Book Two: Chapter Ten: Fears Aired
Myths and Birthrights
By Tundara
Book Two: Duty and Dreams
Chapter Ten: Fears Aired
Rainbow did not come back to the party, nor could she be found in the spacious apartments given to her and Pinkie in the palace’s guest wing. Worry began to form in Twilight’s stomach as mid-night came, passed, and sank towards dawn with Rainbow still unfound.
Pacing in long circles around her room, Twilight went from anxious, to concerned, had a short affair with anger, and returned to anxious. Anxiety, ever the trusty old friend, visited but a short while before it departed beneath a regimen of breathing exercises and a chapter from Celestia’s Big Book of Magical Knowledge: Advanced Edition.
Reading helped her focus, allowed her to parse the events of the evening and see how Algol had led Rainbow and herself by their noses into the confrontation. The heightened nature of her anxiety, far more oppressive than it’d ever been, and the perfect baiting of Rainbow into an argument proof enough that Algol planned events.
Twilight discounted the recent studies showing how certain mental issues only fully manifest once a pony reached their early to mid twenties, and then the effects growing more severe over time without treatment. Stress of her Awakening, having to deal with thousands of voices in her head, recent occurrences, and a low-level curse to exacerbate her negative emotions were all far more likely causes than a mental disorder like Social Anxiety.
With a snap, Twilight closed her book and went to the window. Morning was only a few hours off. It was well past the point where Twilight should go looking for Rainbow.
She hesitated only briefly, wondering what her stars thought of her. A swish of her mane called Ankaa, Phad, and Antares to the disc. The trio of stars exclaimed in surprised joy at seeing their mistress again. Relief made Twilight smile. The stars didn’t hate her for what she’d done to Sirius.
Her relief was short lived as the trio darted back, and Ankaa said, “We’re still mad at you, mistress!”
“Sirius was our leader, the most devoted of your stars, and you just cast her from our home!” scolded Phad.
“To save that stick-in-the-sky, Polaris, no less!” whined Antares. “Now the four stars that released Luna are down to three. And we are your most loyal stars!”
Head hung low, Twilight said, “I am really sorry. I failed you girls, and everypony. If th—”
“Oh! No! Do not apologize to us!” Ankaa bounced from side to side in imitation of a shaking head while Phad and Antares bobbed in agreement. Twilight straightened as if she’d been struck. “You need to make amends with Sirius, not us. It was her you wronged. We are part of you, mistress, and you are part of us. Our hearts are one and many at the same time—”
“Blech, you sound like Mintaka. So sappy.”
“—, and thus we are you. When you forgive yourself, we stars will have forgiven you. When you are mad, we are mad. It is Sirius who has been cut off from everything she once knew. It is you need to find and requires your apologies. Besides, half our sisters would have fallen if you’d but asked or commanded. Faust needed saving. We were more worried for you than for ourselves.”
Twilight was stunned, and unsure how to respond. Everything Ankaa said cut to the core, made her heart swell with pride and self-loathing. The stars were too forgiving, too kind to offer such words of comfort to her when they should despise her. Her actions were beyond forgiveness, and no matter what the stars said, Twilight would require many years before she could look at herself in a mirror without disgust.
That they were still worried for her only made the bile rise in her throat. Every fibre of Twilight recoiled until her head spun. She despised herself, hammered her follies and arrogance in the core of her being, and found herself unable to sit still.
Back and forth before the windows, she paced, mind moving like a panther across midnight dark plains, guided by feelings too severe to be given voice. Only once before had Twilight committed an act that so filled her with shame; the time she’d used magic to dominate the minds of Ponyville in an attempt to create a problem she could ‘fix’ so as to please Celestia. Then, at least, no pony had been hurt, though only because of sheer luck and Celestia’s timely intervention.
This time, somepony had been hurt.
Meeting Algol threw into sharp relief just what Twilight had done to Sirius.
She’d stolen everything that had been Sirius, and left behind… what? A pony? In appearance, perhaps, But Twilight knew that there was more to the transformation. Sirius was out there, alone, lost, frightened, and must hate her as much as she hated herself.
No wonder Sirius wanted nothing to do with her!
