Your Bed is Warmer
It had been about four days since they'd left, and the alicorn found himself staring across his cabin from his bed. His guards were in rooms on either side, two griffons in one, two thestrals in another...
"But I'm cold!" Zelus whined, an enchanted blanket draped over her back. It was supposed to help her deal with the dropping temperatures as they headed farther north, but according to her it wasn't nearly enough.
"I said your not sleeping in my bed." Cimmerian told her, glaring at the pouting queen.
Looking around, Zelus ignited her horn, being consumed in a flash of changeling fire. The blanket fell, draping over her now much smaller form. The queen, now about the size of a young pony, popped her head out of her blanket, wrapping the warming cloth over her like a bag.
"What if I sleep like this?" She asked, her voice squeaking as if to match her much more childish size. "Come oooon, please? It's getting cold, and its going to get even colder before we get there!"
The weather wasn't having that much of an effect on him, actually. Be it the inherent power of an alicorn, or the pegasus magic flowing through him, the stallion found himself not even flinching during the cool days and cold nights. He was actually wondering if even a full blown blizzard would force him into actually wearing something, but he couldn't remember Tia or Luna ever needing an extra layer.
Changelings didn't have that protection though. Zelus explained it to him, saying most colonies are far enough underground that they're not effected by the weather. Either that or changelings, in emergencies, are capable of burning energy to survive the lower temperatures. For the most part though, they'd hibernate, most of the hive going dormant for the colder months and sealing the hive off from the surface to prevent discovery or raids from other hives. Others tried to keep to warmer climates, allowing them to be active during all parts of the year. Certainly it was noticeably colder at the Temple nowadays, but it was nowhere near cold enough to drive the changelings into hibernation.
The alicorn stared at the bundled mare, her large eyes watering with unshed tears as she attempted to break him. With a sigh he looked away, raising his wing in an admittance of defeat. Zelus squealed, her eyes instantly drying and causing the stallion to roll his own. Watching her jump up on the bed beside him and press as deeply into his side as she could, he lowered the wing, almost completely covering the mare. He pulled her in tight, actually feeling the icy cold chitin encasing her form as she attempted to get as close as possible to the warmth he was radiating.
'Maybe I was being a bit too hard on her about that. She was actually pretty cold.' Cimmerian realized. Slowly, he allowed himself to doze, drifting off into the dream realm. There wasn't much to do during the daylight hours but some aerial combat training or blade training with his other guards, so he'd taken to sleeping most of the time away. Luna would meet with him, and the two of them would go over more magic theory and world history to pass the time. Not this night though.
Floating about in the dream realm, he focused, pinpointing his target and dragging along the irritating queen. He'd awoken twice so far with her trying to snuggle him, so he had begun dragging her with him into the dream realm to keep an eye on her.
'Can't believe I have to babysit my bodyguard. What the hell, Din?'
Eventually he found his target, landing lightly in a well-tended field. Zelus looked around from her position beside him, taking in the sights and even snatching a single apple from a nearby tree.
"Put it down, ya var- oh! Mr Cinnamon, sir! Ah take it this is a dream?" Applebloom asked him, looking about curiously.
The stallion frowned at the butchering of his name, but continued regardless "It is. I'm going to be nearby, and Zelus and I will be in the Everfree before too long. I have some memories of the forest, but with how often it changes, any information you can offer would be helpful."
"Truth be told, mister, most o' the bigger critters are gonna be sleepin' or gettin' ready to sleep for the winter. First snow should be fallin' any day now, an' the Ursas and the manticores are usually in their dens by then. All ya gots to watch fer is the Timberwolves, an they shouldn' be too much trouble for ya." The farmer looked at the changeling beside him, frowning. "Scoots told me ya were with a changeling, but whoo-ee! She's a biggun! Reckon she's about half again the size of that one we saw at the weddin' way back when."
Cimmerian chuckled, opening his mouth to correct the mare when Zelus giggled, siddling up to him with a fanged grin.
"I can't help it, he's just so cute when he gets all worked up!" the queen explained with a fanged grin. "Not to mention, sometimes when he peaks his eyes cross."
The alicorn sputtered, face going a deep purple. "Wha-bu-How the hell would you know that?!? Din's my mate, not you!"
The farmer looked confused, but the shape shifter turned to the alicorn, still giggling. "Silly, we're sisters now. Changeling sisters share everything." Zelus leaned closer, nearing his right ear. "Including memories."
Cimmerian narrowed his eyes at the larger mare as she drew away, the changeling nearly prancing from the fun she was having.
"If you've been through her memories, you know my opinions on the subject."
Zelus nodded, "I have, which is why I'm still looking for a different mate. Depending on how Din's pregnancy goes though, how her second turns out, and the state of the other queens, we may be able to work out some sort of schedule. Every other night or something? Although, I've heard some herds involve all members on a nightly basis."
Even as the alicorn attempted to sputter out denials and objections, the apple farmer looked to him with a bemused expression.
"Ya got some queer friends, mister Cinnamon."
"It's Cimmerian," he corrected, rubbing his muzzle with a fetlock. "and it's likely because no one else will put up with them."
<-(0)->
"Your Highness!"
The purple alicorn jumped, spilling ink and sending papers scattering throughout the room. Looking around her at the mess, she schooled her expression before turning to the soldier.
