“This is Alpha Twelve. Site is secured. Forty-three victims recovered. They're covered in that goo, but they don't look any worse for wear.”
“Excellent. Tape off the area, and keep civilians and the press away until we can decontaminate the area.” Twilight marked the site off of her map. That was a big one. Decontamination may not be possible. We might have to thaumically vitrify the area and remove the whole thing in chunks.
“Lady Sparkle? This is Captain Dual Strike.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and suppressed the urge to groan. “What is it, Captain?”
“I've led your Omega team underground to try to find what the changelings were so interested in down here. We've searched everywhere and found nothing but a few spots of murkyr; nothing we can't handle. There is, however, a large area we can't access. It should be nothing but concrete, but I can't shake the feeling that it's just large enough to hide something.
“Intelligentsia is looking for a hidden entrance trigger, magic or otherwise. But I thought you might want to check for yourself.”
“Copy that.” At least he's being helpful. “Keep the—”
“One other thing, Lady Sparkle.”
Twilight's ear twitched. “Yes?”
“General Gemstone Quartz is rather upset you didn't include him in this plan of yours, given that he commands the military in this Duchy. I hear he's on his way with the additional forces you requested.”
Oh, joy. “Understood. I'll be down when I can.”
“I'm on my way up to relieve you so you can investigate this yourself. I'll continue the coordination in your stead.”
Twilight shared a look with Trixie, part commiseration, part order. If I didn't want to check that place out myself this bad, I would chew him out right over the radio. “That's acceptable, Captain. Teams, switch Command and Control to Captain Dual Strike in three minutes.”
Cloud Burner, still hooked to the little cart, practically growled. “Interrupting you like that? Passive-aggressive punk. Somepony needs to pull the bug out of that guy's butt.”
“That would likely require surgery.” Twilight hastily scribbled some notes on the map for the Captain, leaving out the rude drawing she was tempted to leave for him. “But I think he's on something like the right track. I can find hidden magic better than Intelligentsia, or anypony else for that matter. I should get down there as soon as he arrives.”
Trixie looked like she had been sucking on a lemon. “Can't you, like, order him to do push-ups or something?”
Twilight double checked to make sure the radio was definitely still off. “It's complicated. The Captain of the Royal Guard can really only be disciplined by Celestia. I can order around soldiers under him, but as long as we're talking about soldiers actually in the Royal Guard or one of its divisions, he generally has the authority to countermand any orders I give, as long as he personally issues the counter-order.”
Cloud grunted in agreement. “Same goes for that old fogey Grand General Blueblood. Technically, in the military, he and Twilight are the same rank. But in just about any situation imaginable, he'd carry out the orders of the Grand Mage. Only exception is if Princess Celestia personally grants him full operational control, because in that case, he would have the final say.”
“And the Princess can order me around. In the military, her commands are absolute.” Twilight leaned over the cart and scanned the area. “I think I see the Captain coming.”
“Imma make funny faces at him when he's not looking.” Cloud chuckled. “Going back to ranks, Twilight’s authority is a bit more complicated than just military. She has civilian, noble, and law-enforcement powers on top of her military status. In terms of law enforcement, a duke can control their own forces and have them be generally uncooperative… but they still have to comply with things like giving her requested documents or locking up those she arrests.
“Also, insubordination to the Grand Mage can be something that comes back to bite them when Celestia questions them about it. If a duke is being obstinate to cover their own hide or just be a jerk, there's probably going to be consequences.”
Cloud clapped his mouth shut as Captain Dual Strike came into earshot upon his own chariot. True to word, as the Captain got out to address Twilight with his back to Cloud, the pegasus was sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes.
Twilight picked up her map and relevant notes in her magic. “There's still a lot of coordination and reports to do. Are you certain you want to take over this duty, Captain?”
The Captain’s smile had the feel of cold steel in it. “Of course, Lady Sparkle. Though, next time you start an investigation into a major changeling infestation, I do hope you'll include the Royal Guard in your plans.”
“If I feel like it's necessary and beneficial. My operations ars need to know — and I'm the one who determines who needs to know, with Celestia being the only one who can meaningfully disagree. For now, I am content to give this over to you. First, though: Trixie?”
Twilight looked over to her unicorn Guard, who promptly charged up and fired a blast of magic that hit Dual Strike right on his rump and flowed over him like a pressure washer.
The Captain was stunned, and, judging by his pupils, thoroughly dazed, but conscious. A second later, he was pushing himself back on his hooves and growling like a lion, ready to sink his teeth in Trixie.
“Huh. Guess he's not a changeling in disguise,” Twilight said before Dual Strike could form his words. “Can't be too careful with the bugs around. Good luck, Captain. Trixie, in the cart. Cloud, take us down.”
They left the Captain fuming so bad on the cloud he could spontaneously combust, and with his charioteers barely holding in a snicker.
Their little trolling done, Cloud Burner had them on the ground in just a moment. The actual entrance to the underground tunnels looked like an oversized elevator sticking out of the ground, and up until recently, it was sealed with welded metal and heavy chains. However, such measures, even when reinforced with wards, weren't enough to keep Royal Guard operatives out. Twilight could still see little spots of Intelligentsia’s orange magic where she had cut through to break in.
The hole led to a slope of dirt, followed by the same style of tunnels as before. The similarities between one hall and the next were just another hazard of the underground; it was easy to get lost. It wasn't until Twilight tried to swallow that she realized there was a difference.
“Why is the air so dry in here?” Twilight murmured to the guards following her. “Even if it was sealed, this place should be damp and musty.”