“Do you know where she is?” Hope mingled with a bit of fear at the answer. Just what would she do if they told her Sirius’ location? She couldn’t go to the fallen star right away, not when she also needed to find Rainbow. Unless she split herself. Luna was capable of such magic, but never taught Twilight the spells. Maybe…
“Sadly, none of us know where she has gone,” Antares sighed, settling Twilight’s choices. “She landed somewhere in Zebrica, and that is all we know. We often lose track of our sisters after they fall. Watching them… is too painful.”
Twilight numbly nodded.
“Mistress, as much as we love coming down to the disc, why did you summon us?” Phad asked, breaking Twilight out of her spiralling emotions.
A little confused by the interjection, Twilight blinked at the trio of stars as she recalled her original purpose. “I need you to help me find Rainbow Dash.”
“Is that it?” Antares did little to hide her disappointment. “Here we hoped to do something interesting. This will take no time at all.”
“I know where Rainbow has gone, mistress.” Antares orbited around Twilight then darted towards a window. “She is one of the ponies I watch. You’re lucky you called me and not Regulus or Mintaka. Follow me!”
With this, the trio darted out into the night closely followed by Twilight.
Across the city and over the bay, the stars lead her, then out into the ocean proper. Within a few minutes the glow of the city faded and was swallowed by the miasmic horizon. Darkness set in, broken only by the stars still overhead and Selene, now a mere sliver of her former self.
Twilight had never seen a night so black when the sky was clear. It was as if all the disc had been swallowed by the void. Only the occasional twinkle of starlight across the cap of a cresting wave gave any indication as to how high she flew. Otherwise, it would have been all too easy to accidentally crash into the obsidian waters.
For what felt like hours, they flew, changing course only a couple times. In reality, it was no more than a half-hour, at the most, before Twilight spotted the flicker of Rainbow in the distance as she blotted out a star here and there for a moment.
Working her wings more than she’d ever done before, Twilight attempted to catch up to her. It quickly became evident that trying to chase Rainbow down was futile. Head pressed forward, she raced the demons in her heart, seeking to break the feelings the encounter with Algol had conjured. Worse still, Rainbow swooped up and down, flying through the mouths of cresting waves so close the sparkling waters brushed through her tail and mane. Using a quick teleport, Twilight crossed the distance. Rainbow jolted at the sudden flash of magic, lost her rhythm, and almost slammed into a wave. Expert twists of her wings and body saved her. With a deft somersault that would have garnered thunderous cheers from a crowd, she avoided the crash and gained some altitude.
“Gah! Don’t do that Twi,” Rainbow snapped, gaining a bit of altitude before leveling back off. “You could have gotten us both seriously hurt! Who taught you flight safety?”
“You did,” Twilight responded, a bit of bite in her tone. “You know flying on your own over the ocean is dangerous, especially at night! What if you got lost and couldn’t find your way back to shore? Or crashed. When I saw you just now, I just… I’m sorry.”
Rainbow opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut, looking away from Twilight instead. Worry for her friend spiked in Twilight’s stomach. Rainbow should have given a surly response, or boasted, or something. Not gone silent.
For some time they continued flying, side-by-side, with little alteration in course. The salty wind that tussled their manes was the only difference from flying over Canterlot. Otherwise, they could have been back home.
At last Rainbow spoke, banking to the south as she did so. “I’m not ready to be a mom, Twi.”
“I think most mares feel that way, Dash.” Twilight gave a small laugh as a memory flitted past. “Mother told me she was so afraid when she had her first foal.”
“Ugh, Twilight, that’s not what... I’m not worried about being a good mom. I’m going to be the best mom ever!”
“What? Then what’s all this about?” Twilight asked as they began heading towards a nearby puffy cirrus. The cloud glowed in the starlight, a safe harbour for any pegasus foolish enough to be out in the otherwise perfect darkness.
Rainbow didn’t respond as they skimmed over the cirrus, hooves leaving little trails through the ice crystals. Twilight lost sight of Rainbow several times, her more agile friend weaving through and around the cloud. As they neared the cloud’s edge, Rainbow put on a burst of speed, tipping over the side and entered a dive.
