New Arrivals
Cheerilee grit her teeth and bit back a few choice words as Rarity worked on her hoof, cleaning out her fresh bite wounds and stitching up a few of the deeper ones. Getting back to the castle had been a lot slower than going to the schoolhouse, the surge of unicorns making her and Pinkie take a much more convoluted path back to their new home. Of course, Twilight overhead had not made it any easier.
Somehow Mayor Mare had beaten them back to the castle despite their bell ringing later than Cheerilee and Pinkie’s. She also was without Thunderlane, to which no one had questioned as of yet.
“I know, I know.” Rarity’s horn lit up and grabbed Cheerilee’s hoof, keeping it still. “But the more you move, the longer this will take, darling.” She knew that, but it didn’t make not reacting to the unicorn’s needle and alcohol any easier.
“So you really fought Trixie all by yourself?!” Scootaloo was by her side, looking up at her with wide and bright eyes like she was Rainbow Dash reincarnated. Cheerilee did her best to hold back a small smile and blush, such theatrics being miles beyond her.
“Well no-'' Modesty was important, and so was telling the truth. “-I just kept her busy while Pinkie rang the bell.” The exhaustion from her bout with the mutated magician was still weighing on her, muscles aching and brain still in a post-adrenaline fog. “I did what I had to so I could get back here.” She rested a hoof on her pupil’s head, messing that magenta mane up a little. “I couldn’t just leave you alone, could I?”
Scootaloo hugged the mare in response, little hooves squeezing her midsection with pure joy. It warmed Cheerilee’s heart and abated some of her pain for the moment. There was nothing she needed more right now than a hug, and it felt good.
“Y-yeah teach, didn’t know you had it in you.” Rainbow Dash was leaning against a wall, sweating like she’d just flown a marathon. Somehow she looked worse than before Cheerilee had left, pale and eyes half-closed. Rarity had told her to go to bed several times, but she insisted on staying up to keep an eye on things.
“Rainbow Dash-” Cheerilee was more than a little worried about the speedster. They didn’t have a lot of ponies to go around, especially if what everypony assumed about Thunderlane was accurate. “-maybe you should go lay down for a while? Pinkie and I can keep an eye out for the others.” She spoke in her gentle, coaxing voice she used on foals to get them to do things they didn’t want to. “It’ll be okay, even heroes need a little rest.”
“Y-you might be right.” Dash pushed herself away from the wall, only to stumble on her hooves and fall onto her side. In less than a second Rarity, Pinkie, and Scootaloo were at her side and helping her to her hooves.
“We need to get you to bed.” Pinkie was the first one to speak, her voice offering no room for argument from her friend. “Now.” The stone-faced pink pony scooped Rainbow onto her back, sturdy hooves and body allowing her to shoulder the burden. “Rarity, come upstairs when you’re done with Cheerilee...please.” As Pinkie trotted off to the stairs, Scootaloo began to follow but Cheerilee pulled her back.
“Where’s my brother?!” As Pinkie was going up the stairs, Rumble and Applebloom came down them. The little pegasus had his light gray wings flared and his black brows furrowed as he stormed down the steps towards the group.
Rarity and Cheerilee looked at Mayor Mare expectantly.
“Well-” To anypony who had been around for a major political cycle, seeing Mayor Mare slip into the comfortable persona of an affable politician was groan-inducing. Maybe the young ponies might buy what she was about to sell, but the adults in the room knew better. “-he went up to ring the bell when Twilight started to fly towards us. He told me to run back to the castle while he rang the bell and tried to get away.” The mayor kneeled down as Rumble approached, resting a hoof on his shoulder and looking down. “I...I don’t think he made it.”
Cheerilee had seen better acting at the community theater.
“You left him to die!” Rumble slapped the mare’s hoof away, the beginning of tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “I don’t care if-if he told you to run! You should have helped!” The colt screamed into the face of Mayor Mare, his wings carrying him up so he could be face to face with her. “He should still be here!”
“Rumble-”
“It should’ve been you!” The words slammed into Mayor’s stomach with such force that it knocked her onto her rump. She had no friends here to pick her up, either. Instead she was left there, stunned as Rumble stomped away with tears hitting the crystal floor below him.
The two other mares in the room bit their tongues, not wanting to pile onto the pony politician quite yet. Mayor Mare raised her head and looked at them, causing them both to look away. Rarity had no sympathy to give, and Cheerilee was inclined to share the attitude after this morning.
“What was I supposed to do?” The mayor asked, all pretenses and masks finally dropped. “I’m an earth pony, what was I supposed to do against Twilight?” Rarity and Cheerilee looked at one another, both wanting to say the same thing.
