Sometimes True Gain...
Tada! I think I can safely bet not a single person was expecting this. Another chapter in less than a week! Well, I can breathe a little easy on ST for now.
After all, I have a feeling Winter is coming in Equestria much sooner than expected.
There's still another interlude chapter to finish before we reach our major confrontation. To be honest, I've been looking forward to writing the story's next chapter since I started writing Somber Ties. Just don't shoot the messenger. 
Ta-ta for now, gents! Mwahaha!
He felt as though he were floating. Caught somewhere in that hazy realm between rest and waking. His thoughts crawled, struggling to manage coherency in his addled state.
Jet.
Crux mentally jerked, curling back in on himself reflexively as the intruding voice prodded at his faculties. A groggy sense of wakefulness made its first appearance as Crux’s mind tried to scrape itself back together.
Jet, awaken. We grow impatient.
Once again the voice brought with it some semblance of clarity, like a slap across the muzzle. Some intricacy of the speech tweaked Crux’s mind, bringing half-formed memories of past conversations bobbing to light before fading back into the waking abyss.
“W-what? Where am I?”
Crux felt a rumbling sense of satisfaction pressing in on him from all directions before words once again slid between his thoughts like cold steel.
You have awakened, that is well. As for your question, Jet, you are with us now.
“What? Blackheart?” As if triggered by his remembering, the thought of his personal poltergeist brought Crux’s mind screaming back to reality. “What is this? What do you mean I’m with you?”
You reside with us, Jet. Within our sphere. We are somewhat disappointed, you know. For over a millennia our home has remained unseen by mortal eyes yet you carry on as if it is only so much business.
Crux blinked—or at least tried to, before coming to the sudden realization that he hadn’t felt himself blink. A hard ball of panic settled in his gut, highly resistant to Crux’s attempts to quash it. He turned his gaze down to his hooves, unsettled by the missing sensation of his neck craning, and was met with a shifting, inky blackness that seemed to stretch in all directions.
“What’s going on, Blackheart?” He muttered, his thoughts echoing out into the void.
Ah yes, a pitiable situation. We found it necessary to anchor your soul lest it be blown into the aether. We tried to warn you after all. Most foolish, Jet.
.
Crux’s mind was disoriented by a sudden assault of images. Cadance aglow in the magic of the Crystal Heart, a smug smile and icy blue eyes, three ponies fleeing a pursuer, his own hoof descending onto the Heart, a bright flash of light and a swift sensation of agony.
Crux reeled from the sudden change as the images faded, replaced by the all-consuming darkness.
“The Heart…”
Aye, Blackheart growled angrily. The impudent whelp warded it against you, using it as it was used against your uncle. Touching it nearly ripped you apart, body and spirit. Be thankful We were watchful, otherwise you might have been utterly decimated. As it stands, We managed to extend enough of our influence to shelter your body from the brunt of the explosion—
“Explosion?!”
Yes, it was quite the sight. It left an impressive crater in the courtyard.
“That bastard! He tried to kill me!”
Perhaps, though We feel that was not his specific intent. Most likely he merely meant to incapacitate you.
“Well, it sounds like he did a pretty damn good job of that too now didn’t he?”
Indeed. We must give our grudging approval. With your body laid low, We cannot extend our will to affect the events in the ceremony. Blackheart snarled viciously.
“Events? What else is happening?”
Though the sudden intrusion was just as jarring, Crux was more prepared for the second occurrence. His mind’s eye was awash in color was he observed the ceremony as though through a telescope. The focus swayed dramatically, giving him an eagle’s view one moment before a bile raising swoop into closer detail the next.
Focus, Jet. You are too comfortable relying on your physical eyes. Merely will your gaze to wander as you wish and your mind’s eye shall make it so.
“Makes me wish I’d paid more attention in Magical Theories lectures.” Crux grumbled.
It was a peculiar twist of will, but a singular thought came to the forefront of his mind and he watched as the colors whorled and coalesced into an appreciable image.
Which nearly shattered as Crux felt his mind freeze in horror.
