twilight’s ears were perked and attentive, collecting every sound, every word. She walked with a steady, purposeful stride that never faltered. Her eyes flashed sharply to this side of the street or that, just long enough to deem an object either worthy of attention, or unworthy. She carried herself like she was researching the world.
Like she was deciding which parts to keep and which to discard. “Sombra, keep your eyes on the road.”
Sombra realized that he had been staring. He rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth. “Apologies. I was thinking.”
“About crrryyyyssstttaaalllsss?” Lyra asked. She cackled as she pulled alongside him. “Wow, you really are every ‘Sombra’ joke come to life.”
Sombra sneered and backed away from the minty Nightmare. “You are an expert in the genre?”
“Naw, that’s my buddy Vinyl Scratch.” A distant look came to Lyra’s eyes, but she shook it off. “She compared me to you once, actually.”
Sombra lifted an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yeah. She said, ‘You remind me of a very feminine Sombra.’” Lyra smiled a tight smile that only showed her front teeth. She looked like a rat about to pounce on cheese. “You know, she’d probably be into you.”
“I’m taken,” Sombra growled.
“After today?” Lyra shook her head. “Pfft. Yeah right. You’ll be lucky if anypony’ll want to see you.”
“I didn’t bring you along to socialize, Nightmare Lyre,” Twilight snapped. “Cut the chatter. We don’t want to wake the whole city.”
Sombra briefly considered doing just that, if only to tick Twilight off. A bruise on his back chose that moment to give him a twinge of remembrance, and he kept his genius thoughts to himself. “Apologies.”
They came to one factory in particular. A quick glance told Sombra that it was fairly new, judging by the lack of soot and dirt caked on the windows. Carts carrying wood, metal, and gemstones waited outside, locked up with a variety of spells and latches.
Twilight nodded. “This is the place. Bluelight Special.” She flicked an ear. “Nightmare Apple, I need you to open the door.”
As Braeburn trotted up to the wooden door, Lightning Dust leaned against the wall. “Yeah, let’s add ‘breaking and entering’ to our list of offences. No sweat.”
“Shut up,” Twilight mumbled. She stared at an exhaust funnel that sat atop the building. Her horn started to glow white. “I need to concentrate.”
A low hum built up within the factory. Sombra took a step back as magic and smoke began to drift out of the stacks. “Are you—?”
“Starting the furnaces,” Twilight said. She focused on her horn until it started sparking.
Soarin flapped his wings. A snap of static shot through his feathers. “Doesn’t that usually require a whole team of—?”
“Did you miss the part where I said to shut up!?” Twilight’s face scrunched up. “Is that stupid door open, yet?”
Braeburn fumbled with the lock, a ring of keys jangling between his hooves. He shrugged.
Lyra sniggered. “I don’t even want to know where you got those.”
Any further comments were cut off by a roar that tore through the entire facility. Everyone jumped back, save for Twilight herself. She brushed sweat off of her white forehead and walked up to Braeburn. He met her glare with an uneasy grin before passing the key ring to her.
“It’s simple, Nightmare Lyre,” Twilight said as she selected the proper key. “I own them.”
The door swung open, admitting them into the factory. “I own it all.”
Great engines chugged, bellowing forth an acrid mix of excess magic and soot. Conveyer belts carried planks of green wood from one end of the workshop to the other. Machines embedded large gemstones, either rubies or emeralds, into carved pieces of wood.
Twilight waved Lyra forward. “You watch the belts. If you see any wood that’s dead, toss it into the furnace.”
She pointed at Soarin and Lightning Dust. “Nightmare Storm, Nightmare Dust, you two guide the lift arms along their routes. I don’t need a torso going to where the legs get drilled.”
She looked at Sombra and Braeburn. “You two are on assembly. Sombra on the gems, and Nightmare Apple on the wood and metal. You’ll follow the blueprints I’ve already set out for the forepony.”
Sombra looked around at the chugging factory, bewilderment on his face. “What in the world are we building?”
