Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience

[Maer]

I'm glad you did! Initially I was going for the literal thesis of the show: Friendship is Magic. Just more literally.

Hope/Faith fits better. All six together make friendship and Harmony thrives on it.

Or something like that. X3

 

[Greymere]

I can explain that actually! It's a, corruption, so to speak, similar to someone messing up something in a translation or common language drifting "apocalypse" to mean "catastrophe" instead of "revelation".

As with many other things, it's all Starswirl's fault. Starswirl, was never meant to be a part of the proto-Elements, that was Stygian's job. But Starswirl got involved, stuck his bearded camel nose into everything, and decided that just as he was the most important pony "his" presumed element was likewise the most important. Of course he dubbed it Sorcery, since Starswirl solved all of his problems with sorcery. Things went as they went and in the long term it turned out that sorcery will not solve all your problems and Starswirl was an idiot for thinking so.

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I would understand that as an explanation if the other Pillars actually mapped onto the Elements but they... don't really? At least not with my surface-level knowledge.

Edit: also wasn't there a Pillar whose whole thing already was Hope?

 

[Flaregamer82253]

I would understand that as an explanation if the other Pillars actually mapped onto the Elements but they... don't really? At least not with my surface-level knowledge.

Edit: also wasn't there a Pillar whose whole thing already was Hope?

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That would be Somnambula, yes. She's the Cleopatra horse and is best associated with Pinkie and Laughter.

 

[DelightedOne]

I would understand that as an explanation if the other Pillars actually mapped onto the Elements but they... don't really? At least not with my surface-level knowledge.

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Well, each Pillar has a connection with an Element of Harmony so it is not really that out there to imagine they had some influence, even if passive, on how the seed that grew into the Tree of Harmony would develop and consequently which Elements would grow in the first place. I think they were like prototypes for the Elements from what I remember, they even had their own magical objects with a special connection to them.

Star Swirl(Sorcery) and Twilight(Magic): The source of Sorcery is Magic.

Mage Meadowbrook(Healing) and Fluttershy(Kindness): To perform Healing is an act of Kindness.

Flash Magnus(Bravery) and Rainbow Dash(Loyalty): Having Bravery is required to show true Loyalty.

Somnambula(Hope) and Pinkie Pie(Laughter): The power of Hope brings Laughter wherever it walks.

Mistmane(Beauty) and Rarity(Generosity): The Beauty of Generosity is undeniable.

Rockhoof(Strength) and Applejack(Honesty): Great Strength is needed to keep your Honesty.


All of the Pillars act as a gate from which the real Elements of Harmony are able to be brought into existence. There is also that point of view that they were the Elements that were needed at the time and after they were gone the Tree grew the correct fruits(Elements) for the future.

I'm not even going to mention the parallels between the characters, because there are many.

 

[AuthorTransient]

1 2 3 4 J R 5 S 6 K​

In Which (S) Collide: Kosmic Conclusion

The ritual circle is a little smushed, especially the smallest circle for misdirection and obscuration. This dirt isn't exactly the best place to carve a circle, even without the shocks of the battle occurring outside. You grimace, but you should at least give it a try.

You had explained the ritual to Comet Feet as much as you could during the preparations. Now the both of you are as blindfolded as you had been able to scrounge up and tinker on such short notice.

Ideally, this ritual should take place on the eve of a battle and not during it. Luckily, the rules of this ritual allow for certain modifications or alternatives. You hope this will work.

Slowly, you breathe out. "Let's start."

Before you were seven of Comet Feet's knives. You pick up one and immediately cut yourself on accident. Buck.

This is fine. This works. After all, the entity you are trying to summon will not heed your call if blood is not split.

You need to open a path for him, after all.

You pick up the next knife and stab yourself, just enough for your blood to exit your body and cover the tip of the blade. Then you repeat for the next knife, and the next, going clockwise.

Though you know you are not alone, you feel as if you are being watched.

You don't let that stop you, because you cannot hesitate. Your daughter's life is on the line.

When you finish the seventh, you pick up the first knife again and throw it over your shoulder. Shink. It should land within a very particular triangle-shaped sigil in the outer reach of the third circle – which is also the sharpest circle of this ritual.

This, you know and had explained, was a very old game – or at least, that was one of the terms you had used to describe it. Truth was that you could only approximate as much as you could to its meaning with similar words, because there wasn't really a word that could correctly encompass all of its meaning in the modern lexicon.

Like a competition, or a bet, that could be done for fun but has also been done to determine the outcome of blood oaths and life-bets.