“Did...you even try?” Rarity spoke up, which Cheerilee was glad for. The unicorn needed a bit of verbal revenge on one of her detractors. “Did you offer to go up and ring the bell while he distracted Twilight? Maybe help split her attention?” The seamstress looked down on Mayor Mare through her red-rimmed glasses. “After all, if Cheerilee can outrun Twilight surely you could do something as well?”
Mayor Mare opened her mouth to speak, eyes narrowed and something biting on the tip of her tongue. It died as soon as it formed, though. Instead of pushing back, Mayor Mare got up and walked away from an argument for the first time in her life.
“Well-” When she was sure that the dejected mare was out of earshot, Rarity spoke again. “-it’s not very ladylike, but that did feel good.” She took a deep breath to reset her attitude. “I...do feel bad about Thunderlane, though. We have already lost too many.” Rarity lifted Cheerilee’s bad hoof again in her magic and got back to work. “He and I may have not seen eye to eye-” That was perhaps the nicest way of saying that he wanted her thrown to the wolves and called her a coward just this morning. “-but nopony deserves to go out at the hooves of...those things. Nopony deserves to lose a brother, either.”
“Yeah.” Cheerilee nodded, wincing a bit as the unicorn’s needle dug into her skin again. “I-I’ll go check on him when we’re done here, I think.” The colt needed a gentle hoof right about now, somepony who could help him work through those emotions.
“Hello Vinyl.” Rarity regarded the other unicorn without looking up, only receiving a silent wave from the mute musician in response. “That does seem like a prudent idea, Cheerilee. You’re probably the one most equipped to deal with him now that...well.” Rarity wrapped some cloth around Cheerilee’s hoof and fastened it in place with a safety pin. “And voila, almost as good as new!”
“Thanks, Rarity.” Cheerilee took her hoof back, moving it around to get a feel for how restrictive the bandages were. She put it to the floor and tested it, not able to put her full weight on it at the moment.
“I need to go check on Rainbow Dash now.” Rarity packed away her supplies in a repurposed sewing bag. “If Applejack and Bon Bon need me when they get back, just come and get me.” With that, the Element of Generosity headed off to help her ailing friend.
“Do you think they’re okay?” Scootaloo asked, looking towards the front door. “I know it’s Applejack...but…” Cheerilee rested a hoof on the filly’s back, right between her wings. “I know, I’m being silly.”
“No.” Cheerilee sighed. Ever since that run-in with Trixie she had started to feel stronger, she guessed she would call it, maternally towards Scootaloo. There was a need to protect and nurture, much stronger than her usual teaching inclination. “It’s okay to be worried. It’s dangerous out there right now, but that’s why we’re here. If they get back and need help, we’ll be right here to lend a hoof.” She was slipping into that comfortable teaching role again. “Helping each other is the most important thing at the moment. Like how Rarity can’t go outside but she patches ponies up, or how Applejack and Rainbow Dash go out and save ponies. It may not be their special talents, but they’re doing their best and helping however they can.”
“I’m not sure how I can help.” Scootaloo lamented as she shifted uncomfortably on her hooves, her little wings twitching. There was real trepidation on the face of the little filly, a changing world threatening to overtake her place in it.
“Well, start out small.” Cheerilee offered. “Help clean up the dishes, prepare food for everyone maybe.” Cheerilee tapped her chin, looking around the main hall as she thought. “I know Twilight has to have a library in here somewhere. I know you can learn all sorts of things to help out in there.”
“Reading?” Scootaloo looked at the older mare in horror. “Uuuuuuuuugh.”
Cheerilee’s giggle was interrupted by the front door swinging open, Applejack and Bon Bon standing there silhouetted by the blinding sun behind them. She was going to speak and ask about the train and who or what was on it, but Applejack pushed right past her and made a beeline for Vinyl Scratch. Cheerilee spun just in time to see the farmer land a haymaker right across the unicorn’s face, sending her to the floor.
“Y’all are gonna tell me who you really are right now!” Applejack screamed at the downed unicorn. Vinyl spat out some blood and a single tooth, trying to get to her hooves shakily but she was pushed down by the much larger earth pony. “Now!”
“Applejack!” Cheerilee rushed forward and grabbed one of the mare’s hooves, holding it back. “What is wrong with you?!” Scootaloo had made herself scarce in the intervening moments thankfully, allowing the adults to sort this out.
