Wrath
The alicorn needed no introductions or announcements as an unnatural wave of cold entered the volcano's crater. Boiling pools of magma rapidly cooled and cracked to form a black and desolate wasteland as she landed gracefully and began to walk towards the caves at the far end of the crater. The clip-clop of armored hooves was quickly drowned out as a half dozen dragons bolted from the holes and charged at the intruder.
The first had barely left its ambush spot before a beam of magic no wider than a strand of hair lashed out and split the dragon cleanly down the middle. The second and third fell into heaps of crushed scales, bones and flesh as telekinetic forces crushed them. The fourth and fifth were intercepted by two lances of ice that nailed them to the crater's far wall, where they struggled and died. The last crashed to the ground as its wings were torn from its body. Despite the grievous wounds it rose to breathe a gout of fire at the intruder, only for telekinetic force to twist the dragon's head off of its body with a series of sickening cracks. Throughout the short battle, the alicorn hadn't so much as missed a single step.
“ENOUGH!”
She stopped and set an icy stare upon the largest cave mouth as another dragon appeared. Unlike the previous attackers, this dragon's scales were as white as fresh snow and it was far, far, far larger. Several moments passed before the dragon had completely emerged from the cave and made quick use of its superior size to glare down at the alicorn.
“I am Shirogane, and I am the last of the matriarchs. All that remains of my people are in those caves, and if you seek to murder them, then you must first defeat me, monster!” the dragon roared and prepared to attack.
“Such irony to label me 'monster' when Kurogane had similar plans for my subjects,” the alicorn said coolly and without any concern shown for the gigantic dragon's threats.
“Kurogane and his brood were fools, and they got what they deserved!” Shirogane snapped. “What of Hagane and her children or the broods to the east? They had no designs against you, and neither do I!”
“Dragons are greedy creatures, and it will only be a matter of time before another brood attempts to pillage my domain. Like a gardener, I must cull the weeds to ensure the survival of the crops,” the intruder emphasized the insult before taking another step forward. “I have come for that which you seek to defend, Shirogane. I will have what is in that cave, and if I must walk over the cooling corpses of the last of your species, then I shall.”
“You want my eggs? My unhatched children!?” Shirogane screamed with equal parts fear and outrage. “Your deal with Kurogane was banishment and a vow never to attack again! I will never--” Anything else she might have said was cut off when a blanket of magic held her frozen in place.
“Kurogane's deal became null and void when his brood failed to abide by it after he lost. I have since altered the deal,” the alicorn stated, and the temperature of the crater dropped even further. “You are going to give me all of the eggs in that cave and I will hold them hostage until such time as I am convinced that your kind has learned its lesson. If you do not agree...” the one visible eye narrowed behind the blizzard of snowflakes that coalesced around it, “...then I will kill every dragon that cowers behind you and I will crush every egg before your eyes. I'll then leave you to contemplate the fact that you will be the last of your species. Choose.”
Shirogane struggled both physically and mentally to escape the terrible choice that had been forced upon her, but in the end there was only one choice that could be made. In the end she couldn't even say the words. She could only bow her head in defeat as the intruder entered the caves and returned with the eggs floating in a line afterward.
The guilt of Shirogane's choice was interrupted as the sound of a teleport echoed through the crater, and the musky smell of unicorn sweat and fear assailed her nose. Though she didn't react in any way, her keen hearing was able to hear every word the new arrival said.
“Your Majesty, I beg your forgiveness for this intrusion...” the unicorn's voice was slightly muffled as he no doubt bowed and groveled before its ruler. “I have terrible news from the royal city. Civil war has broken out between the Magisters, Enforcers and Laborers! We can't--” Anything else the messenger might have said was lost as the resounding crack of instant petrification cut him off, followed by the snap of teleportation. Shirogane finally lifted her gaze to find the petrified form of a unicorn wearing ornate armor and a terrified expression on his face. The alicorn was nowhere to be found.
I hope your garden rots and burns, Queen Solaria, Shirogane thought bitterly as she turned towards the caves to console the last of her species.
