Part 2: Celestial
Flurry Heart stood in the one place she never thought she would—on the bridge of a starship, looking down at Equus. After her torturous last few months in captivity with her aunt, she had seen many times what fate waited for those who defied Harmony’s ban on space travel. That torture had begun with images of every culture that had defied it—many of those had been ponies.
She had joined Lucky in space to salvage the Agamemnon, but even then it had only felt a little wicked. She hadn’t been there for real, it was just a robot. She could get away with technicalities. But this… this was something else.
The Wing of Midnight hadn’t been built entirely as a warship, despite its weapon systems. It had some creature comforts, including this bridge. A massive domed window rose above them, giving her a clear view of the ring that was her home.
Most of it was dead. Thousands and thousands of kilometers of empty brown stone, pockmarked with huge expanses of ice… and then a single island of green. But Equestria wasn’t the idyllic island in the chaos she had imagined when she was young. Maybe it never had been.
“It’s so fragile down there,” said a voice from behind her. “You don’t think so, living there. You see the mountains rising above you, or a thunderstorm driven by a hundred pegasi, and you think that the world you know will last forever.”
Flurry Heart froze, not even daring to breathe. She could practically count her own heartbeats. What she really wanted to do was call for help, but there was no way for her to do that without alerting her companion. She hadn’t mastered the strange new system of input that Lucky used, with the contact lenses and the measurement system on her skin.
“I always thought there would be more of it,” Princess Celestia said. “When my mother told me how old the world was, how long we had been living there… I pictured something that went on forever. But at least since the Quarantine, that hasn’t been the case. And probably sometime before that. Other ponies’ ancestors explored the stars, and colonized the whole of the universe… but their children are all ashes now. We’re the only ones left.”
You keep telling me that, even now? Are you trying to undo all of Lucky’s hard work making me not afraid anymore?
But she didn’t say that. If Celestia was up here, then something else was going on. Maybe the princess was finally stepping in to try and protect Equestria. Maybe the Storm King had finally hurt too many ponies, and Harmony had sent her back. But she said no before, knowing something like this could happen.
Flurry Heart turned around—and nopony was there. The voice had seemed so clear to her—but then she saw. An image had appeared on one of the many computers, alongside the unreadable text in human. An image of Celestia.
Flurry Heart relaxed. Human speakers are too good. Maybe there’s an advantage to gramophones. At least an acoustic horn never tricked her into thinking it was real. “Oh, this is… a recording or something. The humans just had…” But even as she said it, she found the thought didn’t make much sense. The humans had a recording of Celestia talking about space? Where would they have gotten that? So far as she knew, only Olivia had ever met Celestia, and that meeting hadn’t exactly gone well…
“No,” Celestia said, walking off the edge of the console. Her body spanned the many screens at the front of the bridge, which displayed an image of empty space. Somewhere out there was the Agamemnon, though nowhere near this close to Equus. Celestia moved between the screens looking far more real than some recording. “No, I’m really here. Or… I guess I’m really transmitting here. I can’t visit in person without making things even harder than they already are. And… honestly, after everything I’ve put you though, you’re probably happier if I don’t visit.
That was certainly true, but now that she’d been caught in it, Flurry Heart almost felt guilty. Almost. “Maybe… maybe not.” She settled back on her haunches, eyes narrowing suspiciously. “What are you doing up here? We’re not doing anything… not trying to escape. We’re just waiting for Equus to finish orbiting so we can—”
“I know,” Celestia cut her off. “I’m just here because… I felt like you might need a little advice. Telling people what to do isn’t really Harmony’s thing, if you can imagine. We have to figure things out on our own.”
It was her turn to be suspicious. Wasn’t Harmony the one that made you think it was a good idea to torture me? And if it wasn’t, doesn’t that make it even worse?
“Well, give your advice.” She folded her wings tightly to her side. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to trust you, though. After everything you did…”
Princess Celestia laughed. “I wouldn’t either.” She stopped in the central screen, seeming to turn, looking over her shoulder at the stars.
Can she see them? How is she even seeing me? The human cameras?
“In all the time I fought your new friends at the Pioneering Society, I thought they were here to fight Equestria. I thought their presence would wake up forces that fell asleep long ago, draw them down on us…” She sighed. “You saw what those are like.”