It’s a curious sensation, to look down on one’s own smoking body. A thin trail of pale smoke wafted from the tip of Crux’s soot stained crystal horn, which noted the only truly defining feature of the blackened pony-shaped lump. His green vest had been singed beyond use as clothing, nevermind recognition and his mane, once tied back in a ponytail, was now burnt and gnarled. The state of himself was almost enough to make him miss the ponies around him. Two of them he recognized as the girls, hovering over him with concern and giving him soft shoves as a strange mare with a thick mass of brown curls cradled his head, peeking into his eyes.
His heart leapt into his throat as he watched them crouched amidst the seared rubble of a recently excavated crater in the cobblestones.
Do not focus on these smaller distractions, Jet. Your physical form is safe for the time being. There are more pressing matters in need of your attention.
Crux felt a curious pressure on his thoughts as his view was swept away from his prone body. His gaze was drawn up above the scrambling masses until he could finally see the destruction being wrought in the Commons.
A pink hemisphere of energy pulsed softly against the darkening light as wave after wave of concussive force broke upon its shell. Cobblestones cracked and mortar crumbled as the misdirected energy spent itself against the nearest surroundings. Through the haze of dust and flickering magic, Crux could just barely make out by hornlight the dull glimmer of Prince Armor’s helmet as he stoically bore the untold pressure of the magical assault. The protective magic defending his civilians and surrounding nobility from the backlash.
Princess Cadance on the other hand was much more visible than her husband.
Radiating a harsh white glow, the crown princess of the Crystal Empire displayed a mastery of destructive magic few in the empire had ever witnessed, let alone thought possible by the princess of love and caring.
Bolts of pure kinetic force slammed into a hovering target across the grass like runaway freight trains. Even from his unknown distance within the Cradle Crux could feel her drawing on his love, his drive for serving his ponies and his country. She drew upon his passions as she drew upon countless others, and turned their burning emotion into a seething ball of pyrotechnic fury that slammed into her wavering target with a muted explosion. She leached the lingering despair from his heart, bolstering his resolve even as she molded it into an arcing wall of elemental cold that covered the gardens in inches thick sheets of ice and hoarfrost.
She even exuded an aura of sorrow and heartbreak so strong that Crux felt as though his spirit might cave in anguish at the unnecessary combat. And it hadn’t even been pointed at him.
Needless to say, the Princess of Love was trying her damnedest to whoop flank.
“Cruciger!” Cadance shouted, her voice magically amplified to echo across the city with the fury of an irate deity. She paused in her arcane assault long enough to allow the dust to settle, finally giving Crux a chance to view the object of her ire.
Cruciger Crucius floated serenely, the Crystal Heart emitting a soft, loving glow as it completed a languid orbit around his body. His coat didn’t even look rumpled.
Brushing a speck of imagined dust from his lapel, Cruciger smiled the smile of the self-assured. His brows rose in amusement and curiosity as Cadance’s honor guard began to encircle his position, wary of approaching too close should their princess choose to renew her attack.
“Absolutely awe-inspiring.” He mused to himself, eyes wandering over the surrounding forces and the furious alicorn before stopping on the floating crystalline relic suspended in pulses of magic.
“Cruciger! What have you done?!” Cadance shouted, impatience with Cruciger’s seeming nonchalance evident in her voice.
The lord of High Peaks seemed almost bemused as he observed the alicorn huff with suppressed rage. His smirk was so smug, it filled Crux with a sense of deep loathing.
“Why, Cadance. I’ve done what I set out to do. I’ve taken the first steps to restoring the prestige and glory of the old empire.” He breathed almost reverently.
“You’ve killed Lord Crux!” Cadance spat, quivering with rage. Her coat bristled beneath her regalia.
“An unfortunate side effect, I hadn’t expected the Crystal Heart to react quite so violently. I assure you however, he’s quite alive.”
The Crystal Heart pulsed with a sort of half light. The space around it warped like a ripple in still water and spread out across the city in slow pulses. They washed over Crux with an almost physical force. The light made Crux’s spirit crawl like a host of earthworms and if he’d been in possession of his body, he was sure he would have shivered. He fought off the disorienting sensation, only to feel a cold drop of ice travel the length of his non-existant spine.
Cruciger was staring directly at him, smug smirk and all.