And you don't actually know how the winner is determined, but for the purposes of this ritual, you and Comet Feet really only need to merely land all of the knives within the empty space of that triangle.

While blindfolded. And throwing it at a spot behind your back. Without being able to actually see the result, and knowing that there can't be any restarts. And especially, that you cannot hesitate, because it is against the rules.

No. Fucking. Pressure.

And eventually, somehow, while panicking and fearing and disassociating, you pick up your seventh knife and throw it.

Nothing happens. In other rituals, there at least was a sign, or a feeling – your heart lurches -

Comet Feet's own knife goes whizzing through the air and doesn't touch the ground.

Spoiler: Summoning Rolls

Moth: 58 + 13 (Magic) + 40 (Moth Level 4) - 20 (Rushed) = 91

Knock: 16 59 + 13 (Magic) + 40 (Knock Level 4) - 20 (Rushed) = 92

Edge: 27 35 85 (Comet Feet) + 13 (Magic) + 40 (Edge Level 4) - 20 (Rushed) = 118

All summoning rolls passed.

-!!!-​

And still you cannot feel... No, what you feel is that nothing had happened.

There is no pressure in the air, no sensation of the world being opened, or cut, or that a new presence has descended upon the world.
Your face crumples.

You take off your blindfold and turn. "I think we're going to have to - "

But Comet Feet is looking at a very old stallion.

At the stallion outside of the ritual circle, who is very calmly and deliberately looking at the knives in that triangle. He has no wings, he has no horns, and he is wearing a cap and very old uniform that looks so battered and worn that it feels... soft, like folded paper.

And he is looking at the knives like an arbiter, or a judge, deciding the results of a competition or trial.

You can't help but cringe a little as you realize one of your knives had landed exactly on the edge of that sigil.

"Interesting..." he says, and finally looks up. "And you are my employer?"

Your heart freezes, because he is talking to Comet Feet. Despite the fact that he does not look at all or feel at all like he was in the Mansus, like an undeniable force of nature, as impartial as a storm or a natural disaster, or a cold impersonal wall built long ago that a pegasus had just pancaked into – you're rambling. What you mean is that he looks kind. Like a grandfather looking at his children.

But your own experience with the paternal side of your family was not kind at all.

But more importantly, your mind is going on this tangent, because you are sure that Comet Feet hates you. He hates you for knowing Fluttershy, he hates you for interrupting his ritual, he hates you for barging into his life and turning him... softer.

And this weapon you had summoned is now in the hands of that other.

You dread the result of this conversation, yet somehow - ! You can't speak up. Because somehow -! You cannot influence Comet Feet's decision.

And Comet Feet says, "no."

You blink and feel like your eyelids had just scraped against the edge of a scythe.

The Name of Edge nods, as if this had always been a foregone conclusion. Then he turns to you and speaks. "Then I am Biedde, soldier of the Colonel, at your service. I will be your employee until our contract is finished." He gives a short bow which you mirror back. " And what will you have me do, employer?"

You find your voice and, unhestitantly, give an order. "Kill her."

He smiles leadingly, the smoke of his cigar trailing up towards the red sky. "Pardon?"

And what an order you give this Edge's Name! An order that seems to have been inevitable from the beginning, ever since you met him standing before the Worm Museum. "I said, KILL HER!"

Your hoof comes down and it feels like a gavel. "DESTROY HER! MAREINETTE HAS BECOME MY ENEMY! CRUSH HER! STRIKE HER DOWN! REDUCE HER TO DUST!"

Biedde's lips quirk. His eyes suddenly glint with immortal madness. He chuckles, then breaks into laughter. "WELL SAID, MY EMPLOYER! THIS SERVANT...." He savors the words as he speaks them, "shall carry out your order."

With those words, you return to the battlefield in time to see Selene get bowled over by a fleeing Mareinette, screaming Celestia in tow. "GET BACK HERE YOU COWARD!"

A terrified whinney escapes the centuries-old horror as she charges and stumbles over the next hill, at which point a superpowered beam of white light smashes in front of her and sends her tumbling ass backwards and into a leftover still-smoking crater.

Celestia peers at her from above. "AND STAY DOWN!"

Mareinette uncoils and springs up as if in defiant answer and -

You try to understand what she had just witnessed. Did time slow down, or even stop?

The answer is quite simple – it is simply inevitable. Because what She wants, She gets.


Plink, plink, plonk, plink, plink!


What had happened was -- slowly, deliberately, the titanic shape of Mareinette had gingerly rose up, each of her five heads closing like ebony piano keys, snapping shut like spring traps to swallow the sun. Then you blink, you flinch backwards, your body finally understands what is happening – no, what was happening – no, what had happened.