"This had better be worth two hours of research, Wrench."
The guard looked over to the mess with an expression of fear before stuttering out his explanation.
"A-apologies Your Highness but I was just going over some anomalies we've been experiencing with our mapping spells. We were looking over all the areas that are near the locations of wrecked Equestrian ships, and I was correlating it with other occurrences and I may have found something."
The alicorn was on him in a literal flash, having teleported from her desk. "Explain."
"W-well, we were looking over the jungle's near one of the wrecks, and one of the technicians noticed the leaves weren't changing, so he tried rescanning the area..."
"The one that was near the Kharazi jungle, right?" the mare asked with a scowl. "Fool, the climate there is temperate enough that the leaves don't change."
Wrench nodded in agreement, "That's what we told him, but his focused scans brought up another issue. Our scryers are having a difficult time scanning the area, as if there's some type of shroud over it, some magic that's dispersing any spells that try to enter the area."
At his queen's silence, he continued "I also went back and noted any odd occurrences in the area for the last few weeks, and noticed the arrays lost track of a pair of wild nymphs in the area. Ma'am, it's completely possible that our assumptions that those nymphs are dead was incorrect, especially if this magic layer can interrupt the tracking arrays."
The mare was silent for a while. She turned from the soldier, grasped a scroll and a quill with ink in her magic, and noted a set of coordinates she'd saved. She then walked up to the guard and dragged him with her in a blink of purple magic.
Almost as soon as she arrived in the war room she was moving to the map. "Where was the aura?" She asked quietly, levitating the coordinates near her. The soldier lit his own horn, highlighting a large portion of the jungles on the far side of the planet. The queen looked at the area, noting the dot that marked the disappearance of the pair of drones as well.
slowly, she looked over the map, noting the coordinates she carried with her and marking the location as well; the dot appeared well within the shroud that had appeared over the jungles. She swore silently, only now remembering how over the last few days she was tracking the other alicorn's link it was becoming increasingly difficult, as if the other mare had entered a fog. Seeing the marker for the Equestrian naval ship near a second marker on the map, she pointed to the shore.
"What's that, where were they headed?"
"The ship was headed to an abandoned port. They reported capturing a fleeing griffon ship that had dropped off several criminals at the abandoned port. The shipmaster's report said the griffon told them it was an black alicorn with slit eyes, but considering the confession was likely under duress, we assume it's a thestral, albeit a large one."
"This port, why was it shut down?"
"I checked up on that. It seems there was a temple nearby built in the honor of Nightmare Moon. The cultists foalnapped several townsponies, likely for sacrifice, and the fear drove most away from the town. One gold mine and a few exotic ingredients in an area swarming with cultists and predators isn't worth the military resources they'd have to pour into the venture, so it was shut down."
The queen was silent for a moment, a hoof under her chin.
"This thestral, this supposed alicorn, do you have a description?"
The guard looked at her for a moment, slightly confused by her interest in the ramblings of a mad griffon before he levitated the report to her.
'Almost black fur, dark blue mane, slit eyes, feathery wings.' She read, her frown deepening. 'Are you still alive somehow? Are you the source of my troubles? No, Nightmare Moon was a mare, she was the Nightmare that had possessed Luna, Celestia said it was a he that was moving against me. Then tha-'
The mare's eyes widened as she read the next line in the report.
Griffon claims unidentified alicorn/thestral was male, possessing a voice too deep to be feminine.
'There's no way... the Nightmare was destroyed by the Elements of Harmony.'
There was a commotion by the entryway, the being thrown open by two more guards, Both entered at the same time, saluted at the same time, and unfortunately for her, started reporting at the same time.
"Quiet!" she yelled, pointing at the one on the left. "You give your report first!"
The soldier saluted again before speaking. "Your Highness, we have reports of a minotaur force striking Camp Star, the nearest camp to the Equestrian/Minos border. The reports were garbled, but they struck quickly and even managed to cut off the report mid-transmission. We have no idea what kind of numbers we're dealing with, nor do we know how they managed to get past the changeling screens. There were over four thousand drones in that area."
The second soldier winced at the report before giving her own "Your Highness Twin Pines, a settlement to the west was sacked by griffon raiders. As far as we know, they burned the town to the ground. Survivors are reporting most not wearing any particular armor, though a few looked like they had the emblems scratched off or removed. Last report before I came to tell you said the griffons were moving into the woods in a scattered formation, making it impossible to pinpoint where they are regrouping, or even where their next target may be. Nearby towns are calling for additional guards in the event their towns are targeted next."
The Mad Queen stared at them for several seconds, her fury boiling over. She finally had a location and species for her tormentor, finally had something to work with and the minotaurs decided they'd strike now? And the griffons, didn't they know when they were beaten? Their country was hers now, they had nothing. Why were they still fighting?
With a scream of rage she launched all three soldiers from the room, turning back to the map and highlighting the area that was being obscured with her own magic. She focused, noting all the curves the aura followed, attempting to pinpoint the exact epicenter of the aura so she could teleport there and remove the threat. She grinned manically, flaring her magic when a soft laugh from the back of her mind interrupted her.
'Yes, teleport to the other end of the planet. In our current state, you'd be lucky if you didn't fall short, ending up embedded in solid rock or in the planets core,' the mare said with a giggle. 'Even better, he's been collecting followers. Do you think you can take him on while suffering that recoil and hold off his followers?'