“After all, we of House Crucius are notoriously hard to be rid of. Are we not, cousin?” Cruciger smiled almost warmly up at him, a malevolent glint in his eyes. It made Crux want to vomit.
~~~
“How does he know where I am?” Crux asked, feeling the malevolent presence lingering over his metaphorical shoulder.
His grip on our Heart has grown strong. It has recognized him as one of the Blood and surrendered its powers.
“So...so he wasn’t lying. He really is related to me?”
He spoke no falsehood. Different halves of the same line, you both are. You were meant to be Our eyes and ears. He, Our hand and sword. Blackheart’s voice faded to a bare whisper, rasping and growling. Out of the two of you, We expected you to put up the most resistance, Jet. It seems Sombra’s get has grown forgetful of their purpose.
“But how can he wield the Crystal Heart? Didn’t it eradicate Sombra’s shadow? It should be doing the same to Cruciger.”
Blackheart rumbled, as though pondering something. Crux had begun to think the old spirit wouldn’t answer him when the answer came, slow and reluctant.
Nay, Jet. Our Heart cannot destroy Cruciger. It will not. It eradicated Sombra, aye. Because he was an extension of Our nature.
Your uncle was a powerful vessel, but imperfect. His body was unable to contain Our essence, a side effect of which was being reduced to his gaseous form. The only reason he was destroyed as such was on part of your mother. When she sealed Us into our Cradle, it cut Sombra off from our presence. Our Heart is a fulcrum of sorts for Our magic, Jet. We balance each other, that we do not affect the world around Us too strongly.
“So… since he was serving as your vessel before, the Heart recognized Sombra as a source of your magic and...tried to balance him? Like it tried to balance me.”’
Aye. We imagine it was similar to stopping an ant with an avalanche.
~~~
“What are you on about, Cruciger?” Shining Armor growled, a slight hint of strain in his voice from the effort of holding up his shield.
“Why, Shining. I thought it was obvious. I’m deposing your darling wife!”
One of the surrounding honor guard strode forward, readying his lance and eyeing Cruciger viciously from under his ornamental half-helm. “Surrender fiend, and the princess shall show you mercy!”
“Fiend?” Cruciger rolled his eyes, his smirk replaced with a tired grimace. “How utterly cliché.”
“Enough games, Cruciger! This is your final warning. Relinquish the Heart to me before I take it from you.” A bright flash of light accompanied Cadance’s proclamation. The surrounding ponies winced from the force of the glare.
Cruciger snorted, all traces of mirth gone from his complexion as a cold frown accompanied his icy stare. “That was almost amusing, Cadance, but I fear I’m growing more than a touch bored with this little game of ours. Here is my own proposal.”
“Submit.”
Crux blinked, stupefied. He wasn’t the only one. The legions of honor guard surrounding the stallion looked just as flummoxed. Cadance allowed her jaw to droop slightly, and even Shining Armor’s force barrier flickered from his loss of concentration.
And then the snickering began.
It was a quiet snort here, a small chuckle there. Before long several of the guards had broken into subdued laughter at the outrageous demand. Who did this pony think he was? He was facing down the might of the Crystal Empire’s legionary as well as their deific leader. He honestly expected them to bow to his wishes?
The fools. Blackheart whispered.
The princess did not join the merriment. “I’ve had enough of your games, Cruciger.”
Cruciger’s eyes lost their glint, darkening into malevolent pools.
If ever Sombra had a fatal flaw, it was his pride.
“Who ever said I was playing, Cadance?” Cruciger hissed.
“Submit,” Cruciger said, his voice lowering to a seething whisper of malice. “Recognize when you are outmatched and surrender the empire to my dominion. I swear on my name and my house that the common pony will suffer not for the changes I shall make if you go sensibly. Perhaps I will even allow you to live, though at the very least it shall be imprisoned in a crystal statue. Tradition and all that.”
“Cruciger, listen to yourself. This is madness!” Godric cried as he stepped in front of his wife, shielding her from Cruciger’s view with his body.
His armor clanked as Shining stepped aggressively forward, placing himself between Cruciger and the other ponies within his magic. Steam venting from the grill of his visor as he snorted. “You’ll touch Cadance over my dead body.”
