Home at Last, and the Mistress is Hungry
"They're getting close, they're getting close, they're getting close!" the queen chanted, giggling happily while bouncing around her bedroom. Cadance just smiled at Pandinus' excitement, knowing exactly what would happen, as she'd done the same thing with, with...
'I'll see you freed, Shiny, and Twily too. Don't you worry,' the mare thought, the idea dragging her mood down a bit. Pandinus lifted Cadance up and gave her a smothering hug, still giggling like a school-filly, before prancing out the door.
'I need to...' the mare's thoughts drifted off and she found herself headed to the infirmary. It was strange, she thought to herself as she looked at the pod. She'd heard ponies speak of out of body experiences, but had never really thought about what it would be like. Now she was standing here before the pod, before a changeling pod that held her body. Amare was now even more precious to the pink alicorn, and as soon as she was back to normal, back to her own body she'd smother that little bug in as much affection as that nymph could take.
'I love you, mommy.'
The memory still drifted in every now and again, usually when she was thinking about Amare. The little hatchling's message was delivered by Pandinus later on, after most of the shock had been dealt with by both the alicorn-turned-hatchling as well as the rest of the town. It made Cadance feel, it made her feel strange, thinking of her charge in that way. It was true though. She'd cared for Amare for a while now, keeping her fed and safe, keeping her warm during the cold nights, keeping her clean and healthy even as the hatchlings constant yelling in Cadance's mind drove the alicorn to tears. Now, now that the mare could actually think properly while near the nymph, she could enjoy the antics of the little foal even as it asked her constant questions over the link.
"She'll be fine, Cadance. We're already seeing some improvement on the burned skin," Mist explained to the displaced mare, moving over and grabbing a sheet of paperes from a nearby stand. "The hoof is starting to regrow, while the skin around the skull is also beginning to shed the damaged tissue. We've had to cleam the pod...four times of dead tissue that's being pushed away by the body in the last day. After the last of that's gone, it will just be a matter of keeping the pod topped off with emotion. She's burning a lot of it, even if it isn't the purest love we have. If what mother said is true though, she may start healing even faster once we get a stronger source of love. Lord Cimmerian is nearing Zarris by now."
"A-alright. Thank you, Mist. Take care of Amare for me?" the foal squeaked, causing the drone to giggle.
"Oh, you're hilarious, you know that? Yes, I'll watch your daughter and your body, I promise. Just like I'm watching the rest of the injured. Changelings heal faster with pure love, but our sources are limited at the moment. A few ponies have started feeling closer to changelings, as have a few griffons in Shadowtalon after the raid, but it's not enough to make any type of surplus. Even at this rate though, I can't see this taking any longer than a month or two to heal. You alicorn's are amazingly resilient," Mist said, moving the paper back to the desk before giving Cadance a nuzzle. "Just don't let this drag you down too much. She's going to be extra cuddly after she gets out, so don't be surprised if she doesn't let you switch back until she gets a few hugs in."
Cadance giggled, a strange, echoing titter in her current form.
"I think I can live with that."
'Cadance, I need you in the courtyard. You're leaving for Zarris in ten minutes, I've already had Supply pack you a meal.'
"Uh-oh, better get going. She's not your mother, I know, but Queen Pandinus is calling, it would be best not to keep her waiting. Besides, I'm sure Lord Cimmerian would like to know what's occurred here," Mist said, having been close enough to hear the directed message.
Cadance nodded, "I will, thank you Mist. I'll be sure to give you a few extra hugs when I get my body back from Amare. I'll get you looking like Mirage in a few days."
"Don't you dare!" the mare yelled as Cadance scampered out of the room, giggling. "I work hard to keep myself trim, do you know how hard that is in this environment?"
<-(0)->
Cimmerian woke up with a strange weight on his...well, everything. He blinked, noticing a tuft of pink wrapped around his snout, Pinkie hugging it like a teddy bear and somehow not coming lose as he lifted his head up. Looking around, he found the rest of the element bearers, as well as Zelus and Trixie, had all migrated over to him while he was sleeping.
'Forgot to turn off my swag, woke up covered in...'
The stallion focused, his aura creating an outline around himself before he faded into smoke and drifted out of the pile, reforming in a clear spot in the hold. He lowered the ponies into each other, watching as they all readjusted to the disturbance before turning for the door.
'Wonder if I could weaponize that level of cute?'