“She's right.” Cloud pawed at the dust under him, kicking up a little puff of dirt. “This place should be mildew’s dream home. But it's as dry as San Palomino.”
“Wards?” Trixie guessed. “Certain kinds of long lasting spells can affect their environment, especially if it's sealed off like this place was.”
“That only begs the question: what kind of wards are down here?” Twilight narrowed her vision and tilted her ears forward towards an especially dark corridor. “Eyes and ears open. Not sure I like this.”
“I'm already certain I don't like it.” Trixie lit her horn and fired a flare down the hall, which was promptly swallowed by the dark.
“That must be the murkyr the Captain mentioned.” Twilight pulled out her sword and aimed it down the hall. The blade immediately hooked into her heart, glowing with the violet power of an alicorn ascendant. “Hit the deck, ponies; I'm improvising.”
Twilight could hear Cloud's and Trixie's eyes widen before they ducked.
The fire came through a sieve this time, orderly and fine, before swirling into a ball at the end of the blade. Tiny bits of power orbited the center like some giant atom, and she let go of it with a breath and a tiny push. “Go.”
The fire orb drifted forward in a hush, inching forward to meet with the murkyr. Tendrils from the dark reached out to swallow the light, but burned as it came into contact.
The orb grabbed hold of the dark motes, pulling them in and feasting. The murkyr gave off a screech as it fell into fire, pulling so hard as to create a tiny shockwave from the collapse. The interaction was like a black hole feeding on a nebula, and soon, there was nothing left. At least, nothing but the wall Twilight's spell was about to run into.
“What was that?” a voice like Intelligentsia’s asked from around the corner.
“Duck!” Twilight yelled before putting up a barrier.
An instant before the orb hit the wall, a magic circle on the stone surface of the tunnel flashed into existence before being consumed by the orb. In the next heartbeat, the ground shook as if a metric-ton anvil had landed in front of them. Chunks of concrete exploded out from the wall, along with a big cloud of dust. Charged magic sizzled through the air like lightning going from cloud to cloud, only fading when met with the sound of a very frustrated officer of the Royal Guard.
“Seriously?!” Intelligentsia poked her head out from behind a corner to the left. “Did you really need to blow up the murkyr instead of burning it away slowly?”
Trixie tried to clear some smoke away by waving her hat around. “Lady Sparkle says it's not a real mission without an accidental explosion.”
“I did not say that!” Twilight choked out. “... but that doesn't make it untrue. I definitely didn't intend for that spell to form as it did. I'm still new to using my sword.
“More importantly, have you found anything yet?”
Intelligentsia took off her glasses, wiped them off, and used them to stare beyond the cloud of dust. “No, but I think you did. I saw an embedded ward just before the spell hit, and… Oh. Well, this is interesting.”
“Hmmm?” Twilight tilted her head and walked into the slowly-thinning cloud, eventually getting to see the wall behind it. Or rather, the vertical crater she'd put into said wall. Most important was the bit of metal at the very center, at the deepest part of the crater.
“That's weird,” Cloud said through a wing covering his mouth. “It looks like there's a metal wall on the other side of the concrete. What's above this place?”
“A half-collapsed maintenance building.” Twilight pawed at the wall a little, knocking free a few more chunks. “Not something I would rate as needing a reinforced basement wall. And as far as I aware, RGIS doesn't have any secret facilities nearby.”
“We don't,” Intelligentsia said. “I'd know.”
Bloodmoon's voice growled low and deep, nothing like his usual flirty self. “The Night Guard maintains a permanent presence in Manehatten, but we are not aware of anything at this location. That concerns me. How was this undetected?”
Twilight switched to her magic sight, and only found a dark void. This isn't just the absence of magic. The wall is actively blocking my senses. Aurora, did you catch that magic circle before I blew it up? I couldn't read it all in time.
“Only a partial. I definitely saw some symbols that could do space manipulation. We… might have just blown up the door.”
Oh, wonderful. “Whatever it is, I'm going to see what’s on the other side. The only question is what method will cause the least damage.”
Trixie chuckled. “Since when are we concerned about not doing damage?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Just because my adventures tend to cause coincidental explosions doesn't mean I'm not—okay, this sentence is starting to sound crazy even to me.”
Cloud Burner grunted. “I hate to say it, but we should wait for those reinforcements from Gemstone Quartz. The military has special tools for just this kind of situation, and if those don't do it…” Cloud looked like he had just vigorously rubbed his tongue with manure. “General Quartz is a very talented mage, especially with wards and stuff. If there's anything like that stopping us, he can get through them.”
Twilight sighed. “I suppose we could wait rather than risking extensive damage. After all, if we just blew up the only door, then anything inside is likely as trapped in there as we are stuck out here. But let's get more ponies to surround this thing, just in case.”
Cloud saluted before taking off back towards the exit, leaving the other four ponies to explore the area. Twilight, however, stayed put to think and ponder the void in her sight. Her thoughts drifted around her brain, occasionally touched by a word or feeling from Aurora. Wild theories came and crashed themselves on the shore of her mind, crashing into pieces when no direct evidence came to support them.
From time to time, one of her companions came to report what she had expected. There was indeed a tunnel path surrounding the void, but no other magic circles or alternate ways in.
Twilight was about to start chewing her hoof — while still covered in armor — when Cloud arrived with a small cadre behind him.
She noticed that most of them were combat engineers — the unsung heroes of the Equestrian military. The ones who were trained to go into an area to design and build stuff, often while under fire, so that the rest of the military could come in with their complex supply chains. If there was a need to build something, even if that meant blowing up something in their way, the engineers were the ones the Crown sent.
