"Everybody here?" Cimmerian asked, trotting into the Queen's chamber.
Pandinus and Zelus had both personally seen to its preparation. The blankets and cushions were scattered about the room, while the queens bed sat in the middle of the chamber. Pinkie was finally slowing down now that the adrenaline was wearing off. It seemed wrong to see her look so sleepy, but she was fighting every step of the way for just a little more time with her friends. Cadance was also present, Amare wrapped in her hooves and basking in the love the mare was radiating to the nymph.
Celestia trotted in as well, a curious expression crossing her face before she began to smile excitedly. It was possible the mare had figured out his plan, but she was keeping quiet.
"Alright everyone. I'm going to be using a knockout spell Luna taught me to get everyone here asleep then we're going to meet up in the dream realm.
The five mares from the past, Celestia, Cadance and Amare all made themselves comfortable as Cimmerian soared to the bed in the center. Din giggled a bit as she bounced from his landing and Zelus once more pressed against him as well the moment he was dozing off. It was something he'd have to get used to until the queen found a more permanent mate.
Casting the spell, he guided all present to the same dream.
"Din, Zelus? I want you two to hold this together for me. Celestia knows how if you're not certain so ask her. I'll be back."
The alicorn took to the dream realm, searching for his target. As expected there was a bit more shielding in place to stop his progress but it was fairly sloppy. The Nightmare had no idea what it was doing when it came to spellcraft, it seemed. Landing quietly, he found his target curled up in the darkness, chanting words of encouragement.
"It's going to be over soon, it's going to be over soon, it's going to be over soon, it's going to-"
"Twilight?" he asked, drawing an eep as the purple mare jerked in shock. "I'm back, and I'd like to try something. Will you allow me to?"
"W-what do you want? I-oh, it's you. Did...did you give the girls my letters?" the alicorn asked, her eyes brightening at the though.
"I did, I even had a friend give Spike his, since he was sleeping at the time. Fun thing about changelings is they can communicate even when asleep, so it's easy to have a sleeping drone read the information to an awake drone for transference into the waking world. Your friends were also very happy to hear you were still here, that you were still alive. Cadance was beside herself when I first brought up the possibility of you being possessed, because it meant that the little filly she took care of wasn't some heartless monster.
"Yes, Twilight. They were all ecstatic to hear you were still keeping yourself together."
"Thank you, thank you so much," she sobbed, rushing up and latching onto his foreleg. "It's wonderful to hear. I...I tried doing what you said, giving her useless information and she gets so mad. I give her wrong calculations and even though it makes me mad as well, I- I love hearing her rant about how something didn't work, or how everything's going wrong. I want to help, I want to make this end. If there's anything I can do just say it. I'd even-"
"Calm down, Twilight," Cimmerian whispered, gently picking her up. "You're doing plenty. I even have a little something I'd like to try if you give me the chance."
The purple mare nodded emphatically/
"Yes, anything! Anything you want!"
"Then we're going to go for a little trip," he said, gathering his power. A shout of alarm and anger from across the dream-void drew both their attention. Cimmerian chuckled, switching to a one-leg carry and grinning viciously at the Nightmare. With his other leg he drew his hoof across his throat in a cutting motion before his horn flared and the two were taken from the dream.
Cimmerian let the mare float in the dream realm long enough to reposition himself under her, catching her on his back and taking off for his second destination. The hardest part was over, this would be a bonus.
"Anybody home?" Cimmerian called into the darkness of the dream.
There was a shuffling in the distance, a gleam of reptilian eyes. Then the dreamer stepped into the light, drawing a gasp from his passenger.
"I...am. What...do...you...want," the drake asked in exhaustion.
"I was wondering if you'd like to participate in a dream get-together. I've already gathered Celestia, Cadance, Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack together and I was just picking up an extra for the Hearths Warming present," Cimmerian explained, twisting to drop the smaller alicorn and picking her up in his hooves.
"This is Twilight, the real one."
The drake moved forward, leaning to one side to allow his good eye to take in the mare before him. The purple pony was shaking under his inspection, but that seemed to put the drake at ease.