Cruciger eyed the armored prince as he might eye a curious insect underhoof. “Believe me Shining Armor, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Isn’t that right, Torc my dear?”
Shining’s aggressive stance eased, lifting his head in confusion. “What do you—”
Shining grunted.
He turned, feeling the brush of another pony’s coat against his decorative sash as he felt a cold shiver run down from his neck and become a spasm as it passed through his barrel. As the mare stepped away from his side, he stared in disbelief as he watched Torc’s hoof scrape off of the edge of the knife buried to the hilt in his barrel amidst the cloth covered gaps in his regalia. He felt a blossom of warmth run down his ribs and his knees turn to water as he suddenly had to struggle to remain upright.
“Torc?” Shining whispered, the words sounding hollow and metallic from within his visor.
“My apologies, my prince.” Amber Torc said clutching her reddened hoof to her chest, staining the white fabric of her robe. Her jaw trembled and her sunken, puffy eyes held his own with a manic intensity as if trying to seek his forgiveness through force of gaze alone. “It is what is best for the future of the empire.”
“An alicorn empress I can tolerate, even if she has no idea of the legacy behind the throne she sits.” Cruciger sneered, Torc appearing beside him in time with a soft pulse of the Crystal Heart.
“But the Crystal Empire will never have a prince.”
The pink radiance from Shining’s horn flickered and died, the shield shattering to pieces as the once Captain of the Guard and prince of the Crystal Empire fell to the ground with a thud and a quiet grunt.
“SHINING!”
Crux jerked as his view of the courtyard was suddenly replaced with the familiar inky blackness. He snapped around in a blind panic, forcing every ounce of will he could into trying to recapture the image. Try as he might, however, he could not grasp the magic in his current state.
“Blackheart! Hurry, we have to help!”
There is naught to do, Jet. As We are, We do not have the reach to stop Cruciger.
“You have to do something! We just witnessed regicide for Makers’ sake! Prince Armor could be dying as we speak!”
What would you have of Us, Jet? Much as We are loath to admit it, Cruciger is right. We are tightly bound by the Old Laws, and cannot leave our seat of power personally. The only link We possess to the world above is through you, Jet. Our eyes and ears. The rest is darkness.
Even in the midst of his mind-numbing horror, a part of Crux wondered what it must be like. To live millennia trapped in near ceaseless blackness with only occasional glimpses to let you know that the world had not simply ceased to exist around you.
“Then send me back! Put me back in my body and I—”
And you will what, Jet? Die? As your prince dies? How will you look, We wonder, crushed by the power of Our Heart, or with a dagger sprouting from your bosom.
You are not a pony of war, Jet. You are a unicorn. Aye, of strong blood. Yet you possess but the barest aptitude for magic. Even your telekinesis is barely adequate. You have not sharpened your talents, nor the defenses of your mind. You would be defenseless against Cruciger, even were he not to possess Our Heart. You would be crushed underhoof.
Crux felt a cruel twist in his heart as he heard Blackheart’s words. They lashed at his pride, driving their thorns deep into his mind. He wanted to scream, to rage. He wanted to march up to Cruciger and grind his face into the cobblestones!
For several quiet moments, Crux seethed alone in the dark. Eventually his rage burned low, only smoking coals and cold ashes and he knew why his anger had been so prodigious.
The words that strike cruelest and deepest, are often those that ring true.
Crux remembered that afternoon when he’d first met Olive and Silver at their orphanage. The Director had taken him aside before he’d signed his signature and given him Silver’s record. Its size had been worrisome, and Crux slew stacks of paperwork as a profession. He had read of several instances where Silver had been broken out of numerous fights and altercations at this latest orphanage alone. It was said that often, she’d been provoked. Told she would never fit in because of what she was. A pegasus, alone amongst a crowd.
Crux felt a strange kinship with his daughter that moment.
“So Cruciger wins then. We can’t stop him.”
We disagree.
“What? But I thought you said—”
As We are, We are helpless to stop him. And as you are, you have not the power to resist him. But together, Jet, We can do what neither may do alone.