The mare ground her teeth in sweltering fury, having nothing to vent on. She'd always been able to reach the target of her anger, always had something to vent on. It was not so this time. She'd need to deal with this as a ruler would. She'd need actual ponies to fight his followers, possibly even him if he was as powerful as an alicorn normally is. In impotent rage, the alicorn launched the table out the window, screaming obscenities and shattering pictures and pottery alike.
All the while, the voice in her head taunted her, just as she had done to it years ago.
'It's only a matter of time, dear friend. He leads them against us, and soon he will come for us. This Nightmare will soon be over; one way or another.'
<-(0)->
"...mostly hangs around Froggy Bottom Bog but it's been known to wander into the Everfree from time to time. If ya can confuse its heads it's not much of a threat though, specially if ya can get them arguin' over which head eats ya." Applebloom explained, the trio taking a walk through a dream-version of Ponyville for the stallions benefit.
"I'll keep that in mind, though I doubt the Hydra's going to be hanging around since it's getting colder," the stallion said. He turned to look for the queen, spotting her flitting around the stalls and inspecting the different wares as the farmer remembered them.
Applebloom poked his foreleg, drawing his attention, "If'n ya don't mind me askin, why do ya let her talk like that to ya? T'ain't proper for a mare to be talkin' dirty to another mare's stallion, even if she wants to join them."
"The biggest reason is because she doesn't know better." The alicorn told her softly. "She may be older than you, but she hasn't exactly had time to, mature socially. Thrisha taught Pandinus a lot about proper etiquette and understanding how the way we act impacts the opinions of others, but for the most part queens don't really think about it. They only ever need to deal with drones, though sometimes they'll talk to other queens through envoys or letters. It's just not something they're taught as they grow up. However, now that I know they're sharing that kind of thing, I'll have Din teach Zel some manners. At the very least it should help keep her from causing an international incident. Right now though she's a bit high on her newfound freedom. I don't know if anything anyone tells her would stick."
The yellow mare chuckled at that, "Ah think ah understand; it's a lack of experience kinda thing. Sweetie told me her sister had ta help Twi understand some things about heats and relationships when she got ta Ponyville. Mare knew exactly what was goin' on with her body, but had no experience goin' out with her friends during such a time and the silliness that can happen. Dash thought it was hilarious, though. Do the queens go inta heat?"
Cimmerian blanched at the prospect, "God, if that wasn't their version of it, I hope not. Din was clingy as a limpet when she changed to a queen, something about needing a mate for her clutch. I think that for queens it's a bit different then it is for mares like yourself. Pandinus isn't sneaking into my room every night anymore, not that she needs to, and Zelus and Lestidae never really looked at me like that. This is the first I've heard of Zelus looking at me, actually. It's kind of odd. I would have thought Din would forbid her from that, that I wouldn't have to worry about it."
"But Cimmy," Zelus whined, wrapping her forelegs around his neck from behind and nuzzling his cheek. "Din and I are talking the future of the changeling race here. You wouldn't leave us hanging, would you?"
"I thought you were going to be looking for your mate while exploring. Wasn't that your tertiary objective? After guarding me and seeing the world?" the stallion grumbled.
"Of course it is. If Din's second clutch is the same as this one, we'll need a different source of eggs, that different source being me and a different mate. If her second clutch proceeds at normal speeds though..." Zelus trailed off, snuggling into his neck. Leaning closer, she whispered into his ear. "If it makes you feel better, Din said I can take her form. Some of the ponies were doing similar things, allowing a changeling into their herds for such things; apparently its a common fantasy among both stallions and mares. You didn't think you were the only source of all that love, did you?"
Even as he sputtered denials, the queen grinned at the pony. "He says no, but I can taste his emotions. I think that deep down inside he likes the idea of twins waiting for him."
"How, Din said she can't taste my emotions through dreams! Why is this different?" he demanded, turning an exquisite shade of purple.
"While Din couldn't taste you when you from the dream realm while you were in another room, I can taste you just fine." The queen told him. "After all, if I were any closer, I'd be physically bound to you."
"What's she mean bah that?" Applebloom asked with a frown.
Not even looking at the queen he grit his teeth. "She doesn't function well in the cold, and has been, well..she's-"
"He's keeping me warm right now." Zelus said with a smile.
The mare looked at his strained expression, covering her muzzle with both hooves to suppress her laughter. Closing his eyes, the alicorn took a deep breath, his shoulders slumping. "Let's go Zel. We have one more stop tonight."
"You could leave me behind, you know" the queen said, snuggling even closer to him and apparently reveling in his discomfort. "Pandinus was right, you taste funny when you get all uncomfortable."
"I am not leaving an amorous queen in the same room as my unresponsive form while I go dream-walking" he told her. "We're going to see someone I should have talked to a while ago, actually. I was just a bit pissed at her and so was Luna, so I thought it best to cool off before I visit her again. Enjoy your night, miss Bloom. If you notice you have dreams over the next few days, don't be afraid to try calling out to Luna or myself. I'm kind of curious how far my aura reaches at the moment, and who it impacts."