In this case, one particularly large earth stallion with a welding mask was carrying a circular saw on his back that was at least a half-meter in diameter. The blade was even reinforced with glowing red runes, and the assembly was dragging the longest extension cord Twilight had ever seen.
The was also, however, a unicorn she was trying to avoid locking eyes with. Ultimately, though, that was impossible.
The robes he was wearing were a bit tighter than a martial arts uniform, and awash in pastel colours. His mane was pink, flowing, and a little curly, while his coat was an off-white. His height was that of a draft pony, but his legs were lanky and thin. He moved with a delicate femininity that somehow matched the touch of makeup on his face, but the charged air around this unicorn was anything but delicate.
“General Gemstone Quartz,” Twilight finally said in surrender to her inner not-wanting-to-do-this. “Thank you for allowing me to borrow your engi—”
“Thank you for telling me what you were up to in Equestria’s largest city.” General Quartz stuck his snout in the air, looking down on her. “Oh wait, you didn't. What were you thinking? I was told not even Her Highness Princess Celestia wasn't told! This kind of insolence should not be—”
Crack! Twilight stomped the ground, sending a spiderweb crack out under everypony in the tunnel. “General Quartz, you will not address me in such a tone. Her Highness has placed her trust in me to operate independently when I so deem it necessary. I am under no obligation to inform you about my operations.
“You, however, are obligated to aid me when I so order it. I was going to be all nice and polite, but if you're going to go down this route, I'll have Cloud Burner here shove that circular saw so far up your flank it'll tickle your tonsils.”
One of the engineers snorted out a laugh, earning him a momentary death glare from the General before he turned back to Twilight. “Well, if you're saying you don't need my help…”
Twilight put magic in her horn and teleported to be right in his face. “Let's get something straight. I don't need your help. I can get this done without you — but that tool you're having your engineer parade around will get it done faster and more safely. Now, if you want to be a different sort of tool and leave, go ahead. Try me. It'll be in my report. You know, the ones I give to Princess Celestia. The pony that taught me. The pony whose wing I've literally spent time under.”
General Quartz looked as if he was about to breathe fire, or maybe bile. The twisted visage imprinted on Twilight's retinas just long enough to rattle her when it vanished, replaced by an amused, if defeated and deflated smile. Whatever hostility there was before was a melted goo by now.
“So like your brother,” General Quartz sighed. “A shame, really. It won't do you any favors in the Council.”
Twilight folded her forelegs. “I couldn't really care less about that, especially right now.”
“Maybe not now. But someday, you may change your tune. For now, though, I recommend stepping back around the corner.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.”Why?”
“Because this gets quite bright. And noisy. Boys? Let's turn this wall into a door.” General Quartz motioned to the engineers, who immediately started setting up.
When Twilight saw the sound-blocking headphones getting pulled out along with more welding glasses, caution transformed into the better part of valour and she dashed around the corner to her guards. She had even lit her horn to put up a barrier, but General Quartz had beaten her to the punch.
Rather than a field of energy like the barriers she had, Gemstone’s barrier lived up to his namesake as a wall of foggy crystal sprouted from the ground. In a few seconds, it had sealed off the passageway.
Aurora, do you think it possible that his ponies are trying to trick us into letting them destroy evidence? Could he be involved with whatever is going on?
“It's probably prudent to be a little paranoid given who we're dealing with. However, I severely doubt that. It would likely require taking on you, Trixie, and Cloud when you discover what happened.”
Twilight let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. You're right. In fact, I think I remember something about everypony thinking he has a hopeless, long-running crush on Princess Celestia. I doubt he would have anything to do with the Majestics.
The ground started to rumble as if they were in an earthquake, and the crystals lit up like a fireworks show. Barrier-shmarrier, Twilight thought while covering her ears. I'm pretty sure everypony in the tunnels can hear this.
“Well, I know one thing for certain!” General Quartz yelled over the noise. “See the light? It only gets that brought when cutting through wards! Powerful ones, too!”
Trixie and Cloud were ducked down and covering their ears. In fact, Trixie had pulled her hat down around her head for extra muffling, and Cloud was “borrowing” her cape to cover his ears with.
Aurora, how much are you deadening the noise for me?
“If General Quartz really has done this a bunch before, I'm amazed that he isn't completely deaf. That's how much.”
Noted.
The noise died down for a moment, and the voice of one of the engineers crackled over her radio. “First cut of four complete. There's a very dim green light coming from the crack. Possibly changeling-related, but it's hard to tell right now. Our thaumic-contamination sensors aren't reading anything, so we're proceeding.”
Twilight blasted up another barrier behind them to stop the echo from bouncing around the tunnels and finding them that way. It helped, but Trixie was still putting little bubbles of magic around her ears and Cloud’s. The look of relief on Cloud's face made it look like he just took a huge dose of happy pills.
Twilight immediately put the same spell on her own ears. Even then, she could hear the saw clear as day, but at least it no longer felt like the blade was cutting her eardrums open.
Three more cuts later, all the shields could finally drop.. More importantly, there were now slits cut into the wall, opening the way to whatever was inside.
General Quartz grabbed hold of the free slab of concrete with his rose-coloured magic, hefting it up and out of the way without so much as a grunt of effort. Little sparks of green power crackled from the cut wards, crystallizing into shards when they encountered the stallion’s power.
“What… is this?” Twilight took a few tentative steps inside the chamber, nose turned up in disgust.
