Clearing Jungles and Jungle Clearings.
Having planned out a few important buildings, such as barracks, a smithy, a large storage building for things too big for the temple, some farm plots, and even a small wall directly around the temple, Ted went looking for Weaver. He would need some help with clearing the area outside, and there was something that had occurred to him recently.
He found the unicorn with Gleam, talking to ponies and writing down what they excelled at. For some reason, though, this involved all the ponies dropping their robes. Approaching the oddity, he noticed that all of the ponies had weird tattoos on their rear ends. A quick scan of Luna's memories said the tattoos were normal, that they displayed what the pony was good at, and despite the Ted-part of his brain's objections, that they occurred naturally. Suddenly curious, he turned around and glanced at his own backside, only to be greeted with plain black fur. So he was the odd man out here? And what would represent his ability to lead a bunch of insane cultists?
Brushing aside the odd thoughts, he approached Shadow and pulled him aside. "Shadow, I have two things I need from you. First, what ever happened to the armor I was pulled from?"
"What ar-Oh! It should still be in the main ritual chamber, your darkness. I had it cleaned up and set as a display there."
Ted nodded, "Second, I want a group set up for clearing the outer perimeter. It will give us better visibility as we leave, and eventually I'd like to get some sort of lookout system set up. If you need anything from the local area for those rituals or arrays that I asked for, add it to the needed supplies list I have in the war room. Even more helpful would be if you added where they can be found." Nodding to the ponies Gleam was still working with, he asked. "Are you done with any of them? I'd like to get an escort to the ritual room. I've been there once, and I was in a bit of a haze at that point."
"Of course, master. Blur!" A young yellow female pegasus rushed over Shadow's call. "I want you to escort the master to the ritual chamber. He wishes to see his armor. And by the shadows, put your robe back on!"
Blur flew back over to grab her robe, wrestled it on, then ran back to Ted. "This way, Mr. Nightmare, sir."
Ted only grinned as he followed the pegasus. Rose's name for him was getting around it seemed. 'Mr. Nightmare. Sounds important. I like it.'
<-(0)->
The journey was fairly quiet, though the pegasus was back in the air as soon as she was out of sight of Shadow Weaver, hovering back and forth through the hallways as she led the way. Walking back into the room of his, well, rebirth sounded cliché, but there really wasn't anything else Ted could call it at that point. The armor was there, fixed in a sitting position looking down upon all who entered the chamber. The inside of the armor was unnaturally dark, despite the light filtering in through the shattered windows. The sharp scent of the herbs used in the ritual still hung in the air, and judging by the lack of dust, the room was being kept in top condition. A movement to his left brought his attention to three ponies as they cleaned the room. Even with his presence among them, the cultists still found this room important.
Approaching the armor, Ted levitated the helmet in front of him. No wonder the princesses had forgotten about it. For some reason, unless it was right in front of him, his thoughts just seemed to slip off of the blue metal. Part of the magic of its creation perhaps? It wasn't the right size, made for both a more slender figure as well as a larger one. Looking at the armor now, he was just shy of looking it in the snout if he stood directly in front of the armor. Still, the armor felt familiar, as something he'd been stuck in for so long. Using his TK to turn it around, he closed his eyes, and tried putting it on.
To his surprise, the next thing he felt was the armor settling perfectly on his face, covering him as if it were custom made for him. He repeated the process with a leg brace, watching this time as the mystic metal seemed to flow around his foreleg, settling on him perfectly. He knew as soon as Luna had mentioned the Nightmare had created the armor with her magic that the armor would be magical in nature, but to reshape itself to his form? Levitating the entirety of the armor from its stand, he quickly donned the rest of it in a whirlwind of magic. He felt a little stronger with it on, a little surer of his steps, and strangely enough, he could barely hear his own breathing. Actually, he couldn't really hear Blur's breathing either. Glancing back to the pegasus, he found her face-down on the temple floor behind him, prostrate in front of the dais. Walking off of the raised platform, he approached the pegasus, not hearing a single hoof-fall despite the metal hoof-covers. Not only that, but all of the shadows in the room seemed deeper, and he could feel the shadows like they were an extension of himself. Was it the armor? Impossible, the Nightmare was long gone, and it never took the armor off, so there was no need to put some type of defense on it. Taking off the armor with his magic, he watched the shadows of the room. They were still there, still called to him, but it was faint. The armor had just amplified the effect. It had amplified his power.
