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.
But again, even from this little conversation you already feel parched and dry, so you just float your teacup towards you and take another sip from the sweet tea.
(QMs promise: Comet Feet hates you. Velvet knows it, and she felt it with a certainty that is unrelated to her usual self-depreciation. Keep that in mind as you move forward.)
I mean, he probably hates pretty much everything aside from Fluttershy.
Then again, Comet is apparently trying to… I wanna say thank Stormchaser? Or at least do something related to that one time they actually interacted where Storm told him not to leave Fluttershy behind.
Then again, Comet is apparently trying to… I wanna say thank Stormchaser? Or at least do something related to that one time they actually interacted where Storm told him not to leave Fluttershy behind.
I'm going to be honest, I don't even know what we can do with Fluttershy as a confidante. Like, putting her near any sort of danger in the slightest is an utter no-go, and as Winter is a defensive Lore that means even if we asked her to accompany us on actions it would rely purely on her stats and traits…
Hmm. Well, actually, aside from just leveling up her own lore levels from the library, maybe we could ask her to visit Twilight?
I'm going to be honest, I don't even know what we can do with Fluttershy as a confidante. Like, putting her near any sort of danger in the slightest is an utter no-go, and as Winter is a defensive Lore that means even if we asked her to accompany us on actions it would rely purely on her stats and traits…
Hmm. Well, actually, aside from just leveling up her own lore levels from the library, maybe we could ask her to visit Twilight?
Yeah, some social actions, maybe (given that she is inducted into the lores) some rituals, but not any offensive ones.
Maybe also helping Rarity (even more than she would already do so), to help her with the career.
Maybe also requesting a place to conduct a ritual, by the way. Fluttershy's house is really out of the way, so her place should be relatively not suspicious.
(QMs promise: Comet Feet hates you. Velvet knows it, and she felt it with a certainty that is unrelated to her usual self-depreciation. Keep that in mind as you move forward.)
Rarity. Rarity no. Do not try to Grail the murder pony. He will kill you, and then Fluttershy will be sad. Velvet can get away with bullshit because she is bullshit incarnate—and used Fluttershy as a living shield besides—but you are very much not bullshit.
…Speaking of Rarity and her Grail tendencies though, I do have to say she's probably going to be extremely disappointed when she realizes that Stormchaser is apparently enough hot bullshit to have the Enforcer's respect. I mean, really, how does a mare compete with that?
Well that was a rollercoaster of an update. Glad that Comet is on a better path now, even if he can't stand us. I guess that this is because of a mix of us telling everything to Fluttershy (even if it's how she could had helped him so much) and the fact that we were supposed to find Mansus creatures to help with the purge of the Changelings, and the only thing we managed to find were the walking nukes that are Windigos, which pushed him to use a max Edge influence to fill in the shortage of manpower, with everything that entailed.
Still, those two are the living proof that Harmony and Lores can coexist, I think that will be important for the future.
As for Selene's update, after reading it I feel like agreeing more and more with Stormchaser that the best would be to let Selene live her childhood normally... if only the situation wasn't so turbo-fucked that we simply can't afford to wait for the decade and half for her to reach adulthood.
's six in the morning and I've been writing for the last several hours. Hell, I'm still writing what comes next right now. Give QM a break
(But jokes aside, thanks for pointing it out!)
The author does not intend to (and should not be interpreted as intending to) break the site's Terms of Service or site rules at any point.
None of the above subjects are condoned, glorified or encouraged by the author, and their presence in this story is purely for narrative purposes.
If you do not wish to be exposed to any of the subjects cited above, you should STOP READING IMMEDIATELY.
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Two stallions sat opposite to each other in a medium-sized room.
All around them, in the study-turned-hobby room, there were several small mechanical objects, with varying degrees of quality and complexity. Simple metal fans with the crude purpose of measuring the direction and speed of the wind. Complicated decanters designed to read the precise humidity of the air. There were several such objects, some of them dismantled and others carefully polished. And all of them, from the simplest to the most arcane, had in common the fact that they were used for weather engineering.
Between the two stallions, on the table, were several bottles of wine. Several of them open. Some of them already empty.
And the two stallions, of course, were inebriated.