"It's different...no cruelty. Nightmare was...responsible? Heart said...that."
"I actually saw the Nightmare just before we left the dream. It's going crazy since most of its plans are falling apart, and it just learned I can steal its host. Well, we learned I can steal its host. Would you like to join us?"
Cimmerian watched as the drake ponder the offer before nodding.
"Want to see...them again. Be..nice."
"Excellent," the dark alicorn said. "Let's be on our way then."
<-(0)->
Cimmerian reappeared in the shared dream in a flash of light, Spike stepping back to reorient himself to his new location. Before Cimmerian even opened his mouth in greeting though, Celestia had already ripped the mare from his forelegs.
A stream of happy, tearful babble was all he could make out as Celestia nuzzled and kissed her one-time student, tears streaming down both their faces as the purple alicorn babbled apologies and attempted to bury herself in the other mare's chest. The others, none faster than Pinkie in spite of her exhaustion, launched themselves to the pair. They were soon joined by a squealing Cadance as well, the pony pile growing bigger and bigger until no slip of purple was visible.
"Celestia figured it out while you were gone," Din said with a giggle before her eyes began to run over the drake beside him. "And who's this?"
"This is Spike, he was Twilight's assistant in years passed by and more recently Heart's guardian," Cimmerian introduced the dragon. "I hear she's quite enamored with you."
That drew a blush through the purple dragon's scales.
"She was...only friend for...long time. Wonderful to see...her well again. See her happy."
"A dragon huh? I think any queen would be happy with that kind of setup," Zelus giggled. "How is our sister doing? Is she well enough to begin laying again?"
"Not yet. Soon, she said. Few months. Said will become...thorny?" the drake rumbled, causing both queens to burst into laughter.
"Oh you adorable little thing, that's going to be a treat for you," Din said with a predatory grin. "She's going to be after you worse than Zelus and I chase Cimmerian."
Spike's confused expression just made them laugh harder. Cimmerian shook his head and patted the dragon's arm.
"I'm sorry, man. You are royally screwed."
"Don't be using that kind of language around my boy," Celestia chided, flying up and grasping the drake's snout in her hooves. She planted a kiss on his nose and patted him lovingly.
"It's good to see you again, Spike. I can't wait to actually see how much you've grown. I'll even see about bringing some Sapphire cookies, though I have a feeling I'm going to need a lot of them."
"Sounds nice," the dragon rumbled, his expression shifting to a smile. "Haven't had gems in...long time."
"We'll fix that," the white alicorn assured. "Have you gotten your eye looked at?"
"Zecora," Spike answered with a nod.
"Zecora's still hangin' round?" Applejack asked, the group of friends finally joining them. In the center of the group and being pressed against from all sides sat a still shaking Twilight Sparkle, her eyes betraying the mare's fear that this was all just a horrible dream- well, a fake dream, or...whatever.
"Give medicine for...eye. Need lots because eye...big," Spike rumbled. His gaze shifted from the Apple to the mare in the center of the group.
"S-spike, I'm so sorry, I-"
The dragon held up a claw, motioning for her to stop.
"Not apologize. Two reasons. One, feel slow. Things fuzzy now, not mean as much. Two, never hate you. Not ever, big sister."
Once more the purple mare began to weep at the kindness her friends were willing to give. Spike reached over and picked her up in his claws, holding her against his chest in an awkward hug.
"Not hate you, ever. Promise."
It was nearly three hours later when Cimmerian figured he was reaching his limit. Maintaining a dream with participants from so many locations was beginning to wear on him, oddly enough. Spike was the first to leave, the dark alicorn returning him to the dragon's own dream with the promise of his arrival before too long. He also fleshed out the warning he gave the dragon earlier, detailing what the queen would likely want once she recovered. Seeing the drake's eyes bulge at the prospect had been a wonderful treat.
"Good to know I'm not the only one dealing with horny queens," Cimmerian muttered as he flew back to the party-dream. The mare's were all giving tearful goodbyes and promises to see Twilight the moment she was free while Twilight was being made to promise she would do her best to see them in return.