Setting the helmet back on his body and the rest of the parts to his side, he reached the groveling pegasus. This was getting old fast. If they feared him, they wouldn't be able to talk to him. If they weren't able to talk to him, they wouldn't be able to deliver news and help him learn of the world. Luna was too kind to do this, and the Nightmare would have killed the mare where she lay. He'd have to do this on his own.
Blur was terrified. The second the Nightmare had put on the helmet, everything seemed a bit darker. As He pulled on the bracer, the rooms light levels once again dropped. Finally, with a whirlwind of His dark aura, the light in the room seemed to cease to exist for a moment, before returning, though weaker than ever before.
"Look at me, Blur." He commanded. The pegasus shakily raised her eyes up to meet His, though she stopped at His snout. Immediately, she dropped back down. She had no idea what she was doing here. Some of them said he was kinder than Shadow Weaver had said he would be. Buck, Weaver said the Nightmare was female. But seeing the display, and no longer able to even hear her own breathing, she could only assume he had been biding his time until he was strong enough to leave.
She jumped as a hoof touched her, before it lifted her muzzle to look right at Him. His eyes were sunk into the helmet, slit pupils gazing out of darkness right at her. She knew He had the teeth of a predator, and after the lights began to dim, the ponies cleaning the room had run in fear. She was alone with the dark god, and He was focused on her. A sudden pull brought her even closer to the large alicorn. He was almost twice her size, with magic, and a grip on her, there would be no escape. Just before she could start to cry in fear, though, He spoke to her.
"Blur, are you scared of me? As I told Rose, and as I told Gleam; the nightmares, the fear, that is for our enemies." His wings wrapped around her as he pulled her into His barrel. "The darkness can be scary, but it's not the darkness we fear. It's what could be in the darkness. The darkness can also be peaceful, it can be comforting, it can be safe. We don't sleep in the sun, we find our rest in the shadows."
Pushing her away just a little bit, he leaned down to her level. "My ponies have nothing to fear from me, Blur. Remember that, and hold it as truth in your heart." He said, before putting the armor back on and leaving the chamber. Blur watched Him leave in a stupor. She'd thought He was going to kill her, despite everything she'd heard about Him. She'd let her fear stop her from seeing the truth, the real truth, not the one Shadow Weaver preached. The Nightmare loved her, He loved them all. She wouldn't let her fear stop her again. There was only one pony in her life that had made her feel that safe, that spoke to her like that and held her close. It was that name she would now associate with the Nightmare.
She wouldn't let her fear stop her from serving her Father anymore. She would do anything she could to help Him.
Both the alicorn and the pegasus were so mired in their individual thoughts, neither noticed the shimmer of magic that had flickered to life during the Nightmares speech, nor did they notice the emblem that now adorned his flanks as he left.
<-(0)->
Walking away from the ritual room, the alicorn could feel a strange surge flow through him. Thinking about it, he'd felt something similar when he'd killed the snake in front of his ponies, but the surge was minute. This one wasn't much stronger, but the armor amplified the feeling enough to draw his attention to it. Did it have to do with Blur? Probably, considering his speech to her was the only thing he'd done since breakfast. What it was, however, he couldn't even begin to wonder.
Arriving at the entrance to the temple, he was greeted by at least fifteen ponies all eagerly waiting for him, with packs and a few makeshift blades on them. Seeing his approach, the ponies quickly lined up by the door, and all bowed as he reached them.
"You all wish to help with the clearing of the outer courtyard?" Ted asked them, his question answered by bobbing heads. There were too many to keep an eye on the foragers and watch the ponies clearing the courtyard at the same time. Deciding to split the job into parts, he picked out a gathering team, and ordered the others to gather any wood-clearing tools they could find. Honestly, why they hadn't brought them to the entrance in the first place was beyond him. The trees weren't going to just fall over and split into useful chunks if they bucked them enough.