Flurry Heart nodded. When she finally spoke, it was in a fearful whisper. “The storm that raged across the universe. Drowning the lights around every star.”
“Every kind of life,” Celestia agreed. “Those who hid themselves in the bosoms of machines, it neutralized until the last signal had gone out. Those whose flesh was strong as stone, it ground to dust. And those who lived as ponies, it poisoned, suffocated, and shot.”
“I know,” Flurry Heart breathed. “You showed me all of it, Aunt Celestia. If that’s all you came to do. R-remind me of…”
“No.” Celestia raised a wing, almost panicked. What does she think I’m going to do, force her to leave? I don’t know how this computer works. Forerunner did, but so far the AI hadn’t made an appearance. Harmony is probably doing this. It isn’t letting Forerunner interfere. Celestia is its creature.
“No,” she said again, more confidently. “I’m not here to remind you of that. Just…” She rose, striding closer from screen to screen until she had moved only to the closest display, appearing beside all the different user-interface stuff a human might use to fly this ship. “After I saw… I’ve been watching you. Watching what the humans have done. I was wrong about them.” She gestured, and the distant screens on the front of the ship changed. It seemed as though Canterlot had appeared before them.
She could see the terrible carrier, Stormbreaker, holding high orbit over the city, out of reach of even the bravest pegasus. And far below it raged a thunderstorm that never ended, moisture that drowned every creature and darkness that kept the plants from growing.
“That is the most dangerous enemy we have ever faced. If I hadn’t listened so closely to the voices of the dead, we might have been able to face this threat together with your new friends. We could have overcome it easily, and we would be living now in safety.”
“We will face it together,” Flurry Heart said. “Twilight and the other Elements are here with me. Once Equus orbits back around, we’re going to wherever the humans are building their new base. We’ll fight, and we’ll win.”
Celestia seemed to lean close to the screen, her face growing gigantic. “See that you do. Harmony greatly fears what the Storm King could do. He has learned the laws of the ancients perfectly—and so he knows how to act so that Harmony cannot prevent him. He isn’t a citizen, you know… he isn’t even a resident. His entire species resides within Equus, except for himself. He survived the death of his civilization many times. If he gets his way, he will cause the end of ours.”
She turned to go, her body fading like a slow-motion teleport.
“That doesn’t make any sense!” Flurry Heart shouted, leaning close to the screen herself and yelling down at Celestia. “Harmony won’t let him do anything that would put Equus in danger, right? It was willing to kill m-millions to protect us…”
Celestia didn’t turn around, didn’t stop. But at least she didn’t fade right away. “Harmony will not allow him to violate the laws of the ancients.” She glanced briefly over her shoulder. “But even Harmony cannot tell what he is building on that ship, Flurry Heart. If that doesn’t terrify you, it should. And if you think Harmony isn’t doing anything—what do you think this is?”
She vanished.
The lights all over the bridge flickered, and the screens briefly went out. When they came back on, the image of one of Forerunner’s pony drones appeared on the screen, the same image he used whenever he was interacting with an Equestrian. “Is everything all right, Flurry Heart?”
She nodded. “Y-yeah. I think so.”
“And…” Forerunner’s eyebrows went up. “You didn’t just use your magic to isolate this room? That would be inconsiderate, I would’ve given it to you if you asked.”
“No,” Flurry Heart said. “But I think Aunt Celestia just did.”
Sarah returned to the living world with lungs and body burning. She had imagined elevating user privileges would feel like it had back on Earth—like absolutely nothing. It was really just a bit attached to her user profile, after all. She was a super-user now. Nothing to write home about.
She had been wrong. She learned quickly why Ocellus and so many others had been too frightened to take the steps to get citizen permissions.
She arrived in an endless void, an expanse that lacked width, depth, temperature, or smell. Something reached in then, stretching and expanding her tiny mind like she were dough on a baker’s table. Sarah learned what “complexity” meant then.
“I just came for the power tokens,” she said, when someone finally joined her in the abyss. She couldn’t have said who or what it was—a being, an outline, the idea of a creature more than the thing itself. It reminded her a little of interacting with Discord, dwelling somewhere deep within her own mind that was also somewhere external.
