Charity is its Own Reward...
"And so, the hero slew the great monster with his cunning, his sword skills, and the well timed use of high explosives!" Cimmerian said as he regaled the children with his story. "The beast flailed about the chamber, before falling into the lava that had nearly been the end of the hero several times. The magic powering the monster failed, and as the spell keeping the monster alive petered out, so too did the spell keeping the lava molten. It hardened around the creature, leaving nothing more than a black shell in the middle of the room. Grinning ear to ear at his total victory over such a great beast, he retrieved another crystal of fortitude and made his way back to the world above.
"It was there, just outside the dangerous caverns, that the leader of the Gorons met the hero. Darunia thanked him for his aide in providing his people food and even offered him the very item the hero had journeyed to the mountain to retrieve: The Spiritual Stone of Fire. Afterwards the hero followed his new friend's advice, traveling up the active volcano for the blessing of the powerful fairy who lived at the top."
"One more task lay before the hero now. Finding the Spiritual Stone of Water. It would not be easy, but he would not be deterred. He had journeyed too far. With two stones, the blessing of the Great Fairy, and his own limitless courage. The hero went to find the stones keepers. But that is for another time." The alicorn turned to the gathered crowd, a rather surprising mix of people from the temple all having stopped by to listen. 'Everyone likes a good story, no matter the world. And Link's adventure was always one of my favorites. Good to see the idea of a child hero turns just as many heads here.'
His declaration was met with a chorus of jeers, boos, and aww's from the children, and a few disgruntled comments from gathered adults. Cimmerian stood up, stretching his limbs to get feeling back in them after nearly two hours sitting on his rump. On the one h-oof he was surprised he was able to drag the story out that long from just the first two dungeons, but then again it was mostly a verbal story with a few images. Each fight was told, not shown, and still images could only do so much. He'd not yet mastered moving images and for this story likely wasn't going to use them. Dinner was the current destination of all the gathered. Hopefully, Slop and his assistant's weren't among those he'd suckered in with the story. He was kind of hungry.
The Alicorn blinked, stopping in his tracks as a stray thought hit him. "Oh, we're definitely doing pizza sometime soon. It's been way too long."
<-(0)->
Later that evening found the alicorn lost at sea, a sea of paperwork at least. The first overboard was the changeling queen, slamming her head onto the table in the center of the war room in frustration
"I'm done." She muttered in exhaustion. "If I try to keep going I'm liable to set this whole mess ablaze."
"Not that I don't appreciate another set of hooves, but why are you here?" Gleam asked her without looking up from her own stack.
"Because she likes hanging off of me, but she doesn't like sitting around when everyone around her is busy." Cimmerian said. The alicorn stretched his wings, ruffling them in irritation. "Okay, most of this I understand we need to keep track of, but what's this about a separate settlement for the changelings?"
Shadow Weaver looked over the request in front of the alicorn before shrugging. "Many of the griffons don't like them based on the invasion, many equines distrust them because of how little we know of them, and what we do know is mostly negative. It's really not that surprising, despite what we see here. Sometimes it's hard to let go of what we've been told our whole lives."
Cimmerian locked a fetlock over his muzzle, groaning. "The changeling hive is about half of our workforce at the moment. Not to mention close proximity to others is what keeps them alive. Who's this from anyway?"
"No name." Pandinus said looking over his shoulder. "Not surprising."
"Alright, new rule. Names on requests or they get pitched. I'm not dealing with a bunch of hussies hiding behind their anonymity while they sling insults and such around. If they don't want their names put on it, they don't believe in it. If their worried about being teased about something, they can make a general request that I visit their dream and they can tell me there. Completely confidential." Cimmerian turned to the others gathered at the table. "Passing glance at documents if they don't have a name. If it's requests like this one with no name, it goes in a pile. Yes Din, you can burn them."
Din giggled maliciously, clopping her hooves together in anticipation. The table soon returned to companionable silence for a few moments, before the queen once again spoke.
"Was that your people's creation story?"
The alicorn blinked owlishly at her, lost at the abrupt topic change before realizing what she was referring to. Before he could respond, Shadow Weaver cut in.