Like the instruments around them, they also shared a commonality. That commonality being that both of them were pegasi.
But that was where the traits they shared in common ended.
"The thing is…" the larger, and younger, pegasus said. His words only slightly sluggish, "that I just don't know what she wants. Half the time she is just quiet, and the other half I just feel like I messed something up. I managed to make her smile precisely one time, and so far I am too scared to keep this trial and error to find out what the fuck I did."
The smaller, and older, pegasus nodded sagely at that.
"Comet my man, let me tell you something," he said, ignoring the younger pegasus' annoyed neigh at how he was being called. "The thing is… that's how mares are like. And you're gonna hate hearing this, but you just gotta keep trying. And even though you have no idea of what you are doing, you gotta figure out how to get more of those smiles out of her. But more importantly, you gotta learn how her smiles look like."
The younger stallion raised an eyebrow at that, and the older just took a long swing from his glass before answering his unspoken question.
"I mean, from what you tell me she is… quiet? So what if, and try to follow me here… what if she doesn't just smile with her face?" the older stallion said that, and then he quickly waved his hoof to stop the younger pegasus from interrupting him. "No, no, no. Listen to me. She's the quiet kind. I get it. I married one, I know how that's like. And the thing about the quiet ones is that they have their own, weird ways of showing they're happy with stuff. Might be she hums a song. Might be she goes for a walk more often. Fuck it, might be that she opens the blinders as soon as she wakes up instead of staying in bed. The thing is that yeah, you saw her smile just once. But maybe you're already getting stuff right and you just can't see it."
The younger pegasus narrowed his eyes as he listened to that, but for a long moment he actually stayed quiet.
That is, until he frowned again.
"I see her smile all the time though. When she's taking care of her animals and such. And I know she's happy when she's doing that," he said, his tone only betraying the slightest hint of... perhaps a bit of envy.
"Sure, sure, she smiles when she's with her animals and whatnot, and she's happy then," the older pegasus retorted almost immediately. "But you're not an animal, are you?"
He asked that, and then he went back to savoring his drink.
That is, until he realized the younger pegasus' expression was suddenly filled with… uncertainty.
"Fuck… By Celestia, I… alright, let me rephrase that. Not as a question this time. Let me be abundantly clear here: You are not an animal. And also, she doesn't want you to be an animal, you hear me? Because if she wanted another animal, she would just have picked up another one from that… forest, you say she lives near," he trailed off, not really remembering the name of the very dangerous Everfree Forest. "But anyhow. Comet my man, you gotta keep in mind that you are different. Tartarus, judging from what you told me this entire thing is as new to her as it is to you. So the way she smiles at you will also be different. You just gotta figure out what that is."
He said that, and he watched as the younger pegasus' expression changed from uncertainty to grudging acceptance.
Followed by a harsh grumble.
"This is so much work…"
To which the older pegasus couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh you have no idea… No, really, you don't. And trust me when I tell you that this will be the most tiring thing you will ever do in your entire life. And it gets even worse when you realize you'll also be doing it for the rest of your life."
He says that, and he receives a glare for his words. After all, what he said was as good as a threat in the eyes of the larger pegasus.
But still, he couldn't help but laugh. Even at the sharp glare he received.
"But let me tell you something… it'll also be the most rewarding thing you ever do…"
His words… his very tone… they had the very obvious weight of experience behind them. That mixture of memory and… and certainty that…
That the younger pegasus couldn't help but frown at. Because for all that he was disgruntled by the older pegasus' words, he also realized he couldn't refute them. He also realized, somehow, that the other pegasus was telling the truth.
"In fact, let me tell you a story. You see, we have a daughter, right? The wife's as protective as she can be, but you can't really contain a filly with wings. So of course, every now and then the girl causes trouble in a way nopony could really have expected."
He said all of that with a calm tone, pausing here and there to chuckle as he remembered some sort of detail he didn't really think he should share.
Still, he told his story, refilling both their glasses with wine as he did.
"And one day, she comes home from school and asks for an allowance. A few bits of pocket money, for her to be able to buy whatever she wants. Probably because she wanted to burn it all on sweets or toys or whatever else she saw in town while on her way to school."