------
Queen Solaria glared down from her throne as the doors to her audience hall opened. The first to enter was a unicorn mare with streaks of shining silver in her mane and tail who possessed a regal manner that spoke of the aristocracy. The second was an armored pegasus that seemed to waver between disciplined impartiality and shooting glares at the unicorn. The last through the entrance was an earth pony stallion in chains with two pegasi at his flanks.
The group came to a halt before the throne, and Solaria simply glared at them. The earth pony lasted the longest, but all eventually wilted under the force of her gaze. “You will explain this to me. Now.” She said as she turned her eyes to the unicorn.
“Your Majesty,” the unicorn said as she bowed deeply. “Since your departure last year to deal with the dragon menace, the laborers have forgotten their place. Their work ethic declined as treasonous and seditious thoughts such as receiving payment for doing what they were bred to do has taken root. Some have even gone so far as to demand days of rest, which is quite impossible! Does the mallet require payment to operate? No, it does not, and neither should the laborers.”
“Spoken like somepony who’s never worked a day in her posh life, Princess,” the earth pony spat, and while one of the guards cuffed the prisoner on the head for the remark, the other pegasus let out a short laugh.
“And there lies the other party to blame,” the unicorn continued as though the snarky response was beneath her notice. “The former Commander Typhoon had failed to crack down and stamp out these seditious thoughts from the laborers; at the height of his treachery he dared to express sympathy for them.”
“And you had him murdered for it,” the lead pegasus interrupted with a glare.
“Queen Solaria’s order must be maintained, and any disruptive elements must be removed,” the unicorn spat viciously. “Your negligence, Commander Hurricane, started that very night. You did nothing but watch as a rightfully empowered agent of mine was murdered in cold blood for doing nothing but his duty.”
“Your assassin died squealing like a pampered pig,” the earth pony smirked, and he only continued to smirk when neither guard struck him for the remark.
The unicorn’s composure began to erode as she ground her teeth. “Since Commander Typhoon’s removal from office, the laborers have begun to rebel. They destroy their fields and workshops, and in some places they even dare to attack their magisters! Commander Hurricane’s enforcers have done nothing to quell the unrest.”
The aforementioned pegasus rolled his eyes. “My enforcers aren’t going to do a thing to save you, Princess. You brought this mess down on all of our heads, you’re just as liable as the ground pounder over there for the rebellion.”
“And you, sir, are part of the problem, just as much as the Princess is,” the earth pony spoke, and despite his bruised and dirty appearance, he commanded the attention of the room. “You call me a ground pounder? Fine. Mudhoof? Fine. I’ll be sure to remember that when you and yours come begging me and mine for food. We remember everything that was done. Every stallion that was worked to death. Every mare that was taken to satisfy the whims of the nobility.” His eyes narrowed and he grinned viciously. “The only way you’ll see food grow again is if we get the respect we deserve, plus the Commander’s broken wings and the Princess tied to my bed.”
All three ponies began to shout and accuse the others of wrongdoing. Their voices filled the audience chamber completely, and when Queen Solaria spoke one word, the silence was deafening.
“Guilty.”
Every set of eyes turned to look at the queen to see just who the statement was directed towards as she descended from her throne. “Princess Platinum, you are guilty of overstepping your authority on this matter,” she said icily, and a look of pure terror marred the unicorn’s beautiful features before she was petrified on the spot. “Commander Hurricane,” Queen Solaria continued, and the vindictive sneer on his face vanished instantly. “You are guilty of dereliction of duty for not subduing this rebellion.” The pegasus had just enough time to open his mouth before he too was rendered into stone. Queen Solaria turned to the earth pony last, and he dared to look her straight in the eyes and set his jaw. “You are guilty of wasting my time,” she accused, before walking past the now petrified laborer.
“HEAR MY ORDERS AND OBEY!” Queen Solaria boomed as she stepped onto her balcony overlooking her capital city. Enforcers along the walls and the skies turned to face the balcony, as did the Magister nobility below. The few Laborers present didn’t dare raise their gazes to look upon her. “THIS REBELLION WILL CEASE NOW! FOR EVERY DAY THAT THIS CONTINUES, SO SHALL THE WINTER PUNISH ALL!” Solaria shouted, and the sun began to fall from the sky. Chill winds had begun to roar through the city even as the queen turned to resume her seat on the throne.