"What do you mean his people's creation story?"
It took a moment for the full weight of the unicorn's question to hit the alicorn. Shadow Weaver and Gleam, in fact most of the Temple's residents, still thought he was the same creature that possessed Luna a little over a millennia ago. Queen Pandinus had, quite innocently, just shed light on the fact that this was not true.
"No Din, that was just a story within a story. We have hundreds of creation stories, and despite what some may say none of them have more proof than others. Belief is usually a combination of personal beliefs along with how and where you were raised." After the final words left his mouth, his horn glowed, casting the room in a dark aura.
"Din, I want two guards outside the door for a while, tell them to run the messages through you until we're done here." Looking at the two unicorns he held himself high. "Ask your question, Shadow."
The Shadow looked to Gleam for a moment before glancing back to the two lager equines.
"W-what did she mean by your people's creation story?" He repeated. "I, I was under the impression that the Nightmare was, well, a demon of sorts or uh, something."
"There are actually two Nightmares that I'm aware of, Weaver." Cimmerian explained, his voice flat. "One was the creature that possessed Luna so many years ago, and the other currently resides in the Mad Queen. One I could dismiss as being an oddity or dimensional hiccup. Two? I start looking for their place of origin, because I'm certain there are even more out there. And to answer your follow up question, yes you freed the creature that was trapped in the armor, but no, it was not the Nightmare that possessed Luna all those years ago. That creature was never sealed. It fled to another world, my world. I don't think it caused as much trouble as it was hoping to, but I won't know unless I actually manage to return there one day."
At the confused expressions of the smaller two beings, he explained further. "The world it fled to is devoid of magic as far as I'm aware. Even if there was magic on Earth, the Nightmare would need to find an alternate way to gather and use magic, as no human on record has ever given actual instructions on the existence, much less the use, of magic. Those creatures I told you of not so long ago, the one's who'd fought their way to the top of the food chain with nothing more than their wits and persistence? That's what I was.
"Note that I said was. I am currently exactly what you see; an alicorn. I believe the Nightmare that swapped with me currently owns my body, while your ritual granted exactly what it was supposed to. It gave the one trapped in the Nightmare's armor the body of an alicorn."
Gleam looked shaken. "But, but if you're not the Nightmare, why would you-"
"Why would I act like I was? Why would I lead you all, protect you all, keep you all alive? Gleam, that first day I saw you, you were skin and bones. Hell, most of those living here were. Humans run the spectrum from the Celestia to Grogar and everything in between. In truth, you could just as easily have ended up with a creature that saw you all as food. Being the largest creature around and with how weak many of you were, there's a good chance that if the creature the Nightmare had swapped with was as bad as it was, you'd all be dead.
"Yes, I said evil, Shadow. That thing, that parasite that possessed Luna drove her to madness, drove her to attempt to destroy this world. I know this for a fact. Remember those first few weeks, when I was kind of out of it? Or when I acted strange after the gnoll attack? I was born like you, I had maybe a century to live at most, I'm still living with that mindset, and frankly, I'm terrified of what will happen when I live beyond that scope! Will my mind shatter, incapable of adjusting to an extended life-span? Will something go wrong with the wards and blocks I have that keep Luna's memories, that the Nightmare stuffed into my head, sealed away causing them to flood my mind like during the raid?"
The alicorn snorted. "Oh, and while we're talking about things that scare me, how about we talk about the fact that my birth family is now stuck on the same planet as the original Nightmare, who's had four decades to do whatever it can to destroy the planet. Or we can go straight to my favorite local topic, what happens if the Mad Queen finds us? What happens if she shows up on our doorstep? Even if I can defeat her at our current levels of strength, will I have to choose between peace on Equis, or a little girls life? A mare not much older than myself, who's spent the last few decades being tortured daily by the new nightmare? Oh, the decision's easy. The hard part is explaining it to any friends and family she still has, or explaining to Celestia why I had no choice but to kill her one time student."
