Sun Tzu and the Art of Fashion
“Yes? Rarity!? What… what are you doing here?” Blueblood asked, completely at a loss for words. His eyes briefly flickered to the guards standing behind the mare, before focusing back to the Element of Generosity herself. “Shouldn't you be with your friends?”
“They are well enough that they could stand to miss me for a few moments,” Rarity said somewhat stiffly. “Do you mind if I stepped inside?”
“I… well, no, I guess not,” Blueblood said before he stepped out of the way and opened the door to let her in.
Rarity took a couple of steps inside, before taking a step back in disgust. “Nice… place you have here…” Rarity said, unable to keep the revulsion out of her voice.
Blueblood already knew the state his den was in—he didn’t need her to tell him about it, but he wasn’t about to throw up a stink about it. “As much as I appreciate your attempt at a compliment, it is unneeded. This place is an utter disaster, and you need not try to make me feel better about it.”
To be honest, though, ‘disaster’ would probably not have been a strong enough word for the state of Prince Blueblood’s private rooms. At the moment, the poker table he had set up several weeks ago was still out, the cards and chips from that game so long ago were still there, too, as were the numerous bits of old food and drinks that the participants of that game had been snacking on, still relatively untouched since that fateful day. There was an unmistakable scent of rot in the air, adding to the generally unwholesome atmosphere of the room, which was only made worse by the open door to the bedroom, which if anything, was in an even worse state than the main den.
That’s not to say that there had been no effort to rectify the whole situation, however. Sitting in a corner was a large black garbage bag, along with a broom, dustpan, and a small selection of cleaning chemicals, all mute evidence of Blueblood’s attempts to clean the place before he had been… interrupted.
“Em… I hope I’m not overstepping if I ask you why you haven’t had the maids in here? It is their job, after all,” Rarity asked, her nose wrinkling as the offending odor of the room assaulted her senses.
“I’ve thought about it, but this really is my mess. It felt more fitting that I be the one to clean it up…” Blueblood said, before scooping several pieces of rotting food and dumping them into the bag. “Did you need something, Lady Rarity? Because if you’re only here for small talk, I’m going to have to postpone it for later. I have a lot of work to do.”
“I wanted to thank you, Blueblood,” Rarity said, a little softer than the tone she had taken with him earlier. “You didn’t have to do what you did. In fact, after our last encounter, I was somewhat certain you might have been trying to get back at me somehow. I distrusted you, when all you were trying to do was save my life.”
Blueblood gave her a patient, somewhat self-mocking smile, before scooping several more things and depositing them into the trash. “I didn’t do much, but you are quite welcome anyway. I’m just surprised that you went along with me as far as you did, considering how our last meeting went.”
“Yes, well, even so, we're in the middle of a crisis, and it does nopony any good to hold grudges,” Rarity said, brushing her hair back a little with her hoof. “Now, I suppose I should leave you to your cleaning, though now I am somewhat curious as to how it got in this state in the first place.”
“That… is a long story, preferably for another day, after my rooms are in a state more worthy to entertain a guest such as yourself,” Blueblood said, before dropping into a low bow. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, there is still much to do.”
Rarity gave him a small smile, before turning to leave. “Well, when you’re ready to talk, you can find me in my rooms. After what happened a few days ago, the princesses have been quite protective of us. A new face and new conversation is always-”
Whatever Rarity was going to say was suddenly cut off as she let out a soul-rending screech as she turned around. Blueblood quickly looked to see whatever horror had come to claim them, only to feel his heart leap at what he saw.
Standing just outside the room was a tall, lizard-like biped. This creature was no stranger to Blueblood, but this was the first time he had seen him with his own eyes. He seemed to be missing his shirt, revealing a network of scars all over his torso, but otherwise the lizard was exactly as Blueblood remembered him.
Blueblood just couldn’t figure out why he was here of all places.
The lizard, for his part, only looked mildly surprised at the screaming mare in front of him, before turning to whomever was next to him, who was just outside of Blueblood’s line of sight. “I’m not that hideous, am I?”