Twilight walked over to a large, billowing canvass. She yanked the cover off, revealing a long row of robotic ponies. Their emerald eyes glinted in the light from the fiery furnace. “Blueblood’s Artificial Servants. Automatons that have the ability to understand and follow specific orders. Blueblood had it in his head that the world would benefit from robotic servants.”
Sombra’s mouth dropped open. “Wood and metal golems. Ingenious.”
“I know, right?” Twilight brushed past him towards the assembly area.
He followed hot on her heels. “But why do we need golems? Do we not have the Nightmares? Do we not have power?”
“Tonight, we’re going to the Gala,” Twilight said. “We’re going to appear before Celestia and petition that she close Tartarus altogether. We’ll free Blueblood, and allow the Nightmares to find a new home.” She rolled her shoulders as Braeburn put together a new robotic pony. “That’s Plan ‘A.’”
Sombra set the three gemstones into place, a ruby at the heart and two emeralds for the eyes.
“These things,” Twilight said, “are Plan ‘B.’”
She shot a spell through the ruby heart. The automaton groaned and sputtered as magic flew through it. Its emerald eyes glowed green as it stood upright of its own accord. “Or-ders, ma’am?”
“If Celestia tells us ‘no,’” Twilight hissed, “then we’ll just march over to Tartarus and tear it apart stone by stone.”
Redheart crunched her porridge with a smile on her face. Her blue eyes sparkled as she gazed at Blueblood, who was in the middle of a conversation with Flash Sentry about the merits of enchanted sand. The added crunch, munch of her fellow porridge eaters tickled her insides and caused a giggle to escape her.
“This is awful,” she chuckled.
Vinyl Scratch bit down hard on a spoonful of something that was supposed to be a little bit softer. “Y’ think?”
Rarity smiled through a mouthful of gravel. “Love is the best seasoning, I’m told.”
“I thought that was hunger,” Rainbow Dash said. She pointed her spoon at Rarity. “Actually, I’m a hundred-percent sure it’s hunger.”
“Details.” Rarity waved a hoof. “Regardless, I must congratulate you, Redheart. If there is anypony who can knock some sense into that stallion, it’d be you.”
Redheart shook her head slightly. “Actually, he knocked sense into my head first.”
“Really?” Rarity settled herself into her temporary bedspread more comfortably. “How so?”
“Well…” Redheart squinted at the past. “He trusted me to do something, even when I didn’t trust myself. He knew I could do it.”
“Ooh, trust. Biggy right there.” Rainbow Dash hovered in the air with her chest puffed out. “I’ve always said, ‘If you can’t trust your friends, they ain’t your friends’”
Pinkie Pie tilted her head. “You’ve never said that.”
“Well, I’ve said it in my head then.” Rainbow Dash settled down. “Bottom line, trust is important. You can’t be loyal if you don’t trust.”
Rarity hid her grin by taking a sip from her canteen. “Relationship advice from Rainbow Dash. That is unique.”
Rainbow Dash raised a hoof and opened her mouth, but Rarity added, “But still true.”
Dash sat up and spread her wings. “Yeah, that’s me. Awesome in the air, awesome in the social arena.”
Pinkie laughed. “You’ve been hanging around Rarity a lot, haven’t you?”
Rarity smiled softly. “Kindred spirits, Pinkie Dear.”
“Kindred?” Redheart leaned on one foreleg as she lay. “I don’t think I’ve seen two ponies more different than you two.”
Rarity grinned. “Then you haven’t seen me and Applejack, darling. Rainbow Dash and I shared a”—she looked over at Dash—“what would you call it?”
Rainbow Dash grinned ruefully. “‘Alicorn envy’?”
“More or less.” Rarity pressed her lips together. “I’m dreadfully sorry. It’s just that so many ponies were ascending at the time, and we felt…”
“Left out,” Rainbow Dash said. “No offence.”
“I don’t think it’s offensive.” Redheart chewed thoughtfully on her porridge. “I understand why you would feel that way.”
“I’ll be honest with yah,” Vinyl said. “I wasn’t shooting for alicorn when I was puttin’ together that music player.”
“I sure wasn’t trying to ascend when I was in the middle of that food poisoning outbreak.” Redheart’s brow furrowed. “Weird.”