Cimmerian closed his eyes, visibly calming himself down. "I owe those two a lot. Celestia stopped Luna from viewing me as the Nightmare returned, and Luna has helped me block her memories. Hell, Luna's teaching me how to use my alicorn magic. If you think I want anything but the best for those two, you're insane."
Gleam was the first to speak, though she didn't ask the dark alicorn a question. Instead, she turned to the queen. "You already knew this. Did it change what you thought of him?"
"All he had given me, and you feel the need to ask such a stupid question? It wasn't the Nightmare that gave me a home and a hive, it was Cimmerian." Pandinus stated, wrapping her forelegs around him from behind. "My hive stands behind me, and I stand behind him."
"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Gleam asked him. "From your reaction, you still don't trust us with this information, yet you trust us to work for the best interest of all those here. What's the difference?"
"The difference, Gleam, is that I'm more than just another creature in the Temple. At the moment, I'm a second incarnation of a creature that is feared nearly as much as Discord. Even then, the residents here are looking for stability. They found it here, under the wings of an alicorn, and I'm not going to take that away from them. I'm still learning about my abilities, and I'm certain I have enough raw power to level the town right now, but even the most powerful beings can't take care of everything. I keep you all safe, the town grows larger, I get to remain comfortable and talk to others. As it is, only the biggest threats are foisted off to me. We have enough griffons, gnolls and changelings to deal with the wildlife. The townies are safe, I suffer paperwork instead of mortal wounds, everyone wins. Yes, I'm getting by on the Nightmare's coattails at present, but think about it this way. The griffons don't like the changelings, but are convinced that if the changelings try anything, the Nightmare will destroy them. Many of the ponies here have seen me go after the gnolls, so there is no doubt in their minds that if the gnolls here try anything, it will only bring up a repeat of the raid. The fact that others may fear me enough to prevent such incidents is currently the biggest boon such a reputation grants me. When the time comes that I can let that go, I'll gladly do it. Until then, I'm going to use every tool available to me, even if they were handed out in a case of mistaken identity. To top it off, the Nightmare is known globally. Some griffons recognized me as the Nightmare by sight, automatically assuming I have the strength of the creature that possessed Luna as well as all of her spells."
"You mean to tell me you don't know any magic?" Shadow Weaver nearly shouted. The stallion was just barely avoiding shock. "B-but what about the blades of shadow, the telekinesis, the tracking spells! I've seen you use so many spells, now you're telling me you haven't even been taught a single spell until recently!"
"Most of them I patched together based on Luna's memories. The blades aren't even supposed to explode, it was because I messed up my patch. Personally I like the exploding blades, so even though Luna taught me the actual spell, I kept mine." Cimmerian explained. "I was stuck in that armor for nearly forty years, Shadow, I had a lot of time to sort through the memories, even if they were patchy as hell. Think of a shattered window pane with about half the parts blown outside, out of your reach. That was what I was working with. Enough pieces to get a picture, but not enough for much detail."
Weaver was silent, attempting to digest the news. The creature he'd freed wasn't the nightmare. In fact, it said that if he'd actually succeeded, he and everyone around him would be dead. Sensing his internal debate, the alicorn nodded to the door.
"Take your time to think on it. If you don't want to, or are incapable of continuing to help, let me know and I'll see you to Zarris myself. In the meantime, I ask that you keep this quiet. I'm not ready to share this information with the Temple yet. If you wish to speak further on the topic, send a message or talk to me, and I'll stop by your dreams. If both of you are interested, we can make it a full meeting. You'll be free to shout, scream, what have you."
The unicorns left the war room, both lost in thought. As soon as they were clear of the sound ward, the alicorn turned a glare at the changeling queen. A difficult task, considering her position.
"Relax, Cimmer. They're more confused than angry. I'm sure they'll stay," Pandinus offered.
"That's not really the point, Din. I trusted you with that information, and you shared it with people I didn't trust with it, even if it was on accident. The wrong accident at the wrong time can be dangerous. Not just to you and I either; if the Mad Queen benefits from it, the entire Temple could end up at risk." Cimmerian slumped, the worry eating at him even now. "I just don't know how I feel about this all getting out. It's great that ponies won't fear me, but on the other hoof, it's going to hit my reputation."