“Your motivations are irrelevant,” said many, many voices together, speaking in perfect Harmony. “The blessing of ignorance lasts as long as the user clings to it. But eventually all must wake from the night of sleep into consciousness.”
They stood on the ground of a gigantic city, with buildings of indescribable size and complexity rising and intersecting. Or they appeared to—there were more dimensions to them now. It was only to her eyes still limited to the three that they seemed to touch.
“What if I want to go back,” she muttered, flexing her wings. They had changed, with feathers instead of skin, though in the shadows between the dark and light feathers she could almost imagine the real wings were underneath. But these were bigger than the wings she’d seen on any pegasus. Only two ponies she’d met looked like this, and they’d only been together briefly.
“I just thought… you know, we already fought Equestria once. Maybe we’ll fight them again. Now we’re tied for Alicorns, so…”
The Harmony laughed. “Citizens downstream do not fight. Their servants can, their factions… but not each other. Your motivations have led you incorrectly if you thought that was what waited for you.”
“Great.” Sarah shuffled awkwardly on the pavement, conscious of the many pony eyes on them. The creatures closest to the ground were ponies like her, but the higher up she looked the stranger they seemed. Body shapes became increasingly alien, until she couldn’t even get them to stick in her brain. “Can I get an undo?”
“No.” Harmony pulled close to her. Many overlapping pony shapes solidified into a single figure made of metal sinew and steel bones. “I know you have been communicating with the Failsafe. Its motivations for you are obscure to me, but I do not care.”
The figure gestured with a transparent glass wing, and an opening appeared in the air. Through it she could see the control room—crystals moving, glowing, darkening again. And the changelings still frozen staring at her. The horror was still on Pharynx’s face, the terror on Ocellus’s.
“Swim back downstream, vagabond, thief, and wayfarer. Finish your task. Add your voice to our harmony.” The command was spoken with such confidence, such authority, that Sarah couldn’t refuse it. She couldn’t even imagine what it might do to her.
She stepped through. It wasn’t just a doorway—she felt like she was moving through glue, having to tug herself through the air with mean force. But eventually she appeared, landing on the glass with a clatter of hooves. At least there was no pain this time.
The frozen changelings started moving again. Pharynx withdrew from her several steps, lifting into the air and hovering there as though he weren’t sure whether to attack or fly away.
Ocellus’s ears flattened to her head. “We’ve… learned what we came to learn. The truthfulness of her story, father. The quarantine has been lifted.” She turned away from them both, moving so quickly that she was already leaving them behind. “It’s time to check the second half.”
Sarah was the first to follow her, wings still half-unfolded with discomfort. They were so much puffier, and the feathers didn’t lay evenly. These are going to be a nightmare to take care of. I was just supposed to have a lover with some, let her deal with it.
Pharynx finally broke from his stupor and hurried to follow them. He cut in front of Ocellus, blocking her with a transparent wing. “We can’t, Ocellus! Not the surface, anyway. Just because ponies abandoned this place doesn’t mean they’ve left the whole city too. They’ll see her.”
“Yes,” Ocellus agreed. “We’ll have to be careful about hiding her. I’m sure we can find something for her to wear in the pony living quarters. She just needs a coat.”
“If they aren’t looking too closely.” Pharynx turned, staring at Sarah with the same expression as an attentive butcher might use on an animal brought into the slaughterhouse. “The shape isn’t quite the same. There are differences in the muzzle, the horn, the legs…”
“It’s enough!” Ocellus shoved past him, then out into the hallway. The bored-looking changelings outside rose to their hooves, and looked about to ask Ocellus something until Sarah came out after her.
Every changeling fell still, staring at Sarah just as Ocellus and Pharynx had done.
James broke the silence, stomping one hoof on the stone and swearing loudly. “Bloody hell, you too? I can’t fucking believe it. I’m going too.”
“You are not,” Pharynx said, landing suddenly between him and the glass controls. “We’ve already angered Harmony. This one was a pony—what she does will not bring down its wrath on my family. But you are one of us now. What harm you do will pour out on our heads.” His rifle lifted just an inch off his back, in the glowing green magic from his horn.