The time was coming though.
"No dream lasts forever. But neither do the nightmares. We'll come for you soon, Twilight," Cimmerian said as he flew back to the alicorn's origin point.
He slowed as he approached, looking about in confusion. Where normally the place he was returning to would be obvious, he couldn't find it now. There was no place to put the purple alicorn. No location to return her to.
Her dream was gone.
'It was a shared dream, a shared dream between her and the Nightmare. Her body had two minds, two spirits...oh shit. What would happen if one of the spirits woke up?'
He looked around for a few more moments, the mare on his back becoming increasingly agitated.
"Cimmerian, sir? What's wrong?"
"I...I don't know. I can't find your dream...I-it looks like were going to have to jury-rig this," he said, looking about in anxiety.
He quickly flipped the mare into his hooves. He wasn't taking any chances with this, this was her spirit he was guiding right now, not just her consciousness. Her spirit, her soul. He'd accidentally separated her from her body. Did it happen every time he pulled someone from a dream or was it because of her unique situation?
'The hive. The hive is always up, I can always access the dream-hive. Maybe...'
With a flash, the alicorn was back at the Temple. The queens and the ponies had already returned to their lives the moment he left, free to wake up as they desired. Zelus was guiding drones from the dream-hive when he arrived, his anxiety causing her to stare and drawing Pandinus to the dream not a second later.
"Cimmerian? What's wrong, why-why do you still have that pony?" Din asked, her focus switching to the purple alicorn.
"The Nightmare woke up. She woke up without Twilight. I can't return her to a dream that doesn't exist anymore. I, can you keep her in here? I don't know how the dream-hive works, but can it support a mind like this?"
"I do not know," Zelus stated as she walked up to the pair. "I may have a solution though. It's worth an attempt. Don't you think so, Din?"
The second queen's eyes lit up in realization a moment later.
"Oh, I think that would work! Come dear, let's go get you situated. Leave it to us, Cimmerian. You have a play you're expected to attend."
<-(0)->
As the ponies reveled in the cool jungle air, singing songs of old and passing out gifts and tokens of affection, a few drones continued about their assigned tasks. Suddenly one jerked, it's eyes beginning to focus on its surroundings with clarity it lacked before. It stared at he world around it, as if it had never noticed its surroundings before.
Hoofsteps nearby caused its ears to perk and it turned to the sound. Well, it tried to turn only to fall on its face with the dull thump of chitin impacting the soil.
"Careful dear. You need to give yourself some time to adjust," an echoing voice said. The drone was righted, facing the queen who smiled lovingly at it.
A second queen approached, this one nearly twice the size of the drone. The second queen lifted the drones face to meet her eyes.
"How does it feel to taste fresh air again, to want to move and have your body react?"
The drone shuddered, its jaws moving as it attempted to speak.
"Drones are not normally capable of speech I'm afraid. We may be able to make that adjustment later or the body can be shifted for such, but for now you must do without. I think it's worth it though, don't you think so?"
The drone nodded emphatically. It would likely have been crying if it remembered how-oh, nevermind. It was crying now.
"Well, I believe we have some ponies to visit. Come along, dear. Let's go meet them," the smaller queen said, turning towards the temple.
The drone made to follow only to stumble. The second queen held it upright, keeping a soft glow over the drones shell for support. Nodding and mouthing its thanks, it stepped down, taking its first step of its own power in over a decade.
4 updates in 2 days
I truly hate it when fimfic glitches and I don't get a notice that a fav has updated. Ah well. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
I wonder if nightmare has access to twilights information now that she is separated?
My first thought was "Quick! Stuff her into a drone!" and it seems I was spot on, yay.
*Edit* Chapter's still fresh, will block spoilers
7547774 LOL Why have I not seen that vid before! That is funny as hell!
7547774
Thank you for introducing that video to my life. Seriously, thank you.
Saw this coming as soon as the Nightmare woke up. Just have the biggest shit-eating grin right now.
Been quite awhile with no real updates to my favorites and then this updates twice. I have such a chubby right now.