The sun was, strangely enough, beginning to drift down to the horizon when he came up on deck. Okay, maybe it wasn't strange. The ship was rocketing over the ocean, only few shielding and momentum wards keeping him from being cleared from the deck by the winds. He walked up to the captain's cabin, inquired as to their arrival time, and then went back on to the deck to watch as the sun began its downward journey.
After watching the waves flash by for an good while, the stallion's face split into a grin, the barest hints of green on the horizon. A shout of 'Land ho!' was heard about thirty second later, making him wonder just how good his vision really was as an alicorn. The crew were instantly swarming the deck, causing Cimmerian to step off into an empty area and allow them to work without distraction. He turned back to face the quickly approaching landmass, though as soon as he could make out individual trees, the ship began to slow. With a giddy chuckle, he went below deck to wake the rest of the group.
Zelus was already up and moving, a large smile on her face as she stared in the direction of the Temple, while Trixie looked towards the port ahead, a nervous expression on her face. The few pony guards they'd taken were wearing only a single pauldron at this point, the should plate that had the anti-detection array etched into it while the rest of the armor was stashed away. His own guards were stretching and chatting, while Celestia was at a port hole, looking out to the jungles ahead.
"We're just about there, you ready to sleep in your own bed again, Zelus?" he asked, drawing the queen's attention for a moment. In an instant, there was a change, the mare's eyes becoming gleeful and predatory. She lunged at the stallion, kissing him deeply and drawing a few gasps from the ponies. Trixie just looked back at the sight and rolled her eyes.
"It's not Zelus, the queens can move their consciousness around their hive pretty easily. It's Pandinus that's attempting to eat his face right now," the unicorn explained, causing the confused stares to focus instead on her.
"Don't ask how, Trixie just knows it works."
After about a minute, the queen broke off, a pink tint to her muzzle while she helped the stallion back to his hooves.
"Yea, yea I think Din missed me. If that's how badly though, I hate to see what she has planned later on when it's her hooves on me," Cimmerian said with a chuckle while he ruffled his wings. A few giggles from the pegasi told him he enjoyed the kiss a bit more than he'd admit, but his grin never faded.
"Lets get up top, I honestly don't even care about the gear, we can get it shipped to the Temple later."
As the ship made its final approach, the newcomers were given a truly otherworldly sight. A large squad of changelings were waiting on the docks, in the middle of them a small proto queen that was giggling and waving long before the ship stopped. The second the ship was settled, Cimmerian lauched over the side of the boat, scooping up the nymph and giving her a nuzzle.
"Amare, what are you doing out here? Din send you out here to meet us?"
"Uh, actually, Cimmerian, I'm uh-"
"It's Cadance," Zelus said, landing lightly beside him, a white alicorn landing beside them shortly afterwards.
The smile on Celestia's face fell instantly, looking over the nymph and trotting over with a confused expression.
"What do you mean, it's Cadance?"
The nymph jumped down from the stallion's hooves, approaching the white mare with an embarrassed look.
"I, I got hurt in the battle, I was holding the shield, and one of the drones made it through to me. It turned out their explosive arrays worked based on how much emotion they drained, so all the love Pandinus had me soak in, to both heal me up and to boost my strength, it just made the explosion bigger. Before it blew up though, Amare...she switched bodies with me, and now I'm stuck like this until she heals. She looks awful aunty, and I'm worried for her and, and-and it's so good to see you again, oh stars and sun, I missed being able to actually hold you!" Cadance shouted, rushing up to Celestia and almost tackling the slightly larger alicorn mare with a hug.
Though she was awkward about it for the first few seconds, Celestia soon eased into it, returning the affection just as passionately as her adopted niece. It was heartwarming, but it just made Cimmerian ache for his own wife and adopted kids more. He smiled for a moment before his eyes came across a few blackened marks on a nearby building. His frown fading, the stallion's eyes began to track along the entirety of the town, noticing several parts of the town that were undergoing repairs.
"Cadance, get them all back to the Temple, will you? I'd like to check a few things before heading back. I'm also going to hit Shadowtalon."
"Pandinus won't be happy," Zelus said, chuckling.
"I know, but that's one of the reasons i'm going to hit the Temple last," the alicorn responded, receiving a giggle from the queen. "I have a feeling that once I get there, I wont be leaving to check the damages anywhere else, so I'm getting this done. Sah Kest!"
"What?" came a booming response from farther into the city.
The dark alicorn grinned, taking flight and headed towards the origin of the response. Flying over the city, he soon spotted the drake and started to descend, keeping a good bit of speed. The dragon saw him coming, saw the grin on his face and hunkered down. With a meaty impact, the alicorn ran into the dragon, bouncing off the blue drakes braced position and rolling along the empty road. Bounding back to his hooves with a chuckle, Cimmerian trotted over and gave an 'additional' greeting.
