This story is a sequel to The Tempest
Upon arriving at the royal wedding in Canterlot, all the foreign delegates have to do is show face on behalf of their nations, wish the happy new couple well, and try not to die.
You wouldn't expect the third of these to be that difficult.
Cover art from the gallery of Alumx. Proofread by themaskedferret, Georg, and Infernus Noctis.
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I can see one item of clothing he seems to have forgotten for his flight.
A parachute.
7393079
A very interesting start to everything.
Well, this promises to be magnificent, especially how many foreign dignitaries are going to see Celestia fall in battle... and how many will see Cadence succeed where she failed.
The figure who gives Chrysalis the news is also quite intriguing. My first thought is Tirek, though the mention of a forehoof makes me question that. Of course, that section seems to be at least partially from Chrysalis's perspective. We'll have to wait and see. Still, good to see that Chryssy knew why open conquest was a bad idea before she was tempted with a banquet the likes of which she'd never seen.
Also, I kind of want to see a map of the world made by Literal Minded.
Is he suffering from the effects of dementia's onset? No being of his experience from this world should ever utter those words in that particular combination.
7393099
Glad you think so! Hope the rest turns out as interesting for you.
7393102
Suitable reactions to Celestia's fall should abound, and I'm sure the exact identity of Chrysalis's guest should be revealed in all good time.
And I shan't lie, despite my ongoing lack of cartographical skills, I kind of want to draw that map as well.
7393120
Allow a jack some reckless, reckless optimism from time to time. Maybe Equestria shan't apocalyptically shit itself on this occasion. Maybe.
7393086
He'd be smart to just go out drinking
7393221
7393229
Always the smartest course of action, really, no matter the situation.
Mm.
While pig iron is a very poor material to use in a flying machine, it's almost universally agreed that guinea pig iron is even less suited to the purpose.
Quite the shame.
7393264
Terrible substance to use in construction in general, really. Very prone to cavyties.
7393264 7393274 You two are terrible. Never change.
7393274
Certainly not safe to use in any load-capybaring capacity.
7393371
It's certainly unbeaverlable in terms of ...
Scratch that. In terms of tensile strength, it's downright hareible ...
It's soft enough that it's easy to mara using ... you know what, screw it, this deserves more thought than I'm capable of dispensing at four in the morning. People think making these is easy, you know.
Oh deer
Ah, so the principle characters involved will be at the wedding as guests while it happens. I'm surprised I didn't think of that. It seems only natural now that I've seen it. Glad to see that not everybody will be there, by the way. Even if it means we'll see less of some of the more interesting personalities like the Crown or the Cormaer, it avoids that overcrowding feeling that Tempest had at times.
"Inhales deeply"
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
I don't know what it is but I always enjoy these stories on statecraft, even when I don't quite get all the terminology.
Good story thus far, good job.
7393421
I can sympathize. Sleep deprivation makes everyone a little less shrew-d.
"palace complex, and took"
"complex and"?
"senses, but otherwise"
"senses; otherwise"?
"moment, before quickly"
"moment before"?
"like a hive of serpents"
"nest"?
"Literal Minded was generally regarded as one of the best pony explorers of the last few centuries, albeit as good with names as polio was with infants"
:)
"with little running streams across"
"streams running"?
"avidly, and were"
"avidly and"?
"discovery after all"
"discovery, after"?
"abrogating"
New word!
"flashed and magic"
"flashed, and"?
"stiffly rose a forehoof"
"raised"?
"either side, and had"
"side and"?
"Oh, the one developed in collaboration with the Alchemists' Guild? How could I not."
7393620
Hey. Hey. I'm not having this comments section devolve into a mess of random animal wordplay. I couldn't bear that.
7393723
Some judicious trimming of characters has happened, though I might also scupper myself there by throwing in yet more faces. Next chapter should give a full accounting of the folks present.
7393824
Statecraft's always good fun to watch, ideally from afar. Glad you're liking it!
7394084
Less of this, lest I get ratty with the whole thing.
7394201
All fixed, and thank you once again!