A whine rises in pitch and the respective head explodes into a bloody deflating mess, but the distraction is enough – Selene falters in front of her bulk and unhinged maws – hay – in the second time in not as many minutes, a blazing comet smashes into Mareinette and sends her skidding backwards, digging deep trenches the size of wheelbarrows in the dirt.

The Mane 6 are here.

Wait, how?!

Twilight Sparkle stands radiant at the forefront, multicolored light forming a splendid horn, and if you think it silently then no one can know the way your heart clenches at the sight. Fluttershy is there despite your worries, and Rarity is there, and together with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie, they are the Bearers of Harmony.

It means that, despite everything, Esquestria is still alive.

With two, no, you correct yourself as Selene repositions, three cardinal directions of escape cut off, Mareinette gyrates her heads around, searching for an exit. Her hindlegs tense.

In that moment, it's like you somehow manage to peer into the guts and wires of this great horror, somehow traversing space to see a fleshy chamber where a heart made out of clockwork and sinew reverberates like a great drum. Lub-dub, lub-dub.

And as you watch on, transfixed and powerless to move, its movement abruptly accelerates, cogs spinning and great arcs of lightning lashing out as the Heart That Fed goes into overdrive.

Then you are back in your body again, eyes so wide it hurts, with a deep and terrible feeling that if Mareinette is not stopped now, a disaster will occur. Rivers of blood will run across the streets of Ponyville.

Mareinette blurs.

...a knife is unsheathed. It is not a very large knife, but its edge is in fact quite sharp. Gingerly, an old stallion grips its handle between his teeth. And though this blade is not at all extremely extraordinary, it is currently being wielded with purpose and intent to be quite a fair bit lethal. The touch of a master's hoof turns it into a transcendental weapon.

And somehow, though there were many paths that Mareinette could have chosen, she chose the one path where she charges headlong towards this blade. Almost as if drawn to it, almost as if a force had pulled her towards it, a force she did not resist, or perhaps just a force she did not notice.

And so... inevitably, conflict erupts. And as it most often does, it erupts quite spectacularly in an orgy of savagery and is over immediately after, as quickly as it had begun.

Here it comes. Death.

You can see it now. She is coming closer, closer, closing in at your position, a mad rage in her eyes...

The edge of her charge is reaching, is meeting, meets - !

- it meets the Edge of Biedde's blade!

Moonlight glints off of it and the moonlight itself i / s / c

/​

u / t on that terrible, terrible Edge.​

It shatters Mareinette's charge. Mareinette shatters, tumbling backwards, pieces of her face falling off as if she was a mortal again and had ran into a woodchipper, bits flaking off. Her head snaps back into place jerkily and it is filled with pockmarks and all kinds of other wounds, like flays or whips or claws or drills or just a particularly sharp knife, shaving off a piece here and another layer there, so sharp that it is only now noticing that a wound is there, so sharp that even the fluid now weeping from it seems to disintegrate wholly by itself.

Her frame shudders.

The circle closes in. There is nowhere to go.

Mareinette tries to clamber back out, she tries to escape, but each time her attempts are parried and riposted, and each time she tries to open an avenue her distractions are dispelled. She is repeatedly returned to the (ever-growing) crater like a particularly obese homing pigeon.


Until finally, she stops.

And then just like that, it's over.


It's over.


So why doesn't it feel like it's over?

You can't move your hooves, but you can still see. And what you see is that everypony else has stopped moving as well.

Your breaths are coming in harried bursts. What is happening?

What...


⌈

!!!

THE THIRD BIRTH COMETH

!!!​

⌋​

This entire time, Mareinette has always been just that. A puppet.

And now, the puppeteer is showing its hand.

Because it is a hand, and not a hoof. You know this because Spike has hands, and that is definitely a giant five-digit limb sticking out of the wrinkle in space-time. Stretching it open, an omen of despair sneers at you.

Spoiler: BEEG PICTURE

File:Douglas-Scottish FFT(1901)-p162-Nuckalavee-illustr-J Torrance.jpg - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

What is this thing?!! It's as if someone had grafted a monster atop a pony's back, but in all of its eyes only a sadistic maleficence gleams. It is more than double the size of Mareinette at her peak. In its open mouth you can see both canine teeth and molars as it pants its rancid breath.

And worst of all, it has no skin, only bleeding sinew, a towering skyscraper leaking warm hot blood that sizzles upon contact with the cool night air.