"How are things holding up?"
"Not too bad," the drake said, chuckling at the stallion's odd way of saying hello. "Your wife gave us the heads up well before the attack, and we managed to shoot a good portion of the buggers down before they entered range to target us. A few Talons were killed, a few of the city guard were killed, but considering what we were fighting against, that's getting off lightly. Lost two ships, but the crew of the fishing boat is currently in Shadowtalon, and their ship is running double crews at the moment. It's going back out as soon as it finishes a run. Leaves the other crew with more shore leave than they'd get otherwise, but there's plenty of work helping with reconstruction, I've heard. Shadowtalon took the brunt of the raid; last reports were that at least 75 of those things hit them, and there may have been more, we're not sure. We took about 43. Only 15 made it to your home, but all but one of those were stopped before reaching it. Last one hurt the pink alicorn pretty badly, from what I heard."
Cimmerian nodded.
"I talked to Cadance, it seemed the changeling proto queen she was caring for swapped bodies with her at the last minute by using her connection to the link. Cadance is over with Zelus and the, let's say the spoils of victory."
"Spoils? I heard you were going out, but what-"
"Hello, Bad Drake, I was wondering if you've improved over the years, since our last encounter was less than stellar."
Both males turned to the voice, seeing a pink maned unicorn walking down the path. Cimmerian blinked in confusion for a moment before the mare's words registered, sending him into a bout of laughter.
Sah Kest was just sputtering, confused.
"But, but you, that was almost three hundred years ago, you should be, unicorns don't live that long and... what?"
"Oh, I always enjoy doing that to those who live longer than most mortals," the pink unicorn giggled, her wings returning in a flash of light. Her mane also returned to its previous state, leaving the one-time princess of Equestria giggling in front of a confused dragon.
"You're telling me some unicorn mare I messed around with years ago was Celestia? Oh by my mother's hoard, I can't, and those things I said. I was sure they'd die with me," the Sah Kest griped, dragging a claw down his face.
"Nope, I get to remember them every single time I speak to a dragon, and now I get to share this with you!" the mare said with a grin, using a wing-assisted jump to land on the drakes snout, balancing there as she looked into his eyes with a big grin.
"I wasn't very impressed by the 'Bad Drake', Sah Kest. Have you improved since then?"
The drake gave off a rumbling chuckle, finally managing to swallow his embarrassment and returned her mischievous grin.
"Improved my technique, my stamina, and my body's gotten a bit bigger, though I could always shrink down a bit, learned that trick a century ago."
Cimmerian rolled his eyes, looking over to a curious griffon commander and tuning out the two old friends as they began speaking in a way that would make a marine blush.
"How are you holding up, Herrick? Oh, and thanks for the word to the rest of the Talons, it would likely have taken a week to get here otherwise, instead of a day and a half."
"Not bad, Cimmerian. Repairs are going nicely, and the unicorns that came with you are already heading out to take a look at the bodies. Hopefully we'll get some more information on how those things work besides 'they grab you, they explode'."
"I heard Cadance say it was something to do with actively draining emotions, using those to power the arrays," the stallion passed on. "Basically they use their victim as the power source. The more emotional the victim, the more power they'll draw, the more powerful the explosion."
"That would make sense, any idea why they ignored the runes?" the Talon commander asked. "One of the victims, he had the array on his armor, and we checked it afterwards, it was still working."
"I hadn't heard they were ignoring runes, but that may be because they were kind of used as a saturation bombing. Throw them in the direction you think the enemy is, and let them go. If they didn't have a strong connection to an array, it's possible they would ignore the usual prohibitions set on them,' Cimmerian said, cocking his head in thought. "I'll ask Din if she tried to nab one, I can almost bet she did. She's gotten pretty strong, and Zelus managed to actually destroy a control crystal in the Everfree. She was pretty upset about it, saying it was trying to grab her even as she was swinging at it, but I think their hive link has gotten a lot stronger.
"Oh, and you may be getting a bit of traffic coming through. I don't know how much you've heard, but apparently Equestria's coming apart at the seams at this point. Ponies are either getting out of the country, or the mad queen's doing to them what she did to Cadance."
Herrick gaped at the alicorn.
"You're serious? The entire country?"
"It's true, sir," another voice called. "Silver Spoon, Equestrian Undercover branch. Everyone's leaving the country at the moment, Diamond even called for an emergency evacuation of Canterlot and the surrounding cities. She also specifically said to leave the arrays on at all times. The guards and drones seemed to miss those who had them, and they were slipping those arrays to civilians who were captured. It made it easier to break them out when the drones can't keep track of who's in the prisons."
