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

Reader mode
OurLadyOfWires said:
Your horn flickers to life as you bring out all the valuables you had stolen. Priceless magical artifacts you had pilfered with your "royal authority", magical scrolls that you did not even have time to read yet, and jewelry that had been produced by the perfectionist hoof of pony savants. You collect the artifacts and nothing else, they at least will be useful in the coming war you will fight.
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This was Queen Chrysalis's first instinctual response to realizing she needed to flee her infiltration. We can assume that whatever leadership the changelings have now have similar modus operandi to their late Queen. So yeah. There's a very good chance based on the text that changelings would keep moveable assets in their hive pilfered from their current infiltrations to act as insurance if they need to flee.

Artifacts, Books, Jewels.
 
OurLadyOfWires said:
TRUTH-LORES
CONVINCEMENT-LORES

You have told Stormchaser about your abilities. He is now less worried about your health and safety, even though the things you told him were… a lot to take in.

But still, in the end, the only thing he ever wanted was for you to be alright. You would never be able to convince him that you are alright because the Lores were safe. Instead, you convinced him that the lores are safe because you are alright.

Furthermore, you were also able to convince him that teaching the Lores to him might be positive, or maybe even necessary, and that your daughters could gain to learn a thing or two from that. Consequently, he has changed his opinion about using the Lores to/with your family.

Results:
-You no longer have to keep the Lores a "secret" from your family.
-Performing rituals at your home is now acceptable, and no longer suspicious.
-Affecting your family with the Lores now is acceptable, and no longer suspicious.
-Having unsubtle Summoned Creatures interact with your family is now acceptable, and no longer suspicious, to a certain degree (showing a Risen to your daughters is still unacceptable. That would give them nightmares!)
-Stormchaser's Lore affinities revealed to be Major SECRET HISTORIES and Minor KNOCK. He is currently an "Enlightened", with Lore levels 0/NONE.
-Maid and staff suspicion still applies, but will be much less likely to occur since your family is now in cahoots with you.
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I just want to point out that we already have a 3 circle site.

It's called "The barn where we summoned Mareinette"

We are the 3rd most powerful figure in Equestria.
We are no longer dependent on Velvet Hill for income
Our family is unaffected by suspicion
The Bureau is unaffected by suspicion
Literally what teeth does the threat of "maid and staff suspicion" even have at this point? A 30-40% chance of spooking the maids, at which point... what happens? Failing a suspicion roll was never intended to lead straight to a major consequence even when all those concerns we've nullified were still concerns. If the maids get a bit spooked, what happens? There is absolutely no major problem that failing a suspicion roll can jump to, and we can probably afford to fail multiple of them before 'spooked maids' even rises to the level of minor problem. How many summonings are we really planning to do in the next two or three turns anyway?
 
OurLadyOfWires said:
However, I must still say that there is something that Shining Armor, the Princesses, Mareinette and Edge 4 adepts have in common, that is lacking in a monster that (numerically and mechanically) is stronger than Shining, but that would still not qualify as a worthy opponent.
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combat training and experience? Something more than just "instincts" that a beast would have.

Edge 4 IS basically the peak of combat experience for mortals (not counting the traits that take YEARS of mundane training to get). The princesses and Mareinette have definitely gone through their share of deadly fights.

Cadance is green... but she IS also an Alicorn with extremely high raw power... Also now that I think about it she DID risk her life against that witch when she ascended (I think that's canon here?)

ses said:
Bro I dont think Velvet is getting hit by -40 Outnumbered penalties. Comet Feet didn't fight more than 3 enemies at a time and we've got 4 Moth levels on him.
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AND an anti-ambush power, AND darkvision. And maybe the SH Realization, if it applies narratively here somehow.

Sk1lz3r said:
@OurLadyOfWires how do we narratively justify our bureau becoming Lore Competent to the outside or even non initiated bureau members? I get that the primers are a minor "start" that just gives some knowledge of the appropriate type. But once the lores grow to level 3 or 4 and start getting really obvious how do we explain it to celestia?

Or is Velvet just going to make sure the entire bureau stays hush-hush on matters above level 1 lore?
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to the outside, we can just say we have top of the line equipment, talent and magic.

non-initiated Bureau members? Mostly the same. It's not like they'd know the actual limit of equestrian magic and technology.

Eclipse are really the only ones who would suspect more, I think.

As for Celestia, hopefully she won't find out enough to ask in the first place, and we'll just be able to pass it off as being really competent. When she was young the Pillars of Equestria where around, and they were pretty damn amazing. She DOES have experience with supremely competent ponies.