“This thing ain’t Vinyl Scratch, Cheerilee!” Applejack protested and struggled as she was pulled away from the bruised unicorn. “It’s been lyin’ to me since Ah saved its sorry hide!” The mix of rage and betrayal behind AJ’s emerald eyes took Cheerilee aback, it was strong and wild.
“We saw the real Vinyl Scratch in Sugarcube Corner.” Bon Bon elaborated, taking the metal covering off of her hoof and tossing it to the floor. “She was already turned, and unless those things can change shape…” Cheerilee looked to the unicorn on the floor, shock filled her expression.
“O-okay. You got me.” Vinyl spoke, which was honestly more shocking than the revelation that she wasn’t Vinyl Scratch at all. It was hard to say if that was actually Vinyl’s voice, because nopony had ever heard it before.
An emerald fire consumed the impostor, burning away the familiar visage of Ponyville’s eccentric DJ and leaving behind a changeling instead. Its chitin was aquamarine, fading to a burnt orange at the base of its neck. The wings on its back were cobalt blue, and the eyes and inner ears of the things were dark pink, almost the same color as the inside of a grapefruit. Cheerilee took a few steps back, not having any experience with the bugs at all but knowing the stories.
“What’re y’all doin’ in Ponyville and why’d you lie to me?” Applejack’s jaw was clenched tight as she kept her glare leveled at the changeling in front of her. “Tell me the truth or else Ah’m throwin’ you outside for the unicorns to deal with.”
“I-I…” The bug stammered and recoiled. Cheerilee assumed that it was a female judging by the voice, as the build gave nothing away. “...I was visiting town when this happened. I didn’t want you guys to think it was my fault so...I just...hid. When you found me, I took the form of a pony I saw earlier in the week and...and I just didn’t say anything. I didn’t think it would work.”
“You got lucky.” Bon Bon huffed. “What do we do with it, Applejack?”
“She.” The bug corrected. “My name’s Elytra.”
“What do we do with it.” Bon Bon reasserted.
“Ah…” Applejack looked around the room, searching for an answer. “Take it to it’s room, Bon Bon. Get Spike to lock it in there until we can hold a meetin’ and decide as a group what we’re gonna do.” With a nod, Bon Bon pulled Elytra to her hooves and practically dragged her away. For what it was worth, the bug didn’t resist at all, she stumbled along in the candymaker’s grasp.
“But why didn’t she turn?” The voice was new, somepony she had never heard before in her life. Cheerilee spun around to see a stallion standing in front of the now-closed doors. His orange coat and cream colored accents weren’t familiar either, nor was the unruly vermillion mane and wiry beard hanging from his chin. He trotted towards her, passing right by and started to pace. “It doesn’t make any sense, she has a horn.” That’s when she saw it, the shattered horn on his head that only confused her further.
If the horn didn’t shatter what she thought she knew, the foal sitting on his back sure did. It was a filly, looking around at the world with bright opal eyes. The massive pair of wings on her back and the horn poking through her curly mane only made Cheerilee’s head hurt.
“Who…”
“Oh, right.” Applejack finally turned back towards Cheerilee, rubbing the back of her neck and letting out a deep sigh. “Uh...this is Sunburst and...Princess Flurry Heart. They were on the train.” The poor farmpony seemed overwhelmed, her nerves frazzled and head full of thoughts. “Can y’all go round everypony up? Ah mean everypony, even the colts and fillies, bring ‘em down to the dinin’ room. We’re gonna have a meetin’.”
“Rainbow Dash can’t come.” Scootaloo interjected, coming back to hide behind Cheerilee and drawing a raised eyebrow from Applejack. “She...she’s really sick. She got worse while you were gone and she fell down.”
“Great…” Applejack mumbled. “Alright, everypony who can stand then. Get ‘em all down here. Please.” Applejack motioned for Sunburst to follow her, heading off towards the dining hall.
---Ten minutes later---
Applejack sat at the head of the table like usual, this time Sunburst was to her right with Flurry Heart in his hooves. The other ponies murmured quietly among themselves as they exchanged rumors of what they had heard and seen about the events of today. Cheerilee heard the names Thunderlane and Vinyl mentioned more than a dozen times in hushed whispers amongst the group.
“Unicorn...with horn and no inhibitor…” Cheerilee heard the new stallion mumble to himself as he looked around the table and stared at Rarity.
“Alright y’all.” Applejack stood and banged her hoof on the table, making everypony quiet down and drawing their attention to her. “Ah know y’all’ve probably heard a thing or two about various things that happened today, so we’re gonna go over it all.” There was a pause as she let everypony mentally prepare. “First things first, Rainbow Dash confirmed Fluttershy is missin’ and she saved Big Macintosh.”