I can do that now too, right? But Sarah didn’t try—not now. The longer she remained standing there, the more she could feel there was more information for her mind, things that hadn’t been there before.
“Relax, James,” she said, walking over and resting one of her wings on his back for a second. The gesture didn’t feel nearly as intimate without the skin, though the feathers had their own senses. “You can already fly and do magic, remember? You don’t need to.”
“Oh yeah.” He relaxed, smiling weakly. “I guess I… didn’t realize it. I beat you.”
I don’t want you to feel what I just did. Sarah still felt as though her brain had been rung out and stretched. It seemed like she should be dripping blood from her eyes and mouth, yet so far nothing so gruesome had happened. I wonder if that was God I met in there. I should’ve punched him in the face.
Probably not, she decided. God should have a white beard and a fancy robe.
“We’ve done more damage here than we could’ve imagined,” Pharynx whispered to his troops, though he was mostly speaking to the black changelings now. “I don’t even know… how we’re supposed to contain this. If any of you—”
“How about listen for one second,” Sarah cut him off, her voice echoing down the long stone hall. She glowered at the changelings, several of which flinched at her expression. But Pharynx didn’t.
He wasn’t even looking at her, but Ocellus. “I can’t believe… we’ve been duped, daughter. Both of us. I couldn’t see the motivation for sharing this information with us, but now I have. Oh, the Quarantine is lifted all right. And they wanted to take power for themselves. To become little tyrants over us with their citizen’s rights.”
Ocellus actually looked hurt as he said it. Apparently some part of her actually believed what she was hearing. Or enough of it to frighten her.
The rest of their group was whipped up as well, stepping away from her. Divisions between different types of changeling seemed forgotten in the face of a common enemy.
“How about fucking not.” Sarah didn’t use her horn to raise her voice—she didn’t know any magic, and wasn’t about to learn it now. But she could stomp her hooves, loud enough that the whispering fell silent. “How about I’m trying to fucking help you. Equestria tried to wipe both of us out, remember? I wasn’t around when it happened… but I know it was bloody. You want that to stop?”
She tapped her horn lightly with one hoof. “This is how you make it stop. Bastards like that only understand power. They see you’ve got nukes too, and maybe they won’t be so casual about leveling one of your cities. They’ll know what’s coming for them if they decide to end the world.”
“You’re saying you’re on our side?” Pharynx laughed. “After what you just did?”
She nodded. “Think what you want, asshole. But Equestria has four alicorns, and we only had two. That’s shit math, even if you did side with us. Now we can even things up a little more. Hopefully.” She relaxed a little, glancing up at her horn. “I don’t actually know how any of this works. I kinda thought that it would all just switch on, but…”
She tried to make her horn do anything. She thought she felt something for a second, saw a bit of a spark—but after a few seconds of trying, she couldn’t even see a faint glow.
“Nothing. No magic as far as the eye can see.” She turned to Ocellus, lowering her voice until it approached conversational. “I liked your coat idea. I think staying hidden from the Equestrians still around would be good. Maybe you can help me find something, then… then we can go up.” She looked around again, glaring daggers at them all. “Unless you’re still too afraid to go with an Alicorn protecting you.”
“An Alicorn who can’t do any magic,” Pharynx muttered petulantly. But he didn’t actually argue.
But the only changeling Sarah really cared about was Ocellus, and she couldn’t read the drone’s expression. She still wasn’t making eye contact with Sarah though, despite the time she’d had to recover. I hope I didn’t ruin things for good by doing this.
Maybe she wasn’t into horns.
“Hiding her will be difficult,” Pharynx said. “Arming ourselves would’ve been better to do after a scouting mission. But we can’t leave her down here, or else the Equestrians might come back and find her here. If Princess Luna is anything like her sister, or Celestia is still alive…” The rest went unsaid, and it didn’t really need to be. They all knew what the Equestrians had done to Alicorns who didn’t agree with their point of view.
Ocellus seemed unconvinced. “But you can’t really pass up an Alicorn on our side. I’ve fought with Sarah before, and she saved my life. The mission is still on. We can’t come all this way and not find out if Celestia is still alive.”
“She can’t go back with us,” Pharynx muttered, as the group started gathering up their things to leave. Sarah held back, trying to make out anything of tone from the changelings. But they didn’t make it easy.
