Dear reader! Whether you are new here, archive-reading and whatnot, or you are already someone who has been with us for quite a while, I would like to say a few words that I believe are best kept close to mind.
-This is an MLP quest. And more importantly, none of us are gratuitously cruel. So good things will happen on this quest, and I hope that enough good things have already happened to prove that.
-This is also a horror quest, so bad things will happen. Bad things might happen to good characters if you are not able to protect them, and you most certainly will not be able to intervene if you lack the tools to do so.
-And finally, this is a quest in which you jostle with powers greater than yourself, with all that it entails.
Please, do keep those things in mind as you go forward. But ultimately, this is also a quest in which it is hoped we all have fun! So if any of the above points is not exactly your cup of tea, or somehow make the experience as a whole "not worth it", then this quest might not be for you. Which is fine! Individual tastes are a thing, so don't think any more about it if you don't want to read anymore. And regardless, I hope you have a lovely day!
Readers should take their own mental health into consideration when voting and not subject themselves to triggering narrative elements like rape or constant mental torture of a friend just for the Greatest Good of a world that doesn't exist.
If those are fine for you or Regrettable is even more triggering, then GREAT! More power to you. But you aren't a bad or selfish person for picking the option that keeps the characters you've emotionally connected with safe. [REDACTED for spoiler warning]
This is a high intensity quest that doesn't hold back when it comes to horror and negative consequences. Take care of yourself.
*raising eyebrow*
You don't expect such a strong spirit to work pro bono in such a background role, do you? Now, if Twilight would ask for some tips on performing something beautiful...
The Heart option definitely hints that she might regret burning it all down. I would also rather like to avoid instilling a policy of breaking that which hurts her. You know, on the off chance we fuck up later...
*raising eyebrow*
You don't expect such a strong spirit to work pro bono in such a background role, do you? Now, if Twilight would ask for some tips on performing something beautiful...
A voice snaps you back into waking attention, your eyes opening a fraction wider as your mind remembers that you are indeed awake. The ideas that were forming inside your head a moment ago vanish, but you don't really care. This entire rodeo of you waking up and trying to make sense of that revelation has already happened several times now. Enough times, at least, for you to know that it will repeat itself tomorrow.
Of course, it might not, and you might have just lost your last chance of figuring this whole mystery out.
But truth be told, you wouldn't mind that either.
"Miss? Do… do you want me to call a grown-up or-?"
No. You are in the park where you have been coming to sleep these last few days, ever since you left Velvet Cover's house. There is nothing familiar about this place and, as you intended, you have no memories attached to the scenery before you.
Point in case, even the small colt standing in front of you, eyeing you nervously, is one that you have never seen before in your entire life.
Velvet Covers found her, and she is hiding her in her house. The Master surely knows, of course, and all of this is probably being done under his orders. Although you have no idea as to why he ordered Velvet Covers to lie about her progress to the rest of the Inner Circle.
He even went to the trouble of having you perform your ritual to search for the Princess, just to see it fizzle and fail. Which means both that your Master is committed to keeping that façade, as well as the fact that he didn't realize that you know about the filly Princess.
You don't care about the cult, at least not nearly as much as you did a few years ago. And the only thing that you found out was that the Master's plans have been going apace, with Velvet Covers once again being able to give him what he wants.
But you don't care about that. You don't care for the fact that he got what he wanted, as always. You don't care for the fact that for some reason he is forcing Velvet Covers to lie about it. You don't even care for the fact that you have been given a superfluous assignment, and that you wasted your time devising a ritual that was ultimately not needed.
Are you sure you don't care? Even if you knew the Master didn't care about you the way you hoped at first, it can still hurt to have that shoved in your face, that he cares so little as to set you for months on a task he knows can't possibly succeed.
Let's face it. You are probably the only one who didn't know. This whole lie, even, is probably something that the Master is doing for your benefit, much like how he seems to take special care with Starry Dancer. After all, you are the one with the least achievements, you are the one who is least useful.
You probably only have a spot on the Inner Circle because you were the first member, more of a token membership than anything else.
But apart from that you know you are useless.
You can't even scale the Mansus properly or train your helpers quickly enough.
Can't even make sure that a small colt is still inside the house while you are cleani-
Rarity? Obviously this isn't about us, since Jade doesn't know Rarity know us, and even if she did she already knows how to find Velvet. Who else would Rarity know all the friends of? The rest of the Mane 6, probably, and Sweetie Belle. Twilight couldn't be an "old friend", Fluttershy is probably too reclusive to meet the other recluse, Rainbow Dash... does not give touchy feely life advice, no one but no one would claim to know all of Pinkie Pie's friends, and Sweetie Belle is just a kid. Applejack then, maybe? That seems wrong though.
