• Member Since 18th Apr, 2012
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Jade Ring


The purpose of a story is that it's a story. It can be more, but it can never be less.

T
Source

This story is a sequel to The Changelings Have a King


It has been six months since the Changeling invasion. Ponyville is struggling to rebuild, some wounds have not yet healed, and tensions are rising with Canterlot after the revealing of Princess Celestia's greatest secret.

As storm clouds gather on the horizon, possible new allies arrive in the form of the last of the ancient pegasus tribes; the Children of the Hurricane. They promise aid and order, but are their intentions truly as pure as they seem?

Meanwhile, Princess Celestia decides to seek out the apparently still alive Starswirl the Bearded. Her search will lead her to the darkest pits of Equestria, to the far-flung Frozen North, and will unearth a legendary evil that she has spent centuries hiding away.

And in the floating city of Zeph, stronghold of the Children of the Hurricane, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy will finally come face to face with their mysterious origins along with enemies both old and new.

Across Equestria, the forces of fate continue their unending march towards their ultimate conclusion;

A storm is coming... and it comes on swift wings.

////////////////////////////

The second in the planned trilogy that would have concluded the continuity of stories that began with 'Dear Sweetie Belle.' After the story's death, the synopsis of what would have been told (as well as the events of the trilogy's third act) will have to satiate those who've come on the journey thus far.

Cover art is the latest Swirling Line masterpiece.

Chapters (12)
Comments ( 61 )

Even this short summary leaves me on the edge of my seat all over again. This is gonna be another epic journey for sure! :)

General Lightning... ooh, this is a nice development indeed.

Oh snap! Tia turns the tables. :rainbowderp:

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy will finally come face to face with their mysterious origins along with enemies both old and new.

Shouldn't Scootaloo be in there somewhere, seeing as She and Rainbow are sisters.

Where can I find Swirling Line?

Aww, Lyrabon getting to scratch that maternal itch after all.

Didn't especially see Mayor Apple coming, but I don't know why. Probably it seemed too little for her. But of course she thinks it's too much, so I guess it evens out.

Geez, Grandma Sunbutt, things were halfway civil between you two for a moment.:facehoof: (I feel like I'm just going to end up calling her that until the end of the series.:rainbowlaugh:)

Waiting for each new chapter will be hell, but godd*** is it going to be worth it.

7879325

What are the odds Sunbutt turns AJ into an alicorn just to piss her off, or for shits and giggles?* Kind of like a, "well I'm on my way out, so since I know you hate the "leadership role" so much I'll do this for laughs".

*this is assuming she has the ability to do so and I don't remember it written that she didn't in this continuity.

A storm is indeed coming, AJ. Hold on to your hat. :rainbowderp:

I'm loving this set up. Looking forward to how it turns out. What's the pegasi language based on?

7915882 Czech. Run it through Translate if you'd like...

Did the changelings eat all the common sense in Ponyville along with a good chunk of the population? Because the Apple clan is making some pretty boneheaded decisons here. First off AJ, as a local mayor, I'm pretty sure you do NOT have the power to make deals with unknown foreign governments. You can be peeved at Granny Tia all you want, but this is something that could be construed as treason. Also, it makes you look like a hypocrite for accepting reconstruction aid from them when you won't take it from your own government. I hope Lyra gives her a good buck to the head for that.

Not to mention all the red flags about this deal. First off, they bypassed Canterlot and went straight to AJ. Then, if one remembers their basic Equestrian history and remember that the tribes only joined together out of fear of extinction because they hated each other. Yet these guys were all about their racism so much that they decided to risk it, and the two's reaction to Fluttershy introducing herself as Mac's s wife alone should be enough to show that hasn't changed, even disregarding the scene with Scarlet. Then there's the question of how a society in isolation for 2000 years would even know about the attack. And finally, recall that the ancient pegasai definition of friendship with earth ponies amounted to "give us your food and maybe we let you have enough good weather to grow more." Put this all together and you get a deal so shady it's surprising the Zephans weren't singing a version of the Flim Flam brother's song.

And AJ just sent her fiance and sister-in-law into the middle of it...

...How the sprock was I not tracking this?!:facehoof:

Mac dodged a bullet there.:rainbowderp:

Obviously these soldiers would recognize Rainbow (and wouldn't be too keen on mixed marriages either), but odd that they seem to instantly recognize Fluttershy (and Scootaloo?) as well.

7916543 Hooray! Super long comment!

First off AJ, as a local mayor, I'm pretty sure you do NOT have the power to make deals with unknown foreign governments. You can be peeved at Granny Tia all you want, but this is something that could be construed as treason. Also, it makes you look like a hypocrite for accepting reconstruction aid from them when you won't take it from your own government. I hope Lyra gives her a good buck to the head for that.

Oh, believe me. Lyra is not going to take this lying down. Actually, you sound remarkably like her in the scene I'm currently working on.

As to AJ making this deal when she had no grounds to, it almost seems like something -shall we say regal?- is asserting itself in her blood, shifting and messing with her down home country sensibilities...

-They bypassed Canterlot and went straight to AJ.
-The tribes only joined together out of fear of extinction because they hated each other.
-Yet these guys were all about their racism so much that they decided to risk it
-Ancient pegasai definition of friendship with earth ponies amounted to "give us your food and maybe we let you have enough good weather to grow more."

Remember these points, kids. They are important.

7916612

odd that they seem to instantly recognize Fluttershy (and Scootaloo?) as well.