The alicorn and changeling faded from the dream, Zelus' grip becoming ethereal but no less tight. The alicorn pulsed his target, pouring his magic into her and allowing her to form a dream once more. Flowing towards the newly formed orb and being certain he didn't lose his hitchhiker the stallion stepped into the dream.
"Hello Tia," Cimmerian greeted tersely. His mood dropped soon after he spotted her though, the alicorn curled up in a ball and whimpering apologies.
"I'm sorry I told her, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to I just wanted to be certain. I'm sorry, please don't leave me here again. I'll do whatever you want. Please don't leave me here again! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Even Zelus flinched from the mare, the misery being obvious even without tasting it. Approaching her, Cimmerian poked at her a few times, attempting to catch her attention.
"Tia? Aunt Tia, come on, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."
"...I'm sorry, I know your mad, I didn't mean to give you away. I, I-"
The alicorn swept her into a hug, shushing her and holding her close. "I was a little upset, but I didn't stay away to punish you. I stayed away so I didn't say anything I'd regret. It also kept Luna from saying something she'd regret."
The explanation did little to comfort the mare, her tears falling freely no matter what he said. A second presence soon called his attention to Luna as she joined him, her irritated scowl soon giving way to concern. The lunar alicorn swept her sister away from the stallion, leaving Cimmerian to watch from a distance as the two spoke in hushed whispers, Luna continuously attempting to comfort her sister. Eventually Luna had calmed the other mare down a bit, calling the stallion and changeling over with a wave of her wing, though she motioned for silence as they approached. The four spent the next few hours in silence, Cimmerian and Luna pressing into either side of the white mare while Zelus fidgeted awkwardly, finally settling on curling up on the other side of the larger alicorn.
It was Luna who spoke first, breaking the silent companionship. "We won't abandon you Tia, you should know this by now. We will return in a few days. I'm sorry this caused you so much grief."
The dark stallion nodded in agreement "You know I'm trying to help you two in any way I can. Relax, Celestia. No one will leave you trapped here forever."
The three bid the mare goodbye with hundreds of promises to return shortly before leaving the dream, the stallion quickly dragging Luna back to his own dream along with Zelus. As soon as they'd landed on the beach he was before the smaller mare.
"What was that? I thought you two were fine!"
"Fine? We're stuck in cells that continuously drain us of our power and prevent us from stopping the coming apocalypse! We are far from fine!"
"No I, that's not what I meant, I mean why is your sister suddenly so, so fragile!"
Luna made to retort viciously, but bit her tongue. "Tia did spend over a millennia waiting for me to return from my exile, but for as long as either of us can remember she has been surrounded by ponies. She's trying to be strong, but this most recent event, this perceived punishment for giving the Nightmare information on you, I think it scared her. It drew attention to the fact of just how dependent she is on you for any contact.
"Tia's a planner, Theodore. She makes plans so deep, so complex, and so far reaching it would put the best chess masters to shame. But she did not see this coming. She did not foresee it, and it caused those around her immeasurable pain. Worse still is the fact that even as Chrysalis held her captive, even as Tirek locked us in Tartarus, Tia was never alone. She is immortal, and never before has she been so alone. It's not something she knows how to handle, and it has left her desperate for contact. I believe that is why she reached out to Twilight."
"Your sister is falling into loneliness-based depression." Cimmerian stated, raising an eyebrow.
"Do not make light of this!" she snapped. "Tia has never had to deal with this, and she's older than this country. I fell to depression, but spent many years fighting the loneliness. I have methods to combat it, and even without them I can speak to your citizens to pass the time. Tia doesn't have that!"
"I'm sorry, Luna. It's just difficult to reconcile the mare I remember with what I just saw. She's stood before armies, faced Discord without showing any hesitation, I know she had her moments of weakness as we all do, but that was just..."
Luna huffed "I know, this is a strange situation we find ourselves in. Do not disregard the pain of others though. It is the first step to becoming a true monster."
Her face slowly morphing into a smile, Luna looked over to the queen "So Zelus, you finally managed to worm your way into Cimmerians bed? It took you much longer than I figured it would."
The queen giggled, thankful for the change in topics from one she had no way to help in. "It was a long battle, but it was worth it. He's warm, and he tastes funny when ponies tease him."
Cimmerian groaned "I'd leave you two to go off by myself, but I don't know if I trust you two alone like that. How long have you been plotting against me, Zel? What kind of bodyguard does that?"
Zelus stuck her tongue out at him, the action almost reminding him of a snake flicking its tongue. "I have to keep you healthy. Luna said it was a good idea to help you with stress after the meeting with the thestral council."
"This is your doing?" The larger alicorn demanded of Luna, looming over her.
The mare chuckled abashedly, scuffing a hoof in the sand "Well, you know what they say, sometimes we need to give foals goals to work towards, it keeps them occupied." Seeing her words did nothing, she turned to bolt, momentarily forgetting she could just leave the dream. Before she could get away however, she felt a hoof come down on her tail, along with the solidification of the dream around her.
"Silly little Luna, you may be a lot better at remote dream manipulation than me, but this is my dream." Cimmerian told her with a wicked smile. A squeak of surprise drew the smaller alicorns eyes to her comrade in trouble, the queen now shrunk and stuck in a glass jar. Fearfully, the mare turned back to the stallion, swallowing loudly.
"My turn" he said with a wicked smile.