“Yes, and now she’s quite sick.” Rarity interrupted. “It might be Hay Fever or perhaps the Feather Flu, but I can’t be sure. I’m not trained in any of this, so...all we know is she was fine this morning but after she got back she has just continued to deteriorate.”
“Can we be sure she won’t turn into one of those things?” Mayor Mare asked the question on everypony’s mind, drawing some murmurs of agreement. “After all she didn’t show any signs until she went outside.”
“Impossible.” The newcomer, Sunburst, snorted and waved a hoof at the idea. “Pegasi don’t turn.”
“And how do you know that?” Diamond Tiara stood in her chair and sneered at the de-horned unicorn. “We don’t know anything about whatever is doing this!”
“You don’t?” Sunburst asked, looking around the room and receiving only shaking heads looking back at him. “You guys didn’t get the message? Oh dear…” That didn’t help ease the mood of the room one bit. “Canterlot sent out a radio message a couple of weeks ago, it’s been repeating constantly. This has something to do with magic, it’s how it’s transmitted. It’s why only the unicorns turned.” This revelation was something that was both shocking and obvious at the same time. To have it confirmed was both a relief and a new reason to worry. “So why haven’t you turned, Rarity?”
“We’ll get to that.” Applejack stonewalled that particular line of thinking for the time being. “We need to clear up some other stuff first, like why Thunderlane ain’t in here with us.”
“I-”Mayor Mare opened her mouth to speak but a gray ball of fury jumped up on the table and cut her off.
“She killed him!” Rumble pointed an accusatory hoof at the Mayor as he roared. “She left him to fight Twilight and ring the bell all alone! She let him die!” Cheerilee got up from her chair and went around the table to Rumble’s seat, setting him back down in it and sitting right beside him for a while.
“Alright, Mayor Mare.” Applejack sat down in her chair and motioned to the mare at the other end of the table to stand. “We’re listenin’.”
“We had reached the outskirts of Ponyville and he went to fly up to the bell tower.” The politician looked over the herd in front of her, her voice calm and smooth. “Twilight must’ve spotted him and made a beeline right for us. He dodged her first blast of magic and told me to run back to the castle, that he would ring the bell and keep Twilight busy. I know he was a good flier, I trusted him. I was on my way back when I saw that thing catch him in her jaws…” Mayor Mare let her head hang as she sighed. “He died a hero.”
“Were there any other unicorns?” Applejack asked, leaning forward in her chair.
“What? No, just Twilight but-”
“You could’ve rang the bell while he distracted Twilight.” Pinkie spoke up, side-eyeing the politician. “That’s what I did while Cheerilee handled Trixie.” Cheerilee nodded in agreement, still being silently thankful that Pinkie had listened to her and their situation hadn’t ended the same way the mayor and Thunderlane’s had.
“Yes but he told me-”
“Yeah, y’both made dumb decisions. He shouldn’t have told you to go, and you shouldn’t have listened.” Applejack sighed and rubbed her temples, letting her eyes rest for a few seconds. “Ain’t nothin’ we can do now...just...everypony please thank Thunderlane for what he did tonight and...Ah’m awful sorry, Rumble. If there’s anythin’ we can do, just let us know.”
“If you need to talk, let me know, okay?” Cheerilee whispered to Rumble before giving him a warm hug. The poor little colt melted into her embrace, sniffling and suppressing a whimper as he finally broke down. Cheerilee climbed up into his chair and held him close as he finally vented.
“Now Bon Bon and Ah found out a few things.” Applejack stood up again, taking over the conversation once more. “We found Vinyl Scratch, the real one. Turns out the one that’s been here has been a fake all along, a changelin’ disguised as Vinyl Scratch.” The usual murmurs from the ponies turned into a dull roar as everypony threw their opinion at Applejack. “Ah know! Ah know! Ah don’t like bein’ lied to much either, but ain’t much we can do about it now. She calls herself Elytra and she’s locked in her room for the time bein’, til we figure out what to do with her.” Applejack took a deep breath. “So Ah’m puttin’ it to a vote, right here right now. All in favor of keepin’ her in the room until we get more outta her, raise your hooves.”
“We can’t trust a changeling. She's already lied to us for a month straight.” Mayor Mare spoke out first, raising her hoof. “Who's to say that she won't just lie to our faces even more? What if they caused this and she’s just an agent sent to keep an eye on us? We did find her outside and whatever this is doesn’t seem to turn her into one of those monsters.” Diamond Tiara, Bon Bon, and Applejack all raised their hooves as well. AJ was certainly the most shocking, finally agreeing with the mayor on at least one thing.