Even with a piece carved out of them, the wards on the walls were mainly intact and filling the entire area with a haunting green light. Dozens of magic circles covered the space , some active enough to be spinning.
“Twilight!” Trixie pointed a hoof at one of the circles. “This is one of those symbols we saw earlier!”
Twilight nodded slightly. Her eyes were still taking everything in. The chamber was maybe the size of a house, yet it was all one room. Each wall had a dense concentration of wards, and each of those had enough power in them to turn a pony to dust. Despite the light the wards were putting out, every side of the chamber was pitch black, like it was covered in a paint that absorbed light.
Scientific equipment was scattered about in a dense pattern, from simple filing cabinets to complex thaumic sensors. There was even a THACT camera, which was as big as a chariot and functioned as sort of a crude attempt to replicate an alicorn’s Sight. The “film” for it cost ten thousand bits per picture.
Twilight just about tripped over a cable on the ground, catching herself on a large gem-core engraving unit. She blinked when she recognized the model – a Crystal Phasic Wishmate 3500D. That’s new, just came out two months ago. This lab has been keeping up with new technologies, so it was probably used recently. So where are the workers?
“I think I found a light switch!” General Quartz called out. “Brace yourselves, ponies, in case I’m wrong.”
Twilight’s mane bristled at the thought of flicking a switch in the midst of such magic. She scanned the room, following the wires to find the switch near the General, and threw a telekinetic blade at the part nearest to her. The resulting shower of sparks left a scorch mark on the floor and would have set her mane on fire had it not been hiding under her armor.
“What in-“ General Quartz yelped. “Problem, Lady Sparkle?”
“Don’t turn anything on. There’s just too much magic in here, and many of these machines use magic to function. Turning on the lights might also turn some of the machines on, and there could be booby traps. Safer to use flares.” She lit her horn and wrapped a simple flare in a careful spell to isolate it from the rest of the magic in the chamber.
The flare flew up to the ceiling, hovering just below it, and glowed white. The center of the chamber lit up like a spotlight had been turned on. Much of what was in the room was still muted, as if color itself had been sucked out of it. The glow of green, however, was brighter than ever before.
“Empty Night!” Trixie gasped.
Twilight dodged her way past machines and cables to the middle of the room, and shared in Trixie’s astonishment.
The center held six pods, much like what changelings held their victims in, only these were made artificially. Inside of each was a single changeling, strapped down tightly. Spikes had been added near the straps, each one just touching their chitin. If any of them had moved even slightly, they'd have been punctured somewhere on their bodies. None could speak from the gags in their mouths.
Every changeling had an IV placed in between their chitin plates on one of their forelegs. The tubes didn’t lead to a saline bag. There was, however, a sort of tap near the needles in their legs. Green blood had stained the floor nearby, and there was a bag of blood on a table nearby.
The thing that made Twilight sick the most, however, was the sickly green magic circles in between each of the pods. All of them were made from solidified changeling blood, and still glowing brightly.
The changelings all regarded her with an unstable mixture of desperation and hate. They squirmed in agony, moving ever so slightly under the torturous implements.
They're being tortured… Twilight’s wellspring poured magma into her veins, begging to be unleashed. It was chilled by the memory of the changeling that self-destructed rather than be captured. Wait… How come they didn't die by suicide?
“Hey Twilight!” Trixie held up a cardboard box that had been soiled with changeling blood. “There's some kind of amulet in here!”
Amulet? Twilight eyed the box, but also the equipment all around her. “Boys, make sure everything here is fully disconnected and safe. Trixie, dump the amulet on this cart.” She grabbed a metal cart with a bunch of tools on it and wheeled it over to her.
Trixie turned the box upside down, spilling the contents of goo, metal shavings, a chisel, and a golden amulet no bigger than a ten-bit coin. It was infused with changeling blood, and bore the same kind of symbols that all the other unfamiliar magic she'd encountered in this mission had. Unlike the rest, though, this had even more symbols she didn't know, and the spell was very different in structure.
The lead of the engineers came over to them. “Well, this place is like something out of a horror novel. What should we do with the captives?”
Twilight bit her hoof. “I don't know yet. Right now I want to know what this amulet does. It could be the key to everything, but we don't know what it does yet.”
The engineer chuckled. “Oy, Beanpole, over here!”
A lanky engineer with a mop for a cutie mark sauntered over. “Yeah?” he asked with a voice higher than one would expect for a stallion his age.
The lead held up a coin. “Give ya five bits if you put on this untested amulet from our little mad science cave.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. Like anypony would be stupid enough to—
“Beanpole” grabbed the amulet in one swift motion, and had it on by the time Twilight opened her mouth to yell.
Green fire overcame the stallion for a moment, and when it was gone, a different stallion stood in his place. One who was stout, dark coloured, and even in different clothes.
“Whoa,” the newcomer said, voice raspy. “What did that do to me?”
Sweet sunflowers! It's a changeling’s powers in amulet form! Twilight yanked the amulet off him, and sure enough, the green fire appeared again, transforming him back to normal.
Trixie blinked. “This… This is big. Who knows what mysteries this might solve.”
Twilight's synapses crackled with life, and she took a deep breath.
First, the circles on the buildings. We didn't know who put them there at first, but now it's clear that whoever ran this lab did it. But why? What purpose did they have? Why did the changelings come running here when we blew them up?
The circles kept them from knowing for certain where the captured members of their hive were being kept! Yet, there was a clear increase in changeling activity for some time in this city. Obviously, that wasn't a coincidence. Which meant that they knew their drones had been captured. But Chrysalis doesn't seem worried about sacrificing her drones when necessary, so why care about these who were being tortured?