Give of yourself to Us, Jet. Become our vessel. Let Us bestride the world once again and we will lay waste to the foal’s foolish ambitions.
“No! Not an option. I’ve told you before, I am not like Sombra. Your ambitions are just as dark as Cruciger’s, and even if we did manage to stop him, how do I know it would end there? I will not be remembered as the second Tyrant. I would be trading one conqueror for another.”
Then we are lost. We shall keep each other company here in my Cradle as Cruciger destroys your world and rebuilds a true empire in the desiccated remains. Your prince shall die, and your princess shall forever remain entombed in a statue to be paraded before the world and mocked.
Your home will be destroyed. Your family will be no more.
…
And with you gone, what will protect your children? You saw them, just as did We. It appears they were resourceful enough to escape, but what of after? Cruciger kept them well on the assurance of your good behavior. With you out of his way, what is to stop him from—
“Enough!”
The force of the mental shout echoed through the empty void, leaving silence in its wake. Crux trembled with his thoughts, the weight of Blackheart’s words pressing down on him like a sheet of the stone for which his home was named.
The truest words cut the deepest.
The silence stretched between them on and on. Crux could feel Blackheart’s presence like the ache of an old wound, constant and crippling. He could feel the spirit pressing on him and his fears, believing him at his weakest.
He wondered if this is what it must have been like for his mother, when she had sealed the Cradle away from the outside world. If she had also felt Blackheart breathing down her neck every step of the way, promising pain and suffering for her actions. He remembered how she’d suddenly begun to fade day by day, finally passing peacefully in her sleep. The doctors had said she’d been drained too deeply of her magic and had no idea where it had gone.
From that memory, Crux drew a conclusion. And a plan.
“Alright, Blackheart, you win. I’ll do it. I’ll become your vessel.”
A sudden wave of vicious exultation nearly overwhelmed him. Crux latched on to his singular memory as a source of strength as he rode out the whirlwind of emotions. He prayed that this wasn’t a mistake. But most importantly, he prayed that however this ended his parents would still be proud of him.
He had always been a fan of calculated risks, after all.
Most excellent, Jet! Now We shall finally have what is Ours! We shall again be whole—
“With a few conditions.” Crux could almost feel his father smiling smugly next to him.
Conditions. Blackheart drew out the word slowly, like a buried splinter. Crux could feel the anger and impatience simmering quietly behind the spirit’s tone.
And what are these...conditions?
“Why I’m glad you asked! May I assume that, if neither of us can do this alone, then isn’t it fair to say that the two of us are equals in this venture?”
E-equals? Blackheart spluttered.
“Of course! And like equals, it should be understood that we both profit from this venture. I must protect my assets after all.”
We see. Blackheart muttered. We see that We have been entirely too accommodating with you, Jet. It seems you have begun to understand the nature of our seals. You overstep yourself.
“Do I? We still get what we want, Blackheart. You get your Heart after so long and I get to protect what I love. A fair trade, and I’m not even asking all that much. All I want is a few guarantees from you.”
Such as?
“First, I want your word that you will bring no harm to my family or to my country. As I said, I will not be known as the second Tyrant.”
You are entirely too attached, Jet.
“I know damn well what I am, thank you very much. Swear.”
Very well, Blackheart snapped. We swear not—
“ Uh-uh! Not good enough. I want you to swear on the Old Laws, whatever they may be. I want to know you’ll keep these promises.”
Crux could feel the soul-crushing pressure as Blackheart growled, rage pouring off of him in sickening waves. Echoing from all sides of the black expanse, Jet could hear as shards of crystal broke from the trembling earth and crashed to the ground somewhere deep below.
“Do I have your word, Blackheart?” Crux asked, only the slightest tremble in his voice.
The silence stretched on as Crux baked in the incandescent fury.
Aye. Blackheart spat.
“Excellent. I also want to put limitations on how fully you may possess me.”
The earth overhead rumbled and clashed. Crux wondered if the price of his plan might be more than a few avalanches.
“Don’t worry, I still intend to allow you your full reach. I just want to ensure that I remain aware and in some modicum of control. We do this as a team, or not at all. Besides, everyone at the capitol may be more accepting of our intrusion if I am able to answer them. No offense, but you’re not the most amiable being I’ve ever had discourse with.”