“Alright, that’s four in favor. Now, all opposed to that and just lettin’ her out?”
“She’s scared!” Scootaloo’s hoof shot up first. “Just like us, she’s just scared and doesn’t know what’s happening! Even though she lied to us we have to be nice. She’s been in here with you guys for weeks now and hasn’t done anything, she’s been a friend to you.” Cheerilee was proud of her pupil, Twilight’s lessons of Friendship sinking deeper than she thought they would. Cheerilee, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applebloom, Spike, and Rumble all had their hooves raised.
“Well that settles it, we’ll let ‘er out and hear her side.” Applejack shook her head. “Ah don’t like it, but ah ain’t gonna fight on it. A vote is a vote.” There were grumblings of disapproval from Mayor Mare and the like, but no outbursts.
“One more thing before we get to Sunburst. Don’t know how important it is, but those things are out there diggin’ a mighty big hole out in front of Town Hall. Straight down.” Cheerilee cocked her head to the side as Applejack spoke. “Don’t know what they’re after, but they got some outta towners to help ‘em. We’ll try to keep an eye on it Ah guess.” She sat back down and motioned to Sunburst. “Time’s yours, sugarcube.”
“Right.” Sunburst stayed seated, clearing his throat. “I...guess before I ask my questions I should probably explain myself. I’m Sunburst, adviser to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire...if I’m here, you can...guess a few things.” An inexorable sadness crept into his voice as he mentioned his home. “It...it reached there too...almost two weeks ago now. From what we know, Canterlot fell almost a month ago: Celestia and Luna too. Cadence tried to keep the sun and moon moving, and she did a good job but…”
“So what is this?” Applejack asked. “Y’all said somethin’ about a radio signal but we ain’t heard nothin’. It’s been the same warnin’ about stayin’ indoors and waitin’ for help.”
“It was on a government channel, only the Palace could get it. I assumed since you were in here that you had access to it.” Spike and Applejack both shook their heads, unaware of where they would even find a place to access a broadcast like that. “Well, we don’t know what started it but...well...it’s magical. It passes through leylines, through the magic of the entire world. Only unicorns are affected because they’re the only ones who actively use that kind of magic.”
“So...your horn?” Bon Bon leaned in, tapping her own forehead. “You broke it so you wouldn’t turn?”
“I-I heard the howling and the screaming start on the other side of town.” Sunburst closed his eyes, his breath shaky as he recalled the events. “It spreads quickly, but if you don’t use your magic it’s not as fast.” The way Sunburst worded that worried Cheerilee deeply, the inevitability of the statement burning into her skull. “I ran, I knew that there was no way we could deal with Flurry Heart turning into one of those things. Not with how wild her magic is when she’s not a feral monster. But I knew that there was no way to stop myself from turning so…” He touched the shattered remains of his horn and winced. “I did what I had to do. I got rid of my horn and put the inhibitor ring on Flurry.” He looked down, gently tickling the belly of the alicorn foal as he spoke. “There was nothing I could do for Cadance and Shining Armor...they turned and I just...ran. I got out of the city and hopped on the train.”
“Well you passed by Canterlot, right?” Rarity asked. “Was there anyone there or…?”
“We didn’t stop.” Sunburst quickly answered. “We saw Celestia, no way in Tartarus were we going to stop after that. I decided to come here, I was hoping that Twilight was okay and we could figure out a cure or something. When I saw her in the sky...like that...I just gave up.” He shook his head. “I took Flurry and hid in the caboose...because there’s no saving us now.”
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I can’t stop reading this story even if I tried, so it’s even.
"I won't post the next chapter until Sunday"
*Posts next chapter a few hours later.
"You're not getting another chapter until Monday"
*Posts next chapter on Sunday.
Not that I'm complaining, fear be it from me to do more than mildly poke fun when you're giving us such a great story. Haven't read it yet but I'm sured I'll love it.
Also, yeah, LasPegasus and any pegasus community is officially fucked now.
Now, we'll have to separate magic into two categories, Ley Lines and No Lines. Unicorns primarily use Ley Lines, and I assume Changelings are No Lines. Now, it might be that Elytra didn't use her magic and didn't change, but that'd mean she wasn't shooting ferals left and right, so for now Changelings go on the No Line shelf. Rainboom is pretty close to the Ley Line so Rainbow's out of commission.
Someone needed to send out that message from Canterlot, someone with access to the Canterlot Castle and the means to not be turned Feral. So, possible candidates are Tempest, a Changeling, or, and hear me out, Prince Blueblood or Luna. Celestia's gone, we know that now, but there are two other technical royals in the palace who have the authority and knowhow to send out that message.