⌈

KNUCKLELAVEE
Evil Manifest​

⌋​

Then it shrieks. Your mane is thrown back at the force of it, your eyes squeezing shut. All around you is the sound of the foliage breaking apart, leaves and even branches tearing off at the sheer force of its scream.

Your ears ring. When you open your eyes, Celestia is yelling something, but you can't hear what. Her attacks are bouncing off its skin. Biedde rears forward and stabs the thing in its fingers, and it dents the knife.

Your only saving grace is that its still struggling with its entrance. You whirl your head over to the Bearers of Harmony and yell something you can't hear. Pinkie Pie is screaming too.

The light around them intensifies.

A concentrated beam of sunfire splashes over the side of the thing's head, causing it to to flail. On the other side, a storm of stars crash like hail on its bare midriff. But despite all of their efforts, it manages to awkwardly stick a cloven hoof out from the opening and descend it towards the ground. It shrieks again, and you feel a warm fluid leak out from your ears.

Then it falters, as a splendid beam of multicolored light blasts into its chest. Groaning, it tries to resist, but it is pushed further and further out. It is a light brighter than what you had felt manifesting during Nightmare Moon's appearance. Harmony itself is rejecting this Outsider.

With a final scream, its fingers slip back out through the portal and the fabric of reality reasserts itself, mending the wound in the world entirely. The beam goes a bit further forward before it too fades out into nothing.

In the heavy silence that follows, you take a deep breath. "I can explain."

Spoiler: Alternate Ending

Because it is a hand, and not a hoof. You know this because Spike has hands, and that is definitely a four-digit limb sticking out of the wrinkle in space-time.

Someone who has always been pulling at the strings. You can't sit idly, you can't move at all. You curse the name, the one behind it all!!!!!

DISCORD!!!!

He immediately gets hit by a Harmony Beam and is resealed. Good riddance.

"Phew, thank goodness that wasn't our history, right? Though it was interesting to see. Ah, but I've rambled enough. Tap here to go back to your proper history."

---

Spoiler: Author's Notes

Okay, I managed to finish this before the end of the year. Because I couldn't figure out how to resolve Overflow, I just didn't note down the combat rolls. If it helps, Selene rolled a natural 1 on the first round, which was immediately followed up the next round by Celestia rolling a 2.

The c / u / t is of course, credited to Reaper Man. GNU Terry Pratchett.

Also, congratulations on reaching 300 pages!

I'M FREE!!!!!!!!!!

1 2 3 4 J R 5 S 6 K​

 

[spiderhellian]

In Which (S) Collide: Kosmic Conclusion

Click to shrink...

Congratulations on finishing! A great end to a great series.

It was great to see so many different people come in at the end there, from Biedde to Twilight.

KNUCKLELAVEE
Evil Manifest

Click to shrink...

This is terrifying and fits perfectly. A very nice find — did you know about this creature ahead of time or did it come up in some research?

In the heavy silence that follows, you take a deep breath. "I can explain."

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HAHAHAHAHAHA good luck with that, Velvet! I can only imagine what the vote would look like…

 

[DragonAbsol]

So to bring it back around to Ashen...

Do you have Faith, son of Equestria? Do you have Faith, when towers fall, when blood spills, when the Wolf comes to you in The Wilderness with his accusations, when the night is dark and no light is seen?

Do you have Faith?

That Honesty will illuminate, that Kindness will mend, that Loyalty will support, that Generosity will build and that Laughter will encourage? If ye have faith in all these things entire, than have Faith likewise in thine expression and devotion, and in that of your kin and countrymen. For Faith is the surety that inspires and the hope that blooms.

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This is fucking beautiful. Mind if I sig it? Will remove if you say no.

 

[Venerable Ro]

This is fucking beautiful. Mind if I sig it?

Click to shrink...

By all means, go ahead, I would be honored!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Anything in particular stand out?

 

[DragonAbsol]

By all means, go ahead, I would be honored!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Anything in particular stand out?

Click to shrink...

The bits about having faith in the elements of harmony reminded me of a Terry Pratchett quote. The one about having to practice believing in the little lies so that one might believe in the big ones. The ones about Justice, Mercy, Duty. After all, how can any of those things be made real unless we will it? How can those exist unless we have faith in the idea that they matter?

Edit. Death says it in Terry Pratchett's Hogfather.