…
“Well?”
We see your reasoning...and find it logical. Very well.
“Good. Now finally, I want your promise not to interfere.”
Interfere with what, might We ask?
“I’ve had enough of this ridiculous haunting act you’ve been pulling on my family all these generations.” Crux barked, projecting his words toward what he hoped was the center of Blackheart’s furious emanations. “It ends with me. I’m going to make sure no one and nothing takes your Heart again. Do we have a deal?”
To protect what is Ours is the true obligation of your lineage, Jet. Blackheart rumbled darkly. Crux felt the daemon’s burning scrutiny as his surface thoughts were probed for dissembling.
Mmm...very well. We agree to your terms.
“Say it…,” Crux warned.
We solemnly swear on the Laws put forth at the Dawn of Equus that We shall abide by the terms of our agreement. So it has been said, so shall it be Our word bound by oath until the end of days when true darkness falls. Blackheart growled.
“A little dramatic, but I suppose you get what you pay for.”
And on the subject of payment…
“Right. Then we’re in agreement. What’s mine is yours, Blackheart.”
Most excellent. Now open your mind to us, Jet, that we might sunder the wards that bind you.
Crux suppressed the surge of nervousness that accompanied the realization that his guess had been correct. He had been ensorcelled. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, when he was a foal most like. But he knew that such protection had come at a dear price.
As Crux forced himself to relax, allowing the icy sensation of Blackheart’s presence to extend through his being, warm memories of moments alone with his mother sprang unbidden to fight back the chill.
A moment later, Blackheart pushed them aside and Crux’s weary lungs drew breath.
“Is it workin’, Vanilla? C’mon I can’t tell if it’s workin’.” Silver fretted, rocking Crux’s prone form again in a bout of foalish worry.
“Silver, stop it. You’re not helping.” Olive grabbed her sister bodily and pulled her hooves away from Crux. She pressed the pegasus in a rib-crushing hug, knowing Silver needed to be doing something physical to soothe her nerves.
Vanilla leaned back to breathe deeply. She was drawing breath faster and faster to fight off the light-headedness that had begun to creep up on her as she attempted to keep Crux breathing.
“He just stopped breathing. Why did he stop? He was fine a moment ago.” Olive whimpered, burying her face in Silver’s frizzy mane.
“It’ll be alright, girls,” Vanilla soothed. “I’ve taken training classes for this.”
“You must be pretty desperate if you took classes on how ta get Prenchy with unconscious ponies.” Silver joked nervously.
Vanilla flushed red, bending back over Crux’s body to avoid eye contact with the two foals.
“Silver please, she’s performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. She’s not kissing our dad.”
“Coulda fooled me…”
A rough, haggard wheeze escaped from underneath Vanilla’s curly mane and the mare sprung away with fright. Crux coughed wetly, taking a few more rasping breaths.
“Whoa, it...w-worked?!”
“It worked!” Olive crowed, crushing the air out of the unfortunate pegasus with her vice-like hooves.
Vanilla sighed, fanning herself with a hoof. “Oh thank goodness.”
“G-girls…”
“Dad!” “Mr.Crux!”
“G-girls...you need to...to hide now.”
“Lord Crux, relax. You’ve had several near death experiences in the last few minutes. Your body can’t handle much strain.” Vanilla hovered over Crux as he struggled upright, clumps of burnt mane and clothing falling to the ground in a screen of fine ash.
“Hide now...all of you. Run to the palace. Take shelter there. Don’t come out.”
“We intended to take shelter just as soon as you were well enough to move. It’s a miracle your body wasn’t destroyed in that explosion.”
“I can...cannot go with you just yet. We...we must retrieve it.”
“We must retrieve what?”
“We...We must take back what is Ours.”
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Well, that was quick. Good to know they didn't have to waste time on blaming Crux for what's happened so far... Though now may be a different story....
Nice comics reference, considering how recent that was.
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Why thank you.
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I'm glad you liked it!
fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/204/2/0/aw_shit_nigga_by_sonamydbz-d6evcdj.jpg
Time for little old Jet-Jet (I have a bird called Jet, too. Naturally, that's my nickname for her) to KICK SOME ASS!