Twilight had to work at keeping pace with Rainbow as they raced towards the ocean. Rainbow was completely at ease with her angular wings tucked in against her body and the wind ripping across her face. She reached the bottom of her dive long before Twilight, wings flashing out to alter her course and shoot out over the water. Twilight pulled out of her dive at almost the same time, her turn far slower and shallower. The tip of a hoof still managed to skip through a rolling wave before Twilight started climbing again.
“Haven’t you ever wondered why I don’t talk about my mom?” Rainbow sighed when Twilight caught up, spiralling upwards towards a towering, anvil-faced cumulonimbus. Rainbow eyed the storm as they moved around it’s perimeter, a deep frown tugging at her face. “She’s never really been a part of my life. My dad is awesome. He basically raised me by himself. My herd-moms helped a bit, but they were always busy with their own foals. Mom though, the most I can give her was that she was just there,” Rainbow said more to herself than Twilight, back-winging to hover before the cloud. Staring ahead, Rainbow continued to speak. “She’s in the weather-guard, like all the mares in my, uh, family.”
“You mean your Legion,” Twilight interjected.
Snorting, Rainbow shook her head. “Should have known you’d know about that. Yeah, my legion.” Rainbow gave another snort and made air quotations. “‘Stormbreakers’. Renowned for weather manipulation, and using the cover of storms to clobber their enemies. Our legion is one of the oldest, and longest running, members of the army. A proud tradition, mom used to say, dating back to Commander Hurricane. Way she told it, our ancestors practically pulled Cloudsdale across the ocean to Equestria alone while everypony else was too weak or frightened to do anything. Mom’s a commander now, and she’s always pushing me to follow in her slipstream. That was her dream, though, not mine... Mine’s always been to race. To be a Wonderbolt!”
“But, the Wonderbolt’s are a rival legion to the Stormbreakers,” Twilight said, more to herself, as she thought over the snippets she’d picked up of Pegasi politics from her time in Canterlot. She regretted her words at once, Rainbow unable or unwilling to hide the angry grimace that twisted the corners of her tight mouth.
Hovering beside Rainbow, Twilight tried to apologize for interrupting, but her friend was fixated on the developing storm.
“This isn’t part of the plan.” Rainbow paused as she looked past the storm to some distant, possible future. “Not many Legions will accept new ponies into them, Twi. There is an old pegasi saying, ‘The Legion is the peak that anchors the herd’. The Wonderbolts might take in three or four new members over the next few years, out of hundreds who apply.”
Sighing, Twilight wished she could give Rainbow a hug. It’d mean entering free-fall, and every book Twilight had read on the subject made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that doing so over any body of water was a very bad idea. Instead, she just tried to make her presence felt.
“Dash, you’ve had the opportunity to abandon ponies before in pursuit of your dream.” Twilight said, moving to hover in front of Rainbow. “Nightmare Moon gave you the chance to be a Shadowbolt, all you had to do was turn away from four strangers and Fluttershy. But you didn’t.”
“Of course not! Who’d want to be some lame Shadowbolt?” Rainbow rolled her eyes.
Shaking her head, Twilight pressed her point. “No, you don’t understand how much character and loyalty that took. Nightmare Moon was lacing her offer with potent magic. The same kind of mind control magic I used on Smarty Pants.” Twilight paused to let her words sink in. “Plus, if it really was your dream of being a Wonderbolt that drove you, why did you come on this voyage?”
Snapping out of her stupor, Rainbow almost snarled as she said, “I’d never leave you or anypony hanging, Twi! It’d have just been you and Pinkie. I didn’t feel right letting just the two of you go off without me.”
Twilight gave her head a little shake as she slid to Rainbow’s side. “I know the choice you’ll be making, Dash. I think you do to.”
“It’s not fair though!” Rainbow yelled, tossing up her hooves and shooting forward a few lengths before turning to face Twilight. “Giving up a summer to spend time with you and Pinkie, okay, sure. But I made that choice, Twi! This,” Rainbow gestured to her midsection, “I didn’t make this choice. This has been forced on me. And now, another pony is going to get hurt in order to keep me safe!”
“Yes, and I realise how unfair that is,” Twilight fluttered to Rainbow, and finally wrapped her friend in a hug, the pair falling a few yards to the rim of the cloud. “But, Fleur is showing you the same loyalty and dedication that you have for everypony else.”