"Damnit, what about Diamond's status?" the griffon asked, looking irritated.
"No idea. Last I heard she was attempting to sneak some Talons out, but she's in the center of that mess. I, permission to return to Equestria when the Skimmer heads back, sir?"
"Denied, get some sleep, rest up. I know how you ponies get when friends are in danger," the older griffon said, shaking his head. "I'm not going to lose another decent agent when there's no reason. Report to the barracks and rest. We'll get this sorted and find out if she's actually in danger before sending a rescue op."
"Scootaloo, er, Eloise arrived with us as well, but she's currently latched on to one of the other mares we pulled out of the Everfree; Rainbow Dash, one of the Bearers of Harmony. I'm having Cadance bring them all to the Temple now, get them settled in and allow them to recover. I don't know what several decades of petrification will do to a person, but Pinkie Pie seemed kind of exhausted, she keeps dozing off. Any problem with her staying with us?" Cimmerian asked.
The griffon shook his head before turning to another Talon mercenary, nodding a farewell to Cimmerian as he began speaking to his subordinate. The stallion walked back to the dragon and the alicorn mare, chuckling as they rambled on and on about the 'old days.'
"Sah Kest, you keep rambling about the old days, you're going to shrivel up into an old dragon, I don't care how long your species lives," Cimmarian chided before turning to the white mare. "Are you going to be staying with him, Celestia, or will you be joining me on my come-back tour?"
"I, I think it would be best to spend some time with Cadance and the girls. I'll speak with you at a later time, okay Sah Kest? It was a pleasure to speak with you again."
The dragon nodded in agreement.
"My door's always open to an old friend."
The two continued to trade farewells and barbs until they were out of earshot, Celestia riding on the larger alicorn's back to the next location. Shadowtalon came into view before too long, a patrol of griffons intercepting him and escorting him to the town hall. The moment they touched down, Lady Thrisha was coming out to greet them.
"Lord Cimmerian, it's a pleasure to see you again. How was your tri- Princess Celestia?"
"Thrisha! Thrisha Frostpeak, oh it's wonderful to see you!" Celestia said, hopping off Cimmerian's back and hugging the old hen. "I remember when you were just a little chick, how are you doing? Did you ever find a nice stallion? Oh, wait it would be a tom, correct?"
The matron tittered at the mare's joke. "No, no I didn't. I do have a nice dinner planned in the next few days though. I think that this last battle finally rattled that old tom, Amald, enough to dislodge his fear of a date."
"I better hear of little ones, Thrisha! I'll be upset if I find out you waited too long to find a tom and you never brought me any cubs to dote on."
Cimmerian rolled his eyes at the by-play, looking about the town and finally spotting someone who wouldn't be distracted so easily.
"Hey Amald, I know you'll have a report for me, or maybe Gleam has it already, but I'd like to hear it from you. How bad was it?"
"My lord," the griffon said with a salute. "It was pretty scary, and we lost a few buildings as well as about eighteen griffons and ten changelings to the Mad Queen's drones. More were injured, but by now most of those still injured are pulling through. Reports from the medical chambers in the Temple had most of the casualties in stable condition."
"That's great, wait, medical chambers?"
"Lady Pandinus has expanded the medical room into a two-leveled complex, digging under the original medical room and doubling the amount of patients they can hold. They've also added an entire additional room with those healing pods for even more capacity. It's kind of strange seeing her and the unicorns, Gleam and Shadow Weaver, working out the plans for the Temple. Ponies and griffons tend to build in sprawling patterns, adding on as needs become apparent, while Lady Pandinus wants to build downward and plans ahead to allow easy access to high traffic areas. It's caused them to butt heads a few times, but I think they're working out compromises for the most part, and waiting on you for the things they can't agree on.
"Finally, a large chamber was dug to the north-west of the Temple, just under a hill over there," the griffon said, pointing to the north-east. "The behemoth was staying there, and they had that hill excavated for the new arrivals. It's not much right now, but it will probably be more comfortable for the thestrals than the tight tunnels and segmented chambers under the Temple."
Cimmerian nodded, "We'll have a service or something for the dead, if you haven't already. Everyone should have a chance to properly mourn. I'm certain you have some sort of ritual, but would it be too much to ask that the changelings be allowed to participate as well?"
