This story is a sequel to No Heroes Part IV - The Crystal Empress
When an ancient enemy threatened Equestria, Discord stepped up to vanquish her. Though he won, he was turned to stone once again. With the Elements unable to cure this particular petrification, the remaining viable option requires a rare ingredient only found in the forgotten lands beyond Equestria's borders.
Determined to help her friend, Fluttershy volunteers. She won't be going alone though, and some of her companions see this journey as more than a rescue mission. There are no roads and no maps, and there's more to these lands beyond the Everfree Forest than wild animals...
A big thanks to Cerulean Voice and Grand_Moff_Pony for helping me brainstorm this concept.
Pre-read by Grand_Moff_Pony.
Cover art belongs to Vashar23
The No Heroes Series
Chronological from Top to Bottom:
Shadow Pony
Reddux the Tyrant
No Heroes Part I - The Roster
No Heroes Part II - The Journey Home
Lightning's Bolt
No Heroes Part III - For Dreams
No Heroes Part IV - The Crystal Empress
No Heroes: Beyond the Everfree
No Heroes: Life of Pie
No Heroes: Hot Chocolate at the Isekai
To My Uncle
Oh I've been waiting to find out about Discord for quite some time now.
Ohhhhh yessss. This bodes interesting things.
Choooo choooo! All aboard the hype train!
Off to a great start indeed! Definitely looking forward to the ride!
Never mind, it's working now.
Yes! More No Heores is always a good thing.
Sweet.
Huzzah! Finally got some time to read.
And we are off on another awesome adventure! Sweet! Soo, Nye is gonna pop the big question here soon. This means future dawws! Yes please. And Fine has got the hots pretty bad for Flutters. I wonder how this little side plot will end up? I would like to think they will hitch it together, but I can never be sure with you Paul.
Going West, torwards unexplored lands (A new frontier as it were) nice touch. These Alpha Gargoyles seem pretty dangerous just by the looks of them. Wonder what their capabilities will be. Purely physical? Or will you throw in some sorcery? And the team that will be accompanying Fluttershy, I can't wait to see who will fit the bill. So many questions that shall be answered in due time.
Oh! And I'll be in this one for the long haul Paul!
Some typos:
Offices.
Launched.
I could have sworn that Keen was blue with a white mane. It's funny, I was editing another fic for someone who had the same problem.
In his. That would be very difficult to do.
ANOTHER NO HEROES!?!
WHY DIDN'T I SEE THIS SOONER!?
MUST READ.... (later)
MUST READ! (later)
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Even more amusing is that I went to Lightning's Bolt to check to make sure I got it right, and I still wrote it backwards! Anyway, thanks for the proofing.
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Indeed, where have you been?
What, no potion of healing?
6553520 You'd think, but Paul never seems to let his characters off quite that easy.
/just joking here, Paul, for the record. :)
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6553520
Happy endings are the reward for undergoing great pain.
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The Trollestia emoticon makes that comment.
Noice.
Hmm... I'm thinking they should be on the lookout for one of these guys.
Also, typo time. “Luna’s not perfect, and neither are Celestia, but I’d still trust them to rule.” 'is' Celestia
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If I were still collecting magic cards, I would buy that in a heartbeat.
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I know, right? In a multiplayer game at one point, I played one with 15 other creatures out.
Which wall is for alternate timelines? Because Pinkie just broke that one too.
Typo time: “Let me talk to fang about it.” capitalize Fang
RD seems a little uptight in this chapter. I think she'd be more receptive to the thestrals after personally witnessing the god of chaos embrace friendship and all.
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'Personally embrace friendship' is a rather strong phrase. Recall that in this verse, MMC never happened, and the events after it are iffy at best. While Discord is reformed, most if not all of the things that have happened in seasons 4 and 5 have not. As such, Discord's level of 'embracing' friendship is in question.
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Well, yeah, but the whole reason they're going on this quest is because Discord sacrificed himself to save everypony. If that's not proof enough, then I don't know what is.
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Still debatable. Remember that A) Discord already knew Tazel and wasn't tolerant of her even back when he was 'evil,' so it only made sense for him to fight against her again, and also that B) his 'sacrifice' wasn't intentional. He took a surprise hit, which can hardly be considered an indicator of making a big sacrifice for friendship. Some exception must be made for the fact that nopony actually witnessed the last few seconds before he turned to stone, and so they can't accuse him of not sacrificing himself as you claim, but at the same time they also can't prove that he did. Given how Rainbow treated him in the show up until Season 5, I find it hard to believe that she'd consider him a bastion of friendship and harmony just yet.