Rarity and Rainbow shared a glance. “You think we’re trying too hard?” Rainbow Dash said.
“You know,” Pinkie said, “there’s a whole bunch of sayings that basically boil down to: ‘Good things come when you least expect them.’”
“Great,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “The world is messing with us.”
“Heh.” Vinyl reluctantly shoveled porridge into her mouth. “Maybe you just gotta trust it’s gonna happen, huh?”
“Ugh. Ouch.” Rainbow Dash covered her forehead with a foreleg. She shot Vinyl a dastardly grin. “How are we friends again?”
“Association, baby!” Vinyl clomped a hoof. “To know my friends is to love me.”
Redheart looked outside their circle and saw Blueblood duck down a tunnel. She held back a grin and stood up. “I think I need to walk off this porridge. Later.”
“Yeah, see yah.” Vinyl poked her food with her spoon. “I’ve still got a little chiseling to do.”
Redheart trotted after Blueblood, her wings fluttering. She found herself in a strangely-empty corridor, with maybe only one cell occupied. A bat pony rested inside, watching Redheart pass with lidded eyes. Redheart hesitated outside the cell, hemmed and hawed a bit, then said “Hello.”
“Hi,” the bat pony answered. “If you’re looking for him, he’s further that way.”
“Uhuh.” Redheart grinned. “Ah, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” the bat pony said. “To anypony.”
Redheart walked down the hallway with a quicker pace than before. She craned her neck around, looking for any sort of side-corridor he might have ducked down. It was, thankfully enough, a straight route. “Blueblood?”
“There’s a Blueblood here,” a gravelly voice said. “It’s just not the one you were lookin’ for.”
Bluebones walked out of the shadows, his cloak wrapped tight around his body. He stumbled through the last few steps, before catching himself with a small hop. “Do you know wot you just got yourself into?”
“I’m sorry,” Redheart said. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Do you have any idea,” he croaked, “wot you just did to yourself? Your life is over, mare.”
Redheart stood tall. “My name is Redheart. Feel free to wear it out.”
“When you get tah be as old as oi am, then you can choose wot folks call you.” Bluebones clutched his chest as he coughed. “Now shut up, oi’m tryin’ to tell you somethin’ important!”
Redheart sat and crossed her forelegs. “You’re not making it very easy to listen to.”
“Don’t you even know ’bout the Blueblood Curse?” Bluebones took a step back when Redheart’s face twitched. “No, oi didn’t think so. It says that everything we Blueblood love has to get hurt.
“Moi wife? Dead. Four hundred years ago, she died. Taken from me, just like that. Moi idiot son never loved nothin’ but hisself. He’s gone. Moi grandson’s wife, your Blueblood’s mum? She’s gone, crushed by her own carriage.” Bluebones’ cowl fell away from his skeletal face. “Are you startin’ tah see the pattern?”
Redheart shuffled back. “Oh, my gosh. It was real?”
“Of course the curse is real!” Bluebones shouted. “Wot reality are you—?”
“Hush!” Redheart stood, and found herself grateful that alicorns were slightly taller than the average pony. “I’m talking about Blueblood’s dream. He remembers it like it was yesterday.”
She chewed her lip for a second before nodding to herself. “Yes. I know what I’m getting into. And I’m okay with that.”
“But—but everything we love…” Bluebones held his hooves out. “It get taken from us, trampled, struck down, destroyed—”
“I can’t just leave him alone.” Redheart shook her head. “No. That’s… that would be selfish on a level that… He needs me.”
“Stop that!” Bluebones reached up and rested his hooves on her shoulders. His face lay uncovered before her. “This is wot he’s gonna become! This is what he’ll be, and all you’ll be is a bitter memory! You gotta walk away! You gotta leave!”
Redheart stared into his empty eye sockets. She lifted a hoof and placed it against his bare cheek. “I know how curses work, Bluebones. I know they can be broken. They have to be broken.”
“But…”
Redheart wrapped Bluebones in a hug. “You gave up so long ago you forgot you could fight. But I can help. I have to help.”
She pulled back and smiled at him. “Maybe you’ll be ready to help, too. Grandpa.”