Goofed?
He stole the brains behind the Nightmares plans! He stole back Twilight!
He has all the win!
7547791 In a magic world, when the soul was ripped from the body, the mind (being a part of the soul and the container of knowledge) went with it, so, no.
And even in a scientific setting, the Nightmare had done enough damage to Twilight mind to make it forgets what electron sequences equal which memories.
7547791 Doubt it, The information is connected to Twilight's soul, not her body.
Though I do wonder about the Element of magic...
7547861 fair enough
It's great to see you again.
Cimmerian has dun goofed. At least they can now preserves Twilight even if her body is to be destroyed by overzealous resistance fighters.
Also, when will he has that talk with Luna about the Minotaurs dream thingy and to both sisters about how they treat the ponies?
7547833 But it still has her body AND her power. And without Twilight to ''help'' with the plans, it just might become VERY reckless.
WOOHOOO!!!!
SHE'S FREE!!!!!
7547832 Your welcome.
omigawd!omigawd!omigawd!omigawd!omigawd!omigawd!omigawd!Twilight's FREE!!! omigawd!omigawd!omigawd!omigawd! woohoo!!! WHY AM I YELLING? IM SO PSYCHED!
7547833 and... what happens now that the nightmare has unprecedented control over the body?
Best scenario, just as you said, he just stole it's smarts-on-demand.
Worst case scenario? Who knows...
Huh. Looks like 'Mad as a Hatter' has to eat his hat now. And he has to describe the taste.
7547882 It also doesn'g know how to properly weild the powe anywhere near as efficiently as Twilight, t has her body and power but not her skill, right now the Nightmare isn't much more than an exceptionally powerful unicorn with wings.
So much fluff!
Also, I can't imagine how utterly pissed off the Nightmare is now. She can't even try to torture information out of Twilight anymore, and depending on how magic works she might be considerably weaker now that her host's soul has gone walkabout (the soul is often the source of a person's magic in fantasy fiction, so it may apply here as well, idk). At the very least I doubt the Element of Magic will respond to her anymore.
...Actually, was Twinight ever able to command the Element of Magic? It's been a long while since I read this last, so I've doubtlessly forgotten quite a few things, derp.
Poor Twilight, most ponies wouldn't be happy to wake up in a drone's body, but she is literally crying in joy instead.
7547958
Oh, I know it's not ALL good.
Twilight may have lost her own body forever. That's tear worthy indeed.
And yes, the Nightmare is now going to be reckless. Which while terrifying, is exactly what a smart hero needs to take down an all powerful foe. Recklessness.
Nothing. I was really worried you'd given up :( And then TWO. Yea!!!
Twilight! Ever wonder what its like being a changeling? .You're a bug now! Now you get to find out. Well thats going to piss the Nightmare off. No more hostage.
Why is Spike so slow? Something the nightmare did?
I recently started to reread this because i think it is by far one of the best stories on this site, i am so glad to see updates again
I get the sinking feeling that this universe has consequences for ejecting a soul from its intended body. Also, not sure if the drone Twilight just got stuffed into had a mind of its own.
7548073 my guess is a combination of Nightmare and the fact that he has not needed to talk for several decades.
Now All the elements are out of the way of Nightmare, so when it comes after them, its coming right down the barrel of the Rainbow Bolo Freindship Cannon?
Yes! It lives!
There is only one error that I can see, and that is the drone talking thing. There is a scene early on where Din trys to give Cimmerian her love, and she ends up nearly killing herself. During that her drones were refusing him entrance. It can be inferred there that they speak, but I am talking about the specific moment where all the drones look at him and ASK FOR HELP.
Even if you want to say that drones can only speak while being puppeted by a queen that still means they would have the physical capabilities to speak just not the will.
Still love your stories! Just want to help with continuity.
Can't help but wonder how the expression on Night's face... angry at lost brains and food, or happy to have total control?
Huh.
Okay, this is either good or bad. On one hand, Nightmare doesn't have to fight for control over the body now.