“Knowing what others of your kind can do, her reaction is wholly justified,” Auntie Celestia said, revealing that it was she who had brought the unusual creature here.
“Ah… Eheheh… Princess Celestia… so good to see you…” Rarity said, letting out a fake laugh as she slowly backed away from the creature before her.
“Calm yourself, Rarity, the creature is on our side,” Blueblood said, before moving awkwardly around the clutter of the room, making his way around Rarity, walking out the door, and falling into a low bow before the creature. “It is an honor to meet you in person.”
The lizard looked positively shocked at this display, going so far as to take several uncomfortable steps backwards before looking to Celestia, as if seeking help. “Um… Okay, I swear, I've never seen this guy in my life.”
The Princess eyed the lizard for a full minute, probably trying to detect any falsehood in the creature’s statement. When she couldn't find any, she then turned to Blueblood, her expression an odd mixture of amusement and suspicion. “Blueblood, would you care to explain yourself?”
“How up-to-date are you with the Solar Guard’s reports, Auntie?” Prince Blueblood asked as he got up from his bow.
“I've only really seen the recent battle report, and anything of special note that had to be handled immediately. I'm afraid I've been a bit behind on almost everything else,” Princess Celestia said, her expression not changing in the slightest.
“Well, my Princess, until recently, I, and many others, had our souls devoured by that monster known as The Mistress of Shadow,” Blueblood said, causing the suspicious look on Celestia’s face to change to one of sudden understanding. “I am merely paying my savior the respect he deserves.” Blueblood then turned to the lizard, inclining his head slightly to show his deference to the lizard. “I would ask for your name, but I know that you do not give it out lightly, based on how you dealt with that-”
“My name’s Ammon,” Ammon said, interrupting Blueblood and taking the wind out of his sails. “And please, don’t bow to me, it makes me uncomfortable.”
“Very well,” Blueblood said.
He looked like he was going to say more, but was prevented from doing just that when Rarity came out of the room to stand next to him, her eyes locked on the lizard. “This is Ammon? And here I was thinking that some sort of dragon from the Dragon Lands saved Sweetie Belle and her friends!”
Ammon looked a little confused for a second, before a sudden look of understanding washed over him. “Yeah, no, that was me.”
“Well, I for one would like to thank you for saving my little sister and her friends. I’m sorry for how I initially treated you,” Rarity said, holding out her hoof.
Despite being a completely alien entity, and most likely having no prior experience with Equestrian customs of etiquette, Ammon still got down to one knee and gently took the offered hoof in his claw and shook it. “Well, I'm just glad I was able to get there in time, and no offense taken. I know what kind of trouble the others have gotten into. All things considered, you were completely right to act like you did.”
“Rarity, I’m afraid we haven’t come for pleasantries,” Celestia said, interrupting them as she drew closer. “Ammon here has a request for you, though you are in no way obligated to help. We would completely understand if you said no, and we will be on our way, no strings attached. However, if you choose to accept, know that the crowns will pay you for your services in full.”
Rarity thought about this for a few seconds before looking up at Ammon, a question in her eyes. “Well, it wouldn’t be very gracious of me to turn you down. Not after everything you’ve done. Whatever it is, if it is in my power, I will try to help.”
“You sure? Because if I’m going to be honest, I think you have your work cut out for you…” Ammon said, before he stood up, reached behind him, and pulled something from out of the back of his rather tattered pants. He then held it up for the mare to see.
It had been, at one point in time, a shirt. However, through repeated stress, battle, and apparently some sort of fire, the thing now resembled a burnt dishrag, only useful for cleaning, and little else. “I’ve got a meeting with the military soon, and my old one’s kind of been destroyed. If I could get you to patch it up, I’d be very-”
“No… no no no… you can’t possibly expect me to believe that you’ll be wearing… that!” Rarity said, before tearing the shirt from his hands. “This is an absolute travesty! I wouldn’t wish this upon even my worst enemy! And your trousers! They’re in absolute shambles!”