She walked away and left Bluebones wobbling in the corridor. He gave one last “But…” before sitting down.
Luna materialized out of the shadows behind him. “You tried.”
“Oi failed.” Bluebones pulled his hood over his face. “It’s over.”
“Not over.” Luna watched Redheart trot though the hallway. “No. I think she is right. We can help.”
Bluebones craned his neck to look at her. “How?”
“The first step is following her example,” Luna said. “Being there.”
“He don’t want me there,” Bluebones mumbled.
“That’s his problem.” Luna strode past him and waved a wing. “Come on, let’s mingle. If I cannot attend the Gala today, I might as well party as only Pinkie Pie can while in a dark, cavernous prison.”
He bowed his head and followed her. They went some ways before Luna spoke up again.
“Next time, I’m making the porridge.”
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Very interesting chapter. I'm still a little confused why Sombra is going along with things, sure alicorn Nightmare Twilight is stronger than him but he could probably get a message out or something. Is he afraid for Rarity's safety?
I'm suddenly a lot more sympathetic towards Nightmare Twilight, she's basically planning a Moses on Celestia, with a cool prison break as a backup plan. It does kind of lead into a key issue here: What's the deal with Nightmare physiology? If they can enter dreams then presumably they can become incorporeal, but they also live in corporeal forms. Do they all resemble smoke wisps, or not? Are they immortal, do they reproduce?
Most importantly, what do they eat? In the beginning I assumed Nightmares fed off the nightmares of sapients the way changlings feed off live, and that was why they couldn't just settle into a corner of equestria. But they're gulping down oatmeal every day in Tartarus for centuries, so it appears they can get by on just regular food. So why did there need to be some big battle at all? In the beginning, and even now, there are large stretches of empty land in equestria, even if they are less desirable parts like the everfree forest or the badlands. Why didn't Celestia just give them a big ol' stretch of land of their own? It seems there is some missing element that forces ponies and nightmares to be inherently antagonistic towards each other the way ponies and changlings are. Do nightmares just have really bad luck with megalomaniacal leaders who want to rule over ponies as well?
One last thing, since I brought up immortals and reproduction, is Celestia starting to worry about a permanent, statistically significant immortal and reproducing percentage of the population in the form of all those new alicorns? They've got to be at least 1% of the population, and they are going to throw things SEVERLY out of whack, given enough time.
Awesome story, it has so many moving parts that just get me thinking!
Ah Twilight, so blinded by your desire to help Blueblood that you can't see what your doing. Do you honestly believe that Celestia, a mare who has been like a second mother to you, who you know to be kindly, just and good, would not have let the Nightmares have a new homeland if that were all they wanted? What will you do when you learn that Shadowfrights partner (boss?) is the cause of so much pain for Blueblood and his family? What will you do when your friends currently at Tartarus, including Blueblood, tell you that you're in the wrong? Have you forgotten how the Nightmares work, how they take your desire for something good and twist it to their own ends?
That actually sounds pretty reasonable! I'm not sure why everypony's getting so worked up about Nightmare Twilight.
Oh.
I'm torn between liking the BlueHeart ship and illogically ticked at it on behalf of Flash. Girlfriend (or potential girlfriend, I don't quite remember their status) possessed by evil on behalf of a desire to save the romantic competition, with the outside possibility of not being able to save her (surely it has crossed his mind that at least one of the former possessees ended up in a thousand year timeout), and now said competition has shacked up with the next in line? Like I said I know it's illogical, but if I was Flash I'd be pissed.
The robot factory? Evil robots? Uh oh.
4549248
Maybe he'll get his chance to speak out?
Yeah, I actually have a few notes on how they breed, what they eat, how long they live, that sort of thing. It's the sort of background details that never really show up in a story unless they're plot-relevant. Maybe i'll have some sort of bestiary at the end of the story, like Tolkien's appendixes.
As for now, a few quick notes. They're immortal in one of the more strict senses; can be hurt, but never killed.
They're corporeal until they completely enter a dream, even the shadowy ones feel like silk instead of smoke.
They reproduce by budding, having neither males nor females.