 

[jelloloaf]

Branching out from just obsessing over Copper into Starry as well. Remember how she got arrested all the way back in turn 13? That was because she discovered Velvet's involvement with Canterlot Royalists and her communications with Celestia; proof of her lack of commitment to the cult's anti-Diarchy goals. Velvet was a government plant! (/s)

Bonus disinformation points if you can find all the visual indications that this image has been digitally altered (Check your answers under the second spoiler when you're done)

Spoiler: Large Image

Spoiler: Worksheet Answers

While there are lots of ways to distinguish edited images from original ones, most of them don't apply here. Saving as a png file has let compression artifacts hide potential pixel discrepancies, and since this is a screenshot instead of a photograph, there's no analysis to be done on distortions of the real world such as incorrect color balance or shadow placement. Instead, we'll need to focus on finding errors in the text splicing, of which there are five major categories in this image.

1: Font mismatch – Letters
Look at the Capital S in 'Starry' and 'SUSPECTED' in the first line of the first post. One is shorter and less rounded than the other, indicating that part of the text isn't in the same font as the rest of it, and thus likely not original. Some more examples are the Capital C in 'CANT' versus 'Crown' (second post, second and sixth lines) and the lowercase 't' in 'Context' versus 'the' (second post, first line).

2: Font mismatch – Punctuation
Notice how the commas are in an angular sans-serif, but the periods, exclamation points, and apostrophes are all rounded. One of the two groups was typed in a different font than the other, something which doesn't normally happen in unaltered images.

3: Incorrect text scaling
In the fourth line, the word 'COMMENT' is visibly shorter than the preceding 'ONE SINGLE.' If this was an unaltered image, we would expect all of the text to be a consistent height; there's no reason for this issue to appear unless the image was altered. It occurs in other places too, but this is simply the most visible example due to the capital letters giving a flat height profile to compare.

4: Incorrect word spacing
Take a look at the space between words in the last sentence, and compare it to the space between words in the sentence just above it. Tumblr uses non-justified text alignment; it doesn't vary the space between words to make the edges of all the lines flush with both the left and the right margins. This indicates that one of the two sentences was added in later, using a text processor with a different default text spacing.

5: Too-short margins
In the second comment, two of the lines extend closer to the margin of the page than would be allowed. Compare the distance between the left edge of the page and the beginning of each line of text with the distance of 'with Animosity' and 'anything serious' to the right edge in order to see how the text has been squeezed into a space that's too small for it.

While there are almost certainly more details to be found, these five categories are more than enough to prove that this image was digitally altered from its original state. As a final question, think about why someone might have done so. What purpose does spreading this image as true have?

 

[Zxzx24]

Hello everyone. I hope you have had good holidays!

 

[Arrkhon]

Now I think about it isn't there a reasonable chance that leveling our Heart lore would eventually give bonus actions?

 

[Venerable Ro]

Hello everyone. I hope you have had good holidays!

Click to shrink...

Pretty good, pretty good, lots of family though and Heart has never been a principle that I'm much suited to. Now that I'm home alone in my apartment though, all is Silent and Still.

Ah, sweet serenity.

 

[Greymere]

Now I think about it isn't there a reasonable chance that leveling our Heart lore would eventually give bonus actions?

Click to shrink...

Mmm, maybe? I'm not sure if Velvet's specific flavor of Heart would go in that direction though, since that seems like a Sacrament thing. And I don't think Mareinette's would either, since her Heart seems to go the direction of "tank" rather than "workhorse".

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Heyia!
Ill keep this brief.

First of all, happy new year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday period, and I wish a great 2025 to us all!

The omakes were, also, absolutely delightful! I'll take my time to comment on them and threadmark them later. But that also segways into why im here.

So, i wanted to post an update all the way back on the year change. But between the holidays, some casual food poisoning, and several hectic-life things it just didnt happen.
Still. I'm alive, quest is alive, and i'll sit down to write when i can. Might be this weekend, might be next month (hopefully not!), but i wanted to chime in anyways so people wont worry.

Have a great day everyone!

Cheers

 

[Zxzx24]

Hope your week is off to a wonderful start as well bird!

 

[AuthorTransient]

Congratulations on finishing! A great end to a great series.

It was great to see so many different people come in at the end there, from Biedde to Twilight.

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Thanks! It was really really difficult. But also fun! And specifically I chose the 'Collide' epithet because its having several ponies collide - from Beyond Reproach to Biedde.

This is terrifying and fits perfectly. A very nice find — did you know about this creature ahead of time or did it come up in some research?

Click to shrink...

It was always the plan once I realized Mareinette was a pun on marionette. It was already planned out when I started writing.

Still. I'm alive, quest is alive, and i'll sit down to write when i can. Might be this weekend, might be next month (hopefully not!), but i wanted to chime in anyways so people wont worry.

Click to shrink...

Almost went into thread madness there, to be honest. We can wait.

