This story is a sequel to What I Am
Much has changed since that fateful day when the remnants of the old Krin Empire attacked our two worlds.
They crashed so many ships onto Earth, destroyed our cities, killed millions, and collapsed several governments in an instant, all as a diversion from their true objective, which was the blatant mass abduction of the citizens of Equis. Lives lost, families broken, and cities burnt to the ground, all to fuel the Krin war machine and their mad quest for power and vengeance against the snakes that had wronged them.
However, that's not the end of the story, or our involvement in its unfolding. A darkness is growing in the depths of space, and even though the snakes have done their best to assure us that they will take care of it, there are so, so many on both of our planets that choose not to listen to them.
And how could I blame them? After all, every time I look in the mirror, I'm reminded of the horrors of the Krin Empire, and more importantly, the promise I made in that accursed tank that remains unfulfilled. They came for us, they struck first, and I'm not about to let that go unpunished.
Yeah, sure, it's hard for me to do it right now, since I'm just a diplomat to the people of Equis, and we don't exactly have a fleet outside of the few ships we commandeered from the krin, but trust me when I say that both of those are just temporary inconveniences.
After all, it's rather difficult to keep a monster like me behind a desk, especially not when there's a perfectly good war brewing throughout the galaxy, and that's not even counting the other humans and ponies that are all chomping at the bit, ready for some good, old-fashioned payback.
The only problem with that, though, is that, somehow, deep down, I feel like we've already lost. Call it a hunch, or a premonition, but something deep inside is telling me that we messed up when we let the general's ship get away. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but somehow, I don't think so.
After all, I know better than anyone what the krin are capable of. We might be coming for them, but that doesn't mean the reverse isn't also true. They're coming for us, too.
The only question is: Who's going to be ready first?
Given that we've only just obtained (stolen) ships capable of spaceflight, I don't think it's going to be us...
This is the beginning of the next set of books in this series that I'm tentatively calling the Soul of the Milky Way.
The title up for change, as well as suggestion. Not only that, but the title of this story, as well as the set it belongs to is also up for change and suggestion, so feel free to leave them in the comments. If you're just starting with this one, please don't. I mean, you can if you want, but there's a lot here that you won't get if you haven't read the trilogy that predates this new set of books. They are, in order:
What I've Become
What I've Done
What I Am
They're quite good, if the feedback I've gotten is anything to go by, so if you haven't read these by now, please go and do that now. Don't worry, this story will still be here when you get back...
It is here.
10583578 it is!
Oh, hell Y E S
Huh, and to think I nearly pinged you on Reddit yesterday with the classic "next update when?".
Kinda wish I had, now XD.
Post-chapter comments:
A very well put-together prologue, I'm already chomping at the bit for more. Don't take time out of taking care of your family on our account though, I'm sure none of us will up and die from the cravings
.
yes. Yes. YES YES!
It's here
YOURE ALIVE HAZZA
Funnily enough I was literally just rereading the fist book
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HOLY SHIT ITS FINALLY HERE
Get hype!
Nice start!
Oh and
I am guessing that Jt was supposed to be It ?
And the tale continues! Looking forward to reading it!
\o/ lets go!
A triumphal return if ever there was one.
Haven't read it yet... But I'm here to say, I am beyond stoked to get to read more of this. I was beginning to fear that the series had died. Lol.
That being said... Not sure I'm a fan of the working series title. "Soul of the Milky Way," sounds kinda... bulky, for lack of better descriptor. I would suggest something either shorter like, "Soul of the Stars," or more in keeping with the earlier story naming conventions... If this latest entry had been titled, "What I Will Be," or something to that effect, I would suggest something along the lines of, "The Progression Saga." "Saga," being the word of choice specifically because, well, if there is more planned past a fourth book... It has a nicer ring, to me, than, "series."
10584422 Like I said, I am completely open to suggestion on the title. It's not as set in stone as the other books were, so feel free to recommend something to me.
10584422 Plus, I came up with the name while heating a bottle at 4am. I'm really not attached to it.
10584094 Yes. I was writing most of this in the middle of the night while using an unfamiliar keyboard, so there are bound to be a few mistakes.