Stepping outside into the humid jungle, he placed his tracking spell on the ponies and addressed the seven gatherers for this mission.
"Alright, same rules as before. Keep in sight of each other at all times, don't wander off on your own, and if you hear something that bears investigation. Do we have a pegasus with the group?" A single raised hoof answered his question. Ted turned to the pegasus. "Keep above us, there's not much in the upper canopy that will attack a pony, so you will be our over-watch. If you see something that doesn't look right, you let me know. If there's no time, just yell the direction." Turning back to the whole group, he continued. "Hoods down. We're searching for anything useful around the temple before we clear it. Let's go."
The gathering run was fairly quiet for the most part. Every now and again Ted would move ahead of the group, or drive away a particularly nasty looking animal, but nothing seemed very eager to take him on or to make a swipe at his charges. About an hour into the expedition, the group had searched a good quarter of the area directly surrounding the temple when something worthy of note occurred. A chubacobra slinked from the shadows, about ten feet from Ted. The alicorn caught his breath, staring straight at the predator, getting ready to blast it with a spell the second it made a move for his ponies.
However, the creature didn't make a move for the ponies behind him. In fact, the longer Ted watched the thing prowl by, the more he realized it never even looked at him. As the creature left, he turned to the gatherers, and noticed they were all standing in the shadows of the trees they were under, and those very shadows seemed to pull around them and cover them from prying eyes. As the danger had passed, the ponies started panicking about their current situation, some even jumping out of the shadows that shrouded them from danger.
Ted admonished them, as the animal was still nearby. "Shh, remain calm." he whispered. Since when had his powers been that strong? The second he'd noticed the creature, he'd thought of hiding, and he had. Not only that, he'd apparently hidden the entire group along with himself. He'd spoken those words to Blur in an effort to calm her down, to comfort her, but this was a world of magic. Perhaps shadows did have their own strength? Yet another thing to add to his ever growing list of concerns.
After waiting to be certain the danger had passed, the ponies continued the journey. There were plenty of usable plants, be they vines for weaving, a few edible greens, and even more exotic herbs for the alchemy laboratory. Eventually, the group arrived at the entrance of the temple once more, and Ted released the ponies to deliver what supplies they had gathered to the proper locations. Ted had a lunch brought to him while he inspected the equipment of those who would be clearing the jungle with him. Most of the tools were fairly rundown, rusted, and overall not what he would like to use.
"Definitely need someone in charge of weapon and tool maintenance." He mumbled to himself as he hefted an ax with a rotted handle in his magic grip. Applying a bit of pressure, the handle snapped, causing several nearby ponies to jump, and drawing the attention of all eight workers. Holding the two pieces in front of him, he decided it was time for a lecture.
"Tools are important. They help us complete tasks that would otherwise be impossible with our own hooves. But just like our bodies, we need to keep them in proper condition. If this ax had been swung, and snapped when it hit the tree, there would be a good chance of injury, be it from the pony using it colliding with the tree, or the ax head flying off and striking someone. Our medical supplies our limited as it is, ponies. I want you to check your tools for rot before using them out there, understand? And if there are injuries, report them." Turning back to the door, he led them outside.
<-(0)->
After seeing Luna use the arcane fire spell, he'd been sure to double check his own version. At first he'd thought he'd messed it up as he had with the shadow blades, since the fire was stuck as the color of his aura. As the princess showed, however, the magic was based on one's aura, so in his case, the flames came out as strange flickering shadows that left the ground scorched. Ted had been cautious with the spell for the first few minutes, but the foliage was so thick in places that even his magic flames were quickly snuffed out by the vegetation if not constantly reinforced. This didn't bother him, though, in fact it allowed him to enjoy himself, though he was careful to avoid any trees that may be useful. It allowed him to unleash the magic he'd been using on and off at a higher level, higher than he'd even managed against the snake, as the fight the day before was brutal, but was ended quickly. He torched large areas around the temple, stopping only to cast a glance back at the ponies felling trees near the entrance and checking the tracking spells he had active on the workers.