On the other hand, I've inferred that without Twilight's mind in there, the Nightmare won't have access to her staggering intellect. Might be wrong there.
On the other other hand... Twilight is immensely magically powerful, and with the Nightmare uncontested...
7548183 those speaking drones were the sapient ones, that are born and grow. Twilight is in a mindless drone body. Most likely those are not rigged to speak without transformations.
Still, this chapter was cute as fuck. Indeed, they could theoretically wield the elements now. That would help.
On the other hand there's quite the chance Twilight would rather not go back. She hates what the Nightmare did with her body, and would like to let it all go away.
But then again, she has a strong sense of responsibility that would drive her to make amends. Being able to live among ponies again could help her make up her mind about it.
Anyway, moar when?
7548117 So when Nightmare Moon was first defeated she cast a spell that sent her "Soul" out into the ether to steal someone elses body and drag their soul into hers to take the Elements hit instead trapping the unwitting soul in her regalia, this story takes place years after that.
This chapter had me in metaphorical stitches. Also I think that Cimmerian might have made a big mistake.
The Nightmare is obviously going to be furious, make no mistake. Its host's spirit gone, Twilight's useful traits gone (Twilight's magic isn't her only big asset), and more and more problems. I have a theory that the parasite will try and get Twilight's soul back because with it, it's going to go insane probably. How ... well, the parasite has Luna, doesn't it? And Luna can enter dreams as well ...
There's also a problem, well several problems ... If they use the elements of harmony on the Nightmare now: Twilight's body might get destroyed, and that wouldn't be fair on Twilight. Good Lord, the poor mare's suffered enough. Also she might lose her power, and living without her own magic would be just terrible for her.
There is another problem, a BIG problem which I'm not sure that Cimmerian's considered yet: he's just given Twilight a body to temporarily stay in. A body in a camp of creatures who HATE the Mad Queen (Remember Scootaloo?): I'm not sure that that is the best idea. Also some of Cimmerian's allies might revolt against him if they find out that he's protecting Twilight.
Also Twilight has a changeling body, which means that she can now feel emotions. She could possibly feel all the hate and anger directed against the Mad Queen now. That might be bad.
Another thing is that now Twilight's out of her own body, she can no longer sabotage the Nightmare. Think about it, before she was able to spoil the parasite's thinking; but now she's stuck in a pretty powerless state.
Well done Cimmerian, you've officially messed things up really badly, in my opinion. I hope that you can fix it up, pretty please?
I expect this will have some sort of negative consequences in the future, but on the plus side, just blasting the Nightmare into dust is now an option back on the table, though it would mean Twilight would probably be stuck as a changeling forever. Other questions abound as well... Can they now use the Elements/Rainbow Power with Twi like this? Does she maintain any sort of link to her body, and if so, could she (or the Nightmare) somehow exploit it? And finally, assuming they can purge the Nightmare from her body...how do they put her back? Can a mindless body dream enough to give Cimmerian an opening? More likely they'll probably have to use an array like the one Nightmare used on Cadance to hook her up to the hive mind to be able to switch her back.
7548183
I thought there was various levels of drones? Intelligent, self-aware types, and the simpletons (true minions) that are a step up from the witless berzerkers Nightmare created. The simpletons created when a queen has no stud (like Cimmerian) and her body forcibly produces a clutch, add in the lack of love-energy and the mental/physical growth is further stunted.
I do wonder if the lack of Twilight's spirit/consciousness will cause her body to start a downward spiral? This could also introduce a countdown where Twilight's body will end up withering away if she's no put back in it in time. On the other hand, assuming it works, with all six mares free, they could assemble as the Elements of Harmony. Most likely, it would not only purge Nightmare from Twilight's body, but it might also correct the problem of Twilight's displaced mind and stuff it back into her true body.
If Nightmare thinks this could happen, she will do everything she can to eliminate one or all of the mares while keeping far away from them.
p.s. What about Luna? She's still in lockdown as Nightmare's prisoner if I recall correctly.
I really hope this doesn't come back to bite Cimmerian in the plot.
Until we find out I believe piglet said it best.