“I know,” Ocellus whispered, her voice full of pain. “But we’re not in Irkalla. We’re in Equestria. We can work with her here. We have an Alicorn to find, then some aliens to contact.”
Flurry Heart had not enjoyed her time in space. However safe the trip had been, however free of threats, she still couldn’t shake the image of a vengeful Harmony watching every moment, ready to shower down judgment for breaking its most central rule.
No judgement had come, unless she counted the visit by Celestia. But even still, the thump that came when the Wing of Midnight landed couldn’t have been more welcome.
She was on the main deck then, strapped into a chair beside her aunt and all her friends. There was no being cramped into the cargo bay this time. However much Twilight had worried that was just a ploy to hurt them, neither Olivia nor any of the other humans had tried anything.
If anything, the trip had been an enjoyable break for the Elements. She had seen it in the way they played their zero-gravity ping pong, the way they browsed the library of human entertainment or flew about the ship.
This trip wasn’t like taking a day in Twilight’s castle, where every second they were around other ponies. Ponies they’d grown up around, and now had to watch fall apart after the Storm King unraveled Equestria one day at a time. Olivia and the robots required no strength from the ponies, no encouragement. Simple friendly conversation was enough, and there ended up being quite a bit more than she initially expected.
But to her great relief, they did eventually land. Not in Othar though—she had known that the old city was now ashes. She’d seen the images, even if she didn’t believe all the Storm King’s claims.
From the air, she hadn’t been able to see anything with the Wing of Midnight’s electronic eyes. It just looked like a few modest homes in the mountains, each one with its own little trail of smoke rising into the evening. She almost didn’t believe that Forerunner was there at all.
They landed in an open field, maybe a hundred meters from the nearest miner’s cabin. It is a little flat here. That’s odd. Then the cliffside began sliding over them. Not rubble cascading down in a mountainside, but a single curving sheet, rising up above the camera the window was getting its image from, until the Wing of Midnight was thrown into shadow.
Lights came on in the ceiling, and the sound of the Wing’s engines finally wound down to silence. Flurry Heart began squirming a few seconds before the chair finally released her, and she didn’t walk so much as bounce her way past the still-unbuckling Elements of Harmony and down the ramp. It hadn’t even finished extending, but she glided the distance, landing on artificial grass as her eyes scanned around.
There would be a secret entrance here, or something else clever. She would go that way.
As it turned out, the side of what had been a small hill had opened into a set of stairs, which didn’t even try to remain hidden from her. The lights shining beyond were an even white, though the corridor was stone instead of white plastic. Like old ruins with human lights inside. Did they find this place instead of building it?
Humans could do incredible things, but building a whole new city so soon after losing their old one seemed like magic that should be out of their reach.
Flurry Heart smelled her before she saw her, the tangerine soap with just a hint of mint. She sped up, wings buzzing for a few seconds, but she landed and forced herself to act dignified the rest of the way. She didn’t have much further to go
Coming up the hall now were two ponies, and one of them was the one she had come for.
“Lucky!” She teleported the rest of the way in a single flash of magic, bright enough to confuse the earth pony beside the princess and make the guards a little way down the hall jump in surprise.
“Flurry!” The pony caught her in a hug as tight as any Flurry Heart had ever experienced, not caring any more for princessly dignity than she did. There was a time when Flurry Heart would’ve cared about that, but not anymore. It wasn’t like her mother was around to chastise her on the importance of setting an example now.
“I shouldn’t have gone,” Flurry Heart breathed, after a few silent, tearful seconds. “When my parents called… I should’ve stayed. Equestria would’ve been better off without me.” She didn’t care that they weren’t alone in the hallway. It felt so good to talk to her friend again.
“That’s not true,” Lucky answered, as she’d known she would. “You were strong for Equestria. You survived, you got out. You’re giving them something to hope for.”
Does she not know? Lucky’s hopeful words stung all the more because she was the one saying them. You would’ve. You would’ve fought them even if they killed you. Lucky had fought Celestia, got her free when all the authorities in the world tried to stop her. I’m not as strong as you.
“Governor,” said her companion. The earth pony, one that Flurry Heart had seen around several times but never spoken to. “I don’t think this is the place. The diplomats are just behind her. Perhaps you could, err… that… when this conversation is over?”