After clearing a good portion of the front entrance, including scouring the stone around the doors of plant life, Ted returned to the entrance of the temple and ordered all gathered wood brought in for the day. It was getting close to dinner time, and there was one more thing he wanted to accomplish today. His new ability and the armor would only make it easier. Of course, being able to fly would make it a cake walk, but he wasn't going to trust muscle memory for something that complicated. The size differences between himself and Luna were enough to make him almost trip several times when he first started walking, so he could only imagine the issues that would come with flight. Turning for the glade, he did his best to pull the shadows close, before taking off at a brisk pace to the east. The dreamers over there were both weak, and wouldn't last long without help, but he didn't know where their loyalties were. That was something he planned on addressing posthaste.
<-(0)->
It took him a good two hours to reach the location, but eventually he found a small cave that was partially concealed by moss someone had pulled over the entrance. The cave had a few signs of habitation, like discarded fruit cores and pits around the fire pit. What drew his eye however, was the apparent source of the weaker of the two dreamers. In a strange pod towards the back of the cave was what was once a cultist, though it was horrifically maimed. Taking a closer look, he couldn't fathom how the creature could still be alive, as he couldn't even identify its gender through the injuries.
His inspection was cut short as something else in the cave awoke.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" The voice was strange to him, an odd buzzing undertone to it. Finding the speaker hiding in the shadows in the back of the cave, Ted had little trouble seeing the creature, despite the low light. It was an insectoid pony, holes in the legs, though it may have been better to say it had holes where it's legs should be. Even the creatures body had holes, leaving the creature with a pockmarked appearance. Stepping forward and releasing his hold on the shadows, the alicorn all but materialized in front of the bug-pony, a frown on his face. Sitting between the creature and the exit, he addressed it.
"Did you do this to this pony?" He asked, gesturing to the pod. The insects eyes followed his hoof, before returning to him. It shuffled uncomfortable for a few moments before answering. "I-I put him in the pod, yes, but I didn't hurt him. He, he'd be dead already if it wasn't for the pod, actually. He and a few other ponies dressed like him were looking for food, I think, and they didn't notice The Swarm."
Ted gave a puzzled glance at the pod, then asked the pony "What's The Swarm?"
"It's a big group of ants. The Swarm is what it's called, because there's just so many of them that nothing else can even come close to describing it. He was the only one who made it to the river. Even then, The Swarm had torn him apart badly, and despite my best efforts, I can't grow back lost limbs." The bug answered, looking sadly at the pod.
"He's still dying, isn't he?"
The bug slumped at that question. "Yes, and then I'll be back to square one. Or I would be if I had the energy to leave. I put a lot of energy into the pod, hoping keeping him alive would keep me alive. It did, but I haven't gotten nearly enough positive emotion from him to make up for the energy I used."
The answer confused the alicorn. "What do you mean you haven't gotten enough positive emotion out of him? You make it sound like you use it like a power source."
"I do. I'm a changeling, we live off of the positive emotions of other creatures."
"Like a vampire?" Ted asked.
The creature cringed at the comparison. "Not really, we just, you know, absorb the energy that's being given off."
Ted's eyes widened slightly in understanding. "Oh, like a solar panel, right?" At the creatures confused look, he tried again. "It's something that takes the suns energy and turns it.. into... oh, that's right, you guys don't have that here. Uh, oh, I got it, like photosynthesis in plants." At the changelings continued confusion, he explained further. "The plants absorb the light given off by the sun, and turn it into energy of their own."
"Yes, I think that sounds about right."
"So, how does that work? I mean, do you use some type of spell, or do the emotions just kind of, well, flow into you?"
The insectoid pony's mouth opened to answer several times, before it shrugged. "I've honestly no idea how it works, it just does. I know we can actively feed in times of desperation, but that won't help me here. You're an alicorn, and he's dying."
"Where are the others? Surely there are other changelings out there you could stay with. Even if you can't feed off of each other, wouldn't you be safer in a larger group?"