 

[spiderhellian]

A Thing You Don't Know

It is the thing you don't know that kills you.

Sometimes Biedde is amazed his summoner has lived this long. Not least because she's been climbing the Mansus while only a too-hard breeze away from death's door, as so recently was made quite clear to her.

She simply doesn't know so much.

She doesn't know why the world is so askew. She barely even knows how it is askew. And she definitely has no idea how to fix it, besides the obvious.

Still, that's more of a subtle knife, creeping in ever so slowly. There are much more obvious deficits in her knowledge, which are about to have much more obvious consequences.

For example, her lack of knowledge about just how much one wolf-thing's request would cost her. And how that, when coupled with a few other "necessary" expenditures in the course of another favour, would leave her stockpile of funds sadly diminished. To the point that she could not quite afford a train ticket to Equestria's outer reaches, or a myriad of well-made baits, or the solid oak and springy willow necessary for effective traps.

That is, she could not afford to fund his monster-hunting expedition.

That was a slight disappointment. The taste of a winter storm had whetted his appetite, but since then, it had remained sadly unfulfilled. Mortal guards? Soft earth and a corpse? Not the best the Wake has to offer, he knows. Not the kind of thing his Master accepts as propitiation.

On the other hoof, spending time on his religious affairs most certainly is. Since his employer could not quite abide his departure, that is what she has given him leave to carry out. Despite the fact that she does not know what it entails.

Delightful. This time, it will not be the thing that kills her. No, not her.

As he sets out from Ponyville, Biedde looks to the horizon. Yes, it is warped. But that's not the worst thing wrong with the world, he thinks.

It doesn't have enough scars.

His employer is a rare exception. But so many dance and twirl and laugh through this world, and never face the cut turned need to truly grow.

What wounds occur are papered over or covered up — again, he thinks of his employer — and not allowed to heal into a thin grey line imbued with memory.

Consider, even, the enraged Demi-goddess at the centre of this realm. How many blows did it endure? How many cuts adorned its limbs? And how often did it just choose to proceed along unfeeling, making a pretence of seamlessness, to avoid its subjects ever seeing a body in any way marred?

So many lessons, left unlearned. So much ignorance, embraced. With, yes, the obvious consequences.

Biedde knows the estate's wolf-pony has been offering her patron's answer to this tension at the world's core.

His knives are sharp. His stride is unyielding. His orders are clear.

It is time for him to do the same.

Spoiler: AN

Pondering Biedde, a little. And the link between scars and lessons, lessons and ignorance, and ignorance and… well, the obvious.

I think the only thing worse than giving him time for his religious observances would be not extending his summon. So let's best be confident we have the bits.

 

[Venerable Ro]

How very interesting. I don't think I necessarily agree with the specific conclusion but a great omake is a great omake. Thanks for the read!

 

[Zxzx24]

My it has been a bit quite lately.

Things certainly happening in the states. I hope you all have been doing well.

 

[Mage_of_Eyes]

I want to thank you for your patient

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I believe this is a typo

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

My it has been a bit quite lately.

Things certainly happening in the states. I hope you all have been doing well.

Click to shrink...

Unlike many quests, we know how to be patient, and appreciate the silence.

 

[Venerable Ro]

Unlike many quests, we know how to be patient, and appreciate the silence.

Click to shrink...

.
..
...

All things end, to wait is to appreciate the gradual ending of "tomorrow" as the millstone of Time transforms it into "today", and from there "today" grinds finer still into "yesterday".

The meticulous counting of these powdered grains is the province of historians, clocksetters, and lawyers.

 

[AuthorTransient]

As a humble mortal, I appreciate the calm but also I've found other distractions to occupy myself. Unfortunately, one can only spend time, not hoard it. And I have to take breaks sometimes.

I am worried, but I can do nothing about the cause of my worry. I can only... hope.

 

[Sveta08]

As a humble mortal, I appreciate the calm but also I've found other distractions to occupy myself. Unfortunately, one can only spend time, not hoard it. And I have to take breaks sometimes.

I am worried, but I can do nothing about the cause of my worry. I can only... hope.

Click to shrink...

I... Hmm. I don't know a cleaner way to put it than but to be very verbose. Sorry.


Do not worry. Do not mourn. There is time enough for those things another day.

If a friend leaves on a journey, do you sit at the harbor and look to the horizon for sails to come home? At first, yes. Every day an uncertainty, every hour a tragedy you don't know. Distant horizons and unknowable shores containing perils unfathomable.