“Yeah, well, it sucks. I hate feeling not just useless, but like I’m causing trouble for everypony else. I’m supposed to be the one who jumps into the fray to protect others. Me and AJ. That is our ‘thing’. We’re fighters, unlike the rest of you softies. Now, I’m having to sit on the sidelines.” Heavy bitterness made Rainbow sink lower and lower until she came to rest on the edge of the storm.
“Maybe it is a good thing you are being forced to play it safe for a bit. You take a few too many risks, Dash,” Twilight said, followed by, “it’s not like there is anything we can do about it now. All you, or anypony else, can do is make the most of a bad situation.”
“No, there isn’t anything I can do. I can’t even yell at the pony who did this to me, because she is inside me.” Rainbow agreed, kicking a puff of cloud.
“Yes, she is.” Twilight said softly, feeling her friend tremble beside her, though in anger, sadness, or some combination of the two, Twilight was unsure. “Remember what Faust said? That whoever your foal was before, she gave up everything in choosing you to be her mother. Every memory, every little thing that comprised her past, wiped away. Gone. She will never be that pony again. Instead, she will be somepony new, guided by your love and the lessons you chose to impart onto her.”
Ears laying flat against her head, Rainbow huffed. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No, it’s to help you understand. Look at what happened to Rarity. How she—”
“Don’t you dare bring her into this,” Rainbow snarled and stomped a short distance away across the cloud, her hooves leaving little craters. “Rarity is gone because of them! And because of us. We should have been there for her! If we’d not broken up the group, then maybe…”
“I know,” Twilight replied softly, a flash of lightning beneath her lighting up the night, and throwing the rage twisting Rainbow’s face into sharp relief. “I keep feeling like she isn’t really gone. Like Rarity is still out there, waiting for us to rescue her. But, what happened to her could have happened to you, Applejack, or Pinkie. I am so, so grateful that none of you have to battle for your very soul. Fluttershy... we came so close to losing her, too. What I hope is that instead of attempting to steal your life, this pony decided to have you as her mother. As you said, you’re going to be the best mom ever.”
Rainbow took a deep breath and let it out through her nose. Slowly, she came back to sit beside Twilight. Extending a wing, Twilight wrapped Rainbow in a tight hug. They stared out over the ocean from their perch on the storm’s edge. Eventually, Rainbow gave a weak chuckle, and brushed a lock of her mane out of her face.
“This is so messed up, Twi.”
“No argument here,” Twilight quickly responded, a contemplative silence ending their conversation as they continued to sit holding each other. After a while, Twilight gave Rainbow a little squeeze and said, “Come on, we should head back to the palace. Or, at least to the Bellerophon, if you want some privacy.”
Rainbow laughed, a short, happy noise, but a genuine laugh, nevertheless. The sound made Twilight hopeful. “Yeah, I guess so... uh... which way is it?” Rainbow swung her head around, but there was no sign of land.
Stifling a smirk, Twilight pointed to the north. “It’s that way, about thirty miles or so. I can sense Luna there fairly easily.”
The flight back was done in silence as Rainbow retreated into her thoughts. She spoke only once, when the city’s lights at last broke through the hazy horizon, to thank Twilight. For her part, Twilight just smiled in return. They took a long turn around the Bellerophon, their home of the past few months, so silent and snug at anchor in the bay next to the other ships, before they headed towards the palace. Twilight and Rainbow landed on the shared balcony of their rooms just as the glow of dawn’s rosy approach began to brighten in the east.
Thornhaven was a hub of noise and activity. Halla filled the ancient castle, sweeping out rooms that had been closed off for years, placing cloths over tables, moving furniture about, and hanging paintings on the walls. Wonderful smells emanated from the kitchens, busy with the effort to feed the hundreds who’d come up from Reinalla to assist in the effort of airing out and cleaning the castle.
Between the halla zipped the group of fillies who’d come with Iridia, Scootaloo leading the way as they searched for secret passages, hidden chambers, and long buried secrets.
Iridia watched them scamper about with great contentment. She did not realise how much she missed the sounds of little ones at play. Their high pitched laughter, the patter of small hooves over the rugs and wood flooring, the amused admonishments of the adults who had to jump around the playing terrors to avoiding being tripped; it all made her heart so much lighter.