10584431
Sure. Here's a few and the reasoning behind them. :) Going for non Pony themed names since, as I recall you plan on eventually scrubbing the ponies from the work and publishing it as it's own thing....
Defender in Name might be a good option for a series title. The importance of the old translation of Alex's name has been WELL established and it is a running theme throughout the books.
Monster Without could work too if you want to keep rolling with the focus on Alex's humanity despite what had happened to his body and whatnot.
Degrees of Separation might be worth consideration in context of seperation and reunion being major components of the story. It also makes a nice nod to the idea that our hero was lucky enough to meet the right people with the right connections to make big things happen much more quickly than say... if he had first befriended the local plumber rather than somebody with connections to the crown.
Power Within makes a nice reference to the constant themes of the indomitable will of the human spirit, and magic potentially being one and the same.
Tempered Soul makes a solid reference to well, how souls seem to function/can be made to function in your setting. It also alludes to the idea that the main protagonists were made into what they are by outside circumstances in one fashion or another. It also has some nice weight in context of the constructs that have been used in more recent events in the series.
Refusing/Answering the Call might be a pair of ideas. Our hero answers the call to rise up when seemingly no one can. There are constant references to souls moving onward, or souls that SHOULD be moving onward refusing to do so for duty, revenge, vanity...etc.
That's what I've got so far with some rough thought. Now that the series is running again, I'll give it all another read and see if I can think of anything else as time goes on. I'll be sure to let you know. :)
I confess I was afraid that you had either dropped the series or possibly gone all-in on the non-MLP version. Gonna read this first thing in the morning (I'm on the tail end of a string of 'just a few more minutes'. -es.).
10585032 nah, fimfiction will always be my proving ground. At least, as long as it's up. I've just been busy with babies.
I hope you continue this series here on Fimfiction until it is well and truly done.
10585153 that's the plan. I only stopped temporarily because of my babies.
I wonder who the mysterious stranger is
Uh oh. More ghost shenanigans.
10585110
Be careful. Parents get super touchy about people playing with their kids when they catch them.
10585811 They're MY babies, sheesh.
10585844
And that's exactly why they're touchy about it. You get too attached.
This could not have been better timing cause I just re-read all of the Humanity Within trilogy. Thank you for expanding upon this amazing universe you created.
Im curious. How bad was the invasion? We hear about millions on the human side it makes wonder. How faired Equastria?
10588121 You'll learn that in either the next chapter, or the one directly following it.
Haven't actually expected it. but... now the number of fics that hold me on this site had been raised to three. Good job and good luck, KB.
I have a complaint
We need more chapters
Ok, no more melodrama, but yuss, can't wait for more here, your story had me for years
Favourited and thumbs up before I even read it, can't wait to continue reading this story and soon I'll have your book to read as well
10591708 Hurray and thank you for the purchase!
IT LIVES!!!!!!
Seriously though, I've loved this series for years, and am so pumped to see that you are continuing with it. Good start so far, can't wait to see what you have in store for us next! Keep up the great work!
P.S. Congratulations on the new kids!
This is a great thing to see and read! I can’t wait to see where this story goes as the loose threads are picked up.
Of course, that didn’t stop you from creating a few more strings in the prologue!
I realize its a misspelling/mishearing old enough to have passed into common usage at this point, but I always get irrationally peeved when people use "chomping" instead of "champing at the bit".
I am however, willing to set pet peeves aside given the entertainment previous entries in this series have supplied over the years.
I shall be following this one with great interest.
10617061 I was always told that the 'bit' in the saying was the small piece of metal that went into a horse's mouth, and that when a horse was being ansty, it literally 'chomped at the bit,' hence the saying.
Also, thank you for following me! I worked really hard on this, and I hope you enjoy what I have planned!
10617101
You're close. The visual you describe is exactly correct. The only difference is in the wording. "Champing" is an older word used pretty much exclusively when referring to the mouth motion of horses grinding their teeth as a result of nervousness.