"I don't know where they are. Years ago, the pony leader caught a bunch of changelings, and used a magic array on them. From what we were able to find out, she wanted to find a way to strike at our queen. She rode the link the queen uses to give us orders and help us find each other and poured thousands of Thaums of pure mana into the link. The- the last I heard from Mother was her screaming, then I never heard anything again. Then the ponies came for the hive. Many of us managed to escape, but we weren't infiltrators. Things only went downhill from there. Any time a group of changelings would try to form a new link, they would be found within a day. It was just safer to be alone. I was revealed one day, ratted out by another changeling. They'd apparently caught Chitter, and told him they'd let him go if he told them about other changelings. They didn't, though, and I barely got away. Eventually I ended up here." Laying down and curling up on the floor, the changeling closed it's eyes. It was waiting for him to kill it.
Ted was still thinking about the things it had revealed to him, though. The more he heard about this queen, the more he began to understand why a group of ponies were willing to summon a creature of pure evil back to the world. Worst case scenario, world is still ruled with an iron, well, hoof. Best case, the two superpowers wipe each other out, or at least are left weakened enough that someone else can finish the job.
Unfortunately, while the bug could be dealt with at his leisure, the pony in the pod was a different story. Turning to the pod, he asked the changeling. "Can he be moved? There is a healing spring nearby, if I can bring him there it may work."
The changeling shook its head. "I know the spring you're talking about. It accelerates healing, but it won't save him. The damage is too great."
"Can you think of anything that would work?" The alicorn asked.
The changeling shook its head again. "Not close enough to matter. There may be some decent healers among the villages way to the north, but the closest is a weeks travel. He wont last a day once he's moved."
"So there's nothing we can do?" At his question, the changeling shook its head. Ted sighed. "Open the pod." The insectoid pony immediately whipped around to face him. He met its glare with one of his own. "He is a member of a group of ponies that came together in the temple and freed me from my prison. I will see him laid to rest." At his insistence, the changeling started to leverage itself up, but stopped when a crack resounded through the cave. Looking at its leg, Ted could see the shell starting to crack, the chitin so thin at that part of the leg that it couldn't support the creature anymore. "I take it the holes in your legs aren't supposed to be so large?"
"It's, uh, usually a good indication of hunger..." The changeling answered with a wince.
"I swear, what is it with you ponies and wandering around the jungle starving all the time." He muttered, levitating the bug pony onto its hooves and near the pod. With a little effort, changeling managed to break the pod open. Almost immediately, the occupant of the pod started to thrash as the anesthetic effect of the pod was interrupted. The changeling bit into the pony's neck, and the pony slowed its thrashing. Ted could only assume the venom had some type of muscle relaxant and pain reducer. He'd ask in a moment. Closing in on the broken pony, he leaned in and addressed it.
"Shh, what's your name?"
The pony made a few attempts to sit up, and Ted admonished him for his efforts. "You're in no condition to move. What's your name?"
"F-fast par. Parcel." The pony wheezed out. "Who. Are you? What happened to. The ants? The others?"
"Parcel, my name is Nightmare."
At the mention of the name, the ponies unseeing eyes widened. "They. Those idiots pulled it off." He said, his face breaking into a smile.
Ted laid down next to the pod, leaning close to Parcel. "Yes they did. You were hurt badly. But I want you to know; you and your friends are under my protection."
"Just. Just keep Tulip safe. That's all I can ask." Ted was about to reply when the pny continued. "I saw what happened. To the others, I know. What happened to me. I- I can't even lift. My head. Or feel my legs." Parcel said, head drooping back into the pod as the last of his strength faded.
"Rest easy, Fast Parcel, I will see to it." The alicorn replied. He pulled the pod closed again, and casting his life detection spell to be certain the pony was no more, rose to his feet. He levitated the pod to the back of the cave, and grabbed the changeling in his magic.
"Do you have anything of yours in the cave?" At its direction, Ted levitated a small satchel over to the two of them, and walked out of the cave with his burdens. The sun was beginning to set, so he would need to move quickly. Casting one last glance at the cave, he conjured several shadow blades, throwing them into the overhang of the cave. The blades, now a good two feet across, crashed into the caves ceiling before detonating with at least twice the force of his blades from the previous day. Suitably weakened, the cave collapsed, burying the pod and the pony inside it deep in the cave.