"It shouldn't be too hard to do. I think having fought beside them in this battle raised them in the eyes of most of those here, especially those who were saved due to the amazing communications we had for the entire battle. I've never felt that in control of a battle, my lord. It was something special, that's for certain."
"Good to hear. I'll be back later to actually look over the damage, but for now I've got a wife to return to, and hopefully a bath with my name on it. Though depending on how bad Din gets, I may not get to that bath," the alicorn joked. He nodded in farewell to the griffon, picked up Celestia as she said her goodbyes to Thrisha, and took off for the Temple.
"I had no idea you knew Thrisha," Cimmerian called back as they pulled away from Shadowtalon, the Temple quickly coming into sight.
"It was a long time ago, and honestly I only remembered her by name," Tia responded softly, her voice just barely reaching him through the wind. "It can be difficult, remembering faces when you've seen so many ponies pass you by in life. I'm just glad it wasn't so long that there were none that I recognized. I can't imagine what that did to Luna."
"We can discuss that later. Maybe having you here in the flesh, you can give me a better solution to this memory problem I have," Cimmerian said hopefully, before grinning at the sight of the Temple and the town springing up around it. "Ah, home sweet home."
The pair of alicorns landed lightly in the designated landing field and were immediately set upon by a large changeling queen, Celestia actually being thrown from the stallions back as he was smothered by Pandinus. Celestia laughed at the sight as she picked herself up, watching as the eyes of a few drones nearby began to tint pink. Nearly a minute and a half later, the alicorn pushed the queen away, Pandinus attempting to reconnect with his muzzle for a second session.
"I missed you too, Din. All I ask is a chance to grab something to eat and a chance for a bath. I feel grody and don't want to be spending too much time carrying whatever muck and mold I picked up in the Everfree."
Pandinus whined pitiably, but removed herself from the stallion, instantly stealing another kiss before speaking.
"I have some drones making up a bath right now, and Slop's assistants should have something heated up for you in a minute. They were already setting something up for the group Cadance brought back. You better hurry, I'm not going to wait all night."
With a final nibble on his neck the queen trotted back into the temple. Her wings buzzed with energy even as she smacked her lips, the fresh taste of love giving her a much anticipated rush. Celestia was still giggling, though the idea of a bath was sounding wonderful at the moment. She followed the larger alicorn into the Temple and soon found herself in the dining hall, the sumptuous smells sending their stomachs announcing hunger the second they'd reached their table.
"Good to see you back, my lord!" Slop shouted as he approached with a large platter. "Made ya somethin' special, and even had a desert set up, though most of it disappeared in a flash of pink. That mares gonna be feeling my spoon on her flank if she doesn't learn to keep her hooves out of my kitchen!"
The aforementioned mare blushed from her place at the table, waving sheepishly at the chef.
"I couldn't help it, Sloppy! it was just sooo good!"
"There's several people you don't mess with, Pinkie," the dark stallion lectured. "The ones who handle your food, the ones who handle your hair, the ones who build your house, and the police. Or guard, whatever you guys call them. You rely on those people, and it's a bad idea to piss them off."
"Instead of messing with him, Pinkie, why don't you help them?" Celestia offered. "I'm certain your time as a baker would allow you to be of aid."
Slop scowled at the Pink pony.
"If she works in my kitchen, she follows my rules. I'll test her out later, just like I did with all the other cooks."
"Oh boy, that's gonna be good!" Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. "Pinkie tends to be a little nutty and weird at times. I don't know if he'd be able to take her. Speaking of jobs, you guys need another Pegasus for your weather patrol? I saw a lot of clouds out there."
"We don't have a patrol, Dash. The weather is left on its own. Ask around, I'm sure we can find a use for you around here somewhere. In fact, talk to Gleam or Shadow Weaver when you get a chance, they may be able to direct you to people who need help," Cimmerian said with a smile before pulling the lid off of his dinner. The stallion took a deep whiff of the meal, sighing in contentment.
"Dang, that smells good."
Several more dishes were passed around to the gathered mares before the cooks dispersed, though Cimmerian caught a glimpse of Trixie and Cool sitting off to the side, chatting quietly at their own table. The stallion, apparently a pale blue under the armor's enchantment with a dark green mane, was much calmer now, his array glowing with a dim blue light.
The group devolved into a few discussions about possible jobs or questions about the local area, but the alicorn stallion focused on his dinner. It was delicious, and he was in a bit of a hurry. An off-handed comment by the fashionista about his mane drew his attention though.
"How long has it been since I cut it? I don't remember, actually. I guess it's never been cut, though I can't let you at it tonight."