They prefer stardust as a meal, but feed just fine on oatmeal and its derivatives. They dispose of waste in a hazy, smoggish cloud of disintegrated excrement.
That is an incredibly key thing that will really make a lot of the story fall together. Or so I believe. That very thing is going to be revealed next chapter.
I've always sort of considered immortality to be a problem worth having. It's not really too big a deal to have an undying portion of the population when there's a whole universe to expand to (and with the magic mirrors, several universes).
I haven't really shown this yet (when I put it in a story, pretend to be surprised) but mating alicorns do not produce alicorn children. The kids'll have to ascend on their own. So that adds a little bit of a stagger in the immortal population growth.
In addition, these people are the best of the best in their respective fields. That's why they ascended. They are most certainly going to be pulling their own weight in the big scheme of things (Maybe excluding Peachbottom, who is crazy, and Hoity Toity, who is in prison).
Thank you! It gets me thinking, too, since I have to keep track of all these parts and make them make sense! Aiiieee...
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That may be a question she's asked herself, but she may also be afraid of the answer...
There will be rage. I assume.
That's really the crux of it, isn't it? Letting pride take control is a very destructive thing. So many folks don't need an outside force to twist them, unfortunately.
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I'm sure it'll be more like the Berlin Wall and less like the Walls of Jericho. Absotively posilutely sure of it.
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I would be, too. Just remember that Blueblood's only told a couple of folks about his crush on Twilight, and those were only accidentally. Luna found out by dreamstalking, and Spike found out because he's been around for the pity-parties. Flash might suspect there's a two-way street, but he has no real reason to suspect Blueblood's been pining.
That said, he's still frustrated about how he thinks Twilight feels.
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Truly pride is a dangerous thing. Twilightius Superbus?
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I Googled "Superbus," so that I could sound smart. Fair warning.
Be careful about comparing a Nightmarified mare to an emperor who was exiled. Remember what happened to Luna...
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Exlied King, thank you very much. Totally different thing, very important distinction. (Okay, not really, but that's what the Romans would say. It's why Augustus first named himself "princeps", or first citizen, and later Imperiator, or commander. No Kings allowed!)
I do indeed remember what happened to poor Luna. Does Twilight?
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Whoops. That's not a mistake you'd want to meet in a dark alley. Bad stuff. Thanks for pulling me out of my ignorance!
Note to self: When Googling, actually read the article. And then retain the information. That's important.
Yes, yes, quite important distinction in the politics of Rome. Ha! Maybe something similar happened in Equestria, what with the utter lack of queens.
Probably.
Maybe.
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You know, given that the only two ponies to use King or Queen have been pretty dang evil...
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/9/16/428977__safe_solo_pinkie+pie_reaction+image_pun_headcanon_party+cannon_visual+pun_cannon_artist-colon-texasuberalles.jpg
The entire waking up scene had me snickering madly.
Well that isn't ominous at all. And slightly heart-rendingly sad. Very slightly.
[youtube=6AicW3Xp9EM]
I love this pony.
Precisely.
A spoon, used by a pegasus? I don't think that would work well, by a unicorn I can see, but a pegasus? With the wings it's just be hard and impossible with hooves.
I love this pony.
No kidding.
She's got a point.
You make the world 20% cooler with your very existence.
Well, at least they're honest.
My guess is that it comes to those worthy of ascension. Like Nanny Mc Phee, never there when you want her, but always there when you need her.
Maybe.
Hm.
That's, really sad. I remember hearing about a similar curse somewhere before, it'll take away all things you love.
Pinkie Pie: Ponyville's Premier Pink Party Planning Pony.
“You have to take the moment you have and make it the right moment.”
Who could've thought little Rares would be that wise?
I think we all know Sombra's just buying time.
Lulu has a point, too, though there was much lead in to all this. Then again, how rarely are things cut and dry? We read stories for the crazy love triangles and tetrahedrons that enthrall us.
Plus, hey, there's always something charming about someone who will literally raze hell to save you from a jam.
Get it? Raze hell? Twi's plan B? oh ho ho ho ho
Alicorn envy. ha. That would definitely be a thing.