Walking outside, he set the changeling on the ground in front of him. "I have several questions. Your answers will determine you fate. I'll Know if you lie, so just tell me what I want to know. First, what is your name? Also, you mentioned a friend as a he, so I assume you have a gender. I can't tell your gender, so which are you?"
"M-mirage sir! Female!" The changeling squeaked, still shaking in fear from the amount of power she'd just witnessed thrown at her previous home for a simple burial.
"Good" The alicorn nodded. "Did you use venom on Fast Parcel?"
"Yes sir... I-I only did it to stop him from thrashing so much. I'm not a fighter, so my venom isn't strong enough to hurt a pony, just slow them down."
'She's also so weak her legs are breaking under her own weight.' Ted thought to himself. "Finally, will you follow my orders? I offer you the same protection I do to all those in the Temple of the Shadows. Will you follow me?" He asked with a resonating voice.
Mirage was thunderstruck. He was offering her refuge? "I-Why? Why would you let me live? Ponies always attack changelings on sight!"
"You kept one of my ponies as comfortable as possible until I could find him. Your reasoning was for your own survival, but you still did something for me. Now, will you accept?" He asked her.
"Yes, yes please! I don't want to die out here!" Suddenly her eyes got brighter. Hope was something he was beginning to recognize, with all the times he'd been seeing it reignited in ponies. Ted smiled at her, mentally assigning her the same importance as the ponies at the temple, thus letting his concern for their wellbeing include her. It apparently worked, and the holes in her legs seemed less gaping than before, though the changeling passed out afterwards. He lifted her onto his back, put her satchel into a spare compartment in his armor, and took off at a brisk pace back to the temple, once again pulling the shadows to him. The ponies may take issue with the changeling, and he'd keep a close eye one her for now, but at the very least, she would keep things interesting. Besides, she was a source of information, just as much as the ponies were. More so in fact, as she had information that no other pony in the temple had. Habits and tendencies of a culture that embraced the shadows from birth. What better teacher for his ponies than a creature of the darkness?
At the very least it would be a giant "Fuck You" to this queen he'd been hearing about. She was really starting to piss him off.
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This was an excellent chapter! Loving the narrative you attached to the changeling population, its a unique take I haven't seen before. Keep up the good work!
in this story it looks like celestia see's herself that she can do no wrong, no matter how vile even, genocide
I am very much looking forward to future chapters
As always, an excellent chapter! Going to have to check out any additional stories you've written now.
"Good news every one! We now have something of a stealth expert now!" First successful recruitment handled by Ted, Mirage get! Interesting little note about his ability to care for those he protects.
Dayum.
I guess he won't be calling The Queen, "Auntie" and holding his forelegs out for a hug, when they meet.
Not sure if it's the changeling's personality or something was missed, but shouldn't the drone have reacted a bit more when Ted revealed himself as Mr.Nightmare in all his armored glory? It seemed to come off as, oh, an alicorn, oh well, time to roll over and die. Her emotional response was almost as drained as her body by the look of it. If this was why she just sat there then I do hope she perks up after a decent meal-- assuming the ponies aren't completely hostile to her. Should be interesting to see how strong Ted's command is versus the ponies tendency to drive away changelings. Er, not that his command isn't absolute.
And how much longer will you keep us in the dark over Ted's cutie mark???
(For the rest of the story, Ted will always be wearing the armor, a cloak, blanket, or something in scene will block the view to keep his flank covered)
AUGH!
And at the end of the next paragraph we have this line:
So, you have a premature feminine pronoun there in red. Also:
pony
than
," h
its
And finally, some of the paragraphs aren't double spaced while most are... this is particularly troubling because some of the paragraphs aren't indented.
5946058 There has been nothing in this story stating that Celestia is the tyrant queen. It could be Alicorn Twilight for all we know.
What does his cutie mark look like? Also love the story and hope to see more soon
.
.