"Possibly, but it wasn't the Nightmare that repelled the gnoll raid. Even if it was with Luna's memories, it was your body that defeated them, and you could do it again. In fact, I believe you could do it without her memories now. As for the griffons' and the minotaurs' opinion of you? I assume many only have a name, possibly a species to attach to the wondrous gift that arrived through the Talons. With that one action, you did more damage to the Mad Queen's plans than any individual has before, all from the shadows, from the background." Pandinus chuckled as she pressed her head against his neck. "I'm certain my mother would approve of such an action. She loved doing things like that, making small moves here and there and watching them cascade over the world. Depending on how badly things go for the Mad Queen, we may be safe for quite some time, even if she does learn of us."
Despite the reassurances, Cimmerian set his head on the table. "What the fuck am I doing, Din. I'm leading town of aliens, helping in a war against a parasitic monster, I've got a way to communicate with creatures powerful enough to move the moon and sun, one day I could probably move the moon and the sun myself... I'm only a twenty-something human who was studying law! I should be worrying about my rent, or about finding a job, or what I'm going to buy for dinner! Not the survival of changelings and thestrals, or the downfall of a tyrant! I am so far out of my league it should be funny, but it isn't. It's terrifying, it's terrifying because it's not some movie I can laugh at; it's real. This is my reality right now!"
The dark alicorn rose, the changeling sliding off of his back. He began to pace the war room, shouting. "I'm boned! Do you have any clue just how bad this is? I can be a father, a dad, I've gotten over that, but a god? Even an immortal demigod is beyond me! They need me to be larger than life. They need me to be a leader, a ruler, a father, a teacher, a-"
His tirade was cut off by an ashen aura surrounding his muzzle, clamping his mouth shut.
"They need you to be you, Cimmer," the queen responded. "They need you to be there for them like you always try to be, they need you to watch their backs, to offer advice, to be their beacon of hope when their world has been ripped apart. You've given the griffons the means to start over, you've given the gnolls a chance at a better future than they could ever hope for, one that's more than just expanding the power of their den. You offer the thestrals a home free from the hatred the Mad Queen's inspired for their race.
"And I believe we've already discussed the changelings. As far as we know, this is it. This is the entirety of the free changelings on Equis; less than two hundred individuals from over a dozen different hives, three queens, and a proto queen, and we're here, safe, fed, and in some cases happy, because a certain alicorn opened his doors for us. You're not introducing yourself as Nightmare, not anymore at least, so stop panicking so much. It doesn't help anyone, least of all you."
The queen's eyes went blank for a moment, staring off into the distance before she returned, wrapping the rest of the stallion in her magic and dragging him through a changeling teleport ring. At his muffled query, she smiled at him.
"We're going to visit a few new friends. Mist is about to wake them up for their treatment."
The two passed through the ring of fire, arriving in the infirmary. The alicorn arched an eyebrow at the queen, and she managed to answer yet another unvoiced question.
"You didn't think linking with two queens would have no effect on me, did you?"
The two quickly picked out the new queens, both groggy and one currently being tended to by the changeling nurse, Soothing Mist.
"How are they doing, Mist?" Pandinus asked the nurse as she approached.
"Better than they were this morning." Mist answered, not looking back to her. "I was just about to give Zelus her third cleansing of the day, then kick out the visitors. Their hivemates and hatchlings can visit them tomorrow. They're in no condition to be going anywhere anytime soon. "
"Before you do, I'd like to ask her something." With that, Pandinus approached the recovering queen.
The difference between the two was almost painful for Cimmerian to look at. While Pandinus was just shy of his own height at the moment, Zelus was actually smaller, despite being older. The lack of proper food also was apparent, the older changelings both bearing the usual holes that he'd started associating with starvation and malnutrition. The chitin plates was another difference. The two older queens were covered head to hoof in thick plates that could likely deflect blades, while Pandinus only had a few small plates covering her vitals. Even those were much softer than the other queens' chitinous plates. Then there were the horns. Din's horn was nearly pristine compared to the chipped and scratched things adorning the older queens' heads. The biggest difference he could see, though, were the eyes. Queen Pandinus was nearly glowing with energy, while Zelus looked tired and Lestidae was staring off into the distance.