But it is a choice, you know. To sit by the sea. To drum your fingers and tap your toes. Straining eyes out to the far horizon. To wait, is a choice. One of four.
Wait by the sea, held forever in the moment before resolution.
Mourn the loss, accepting the moment has passed, and claiming resolution.
Forget the friend, to move on bleeding and silent, the uncertainty resolved with the severity of a wound.
And, naturally, to live.

Your eyes may drift to the horizon. You might mistake clouds for sails. And in the quieter moments, you may wonder. Equal dread and anticipation. But... You will live. Walk. Talk. Dance. Live and move in your own ways. Learn of stories and dreams all your own. Live and experience an adventure yourself. Not mere distractions, but life, living itself.

If a friend returns, you will both have stories to tell. If they do not, you will sing of their memory.


In short, it will work out. One way or another. Waiting isn't quite right, but neither is just hoping. It's... Faith I think. An understanding. An agreement, inarticulate and resolved.

Besides. This is short, all things considered. Not forced by an outside power, but simply by the whims of life.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

(The silence of Winter will always, inevitably, turn to the movement Heart)

 

[Zxzx24]

I hope you have been doing well also!

And welcome back

 

[Pittauro]

oh, bird posted something!

I might as well take this chance to catch up on the last... 3 pages or so.

Dashing through the corridors like she was practicing flying, their youngest daughter was delivering hand-written cards to the house's most important guests. One of them knew what it said before she opened the envelope, another cared more to remind the filly that she'd be warmer in his cap than about any sentimental prose, and the third dinnae ken tha' point of this fookin writin' but still accepted the card as payment for fifteen minutes worth of stories. Still, the filly cared about Hearth's Warming and cared about them, and in their own way, each of the guests cared as well.

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Somehow I'm reminded of this Galavant song



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmMPYnmNtUw&ab_channel=alinbalin

though of course less... well, sexual.

"I love you... as much as someone like me can love anyone".

It kinda fits how the Names think of Velvet and/or Silky.

We like you... as much as something like us can like anyone.

In front of the fireplace, a just-as-firey white wolf has curled up, enjoying the way the warmth feels on her newly adopted flesh (it allows so much more sensation than the black hole ever did!). Still, she will not let the cozy crackling drag her to slumber any time soon. Instead, she exchanges words with a strange person nearby, dressed all in black and white. They've been interlocutors for years now, and yet to run out of conversation.

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Taking a step back, you beheld everyone's efforts with no small amount of pride! A pain staking effort made from sweat, blood, and tears.

Five sealed Windigo jars.

In truth, the hardest part of all this was just finding the right time to pass off the supplies when they wouldn't be needed by Mrs. Velvet. A cold memento and a little piece of metal meant you had everything you needed to get started, and it went better than you could have imagined.

You nodded to yourself. Asking Mrs. Velvet to teach you a way to protect her and everything important to her was about to pay off!

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"…I've been making- making cookies! To send to Mrs. Velvet's fo- FRIEND who owned the building where she used to meet for her old, uh, book club. It's an, um, belated Hearth's Warming gift…?"

There was complete silence in the barn. You could feel your fur standing on end as the embarrassment started to slip inside your skin. It feels as if even the sealed Windigos were speechless from your claim, as if they were too confused at being called cookie jars to remember to hate that they were called that. You open your mouth to at least try and salvage-

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...You know, I can see that.

"…Actually, maybe you can help me deliver them!" you finished with a big smile towards Silky. Her expression immediately mirrored yours.

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Soft PLEASE STOP HALPING US!

"The first lesson in Edge is-" You roared and lunged forward, spinning and kicking the creature again

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...you know, that IS a valid first lesson of edge! If you want to stop it, you have to fight it!

So, this feels a touch rushed to me, but I'm fairly proud of it. Why is Ash teaching Lore to some random Pony?
Good question.

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to spread agony, you must allow other people to understand it.

somehow, "The sun is also a warrior" has a fitting few lines to this.

The sun is also a warrior
Knowledge can also destroy
Nor can the kindest will
Preserve you from the kill
Not all of wisdom brings joy

---

...damn, only two pages, but they're DENSE pages!

I'll read the last page later

 

[Limabot]

SNIP SNIP SNIP

...you know, that IS a valid first lesson of edge! If you want to stop it, you have to fight it!


to spread agony, you must allow other people to understand it.

somehow, "The sun is also a warrior" has a fitting few lines to this.

The sun is also a warrior
Knowledge can also destroy
Nor can the kindest will
Preserve you from the kill
Not all of wisdom brings joy

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Given how Sun-in-Splendour coded that song is, and how the Wolf in both games is implied to be a representative of the more destructive/domineering parts of its nature, it would make some sense that a bit of the song's theme bleeds into the Wolf as well.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

The Only Choice that Matters

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Meta-aware Baldomare is just so good to read. Thank you for sharing this!