I wish you well and hope you have a good day
Is that a Minecraft reference I see?
I hope you don't butcher her personality for convenience's sake or simple character bashing (I assume the Queen is Celestia), but I'm withholding judgment until we've seen all sides of the story, not just the side of those who oppose her, as they may be more than just a little biased.
I hope you'll give us some more Luna trying to figure out what the hell is going on. What she has seen so far doesn't match the Nightmare she knows at all.
1. Celestia is a tyrant, a troll, and well... generally insane
2. That is some bad ass armor
3. The character in this story has the same name as the character in 'The Rise of Darth Vulcan'
Now, it's 4 am and i've just got done reading 20 chapters of the aforementioned story. Then, just for kicks i hit the fimfiction button, get taken to the home page and here is my recently favorited story floating about the newly updated page, so naturally i gave a nice big fuck you to sleep and had to read, and naturally i was not disappointed.
Though Luna X Ted (no not the romantic kind) would be fun to see, maybe some kind of dream battle or at least a conversation, the last times you did you jumped around it.
So yeah fuck celestia, luna is best pony
And now the Changelings are involved, too - things are really heating up nicely there. That made up for the last chapter and then some.
Also, calling it now: It's totally Queen Twilight Sparkle, not Celestia. Solving a problem by pouring an absurd amount of magic into it is really more her signature approach.
Really good chapter. Wonder what his cutie mark is.
Why does everyone think Celestia is the Queen now?
From chapter 3 " Somepony other than that smug... nag, that had imprisoned her and her sister. " quoted.
This clearly shows Celestia is imprisoned along with Luna.
hmmmmmmmmm...
cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/54316701.jpg
Yaay for Changeling. Be far better now the cultists are feeling happy with themselves and passion to serve nightmare, It should have plenty to feed on.
Also, its female. How much good emotions does she need to Queen and start Brooding?
Bring me your ignored, forgotton, and cast away.
Awww yiss. The leader being on the level of an aspiering god and showing fatherly devotion abd being loved like a parent in return is something that there is much to little about on this site.
5946156
Oh, I like that idea! Kidding, but seriously, while some of the cultists would notice the mark, none know what it's represents for certain, and those that notice may figure it's just coming back as a result of the ritual. They don't know how that magic shit works, they're just here for flan Fridays.
5946158 Fixed most of those, though I'll look up if I capitalize after a quote. That's been bothering me, and I can't remember if I should or not.
I'm still giggling over the guesses and discussions going on in my story, tells me I'm doing something right =D
Plot twist: they think of him as a brother and his cutie mark is Kamina pointing up.
th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2011/249/c/0/aim_for_the_sky_by_devicomic-d48cabc.jpg
There is a truly major problem with this chapter.
You typoed 'quite' for 'quiet' a couple of times.
Wait - minor, not major. :)
5946534
The Great and Smug Trixie? :p Before this chapter I would have guessed chrissy won at the wedding, this being set in an alternate universe and in the future we really need more information.
Cutie mark: a shield surrounded by shadows (much like luna's is a moon surrounded by darkness).
5946711
Whatwhatwhat?! Flan Fridays? Screw friendship, I'm here for the flan!
5946731
Didn't someone already do that crossover? Tho having the sunglasses for a cutie mark would have everypony puzzled-- myself included up until 4 months ago when I heard of this anime. I'm still putting my bits on Ted's mark to be a crescent moon. If this was more of a crack-fic then I'd go with a human hand.
I wonder why everyone is assuming Celestia is the Tyrant Queen here? I was thinking Twily at first, since every mention of the Queen describes "powerful magic" and how apparently everything when to hell only recently.
Although, I kinda want it to turn out to be a Evil!Possessed!Cadence instead now. just for the WTF factor.
5946711 Side chapter#1 "How to hide your cutie mark: A Snuggie"
I do believe you mean quiet. (Quiet is little sound, while Quite means significantly. It is quite the mistake to mistype quiet, after all. X3)
You do it more than once, so Ctrl + F4 every quite to see if it shouldn't be quiet.