Because they could feel it, and couldn't stop it! The building circles must have kept their location hidden, but not the pain of the torture! That's why all the changelings came rushing here, to get the pain to stop!
But again, Chrysalis has no trouble killing her drones for the sake of the hive at large. So why didn't she do it as soon as we blew up the circles?
Because she couldn't! The small circles here aren't to keep the hive from finding them, but to keep the hive from giving them orders! Right now, they're just individuals, largely cut off from their psychic network, scared and getting hurt for who knows how long.
The hive felt their distress, but these drones didn't seem to know that the rest were coming for them. Which also means… this wasn't an invasion. This was a rescue mission!
But Chrysalis couldn't just mount an attack on the largest city in the world, not even with the entire hive. It would be the literal end of the changelings. So she did what changelings always did — infiltration! She caught more ponies not just for the love from them, but also to try to discover this lab’s location.
And that explains why they went after Duchess Demesne’s assistant. The hive placed a bet the Duchess might know something, but going after Demesne herself would have been too high a risk given her security and Manehatten’s infrastructure. The assistant was a much easier target, but either the assistant didn't know, or the Duchess didn't reveal it, or neither had anything to do with this.
And let's not forget Vinyl. Going after the beloved daughter of a crime lord would have been risky. What if goons were following her? They'd be even more trigger happy against changelings than the police! But Vinyl? A free spirit like that probably didn't have much protection. Get Vinyl, get a potential in near Tailored Trade himself.
Yet in the end, it wasn't the crime lord or the Duchy’s government behind this. As far as I can tell, there's only two possibilities that come to mind. Two that have the resources, organization, and ruthlessness to pull this off, both of which would be nearly impossible for the changelings to directly target: the Templar Illusionists, or the Majestics.
The Templars I can cross out immediately. Why bother with changeling amulets when their own techniques are so superior? Not just illusions, but hard-light magic that effectively makes the illusions real. It doesn't make sense.
Which means there's only one possibility: the Majestics. They were behind it all. They created the lab in the place the changelings would have the hardest time assaulting, and the place their agents could operate in most freely. They tried to catch the drones, which would have just self-destructed, giving them all the changeling blood they needed to set up the circles and catch more, this time bringing them in alive.
When I got to the city, the techs working here likely took what they could conceal and bailed. The security team that got killed by changelings was the clean-up crew for this place, and they went down fighting. There's no way to prove how the changelings knew who to target, but if this place is still intact, it means they had no other ponies here who could do the deed. That speaks to the actual size of the operation: just a scant few ponies in the largest city in Equestria.
Still, this lab could have been here for years — who knows how many of these amulets are out there? Or how many times they've already been used?
I can't even begin to answer that. All I know right now… Twilight picked up the amulet. …is that once I crack the secrets of this magic, this will be one trick they won't be able to use anymore.
*Hums the theme to tales of vesperia* i will ring a bell untillll you feel me by your siiiiideeee!
Hmm... Changeling Amulets... wonder who they have been impersonating. Possibly connected to the constant leaks? It will be interesting to see where this rabbit hole leads.
you know what media1.tenor.com/images/086204ceb943f64c2a9d54c8863935f1/tenor.gif we need it badly
And Luna?
9433717
Nope, Luna has very strict restrictions in this universe in terms of military powers. Since Twilight operates on a Quasi-military status, Luna LEGALLY would hold no say over her actions. Of course, off the books, she has plenty, however, Twilight was using the books to intimidate the General.
9433730
Yes, but
1) As Arch-Mage, not ALL Twilight's authority is military
2) Most of the rules were probably written before Luna's exile.
It's been so long, ICR exactly but Luna isn't supposed to command troops. Does that mean she has NO military authority? Or is she like the Secretary of Defense, able to give orders but not directly command?
Maybe Luna's authority over Twilight (if any) depends on the circumstances?
"Blah blah blah TIDAL WAVE!" I expect this to be canon soon.
Your addiction is understandable
This is one of my very favorite stories, I've been reading it ever since it first came out and I'm always so excited when it updates! Keep up the great work CV!
9433717
on paper yes, in practice.....luna's authority is....somewhat constrained at the moment
9433766
luna only has the authority to command her personal gaurd, which can at no point can exceed 50 ponies large iifc, which suit her fine shes always prefered quality over quanity anyway.
that said luna herself is a one mare army soooo having a large number of troups behind her would be rather redundent.
To author, do not read till you are at least 2/3rds of the way into tales of vesperia
to give a cryptic non spoilery hint as to at what point im refering: chicken little
WHY DID THEY HAVE TO KILL OF TE SEXY FOXTAUR LADY!!!!!!
that is all
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Why did you remind me of that ear worm TTnTT
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because i played the game when it first came out, now you know my joy and torment, it really is an amazing song.
9433988 yes bonnie pink's ring a bell is a good song doesn't mean I want it playing in my head on repeat.
9433976 don't remember her and I completed tales of vesperia
9434004
the freeguilds guildmaster, the female lead acidently poisons her during a fight and you have to kill her, here spirit later becomes undine
Well, as long as they can keep the changelings in there they can be interrogated. Maybe they'll learn something interesting. I wonder how far the Majestics are in their research to being able to identify changelings. And how fast Twilight can access that knowledge.
Honestly, what has become of Equestria?
You can't trust anybody anymore!
Not even the villains to be villains!