------
Queen Solaria’s winter had lasted for nearly a year before she felt a familiar presence in the back of her mind.
“Approach no further, Traveller,” she commanded, and she felt the thing behind her stop. Once she was certain the creature would not move into her line of sight, she continued, “How fares your projects in the void? When last we spoke you mentioned several experiments currently in the process, but that was millenia ago.”
Well, about--
“Enter my mind again and this conversation is over,” Solaria snapped, and the thing behind her surrendered with a sigh.
“Fiiine,” it sighed dramatically, and with several voices simultaneously. “I did have several irons in the fire so to speak, but I had to give up on a few of them. I gave them one simple command and they blew it all out of proportion.” Another multi-voice sigh preceded an almost eager explanation, “The newest project is pretty promising, though. I find myself loving a people with a naturally developed sense of irony.”
“Oh?” Solaria asked politely.
“I just finished checking on them, and for some reason they think it’s some great and significant act to nail a carpenter to a piece of wood. I imagine if they don’t all kill each other then they could become pretty interesting in the future.”
The ice blue alicorn could only shake her head at that. “Appreciation of irony aside, your projects keep failing because you do not monitor them. These creatures cannot be trusted not to destroy themselves without proper supervision. They don’t need freedom to squander their lives away. They need structure and discipline to give their lives meaning. The marks I have implemented on my world have provided these. When one of my little ponies receives their mark, they know what they must do. There is no angst or wandering over their purpose.”
“Well, that’s no fun. I’ve always found the best mortals are the ones who had to struggle to become what they were, not have it branded on their flank.” A moment of pause was followed by the thing diverting its attention elsewhere. “You know, for one who advocates control so much, the populace does seem a bit rowdy. Nothing like a good old war to spur innovation and change, right? Though if this winter keeps up there might not be anything left.”
“That is the point, Traveller,” Solaria stated. “The mortals have dared to resist the systems I have put in place. They will submit to those systems or the winter will continue.”
“And what happens if they continue to resist until the winter cripples their civilization beyond repair?” When Solaria left the question unanswered, the Traveller’s response was tinged with almost palpable disbelief. “You can’t be serious!? These creatures are all amazing in their own unique ways! You’re giving them the choice to have all that crushed out of them or to die! Can’t you see what a tragedy that is? It’s cultural and literal genocide! They are a bit too stuffy for my tastes, but if you just let them work this out they could be happy. If you played this right they might even come to love you!”
“I do not require their happiness or their love. I require their obedience,” the alicorn stated. “If they will not give me that which I require, then the winter will continue. Nothing in my world is irreplaceable, not even its people. If I must, I can start with a clean slate.”
The Traveller recoiled and for the first time since Solaria had encountered the creature, it was still and silent. “Well, then. I see I have no other options in the matter.”
The attack came so swiftly that Solaria nearly missed it. She spun and launched herself away from her throne just in time to see her seat of power consumed. Reality itself convulsed around the Traveller as a wholly alien being twisted the room itself into a weapon. The transformation halted as a wave of of power exploded outward from Solaria and froze its surroundings. Hundreds of blades of ice coalesced around Solaria like a blizzard and hurtled towards her foe. Each one struck home and did nothing to stop the oncoming rush of eyes, jaws, beaks, claws, tentacles and wings. It was like stopping a flood with her hooves: for every swath of limbs she destroyed, hundreds more appeared. To her horror, some of the severed and destroyed limbs had begun to cross the floor towards her under their own power.
In that single moment of distraction, the fight was decided.
A massive tentacle hurled itself at Solaria only to be severed and torn to pieces in the blizzard. Any relief at stopping that attack was brief as the individual pieces morphed into a myriad of limbs. They were all picked off by the spinning blades of ice as they approached the alicorn, but against all odds one made it through. It was an ugly thing, nearly completely hairless and with five digits attached to a flat palm, and the longest digit was curled back and pinned into place by the smallest-and-thickest. That curled-back finger snapped forward and struck the tip of Solaria’s horn… and the Traveller’s laughter signaled that the fight was over.