"Nonsense, darling. it will only take a little bit, and you'll look stunning afterwards, I promise."
"I'd love to Rarity, but I'm going to be busy."
"Surely it can wait until-"
The mare was cut off by a green aura wrapping around her muzzle, the generous form of Mirage waddling up to the alicorn with a grin.
"It really can't wait. I don't think you'd survive getting between Queen Pandinus and Lord Cimmerian. She's been giggling about his return all day, and now she's pacing in her room, waiting for him to finish here."
The clutch-nurse turned to the dark alicorn with a giggle.
"I'd finish up soon, I don't think she's going to leave you for too much longer. The bath is ready when you are by the way. It's waiting for you in your old room."
"As for the rest of you," she continued "there's a public bathing area at the edge of town. We've gotten it set up to run clean, warm water into the pipes like Cimmerian requested and have it separated into male and female sections. There's even a soaking pool in the back. That pool is separated, but only by a wall; it's still one pool. The ponies in charge of it will help you out. If you need direction, ask any changeling and I'm sure we can get a drone that's not busy to lead you there."
"Well, it sounds like I'm timed, so I'm going to grab a bath before Pandinus drags me off to her room. You girls take it easy."
His farewell delivered, Cimmerian rose from his seat, chugged the rest of his drink, and made his way to his bathroom.
<-(0)->
The water was steaming hot when Cimmerian stepped in, causing him to sigh in relief. Swift and Humble were on him in a second, scrubbing him down and running the hot water over his entire body. He stood up, allowing them access to his legs, but shooed them out before he rolled over in the tub, laying on his back and finishing up. Some areas weren't meant to be washed by others. He continued to relax in the tub, letting the hot water sooth him until his right ear twitched, a sound waking him slightly. A body pressed against him as he was reclining in the tub, and lips soon met his own, waking him fully to the sight of Pandinus pressing against his barrel in the water, purring gently and causing the water to bubble slightly.
"I'm getting tired of waiting," the queen said with a giggle, nuzzling into his cheek before trailing nips down his neck. "Are you really more interested in spending time in the bath than with me?"
"You have to admit, it's pretty comfortable here," Cimmerian joked.
"I know somewhere even more comfortable," the queen responded, lighting her horn. The sense of falling hit him, and the stallion found himself and most of the tub's water supply now on the queen's bed, a fiery ring of a changeling teleport-circle glowing on the roof of the chamber while he could see the ceiling of his bathroom through the hole.
The stallion scowled at the mare still on his barrel.
"Can I at least get a towel? I'm soaking wet."
Pandinus laughed mischievously, leaning in until her nose was right against his.
"So am I."
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Mother of god.
This are finally calming down for that side of the word. Time to breath and take stock of everything. At least the wounds they have to lick are comparatively minor. It is good to see that Cimm's fledgling kingdom is growing and integrating, with Zarris, Shadowtalon and the Temple becoming not only codependent, but also supporting one another. It's come a long way from the somewhat prickly interactions at the start.
Celestia taking the time to tease Sah Kest was too funny though. Now, on to the good stuff!
6886434 vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mlpfanart/images/f/f7/Mother_of_Me.png/revision/latest?cb=20121219171649
Oh boy.
Found some errors:
clean
shoulder
I'm
You have the wrong ending quote. It needs to be this: "
Sounds weird with the "I" in there. Just start at permission.
It
--
That's all the errors I found so far.
And cue the drowning of the shadows in liquid love.
Idea for solving the suicide changeling issue: Overpowered squirt guns loaded with highly diluted love. Set them off early? Maybe.
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw7853-30432__questionable_gilda_vulgar_artist-furseiseki_and-then-they-all-fucked.png
I wonder if Cimmerian's gonna try and have a go at inventing some human tech to help city growth, or for combat. I'm still admiring the use of Changelings as radio-ops, and I'd say they'd fit nicely if they had use of things like say, artillery?
You know... I think this is the first indicator of just how small Celestia has gotten in her weakness. Kinda weird though that they can actually get smaller than your average pony when depowered. If that's accurate she is not much bigger than a foal currently! So an adult proportioned alicorn in miniature. Oh my gods. We have a chibi Celestia on our hands!
I just thought of a new name for the Temple of Shadows, Fathers Shadow or The Fathers Shadow.
Ya'Know, we're gonna have to do something when you hit 100.
sovereignman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/oie_7223325gXjCWNLr.jpg
6886621
Artillery bombardment begins at 0:30
Will Cimmerian and his people be able to replicate these, at least?
I just noticed. The dragon's name is Sah Kest.