One of our neighbors was in the Army Corp of Engineers in Vietnam. He's got stories. Kind of funny ones. And he completely agrees that no one can get up to mischief like engineers.
I think a typo slipped thru there.
I like the personal interactions and conflicts that happen. There are times with Twilight, that I can't help but think that she and her guard are going to earn the motto of "When it must be destroyed yesterday" or something of that nature.
Is it just me or is Twilight starting to act like a bit of an asshole? It's just that I like rules and regulations, so I find it slightly annoying whenever Twilight flashes her "I have the ultimate authority on this matter, I am not accountable to anyone save Celestia and there is nothing you can do about it" card.
Yeah, I get it, Twilight is a highly talented, special operative, working for the crowns. And while she has plenty of reasons to ignore most rules, making a show out of it, is not earning her any friends. All it takes is for someone with enough political pull to give things a little push and soon enough the public would be outraged at having a loose cannon running around Equestria doing all sorts of things without any control.
Once you have enough ponies demanding something be done, Celestia and Luna won't have a choice but to put a leash on Twilight. Sure, Twilight might be one of the good guys and working in the interests of Equestria, but there has to be accountability. Furthermore, even if no one does anything, Twilight's reputation as a loose cannon might result in ponies refusing to associate with her, turning her into a political outcast, a pariah of sorts.
As much as I am on Twilight's side, I do think she ought to pay some attention to the political side of things and start thinking in long term.
9433766
As I mentioned,
1: QUASI military, meaning not fully military authority.
2: It doesn't matter about the rules, it matters that Luna is seen as a threat and thus withholds many of the powers that normally come with her status as a princess. She can barely possess a guard detail, why would the council give her legal authority over the 2nd highest position in the entire government?
9434558
Part of the problem is that she knows that the Majestics have infiltrated the government.
She isn't sure who it's safe to trust & know "3 can keep a secret only if 2 of them are dead" (as Franklin said)
She reckons that the more folks that she talks to, the higher the chances are that her plans will leak
+ consultation takes time & she reckons that having to explain to people then argue with them will slow her down.
Still, I expect that Celestia will talk to her about being a little more courteous.
Inadvertently double posted & erased the extra one
9434680
The fact that there's an information leak is irrelevant. My point is about courtesy. Yes, she has plenty of good reasons to do things the way she does, but it matters how she does it. Even if it's just an illusion.
At the moment, Twilight seems to be the rude, asshole client yelling at the waiter to be quick about it when delivering her food. Sure, nothing prevents her from behaving like that and the waiter will be obliged to serve her regardless of how she behaves. But at the end of the day, despite getting results, her reputation will be tarnished.
It might be irrelevant if she was a secret, black ops operative, but Twilight is a Grand Mage, which seems to be a very public title. There are things she must not be seen doing. Just as the title grants her various powers, it also limits her actions.
I might be focusing too much on a seemingly insignificant thing, but now that I think about it, I would like to see the consequences of Twilight's behavior coming back to bite her in the ass.
9434054
Oh her yeah I remember now.
Once again, maybe a little info-dumpy, but at this point we probably needed it.
I agree Twilight could probably stand to be a little more decorous, but hey, not like she's the one who started it.
9434781
Well, Red does have a point. These are people that Twilight is going to have to work with for years, maybe decades.
She pisses them off too badly and they'll develop a bad case of The Slows when obeying her orders (if nothing else)
Twilight has a point too, though. If the bad guys have advance info on your plans,
how successful will your plans be? How long before you walk into an ambush?
She's already found proof that some very highly placed folks Are Not To Be Trusted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzTeLePbB08
So everything is coming back to the Majestics. Any possibility of having "Designing Intrigue" be brought back into the main story at this point? It sounds like The Grand Mage might be in the market for intel on this group.
Also, I think she might owe Queen Chrysalis a mental apology. Who knows, maybe this would work to bring Chryssie into Twily's orbit as a source of info once she finds out what The Majestics have been up to in regards to her drones.
Just a thought, but do The Majestics have 12 members?
9434715
actualy your looking at it wrong, ever played mass effect if so then you should be viewing her like you would comander shepered with his Specter tittle, shes granted broad far reaching authority with little to no limits on what she can or cant do
in theory twilight can literlay kill a pony, in cold blood if she wished, and the only one she needs to explain herself to is celestia and if she has a valid reason that hte princess accepts, then nobody can say shit about it.
now that said theres 'can' and then theres 'should' at present her behavior does come off as a bit spoiled but do remember that she is presently operating under the asumption that there is at least one, an dlikely many more, traitors littered throught the ranks of the military
thus the fewer ponies that know about what shes doing at any given time, especialy in an op where she cannot afford the enemy know what shes doing, the better
will it hurt her in the long run, fuck yes it will, but it was non the less nessiary...she gained a few renegade points today, hopefully she can make it up with paragon points going forward.
9434715
and having said all that below i should also mention that given the asumptions at play twilight and celestia are both showing an admirable amount of restraint, if either one was of the mind they could, very easily, enact a sorched earth responce to this threat and simply kill everyone who might be compromised, or otherwise remove them.
the reasons they dont are of course obvious, most notibly public confidence in the monarchy would be shot for decades after such a purchge was inacted, celesita would find her ability to function as an effective ruler hampered severly by public distrust and civili unrest till she was able to sweep things under the rug, which would as said take decades...she may have a theoretical eternity but thats decades of time where she isnt makeing any progress towords makeing equestria better...so they are forced to play the long game, finding evidence undermineing the corrupt and the traitorus wherever they can
9435075
I am not denying the fact that Twilight has a lot of authority and good reasons for doing whatever she is doing. Yes, her authority is more or less second to that of the Princesses. Yes, she is investigating a conspiracy that can, potentially, ruin Equestria. I am not denying that. I will also not deny the fact that tough calls have to be made, considering what's at stake. I fully agree with what she is doing.