Oh dear. Oh d-d-dear, dear!
Aww, I was hoping for a Dr Who esque, 'the big bad screws himself over' type finisher for Nightmare Library, having Cimmer dupe her into using the Element of Magic and then letting the Elements of Harmony do their magic working though the technicality of the Element of Magic is on Twilight's head. and have the Nightmare go "oh shit" before it self-destructs itself on the Rainbow Beam of Fix Everything because Twilight directed it to do so.
Still, things are coming to a head.
7547977 everyone dies two times, one time when we pass from this world and a second when we are forgotten. We may grieve and try to forget our pain but to remember is to hold onto these emotions and remember so we don't pass this on as another part of our life that happened but as the death of someone to remember. So don't let the Frankenstein die so we can remember a great.
Alicorns body are powered by love, and the nightmares feed on negative emotion. I don't think this situation is going to work favorably for it. Love is basically a poison to them like hate is to a changeling. Without Twilight's soul there to act as a buffer for the love, the nightmare is going to be forced fed the love that is directed at Twilight. Her body may recover faster because of this, but the nightmare is going to be swimming in a growing pool of poison. But with out twilight there the reverse is also true, now it can feed freely on negative emotions freely because it now has the body all to it's self. Or it can end up in a sort of middle ground were it feeding on both that just drives it up the wall even further.
Sure the hate that it's caused to be generated at Twilight is vast but the love being the directed at twilight is going to have to do something to it even if can freely feed on hate and other negative emotions.
7547294
I didn't film it, also I was wearing my edible hat at the time so I already ate it before the chapter came out, and the ingredients were not cheap. The Hat tastes like a mint flavored cookie that was slightly overcooked lined with solid red velvet frosting with a ribbon of rich dark chocolate. The card tasted of the finest sugar used to encase Food Nirvana itself. I've eaten a holy relic can you say the same?
7548219 I believe you bring up a lot of good points. I also believe you when you say that Cimmerian made a mistake. HOWEVER, I do not believe that this is as bad as you make it sound. In fact, I do believe that if used wisely, this could be just the break they needed to end this war.
1) You're right about the Nightmare. It will most definitely be furious about Twilight's abduction. But more importantly, she'll be scared. Scared, because with Twilight gone, the Nightmare has lost it's greatest source of knowledge (which is what she used to conquer Equestria and the Griffin Kingdom in the first place) and her food supply. No Twilight, means no despair, means no feeding. So yeah, it is definitely going to try and get Twilight back. However, considering that it forced the Changeling link on many of her guards and Equestrian citizens, I think it's safe to say that she has already gone insane. And her constant string of recent failures probably isn't helping matters either. As for Luna...yeah, that is my biggest concern. Still, she's not alone. Discord is there, staying captured of his own free will. Hopefully, if things get too rough for Luna, he might be able to secretly help her out.
2) In the case of the Elements of Harmony, I think that Dans_Comments said it best in chapter 41 of his story, Cultural Artifacts, when the Big Guy explained to Hotaru (a.k.a. Nightmare Moon) how the Elements functioned:
If this is the case, then I don't think we have to worry about Twilight's body. It didn't destroy Nightmare Moon, it didn't destroy Discord, it didn't destroy NIghtmare Rarity (in MLP comic), it's power didn't destroy Tirek (in canon Equestria), so I don't think it will destroy Twilight's body. If Cimmerian is smart, then during the final confrontation with the Mad Queen, he'll knock her out with a sleep spell and put Twilight back in her body before they use the Elements. I'm hoping that by then, Twilight will have discovered a way to overpower the parasite long enough to use the Elements.
3) I won't lie and say that everyone will take the news well about Twilight's arrival. However, I don't think she'll come to too much harm, at least not physically. With Celestia, Cadance, the other element bearers, Cimmerian, and Pandinus around, the ponies, gnolls, and changelings will leave her alone. The griffons may be more hostile at first, but I think out of respect for Cimmerian, they will settle for avoiding her. As for the thestrals, I don't think they have much right to be pointing hooves, since some of their own chose to follow/worship the Nightmare willingly, even after Cimmerian explained how it planned to destroy them. In any event, Cimmerian explained to everyone how Twilight was possessed by the Nightmare (just like Luna). Having her there in the flesh, while the Nightmare is still in her body, will prove to all the doubters that he was telling the truth. I doubt that Twilight will get off scott free, but so long as she works hard to undo her mistake, I think they will let her be, if not forgive her.