7394280
I may have giggled to myself in an obnoxiously self-congratulatory manner during the typing of the former, I shan't lie. Glad to have your interest for this one as well!
Ah yes. A name to inspire joy and delight in the hearts of all, especially Occupational Health And Safety Officers.
This looks promisingly...explosive, especially given what we know is going to happen. Poor Celestia.
7393120 It’s akin to uttering the statement “what could possibly go wrong?”
And the answer is, of course, everything.
(I sincerely apologise for the TV Tropes link)
7394313
Don't let them badger you!
7394374
7394393
Aaand half the people viewing this comments section were never heard from again. That site's too addicting for anyone's good.
7394427
Too late. I'm already feeling pretty grizzly over the whole affair.
7394450 You have my sympathies, it'd bug me as well.
*sigh* I'll duck out of this now.
Seriously. Why is this so bloody difficult to stop?
Foreshadowing a meeting with Celestia or Luna or Twilight or something?
Clothing is gonna be noticed by Rarity. Calling it.
Shipping Alloy X Tundra?
Shipping Silhouette X Damasque?
Ships depend on age differences, if any, between components...
I still wanna find out what happens when I spray a cherngelerng with RAID.
"The big, black clouds, all heavy with rain, that shadowed the ground of Kapiti Plain..."
That was... 1983... God damn, I'm so old...
7394460
There's a time and a plaice to duck out of things, and this isn't it. Pony up and make amends for your misdeeds. No weaseling out of this, now.
(7393264 See what you've instigated. Hang your head in shame.)
7394615
Clothes Horse would undoubtedly have her own somewhat better-informed critique of Burro's dress to offer.
Age-wise, I'd peg both Alloy and Tundra as in their early/mid twenties. Silhouette's in his late twenties, while Damasque's just around fifty or so. Ship accordingly and to preference.
7394690
This nets you either one dead or severely annoyed changeling. Spray with all due prudence, and bring back-up cans for when its angry brethren enter the fray.
This is a good start of a long awaited story. I wonder who the visitor of the Changeling hive is and if Burro Delver learns not to tempt fate. After NightMare Moon and Discord it's only a matter of time before another huge disaster happens.
If the Chekov's Toaster introduced in this chapter is not fired (at some attacking changeling, no doubt) before the end of the story, I shall be very disappointed.
Haha, another awesome installment to a great series. Hope to see more soon!
7394719 What about if I hang giant bug zapper around the room?
7393120 You took the words (or a variation thereof) right out of my mouth.
7394832
Glad you've been looking forward to it!
I'll be honest, the smart money's on 'Hell no' here.
7394872
I can't imagine what you could possibly be referring to or predicting. That's just the most innocent, inauspicious gunpowder-powered toaster there ever was, and it's going to do nothing but sit politely and quietly to itself for the rest of the narrative.
7395051
Happy to have you aboard for this one!
7395132
That'll give you a slightly better chance against the hive, I shan't lie.
7395133
Basic genre-savviness is such an under-appreciated and under-utilised skill by Burro and others, bless their hearts.
7394832 I'm almost certain that visitor was Tirek. The timing, appearance, and attitude seem right enough.
7395263 Very true.
7394313
You're welcome. :)
A great start, and an even greater chain of pun comments! Looking forward to this fic's updates as well.
It's great to see Tundra again. I can't say I'm sad to not see the Crown. That thing gave me the willies.
7393102
I second this motion.
7394450
The Auspicious Guild's introduction sounds awfully familiar...
I like it!
Is it weird that I find the Black Defiles' alternative name of Home more ominous than both the regular one and Literal Minded's eloquent description?
And something tells me that Gellert might not be entirely completely disappointed with a battle breaking out in the middle of the wedding. At the very least, I can definitely see him after the event regaling the griffons back home with a tale of how he skillfully fought off a hundred-- no, two hundred changelings with just one claw while holding a mug of ale in the other, before being overwhelmed in a glorious last stand.
I notice the bit about the changelings being well trained enough to bring the stranger in... Phrased as if they were dog-like in their intellect. I hope to learn more.