'Defeated would be a better word, I think. She's no longer in charge of her own path, taking orders from another queen. Probably one of the greatest insults in their culture, now that I think about it. Like a king being forced to serve under another king, or high king,' Cimmerian realized. 'Luna mentioned Din was pretty set on serving as the ruler here, then thought it would be a high-honor that I'd serve with her, despite the fact I was already in charge.'
Pandinus stroked the smaller queens mane with a hoof, drawing the attention of both queens. Zelus sighed at the contact in resignation. "Come gloat over victory?"
"No, just reminding myself where I was," Din said softly. "Besides, I don't want any animosity in my hive. As far as we know, this is it; the only hive on Equis that isn't under the Mad Queen's hoof."
Turning to the stallion, she spoke again. "When changelings start to cycle emotions, they set a timer for themselves. A pair of drones that doesn't exert themselves too much and that start full of happiness can last almost a year this way, but at the end of that time, the death that follows is agonizing, both in how slow it is, and in actual pain. The only times drones in this state returned to my mothers hive was if they had vital intelligence to deliver, after which they often asked for a merciful end. We just didn't have the food available to throw away on the cleansing process, and if they tried to feed on ponies in that state, they would start hacking up the gunk you saw earlier in the middle of a pony town. Kind of a dead give away that the infiltrator isn't a pony."
Returning her attention to the smaller queen, Din made her request. "Zelus, once you are recovered, you're going to be teaching Cimmerian combat tactics, both personal and battlefield. Also, once you two are able to stomach it, you both will force a molt." The healthy queen smirked mischievously. "I won't have a bunch of ragged changelings in my hive. I want to see you two in shining chitin by the end of the week."
The two queens gaped at her, Lestidae nearly jumping out of her bed at the mention of such a tactic. Zelus managed to sputter out a response first.
"F-force molt? You want waste love? Is mad!"
"I've done it myself, several of the hatchlings have done it, all of my drones did it was well after they were overloaded by Cimmerian when he was suffering the backswing of his blood rage. You saw the fountain, didn't you? That's not all the love we have, that's something Cimmerian suggested as a symbol. It's a symbol to changelings that love here is given freely, that it flows like water. I hope one day it will be even more plentiful, all emotions free for us to feed on as we please. As it stands?" Din smiled softly, once more running a hoof through Zelus' mane. "We have enough to take care of ourselves. Once you heal, make whatever changes to your body you feel would benefit you the most."
To Cimmerian's surprise, Queen Pandinus didn't limit herself to checking up on the other queens. Even as they were passing through to the door, the mare stopped at several other beds, inquiring about the state of the patients and speaking to them. He could see the shock on the other queens, the two staring after her with jaws agape. To him, though? It was exactly what he wanted from her, and judging by the fact that she kept bumping up against him, or looking back at him, she knew it.
<-(0)->
Two days passing found two beings sitting side by side at the top of a patched tower on the Temple of the Shadows. An alicorn and a changeling queen, both enjoying the sight of the setting sun. Neither said a word. The queen was busy mentally sorting through requests and reports being thrown at her every moment by her hive, while the alicorn was still allowing the last bits of his panic attack to be burned away by his own logic. He'd calmed down considerably since the initial panic attack in the war room. Perhaps it was just another part of his growth? Panicking in and of itself wasn't bad, it meant one felt things were important.
'Something I'm going to have to get used to, I suppose. I'll ask Celestia if she has any advice on running a country. They say she ruled one for over a millennia, she has to have something for me.'
Zelus and Lestidae were both just starting to be capable of touching love, though it would be a waste if they were to try and use it to help purge themselves. Thus they were still limited to simpler emotions, like contentment and happiness. Cadance spent a surprising amount of time watching them, the proto-queen Amare clutched in her forelegs. He assumed it was because the pink alicorn was mentally likening their recovery to her own.