That day, the four fillies decided to explore the castle cellars, now that they were clean and empty enough to be entered.
Down there, Iridia had less to worry about when it came to them finding trouble.
Unless they somehow managed to open the hidden door to the caverns running beneath the castle. But, Iridia could not surmise how they’d even reach the panel to open the door. If she had more experience with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, she would not have been so dismissive.
Instead, she hummed a little ditty as she made her way through her castle towards the former Grand Council Chamber, once again her throne room. Banners with the crests for all the original Lodges of the halla hung from the vaulted ceiling, and a new, thick red carpet ran the length of the aisle to the slight raise where her throne would sit when it was ready. On pulling it out of the cellars, it was discovered that her old throne had succumbed to the damp and rotted away. Down in the town, several master craftselk from the Badger Lodge plied their skills in creating a new throne, one that would last a little longer, be grand, yet reflect the simple, earthy nature of the halla. Two other, smaller thrones were likewise being made. One for Twilight, for when she decided to visit, and the other for Namyra, which would forever remain empty in remembrance of her loss.
A bit smaller than Canterlot Castle’s throne room, with a closed, grim air brought about by the clammy late-spring morning and grey stonework, Iridia nevertheless preferred it to the almost too-bright hall of her niece. This was a throne room that suited the nature of her halla. Stoic. Stern. But, with a warm, friendly countenance if managed just right. Perhaps some braziers in the corners would help liven the room a bit.
Iridia found Fluttershy there. The poor thing had tried so hard to avoid Iridia ever since the debacle at the fort. After two weeks, Iridia had given her enough time to sort through the emotions dredged up by encountering Artemis’ estranged father.
“So,” Iridia’s voice echoed wonderfully in the stark, stone hall, accompanied by the quick clicks of her hooves, “It is time we had a conversation.”
Fluttershy spun about and shrank beneath her mane, one visible eye darting towards the various exits before it settled on Iridia.
“I really, um, don’t think there is anything to talk about, your highness.”
“Fie, there is plenty to discuss. No more avoiding it, as you try to avoid everything difficult or uncomfortable. So, out with it. Say what you’ve wanted to say for weeks now.”
Fluttershy cringed, and shrank lower in Iridia’s shadow. “Fluttershy… Fluttershy is dead. I killed her! I killed her when I didn’t force her to go right away to Zecora to find a way to separate us. I killed her by being afraid of what would happen if you or the other alicorns of Ioka found out what I’d done. I killed her because I was too slow and she acted first when we pushed Applejack out of the way of Serene’s spell. I am Artemis, and I killed Fluttershy the moment I took her as a host because I was worried for Tyr’s safety.”
Tears streamed down Fluttershy’s cheeks as she finished, thick, normal, natural tears that pattered down on the stone floor. Iridia brushed the tears away with a wingtip, and said, “There seems to be more of her mortal qualities left than you realise.”
With a great sob, Fluttershy buried her face into Iridia’s shoulder and neck. Taken aback at first, Iridia slowly wrapped her wings around the smaller mare. She let Fluttershy cry, to release the emotions she’d pent up. When Fluttershy’s tears began to thin, Iridia carefully pushed them apart.
“Fluttershy is not dead,” Iridia admonished softly, drawing a weak sniffle from Fluttershy. “I am something of an expert on souls, seeing as I am responsible for them finding proper homes in the spring, and will give you a few bits of advice; they are resilient and tenacious little things. Life has a way of ripping them, tearing them, pulling and stretching them, but they always mend. They always come back through the Font healthy and hearty, ready for the trials of the next life.”
“You just… You just don’t understand!” Fluttershy hiccuped and shook her head. “You only see them after their time in Tartarus. Fluttershy is gone.”
“Maybe I don’t understand everything involved in the great cycle of life,” Iridia shrugged, “But one of the things I can do is look at a pony and know them. And, when I look at you, I see both Fluttershy and Artemis even now. You can chose who you want to be.”
Fluttershy withdrew deeper into herself, fresh tears, these the crystal shards belonging to an alicorn, rimming her eyes. Her mouth moved a few times with words that could not be said. She hovered on a precipice, emotions welled, built into a great tempest, and ultimately turned inward and were left unaired. Shaking with the battle that raged inside her, Fluttershy spun about, tried to pace, and then came back to Iridia when that too proved futile.