“Yeah, they’re my only set of clothing, and I’ve been a little too busy lately to try and get a new set,” Ammon said, shrugging slightly to himself. “A patch would be fine, though, since I think I’ll just be getting into more trouble before this is all-”
“As I said before, this will not do!” Rarity said, putting her hoof down in a decisive manner. “Come. We shall remedy this posthaste!”
Ammon could do little but sputter as Rarity turned him about and began shepherding him with her magic down the hall and in the general direction of what was presumably her private chambers. Celestia went to follow, but stopped, her eyes resting on Blueblood. “We will need to have a talk about what you experienced, Blueblood. Even if you were just a prisoner, you may have learned something invaluable.”
“I have already told Captain Nightfall everything I can remember, Auntie,” Blueblood said, bowing ever so slightly to Princess Celestia.
“Be that as it may, I would have Luna look inside your dreams. There may be something you forgot to mention still there.”
Blueblood nodded, but did not otherwise move to follow. “Until later, then. I have some things I still need to take care of. When both you and Auntie Luna are ready for me, I would be more than happy to assist you.”
Celestia gave the prince a short nod, before turning and following Rarity and her hapless captive, who had already gotten quite a bit ahead of her. The guards quickly turned to follow their princess, which meant that Blueblood was left all alone with his thoughts.
As much as he wanted to be alone with his work, he had really enjoyed the brief break that Rarity had provided. Now that she was gone, though, he felt like the task before him was that much harder. With a heavy sigh, the prince turned back to the open door to once again continue the arduous challenge of cleaning the mess that had once been his private rooms. It was some time later that he realized he had been smiling the whole time, and not a fake one, either. It was the first, real smile he had worn ever since he had had his soul sucked out, and his body used as a plaything for that hellish monster.
It took him longer than he’d care to admit to quash that smile, as he tried to remind himself that he had no right to be that happy. “Right… back to work. No time to be all sentimental…” he said, putting on a serious face and scooping up as much garbage as he could.
However, a passing maid would later spot him, and would tell her friends that she had never seen anyone, much less Blueblood of all ponies, look quite so happy cleaning what was essentially a disaster area.
* * *
Doctor Luther Wittelsbach was a patient man. He could outlast the end of a world and the creation of a new one if he had a book to read, and at the moment, he had a whole library of knowledge at his disposal. He would have much rather been out in the field helping those that needed him, but at the moment, the Dark Ones were ‘between moves’ as his master would put it. So there was very little for him to do until something else went wrong.
Still, the constant scratching of the pony’s pen was somewhat distracting. He had outlasted far worse, but he had noticed that every three minutes and fifty seconds, the pony in question would shuffle a bit, open her mouth, take a deep breath, and apparently think better of whatever question she was going to ask. She would then go back to her note-taking for another three minutes and fifty seconds before starting the cycle anew.
“Was there something you wanted to ask me?” Doctor Wittelsbach asked, closing his book with a snap and looking towards the bookshelf that the young pony was hiding behind. There was a small, high pitched squeak from her, as well as a faint clink from the guard two aisles down, which showed they both had been surprised by his sudden question. “I would rather have your questions out of the way now, rather when I am fully absorbed by your literature. It would save us both a little aggravation. If not, I would ask you to study me at a later date.”
“Um…” the young pony said, coming around the corner. She had a bashful look on her face, almost like a small child caught with her hands in the cookie jar. She had purple fur, as well as a dark blue mane and tail with a violet streak running through both. The small horn on her head marked her as a unicorn, while the starburst pattern on her flank denoted some sort of talent with magic. “I was wondering… why are you helping us? And… why did you help Ammon? From what I’ve heard, aren't your masters competing for some kind of prize? Wouldn't that make you enemies?”
Doctor Wittelsbach gently set the book down on the table next to him, then turned to look the unicorn in the eye. “I can tell you very little. My master and I are bound by certain rules, and even telling you about the contest is against the rules, unless, of course, you already know.”