“Oh, that was far more difficult than I anticipated, Solaria.” Reality began to reassert control on the throne room, and the formless mass of limbs began to shrivel and shed. “Your power almost rivals that of my people. Bravo, bravo.”
“What have you done?” Solaria demanded as she attempted to conjure another cloud of icy blades to carve up the withering form before her. The magic simply refused to activate. The energy had been gathered and the spell matrices formed… but no frozen death flowed at her command. Neither did petrification or any of her other chosen and well-used forms of punishment. “What have you done!?”
“When you like using a hammer, my dear, every problem looks like a nail,” the Traveller said cryptically. “It’s an understandable impulse, after all. If you find something that works for you, why change it? The answer is that not every problem is a nail, and you need to learn that there are other tools that work just as well if you're willing to put in the efford.” A figure emerged from the decaying husk that was once the Traveller, and it gazed upon Solaria with wild yellow eyes and a grin filled with crooked teeth. Without another word, a griffon talon appeared from the pile and snapped its digits.
“My Queen, is anything amiss?” called a voice from the door.
In the split second that Solaria’s gaze drifted away from her foe, he had vanished along with all signs of their brief conflict.
“My Queen, the Enforcers had reported sounds of a confrontation. Are you in need of aid? Or disposal of the remains?” the voice asked again as the door started to open.
Solaria’s glare snapped back to the door as she lashed out at the fool who thought to enter without her permission… and nothing happened. As with the Traveller, no killing magic froze, petrified, or otherwise tore the pegasus asunder as he peeked into the throne room. Why isn’t it working? she asked herself before a chill ran through her. If I cannot administer punishment, how can I rule? How can I admonish these mere mortals when they step out of line? They will not obey without that threat! They will not respect or obey me without my power behind me!
“My Queen?” the enforcer asked meekly as he stuck his head through the doorway.
Solaria opened her mouth to reprimand the trespasser, but the words stuck in her throat. Some emotion she had never felt before began to erode at her will, and she found herself backing away from the doorway as the pegasus entered the room. “A-away!” she screamed, before vanishing in a flash of light.
Stats
Page generated in 0.063 seconds
Total duration
671 users online
827,256 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Afternoon folks!
This is a placeholder for the moment, I'll fill it out a bit more later!
First things first, this story started out as a series of 'what if' questions as I was writing Stardust and Mente Materia. As things grew I saw folks were speculating on just these very things. I had hoped to get this posted by Christmas but that didn't exactly work out, so here we are!
Second, the framing device. Boo, hiss, I know. I've got my reasons for including it here.
Third, this will also be a bit of an experiment for me since I intend to explore using smaller chapter lengths and restricting the perspective to just the main character (mostly). I hope everyone bears with me as I get the hang of things!
5661830 I gotta ask: haven't gotten the cover art yet?
Edit: and now pic's up, and it is awesome!
Ahh... backstory... excellent! Now... how does Luna fit in with this? Curiouser and Curiouser...
I'm curious what the first experimental group was, the one given the single command and blown completely out of control...
Perhaps the entire 'present' day conflict is nothing more than all of the 'Traveler's' eggs coming home to roost?
5662655
FoxInShadow actually livestreamed it earlier today. Just waiting on the final product. :)
Love Solaria´s reaction at the end. Gods are usually petty spoiled brats under their mask of power.
5662710 Sweetness!
5662688 I cannot divulge anything about Moonbutt at this time, but I am happy to talk about the Traveler. The real question we should be asking about this 'discordant' alien (of extradimensial quality, obviously) is: what does he have to gain from these "experiments" as well as doing what he did to Solaria?
Also, notice the shape of the particular appendage that changed her? *devilish grim*
5662761 IVE SEEN ENUF HENTAI TO SEE WHERE DIS IZ GOING
I have seen Sith Lords more cuddly than Queen Solaria!
Okay, new information has been revealed! At the end of the Wrath chapter, Queen Solaria seemed to be afraid of the enforcer and fled by teleporting away. What does this mean for Celestia's/Queen Solaria's character?
This might mean that she's terrified of facing retribution for her actions or experiencing pain now that she's defenseless from an offensive standpoint.