Iridia sat patient through it all as Fluttershy attempted to sort through the storm of emotions, dreams, and thoughts. Any attempt to pry more from Fluttershy would only cause the mare to retreat further into herself. She had to speak, or not, on her own.
A few of the newest initiates to the Lioness Lodge came into the throne room looking for Iridia, and were quickly shooed away. Iridia’s entire focus was Fluttershy.
“F-Fluttershy. I want to be Fluttershy,” she finally said, sagging with the effort to give the admission voice. “S-She is the stronger, better pony. Fluttershy may act small, and avoid confrontation, but she would always, always, comes through for her friends in the end. Artemis only knew how to r-run away.”
“Fie, that is untrue. Even I know that, and I hardly know anything about her,” Iridia said with a slight laugh, one to soften her words. “Artemis may have been more hesitant, or may not have been. It hardly matters. But, she was willing to risk everything to protect those she loved. She would have sacrificed herself for Fluttershy, a mortal, but Fluttershy acted first, by your own admission. Don’t belittle her in an effort to prop up Fluttershy. Both are there, inside you, and you need to be able to accept them both or you’ll become unbalanced and risk falling. Take it from me, you do not want to fall. Madness of that sort is a terrible, terrible thing in our kind.”
Fluttershy jerked back as if she’d been bucked. Her mouth fell open, inarticulate sounds tumbling from her.
Iridia stared at Fluttershy, and truly saw the mare. Saw who she truly was at her core. Saw her true name emblazoned across her essence, and felt a wave of pity and hope.
Reaching out, Iridia took Fluttershy into a hug. “Of all Twilight’s friends, you have always been my favourite. Oh, I like the other girls well enough, but you have always been such a gentle thing, that I couldn’t help but be taken with you since I first snuck into Ponyville. You’ll find your way through this with the usual humility and kindness that have always been your hallmarks.”
There was a surprised squeak against her neck as Iridia refused to let the hug end. How she wished that, with the wave of a wing, she could banish all Fluttershy’s problems. That it was impossible left a bitterness in Iridia’s mouth, heightened by an understanding of the trials that faced the nascent goddess. All the more so with that Hades fellow running about.
“Um, your highness?” asked one of the initiates, having waited a polite distance away.
Irritation lifting the corner of her brow, Iridia turned to the small, frightened doe. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait a few minutes.”
“Maybe,” the initiates looked to each other, “it is just…”
The initiates voice trailed off as a new commotion filled the castle. Shouts rebounded from the antechamber, there was a brief scuffle, and then the throne room doors were hurled open. In the archway, chest heaving with ire, stood Applejack, Soarin behind her trying his best to hold back three halla, each twice his own size.
“Alright Iridia, where are they?” Applejack demanded. “Where is my sister and her friends?”
“Lady Applejack, this is a happy surprise! I thought you’d be staying in Canterlot given your pregnancy.” Genuinely happy at seeing one of Twilight’s friends, especially with everything going on with Fluttershy, Iridia smiled broadly and waved away the guards. “I could use your assistance, actually. As for your sister and her friends, they are quite safe. I believe they have been exploring the castle today.”
Making a little noise, the initiate stepped forward. “About that, Your Majesty. The fillies have gone missing.”
“Missing?” Iridia repeated, a lump of dread landing in her gut, Applejack echoing her sentiment. “How can they go missing? They can’t leave the castle.”
No sooner had she spoken than there was a deep boom from somewhere far beneath her hooves, the castle shook, and a wave of revulsion crawled over Iridia. Her skin jittered, wings thrust out, and teeth ached with unfamiliar revulsion.
Something ancient, powerful, and filled with malice had been awoken.
“Hurry!” Iridia cried out as she took off towards the secret passages and many chambers hidden beneath her home, Fluttershy and the others close behind.
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Yeah, I think that further clarification for Fluttershy was necessary; I don't feel I really understood her situation very well, myself. It's definitely clearer now!
Nice chapter.
At the end. Oops
This is still a bit confusing. At first Iridia says they're both in there, which okay, I can get with, but then...