Yes. Quite odd. (Knowing laughter)

So now Celestia and Luna are going to be gone while AJ lets a hostile nation set up a foothold in Ponyville. Great...

Also, Celestia is definitely a better person than I am when it comes to Hope... If it'd been me, after what happened last story, her egg would probably be a gooey mess at the bottom of the mountain rather than risk another Chrysalis.

7996452

So now Celestia and Luna are going to be gone while AJ lets a hostile nation set up a foothold in Ponyville. Great...

Hey now, it's only a day trip.

7996560

...Sure. :ajbemused:

The new capital will be Ponyville. The new castle Sweet Apple Acres. :ajsmug:

Hard to imagine pre-reform Sunset being loyal to anyone but herself. But it seems a lot is different here.

And Luna screws everything up as usual.:facehoof:

Oh Soarin...don't you know you should NEVER ask that question? Because the universe just delights in finding ways to answer it.

And of course both Sisters are away and unable to give Applejack the newspapering she rightly deserves... *sigh*

It's back!:pinkiehappy:

To be fair to Her Honor the Mayor, I didn't think the implications of sending out an "ambassador" on behalf of Ponyville either. Though maybe it would have occurred to me if I was already in the mindset of having to deal with different levels of government. And heck, even if AJ had thought it through a bit more she probably would have done the same thing- no point waiting on a friendly gesture until you can find your unicorn assistant to send for Grandma Sunbutt's stamp of approval. So however bad things get I won't be too broken up about "what if she hadn't delayed" (assuming chapters 2 and 3 even took place far enough apart to make a difference).

Ooh, there's a pair we haven't seen in a while....Normally I might say throwing in another bit of soap opera like that this late in the game would be a bit much, but what the hay.

It hurts to see my favorite of the Mane 6 like this. With how this AU works I'm not even sure if the depression will get worked through or not. Kudos on yet another great chapter Jade.

I just translated most of what cumulus said and he is a
ass

Hmm, interesting. Does this imply what I think it does and that Celestia has her own dark side imprisoned in Tartarous?

It probably wasn't the intent (I've never seen the original episodes Goatboy was from), but I kind of heard Grogar's voice as Tim Curry from Legend.

“DO NOT IGNORE ME.”

Couldn't help but think of the Grand Galactic Inquisitor.:rainbowlaugh:

Don't sell yourself short, Grandma Sunbutt, Equestria probably would have run itself into the ground without you. Then again, maybe not, or at least soon they'll hopefully know how to manage without....

8489359

It probably wasn't the intent (I've never seen the original episodes Goatboy was from), but I kind of heard Grogar's voice as Tim Curry from Legend.

Interesting choice. I myself heard a bit of Jeremy Irons when I was writing it, albeit a touch deeper.

I think I like yours better.

8490593
His grandiose pronouncements seem to lend themselves to either one...
...but you know who I do hear as Irons, FYI? General Esteem from The Immortal Game. Don't know if you've ever gotten to that one....

If this was how his time in Ponyville was starting, then how could things possibly get any worse ?

That is something you just dont say this early in the story

I advise fellow readers to translate the ancient Pegasus language that the Children of Zeph said at the part where they meet rainbow dash at dinner on chapter two. It seems relevant to the plot.

Why would Cadance let them in?

9677751
They're still allies, the Crystal Empire just considers themselves independent. Most foreign heads of state travel to rival countries for meetings and discourse.

Bet this chapter would be VERY interesting if we could understand the Zeph language.

Also 50/50 odds Valeria being Dash's mom is a hoax. The other 50 being that she is, but there's a lot more to how Dash ended up in Equestria than she's saying.

9978152
This was the biggest hurdle and the reason this chapter took as long as it did. After this, the untranslated ancient pegasi appears less frequently. I struggled over whether to translate some lines and not others. Ultimately there's a couple bits of info that, if left in plain English, would spoil some major revelations ahead of time.

Tia has sent somepony to Tartarus to check on things since the changeling attack, right? I mean, this wouldn't be the first magical effect to count heart stoppage as death for purposes of fulfilling the escape clause of a spell, and ignoring Celestia was what did in the Queen herself after all.

Heck not having some sort of guards besides a big dog on Tartarus is what led to the season 4 and 8 finales, and set up the villain plot of 9 in canon...

I forget if you mentioned this in previous chapters since it has been a while, but is the ancient language based on a real world language?

So in this continuity, this version of Daybreaker already happened. Damn.

Do the princesses not see that Cadance's fall is their fault?

After so long... and then it takes even longer before I can give it the attention it deserves....

Things are definitely in motion now! And even without translation, I think that brief in-flight encounter said a lot....

(Ironically, I’m actually reading this on a train. Provides the most free time I’ve had in months.)

I had thought that the Phoenix Queen was simply corrupted Celestia, but I should have expected that Celestia would be more proactive about the situation.

But now, I suppose the past is less important than the future....

9978152
You can use Google translate Czech --> English

9981470
Your stories are great and amazing as always! I was wondering if there was a specific reason you chose Czech?

My stepmother is Czech. Little tribute to her.

Valeria’s smile faded. “Um… no. He…” She shook her head and kissed Dash’s forehead. “But we will discuss all this later. You are here on business. This village you call home… you require aid?”

Im sensing whatever happened to him Valeria did it herself

That was a heck of a summary. And don't feel bad about losing interest. It happens to a lot of writers.

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