4) It's true that Twilight can and will feel emotions from those around her now, including hate and anger. However, I imagine that Pandinus and Zelus will show her how to screen such negative emotions so that she only feeds on the love of her friends. Plus, with all that free flowing love in the Temple of Shadows, I think she will have access to plenty of positive emotions to spare.
5) I don't believe Twilight is as powerless as you believe. True, she can't directly sabotage the Nightmare's efforts with false information. However, that doesn't mean she can't contribute to Cimmerian's war effort. Far from it in fact. After all, Twilight's big brain was the reason the Nightmare was able to conquer so effectively in the first place. Now, that same big brain will be actively working against it. The Nightmare was already losing ground before. What happens when the brilliant mind responsible for its most powerful war assets starts coming up with ideas for the other team? What's more, Twilight may not have been in control, but she was still there with the Nightmare for nearly 40 years. She probably has all kinds of information about the Nightmare's assets, resources, etc. Twilight wants to do something to help? Imagine how happy she'll be if Cimmerian asks her to come up with ways to royally screw the Mad Queen over. With her friends, teacher, and number one assistant backing her up again, the Nightmare is going to learn a very hard lesson: "Payback is a BITCH!"
So yeah, I get that Cimmerian screwed up. But I think that this may be a blessing in disguise.
7548367 I see what you mean. I know that I might have been a bit harsh, but that's the beauty of conversation. Different points of view get great results!
This is bad for the nightmare XD.
I think Cim. might have won this war with this last strike. The parasite draws its nourishment from the pain and despair of the hosts soul until its no-more, and then jumps to the next victim. With no host soul to draw its nourishment from and no soul to support the body (the parasite does not support it, it drains from it), he has put it on a very short timer instead of months possibly years, we are speaking about weeks before twi's body crumbles and the parasite dies of starvation if it does not jump ship.
But saying that, if Cim don't hurry up Twi will lose heir birth body and have to stay in the form of a changling, she will probably be upgraded to a queen and she cant take up the role of changling to species relations and be free from the stigmata of the mad queen but at an extreme cost.
This is how you upgrade a mistake to a happy, little accident.
slash? Did the Nightmare violently punctuate that?
Does Twilight being out of the body mean that Nighlight has access to all the memories she had been keeping locked away from it?
7548643 that is one possibility the other is that nightmare has had her battery unplugged. and has a very finite lifetime. we'll have to see
7548643
That may be a possibility. However Twilight this way is free from the Nightmare imprisonment, and who knows, she could ascend into a queen at a point if her original body can not be retrieved for a reason or another. It would give her a fresh start, as well help her make up the things that the Nightmare made through her body.
7548252 That's exactly what I am talking about.
The drones that were guarding Din when she almost killed herself were the barely intelligent type yet they still spoke.
Yet now apparently they are physically unable to talk despite having done so before.
I'll grant that the chapter I am referring to is way back in the beginning before Din and Cimmerian were officially a couple, so the author might have simply forgotten or had another idea about how he wants the drones to work. Unfortunately the fact that they can talk was already established in that chapter, so having them not be able to talk now seems very odd.
7548214 No those were not the intelligent drones.
In the chapter "Desperate for Love" the semi intelligent drones that were just basically clones of Din were the ones at the door.
They speak in unison in a monotone buzzing voice.
They SPOKE.
If the author wants to have none speaking drones now he will have to address it in some way because as it stands the author is breaking his own continuity and the rules of the world he created.
Edit: A good way to address this would be to say that they put Twilight into one of Zelus's drones. As far as I know Zelus has had a clutch or two of both intelligent and non-intelligent drones. It is possible that Zelus might have made her non-intelligent drones mute.