<-(0)->
"I said I was sorry!" Zelus, still in her pony-sized form said as she followed the alicorn on his way to the galley.
Cimmerian had spent the last few hours just letting them struggle in their bonds, Luna stuck in a large hamster wheel and Zelus trapped in a glass jar that didn't budge no matter how large she made herself. That had brought a smile to his face; Zelus squished and twisted about in a small glass jar, continuously whining about how unfair he was being. Luna had eventually attempted to used the ball to ram him, so he'd set it on a small set track that just went in circles. After going about fifty rounds of the track as she attempted to jump the rails, the mare was too dizzy to continue trying to escape, merely collapsing in place. Unlike the queen, the alicorn took her punishment with silent dignity. That or Luna was speaking too low for him to hear.
The alicorn didn't look at her as he responded, "I don't appreciate what you did, Zelus. I've bent over backwards to help changelings, and you pull something stupid like that. I told Din I wasn't comfortable with that kind of relationship, and I expect you to understand that."
The mare huffed, returning to her normal size in a flash of magic. She trotted past him, flicking him in the muzzle with her tail as she passed by.
"I've had to change my entire life philosophy these last few weeks, Cimmy, even accepting another queen as being my alpha queen. What changes have you accepted lately?"
Watching the mare trot ahead he scowled after her, muttering "My fricken' species. My understanding of the universe in general, too. Give me some time and I'll write you a list."
So fallout has been taking up a lot of my time, but that doesn't mean I don't love you guys anymore.
But I do really really love fallout.
Also, looking over the mods on Nexus, and already spotted a moon changer, adds the Mare in the Moon. So it begins, and magic seeps into the radiation-scorched hell.
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Was he joking, or will we see a list and will it be given to her later on?
Oh noes! She managed to pinpoint where the main base is why under attack from 2 allied factions...while also planning to build more supply depot
Yes Twimare, teleport across a planet to the suspected lair of your suspected enemy.
Who you suspect is your Nightmarish predecessor returned from the suspected grave...
That has all the forethought of an angry fiend popping into a paladin convention.
And that's before we consider you would be abandoning the home front to single handedly invade a complete unknown.
Twimare greatly desires to channel her inner Leeroy Jenkins.
Tia is having a pity party, Luna is being a troll, and Zel is being a child.
At least Zel has an excuse of actually being a maladjusted child.
Tia is just suffering from counter control panic attacks, and prolonged isolation.
Imagine someone changing the character creation into a pony maker with just as many options... And replacing all the characters and monsters with Equestrian species...
Fallout 4 is great.
Accident, stupidity, ignorance, stubbornness.
The four donkeys of the Apocalypse that screw over the best laid plans of Gods and mice.
All we can hope now is that Cinnamons spies, mince pies, Pinkie why, get that knowledge, even in hints, back to him, quickly.
o look forward to seeing this list getting handed to her.
6632364
the answer is a simple, "Yes."
seriously, i can see him doing it and telling her to read it as punishment.
6632364 He's obviously serious else the author shall be placed in a pair of power armor backwards for three hours!!
"Millennium" is the singular form. "Millennia" is plural.
Im looking forward to reading The List.
6632382 =fallout equestria
I believe this wheel option trivializes dialogs and simplifies the story.
i.imgur.com/lCo1uAP.jpg
poor Celestia. through i wonder if her letter will end up benifitting them in the end.
I wonder...
Cimmerian can bring people into one-another's dreams, and his armor appears to him as an empty "slot" in the dream world, but has he considered trying to put someone else into the suit? Say, somepony in desperate need of social contact?
This chapter was incredibly funny with Zelus and Cimmerian. Hope to see more of this story.
Luna you pimp.
Unfortunately I'm going to have to wait before I get fallout 4, it's the curse of being a poor little hermit crab. But I beleive in the dream of acquiring my own on steam, one day.
Winter is just around the corner afterall.
orig07.deviantart.net/657c/f/2011/260/b/f/it_begins____by_mrfugums-d4a42vj.gif
Well, the changelings being weak to cold would give one reason why the changeling queens didn't just team up and rush the Crystal Empire, especially combined with their politics and backbiting.
And Twilight can't just port in and wreck shit. She needs an army to hit where she thinks Ted's base is, but she's being hit on two fronts while trying to stock up and move troops and materiel to that area. That might be a small miracle in organisation and I don't know if she still has that skill. It might be intact as it is independent to magic and friendship.
6632502
Might work, but perhaps we should try with a surer thing. Luna, anyone?
Twilight - Teleports in. "Alright male black and blue alicorn, I know you're here! Come out and face me!"
Pan - Steps outside since Cim is visiting batponies. "Wha...?"
Twilight - "A changeling queen? Where's the male black and blue alicorn?"
Pan - "Oh! Right." She takes Cim's form. "You think you can take me? I can feel your magical exhaustion from here!"
And that's how Equestria was saved.
Wait? That's not going to happen? But Cim's shock would be too funny! Awwwww...
Also... I think the reason all the mares are pushing Cim the way they are is because he never actually puts his foo- er, hoof down. Sure, he expresses discomfort, but he never actually gives a hard refusal. Even to me that makes it seem like he'll be okay with things once he's had a chance to acclimate...
Very nice chapter, good work.