Kirin and Hypogriff magic is a bit iffy right now. We know that Changelings are No Line users, but we can't say for certain that there aren't flight capable underwater Ferals or eternally burning Ferals in the forest. Fingers crossed that they're both No Line users.
Discord either is a Line User, or is a No Line User who's too afraid to find out if he can turn. Finally, there's the castle itself.
The Crystal Heart wasn't able to protect the Empire, but the Friendship Castle can. It's likely slowing down Rainbow's mutation, and is filtering the Ley Lines that Rarity is using.
Artifacts are another story. Assuming that touching a Ley Line, like what Rainbow did, would equate to someone who has a magic item, then I just realized they're really fucked. I mean, does anyone remember that big red MAGICAL staff in a certain Dragon's claws? Fuck, we're not getting a Feral Ember, are we? Or a Feral Dr. Calbileron or Daring Doo after they used an artifact, or a Feral Azhutil?
God, I can't imagine where this will go. I'm scared and excited at the same time!
Welp. Looks like Discord might be their only hope of a happy ending... And Dash is only getting worse? Oh dear. Guess her trying to make a Rainboom had more severe consequences than we thought. Hope she doesn't step outside while sick, or things might get a whole lot worse.
Don't worry. It was a good lie. I haven't actively checked my favorites for updates this frequently in years.
What the hell did you do this time, Purple Spergle?
10828640
Something tells me she bumped a little too close against those ley lines.
...They're digging to a leyline, aren't they? The Castle getting chipped implies they're getting stronger, and leylines typically have physical locations. 'Shit' intensifies once again, I love it.
Nah man, keep on lying to us about the updates, we'll keep reading :D
Also, BIG OOF to Sunburst's hopes...
Celestia down? We're all dead now, only chance is if you turn Twilight back now.... (although she's gonna lose her horn and be depressed because I think that's the only way to keep her from turning back...)
10828644
Agreed. For once I’m interested in a front page story.
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Y'all have no idea how much comments like these mean to me. Thank you so much.
Soooo, since Rainbow probably uses a lot of Pegasus magic to do the rainboom...she is slowly turning right?
i am so excited for this story man, i cant wait to see where it gets taken, and to find out all about the other settlements and how theyre coping... god, im so excited.
10828687
You mean you didn't just add it to your read later list and then never look at it again?
10828691
Don't make me crack the whip. Back to your desk.
10828691
You deserve all the good comments, this is a genuinely good story that I've been looking for a while now in this trope.
Well, they can't let Rainbow outside. She's in the same boat as Rarity, go outside and turn into a monster.
I am certainly not complaining about a new chapter today.
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cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/803147109486166047/846042974411948092/dw.PNG
Don't worry, I got you.
This story is fucking weird to me. I don't even like the premise, I don't typically like dark or apocalyptic wolrd or situation like the one presented here and the cover picture creep me as much as something can but damn if I can stop reading. Don't know why. The hope of an happy ending without everyone dead or something, I don't know but continue I guess? Seems like you do a good job.
10828739
Same boat. I normally don't like these kinds of stories, but... Yeah, I'm hoping for a happy ending. Preferably without anyone else dying...
10828733
Whoa. If I'd known that works I'd have been doing it for years.
10828739
Yeah, I don't read a lot of these either. The cover was just too good to ignore, though, and the story turned out to be pretty intriguing, too.
Will Rainbow turn, I wonder? She used, or at peast, attempted to use magic, but she's inside the castle. This story is fun, I'm really enjoying this fucked world you've got going on here
10828739
I think the problem is that a lot of stories rely heavily one the gore. I said it in a comment on Deep Freeze, an excellent DarkFic that I highly recommend, good horror stories focus more on the mental psychology of the characters, more than, "Rarity stalked closer the the mare tied to the table, using her magic to pop the gaps between the helpless creatures bones for hours on end. The muscles were rubbed raw, pussing with blood as the veins inside began to burst, gushing blood and blah blah blah."
If it gets too detailed on describing the gore then stories tend to turn me away unless it's done well, which is very rare. There's gore here, but the author isn't stroking themselves off on a gorefest of describing each torn tendon and bloody nose. It's used well, only accentuating moments of internal distress and the occasional external pain and fear.
10828700
I don’t read porn, and it feels like it’s 80% that sometimes. Bleh.
I am enjoying this story and will likely track it for future chapters, but there is one thing that bothers me. Why are the characters so suspicious of the changeling? Don't they remember how the changelings were turned from their old ways? Or does this story take place in a different spot on the timeline before all that happened?