Wuld his father be called Pah Kest?
Reykan, you've ruined me!
None of these other HiE fics feel the same anymore! My mind will never be the same.
6886629
I think it's reasonable to say Amare has grown a bit too. We do know that she's forced a molt or two already, let alone natural ones. I'd say Celestia is around standard mare size, if not a tiny bit larger. Not to say I would be upset about a little filly/chibi Sunbutt.
6886638
That being said, if the ponies refuse to decide, or languages happen to be eerily similar between worlds, this or something similar should be translated into Latin. Pateropolis, etc. I never studied Latin, and I'd rather not trust google to give your idea justice.
I have a feeling some of the changeling population will turn that into an innuendo.
6886769
Pah Kest appears in a [forced] dream to our beloved Sah Kest, courtesy of the Dream Pimp TM.
Now, I'm off to read the mature chapter that I'm not allowed to say ruined me. Later.
LOVE, SNUG, AND HUGGLE-BUZZ!!
6886621
If they tried building anything advanced, they'd have to start with steam engines and vacuum tubes.
oh...myyyy
Yep, he'll be gone for a while.
...damn it, is Luna going to be subjected to the array?... I really hope not.
Hey, you know what? I think Shining Armor is still alive in there. Like Trixie was. Because 1 - he's more powerful, 2 - he had experience with mind-control and surely after that he'd make some protective measures for his mind, and 3 - Nightmare is cruel bitch, and she'd enjoy not only make him do atrocities, but make him aware of it and powerless to stop his body from doing it.
Rainbow is going to suffer a "middle age crisis", when she realizes Scoots has grown more badass than her and is going to be her teacher.
6887069 there's a difference between mind suppression and mind rape. I'd guess that he'll either be killed by the end or never be the same again.
6887203
I hope not, but it's up to author's choice. Let's wait and see.
i foresee issues with the bears in the bath.
6887033 I have a bad feeling we might be heading this way.
40+ hours later. The two come out and the whole temple sighs with relief of being able to sleep without... Distracting sound.
6886525
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Pinkie occupied making cream pies.
So is Cimmer.
And Sah Kest.
She canna take any more Capn, Im givin her everything I got.
Things have been progressing pretty flawlessly for Cimmerian. Makes me wander when the hammer is gonna drop.
6886740
6887009
Nice but not for a long while, there is simply way WAY too much technology between there and preset time in the Temple (catapults and large iron-ball smooth-bore cannons are more in line with the tech). It would be far easier for a unicorn to just TK-lob a small jar of liquid love (wouldn't even have to be strong stuff to attract them) into the swarm and watch them go after it like tiny decoys causing the mindless things to detonate at a safe distance. Also seeding the forest with open caches of the love-juice, over a primed fire-gem, could make for nasty mines targeting only kamikazi bugs.
6886453
I do very much hope for at least one or two "resting" or slice-of-life chapters now that Cimmerian's rescued the girls and they can start to re-integrate themselves into the World. Also, there's that little dark section we'll have to attend to, namely services to the ones lost in the latest battle with the Mad Queen. There's also the ponies lost to time during the girl's petrification (Granny Smith comes to mind but I'm not sure if she passed away before or after AJ got turned into a statue). And... somepony did remember to soundproof the royal bed chambers, er, right?
6887483 Uh...after the resting phase?
It was mentioned repetely in the comment section...
Illusion-based magic disguise? Or true self-transformation?
6887488
Did I say steam engines? I meant siege engines
Anyway, I meant that steam engines and vacuum tubes are as far as they would be able to go with human concepts and constructs without specific knowledge and tools.
6887488
The artillery could be worked out if done with magic rather than gunpowered. A spell or array to accelerate the round powered on command. Just need a big enough kinetic push. Possibly a capacitor that would allow it to store up energy or prepared gems with the energy to take the place of the gunpowder.
Then it just becomes a matter of engineering the barrels and introducing rifling.
Also was the weaponized cute are reference to Bad Dude or unrelated?
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Either this is someone other than Din or Din got some leather and a whip.
Well... I guess ponies' lives hang by how hard Cimmer and Din bang.
"We must have fiery, passionate sex to save the Temple of Shadows."
"Then let us not tarry any longer, Mistress."
Din makes it work by frequently throwing up.
I don't think a changeling will have any room to speak with the amount of love Din is going to rip from Cimmer.
Alright chapter, but I feel the welcomes were a little too much; especially from Celestia. I would think that she would be nervous about being back and drop into what she is used to for the last 1000 years. A lot of things just seemed a little off and too happy to me.