6632502 That might actually be an interesting idea. Unfortunately I suspect that the only reason Cimmerian is able to "possess" the armor that way in the first place is the fact that he really is still bound to it just like he has been for the last 4 decades.
Even so. The idea of Celestia moving around the Temple with that armor offers such delicious chances for misunderstandings. Especially if she is placed inside it without first informing anyone in the temple of the experiment.
Believe it or not, Bethesda has already added pony into the game. Though it's only a couple of little references that you can find on a terminal, still, pony is now canon.
It's called Nationalism and not knowing when to give up... also... because Earth Kingdom...
The last line... I love it! Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
6632364 I hope he does. Her expression when told to read the whole list should be funny and get funnier still as she slowly realizes that, yes, Cimmerian does have every right to bitch and moan about it.
Really, he's very well-adjusted considering he's handling all this shit a heck of a lot better than most of us would.
Look at that, isolating someone who was imprisoned and sometimes tortured over the years has an effect on their mental fortitude. Cimmerian, are you really surprised by Celestia's reaction? Shouldn't you, of all people, know that alicorns are not brick walls?
6632543
Nah, she's not a pimp! She's Jangles, The Moon Monkey!
How the hell did you manage to pump this out within the first
weekmonthyear of Fallout 4's release?!6633284 Except that sees been in there for years, and everything was fine. It was only until this 1 single moment that she snapped. It wasn't Gradual, evolving, or foreshadowed. Just a week ago she was fine, and now she's acting in a way no one has ever seen, not even Luna since he has Luna's memories too and mentions never seeing her like this.
Just had a thought...
Zelus reminds me of this...
6633501 Taking people's hope away after giving it to them is a very effective way to break their spirits. I'm not saying Cimmerian was wrong with his anger and there was some maturity to his reaction, not wanting to immediately go hot-headed and confrontational, but he did manage to break Celestia's hopes, in a way not even the Nightmare had succeeded before. You can't say it wasn't foreshadowed since the reason for the breakdown (leaving her all alone in her prison cell) was also the reason why Cimmerian wouldn't see it coming. Inherently, this had to happen without foreshadowing for Cimmerian.
I'm not even mad at him, I'm just disappointed he didn't give a thought to how painful it must have been for his 'mother' and 'aunt' to be left alone with only the Mad Queen for companion. Or heck, that he is being all 'but she went through so much before without ever being affected'. Especially the part where he seems so skeptical that years of loneliness can have an effect on her. For freak's sake, doesn't he remember his own time stuck in the armor?
After suspecting what may happen in this chapter this statement is much more true.
The thestrals must be hidden since that is pretty deep in Equestria. Assuming you are using the map the studio released.
At which point Din is gargling love out of her mouth.
Everything? Does that include mates? I feel Tuna is going to need to have a little talk with some over affectionate queens. In other news, I am so happy about the crazy changelings. I have a strange bias for changeling queens... probably the wings and horn.
Bed's too warm now, TOO WARM!
If Cimmer somehow accepted the "herd" sort of family structure, they will need a special room for sexy times. Preferably one that directly drains to an emotion collecting pool underneath. The love is too damn high!
Or he attracts the crazy.
Is she thinking alicorn or thestral as the species?
Hmmm, alicorn. I wonder what the Mad Queen's working hypothesis on how "he" came to be. Maybe the old Nightmare in a new host?
Sisters share everything!
Except it seems that alicorn semen makes the process much slower. You would think something for a powerful creature that is slippery would speed things up.
I guess she means "second fertilized clutch". That would be interesting if Din goes back to laying eggs. Or, what would really suck; she just keeps getting pregnant over and over again even without the sex. Cimmer would be in danger of being strangled to death.
This got me thinking about an old commercial.
img01.deviantart.net/24fa/i/2012/189/5/c/surprise_princess_cadence_by_ultimateultimate-d544mb7.png
Cadance and Luna have more hurdles than the changelings. Well, I guess it is really Luna since she took over shipping duties. Now how to force Cadance into Cimmer's unwanted harem.
This is the perfect time for Cimmer to beat his head against a tree... or really anything for that matter.
Or maybe it is more like a trial of ooze in his wake, slowly spreading out.
Now seems to be the perfect time to ask Celestia for sun powers. Though at least she regrets what she has done. Heck, we don't know how much havoc Nightmare Books would have done if she teleported to the temple. Then again... Chrysalis did kick Celestia's ass. Not sure how you are handling that little tidbit; maybe Celestia's a faker.
No wonder Zelus was awkward. I would have SO many comments in a few hours that I would just want to say or ask.
I hope the apocalypse is the Nightmare and not something else.
I see Luna prowls the waters and sky with her own ship.
pre08.deviantart.net/f93f/th/pre/i/2012/306/a/b/captain_luna__nightmare_night_by_marbleyarns-d5jphx0.png
Fandom is the reason why Luna is best princess.
AND ADD TO IT!!!
Well... if you want that is...
mlpforums.com/uploads/monthly_08_2012/post-1477-0-22826100-1344042318.png
For some reason the errors seemed more numerous in this chapter. I think we all know Fallout is to blame.
How are you liking that game so far?
Come on guys, no comment on the name of the pony village?
6632361 I still laugh at plot jokes, and I've been reading them for several years now.
6632409
That's my thanks for writing with fallout 4 only 10% completed?