"Hello Octavia Melody," you say, looking at her from snout to tail and taking in all the details, glaring or subtle, that have changed from the last time you saw her, "it has been a while."
Her frozen expression turns into utter disbelief as you turn your body slightly so she can see your cutie mark.
"Ja… Jade Whistle?" she whispers, almost as if to herself. To which you nod for an answer.
Her companion, the unicorn whose name you don't yet know, raises an eyebrow at that, her subtle annoyance only growing more evident. But still, you are let into their house shortly after.
To prove your point, for example, there were only two chairs around the table. Octavia insisted that you sat down on her chair, bringing up a small stool from somewhere "her side" of the house, which caused the unicorn to insist that Octavia sat down on the second chair, the white unicorn promptly floating the stool away from her friend and claiming it for herself.
Rather overprotectively, you note. Or perhaps… dotingly.
Which gives you a small tingling sensation that maybe they are not just two friends sharing a house…
Hmm, financial decisions aside, I think HEART is the better choice here. Not to forget her brother, or to destroy that part of her, especially if that includes her special talent, just to... hold onto it less. Also, we already have a FORGE adept in Rarity, and the min-maxer in me hates the idea of doubling up there.
I don't think anything implied payment with money.
Ok, on the matter of the choice. If lores were not involved, I would vote for burning it down. It *would* provide a feeling of catarsis and as a symbolic gesture it is strong. If Moth was invoved in burning, I would also vote for it, since Moth sheds things in a more... let's say, natural way. It isn't necessarily good, but it isn't strongly destructive. But Forge... I don't know.
Lorewise, Lantern subverts to Forge, so on one hand Forge Jade might progress faster, but also might fall into Forge habits stronger. Heart looks like a safer choice lorewise.
Forge is not discriminate, but Jade is still a person, not the incarnation of a Lore.
She can discriminate in using Forge, as she did by salvaging what is most important to her from the house, before setting it on fire.
That's the problem, isn't it? Lantern so far screwed Jade hard. She is... well, at least she was a broken pony, and Lantern made it WORSE. So, I'm looking at it from perspective of "when things go south, what Lore will screw Jade worse?"
My opinion of Heart is propably a bit tainted by the followers in the Game, I guess.
They all seem somewhat desperate and manic to me, like depression in an up-phase, you know?
Forge Followers are practical, and there is nothing wrong with that. More defined by what they do, than their obsessions as the Hearts are.
We should also think about how these Lores will meld with her Lantern. Lantern/Forge seems like it will end with her always trying to change things she finds that she doesn't like—which will be quite a bit—while Lantern/Heart should help her to accept and move on if she can't. I kinda prefer the latter.
Also Heart includes a lot of good cheer and happiness, and I think Jade deserves some happiness.
So, uh... I kind of wonder how Jade would take it if she found out that the Master ain't told us shit and we decided to lie to everyone of our own volition?
Also we can probably take this as a sign that anyone with sufficient Lantern will likely be able to recognize who Selene really is.
For myself, leaning towards Heart here, because Jade can always choose to leave her house abandoned but can't choose to un-burn it.
Also because retaining her love of collecting things means we can introduce her to Twilight Sparkle and let them be library buddies.
She would probably think the Master already knows and is letting her do it for some mysterious reason. Besides that it was pretty explicit that she's not too dedicated to the cult.
Anywho, I'm actually really happy to have two Confidantes, and be on the path towards another with Twilight. Soon our AP woes will be over, and we may even start our own side cult! Fun stuff, that.
It is a beautiful view. Nopony could ever deny that.
You are standing on a balcony over the garden of a large estate, with several acres of farmlands stretching farther towards the distance. Green hills can be seen even further away, as well as a gentle river weaving a path between them until it makes its way out of your sight.
You approach the balcony, taking the utmost care not to touch the Princess, but you get as close as you can from it to get as much of a view as you might be able to. You commit all of it to memory, a forest that might be a tundra, crossed by a serpentine river and with two hills in sight. You try to make out more details, perhaps some sort of specific fauna or flora that might be particular to a certain region, but as you search for those details you realize that the image is blurred in parts.
Still a threat to her mental state, like any Lore would be, but I think a balance between Lantern and Heart should keep her relatively sane. Whereas Lantern and Forge would just throw her down a different path of insanity.
Also, it's interesting that Jade is picking up a secondary Lore, and will this fit into the Named Character system mechanics right as we get her to Confidant. I wonder if that's something that will happen with every Inner Circle member we convert or if it's just unique to her.
You know, I wonder if Jade would start singing or humming a lot, if we go Heart, considering her apparent fixation on how we don't like her being quiet. Music is pretty integral to Heart after all, Ponies in general do it a lot too...
I don't know, it just feels really sweet and adorable to imagine her trying so hard to keep us from worrying. Sad, but sweet.
Also, I wonder what favor she asked Octavia for...