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Ah, I did not remember that detail. Never mind, my criticisms are invalid.
Lots of emotion packed into this one. Well done.
I'd feel really good about the end of the this chapter, if it weren't for the foreboding way Nibbling *snicker* Fang acted in the previous one. Also, I've been missing these near-ten thousand word chapters. It was something that caught my interest back in NH Book 1.
Also also, go Fluttershy. Make a diplomat of you yet.
Zecora should find/recruit a helper from the masses of refugees.
PEANUTBUTTER EXTRA CRUNCHY 4 LYFE
Way to be a racist RD.
I'd imagine there are many reasons Luna hasn't reached out to the Thestrals. Ponykind thinking them to be extinct, for one.
Or perhaps the giant worm that just flattened half the world? Or guilt. Guilt is a strong one.
Also, I love Nye's IDGAF attitude in the majority of this chapter. Well placed apathy is incredibly amusing.
Hmm.
Smashing.
Woo! More pony!
The flight up was brutal, just imagine how adrenaline-filled the flight back down is going to be.
So, wait, did Polar namedrop the tree or did Fang?
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Considering Fang never actually speaks the phrase "East Watch," it's impossible for her to have name dropped it.
Always nice to see an update!
I appreciate the update and I did not find its lack of edits distracting if that helps.
This was a great chapter. Moving is a good way to put it but you also did it without going TOO fast.
Pinkie is the lynch pin of this story. Her parts are my favorite as she has a lot going on with her attractions, dealing with her best friend in Dash, and her senses. All of that makes her story very compelling.
So a small civil war is starting. I wonder if Pinkie will be needed to help Fine Crime...
Great job with the fight scene. It's often easy, especially in this genre, to lean on spectacle for action scenes, when oftentimes fisticuffs can be just as gripping.
Ha- Grabbed the wrong one, or is Alpha just that much of a BA? I'm really surprised this story has so few likes/dislikes.
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That's the downside of having a bunch of books that build on eachother. A lot of folks eother don't realize there's a sequel or don't want to have to read three other books just so one will make sense
Them sneaky ponies and their lack of trust in Fine Crime....
Sigh, when will they learn that the one with the tag "Main character" and "OC" means you're invulnerable because plot armour... Ha! That'll teach 'em...
anyway, moving on... I noticed that RD and Nye took centre stage for the most part here, which was nice, it's good to get away from the doom/gloom for the most part and see two ponies find ways to complaing about loving each other.... Of course, this being effectively being a fairy tale I wouldn't expect anything of the sorts to exist IRL... bleh... #jadedrealistlife
Damnit Pinkie... (Although should probably be "Everygoyle")
Zecroa's potion going wrong? Nope, not likely, you probably just drank the wrong one RD...
Still, flying face-first into a giant stone... thing... probably isn't the greatest idea even if you drink magic potion #396
Anyway, in the grand scheme of things, the second half of the chapter certainly took a turn for the bizarre... Then again, Pinkie was involved... So, yeah, anything goes there... Was there anything in particular that took my fancy this chapter?
Not really, nothing overly dramatic, nothing super scary... Just seems to be plodding along at whichever pace you wish the story to go at...
Although from said blog post this is going to rapidly reach it's climactic finish... Which I'm not sure if I'm happy about...
I mean, we have the entire Thestral race, sitting off in the jungle, literally days away from the rest of Equestria, and they don't want to hear a word of Princess Luna being a thing anymore... I understand the point of heresy and wishing to fool those, but I would've thought that even after everything that happened (and Fine winning that fight) that Fang (Or Nibbles) going to actually visit Luna would've proved to make a big thing, or maybe you're going to put that into the next story in this series... I doubt it, because A) You have enough story ideas bubbling around in your head for one century... B) It's not exactly the big drawer of crowds in terms of readers/followers (Not that those numbers have decided what you write anyway)... Or C) YOU LOVE TOYING WITH PEOPLE AND THE OPENNESS OF YOUR STORY ENDINGS
Either way, I reckon you'd be able to put out something else that is amazing... You just need to find the free time and not be harassed by strangers on the internet...
*sigh*
oh well, still, it'd be nice to see something big happen in this story, because for the most part it's just been, well, plodding along slowly... Not that No Heroes has always been about super action, it's usually more of a detective thing where everyone does something in the bigger picture, and the big picture takes place off in another museam... If that makes sense....
Bleh
See you next time....
Most likely....