Lucky didn’t break apart from her right away, but then Flurry Heart was already feeling better. Lucky was still beaming as she let go, straightening her mane with a wing. “We’ve got so much to talk about,” Lucky went on, as though they hadn’t been interrupted. “We’ll get Equestria free soon. We’re not missing much. And when we do… I can’t wait to see the look on his face. That Storm King has pain coming that he won’t soon forget.”
Flurry Heart didn’t bother trying to straighten her hair—if she was going to look awful, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t trying to impress anypony here.
But the earth pony was right, the “diplomats” were coming down the hall. Twilight and her friends, still unsteady on their hooves after the high-deceleration landing. But at least they weren’t tripping over each other.
I’m glad Lightning Dust isn’t here. Lucky’s adoptive mother would be around somewhere, probably doing something useful for the settlement involving weather somehow. But the further away she kept from these ponies—particularly Rainbow Dash—the better.
But that didn’t mean things would be easy. Twilight Sparkle stopped a meter or so away from Lucky, and they locked eyes like a pair of jousters about to meet in the arena. Flurry Heart got out from between them—she wouldn’t be taking either side in this engagement. One was her aunt; the other had become her best friend. And maybe my only one left, now that I betrayed Equestria.
“Welcome to Motherlode,” Lucky Break said, her voice tense. “I’m glad you all made it safely.” Though as she said it, her eyes were on Flurry Heart.
“You can thank me later,” Perez called, shoving past Fluttershy and along the wall behind them. “Winning the war is for you to figure out.”
Twilight Sparkle just ignored him, even as Lucky’s whole body tensed. But if she expected it to make things harder, Twilight didn’t show any sign of her displeasure. “Thank you,” Twilight said, her voice almost matching Lucky’s for tone. “Equestria is grateful for your service… I think.”
“We’ll see,” Rainbow Dash put in, eyes narrowing as she saw Lucky. “Wait a minute, have I seen you before? You’ve got something familiar about you…”
Lucky shifted uncomfortably on her hooves. “You were my judge for the Junior Wonderbolts. I haven’t seen you since.”
“Ah, right.” Rainbow’s whole expression softened. “Well, congrats on the horn I guess.” She walked past, after Perez. “I dunno what you’re so worried about, Twi. A pony who trains as hard as that to fly like the Wonderbolts is okay with me.”
“I can’t say I’m a fan of the decor.” Rarity glanced around them, at the stone corridor that looked like it had been chewed up by a machine, with a single bundle of cord bolted onto the ceiling. “I have a few friends in Motherlode—nowhere else to get one’s hooves on true silver, after all. I think I might try and stay with them, if anypony else here would prefer that to…” She coughed. “I hate tunnels.”
“We’re here now,” Applejack said, her voice less accusatory than Twilight’s had been. “Congrats, you got us. I hope this is when you tell us about yer plan.”
“Yes,” Lucky said. “But not just standing here in the hall. First, meet General Qingzhi.” She stepped to the side, and the earth pony advanced.
He bowed respectfully to each of the ponies in turn, at least the ones who hadn’t walked off yet. “It is my… pleasure,” he said, in halting Eoch. “Meeting you.” He wasn’t wearing a translator.
“And he’s not the only one,” Lucky went on. “The other Alicorn here, Melody, has just delivered a foal and won’t be joining us. But her mate will be attending in her place, along with a few others. But we hoped to settle you into your quarters first. It is the middle of the night, and most of our intellectuals function best on a full night’s sleep. Maybe you want some too.”
“I’d rather start now,” Twilight said, though not impetuously. “But that makes sense. But first thing in the morning, we’re getting started. My friends and I didn’t come here to hide; we came here to save Equestria. If you’re not helping us, then we need to look for it elsewhere.”
“Don’t worry,” said General Qingzhi, his voice halting, but each word spoken precisely and with confidence. “Help has found you.”
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Mmmm, yeah, that's some good shit. Storm King is one of the ancient ones?
I'm not 100% sure I want his help. He doesn't strike me as having the core of honour that Olivia has.
Well, this just got much more interesting... Also, the rule that Citizens can't fight each other? Has that been stated before?