However, that is not my point. My point is that Twilight is not doing a good job at creating a positive reputation. If she continues like this, Twilight will earn the reputation of Celestia's and Lunas personal attack dog. You point her at the problem, let her off the leash and then wait for the dust to settle, as she charges in, with no fucks given about protocol, standard procedure or being nice. Effective? Yes. Someone you bring out in polite society? Nope.
As I mentioned before, none of this would matter if Twilight wasn't a public figure. However, she is the Grand Mage and it has been mentioned that this is an influential title/office. You do not want someone who has a reputation as a meatheaded brute to hold that title. Not if you want the title to have any sort of influence. Public image plays a very big part in having such influence. There is a reason why national leaders are always smiling in public, shaking hands and being polite to one another, even though they despise the other person.
As someone with her status, Twilight cannot behave the way she is behaving right now. She will only cause problems for herself. The way I see it, she has to pay more attention to politics and her public image. Leave the nasty/unpleasant business to her subordinates, while she plays the polite and courteous role.
Actually, it could be part of her training. First Luna and Celestia made sure that Twilight knows how to protect herself in a fight. Now they can start teaching her how to behave in public.
9435136
your at once right and wrong, yes this is part of her training and yes she is burning bridges however theres a factor your failing to understand...true that she is alineating the chain of command and the nobility by in large
but the general public is another matter entirly, she is very swiftly likely building up a reputation as a bit of a robin hood like figure in the publics eyes, a mare who will fight for them and gives zero fucks what the ponies in power think or there corupt political gaims may try to do about it.
by in large her actions are likely rapidly building twilight up as a pony with 2 very diffrent images to 2 very diffrent groups.
and i can tell you exactly which of those 2 groups twilight cares about the opinion of, hint, it aint the nobilty
9435136
Just keep in mind these aren't conflicts that need removed form the story but issues Twilight should be made to deal with the repercussions of down the road. I think readers and the author need to know pointing out these issues being created doesn't mean the story needs to be completely rewritten, but they need to be made part of the story if they are to be kept in.
9435175
Yet it is the nobility that can turn her life into hell. The public has a very short attention span and an even shorter memory. Nobles hold grudges and they're the ones with the power to actually do something.
While the concept of "useless nobles" is a popular idea, it is foolish to consider it a reality. Without nobility, there would be no Equestria. It would be a land of simple homesteads. Nobles are landowners. Other ponies work the land for them. Because of this, they have the spare time and resources to focus on something other than their immediate needs. Things like building infrastructure, so that it is easier for ponies to work the land (and be able to pay more taxes). If they have valuable resources on their land, they can trade it for money or favors to other nobles, thus gaining influence. Other nobles may compete by building schools or developing trading/manufacturing centers. Sure, the end result is more money and influence, but these improvements tend to trickle down as benefits for the common ponies.
Those balls with fancy cheeses and wine. They are anything but. This is where connections are made, deals are arranged, influential ponies are introduced to one another. Events for the nobility is where the true power resides and where a wrong word or action can spell doom for the unlucky pony. Sure, they might not kill them, but there is plenty of ways to deal with a troublemaker. Destroying a pony's reputation, passing them over for deals or merely isolating them can be just as deadly as any blade.
Even Celestia has to be careful when dealing with them. I mean, what would happen if nobles decide not to listen to her? Without their obedience, Celestia is a single pony. A powerful pony, but a single pony nonetheless. They are the ones providing food, money, knowledge, and a myriad of other resources that enable her to rule Equestria.
What will Twilight do if nobles decide to stop giving her any information? Ask Inteligencia? Okay, who decides the amount of budget that is allocated to the agency? The nobles. Who organizes the delivery and production of various resources so that the agency can function? The nobles do. What about maintaining Twilight's armor? Providing food for her to eat? Yes, there are ordinary ponies who do the actual job, but it is the nobles who make sure it is possible for ordinary ponies to do what needs to be done.
Yeah, Twilight might demand they do as they're told, but the nobles can just provide various, perfectly reasonable, excuses as to why they are unable to give her what she needs. Hell, they could even go on the offensive and demand that Celestia puts a leash on Twilight, unless she wants them to have a vote of no confidence in her.
The reason nobles tend to have their power plays is because they have so much influence to gain and so much to lose. It is important to make sure said power plays do not spiral out of control and do not have a common target. That is what rulers (Celestia and Luna) are supposed to do. However, if someone decides to make an enemy out of nobility, then all that power and influence will be focused on removing that threat. No amount of physical power can stand against that. There is a reason why physical strength does not matter in politics.
Twilight is free to do what she wants and she can ignore the nobility if she wants to. Problem is, there could be devastating consequences.
9435199
If the author decides to ignore this problem, I will be annoyed, sure, but I will still enjoy the story. This is a great story after all. It's just that the nature of the main storyline makes it so that a certain amount of political intrigue would fit perfectly. You don't defeat massive conspiracies by swinging your fists. You have to get political.
Now, if this will be explored further in the story and Twilight will have to deal with the political fallout of her actions, then this story will be excellent instead of great. It's just that I want to raise awareness for a potential storyline to explore in the future.