This new inability to "punish" or offensively protect herself might have been the foundation for her change from the ice-cold mega bitch (pardon my harsh language) that is Queen Solaria to the kind and benevolent Princess Celestia that everyone now knows her as. Now that she can't petrify or kill anything, she has to change her ways to fit her situation, and all of us will have to see what happens from here ("here" being the Wrath chapter) as Arad updates the story.
Arad, if you even see this, I just have to say that you're handling of the plot so far is fan-TASTIC. The way you portrayed the newly-defanged Queen Solaria as terrified and almost helpless is spot-on for how she'd react in that situation.
I mean, think about it: A harsh ruler that has run their nation with an iron fist for hundreds or thousands of years now has absolutely zero means of attacking or harming anyone, let alone their subjects. Now they have no means of preventing their subjects from rising up against them, even though their subjects haven't realized that yet. What would that ruler do once they realized that fact?
The answer: Do something similar to what Queen Solaria did and basically panic, followed by fleeing for their safety. In Solaria's case, however, her subjects are pretty much oblivious to her new circumstances and are still terrified of her. Unlike other rulers who experienced the same situation, she still has a chance to adapt and save herself by changing how she acts and how she rules her country.
I am eagerly awaiting your next update for this story, Arad, and I bet that the next chapter is going to be just as good if not better than this one! (Oh, and sorry for the super long post here. I just got carried away.)
5662966 An Ice Queen quite literally.
Well, I just figured out what will happen in the Mente Materia based on this chapter, I also know what will occur come this story's conclusion... and both are frighting to say the least.
The Traveller has an entire race like him? I wonder what's become of them...
5663004
COMMANDER BRADFORD, YOU ARE NEEDED IN THE SITUATION ROOM. GET OFF THE PONY STORY SITE.
5663060 Oh fine! Damn assholes... *storms off*
5663064
*Imagines Bradford stepping into the Situation Room* "Lets make this quick, AdmiralTigerclaw updated Arrow 18 for the first time in over a year and I could not care less about aliens at the moment."
Hold on, Solaria is ice blue in coat colour. Celestia is white and Luna is dark blue. Could Celestia and Luna be the result of Solaria undergoing mitosis?
5663098
Well, that's one theory on alicorn reproduction. XD
And here I thought Solaria couldn't possibly get more terrifying! Dear God, where to start?
First off, it seems the scientists at XCOM thinking the cutie marks were a form of social engineering and control were more right than they could possibly imagine. Combined with the caste system she had in place and you've got the MLP version of 1984 with Solaria as a living, nigh-indestructible incarnation of Big Brother. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, indeed. The fact that she had the power and potential motivation to exterminate all life on the planet just to start over was equally unsettling.
Then there's the mismatched eldritch horror himself. Even though we've seen him go full-on Lovecraft a few times already Discord seems to genuinely care about the lives of mortals, even if he finds the ponies of Solaria's system too organized. His constant tinkering with life on other worlds could be seen as a fun hobby for an elder god, but the philosophy he has behind introducing obstacles for different races to overcome makes me think he's trying to help them advance and avoid stagnation and death, much like Solaria seemed to be enacting. Discord's parting line to Solaria instantly brought this classic Star Trek moment to mind:
What's more interesting / unsettling about Discord, though, is that he isn't the only one of his kind in the universe. Makes you wonder if he's doing these experiments on their behalf or if he's an anomaly among his kind. Perhaps he's doing this to prepare the races he encounters for if / when others of his kind take notice of them.
All in all, I'm loving the friction these two seem to generate just by being in the same plane of existence. Their clashing natures of absolute order and total chaos has a certain element of Greek mythos to it with the Gods, all-powerful beings though they are, being slaves to their own nature. In that sense, I could see Discord envying mortals for their freedom to choose how to live instead of being compelled to do so.
effort
I always wondered why the Canterlot statue garden was so extensive. And... lifelike.
Also, one pony knows? And this particular pony just tells it to any kid who'll listen? ...Well, I suppose Discord isn't technically a pony... But a security guard?
5663200
Fridge logic right there. It's not a statue garden. It's a trophy case.