" Iridia stared at Fluttershy, and truly saw the mare. Saw who she truly was at her core. Saw her true name emblazoned across her essence, and felt a wave of pity and hope. "
So they're *both* in Fluttershy, and could technically meld into one being with one true name? innnnnteresting.
8599492
Think of it closer to butter and flour in a cookie. Fluttershy and Artemis have been baked together. This analogy is going to get away from me... isn't it? Also, now I want a cookie...
8599316
My goal was to come just a hair's breadth from authorial Word of God on the issue. For some time I've been forced to be exceedingly careful when writing anything to do with Fluttershy//Artemis to keep consistency.
8599322
Thanks! It's kind of a low paced fluff chapter. The breather before things start to pick up.
8599391
Can't take those fillies anywhere, can you?
8599699
Oh heck no
The Crusaders are always getting themselves into trouble with their attempts to earn their Cutie Marks and frequently achieve impossible things. The situation with Fluttershy is now clearer than before and the problem they had is that both wanted to sarifice their own life to save the other.
8599593
So their souls have fused together and hybridized, and will remain as such even should reincarnation claim them. Gotcha. I can't wait to see how this will bite Fluttermis in the flank later.
Get rid of "]"
hello 8599699
This story is so interesting I can not wait to see what will happen next.
but I am I am confused,
in which chapter thas the halla become loyal to Iridia again
8602485
It was behind the scenes, more or less. The halla stuff was never all that popular, and doing a big song and dance with the politics and Iridia overthrowing the council would have taken up words I wasn't willing to spend for something that was, ultimately, kind of trivial to the main focus of the story. There were a couple attempts made at doing something with her regaining power and the CMC causing trouble, but it didn't work. So, I admit, I am just doing a hand-wave on the issue and moving on to more interesting topics.
8603057
OK thank you for answering
The Crusaders released some ancient evil/horror/monster/other... again. That didn't earn them a cutie mark last time.
So Iridia saw the Name emblazoned upon Fluttemis soul... And she feels both pity and hope.
I see two possibilities.
I'll be honest, I have no bloody clue which is gonna happen, if either of those two at all, but I will be looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
ONWARD TO ADVENTURE, CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS CAVERN EXPLORERS!
They woke up Godzilla, didn't they?
Poor Flutters she's so confused now, with good reason of course. 2 souls, both kind, in one body not sure who they are now. Though I think any goddess who tried to posses one of the main 6 would have similar issues simply because they are the elements, the ones who chose to be AJ and Rainbow's foals made the better call.
Rarity has it almost as bad, trapped in another world, believed to be dead. I am curious how she is doing, have other members of Zeus' pantheon found out about the stranger in their world?
8603868 8605050 8605200
They woke up something big, all right.
It's an adventure, all right. 
8605771
Getting out more of that story is something I really intend to do, it just keeps getting side-lined. The Rariad has been left to languidh far too long.
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Sorry for the late reply, I somehow missed your comment until just now.
I've read the Queen in Stone, and I understand the situation a lot more now. Though I would have appreciated some kind of reading guide, or an author's comment somewhere appropriate (like towards the end of book one) that would recommend reading the Queen in Stone. The major problem that I had was that I didn't know the appropriate time I should of read the Queen in Stone. I only started reading it after I felt that I was missing information that I should have known.
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Stars physically appear near identical to pegasi when they fall. They are a very tall, large winged pegasus, and the progenitors of the Imperial sub-race. Fluttershy comes from such a lineage, The Stare an inherited trait from the star that fell and started the family line. Fallen stars are immortals, but they are not gods or alicorns. They are essentially demi-gods. The other three sub-races of pagasi are the Ravens (most common, ones in the show), Terns (coastal, long wings), and Zbori (bat-winged ponies).
Faust is presently very in tune with her domain. Not to say she wasn't before, it is just present Faust is listening to the Weave rather than dictating to the Weave.
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Ah, that's too bad. I actually really like the halla and like hearing about them (and, yes, I'm reading the Queen in Stone). What makes Myths special is the worldbuilding, and it's a bit of a pity to see it being cut out, even for the best of reasons.