9435228
your mis construeing the age this is takeing place int hen, the nobilities power is all but spent in the current era of equestria, thats why there fighting so hard, they are clinging DESPERATLY to relavence in the current era where nobility counts for less and less and more lowborns are takeing up positions of power, it is the dawn of the age of democracy in equestria, and the nobles are not likeing it one bit.
9435228
if you want a good example of the direction this could potentialy lead, look up how the french revoluton went for the nobility....it wasnt prety.
9435228
that said i do need to stress a point, one thing im not disagreeing with you on is that this 'will' come back to bite twilight in the ass at some point, she has to learn moderation at some point and shes gonna learn it the hard way i think
"I was told not even Her Highness Princess Celestia wasn't told!"
Was there an extra negative in there?
(Also, written after the below: I do like this story, I'd like to make clear. Just... in kind of an odd way.)
9434558
It's not just you, no. As I recall, I've actually relatively often found the heroes of this story somewhat unlikeable (it feels like there's a particular and distinct reason for it, but I still haven't been able to pin down what that actually is), and sometimes enough to root against them.
It's hard to say that the hero-group (including Twilight, her people, their faction of the Equestrian government (including the Princesses)) is actually _bad_ (at least once that eternal torment, if I remember correctly, thing was undone), and while the antagonists are often mysterious and possibly better, we've also seen that at least some of them are clearly worse.
I am finding it interesting seeing this play out, though, both the events in the story and my reactions to it.
9435136
Yeah. Though, if this is a common sort of behavior among agents of the Equestrian government who should be being diplomatic, that would perhaps explain at least some small part of the problems they're having with rebel groups.
9435199
Oh, yeah, this sort of thing just seems to be part of the story; I'm not saying it should be rewritten.
9435240
"You don't defeat massive conspiracies by swinging your fists. You have to get political."
Well, there's also the option of getting political by swinging your fists. Not that hard to get 100% of the nobles to approve of you if you throw "surviving" in as an adjective. And all those resources formerly in the hooves of the uncooperative nobles are now held by loyal nobles or non-noble administrators. I doubt that that's what the Princesses or Twilight plan here and also doubt, though not quite as much, that it'll happen anyway, but it is a possibility.
I expect it'll be interesting to see if there's effective fallout, though, yeah.
9434946
More of Designing Intrigue would have to be written/published in order for it to become relevant to Rites proper again. It actually crossed over somewhat in the end of Helping Hoof that Can't Be Touched, the majority of the following chapter, Scorched Ambition, and some of Strong as the Earth as well.
9435272
Whether or not nobility is losing power is irrelevant. Replace nobles with merchants, corporation owners or whatever and you will have he same situation: a small group of powerful and influential ponies you do not want to anger.
I would say that Equestria is more suited for nobility than anything from our history. Equestria has an immortal ruler, it doesn't have to deal with various succession crises/wars that ushered in a significant change in society. The stability of Celstia's rule provides a nice environment where one can figure out how the system works and use it to achieve great things.
Hmm... Wanna bet that those amulets are in part the Majestic's answer to the Templar? This kind of speaks to my earlier theory that this started out as one conspiracy which later split off into two opposing factions - some of the methods the Templar and the Majestics are using are too similar for them to be totally seperate. The Templar leave and take their illusion technology with them, forcing the Majestics to come up with some other means. The amulets are too advanced for the factions' split to have happened recently, but I'm thinking the fighting between the Majestics and the Templar has only escalated within the last few years. So the break-up must have been some time before then.
I'm pretty sure the amulets are partly responsible for how the RGIS is leaking information, with Changeling derived tech a pony could temporarily replace a high ranking officer without anyone (potentially including the one they impersonate depending on how they get their images) being any the wiser. Next step for Twilight has to be for her to identify who the disguise is meant to replicate, that could confirm what the amulets are being used for. It's a fairly safe bet Chrysalis probably doesn't know who's behind this otherwise she'd be on them like bees on a hornet, but she's probably further down the road to finding out than Twilight is and she might trade useful info for the drones' return.
What we really need to find out is what caused this supposed schism (I suspect it was a difference of opinion on how to acheive their original target) and what the original goal of the conspiracy was. That could tell us alot about who's involved. I still think Charlemange's behind this, he must be the leader of at least one of the factions. << Opinion.
9435661
I said democracy not merchant state as in everyone gets a say not just the privileged few also if you read into the subtext of the early chapters you will realize that her reign has been anything but stable politically in fighting and tribalism have been a constant struggle for her.
Well, wouldn't the amulet also be affected by the changeling revealing spells?
9435720
You're missing my point. I wasn't talking about a merchant republic. I was talking about ponies with power, influence. Depending on the situation, they could be merchants or company owners, corporate tycoons or anyone else with lots of money. It doesn't matter if the country is a democracy, monarchy, diarchy or whatever else. They're not the ones in charge of the country. At least not officially. But they don't have to be ones sitting on the throne. Not when they have plenty of connections and influence to get things done their way.
9435367
It really depends on whether or not the author plans to do something with this. As I have mentioned before, I don't mind of the heroes get a little pushy. They have plenty of reasons to be. My main concern is whether or not there will be consequences down the line.
Considering this story is about Twilight becoming worthy to rule the country, I think it is important to pay attention to all aspects of her development. Being able to solve problems is nice and everything, but it also matters how problems are solved, so that they don't create new ones.
9436116
"Being able to solve problems is nice and everything, but it also matters how problems are solved, so that they don't create new ones."
Aye.
well this is a interesting twist.
but the changelings , will the allow Twilight to help them?
Get FUCKED