Daring Do: the Legend of the Algae Photis
by Wanderer D
Chapter 3: Background
Equestria, Serpent River, Badlands
Note: I will, in the interest of future dealings with our XCOM allies, remove the names of security-sensitive individuals, as knowledge of their counterparts in Equestria runs the risk of affecting the perception of any who could potentially read this.
Personal log:
It's been a full day of travel by boat downriver through the badlands towards Klugetown, a small city at the very southern end of the Bone Dry Desert, right next to the coast. I had heard of Klugetown before, mostly relating to imports from Abyssinia, but my history books talk about a place that has traded hoofs, claws and paws in ownership for several centuries.
As academically intriguing as documenting the floral, faunal, geographic, environmental, and thaumatic discrepancies with the pony lands has been, I haven't been able to fight the anxiety that comes from Daring's revelations this morning.
What worries me the most is this almost willful ignorance coming from Celestia, ignoring the threat of war to this extent. I've seen what it can do… and so has she, through centuries of ruling. And yet, she chooses to ignore that and worse, keep people—her little ponies— ignorant of the lurking danger.
I understand that we ponies tend to panic at the drop of a hat, but ignorance? For someone that has so much accumulated experience, she sure acts naive sometimes. She might be confident that the Abyssinians and Mount Aris (whoever they are, information is sketchy) can together hold back this Storm King, but if they lose, what do we risk? What guarantee do we have that he will stop there and not threaten Equestria?
It makes me wonder: Is this what Commander [REDACTED] had to deal with twenty years ago, telling the governments of Earth about the alien menace only for them to wilfully ignore the threat beyond sending some soldiers and token financing?
And how did that end? With that world's [REDACTED] dead taking down a spaceship, the Commander captured, most of XCOM on the run, and their whole world at the mercy of the Elders. Isn't this what would have been the eventual fate of Equestria if Cadance and Shining hadn't managed to magically save us all at the same time?
Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Discord… now the Storm King? What else is she ignoring or pretending will be solved on its own? Three of those she was well aware of. What new enemy from Tartarus will I have to defeat with my friends because she didn't prepare for a negative outcome? I love Celestia with all my heart, and she is a wonderful, amazing pony and an inspirational, knowledgeable teacher, but… wishful thinking or ignoring things doesn't solve everything. We can't rely on Spike's lucky stumble to save the day, or on a random unicorn outwitting ancient evils every time.
Perhaps my time on Earth has made me cynical, but I know that other leaders deal with as much as she does, if not more, and they know not to ignore threats like this. I hope I'm wrong. I hope Celestia has agents in these other countries, keeping tabs on things so nothing like the wedding happens again. I hope she has a plan. I hope.
I'm already missing the girls. Even if they're naive and all they could do is tell me that things will be okay… I'm starting to think that's an important thing that I might have forgotten. Maybe I should re-read my friendship journal.
And I still hope… I hope I'm worrying too much. I hope we don't live to regret things we could have prevented. I hope the girls are fine and they'll forgive me for leaving them behind. I'm not the pony I used to be… and it hurts me as much as it hurts them.
I should go talk to Daring, maybe I can learn more of what is coming.
Signing off,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Daring Do sensed Rainbow Dash's presence just as the other pegasus walked up to her. Even if she had used other creatures' help during her adventures, it was still difficult to figure out how she felt about having others along for the whole ride. Or was she the one along for the ride?
Ugh. She hated working with others, but she'd never let them be the heroes of her story.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash," she said, pushing her thoughts away, "what's up? Here to ask me when the next book is coming out? Because it'll take some time."
Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "What? No! I wasn't going to. I mean, we're doing all of this, so uh, I don't suppose you brought your typewriter with you?"
"I did not."
"Figures," the Wonderbolt hopeful said, sighing. "That's too bad, but really, what I wanted to say was thank you for doing this. It means a lot for all of us."
Daring glanced back over her shoulder. Twilight was out of sight, probably either studying or planning, and Galahad was currently occupied teaching a griffon wrestling technique to Alejandra. Tala was probably standing guard somewhere out of sight. How an armored breezie could look intimidating rather than hilarious was probably a question best left for another day.
"So what's the story with Alejandra? She doesn't really fight much like a griffon."
Rainbow Dash's smile became forced. "Oh, does she? I hadn't noticed!"
"Huh," Daring Do deadpanned. "And here I thought you were friends with a few." She looked at Rainbow Dash straight in the eye. "So the Battle Princess has been fairly tight-lipped about the whole thing. At least directly, but let's see what we already know, right?
"First, she has a friend who is a transformed Blood Witch. If that was somewhere in Equestria, this would be a well known fact by everycreature. Blood Witches don't tend to care if they're noticed.