6632418 I have no idea what it is with people and assuming chillens understand sexual relationships.
6632644 It's been broached, and then avoided. Ted's not looking for that kind of relationship. Sure guys joke about it all the time, but would you walk up to your parents and say "Hey mom and dad, these are my wives." I'm pretty sure my own mother would either scream about how her child has fallen from the righteous path, or pass out from shock.
6632761 It's also a slippery sloe. You need to hold on to certain aspects of your self and culture, but you don't want to be too unaccepting of change. He knows the queens are still adapting so he doesn't want to be mean, but he also doesn't want to let go of that. He still plans on finding his home, eventually.
6633284 Ah, but from what he remembers Tia kinda was a brick wall. Nothing bothered her for long. Also, while he may remember things like the fight with Sombra, he couldn't tell you what Sombra looked like. He has a lot of memories, but often lacks the details.
6633479 Because despite the fun I've been having, I still have ideas floating around in my head.
6633541 As I said to someone else, from what he remembers Tia was the strongest out there. Sure he was trapped in armor for a while, but she's a goddess who's lived for centuries. Surely she would be fine. Unfortunately, she was sealing herself off much like Cadance was during the start of her stay at the Temple, allowing everything to slide by. Cimmerian comes along, makes her start paying attention again, then leaves her. It's unintentionally cruel.
Who-boy, here comes four again...
6633582
Thestrals Vs Equestria: I personally see the area they live in as being north-west of the Everfree, so no Tuna and Zelly aren't headed there just yet. He just wants to stop by since he's already on that side of the planet.
Mad Queen on Nightmare Moon: Twilight has no idea who this person is, just that it seems to be Nightmare Moon again, and last she saw it was being purged by the elements. Did it end up being changed to good? She can't say. Thus this being may very well be a good Nightmare Moon.
Pregnancy theories: Welcome to your new hell ladies. Have sex once, and spend the next five years in various stages of pregnancy.
Fallout: I am having a blast. Literally, I've never used grenades so often. I walked into a room, saw 3 raiders messing with a locked chest, bounced a 'nade off the wall, and they all died. They're so much more useful now. That being said, they're a hell of a lot more dangerous now as well, as are mines. Watch your step out there!
Curious, how many of you guys have sniped/shot something, seen its hp not move 1/8 from a sneak attack headshot(worse for me because I have the ninja perk, so my sneaks do more damage) and noped the fuck out of there?
6634159
Thank you for the thoughts on Fallout. I am still on the fence about it since I feel Bethesda should care more about glitches and bugs without entrusting the modding community to fix it. I'll probably just wait for a sale that includes DLC like what I have done for Fallout 3, NV, and Skyrim. Though I need to first stop playing Skyrim, ugh.
Since I haven't played Fallout 4, I will drop back to what I know of Skyrim. I have shot things and stabbed things only to be in for a very bad time. Especially with the mods I have loaded. I have learned to stop stabbing before I realize what is in front of me.
6634159
Actually, it turns out "someone else" was also me.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm expressing annoyance at the character. I do not think either the events leading up to it, his reactions or Celestia's as anything wrong. I rather think it's a good writing choice and a way to present his lack of experience and his mistakes, it's 'human' of him. I like that.
But I still judge him as a witness from totally outside the conflict and go 'shame on you, Cimmerian. Be more considerate of your aunt.' From my high horse, of course.
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/657/039/7fa.jpg
I used to play that game a while ago...
6634159
Legendary Alpha Deathclaw. It had the skull beside its name and everything. My hunting rifle does 104 damage, over 250 with a sneak attack headshot, and I did less than a sliver of HP. It then proceeded to tear me a new one in my X-01 Mk5 armour.
I'm surprised at Cimmerian.
Clearly, missing out on Half-Life 3 should top that list above his species change.
6634097 I was curious for a while now, after stumbling upon this... novel at this point I suppose. It's 100% been asked before but... Call me reluctant to look through 108 pages of comments. Ignore me if you want.
Ted wants to look for a way home 'after all this ends'. Why? Why would an unattached single young-ish male human being would want to 'return'? Back home he was a nobody, and barring some extreme luck he would stay a nobody for his short miserable antidepressant-filled life. Out here he's a demi-god. Sure, Discord, for one, would bend him over backwards at will, but that's a poor measure; at the most humble appraisal he's firmly within top 20 strongest beings on Equis and and is highly likely to climb up. Ageless in the immortal-unless-killed sense, with semi-unique specialised talent pool, with a growing number of followers, who literally worship him, with multiple incredible females flingling themselves at his hooves. He can and does literally shape the world with his will, one hoofstep at a time.
What could possibly posses an intelligent being to go from that high, to that low, willingly, no less? And why cling to remnants of his old life that do not apply even remotely? There are some universal things, sure, like don't hurt living things without a good reason. Or 'life and let live' thing he based the Sanctuary on. Monogamy, however, isn't one of those. Neither is 'children should have a father' when applied to his situation. Or a ton of other less obivous things.
He's not even that much of a human anymore. Those memories of Luna, they're more than a library. They're experience that are his, whether he wants them or not. Be it days spent away being rutted by random stallions (it's unlucky he's straight, he'd have better odds of coping with and using those in any other case) or the taste of gryphon meat torn away from a still convulsing soon-to-be fresh kill under her hooves on the battlefield (remarkably like chicken), it's HIS as well, including the understanding that comes with it. Like that herds are normal/accepted/encouraged, as she witnessed and partook in it, or that the beach full of torn-up drones and soldiers is nothing remarkably special, as she'd seen and caused sights like those before.