"Hey Din, did you ever mention the fact that the pony that's been staring at the queen's the last few days is in the link as well?"
The queen blinked in confusion before bursting into laughter. "No, no I didn't. Oh stars, I could tell them now and listen to them, but I think we both want to be there to see the look on their faces."
The two were interrupted by the sight of a trio of griffons approaching from the north. The group was intercepted by a group of changelings led by a thestral, the two races having the best night vision. Both groups met, words were exchanged, and the group of griffons made their way to the alicorn and Queen.
"They've come with a message for you. Herrick wants to meet up, something about meeting with a thestral," Pandinus explained.
Cimmerian nodded, ruffling his wings and stretching a bit as the griffons prepared to land. They did so in nearly perfect synchronization, beat out only by the changelings who landed behind and to either side of him. The thestral took position to his left, looking extremely hopeful.
The middle griffon spoke, confidence in his voice "Lord Theodore Cimmerian Fredson of the Temple of the Shadows, I'm Sergeant Jaecar. Herrick Talon sends his regards. He also sends along the news that the minotaurs have tested the array, found it was everything they'd hoped for, and send their thanks. They've already sent a few probing attacks into the Equestrian lines and returned to their city completely ignored by the Mad Queen's swarms. The high Chief, Chief Baine, requested the name of their benefactor, but understands these are dangerous times. He requests that you stop by for a proper show of gratitude when it is possible.
"General Herrick also sends word that the Thestral leadership has been given the message and that they are sending an emissary, who will attempt to arrive at the Zarris branch of the Talon Mercenaries in three days time. General Herrick hopes that you will arrive in a timely manner to meet with the emissary, as well as escort him to the Temple here. The General said they sounded quite desperate to get some distance between themselves and the Mad Queen. He's certain that while many will refuse to abandon their homeland to the whims of the tyrant, there will be plenty looking for a chance to live without her shadow hanging over them."
"I will do my best to be there on time." Cimmerian said with a smile. "I'm also glad to hear the minotaurs no longer fear being swept away as the griffon nation was. Your people's homeland will be back in griffon talons before too long, I'm certain. The creature on the throne needs to be stopped soon, no one can truly live with her shadow hanging over us. How go your raids?"
A wave of chuckles passed through the griffons, earning a half-hearted glare from the leader. "They go well. The ponies have started paying more attention now that they know the changeling screens aren't working against some of their enemies, but even the few losses we've taken have mostly been accidents. At least, that's what I've heard. At no point were any griffons left behind, so we've left no evidence of our use of the Equestrian Military's array. You have our thanks for the help you've provided. Berne is also still alive, though he's mostly stuck doing training or paperwork."
At the mention of paperwork, several of the gathered shuddered, including Pandinus.
"It's getting late. The Talon's are more than welcome to use the Temple grounds for the night, or head to New Talon to the west." The alicorn offered. "I'm certain Lady Thrisha has room if you ask."
"No, thank you. We'll be heading-" as he was speaking, the sun made its final descent, picking up speed and dropping below the horizon. The moon soon rose in its place, casting the jungle in a pale light.
"Damn, I thought we had more time then that." the griffon muttered, staring at the moon. He turned back to the alicorn. "I suppose we will take you up on your offer, Lord. I'd rather not fly back in the middle of the night."
Pandinus nodded, a few of the changelings already taking off. "The drones will lead you to a good spot. The wards keep the wildlife away, and we have patrols, so you may take your rest without worry."
The group left after a few more words of gratitude. Watching them follow the drones, Din spoke to him.
"It seems you'll be getting your population increase sooner than I anticipated. Hopefully having more ponies around will ease the drain on you."
The stallion nodded, yawning widely as he turned hop down from the tower's roof. "Thanks for holding off for a day, I do feel less lethargic. Will probably be back to full capacity by tomorrow. That's after nearly a month of feeding, too. If I can recover from a month of feeding in a day, I'd say we're doing well. You do know, however, that this means you're going to have to set up schedules for the changelings to follow so they're not draining all the locals every day, don't you?"