Hey, cousin? Let's go bowling! WITH YOUR SKULL!
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Tell us, what is Cruxheart's Limit Break?
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Cruxhazzard.
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... I don't know what I was expecting, but that wasn't it.
Nun ja!
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Sorry, I got carried away...
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I said, "Nun ja".
Hey, grammar fans! Same person talking? In a different paragraph? Then you gotta nix that previous quotation mark! Yessir, that superfluous and confusing quotation mark at the end of the previous paragraph must go! Not only does it hamper reading comprehension, it's just plain ugly! If you close off the quotation marks, it looks as though another person is speaking, and we can't have that, nosireebob!
That said, making that one word its own paragraph is a stroke of pacing genius. It moves our eyes just far enough for us to insert the dramatic pause all on our own.
Minor grammar quibbles aside, huzzah the butt-whoopin' is a-comin' to yo' door! Looks as though Jet's planning on a little mommy-style self sacrifice down the line, but the fur will fly in the here and now! I don't think making a bargain with a demonic entity was the wisest decision, but I think it was the only decision he would have made. Now to fervently pray that Cuteness is a counter to the Crucible and can set dear Daddy Crux free. Seriously, Love is a weapon of mass destruction in MLP, surely cuteness ranks up there somewhere. Maybe as an InterCUTEinental Ballistic Missile.
Or maybe Silver counts as a ballistic all on her own.
Speaking as one who knows, if you're French kissing the cardiac arrest victim, you're doing it wrong and they will die. This has been a MyHobby public service announcement.
If you kill Shining, you evil, evil AuthorShark, I shall be sad. Who'll the butler have to tease good-naturedly about being handsome and pink? It's a hole not easily filled. I mean, come on, you're asking for Nightmare Cadenza with stuff like that. Nobody will be happy then!
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That being said, I'm glad your hype has achieved critical mass because it's about to get all 16 shades of butt-whoopin' up in here! Though I would never be as remiss as to ignore Silver's potential for cutetastrophie. You sound like you're having a good time, Hobby and it's quite infectious.
Thank you as always for the grammatical checks, I'll fix them asap.
in that last chapter when jet accepted blackheart i let out a sound similar to a dying horse and a guy getting the air knocked out of his lungs.
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I'm so glad you two are enjoying it so far. One day it'll be updated again, when I can figure out where exactly I'm going with it from here.
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so is it safe to assume then that this will not be a dead story? *looks happy and hopeful*
Oooooh just got up to date and gods now I want a new chapter. that.was.awesome!
"we must take BACK WHAT IS OURS"
ohohohoho I feel a plot whoopin coming along for a particular pony with a floating relic around him XD
6356273
Oh, by no means believe me! I've come this far, I'm damn sure going to finish it.
I've just felt recently as I write that I didn't make enough build-up between how I started this story and how it's currently progressing now. What I'm writing makes sense to me because the story and its details are in my mind, but I worry that those who read it feel lost at some points or feel that character relations and appearances progressed too quickly.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is that my brain keeps nagging me to go back and re-write the first half or so of the story and that coupled with work and college prevent me from posting chapters sooner than every few months.
6361063
I understand that completely.
and I disagree, respectfully of course ^^. I will usually not read a story if it "goes to quick". that bothers me. needless to say I did not feel that way with your story. it had the right elements, right emotions, and proper reactions to things. I cannot fault you for wanting to add more, but as it is I like it so far.
keep up the good work ^^ I'm sure i'll enjoy the rest no matter what ya do.
And THIS IS THE CHAPTER MY BINGE READING ENDS ON.
FUCK I NEED MOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR
No update since the 3rd of April 2015!
What is this madness! This evil! 
Update please?
7215598
Over a year?! My, time flies.
A new chapter, you say? Hmm...well, I do have a little bit done...
H'okay!
7241486
img10.deviantart.net/89b7/i/2012/252/6/c/fluttershy__s_yay_badge_by_zutheskunk-d3e8usb.png
Please continue
its just getting badass!!
7255280
Gotcha covered!
7255832
Any update?
May we ask for an... update?