Talon Tiger Dino said:
Let us keep in mind our immediate goals: keeping Cherenkolt and Baldomare in the Wake. What do these goals require? Money. Money for the Rituals to find stuff, money for the Expeditions to get the stuff, and in Cherenkolt's case money to refine the stuff we got and money for the ritual to cure Velvet's ensuing radiation poisoning.

What do our remaining Sacraments after this turn require? Well, for Personal Forge it's money for alchemical ingredients. For Cherenkolt Forge it's money for workshop materials. For Winter it's money for rituals. For Edge (if we fail) it's money for rituals. For Baldomare Secret Histories it's money for an Expedition with her. For personal Secret Histories it might be money for some preparatory AotLs, I don't remember the exact mechanics for it. For Moth we need Spoiled Rich. For Mareinette Grail we need a prisoner. For personal Grail we need some Confidantes. For Personal Lantern we need a prisoner. For Baldomare Lantern we need people to go with her on an expedition, but if you want MitLs then you need money to summon them.

Oh, and if we fail to get Edge this turn then we'll need money to either keep Biedde in the Wake or to summon him back later.

Note how our most (6-6.5/11) of our immediate and long-term methods of accruing power require bits. Note how none of our immediate goals require a 3-circle ritual site. Note how summoning things with said 3-circle ritual site would cost money. What do you think we should be prioritizing? Advancing the chance of getting a ritual site by a turn, or increasing the chance of finding something of monetary value in the hive?
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AotL doesn't require bits, but yeah, most of our sacraments (and the scrying rituals too, and the forge ritual to heal from the "bad blood" from Cherenkolt's friendship, and potential MitL summons...) all require some bits.

Very worst case we can sell some artifacts, but ideally we won't have to.

ses said:
I just want to point out that we already have a 3 circle site.

It's called "The barn where we summoned Mareinette"

We are the 3rd most powerful figure in Equestria.
We are no longer dependent on Velvet Hill for income
Our family is unaffected by suspicion
The Bureau is unaffected by suspicion
Literally what teeth does the threat of "maid and staff suspicion" even have at this point? A 30-40% chance of spooking the maids, at which point... what happens? Failing a suspicion roll was never intended to lead straight to a major consequence even when all those concerns we've nullified were still concerns. If the maids get a bit spooked, what happens? There is absolutely no major problem that failing a suspicion roll can jump to, and we can probably afford to fail multiple of them before 'spooked maids' even rises to the level of minor problem. How many summonings are we really planning to do in the next two or three turns anyway?
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in CS terms, it's the least tier of suspicion that MIGHT, if you're unlucky and under investigation, evolve into actual evidence.

So yeah, if we have to we CAN afford the risk. It's better if we don't have to, of course.
 
Pittauro said:
to the outside, we can just say we have top of the line equipment, talent and magic.

non-initiated Bureau members? Mostly the same. It's not like they'd know the actual limit of equestrian magic and technology.

Eclipse are really the only ones who would suspect more, I think.

As for Celestia, hopefully she won't find out enough to ask in the first place, and we'll just be able to pass it off as being really competent. When she was young the Pillars of Equestria where around, and they were pretty damn amazing. She DOES have experience with supremely competent ponies.
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So essentially you're saying that our defence is "I'm just built different and my bureau is just like that so please dont look too deeply"

That's hilarious and also somewhat concerning.
 
Sk1lz3r said:
So essentially you're saying that our defence is "I'm just built different and my bureau is just like that so please dont look too deeply"

That's hilarious and also somewhat concerning.
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Equestria DOES have ponies "built differently" at times.

Maud Pie can quite literally punch through rock.
Pinkie Pie has her pinkie sense.
Fluttershy can STARE down anything short of Discord.
Twilight... was... a magical prodigy
Rainbow Dash can break the sound barrier (and make a rainbow in the process).

Shining Armor could shield an entire city with a spell.
Starlight could steal cutie marks.

Each of the Pillars has extreme feats.

and damn, the Flim Flam Brothers can do some pretty absurd stuff too when they try, their Super Cider Squeezy 6000 was actually great and they ONLY lost because they tried to push it too far.
 
A missing guest [1/6]
[X] A missing guest

You follow your agent towards one of the tents that was set aside for "security personnel." One of the stakeouts from which your agents are able to monitor the event, and help the more overt Royal Guard keep everything safe.

Inside the tent, you find a small group of ponies gathered around a small wrapped box set on a table. As soon as you enter, one of them comes to you with a serious expression. And he immediately gives you a report with a dangerous mixture of urgency and professionalism.