Din shrugged, as she landed softly beside him on the Temple's roof. "A small price to pay for the continued comfort of our hosts. Happy ponies produce stronger emotions. The overall yield is still higher than any hive before us has ever managed."
The stallion shook his head. "Whatever you say, Din. I'm headed to bed. Say hi to Cadance for me."
The two went their separate ways, Cimmerian to his room and Pandinus to her chamber. It wouldn't do for her to subconsciously snack on him when they slept. It would ruin his recovery time, and she wanted him at his best when he met with the thestral's emissary. More residents meant more emotions, more emotions meant capacity for a larger hive, and a larger capacity for changelings meant more hatchlings. As she relaxed in her own bed, the queen brought a hoof to her midsection, a frown on her face. It had been a long time since the eggs were fertilized and she'd still not felt the need to lay them. All she'd noticed was an odd weight from her middle as well as an almost unnoticeable bulge under the chitin. She'd have to get Mirage and Mist to take a look at her later, she was beginning to worry about her eggs.
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6456527 Yes, it's in the rules, but rules are made to be broken. Also, enjoy.
6456547
Cliffhanger with those changi-corns!
Whenever I read this story, I smile.
Another excellent chapter, Reykan.
I can't wait to meet Baine. He must be a big guy.
Did they put in Anomalarcis? The twelve foot long ocean scorpion with the industrial sized lightbulb for a barb? Or the Postuchsous, a pre dinosaur T-Rex that is closer to a Krayt Dragon from Star Wars than anything currently living? Biology and evolution used to not give a fuck about limitations, so of course things grew big and over built.
At the beginning, I thought he was describing Terminator 2, at first. I haven't played a Zelda game since Link to the Past.
End of the chapter makes me wonder, how horrifying would live birth be to a race of egg layers? Probably as bad as the chestburster scene in Alien.
oh lord, she is just pregers.
THAT wont take well.
Huh... Alicorn foal?
I like, I like...
6456547 I need more chapters more I tell you. I will make offering to old gods if it will get me more chapters.
Well now, isn't that interesting? Looks like the result of alicorn/changeling couplings might not follow the normal changeling rules.
I'm wondering how loudly Pandinus is going to yell about the unnaturality of this and whether or not Ted will faint when he hears about it.
Good chapter overall, as usual.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more,
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
shes pregnent the normal way. haha
6456600
Chapter 51
So, if anything, one male child, and a few female.
6456622 This should be interesting. If we say triplets, and go one colt, two fillies that would bring the alicorn count up from five, (Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, Cimmerian) to eight. Unless Reykan cheaps out on us and gives us regular ponies or normal changelings.
Which, of course, he won't do, will he 6426124 ??
Also,
6434833 I tried to follow this discussion back to the start to see what you two were talking about, but I couldn't. the layers added on each side of the message each time a linked message was opened eventually met in the middle >.<
ooh interesting! The ripples spread further and further!
Yes! More fluffy eared thestrals inbound! (I hope?).
<(
)
I haven't played ARK in a while, I'm still trying to figure out the best graphic settings to make the game less leggy. Heh, having a dodo army is fun though.
She's not laying an egg, is she?
No. She's developed beyond that point, when Cim's involved.
Dude.... I googled "ark vampire squid" and found the wiki for the game. (ARK: Survival Evolved as a Steam Early Access game for PC... if anyone is curious). A survival game where you can tame giant dinosaur-like creatures? No wonder you've been distracted...
6456610 let me know if you see any results with that... Personally, I prefer cookie bribery, much less tainting of the soul and a significantly lower chance of death.
Also, I love the fact that you post a new chapter for the first time in over a week and the story is immediately back on the front page. Congrats Reykan!
6456751
It might be a toomah
comma would fit better?
stone's?
they're
linking?
Talons
than
CALLING IT: Pandinus is preganant.
Oh Din, you're not going to lay eggs now.
No...
Ah Din, you're going to give birth to... humans!
No you didn't! You said 'bad'! Bad is not nearly as bad as evil!
[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aQM8yWoiy5s]
This may just be epic! I'm amazed you still were able to see the sun!