10828785
I mean, I'd be suspicious of a non-pony entity in a situation like this. You can call them reformed, but who's to say they didn't have a hand in causing this?
10828787
Yeah, that's a fair point. And there were those who voted to let her out, so there is that.
10828787
I mean id def question her a bit see if she knows anything if she used her magic outside without going bad , did she only use transformation or did she also use levatation and in changling or unicorn form. Perhaps changling magic dosnt connect with the leylines as unicorns do. Anyway im with scoots in the end she hasnt harmed anyone yet and seems nice enough but this is def a all hands on deck senario so no use wasting people in thier rooms
Same goes for me reading it
This is what I've been wanting from the Pony Fandom for a while a Zombie Apocalypse or Crossed like situation that's well written and fun to read.
10828783
You know you can turn off Mature content, right?
10828869
To be fair, Porn isn't the only mature content available. Maybe they don't want to lock themselves out of all Mature fics just to shut out porn?
10828869
Need mature for the groups I visit and the other stories I read. SPECTRUM isn’t going to read itself, after all...
10828886
You are correct.
10827388
That's understandable, but he got himself killed rather than it being an unfortunate incident.
The Empire's gone, Canterlot's gone, the alicorns have turned, and distrust grows. Poor Elytra, literally in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is now at risk of being turned into a potential scapegoat.
So like I previously suspected, this didn't happen all at once, it started in Ponyville and spread through the ley-lines like poison spreading through the veins of a body. The rest of Equestria had a bit of forewarning about what was occurring, and some of the towns or kingdoms had at least a little time to prepare before the ley-lines at their locations were corrupted.
Referring to chapter one:
Twilight seems to have been patient zero of whatever this was. Whatever happened on that Friendship Mission, it's connected to this somehow.
The mentioning of her being "pale as a ghost" does make me concerned for Rainbow Dash's well-being, however. Ever since that botched Sonic Rainboom, she has been showing similar symptoms. If the Sonic Rainboom taps into the ley-lines in order to, well, "boom", then Rainbow may have accidentally gotten "poisoned". Whether she'll turn like Twilight and the others, or merely wither away, remains to be seen. But it isn't looking good, regardless.
If Twilight was where this started, the ley-lines in Ponyville might be the strongest sources of this new magic. Which is why the unicorns are digging that hole, and why unicorns from outside of Ponyville are being drawn in. Perhaps they are digging in order to access the ley-line?
And my theory about Sunburst breaking off his horn out of desperation was correct, same with him locking Flurry Heart's. Had to literally Train To Busan his way out of the Crystal Empire.
My big worry now, however, is what happens next? There is not a single alicorn left in Equestria who hasn't turned, Discord's gone back to his dimension, a cure doesn't seem to be on the table (at least for right now), tensions and emotions in the Castle are only worsening, the sun is still high in the sky and baking everything, and as far as we know the occupants of the Castle are the only living ponies left in Equestria.
How the hell are they going to get out of this?
10828930
I always look forward to your comments.
10828930
There's one alicorn left...
This Ley Line magic is really interesting. If the big pit the Uniterrors (it's just what I'm calling them) are digging does open up to a Ley Line, then there has to be a reason they are digging it. On one hand, it could be a means of food. We haven't seen them eat anything, and I feel like it's an obvious answer. On the other hand, it could be, and hear me out, a means of reproduction. Or production. Or whatever results in more of them. If Rainbow Dash's Pegasus magic relied on Ley Lines, that, when using enough of it, started her down the path of transformation into a Pegiterror, then it is likely possible that, when pumped with enough focused Ley Line magic (Sunburst says using magic hurries the transformation, and Starlight, as we previously learned, had stepped outside of the Castle and was fine until she attempted a focused teleportation spell), any type of pony can become a Terror. In fact, any entity at all that can sustain Ley Line magic is a potential host. They just need a connection. So, theoretically, if we tossed Mayor Mares unappreciative ass into the 'Pit-of-DoomTM', then she might very well turn into a Terror. Ley Line magic also opens up some other weird possibilities. Twilight traveled a ways away for her mission, and arrived back home infected. Yet, her transformation only occurred once in town. If her being closer to the Ley Lines is what made her unstable, then it would make sense for select Unicorns outside of Equestria to have not transformed, depending on where they are. In addition, Cloudsdale may be screwed here. The entire city is focused magic, right? We might already have an army of Pegiterror's and we just wouldn't have heard about it considering the entire population of the city could have instantly transformed. Scary thoughts. Same goes for the Batponies. I have no idea what could happen with them. Either the Nightguard is one of the last remaining holdouts of Equestrian strength, or it is to become the survivors worst nightmare. Great chapter though. Great Story really. This narrative is definitely going somewhere.