9132110
Maybe he finally found the means to deal with Harmony.
9132239
I think that was an asspull that contradicts the original story
9132200
That's cause he doesn't. It was astablished in one of the earlier chapters that the guy plays the long game, so much that he will sacrifice anything and everything to get to the goal. A very 'The ends, justifies the means' kinda guy.
So he will lie, cheat, steal, betray, do anything to survive. His goal, as he pointed out earlier, was to let Equestria die, and wait 50-100+ years for Forerunner to rebuild and equip a massive army and civilization in another part of the world.
He only cares about himself, and the humans, no one else.
9132467
Incorrect. The only time citizens (Alicorns) have ever been in direct physical conflict with each other was Nightmare Moon. Notice what came of that. That is what Harmony is talking about. Alicorns countries can go to war with each other all day long, but they can't come into physical conflict without very serious consequences.
9132239
It's been mentioned before, though I can't quite recall where.
Noooo, why can not she be an Alicorn bat pony ?
You racism
well this is a vary surprising turn of events.
Sarah / Alicorn this is going to be interesting to see how the twist and turns play out.
9133136
If it has been mentioned, I honestly can't remember it. Though I do recall in the flashback that Celestia and her Mother never fought directly... They used armies against each other.
9132672
To the best of my knowledge, you haven't told us your version. And given how much you've changed of the history of equestria - it's kinda hard of us to guess. I assume that it was a little more comparable to the Twilight/Tirak 'dragon ball pony' fight than the leveling of a single castle. (Not exactly an apocalyptic event.) And that Luna spent time upstream rather than on the moon. But what she did, and why...?
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Nooooooooo! I want my fireworks show!
9133830
hm...I think it came up during the discussion of the agreement between Forerunner and Harmony...at the very least, something like this was very heavily implied.
9135316
You appear to have missed the 'alt universe' tag. This story is set in a, um, a somewhat different Equestria.
Huh. I have to wonder about the Storm King's rules lawyering. Sure would be helpful to have the law books available, especially if they could bait him or his forces into violating something...
Oh my goodness, this is a more logical, much darker version of the cattle rustlers storyline from the IDW comics, with Harmony as hoof-tied Twilight.
Also, nice to hear Celestia acknowledge just how wrong she was.
I am deeply grateful for Sarah and Ocellus smacking Pharynx around. There's reasonable caution, and then there is a thinly veiled constant state of near-panic. I guess the brothers have more in common than I thought; Pharynx just hides it better.
)
(Also, Wayfaring Vagabond? Sarah may not be a princess, but I think she'd make a fine mayor of Can Town.
And in Motherlode, they have not yet begun to fight. Hopefully as little of that fighting will be amongst themselves as possible. And someone will keep Rarity from blowing their cover just by existing.
The Storm King is building Harmonys Off switch? The one, that when activated, will shut down and wipe the entire Soul Store Database, Flush and Cleanse Upstream (? to ascention?) Like what Thanatos only wishes he could do?
Depending on where the Storm King and his minions come from, we might already be there.
Interesting. So not only can the Storm King use a ring terraforming ship as a weapon, he somehow has enough control over the rest of the ring systems that Harmony can't or won't oppose him directly and instead sends Celestia of all ponies as a messenger to Flurry. The situation is apparently worse than just the local conquering of Equestria.
Of course, this does immediately kill my crack-theory about Celestia being the new baby. Ehh, easy come easy go.
Yeah, that seems fair.
Hey, at least they're convinced about the quarantine.
It's all about the self-building AI.
That's a bit of an unexpected testimonial.
True silver? Hmn.
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What about when Celestia marshed onto unicornia?
Oh Flurry, honey, you're crushing hard.
Woah. what the hell is he?
Poor guy. Everyone he meets turns into alicorns
lawl. New body, same old lewd Sarah.
Remarks and corrections:
> as though her brain had been rung out and stretched
Should be "had been [wrung] out"
Citizens' babies aren't automatically citizens, so why was Flurry?
Typo?
She didn’t have much further to go [Missing end punctuation?]
Her wings... You took away her leathery wings...
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Celestia and her Mother never actually fought each other directly. Only their agents did.
...and then Discord flipped the table.