"Second, Twilight and Alejandra are both military trained. Which is unusual because Twilight is the Princess of Friendship, at least officially, and the griffons don't really have an army... since two centuries ago. And before you say it, no Galahad is not army-trained."
Rainbow Dash squirmed in place, looking around the boat as if trying to figure out a way to get out of the conversation.
"Third, and kind of obvious, but, "Alejandra" is not really a griffon name at all, is it? She also happens to look, sound, and even acts like an aged-up version of Gabby. They don't behave like siblings, or mother and daughter either. If anything, they're kind of awkward with each other. It's endearing, but odd.
"Fourth," Daring continued, smirking at Rainbow Dash's cringe, "some of them talk about, and are comfortable with, the concept of war as a matter of fact. I expect this from Galahad to a degree, and sure, Alejandra could be his apprentice and also be more worldly, except that she's really not as good at claw and wing combat as she should be… but I definitely would not expect that from the Princess of Friendship, and certainly not from a breezie either.
"And last, but not least, you are not that comfortable with the concept. I see you flinch every time I bring it up. You're brave, but you act like I would expect regular ponies to do so. It's not that you don't understand the concept, but you're squeamish and anxious about it. And it's not just from my books and me kicking supremacist flank."
"I really can't tell you without Twilight's—"
"My what?"
Daring Do was impressed. She hadn't even heard her get close. And for that matter, neither had Rainbow Dash—if the chromatic contrail heading straight up was any indication. She tore her eyes away from it and looked at Twilight. "I was asking Dash about what's really going on with you and your crew."
Twilight sighed. "Are you familiar at all with Starswirl the Bearded?"
Daring rolled her eyes. "Not nearly mythical enough for me, but yes. I've heard of him."
"Not nearly mythi—" Twilight screeched, "Do you know who he is?! He's the father of spellcasting! A legendary hero and sorcerer who banished monsters, created new spells, figured out a decidedly flawed version of time travel and—" she gritted her teeth. "It's not funny!"
"You're just such a nerd." Daring Do laughed. "I can totally see your mom in you."
"Right." Twilight narrowed her eyes, before clearing her throat. "Well, he— created an artifact that allows you to travel between worlds. Princess Celestia's adoptive daughter used it to cross into another dimension several years ago. That whole world is going through a losing war against really powerful enemies. I was stuck there for a few months and came back with some friends… the portal… adapts your nature to fit the environment."
Despite herself, Daring was impressed. "So you're… you've been to other worlds… and that's where…" she signaled with her hoof at the others.
Twilight nodded. "It's a secret for now, although I hope once the war on Earth is over, I can open relationships with the Earth government, but for now, if it were to become public knowledge, it would start a panic."
"So what does she look like back in her world, then?" Daring asked.
"Bipedal," Twilight said, "similar to primates, but not covered in fur, their faces are also smoother than a gorilla or chimp, or even an orangutan. They wear clothes out of necessity originally and now out of cultural taboo. Opposable thumbs, small eyes, females have mammaries on their chests."
"Oh yeah, and they don't reproduce through eggs," Rainbow Dash added helpfully and with no small sign of pride. "Laetitia explained it to me one time when I uh… was curious."
"Right," Twilight said, evidently choosing to ignore the latter part of the statement, "mammaries. As in mammals."
Daring bit her lip, glancing at her sailors who were non-the-wiser, entertained as they were by the training match between Alejandra and Galahad. "So why does Alejandra look so much like Gabby?"
Twilight sighed. "She's her counterpart. They have their own version of Rainbow Dash there, as well as several other ponies and creatures I know. As far as we can tell, there was some sort of temporal interference between both worlds. Probably because the statue was damaged by alien weapons and didn't start a thaumatic repair cycle until it was used again twenty years later."
"Huh, I wonder if I have a counterpart there too."
"Maybe," Twilight shrugged. "If she wasn't killed."
Daring felt a chill down her spine. "Right. How bad is it? Really?"
"Millions died during the invasion," Twilight said gently, her eyes straying to follow the river coastline. "And in the years after as well. Cities are abandoned or infested, free settlements are always at risk, and the new ADVENT cities are under total militaristic control… it's very bad."
"And on top of that, they need to deal with a Blood Witch that has been active for over three years." Daring could see how much the statement bothered Twilight, but she needed the Princess to understand that not everycreature could be saved just because they were still alive, so to speak. "What will you do if you can't save them?"
"I'll do everything I can for Sunset and Laetitia," Twilight said, "even if they die, I will at least know I put it all into it."