The purple unicorn looked confused at the doctor’s words. “If it's against the rules, then didn't Ammon break them when he-”
“Ammon is a special case,” Doctor Wittelsbach said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing the leather underside of his beak-like mask. “From what my master has told me, Ammon was given so little information as to make his standing the same as yours. This has given him the ability to act as a free agent, unbound by the rules, and more importantly, able to ally himself with you, should he so choose. Technically, I, as a champion who knows too much, am not able to ally myself with you, or your kind. However, I am able to ally myself with him, and his allies, since he is still, technically, a champion.”
The purple pony still looked confused, but the doctor paid her no mind as he picked up his book and resumed reading.
“But that just brings us back to my original question. Why are you helping him? Shouldn't you be enemies since you're both after the same thing?”
The doctor paused at this, not as if he were thinking about what to say next, but rather, it looked like he was listening to a distant voice. Finally, he sighed, then turned another page in his book. “My master tells me that, with the amount of information you have now, I may tell you this much: Not all of the masters are aiming for the prize. Some of them merely wish to prevent certain other parties from obtaining the prize.”
He talked without even looking up, but he was fairly certain he knew what the look on the unicorn’s face was. Confusion, worry, frustration. Her heart was certainly beating at a much faster pace, but none of that mattered to the taciturn doctor. All that mattered to him was that he complete his task in peace.
After a few more seconds of this, the unicorn finally seemed to be out of questions, but not before turning one last time. “Well, tell your master for me… thank you.”
“He already knows, though I am sure he doesn’t care. Nevertheless, I will tell him for you,” Doctor Wittelsbach said before turning another page. “Now, if that will be all, I have much to read before the day is through.”
He heard the unicorn nod, then leave, but did not acknowledge her. There was no time for simple trivialities such as that, and he really needed to focus on the task at hand if he had any hopes of finishing before the next disaster.
And from the fear that seemed to waft in through the open window from the city below, the next disaster was going to be very, very soon.
* * *
I looked over myself in the mirror, impressed with the job I saw. Seriously, the white and purple mare worked quickly, and had an entire set of clothing ready for me in less than an hour. It fit well, too, far better than any set of clothing I had ever worn. And I had to admit, even though I wasn’t exactly human anymore, I still cut quite the impressive figure.
Even if the color scheme made me look a little on the festive side.
The shirt itself was a simple enough, button up affair, with a collar that almost begged to have a tie put around it. She even had a tie ready, though I had turned her down, saying that such a thing was more of a hindrance in battle than a help. She had originally scoffed at that, but a gentle reminder was all it took to let her know that the last fight had been extremely unexpected. Celestia had mentioned armor plate at that point, and I had politely declined, stating that we really didn’t have the time for such things at the moment. Maybe later. After all, anything between me and death was better than nothing, but for now, I had a meeting to get to. The slacks were black, fit well, and made for plenty of room in the back for my tail, which was a bit of a relief, to be honest. The thing had a habit of drawing attention to itself, even more so if something in the back was chafing.
“So, what do you think?” Rarity asked, her radiant smile quashing any issues I might have had with red against my green scales making me look like a Christmas tree. It was probably unintentional, since she probably had no idea what Christmas even was.
“It looks absolutely perfect,” I said, making a quick turn around to let her see the full effect. “Thank you so much; I know it couldn’t have been easy on such short notice.
“Think nothing of it, darling,” Rarity said with a smile, and a toss of her hair. “I honestly relish the challenge. Just… do try to be careful with this set. It may be a bit simple, but it would be a crime if it should become damaged!”
I let out a short, barking laugh. “I’ll try my best, but I really can’t make any promises. Well, Celestia? What do you think?”
“It is fine enough, though we should be moving now,” she said, opening the door behind her. “I have already made arrangements for my top officers to meet us, and if they are as punctual as they always are, then they would have been waiting for us for a while now.”
“Go on, then! You must not keep our stallions in uniform waiting!” Rarity said, gently shooing me out with her hoof. I took the hint, and quickly left, Celestia and her guards in tow.