He emptied the bottle, only to realize one of the glasses ended up half-filled.
So, of course, he uncorked yet another one and carried on.
"Pocket money. That's all she asked for. And I… I don't really know how to explain this to you, Comet. But Velvet… she flipped. She lost her mind. Practically had a panic attack as soon as she filly was out of earshot. Hoofs trembling and all."
"She… wait, she did what?"
"You heard me. She fucking flipped, plain and simple."
"But… but why?"
"Because that's how she's like. And don't look at me like that, I really mean it. There's no single explanation to it, Comet. She is a mare. And she is emotional. And she is an overthinker. And most of all she is extremely protective of our daughter," he said with a familiar smile. "So when our daughter asked for an allowance, my wife didn't think it was just a filly asking for money. She immediately wondered why our daughter wanted money. Which in turn made her think that whatever we were giving her was not enough for her to be happy. Which then meant that we were bad parents who were making our daughter miserable."
He said that, and then he watched as the younger pegasus just… looked at him with confusion.
"I… but why… how? Your daughter just asked for bits, and I-… No, really. I refuse to believe this story of yours."
"Refuse all you want, but it's the truth. Velvet is the mother of my daughter. She is the single most interesting mare I have ever met in my life. And I love her to death. But still, she is her own pony, the same way you and I are our own ponies. And getting to know her is both the most tiring and the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. Which also means that, every now and then, I stumble upon situations like that."
He punctuated those words by taking his glass to Comet's, and hitting them together in a small toast.
"So, welcome to the rest of your life… as long as you want it, of course. And as long as it makes you happy." He said with an honest smile. "I really, really hope it does."
The larger stallion rolled his eyes at that.
And yet, he didn't pull his glass away as the older stallion brought his for the small toast.
Furthermore, he took a small sip from it, after the toast, together with the older pegasus.
Even if his expression was anything but accepting.
Still, after that, a silence of sorts descended upon the room. The two pegasi quietly drinking from their respective glasses. One of them with a satisfied expression, and the other clearly lost in thought.
That is, until the larger stallion let out a short growl, as if he had decided on something.
"Well then. Now that we got that out of the way… Are you going to tell me what is going on? Or do I need to hurt you to get an answer?"
He said that, his words cutting through the air as he looked at the smaller pony.
But still, the smaller pegasus did nothing but raise an eyebrow. And despite the very real and legitimate threat, his posture continued relaxed.
Not that he was taunting the other stallion, of course. He knew better than that. If nothing else, his relaxed expression was only more proof that he had been caught, and that he had nothing to hide.
"What gave me away?" he asked.
To which the younger pegasus replied by glancing at the older pony's cutie mark.
"You didn't have a Brand when I got here. That, and I can smell the hawthorn in the wine. No idea what it's for, but I only smelled it one other time, and it was not when I was awake."
The older pegasus let out a satisfied ahh at that. Nodding to himself as he inspected his own cutie mark.
"Right, right. I always forget I didn't always have this," he said towards his flank, before turning back to the other pegasus. "And it's even harder to tell when I'll end up. Still, I'm just glad you didn't immediately react to it. I quite appreciated our talk."
"Who are you?" the pegasus said, almost cutting him off. Clearly not enjoying the idle chatter as much as the older pegasus was.
"I am Stormchaser, of course. Or rather, I will be Stormchaser one day? Or maybe I was Stormchaser at some point. I mean, the grammar involved becomes kind of unhelpful when you want to express this kind of idea."
The larger pegasus glared at him for those words, but the older stallion could do nothing but shrug at that.
"Well, you can see the flavor of my Brand, no? So, I assume you already understand at least part of what is going on. But more importantly, I really mean it when I say that… that I am just here to talk."
"Talk about what. And why?"
The larger stallion asked that, his tone cautious and almost accusing.
But he couldn't help but feel slightly surprised as the older pony's expression became… conflicted? Hesitant?
Perhaps even sad?
"I will tell you… what I am not here to do, Comet Feet." He said, taking another long gulp of his drink. "I am not here… to warn you. Because I know that's not how it works. And I wouldn't try to warn you even if it did work like that."