Rainbow Dash put her hoof on her shoulder. "If anypony can do it, Twilight, it's you."
Twilight's frown lessened and she slowly smiled, looking up at Rainbow Dash. "Thanks. I'm glad you have faith in me."
"Of course!" Rainbow Dash replied with a grin. "You're the Battle Princess, after all!"
Twilight shook her head.
"So, anything you wanted in particular Princess?" Daring Do asked after a moment. "I get the sense that you had some questions for me."
Twilight nodded. "I do, and it's about—"
"Twilight," Tala interrupted, fluttering down to land on the princesses' head. "We're being followed."
"What?" Daring asked, leaning over to look behind them. "I don't see anything on the water."
"Not the water… in the sky," the breezie said, pointing upwards. "It's dark and metallic, and has been with us for at least half an hour."
"I'll go check!" Rainbow Dash said, before she was tackled by both Twilight and Daring.
"No!"
"But—"
"They don't know we're onto them," Twilight said, getting off of Rainbow's back, followed soon after by Daring. "We'll keep an eye out… prepare. We need to keep this advantage from them."
"We don't know who they are either," Daring said. "it could be just an airship following the river down to Klugetown."
"Whoever they are," Tala pointed out, "they have maintained the same altitude and speed since they caught up to us."
"Come on," Twilight said, "let's go inside and plan what to do in case of an attack."
"Welp! There's definitely a Princess on that ship, alright!"
"See?" Ahuitzotl said, a serrated grin splitting his face. "I told you I could make it worth your while."
"The Storm King will be pleased by this," Tempest Shadow said, her eyes reflecting the red lights of the instruments. "It's not often that an Equestrian Princess leaves the safety of their little country."
"Yeah, yeah," Ahuitzotl growled. "She's a princess and all that, and you can have her and everycreature in that boat… but Daring Do is mine! This will be the last time she sticks her nose into my business!"
"So why is this princess out of her castle, huh?" Grubber asked, jumping from the seat next to the window to walk up to them. "Shouldn't she be like, having tea parties and eating cake?"
Tempest Shadow glanced at Ahuitzotl, who glared right back. "I have no idea! I just know that they helped Daring Do destroy my plan! And that was the last straw! She will rue the day she eve—"
"Yes, yes, we know," Tempest interrupted, rolling her eyes. "You have been repeating that for the last day."
"So what's the plan, boss?" Grubber asked. "Are we going to get the drop on them now?"
Tempest walked forth to the floor window that allowed them to look straight down to the clouds below, where, through the occasional gap, she could see the boat below. "No. Let's wait a little more until most of the crew is asleep. Then we strike."
End Chapter 3
Oh dear, oh my ... Tempest and Ahuizotl teaming up ... I was expecting both, to a degree ... but not together ...
i think you mean 'thaumatic'
I think you mean 'wishful'
I think you mean 'leaving'
All errors up to this point were part of Twilight's log entry and could as such be her spelling mistakes, rather than yours, but Twilight strikes me as the type to correct those
this on it's own isn't problematic, but Rainbow's answer to this is:
and that doesn't work, it should be 'Oh, she doesn't?
her
Enjoying the contrast between Tempest and Ahuizotl.
Oh, Fizzlepop is in for one hell of a surprise.
I kinda hope that Twi shoots Ahuizotl and maybe the brutality will not only shock Tempest, but maybe she considers working for this new Battle Princess.
Oh, if tempest would Really know what she's up against.
Go on, Twilight, capture that airship! It'll help you get around to places
That princess is not afraid of spilling a little bit of blood... If you know what I mean...
Oh hey look, a competent mercenary! All that's needed is to
conscripthire her away from the Storm King, and Twilight can add a seasoned professional to her coterie.Battle Princess Twilight forsaw the MLP Movie, does this count as 4th wall break
Also, when this is over, can Tempest join them?
I think that's a good idea, Twilight. A very good idea.
It hurts my sentimentality as well.
I Iike this little snip into the original personality of Twilight. Gives me much reassurance. And believe me, I probably need it.
I get the feeling that didn't help much.
Oh Tempest, poor little Tempest. This is the last time you underestimate Twilight Sparkle.
Tempest is in for a real shock. She thinks she's stalking a silly little princess, but she's about to get ambushed by soldiers who have witnessed, fought, and survived, horrors far beyond her worst nightmares.
This version of Twilight is unlikely to find Tempest all that intimidating, she's good, but she's got nothing on the sadism and sheer brutal efficiency of the Chosen Assassin.
9529612
Well, Daring Do did explicitly tell Twilight about the Storm King and his ongoing war of conquest; and her experiences from Earth have led her to immediately see the parallels between the Storm King and the Elders.