The trip to the meeting place was fairly uneventful, during which I could help but wonder what I was going to talk about. After the little betrayal during the siege, I couldn’t exactly just hand out my strengths and weaknesses. At least, not without knowing for sure who I was talking with.
That being said, there were still a few things I could talk about. Namely, who, exactly, these people were fighting.
I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice at all that we had not only already reached our destination, but we had also entered the room, and Celestia had apparently just started introducing me to the room full of nervous, or even downright hostile-looking ponies in armor. “-is Ammon. As you may have heard, he calls the monsters that beset our nation as kin. However, he is not like them. He actively fights against them, and is here to help us as much as he is able.”
I looked around, trying to take stock of my surroundings. We seemed to be in a rather large meeting hall with a number of tapestries and banners lining the walls. There was a large, rectangular table in the center, around which I could see several ponies in an array of colors and armor styles. Fully half of those present had white coats and golden armor, while the rest seemed to have more muted colors, and black, bat themed armor, wings and eyes. I also noticed a few empty chairs around the table, but I figured it was because some of the brass were out on duty. Of all the soldiers here, I could only recognize Captain Breeze, since he was one of the few that wasn’t decked out in plate. Now that I had other soldiers nearby to compare him to, I quickly noticed that his mane and tail, and even his coat color seemed to be different from the ponies around him, leading me to believe that the coat and mane colors of the ponies around me weren’t exactly their natural colors, most likely being some kind of illusion to keep regulation colors or something. Most of the ponies in front of me had guarded looks, while others looked like they wanted nothing more than to tear me to pieces.
Truth be told, it was a fairly intimidating sight to suddenly walk in on, if you completely ignored the whole talking, four foot pony thing. “Oh, we’re here already? Um…” I said intelligently, having honestly been taken by surprise.
Before I was even able to string together anything useful, one of the white soldiers in golden armor beat me to the punch. “I'm sorry, ma’am, but do you honestly expect us to believe that this… fool, could know anything useful? He’s powerful, I’ll give him that, but he seems like the kind that would be more trouble than he’s worth.”
“I don’t think that even touches on the real issue here. Why are we even entertaining the thought of working with him?” another pony asked, this one far darker in color and sporting a curved, rhinoceros-like horn. Everything about this one screamed rage, though I couldn’t help but detect a strong undercurrent of fear behind his eyes. “He’s the enemy! It's because of monsters like him that Las Pegasus and Ponyville now lie in ruin!”
“I lost a lot of good soldiers because of his kind…” someone else muttered, though I couldn’t quite catch who it was.
This was really starting to look like a poor opening for me, and I hadn’t even had the chance to say anything yet! Not that I needed to, mind you. I was getting the distinct impression that if Celestia wasn’t standing right next to me, I’d probably already be dead the second I walked into the room.
Luckily, it didn’t seem like everyone here had it out for me. “Shut your pie-holes,” a particularly large, white stallion said, bringing his right hoof down on the table in front of him with a clap that I could feel. “I would hear what he has to say. Besides, last I checked, he was trying to stop his kin, not help them.”
“Yeah… but-”
“No buts! Any information is better than nothing, and so far, this one has been nothing but helpful! Until he turns on us, I’m rather inclined to at least hear him out. It’s a far sight better than just hoping that something beneficial will fall in our saddlebags, so shut it!” The pony then turned back towards me and Celestia, inclining his head ever so slightly towards us in what looked like an apologetic manner. “I apologize for my subordinates’ bad manners. Please continue.”
I just stared, my mouth open as I tried to get my bearings straight. A quick look at Celestia was no help, either, since it looked like she decided to wear her best poker face through this whole exchange. What was worse, though, was that that little outburst had now made every single pony present completely and totally focused on me, and I honestly had no clue how to break the tension in the room now.
Well, best just to get it over with… I thought as I cleared my throat. “Well… that was a thing…” I said, awkwardly clapping my claws together once in front of me. “Anyway… I was going to tell you all about my powers, but in light of recent events, it would probably be best to limit that information to the top brass. Celestia, Luna, and probably her most trusted officers. As for you lot, it would probably be best if we started with something a little more basic.”