Uh oh, do i detect Humanlings in the future?
6456698 Is she... GIVING BIRTH???
Truly, soon we will see the ultimate being...
Hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Please no.
Please don't do this.
Dinosaurs were terrestrial reptiles. If it flies, or is aquatic, it's not a dinosaur.
Nice chapter though. The bureaucratic horrors of ruling set in, ahahahah.
6456795
I'm torn between amusement and horror. I hope you're happy.
inb4 changeling satyrs hahahahahaha
...Is Pandinus actually pregnant?
Priceless.
6456751 Nah. She is probably having a live birth rather than eggs.
I WAS curious what was going on with those foal egg things
But if she's already bulging then I doubt it a live birth... 
...
Alicorns are hatched from eggs now confirmed!
6456610 Praise the sun harder!
Great work, keep it up.
6456853 Impossible.
It's probably eggs anyway, but it could possibly be another Proto-Queen
6456767 ...Choppa
6456709
i don't know about that. i know some health nuts that can make a very strong argument for old god sacrifices being less damning then cookies.
) or cookies?
hey Reykan what would you get you to write more chapters, ritual "goat" sacrifices made to the old gods (or you
OMG SHES HAVING A BABY!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!!!! bonus cookies (or "goats") if you can name that referance
What's this? Is Pandinus going to be the first changeling queen to give live birth instead of eggs? Well considering she wanted her donor from the the strongest thing around, being a mere egg is hardly fitting for offspring born from such stock.
*Edit
Wait, if this is the case... she's getting triplets? Quad? OCT?!?!
Cimmerian, father of the new changeling race
6456866 SSSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! We mustn't tell anyone we know!
6456705 They had Smaug for taming here a couple of weeks ago
Thestral emissary, huh?
BULL! Just the new Nightmare's gopher getting close to "him", so she can find and crush the wrinkle in her plans
Waiting for more!
I've been wanting to try that Ark but I have to be careful with games, IF I can't pull the camera back far enough for enough view I get hit with claustrophobia. Nausea, dizziness (To an extent), irritability and maybe a bit more depending on how long and how much I had to deal with.
Best to sleep it all of
So I'm guessing at least 3 foals... Does anyone want to bet that one's going to be an Earth Pony, one's going to be a pegasus, and one's going to be a unicorn... maybe with a fourth thrown in that would be an alicorn... nah then they'd play favorites.
Going with live birth.
6457174
yes! 9ish months of mood swings for ted! yay!
6456593
Ha ha ha thwre was a fic like this about rainbow dash and applejack where they each freak out about the differences of each other. "Eggs come out of there?" "You give birth live, like a dog?" And eating fish and shellfish for pegasi. So basically they are more different then they realized. It was an amusing idea.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/10/21/747602__safe_oc_meme_queen+chrysalis_oc-colon-fluffle+puff_pregnancy+test_pregnancy+announcement_artist-colon-d0nm.jpeg
Corrections offered without malice.
Its.
aid
stone's
He hoped Slop and his assistants weren't among those he'd suckered in with the story.
ones
girl's
a town
queen's
sight
millennium
queens
Talons
thestrals'. There's also a capitalized Thestral somewhere in there, unlike the rest.
I still think Ocarina is overrated, but I suppose the relative lack of social aspects to the earlier games would make them harder sells to ponies.
Typos in chapter titles? Pls no
6457302
We still have NO idea how pregnancy would affect a Changeling.
6457499 The only thing wrong with this chapter!
… Otherwise, everything's perfect. But the "it's"!
6457467 Also:
they're
you and me, either
(comma recommended but not sure that it's required)
I believe this should be either
Two days' passing found two beings sitting side by side
or
Two days passing found two beings sitting side by side
Arc's waters are to be avoided at all costs to me, water freaks me th f out. And is Pan non egg laying pregnant?
6457522 To be fair, I'm pretty sure mood swings are in the cards given the unusual nature of the issue. Heh, the "issue", get it? Or is that too old-fashioned to be an effective pun?
6457585
'Tain't too old-fashioned, forsooth.