"Commissioner, this package was found mixed in with the wedding gifts. The name-tag just says 'You already know who I am.'" He purses his lips. "Magint hasn't found anything dangerous about it, but they all agree that it . . . 'feels wrong,' for lack of a better term, and none of the posted guards with sight on the dropoff point recall seeing anypony leave it there. Could it be another changeling infiltration?"

He tries to hide it, but you can tell that this has him on edge. But, as you step closer to take a look at the package in question, any potential reassurance you might have offered dies in your throat. You recognize this hoofwriting.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," you somehow manage to say with a completely straight face. "But I will handle this personally."



-The Royal Guard has intercepted a mysterious package, though the identity of whoever left it is still unknown.

-Where there's a Will, there's a Way. And, perhaps, those who have walked that Way still carry some of that Will.

-This is not for you.

-EFFECT: Learn an answer to the Ecdysiast's Riddle.


The door opens both ways, and the key to that door is:

1/6

The rest of the pages are nigh-illegible, ink-dyed by irregular splotches of black and purple. On the largest readable fragment, these words appear: "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?"


A collection of advice that may be of use during your reading experience:
- I recommend using a computer, but if you're on mobile, 'open in new tab' can make it easier to zoom in on images.
- You can mouse over (or long-tap) an image to read its alt-text.
- To see the other pages, you will have to look at other pages.
- When you reach the ending, you will know.
- Have fun and good luck :3
 
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jelloloaf said:
74aac75a6843.png


The rest of the pages are nigh-illegible, ink-dyed by irregular splotches of black and purple. On the largest readable fragment, these words appear: "WHO AM I?"
I am completely mentally stable and can be trusted with scissors.

Woe, omake be upon ye. I recommend reading on a computer, but in a pinch, 'open in new tab' should help. If any of the images aren't rendering properly, let me know and I'll try to fix it. Still learning how to image host on QQ vs SV.

Hope everyone is doing well.
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Okay, having the Master's perspective depicted as something like House of Leaves is both very fitting and very cool.
 
jelloloaf said:
Woe, omake be upon ye. I recommend reading on a computer, but in a pinch, 'open in new tab' should help. If any of the images aren't rendering properly, let me know and I'll try to fix it. Still learning how to image host on QQ vs SV.

Hope everyone is doing well.
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So cool. Really pushing the limits of what an omake is and can be. Just Awesome.
 
Thank you all for the kind words, I'm really happy with how this turned out.

Limabot said:
Okay, having the Master's perspective depicted as something like House of Leaves is both very fitting and very cool.
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Glad the inspiration came across. But there's more to it than this.

I'll stop being quite so vague for a second because I worked hard on it and I want to show it off: you have not seen everything yet. Follow the clues, finish the story. I hope you enjoy.
 
jelloloaf said:
74aac75a6843.png


The rest of the pages are nigh-illegible, ink-dyed by irregular splotches of black and purple. On the largest readable fragment, these words appear: "WHO AM I?"
I am completely mentally stable and can be trusted with scissors.

Woe, omake be upon ye. I recommend reading on a computer, but in a pinch, 'open in new tab' should help. If any of the images aren't rendering properly, let me know and I'll try to fix it. Still learning how to image host on QQ vs SV.

Hope everyone is doing well.
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The crumbs. The "1" footnote referring back to itself. The pesky(catchy) song of the intro that will not leave my head and our old yearning sponsors.

This was beautiful.

No, seriously. This was AWESOME! Thank you so, so much for making this for us!

I wanted to put this on the main threadmark (Edit: ) in its chronological place, but it happens at such a tense moment of the story that I couldn't in good conscience give the readers a hook for them to (literally) go elsewhere.

But this is art. Seriously. And I want to shine as much light on this as possible. This was awesome.

Edit: We can find the ideal spot to put this, and a suitable name for it, later. For now, it certainly deserves this spot!
 
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jelloloaf said:
74aac75a6843.png


The rest of the pages are nigh-illegible, ink-dyed by irregular splotches of black and purple. On the largest readable fragment, these words appear: "WHO AM I?"
I am completely mentally stable and can be trusted with scissors.

Woe, omake be upon ye. I recommend reading on a computer, but in a pinch, 'open in new tab' should help. If any of the images aren't rendering properly, let me know and I'll try to fix it. Still learning how to image host on QQ vs SV.

Hope everyone is doing well.
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This is amazing.

Poor Master/Will of the Woods... he only wanted the best for us... 🤣


and google AI is nice enough to "translate" the boxes into something clearer.

FIRST ONE:

Hello again, friend. We are still friends, yes?

SECOND ONE

You don't remember me?