“What do you mean by basic?” Celestia asked, looking a little confused at this. She seemed to have understood what I meant by ‘recent events’, and had let it slide. No need in spreading how to kill me if it’s unclear who our allies and enemies were, after all.
I didn’t answer at first. Instead, I took a few steps back from the table, and motioned with my claws towards myself. “Tell me, from what you have seen of my kind, both the good and the bad, what can you tell me of how we think as a species?” I asked, completely forgetting that I wasn’t exactly human anymore.
All the soldiers looked confused at that. Many looked to each other, and at me, as if I were completely crazy. If I was to be honest, though, that assumption probably wasn’t that far off the mark. “Begging your pardon, sir, I know that the princess said that you were kin to the monsters, but how is it that you are all from the same species?” one of the dark, night-themed pegasi asked, his face screwing up in confusion. “I mean, Pyro Pete was some kind of frog, and those winged things in Ponyville looked nothing like either of you, too…”
I rolled my eyes at this, somewhat exasperated at my own stupidity. “Okay, even further back, then…” I muttered darkly. I then took a deep, deep breath, and continued. “This is not my natural form. Most, if not all, of the champions out there are probably like me. We were all probably plucked from our world, and given new forms by our… patrons, then tossed here to do their bidding in this competition between them. So far, everyone I’ve met has been from my old world, and until I meet one that says otherwise, I’m going to be working on that assumption.”
“Then how do we know we can trust you?” one of the day-themed stallions asked, thrusting out his lower jaw in what I could tell was a belligerent fashion. “If all of you monsters are merely puppets for your masters, then what makes you any different?”
Fortunately this was exactly what I wanted someone to say. Without skipping a beat, I raised both my hands, pointed at the stallion, gave him a cheeky little wink, and clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “Why do you think I’ll be telling your top brass what my strengths and weaknesses are?” I asked, causing the assembled ponies eyes to widen with understanding. “My patron told me very little, and gave me no real objective. In fact, she did that on purpose, and told me that it made me an ‘outside observer.’ That works for me, since it means I can pretty much do whatever I want. That being said, I trust her just about as far as I can throw her, and I wouldn't put it past her to put some kind of override in this new body of mine. You know, something that would let her take direct control whenever she wanted. So, in order to prevent that from ever becoming a problem, I want you guys to know how best to put me down should the situation arise, capiche?”
This immediately set off the whole room, as everyone either tried to ask me questions all at once, or turned to their neighbors, talking with each other to try and make sense of what I just said. The effect combined to make an almost deafening din, making it rather hard to think about what I wanted to say next.
A single hoof-stomp from the large stallion from earlier was all it took to quiet everyone down, though. “Yes, you with the obvious authority?” I said, pointing towards the stallion in question.
“Captain Star Blaze,” the stallion said, introducing himself somewhat curtly before getting back to the matter at hand. “Tell me, Why are you on our side? You’ve told us why you can be on our side, but what is your personal reason for helping us?”
I shrugged a little. I really didn’t want to get into the children from the museum, so I went with something a little more general. “This is your land, your people, your cities, and your world. You have jurisdiction here. As far as I’m concerned, I’m just a squatter, and I will defer to your authority on all matters…” I stopped there, though, realizing that I had almost walked into a trap there. “Unless you wanted me to do something terrible, like murder a village, or fight your wars for you. I’m only here for the other champions; anything outside of that, and I’m probably not going to help.”
Captain Blaze didn’t seem to take any issue with this, and just leaned back, as if satisfied with my answer. “So, back to your original question… what was it again?”
Apparently he had lost the thread of original conversation during the whole ‘explaining why we were even here’ thing. I hadn't, though, so I was able to get us back on track pretty easily. “From what you’ve seen, how do we think as a species?”
“You all seem to be crazy,” the captain said, drawing a bit of laughter from the entire room, myself included.
“That is an extremely apt assessment. Humans—that’s the name of my species—have often been called that by our own people, along with a few other things. It's also why we can be so dangerous, despite the fact that we’re a lot weaker than you physically,” I said, tapping the side of my nose with my claw.