Maybe...
I can't remember the last chapter of this that I commented on... Maybe I should go back and do each chapter.....
Nah, that sounds like too much work...
ANOTHER BEER, HERE!
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Yeah, I realized the story was plodding along a little while back, which is why the last the last three chapters actually have important, story-driving things happening, and this trend will continue for the rest of the story. I've done enough setup, I figure it's time to finish this. If what's set to happen over the course of the next few chapters isn't big enough for you... well, it was worth a shot.
As for everything with the thestrals, yeah, its likely to stay largely open, although I expect future stories to reference events on the thestral side of things. The next major No Heroes story, however, is set to be concurrent with this one, so don't expect any thestral-related expansion there.
7423535 whaaaaat? No thestral movement in the future stories? That makes me sad...
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Noooo, I said no thestral movement in the next story. Stories beyond that are up in the air.
IT COMES.
Probably.
Hmmm, Nibbler being whiney and pathetic, Nye getting high on drugs and saying no to some rolling stones...
It's just a strange little situation going on here... Sure, it was great, as always, but answer me two things: 1st, if Nye found the potion that has super-powers in it, what the hell did Rainbow drink?
2nd, after dazing herself into a stupor; Rainbow managed to rouse herself, ignore the undoubtetly excruciating pain of a broken limb and disorientation of smashing face-first into effectively a giant boulder at almost full-pace. THEN manage to understand how Polar described what had happened to her, Nye and the other gargoyles, flew down to the outlet drain, catch a (self-described) overweight (pudgy, but semantics) Earth Pony (The heaviest race) and catch him mid-freefall with said broken foreleg?
I'm sorry, what?
At first I thought that the potion RD had drunk was a healing thing of some sort, but apparently not, because after they went all mushy she complained about her broken leg hurting!
And how could such a small, delicate piece of jewellery stay completely unharmed after getting smashed about, crushed and beaten on at least four separate times with the force of a boulder causing the movements?
Sigh... I don't know, I guess I'm just complaining for the sake of complaining... Because it was another good chapter, and I expect nothing less from you, but to me, this chapter's logic just doesn't add up the way I would've thought it did...
But what do I know? It was probably just the power of love that solved all these issues...
Still, the scene with Fine and Nibbler was great... I hope she gets nice things to happen to her... I like her... make Nibbler good friends with..... Lightning... Since Nibbler seems to have a soft spot that needs a bit of tickling from a certain mess of cute mane...
That is my one request... And the more that I think about it, I'll be disappointed if it doesn't happen.
Oh well, love you Paul!
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And this is why I need people like you pre-reading more of my stuff. However, only one of these issues is actually legitimate, and I will address it first: Rainbow's condition.
For starters, we don't actually know what her mental condition is throughout Nye's fight. Yes, she's dazed from slamming into the equivalent of a giant rock at high speed. But we can't really determine how dazed – there's not really a way to measure that, I don't think – nor do we know how long Nye was really in the fight, since I was vague in some areas. I don't think it's that much of a stretch for her to recover mentally during the fight considering she's likely been in many similar crashes in the past and recovered fairly quickly. She doesn't even need to be brought up to speed, all she has to do is look at where all the racket's coming from and see what Nye's in the middle of. Heck, in some stories the shock of seeing that alone would have been enough to snap her out of it.
Then there's the leg. Now, really, it's a leg. Aside from the wind making it sting pretty badly, I'm reasonably certain the condition of her leg has minimal effect on her ability to fly. It's not like she has to hold her legs in a specific position to beat her wings, and she's not going to let pain – the kind of which she's almost certainly been through before – stop her from rescuing her coltfriend from falling to his doom. I don't see an issue here. Nye's weight isn't even a factor, since A) she doesn't need her leg to carry him on her back, and B) she's carried Nye in the past (see No Heroes Part II Chapter 4 for an example).
Now, on to less valid issues: the potion. Y'know, I threw in those Zecora quotes in the two recent chapters specifically so that I wouldn't have to explain this. Let's repeat them side-by-side, shall we?
I sincerely hope that is all the explanation you need regarding why the potion didn't work for Rainbow. Seriously, man, how did you miss this? Are you skimming?
Fang and Lightning? Interesting, I didn't even consider that. At this time her only prospect was Airheart, and I was tempted to avoid that because it seemed so obvious. In fact, I was thinking on making Lightning single for good, since it felt like a more accurate direction for her character. Still, the shipper in me might not be able to resist pitting her with somepony in the future, so we'll have to wait and see.