"Will you just get to the point alr-"
"You died, Comet Feet," the older stallion said, interrupting the younger one. And for once, his tone was not pleasant and content as it had been so far. "You never made it a secret that you hated my wife, but for a while things went well. That is, until they didn't. And then we all picked sides, as we knew we would. And then your side lost. Plain and simple."
The larger pegasus quieted down at that. His expression a mixture of grim determination and, surprisingly, tension.
"But again, not a warning. This is not how the Histories work. And for all I know this might be one of the Histories where you win, and I either die with my wife or live on to raise my daughter as a widower. But again, even though I would very much rather you two don't fight at all, I really am not here for any of that."
He said that, and as he finished his glass he finally just picked up a bottle and began to drink straight from it. His expression slowly becoming less severe as he drank from the wine.
Still, the two pegasi stayed in silence for… a while.
Until the younger stallion finally spoke, his words coming out from pursed lips.
"But if it doesn't work like that… and if you are not here to… warn me. Then why?" he asked.
To which the older pegasus replied with a very simple, very honest smile.
"Because you were my best friend, and I just miss talking to you from time to time." He said that, and then he slightly waved the bottle of wine he was holding, nodding towards it as he spoke. "And ever since good Baldomare taught me my Sacrament, I just give you a visit whenever I can."
He said that as a joke, but his tone also betrayed how… deeply he meant that.
Something about his voice, or maybe his choice of words, or perhaps the lines of age on his face, just told how… affected, he really felt by that.
Still, he said those words through a smile. So, the younger pegasus didn't really know how to respond.
"So, again, not a warning. Not even a prophesy or anything. The Histories are weird like that, so for all I know this one might be one of those weird offshoots where… well, better not talk about those." The older pegasus said that, as he turned the bottle on his mouth, quickly emptying the contents of the last hawthorn-laced bottle. "Still, if I can just make a small request... Be nice to me, if you will it. Things would have been a lot easier if I didn't spend so many months terrified of your visits. It's what I tell you every time I visit, at least. You can ignore me if you want. But yet again, you only left me a Scar to remember you by, so I've learned not to leave things unsaid that I might regret."
And with the bottle finally empty, he once again brought it towards Comet's own glass. Clinking the bottle and the glass in a final toast.
"But whatever you do, I look forward to becoming old friends with you."
He took one last look at his old friend.
And by the time he blinked again, Stormchaser was once again alone in his study room. With nothing but the smell of alcohol and the pains of his aged body to keep him company.
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The hangovers almost didn't make those trips worth it.
Almost.
He understood why Baldomare favored that method. She had other ways to do it, of course. But the characteristics of her body meant that she didn't have to worry about things such as alcohol poisoning or liver problems. Not that he had any of those issues yet, of course. But the peculiarities of his mortality meant that he had to apply a "yet" to that phrase.
Still, the wine tasted so damn good.
"Dad? Are you in here?"
Stormchaser was snapped out of his thoughts by a familiar voice, and he made an effort to tune out his drunk thoughts as he turned towards the door. A short figure walking in just as he blinked his dizziness away.
But of course, he already knew who it was.
"Ah, anything I can do for you buddy?"
Stormchaser said those words as he looked down to face his… as he looked down to face his son.
As he looked down at the Scar that Comet Feet had left him, to remember him by.
"Mom asked me to tell you dinner is ready and… wait, have you been drinking again?"
Healed Scar was an earth pony. A yellow-coated earth pony who had been entrusted to him by Fluttershy, eight months after Comet Feet died, and one day before the mare herself followed.
She had Healed Scar all for herself for precisely nine days. Enough time for her to choose his name, cherish his company, and say her goodbyes. He tried to convince her not to do it, of course. He tried to convince her to stay, and raise her own son. But she insisted, saying that she trusted him, and that she had only been allowed nine days after he had been born.
Stormchaser heard she was found laying on top of Comet's grave, on the following morning, and that she was buried next to him. But he wouldn't know for sure. Because despite all the years that passed, he still hadn't mustered the courage to visit his grave.
But of course, Healed Scar didn't know anything of that.