All soldiers in the room looked at me strangely at that, seeming to have not quite caught that last part. “Hold up…” Captain Breeze said, rising to his hooves. “You’re… weaker than us?”
“If my guess is correct, and these beings have only used people that were originally humans as their champions, then we’ll already have a huge advantage: Humans don't have any special powers,” I said, finally reaching the point that I really wanted to cover. “Because of this, it may be entirely possible that we will forget that we now have special powers in the heat of the moment. Goodness knows, this has already happened to me a couple of times, and has nearly gotten me killed. Of course, I can’t really say this as a fact, since there are so many unknowns here, but yes, we are normally much weaker than you.”
“But hold up… why would that make you dangerous if you’re usually weaker than us?” one of the dark, night-themed ponies asked.
“Because, we’re the dominant species of our planet. As I said before, we don’t have any special powers, no magic whatsoever, our teeth aren’t particularly sharp, and we’ve got no claws at all. We’re not particularly fast, strong, and our senses are absolute crap compared to everything else on our planet,” I said, scratching the back of my head as I tried to sort out in my head what I was trying to say. “All we had was our intellect, and a somewhat higher than normal endurance. Yet, somehow, despite all of this, we managed to beat back the tigers, tame the wolves, and scare off the bears that cover our planet. We’ve killed things that outweigh us, that could tear us limb from limb without even breaking a sweat, and could eat us in one bite, and we’re just about the least imposing creature you could possibly find if you were to visit us. We’re the top dogs because we’re crafty, not powerful.”
“And now you have superpowers…” Celestia said, suddenly catching on.
“Now you’re getting it!” I said, looking at her with a huge grin on my face, all while every pony present began groaning in aggravation and fear.
“Why is it that I feel worse about our chances now that you’ve told us more about yourself?” Captain Blaze asked, clearly not liking what he had heard.
“Well, there was an ancient wise man in my world who had a saying: Know thy enemy as thyself,” I said, quickly paraphrasing Sun Tzu. “Even if what I’ve told you is absolutely horrifying and demoralizing, at least you now know a bit more about the enemy. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to start predicting us somewhat,” I said, the grin on my face growing even wider, probably making me look a little unhinged. “At least now you have a chance to win.”
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Ammon returns! Wonderful. I greatly enjoy this story. Congratulations on all those developments in your personal life, and I look forward to even more quality content.
love this story dude.
I fully need a reread to refresh, but I quite like where this is starting to go.
Good to see you back and happy. I'm glad that everything IRL is going well for you and that you've still got the urge to write, not just your flagship story, but the others too. You're really good at what you do.
Nice to see this continue this story again.
Update!!!!!!! Yay!! Now to reread.
Welcome back!
And a new chapter, which is quite nice. And useful too to get up to speed.
Refresh done.
So when's the next chapter?
9201042
True that. We all a bunch crazy mofos.
It's alive. Congrats on your son by the way. Screw moving. Moving sucks.
Wow! It's alive! Congrats on the family by the way.
Even though this story is most likely dead, I will still Track it. I loved the idea of the story and the way the Gods were introduced. I felt as if the main character was a Gary Stu but I didn't care that much because I loved everything else in this story.
Also, ironically, I was looking for the Top-Rated ChessVerse story and this was the very top.
10123929 The story isn't dead, I'm just working on other projects right now. As for the character being a gary stu, believe me, he isn't. Far from it, in fact. It isn't really shown this early though, since we have a lot more ground to cover in this thing, but believe me, he's not going to have an easy time with it, not everybody loves him, and he'll fail. A lot.
That's all for later, though, as we haven't quite reached that far yet.
10123937
Yeah, he actually got a proper formula to a non-Stu. Underdog, no background, impulsive, (mostly) mundane, passive powers. It's a charactee with chameleon and 100-point luck advantages, rest is his intellect. Oh, and his face doesn't infer immediate trust from everypony, but he doesn't cause open illogical hostility as well, which is common problem with Displaced authors.