5946283 No. Its still princess Celestia and princess Luna. The author has added a Queen that rules above them. Forgot her name.
This is an AU.
5946817 I'd say this has to do with the author's notes:
Dunno about you, but it sure sounds like the Queen is supposed to be Celestia.
As an aside, I truly hope this isn't going to turn into character bashing. Tyrant!Celestia is a truly tiresome cliché that has been around since the start of the fandom and one I could do without. There's a reason she's often portrayed as motherly and loving, she is both those things.
5946978 how can you forget something I've not mentioned yet? Time machines are cheating
As for the spelling errors, I'll fix them when I get home. Hard to do on an iPhone.
5946978 Oh. Where was that stated? I seem to have completely missed that part.
5947026
5947016
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/255419/7/the-substitute-demon/its-not-the-truth-its-what-they-see
Author notes
pff, who even reads authors' notes, anyway. nerds, that's who.
Our favorite cult leader Shadow Weaver is just not a ponies pony, despite his 'zeal/Charisma'. Who was the mare who found his armor?
I like to see he's doing as directed. "Your Darkness" :) clearly he's very serious, conservative and afraid of Nightmare. "And by the shadows, put your robe back on!"
Maybe he's a magician/technocrat who got shoved into a leadership position after the real leader got eaten? He's probably relieved to be getting clear direction.
Maybe he's thinking he had to make a Faustian bargin and is freaked out because he's waiting for the other shoe to drop. All the reasonableness and lack of yelling must be freaking him out. I could see him being very insecure and afraid to do the wrong thing and getting more and more scared because Ted isn't happy and he keeps miss guessing on what he wants. And clearly the Nightmare has a bias for action.
The chair/throne incident alone would be enough to stop me from sleeping if I was him. Maybe he'll have a nervous breakdown or panic attack soon. Hopefully we'll get to hear from his perspective soon.
Also nice to add more ponies and Mirage. I wonder who Tulip is. The overwatch pegasus?
Cutie mark? Shield with an alicorn rampant casting a shadow. Or maybe a dove riding a raptor.
Love the names also.
Blur
Fast Parcel (deceased)
Gleam
Head Trauma
Rose
Shadow Weaver
Slop
Ted
Tulip
Twitch
5947058 I was being silly, since I was using rose as a source of weaponized d'aww. No, the little filly is NOT actually in charge of everything :/
5947263
Says you, but I'm not seeing any proof coming from you there.
I really like where and how this story is going, fantastic to see a villain break out of the evil-stupid cliche's. I hope to continue with your story til the end.
5947299 you got me, rose is secretly fausticorn returned from her journey beyond the stars. She was corrupted by the humans, and now finds joy in watching ponies cry.
5947367
You know what, now I'm actually surprised that story doesn't actually exist yet. Seems like the most obvious nerd bait imaginable, when you put it like that.
5947367 hmm, I may have found my next one-shot
5947388
Betcha it would stay featured for weeks, too.
Keep it coming, this shit just keeps getting better
Brilliant chapter, and can't wait for more.
So, the Queen is a corrupted Celestia?
Still the most interesting story development I've seen in a while. Highlight of my day was seeing this update!
5947530 wouldn't you like to know.
Placing my bets on Queen Sunset Shimmer. Come on
darkbacon horse!5947991 it's secretly fluttershy. She stared everyone into doing her dirty work. Her shed just didn't cut it anymore, so she's using Canterlot.
I've never liked the idiot ball evil queen celestia...
That said, I think I read one once where the evil queen celestia was more of a 'road to hell is paved with good intentions' type and that worked really well.
Though, whether or not the queen is celestia is still up in the air I guess.
5948321
Huehuehuehuehue
I get the reference my gut sir.
5946058 We don't even know if it's Celestia. I made a comment a bit ago thinking it might be twilight. It's been long enough if I'm understanding the timeline right.
5950044 maybe
Honestly? You did great. The story is going as smooth as OJ. Errors? If there were any I didn't see any. Finally, is Ted still in a female alicorn body or is his body changed into male? I sortive can't tell and with the whole. Mr. Nightmare, I'm rather curious to see in my imagination.