(In the interests of time availability and a lack of precedent here, and some high density around the beginning, I mostly haven't been recording errors here (Sorry!), but I thought I'd note this one for you:)
"Twilight narrowed her eyes, before clearing his throat."
"Twilight narrowed her eyes, before clearing her throat."?
"And on top of that, they need to deal with a Blood Witch that has been active for over three years."
Also, I don't know if this is an error or not, but I'm certainly not remembering: where did the "over three years" come from?
...And as long as I'm commenting anyway, I also noticed this one:
"are," Tara pointed out"
"are," Tala pointed out"?
Well, I'm curious what Tempest and Twilight will make of each other...
(I would actually not be completely surprised if Tempest offers to switch sides once she sees, and likely feels, Battle Princess Twilight in action.)
(And I am continuing to enjoy this story. :))
9529273 Fixed! The last bit with RD was really me changing the conversation and not fixing the follow-up. Go me!
9529740 "Over three years" basically meaning Sunny has been practicing that for that amount of time. Technically, even if she was only capable of the eye trick, she is considered a BW by Equestrian standards.
Tala: Voiced by Tara Strong.
Thanks for the corrections, as always!
*you feel like you’re going to have a bad time
Oh this will be hilarious
You know, it's funny you should mention Tartarus specifically...
Twilight does raise some very pertinent questions about Celestia's handling of international affairs. Though it's also nice to see Twilight acknowledge that her rough edges could use a little softening when she returns to civilian life. Good thing she took notes.
"She probably read you the Principka Thaumaturgia as a bedtime story, didn't she?"
"No." Twilight looked away, her wings telling Daring everything she needed to know about her embarrassment. After a few moments, she said, "Dad did."
Wait, wait, wait. Has Daring fought pony Nazis?
I do like the contrast of bombastic serial villain and cold, calculated commander. Similar dynamic as Tempet and the Storm King, but she isn't obligated to put up with this one. Still, she doesn't have quite the tactical advantage she thinks she does. I look forward to seeing the look on her face when she realizes that.
9529674
I have a feeling during the confrontation between Tempest and Twilight, the latter would have a flashback during her encounter with the Assassin(Aria) and the betreyal she felt.
Trying to redeem herself, Twilight would probably like to have Tempest on her side... The good side at least...
As much as I love "Battle Princess" Twilight, isn't it a little weird that she's such a hardened soldier after only basic training and one or two battles? I wouldn't know, I've never been in a war. (Thank goodness.) She's still pretty low in the XCOM Ranks.
9530004
I feel like it's less an effect of how "battle hardened" she actually is and more an effect of how nieve the ponies are.
But yeah. The timeline for her "basic training" being so short requires a decent bit of suspension of disbelief.
9530044
9530004
XCOM doesn't have the luxury of time to do a proper 14 week long boot camp, so out of necessity they train recruits in the essentials, and then rely on additional training as time permits, and experience in the field to fill in the gaps. Twilight has been particularly proactive in continuing her own training, hell her new 'Princess of Battle' nickname is from how she's been participating in the training exercises of the Royal Guard on a daily basis for most of the time she's been back in Equestria.
Plus what little combat experience she does have, includes getting ambushed by the Chosen Assassin on her very first mission, seeing half her team obliterated before her eyes, getting taken prisoner along with another teammate, hearing said teammate loose his marbles and bash his own brains out against the wall of his cell; and she came through all of that with her sanity intact. Then she found out that the ambush only happened, because a fellow rookie she had trusted had sold them out to Advent. And iirc, she was present on the Avenger to witness the live video feed of what Sunset and co. discovered inside the Black Site.
9530088
True, but XCom recruits individuals who are already (supposedly) trained soldiers. So it makes sense their intake training would be far less than a raw recruit.
9530194
In most games yes, but not in XCOM 2, which is where Ranger is taking place. XCOM has become an underground resistance movement, branded as terrorists and dangerous radicals by the Advent Administration. Under these conditions they have to make do with whoever is willing and able to fight; and anyone who has existing full military experience in that time also tends to already be a battle hardened vet, and thus often skip right over the Rookie training and go straight to Squaddie rank, or higher.
9529778
Ah, thanks, but where did Daring get that number? I don't remember and didn't find, though I could have just missed it, something specific being given to her.
Heh. :)
Thanks!
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
9530458
ah, truly wise words there
9530924
Sad thing is I don't know where I put my copie of The Art of War, I would love to read it again.
Anyone up for taking bets on how long Tempest and her crew lasts?
I saying 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
9531405
Depending on how Twilight is planning on doing this... If she plans to take the flying ship then probably 9 minutes... 10 minutes tops...