6887653 The problem is that if you are using magic to propel the bullet.....
Why not use the same amount of magic to rip them apart and have a lower chance of missing.
6887969 Indirect vs line of sight. Also depends on the defenses of the foes. While they might have the means to block magical attack they may have over looked indirect attacks using kinetic energy.
There is also a massive psycologically effect in massed artillery fire. It depends on how it is employed. If you spent time stocking and preparing the power supple then it could be used in conjuctoin with magic while your casters rested.
A nice coming home chapter.
I loved the interaction between Celestia Sah Kest. 
I am saving Ted's and Din's get together for later like a tasty desert. 
6887488
It's not actually that far from steam engines(need good manufacturing tolerances and overpressure protection), which the tech level has, to smoothbore cannon. Then, not far to rifled cannon, even if the balls end up more as 'darts' that need to be spun down the bore and engaged to the rifling prior to the shot. Heck, once you have a dart with a 'front' from the rifling, you can make it hollow, add some cork and fuse, and let the windage ignite said cork on firing. Instant accurate, airburst/timed explosive cannon shot.
Then it's not far at all to a breechloader.
I'll be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if this version of ponies(or more likely, the griffins or mintaurs) have firearms of a sort already. Early firearms on earth were slow to adopt due to rarely having any 'standard' bore or charge, meaning ammunition needed to be made for a particular gun.
But nothing so far has shown our hero as being a military history buff at all, so it's not likely he'd know how this kind of stuff works, just that it can.
Overfeed Changelings... that's new.
D'ayuuuummmm!
6888036
I don't think that's really practical here. For one the timeline seems to be too short to make development and deployment of artillery possible.
On top of that, Nightmare's forcing are 90% airborne, with only the occasional brainwashed royal guard on the ground. Making flak would take even more time and resources, and the moral effect is useless against brainwashed units anyway.
6888263
Considering she's a nurse/medic...she could be the very first changeling diet coach
One thing i'm waiting for is for Cim to finally officially become King. Considering Pandinus is already a Queen (even if only via biological caste) it makes sense for him to become a official king. It's just weird if they go "Lord Cimmerian and Queen Pandinus". It also suggest that Pan is higher in rank then Cim, which is wrong and could cause diplomatic issues further down the line.
6887969
Like unicorns using a sword, you grip it by the handle for greater strength rather than the entire blade. You also use a sword because it's less of a drain than making a sword from magic. Thus you'd propel a charge in a simple direction (out the barrel) rather than try to target, track, touch, then use your magic weapon on them.
Now if you have an unlimited supply of magic, then by all means go wild and use magic missile against the dark.
6888232
Eh, things to ponder when total annihilation isn't breathing down his neck. The moment the Mad Queen figures out where he is, it would not surprise me if she doesn't step up her game from the immoral kamikazi bug bombs to using captured Equestrian ponies for something truly horrific and even more deadly... somehow... I dunno, directing the bug bombs?
6886512 ? why would he get sick? because he eats some cheese? he eats snake-steaks, he eats sausages, he eats spaghetti and meatballs, I really don't see him getting sick from that
6886478 I got to the bath scene, and thought of that, and for a while I was like, 'Is this too much for a T-rated?' then I remembered 1000vm, and a lol'd
6886769 I actually used the dragon-tongue from skyrim for that name. sah kest is Phantom Tempest.
6887458 Not so much sent away as stayed behind for a bit. He'll get there, but he also has more of a connection to Heart than the marshmallow at this point. sparity is ded
6887546 She may have been capable of transformation at one point, but this was just an illusion.
6886525 Oh my god.... "I HAVE TO DESTROY YOU!"
6888917
The reason I asked was because Luna(?) told Cim about Celestia complaining about the lack of appropriately-sized stallions (compared to a full grown alicorn). And since she altered herself in this chapter I was confused...
...could she actually transform so the previous idea that size was a problem was in error?
...could she not actually transform so this current impression that she could was in error?
...was she just using illusions the whole time? (Which would have definitely been a problem for her during intimacy - even if her partner couldn't feel her wings, so many innocuous motions/positions would have hurt her badly.)
...was Luna simply remembering something from sooooooooooo long ago that it didn't actually matter any more?
Yeah... My nitpicky mind goes weird places.
6888967 I can see Tia being able to pull off a transformation, but it's not going to be as easy for her as it would be for Luna. Also, there would be the issue of how well she can hold it under pressure. In the case of sex, just because she can wander around with it on, doesn't mean she can have sex with it on. Not very well, at least.