"Who? Me? Drinking? Of course not, buddy. I was just talking to your dad, that's all," he said, with a practiced smile, using the same tone he always used whenever he told a dad joke.
To which Scar answered by… scrunching his nose. No doubt feeling the smell of whine on the pegasus' breath.
"Dad, you have been talking to… yourself? You have definitely been drinking. And I already told you that's not good for your health!"
The young colt said that, his young voice suddenly becoming serious as he took Stormchaser by the hoof and began dragging him out of the study room.
And Stormchaser gladly allowed himself to be dragged, of course. Hearing the colt's long winded and adorable scolding about the dangers of alcohol.
Because true to his name, Healed Scar had already decided he was going to be a doctor.
In fact, despite his age, he already had his cutie mark. He had been the first in his class to get his, by several months even.
It was the image of a heart, with a diagonal scar-like cut that was already sutured and closed, crossed by a scalpel. Of course, everypony could tell at a glance that was the cutie mark of a future doctor, and probably of a future surgeon. And Healed Scar himself was already determined to follow that path himself.
But in the privacy of his thoughts, Stormchaser couldn't help but think that... that it never ceased to amuse him, the tiny details that only he could see on his cutie mark. He always chuckle when he realize that the scalpel, so prominent on Scar's flank, was a cutting instrument that is used to heal. He always smiled fondly when he saw that at the bottom of the scalpel, so small that it was barely noticeable, there was the stylized drawing of a butterfly.
Stormchaser always wanted a son. And he could honestly say that he loved Scar like a son, and that he was raising him exactly like that.
Still, he missed his old friend. And even though he knew things couldn't have happened differently, he still wouldn't have minded if… well, if he had been Scar's uncle, rather than just his father.
But that is not how things played out. At least, not in this History.
He wondered when his next batch of hawthorn would bloom.
He wondered if things would turn out better, to the old friend he just spoke to.
He hoped that it did.
He sincerely hope it does.
"There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met."
-Jim Henson
It is not future's Stormchaser, almost certainly not. Not this future, at least.
Not even in a sense "a future had he not intervened".
Notice how he says "raising a daughter". It may be, of course, because he accepted the necessarity of Luna's emergence, but the option that we are in one of weirder timelines makes more sense, if nothing else because he also says that Velvet is/was "protective of our daughter" too, and Velvet sure as hell will remain protective of Luna.
And that History's Velvet isn't exactly this History's one; equating them isn't not quite correct.
I mean, that too, maybe (he didn't drag his beloveds back by strangling a piece of the Wolf, on the spot, because that sure as hell required a lot of love, to break the rule that you would regret invoking the Wolf), but he said he has Baldomare's Sacrament.
You ask her. Even though it almost ruins everything. Even though by listening to your own voice you almost, almost remember… that you are a filly and that it is night and that none of the memories you had make sense.
Your voice almost shatters this delicate night.
But the night holds.
And the unicorn gives you the only possible answer.
No.
The answer comes not in the form of words, but as the slow shake of a head.
Because the unicorn has to stay here.
The unicorn has to close the door behind you, or else the cold will follow your hoofsteps.
And you have to leave your mentor behind.
…
You have never felt so lonely in your entire life.
Selene has learned to move on. Selene also has a cold now. Because why in the TARTARUS did she sleep outside in the rain?!
Selene has reached Level 3 of WINTER.
Well, that was painful... but as the narration said, we didn't create this pain and suffering out of nowhere. We just... brought it to the front, so that she might deal with it.
You know this update made me question if starswirl is an ocultist.
Like we know that twilight is just protagonist-chan but how you explain starswirl? No one is just that good by default.
Yeah, we've always wondered. After all I think he was one of the unicorns whose duty was to raise the sun in canon. And as the teacher of the Alicorns, he probably was around when unicorns still raised the sun, and they used the lores to do so apparently.
So... maybe he made a conscious decision to not teach the Alicorns of the lores, for a better tomorrow? Maybe he was one of the last occultists left?
It would definitely explain how some of his spells are basically beyond most people nowadays. Like, you know, the time travelspell.
Here, when she senses what Velvet is doing, which is heavy Winter woodoo, because remember, Velvet had to be level 3 to even try, and level 4 to do it reliably.