9531559
Yeah I'm with you. My maximum is also 10 minutes.
9531830
Knowing Twilight, she's probably gonna interrogate the hell out of them... Especially since Tala is there, they would be very cooperative...
9532340
Twilight: Comply or the Breezie is going to start breaking bones.
9533067
"And I'm not talking about the most obvious ones, if you catch my drift?"
Twilight: For each 15 seconds of silence we'll break one bone.
9533208
15 seconds? It's good to know that Twilight is so merciful to give them breathing room...
9533272
You gotta give them time feel pain. It needs to be a constant pain. If you go too fast it will all blend into one singular pain. If you go too slow the pain will start to go away. And we can't have that.
9533289
Hmm... That's a Tala way of thinking... Acceptable
9533313
Plus it's perfectly legal. I haven't heard of them ever signing the Jeneva contract.
I’m wanting Twi to wipe the floor with Tempest, gear her reason for helping the Storm King, then sing a revised version of Tempests sing to her. It would be so poetic!
Yeeeah.. nah, Sorry Fizzy, but a literal One Trick Pony versus.. oh lets make a list of the X-com team:
A bloody Elite Skirmisher!, 'nuff said. (even if she's a Breezey.)
A Human, who while is in a body she isn't used to, meaning her melee combat skills are less then stellar, has ranged weapons that FAR outstrip anything else on the planet. That and good ol' Human Tenacity.
<~~>
Well, lets see how this goes, I might be surprised. Tempest most likely has some of those Petrification Orbs after all .
Pffffffft, hypocrite much? Twi, you're smarter than this, aren't you? No? Let me help: You are literally keeping your friends at home for the EXACT. SAME. REASON.
Yeah... maybe pay attention to that. Pain is your body's way of telling you to stop doing something, and this one really is on you. You want them to keep living their lives while you go on adventures you deem too dangerous for them? That ends with you growing apart until you're all strangers. You don't just get to show up when it's convenient for you to use them as your comfort zone. They'll have each other and you'll have your soldier friends. And that's one of the better case scenarios. The worse ones involve resentment and a sharp increase in that distrust you mentioned from the Wedding. ...Which probably started with the fact that none of them even knew you had a brother, let alone why you'd be freaking out about the bride being bitchy (since there was no indication any of them knew what a Changeling even was at that point), but you know... totally all their fault. And all those other annoying personality quirks, yeesh what a detriment. If only they'd just shut up and follow orders maybe they'd be more suitable 'friends', eh? At least they're probably doing what you told them to for the moment. As proper
subjectsfriends should.I thought about being nice... but meh. These aren't nice stories and you've got plenty of readers 100% on the bandwagon with the violence and torture (read the comments here, seriously). One guy rolling his eyes at the edge won't kill you. I suppose you could delete such comments... it'd be in keeping with your protag who sends away friends she doesn't want to hear from because they might say something that pierces her new worldview. She clearly doesn't want to pull punches anymore... why should I?
I think I can continue with this... my investment will simply be whether Twilight learns from this, or becomes something unworthy of her title. Or, of course, if the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Now there would be a challenge to pull off, though I genuinely bet you could. Looking forward to finding out.
OK, don't paint Twilight like a stupid mare. Celestia knew of her own sister, Luna, being Nightmare Moon, and she was PREPAIRED. She made Twilight make FRIENDS, and use ELEMENTS OF HARMONY to CURE luna. Celestia PLANNED for this.
Chrysalis... This one is tricky.
1) HOW could Celestia HERSELF know of the threat. Did she have SPIES, that DETECTED a threat from SHAPE SHIFTERS?
2) The only reason I can think of why Celestia put a dome around her city on the wedding day is because either:
A) She found unexplained attacks on villages and cities, that made a pattern all the way to Canterlot
or
B) She just put the dome over their heads on her fancy, because Captain of Royal Guard marrries a Princess on this day.
In both cases - she didn't know what to expect untii after the attack.
3) Discord... F*cking tell me, what could Celestia DO or ORDER to take down DISCORD, SPIRIT of Chaos and Disharmony? Order a platoon of soldiers to attack him? She'd get ponnyquines(or how is it spelled) back. Go battle him herself? Elements of Harmony were needed to seal him back in stone - and she doesn't f*cking have them... Not since Nightmare Moon banishment.
Just... That's a LOAD of horsesh*t, and you know it.
Can't say i morn Tempest if she get her brain blown out. She lived a ruthless life and is no joke...
Guess Tempest will morn more than a lost horn soon.
Tempest will learn that she isn't the only badass around this region.
Only quest, will she survive? She is a serious threat...