5663127 Ah, so you noticed that (the deceased) Joel and Kim from Stardust were somewhat right about the marks being social engineering, but how long it remains that seen. I am glad someone else picked up on that (had noticed it when proofreading but didn't want to just ruin all the fun for everyone else as I prefer hearing your theories and speculations).
5662935
Seeing as it is a human hand and arm, unless you've been watching hentai about bellyrubs and brushies, then I don't wanna know.
5663098 *Is about to give him the correct answer, but then notices Arad perched on some high ground with a plasma sniper rifle pointed at him... and just his luck, is not in any good cover, so just keeps his mouth shut*
5662984 Actually, Discord (the Traveller) gave her two things since his "touch" that a sociopath like her never had... though I will tell you what those things are NEXT chapter!
5662761 I HAVENT SEEN ENUF HENTAI TO KNOW WHERE DIS IZ GOING/ I DIDNT READ CAREFULLY ENUF TO SEE WHERE DIS IZ GOONG
5663078
At first I thought you were trolling me, but I had to look, damn it! THANK YOU, I DID NOT KNOW, PRAISE THE SUN
5663078 5663283
I let out quite the manly squee when I saw Arrow 18 pop up on my feed, almost as much when Qwapdo came out with a new chapter of "Hail to the King" last month. Now if Loyal2Luna comes back and updates Shades of Twilight soon, I might just go into a giddy coma!
5663078 HELL yes.
5663227
You do realize what site yer on, right?
5663442 troll.me/images/willy-wonka-gene-wilder/willy-wonka-gene-wilder.jpg
No, I have no clue. Please, enlighten me.
5663491 We're on the site that is, quite literally, devoted to presenting and discussing interesting plots.
30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltjk9mQ9pX1r2whyco1_400.gif
Sorry for the frequent over-analysis, but this bit from Discord just caught my attention.
What kind of command could Discord, embodiment of Chaos, give an entire species? And what could they have done to make him abandon them?
My guess; he was trying to make the Ethereals (or perhaps a small portion of them) ascend to another level of existence. During the final encounter in-game the Ethereal leader explains that they were the greatest failure of all. They failed to ascend, were discarded and left to leech off the psionic lifeforce of other races that they encountered. If, in the Stardust-verse, Discord was the one who gave the Ethereals their directive and cast them out after their failure, then we could be looking at a potential father / son hate relationship on par with Shinji and Gendo Ikari.
That would be an entertaining (and terrifying) reunion. The neglectful elder god father figure and the spurned children who've had dozens, if not hundreds, of millennia to prepare their revenge. Perhaps they'd still be powerless against Discord, but something tells me that wouldn't be the case. After all, Discord told Celestia during Stardust that the Ethereals have as much chaos and power in them as Solaria did at the height of her reign. If Solaria was powerful enough to nearly resist and thwart Discord's first attempt at cursing her then what kind of defense could he muster against a psionic collective comprised entirely of millions of minds as powerful (if not more so) then Solaria?
The answer is probably nothing. Discord may have mastered the chaos of reality but order still trumps him (i.e. Elements of Harmony). His chickens have come home to roost, and he knows he can't survive the oncoming storm. That's where humans enter with their imperfectly balanced approach to life and a desire to overcome any obstacle. Whether or not Discord (or Celestia for that matter) survive this conflict intact it seems both Earth and Equestria will have proven something to both the embodiments of Order and Chaos; there is a middle ground and we can achieve it.
P.S. - I can only imagine the upheaval Twilight would have if she learned Celestia, the kindest being ever and former genocidal tyrant, and Discord, manipulative chaos god with somewhat good intentions, have been playing with mortal lives like they were disposable toys for millennia. Perhaps by that point she'll have reached their level of power and influence and be able to look upon them with pity for their inability to ascend beyond their own constraints. The apprentice surpassing the master, in a sense.
In any case, feel free to ignore my ramblings. They're the product of an English major who's written too many analysis essays of modern poems and literature.
Hmm world building backstory, I can never get enough of this.
5663078
5663382
Ascension Call also updated The White Rider yesterday. First update in over two years.