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I'm still doing my world-building, I'm just focusing more on Zebrica and Griffonia. I wish I could have spent more time with the Halla and Taiga, but it just didn't fit.
A pronoun or two appear to have Fallen and joined the Valla, here.
So, I would have been surprised by this if I hadn't read a comment a chapter or two ago explaining where RD's and AJ's foals actually came from (and until seeing that comment had assumed AJ's foal was Soarin's!) because either at some point during revisions over the years, that fact got removed earlier in the story, or is so understated that I completely and utterly missed it. And I don't usually miss things like that, though it's not impossible.
And I don't think I did, since early, early on, after Fleur and Fluttershy were possessed by Shades and Rarity was starting to hear voices, I figured, "Oh, seven shades... Fleur, the five non-alicorn mane 6, and the one that went after Twilight" and was looking for details about that, and AJ, Pinkie, and RD never showed any sign of such. So when AJ turned up with a bun in the oven, after having an early romantic set up with Soarin, and after RD was discovered "having fun" with an unknown mystery pony when Luna was shade hunting, their pregnancies had completely mundane explanations.
The timing and the shades' disappearance during Luna's and Tia's little hunt makes it clear now what you meant to set up, but I think a key piece of the puzzle was meant to be delivered far sooner and in the story rather than the comments.
If it's there and I missed it, my bad and I'd love a point-out to it. If it's meant to be there and got accidentally left on the editing room floor, though...
edit:
*headtilt* Yeah. Either I really missed something, or a scene got lost somewhere.
edit2:
Okay, yeah, I just used Ctrl+F to quickly skim through every mention of Faust, from Twilight's arrival at Leviathan's lair to now, and did not find that conversation. That could have easily fitted into the conversation where Faust revealed RD was pregnant in the first place, back in Book 1, Chapter 18, but Pinkie interrupts right around where I think you most likely meant that to happen and, in typical Pinkie fashion, derailed things so they never got back to it.
Oof. So she lied... no, I just went back and reread that scene. Well done there. Completely fooled me along with her friends. Of course Fluttershy is the one who'd choose to do the saving in that situation...
Too nice for her own good, sometimes, that mare...
Iridia's surprisingly nice, too, at times!
And really should have predicted that when she set the CMC loose in her castle above an AEIAC. (Ancient Evil In A Can)
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Gotta second this one, I was having a hard time feeling any empathy for RD whining about not being responsible for her pregnancy when it was pretty clearly laid out early on that she was 'fooling around', if you will. It took finding this comment to understand what Faust was on about in this chapter.
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Something to consider is that Myths starts with a weeklong Celebration of Life, which is essentially the birthdays for the vast majority of ponykind, owing to the Season. RD is meant to be acting a little bit selfish, inconsistent, and flawed, yes, but also not without total justification. Sex scenes, and just in general at a societal level, was something that I felt very uncomfortable touching despite two of the characters arcs being kicked off by a night of getting frisky.
How I envisioned sex being viewed by Equestrians (and all Iokan ponies in general), was something done recreationally, for the most part. Some had 'Old Fashioned' views of purity on the subject... *cough Rarity cough cough* But, for the most part, it's looked on as not a big deal. For a long time I had plans for it to be heavily inferred that Twilight and Maatsheptra have a tumble in the sheets. If I recall, it is pretty much Maat showing up at Twi's door at the end of a scene and a 'fade to black' type affair, where at one point a lot more foreplay was going to be involved. Because even our Super Nerd Twilight is comfortable with that aspect of herself.
This is all tossed on its head when it comes to "The Season", and heat cycles. Though ponies weren't aware of it, Iridia had been kicking things into high gear for a long time, even during her stoned period. As with the birth rates of fillies and colts being drastically out of balance, and the effect this could have on a society, I wanted and intended to explore how having a known, quantifiable and almost rigidly set period where the horizontal tango resulted in pregnancy would have. Ultimately, it wasn't ever delved into as deeply as I'd hoped.
So, the confusion about RD and her comments are totally understandable.
Also... I probably edited out a portion of a conversation during the writing process that stuck in my head into later chapters. That happened from time to time writing the story. I have a very bad habit of keeping the vast majority of a story in my head, rather in well written and detailed notes that I can quickly and easily reference.
It is you need to find and requires your apologies.