And this really feels like that moment in CS where you can just abandon it all and get a regular (but cozy) victory. Maybe even with a loved one.

And ah, isn't that moment drawing ever closer to us as well?

[Velvet Covers has invoked the Attention of the Father]

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I honestly let out an "oh my =o" when I saw this.

Thank you for sharing this! This was an awesome telling of the combat.

@OurLadyOfWires do you like it?

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I love it

Okay, my mind went crazy with a possible Twilight recovery so here is the thing.

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No comments.

But jokes aside, this was very well written! Thank you for sharing it.

And to be abundantly honest, I truly share the sentiment.

The Hooves In Front of You

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This story is canon entirely and purely because math is, indeed, Selene's least favorite subject

Yeah, no, I completely agree. Selene is indeed juggling a LOT.

And I truly appreciate the whiplash of how she... is still pretending to be a filly! She still goes to school, and plays with her friends on recess, and sleeps with her little sister.

And she now knows she is a murderer.

No, really, try to imagine it. You are a fully grown... demigoddess, or whatever equivalent you prefer. You have a whole year's worth of childhood in your recent memory, and a library's worth of foggy and barely-readable ancient memories. You have the maturity and patience of a full adult. And yet, you still have that part of you that was a child just last month.

And for the sake of your family you juggle all of that and keep appearances.

That is, uh, a lot.

So thank you for portraying it so well, and sharing it with us!

The Burning Fountain

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This was... beautiful. And beautifully haunting. Thank you for sharing!

And aye, I really think that Starry's fate was... very bad. There are canonically worse fates, for sure, but I really think her end classifies as a kind of "fate worse than death".

I like to think, and I agree, that she went down fighting. Or dancing. But the fact remains she went down.

Still, I thank you for not forgetting about her.

A Gift For The Mare Who Can Find Anything

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(Need to play Book of Hours increases)

Thank you for sharing it! Baldomare's smugness, even if only mentioned, was delightful and made me laugh. And the whole atmosphere in town was excellent!

The Day Before Hearth's Warming

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Yknow, I know this entire quest is just one great silly story that I like to write and people like to read. But still, we do have a lot of fun here.

And places like this omake, where all our little habits and little folklores and conversations, come together to be portrayed by one of us is... well, no better word, it honestly is one of the things that makes this feel a bit like a "community".

So, thank you kindly for sharing this! I really appreciate it.

I'm not the kind of person that does much writing

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Well, I'm honestly glad you made an exception for this!

Truly, this is one of the highest forms of Softy-writing, horror mixed with honest caring and kindness. I love this!

Silky's excitement to help her was so good ahahahahah

In Which (S) Collide Part 6

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In Which (S) Collide: Kosmic Conclusion

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I'M FREE!!!!!!!!!!

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There they are!

Ahahahahah talk about an old-god fight. This was great!

And seriously, this was quite the comittment! You should be proud of yourself, because we certainly are!

Thank you for sharing this with us. And also, when you stop and think about it, this whole sequence was """just""" an afternoon gone wrong with Mareinette finally getting the boot. I am sure this will make people appreciate more how quickly (or slowly!) plot can progress. Right? Right?? (Cries in a corner)

Still, again, this was great! Thank you for the conclusion!

To Struggle and Climb

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This is legitimately a bona fide Mansus Adept Experience (tm)

Ashen Weaver's plot thickens quite... interestingly.

No pressure for you to write about him, but I think this is great! If nothing else, thanks for sharing!

A Thing You Don't Know

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(Takes a puff from pipe)
"Mmh, yes. This is good pondering."



Ahhh, that seems to be it.

Now, into the less important and more boring stuff.

Spoiler: QM short rambling

2025 has been WILD so far. Hard to believe January is already over.

I won't bore you all with private life details. No one is here to hear me talk about that. Still, things are going well, even if I have recently found myself with waaaay less free time.

Regardless, as ever, I hope you are all doing well. I can't promise I'll go back to the "every weekend two or three updates" schedule. In fact, I probably no longer have time for that. Still, I'm here, and here is another update.

There was so much stuff to catch up to that, in truth, I ignored all the pings. I already read over the thread, and most of the omakes, during off-time over the last few weeks. But I wasn't able to engage in the conversation itself.

So, rather than me having to re-read every single post from the last 20 pages, I kindly ask that if anyone pinged me with a question to re-ping me.

Right, now on to the next part of my to-do list.