Nitpicks:
you're
it's
jungles
stallion's
you're
millennium
Cimmerian's bed
I do so love the sarcastic options. Whenever I see a sarcastic option I press F5 (in case I piss the person off) and chose it. So far they haven't really done that though. Even if just about everyone in the wasteland seems to have forgotten what sarcasm is. It's so funny getting those "you're crazy" looks they give.
P.S: 70 hour in so far and its ruining my life... But I couldn't care less.
6634159
Erm...that would be the first, and last, time I made the mistake of taking on a Deathclaw Alpha without my power armour.
6634817
These, and
Capitalize
alicorn's
Everyone's talking about fallout,and im just sitting here with my 32 bit architecture
Occasional than/then, excessive commas and missing capital letter here and there.
Also, Fallout 4 sucks big time. Too much of a console dumb-down.
6632543 yarr yarr it, silly.
6634097
Oh they would be so glad I stopped being a shut-in with and finally got laid.
Hmm... If the mad queen had teleported to the temple while Cimmerian wasn't there, I really wonder if Pan would have been able to take her. From the show we see that Chrysalis was able to defeat Celestia, but I always attributed that to Celestia not being able to use full power due to wanting to avoid collateral damage. In this sense tho, the roles would be swapped, with Twilight not having a lot of power while being super crazy, and Pan not wanting to kill the temple residents.
I suppose even with the huge boost of power from all the stored love, and the new knowledge Pan obtained about combat from linking with Zelus, my money would still be on Twilight winning that fight. For one, Twilight is a magic savant. While her magic may not be as strong as what Pan currently has, she knows how to do more things with each of her many more spells. In fact, since she has dealt with changelings for so long, she may even have something that renders most of the things they do null or void. Secondly, the mad queen could be sporadic in what she chose to target with her attacks, keeping Pan on her (equivalent of) toes and force to primarily play defense. Finally, Pan is pregnant. That could definitely interfere in a battle.
6634159
"Swan" was a fun fight in regards to that with me. my really good sniper sneak attack took off maybe 1/12th of his life bar, and the resulting next 8 shots brought him down to around half health. At that point he was on top of me so it became a game of dodge his attack, fire off a few rounds from my real strong semi automatic rifle, dodge attack.
The only reason I was able to get 8 sniper shots off was due to piper charging him with a flaming sword. She got hit so hard that she got glitched into being stuck in the "defeated" position for three whole other missions. I probably could have just sent her to one of my settlements to fix it, but it was just really funny watching her unconscious body teleport places. I could still store stuff on her, so I was fine with it
6632446 I'm still waiting for the standalone Fo:E game. I heard they released some (pre?) alpha demo, closed ofc.
Waiting for GECK to come out so ghouls can get retexed as macho man randy savage.
NNothing quite like 10 poeple running at you while shouting their intentions to 'snap into a slim jim'.
6635309 Eh, actually, only recently Pan was a changeling proto-queen half-trained in changeling ways. I think I remember her mentioning having undergone several years of training already. While she definitely cares about the Temple and its residents, she had no qualms killing Lestidae (whose name I probably butchered), something I'm not sure Ted would have done.
So in light of this, I believe that, upon realising that the Mad Queen is going all-or-nothing, Pan would understand perfectly that she must either give ot her all too, resulting in widespread collateral damage and ultimately victory, or she will be defeated and the Temple will be destroyed completely, all its residents killed or enslaved.
In addition, remember that Pan has vastly more love than any other changeling queen, ever. Zelus and Lestidae were well-fed during their recovery, but upon tasting concentrated Cimmerian-brand love still nearly passed out from OD. No other changeling queen Twilight would have ever faced or captured would have come remotely close to being as powerful as Din. If Chrysalis was able to defeat Celestia using stolen love from a single unicorn, I think that even if Twilight fights much more fiercely Din would still have the upper hand.
And one more thing - you mention Twilight's magical knowledge, but I think it's been established that the Nightmare doesn't just get a free pass to all of Twilight's skills. Even if it has unlimited access to her memories (I'm actually not even sure about that), simple knowledge can't help you if you can't apply it. That doesn't mean the Nightmare won't be helpless - it's not braindead or particularly stupid as far as we know - it still won't compare to what Twilight herself would have been capable of, were she the one in control and responsible for everything.
Oh and also you have to remember that Twilight would actively be trying to hinder the Nightmare. She would doubtlessly understand the stakes of the fight, and would throw all her efforts, all her willpower into breaking the Nightmare's concentration, disrupting its casting and in general forcing it to fight two battles - one in the physical world against a super-powered changeling queen, and the other in its mind against a mare who would suddenly gain hope of imminent release and victory.
Yeah, I wouldn't place my bets on the Nightmare. Not to mention that the Temple has quite a few other skilled fighters - I'm sure several dozen armed and armoured griffons, thestrals and gnolls would at least serve as a big distraction, and possibly even get in a significant strike while the attention's not on them. And potentially Cim's armour could come into pay too, depending on whether they can contact him.