I'm mostly familiar with the word as a result of being a major Tolkien nerd and memorizing most of the riddles from The Hobbit at a young age. ("Thirty white horses on a red hill. / First they champ. / Then they stamp. / Then they stand still." is Bilbo's first.)
meh, I completely missed the continuation of my favorite ongoing series ...
<-- shame
If you still take suggestions for alternative names for the series, here is mine:
Tides of (the) Galaxy|Milky Way|Stars
10642059 ty for coming back! Though, to be honest, it will take me a bit of time to write more. My babies take a lot of my time. Don't worry, though, I haven't given up on these stories, and likely won't until I'm dead.
Finishes Prologue.
"I... I remember this feeling, this... Hunger... MOAR!"
"Kill da spess Nazis" A voice shrieks in the darkness.
"Patience Bloodlust, patience." Another voice rumbles.
"But Wrath!" The voice whines.
"We shall dismantle them... Piece... By... Piece." The voice rumbles as the rhythmic thud of drums begins to fill the darkness.
"Hah, hey, hah, hey, ho!~"
"YEAH!~" The first voice drawls.
10617230
I would guess "Chomping" would be more of an 'aggressive clamping of the jaw muscles to facilitate damage or consumption', where as "Champing" is more along the lines of 'Jerking or shaking the head in conjunction with opening the mouth slightly while using the tongue to reposition something in the mouth'... Kinda.
10740683 Well, I've been a little busy with babies, but that's not to say I've been idle. I've been concentrating on a short story that relates what they found when they translated Starswirl's last book. It's called The Last Testament of Myrddin, and is already almost finished.
Like I said, it's a *short* story, and as such will only be 6 chapters at most.
I can't wait to continue this next chapter of the series
Amelia, is that you? I thought you were combined with the others to become Edmond? I guess its possible that the amount of soul shards needed to become an Artificial Soul varies based on the individual strength of each shard/soul so not every shard was used up, or that the shard(s) wasn't completely bonded to the golem core, but then that info is left completely left out in the last two books... Or is she one of the shards that Twilight thought had the intelligence of an animal or plant and by feeding off of living souls grew big enough to regain their intelligence?
I am assuming that this soul shard was the 'present' that Alex said he left on General Inos's ship? If so then I can only imagine the horror the Quzin will have when they learn that not only can humans resist the veil for a few seconds/minutes, but for days/years while feeding on living souls and can merge with machines to hide their presences.
On a slightly different note, this makes me wonder how fast Quzin shards are pulled through the veil when they haven't been combined into Artificial Souls, only days compared to the months that Bob and the others were stuck on Alex? If the amount of time is potentially that much shorter, then Quzin Artificial Souls could be very uncommon/rare while Humans ASs are much more common; leading to one race that hook these ASs only to important machines/tasks compared to humans that might hook them up to mundane machines/tasks simple because they have so many more of them.
10818083 It wasn't stated, but she wasn't combined. Yeah, she's less intelligent and self aware... at least, at first. Also, Alex didn't know she had attached herself to the virus, so...
And finally, quzin soul shards are a lot more rare than human ones. There's a reason Akitesh warned Alex that humanity shouldn't go around advertising that humans have an almost unnatural obsession with death...
"A Darkened Sky"
Is that a reference to the Gamecube game "Darkened Skye"?
To anyone who's curious about the game but doesn't want to watch that ~5.5hr long play through of the whole thing:
The game's story itself certainly wasn't a literary masterpiece (what with being a literal shameless Skittles advertisement... no, REALLY, that's not a joke).
But DAMN if it didn't have some of the best comedy of any videogame I've ever played.
(Imagine if Deadpool wrote a videogame script, but by some miracle he managed to make it with a PG/PG-13 rating.)
Here's one of my favorite lines, it's from the town merchant, spoken in a loud and fast-paced "Billy Mays" style sales pitch voice:
How much would you pay for a tool that sharpens daggers like razors?
WAIT! Don't answer yet!
What if you also got a fire starter, a clothes washer, and a handy weapon of war?
WAIT! Don't answer yet!
What about the world's best paperweight?
Guaranteed never to float in the air above papers.
You get them all, with: 'ROCK'
10829862 Nope, sorry. While that *does* sound funny, this is literally the first time I've heard of that game.