Here we go! Can't wait to see some of the world leaders' opinions on the mane six. I suspect Pinkie's antics will be politely ignored by those who value their sanity.
Hmm... mysterious visitor is mysterious. The 'raised forehoof to lift cowl' would seem to rule out Tirek, Ahuizoatl, any Dragons or any Corvid (as if lack of accent wasn't the biggest clue to eliminating the last). I would have suspected an agent of the Crown, but this individual gives the impression of being important in their own right. Given the Crown's love of being flippant itself, I doubt it would complain about flippancy, so it probably isn't wearing someone. Sombra is possible, though unlikely since the Crystal Empire has yet to return, and when he was seen in the show he was less than sane, growling and murmuring about crystals. Starlight is busy in her village and would have no motive yet. Sunset is on the other side of the mirror and I'm doubtful that she would have the 'spies' the figure mentions early on.
At this point I'm assuming it is a new-ish character. My money would be on the Gazellen ambassador, especially since he called off his wedding visit. The real question is whether he is a lone agent, part of a small group, or if the majority of the Gazellen congress is in support of this.
7394719
Alloy is in his twenties? Huh, for some reason I had been envisioning him as much older, late forties at least.
Reactions to Sunhorse fall? That is easy.
Obviously, it is a carefully crafted ploy on the part of Celestia to make her enemies underestimate her in preparation for a coming attempted coup against the crown, while also getting Cadance to stand on her own three hooves (The last one is currently healing after she stepped on a particularly sharp rock). I mean, come now. Tirek? Pah! That foreleg is WHITE.
Sunhorse is clearly being her usual devous self.
7396152
Thank you!
I'm both proud and not proud at the same time, which I think is the normal human reaction here.
7396181
What's that from?
7396337
7396377
Future chapters should shed a wee bit more light on changelings in this setting and their relative levels of intellect.
7397329
I do like to see some good speculation. And I do wish I could confirm any of it.
And yep, Alloy's in his twenties. I don't think I'd ever specified much about his personal appearance in previous stories, so any prior impression would have been perfectly fair.
7397404
Never underestimating Pretty Pony Princesses is generally a good set of watchwords to live by in this setting. Let's see whether it pans out here.
7397495
FoME was referring to the Izzet Guild from Magic: the Gathering. They're one of ten guilds that runs (and keeps running) the planet-city of Ravnica. Each guild represents the marriage of two of the five colors of magic (in the Izzet's case, wild, reckless red with curious, clever blue). The Izzet are technically in charge of Ravnica's public works, but they're best known for practicing !!SCIENCE!!.
Since you're clearly a fan of fantastic world-building, I would definitely recommend checking out the lore behind Ravnica and what each guild does (and how they interact). A quick way to do so would be to check out FoME's fic, The Implicit Neighs, which is pretty-much the Return to Ravnica storyline if ponies were native to Ravnica.
(Hope it isn't too gauche to recommend another's fic in one fic's comment section.)
7397495
Well, yes. It's clearly a plot, or Celestia is just horsin' around
This promises a happy combination of mystery and shenanigans. I look forward to it
7397495
Yep, I love to hear reader speculation on my own stories as well. Especially where I get to chuckle to myself with that perverse joy of already knowing the answers they are scrambling to find.
Another possibility I considered was a trick from a competing changeling hive hoping to eliminate a rival, but I suspect changelings would be able to identify each other, making that an unlikely suspect.
7397668
I can't speak for Carabas, but I don't consider it insulting unless the person is plugging their own stories.
7397668
Ah, I see. My knowledge of Magic begins and ends at 'There are colours and they do things'. That fic does look good by its description, though, and if there's grand worldbuilding on display, I'll have to give it a gander.
No worries about relevant story plugs either.
7397689
I shan't be drawn on this any longer. I need to squirrel away at least some puns for another occasion.
7397865
Mystery and shenanigans are always a fun combination. Hope I can pull it off, and glad to have you aboard.
7398134
It's one of the great joys in life when writing any sort of serial fiction with initial mystery to it. Watching speculation unfold and cackling at the knowledge you hold.