Were we given a physical description of Solaria in any of your stories Arad?
5663979
Not prior to this one.
5663382
And if I was to ressurect Scootamom?
If I were you, I'd remove that "this is a sequel" tag. This story seems like it's enough of an AU to be its own independent story, and telling people that it's a sequel up front like that sends the message that they need to read another story before reading this one, which can a major turnoff for many curious readers. Especially those who don't want to read an XCOM crossover but might be interested in this story. And the 'framing device' prologue you have doesn't make any sense if you haven't read your other stories. At all.
Then again, what I should really be criticizing you for is the extremely unoriginal "carpenter on a stick" line.
5664078
Unfortunately, I don't have a way of directing people's attention to this story from Stardust without the sequel tag. I will, however, add a note in to point out how this relates to the storyline.
And thank you for sharing your opinion. If you have anything constructive to add to the criticism, feel free to do so.
5664077 I certainly would smile THIS big!
5663541 Hah, "plots"! It's 'punny' because it works on two levels! Molestia would approve!
5664206
Ah. Good.
NO RESURRECTION FOR YOU! [/Hope Crushing]
5664239 Meh, I got this story, Mente Materia, a few other tales, and Evolve, so I ain't crushed.
Hot damn! Weapons hot, shots fired!
It would be interesting to see her transition from tyrant to more benevolent ruler. Switching from terror to adoration as a tool of enforcing loyalty can't have been easy for her even is she didn't have any choice..
Oh (cold) SNAP!
This is great. And it makes 100% sense to have Discord create humanity and why he desperately wants to have them saved.
And thank you so much for the explanation of the 'no kill' condition and the beautiful sculpture garden.
5663625 Love that analysis, don't stop being awesome
5664077 No single world could hold my glee.
5664239 that was mean
So is that what Discord was talking about when he was alarmed by Celestia breaking something "too soon" by banishing the alien assault into the sun? She was breaking the block he put on offensive uses of her power?
Whelp, another story to add instantly to my Recommended folder. Framing device once again is remarked as the Princess Bride framework, and the guard knows way more than what we've seen so far, so I'm in the betting pool that he's Dissy. Black and White Steel, eh? Wonder which clan Spike came from. Trophy case? Wonder if there's anyone that's a fighter in there that would be released. Wonder how long it will take for rumors to go about of Solaria not insta-petra-ing someone, and for some groups to become boldened to seek vengeance. Sad to remember Kim and Joel, but they were spot on with the social engineering gig. Now to figure out how she did that in the first place.
Traveler seems like a nigh-omnipotent being, but not all powerful. Reminds me of the Xel-Naga and the Zerg, with the Pony Protoss (Would Starswirl be Tassadar and Twi be Zeratul?). Could explain why he's the only one left apparently.
Pet theory at the moment is that Solaria is going to split into Celly and Lulu via magic mumbo-jumbo, and try to smurf as new characters in the political game. Unknown events occur to drive Lulu to madness. Maybe resurging memories or personality? Hmmm.
5663078
Meanwhile, on the mothership...
"Alright, delay the terror missions. Arrow 18 just updated and none of the Mutons are going to do a damn thing until they've read it."
5663218
I believe the term you're looking for is fridge horror. Especially since as far as I can tell Celestia remembers being Solaria and knows exactly what those "statues" are.
QUEEN SOLARIA FIC!!
SO DYSTOPIAN
SO TYRANNICAL
MY BODY IS NOT READY
Well. Hot damn.
Discord is cool.
Awwww. I wanted more Queen Solaria. Discord always has to ruin the fun.
5663227
I'm going to guess one is empathy. She probably never cared or could put herself into the place of anyone else. Everyone were tools to suit her own desires.
The comment from Princess Platinum comparing the earth ponies to hammers seems to reflect this attitude.
I wonder if Queen Solaria herself is one of Discord's pet projects? He set her up and watched to see how she'd evolve and only interfered when her desire for order above all clashed with his own curiosity.
I'm guessing that Luna is going to be created by Solaria as a sort of ruling proxy, so she can continue to put the smackdown on ponies through a separate entity.
Queen Solaria's "The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves" methodology is very interesting to see.