Ah, don't worry. You will.

jelloloaf said:
I'll stop being quite so vague for a second because I worked hard on it and I want to show it off: you have not seen everything yet. Follow the clues, finish the story. I hope you enjoy.
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I'm going to guess the name of the file (74aac75a6843) has a meaning, but it's not coming to me yet.
 
Pittauro said:
This is amazing.
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Thanks :3

Pittauro said:
I'm going to guess the name of the file (74aac75a6843) has a meaning, but it's not coming to me yet.
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It doesn't, that's just the url the image host gave it. Completely safe to ignore, I promise. The alt text though . . .


As a heads up for everyone, I've gone through and made some tweaks to hopefully make the progression more natural. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, though I reserve my right to be vague and cryptic about things :V
 
I noticed that there is seemingly nothing connected to Footnote 4, which seems to be a varient of the Glaziery and Lightsmithing Ithastry attunement text from Book of Hours, which is connected to the
Mare in the Tree and her role in Calyptra.
 
OurLadyOfWires said:
I wanted to put this on the main threadmark (Edit: ) in its chronological place, but it happens at such a tense moment of the story that I couldn't in good conscience give the readers a hook for them to (literally) go elsewhere.
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Consider putting it after [Fear of the Dark]? Fear of the Dark already decompresses the tension after all and acts as a "Book End" before Today is the Day acts as a "Start of new Book" in terms of where natural book divisions would go in the story.
 
Vote closed
It was called the Conspiracy of Stars.
A fancy name, yes. But it was more out of symbolism than anything else, as it usually is with that kind of spooky stuff.
Still, it was called that because the stars... well, so many ponies forget that the stars are also part of the night sky.
Strange as it might sound, I think it is because it's easy to ignore the stars on most nights. It's easy to forget about them.
And yet they are always there. Dancing around the darkness. Serving the Moon's bidding.
And here's another thing about the stars. They are easy to ignore, but they still shine. Not as bright as the Moon, of course, but maybe that was the point.
The stars, each of them, can only shine a tiny light. But when they work together, they can still illuminate the night.
So, I guess it made sense for Her to call them her Stars. They moved at Her will. They danced at Her tune. And they kept the night bright while the Moon did not want to be seen.
But fancy name or not, I was not in on it. At least not at that point.
Still... a part of me suspected that... a part of me started to suspect something, on that cold morning.
A part of me, small as it was, suspected she was not just a pony, when she spoke to us before our attack against that first den.
And I don't think I was the only one.
​
-Memoirs of a Protector.​


Voting is closed.

Adhoc vote count started by OurLadyOfWires on Dec 5, 2025 at 2:10 AM, finished with 162 posts and 32 votes.
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The wrath of the Princesses shall be terrible indeed.
 
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OurLadyOfWires said:
It was called the Conspiracy of Stars.
A fancy name, yes. But it was more out of symbolism than anything else, as it usually is with that kind of spooky stuff.
Still, it was called that because the stars... well, so many ponies forget that the stars are also part of the night sky.
Strange as it might sound, I think it is because it's east to ignore the stars on most nights. It's easy to forget about them.
And yet they are always there. Dancing around the darkness. Serving the Moon's bidding.
And here's another thing about the stars. They are easy to ignore, but they still shine. Not as bright as the Moon, of course, but maybe that was the point.
The stars, each of them, can only shine a tiny light. But when they work together, they can still illuminate the night.
So, I guess it made sense for Her to call them her Stars. They moved at Her will. They danced at Her tune. And they kept the night bright while the Moon did not want to be seen.
But fancy name or not, I was not in on it. At least not at that point.
Still... a part of me suspected that... a part of me started to suspect something, on that cold morning.
A part of me, small as it was, suspected she was not just a pony, when she spoke to us before our attack against that first den.
And I don't think I was the only one.
​
-Memoirs of a Protector.​

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Okay does that mean that you've already made the rolls and we're at minimum not Dancing With Death?

OurLadyOfWires said:
The wrath of the Princesses shall be terrible indeed.
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Aw yes

OurLadyOfWires said:
Still... a part of me suspected that... a part of me started to suspect something, on that cold morning.
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OurLadyOfWires said:
You are graced by nopony other than the governor of Tall Tale.

"Governor," you say, your voice polite but serious. "Good evening to you."

"Evening? Is it evening already? I wouldn't know! I haven't seen the sun in so long, because you ponies won't take off this damn storm from over my city!"
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Slight continuity snafu

Though that said I absolutely love the teaser giving us a little taste of excitement in something like a "vote closed" post.
 
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Wrath of the Princesses? Plural? Did Celestia roll up for some righteous purgation? Are we trying to race ahead of a solarstorm to take anything of worth?
 
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