Great, so when the Sonic Rainboom backfired on her due to the magical corruption, Rainbow got sick; here’s hoping that just resting in the Castle Friendship and it’s regular magic will (slowly but) surely purge the corruption out of her.
Also here’s a scary thought: If Twilight morphed into a 12 foot tall monstrosity, and she was only a tad taller than the average pony after becoming an alicorn… how much BIGGER are Cadance and Luna, and how absolutely MASSIVE is Celestia?
10828960
Alright, I like your theory way better than mine.
The theory I had running was that whatever affected the magic in Equestria wants to be uncovered, and is using the unicorns as a means to that end, as a source of excavation. Something that may release its hold on them once it's released in turn as it no longer needs them. Something that needed to provoke the change in them to make them stronger, more aggressively determined, and more capable of digging for longer periods of time without rest or exhaustion.
10828935
Well damn. Not Celestia. Here is hoping Luna hasnt gone feral.
10828637
I'm not so certain the dragons would be effected. Their magics internal...they're not casters. Each dragon, (I assume) is their own magical source and the staff seems to be more for show then anything.
The reason we haven't seen other countries might simply be that Equestria is being quarantined after the warning went out, or that the countries without ley line mage users are bunkering down for the worst.
Batponies and pegasi may be ok for the simple reason that rainbow dash didn't turn when she left the castle or before they got to the castle. As for changelings...a few reasons...the first is that this could be some final 'f*** you' weapon from chrysalis thats gotten out of control or that changelings are just naturally immune. They live in hives or under the ground, chrysalis would be nuts enough to think that she and her people would be safe underground.
The fact thats its spreading via ley lines makes me think that whoever or whatever did it has some serious magical mojo in the dark magic department, which makes me think a certain goat might be responsible (grogar). A weapon like this would be no worry for a alicorn grade necromancer given he probably would know the off switch or an immunity for himself.
As for discord, no way he'd do something like this. He was ready to go nuclear on chrysalis when he found out fluttershy had been kidnapped so no way he'd do a prank that'd endanger her...and given how old he is, he'd certainly not have caused this by accident.
P.S Mayor mares turning into the asshole of the survivor party, it seems
10828992
Maybe...that could tie into my grogar theory not to mention we've only seen one section of tartarus...there could be other deeper floors for higher security prisoners
10829036
The dragon idea was mainly for the scepter. Since it's magical in some way, (may use Ley lines or may not) then I pondered if it was possible for it to affect Ember and turn her feral.
Artifacts in the show's cannon allow ponies aside from unicorns to tap into the Ley lines, like that one artifact in Daring Doo's first appearance that could move the sun. Now that I think about it, how would a magic eating creature or artifact like Tirek or Grogar's Bell react to this mutation?
Would Tirek be able to bleed these ponies dry without any consequences, or would he turn into a Feral as well since he can use spells like blasts, shields, and levitation with his horns? And then what happens to the Bell? Could Grogar's Bell suck up the toxins in the Ley Lines, or would the tainted magic break it?
Also, to your point of the thing behind this, I feel like Grogar's a good candidate, but feels almost too easy. I'm not saying the author would be bad or anything for making Grogar the evil scapegoat for this story, but with how many surprises, twists, and shocks we've gotten so far, just saying it's Grogar feels too simple of an answer. At least for now, maybe there will be an interesting motive behind this or an incredible plot twist that makes us understand things in a new way.
10829050
A better question. What happens to the Kirin?
10829052
Ah yeah, I kind mentioned them in the older post but I forgot their name... Fuck, the fact that you pointed that out worries me now.
Man, I keep thinking back to The Mist here; with how it's all playing out, I wouldn't be surprised if Mayor Mare splits the faction in two.
Hell, I love infighting in stories
Wellllll, they're fucked.
10828988
And just how much cake has she consumed since going feral?
10829050
well my reason for thinking it might be grogar is that creating monsters like the cursed (my own personal name for the mutated ponies) is right in grogars wheelhouse.
He is, at the end of the day in most settings a high end necromancer and user of black magic. Something like this would be perfect...his bell and magic might even be what tainted the ley lines
10829113
None! That’s an extra horror for Celestia!
Unless… *cuts layline with a knife* IT’S CAKE ALL ALONG!!! Devil’s Food from the looks of it!
10829052
Niriks on steroids.