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

[BirdBodhisattva]

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!

Spoiler: Or if you'd rather hear it from someone else

PSA for whoever needs to hear it:

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.

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(Quote slightly edited to avoid spoilers)

 

[Ericwinter]

[x] Witness. (You will accompany the Ritual, and be presented with further choices at the end of it.)

Yeah, no, mindless loyalty is not for me. Also, fuck, our master is definitely a Name—or some aspect of the Moth themselves, but that is disgustingly unlikely—and doesn't seem to mind giving us a temporary buff of bullshit proportions. So any attempts at subversion will be fun. I look forward to it.

 

[Pittauro]

Just like any respectable primordial ooze, it is eventually revealed that Shoggoths could take on any biological form they desire, including all of the species on earth. Eventually some of them forgot their true forms and fixed in shape, becoming the original members of each species.

Including humans.

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ok, I did NOT know that.

Of course Cultist Simulator is NOT Lovecraft, so this is not necessarily true here as well... but it's certainly an intriguing possibility.

THe dark secrets here seem to be more about the Lores and the Mansus were a lot more common knowledge in times past.

I wonder who's the responsible for things being lost. Probably the princesses, but it might have been Discord instead, or even something else.


I'm curious here, How many people would be willing to actually go through with a betrayal in the right circumstances, and how many would instead prefer a villain playthrough?

Also, hilarious thought, just imagine: we reach season 3 to 5, and we become the cult of a reformed Discord. Wouldn't that be fun?

 

[Aria the Mage]

I'd rather not turn us in to the god-queens of Equestria A splinter group, or taking over the cult, would be fine by me. I would prefer a morally grey playthrough.
@chocolote12
Okay. I think. I'm slightly less confused now. Thank you.

 

[Ericwinter]

I'm curious here, How many people would be willing to actually go through with a betrayal in the right circumstances, and how many would instead prefer a villain playthrough?

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Not a villain play through—villainy isn't just, you know, evil, but more often than not it's stupid, and most such goals could be easily achieved through good means if you're clever enough—but I would definitely be willing to betray our Master. When a person is willing to sort-of-but-not-quite mutate you without asking permission, let alone apply at least some level of mind-control, they're just asking to be stabbed in the back.

 

[Aria the Mage]

@Ericwinter
I agree

 

[Pittauro]

or taking over the cult

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I don't think we're quite to the level to openly challenge the Master. IF we had royal backing maybe, depending on just the relative strenght of Master vs Alicorns, but not on our own, which makes a takeover something very far from being possible, at least without powerfull backers.

We could bide our time, of course, but that means we might by necessity be forced to commit some very dark actions.

Not a villain play through—villainy isn't just, you know, evil, but more often than not it's stupid, and most such goals could be easily achieved through good means if you're clever enough—but I would definitely be willing to betray our Master. When a person is willing to sort-of-but-not-quite mutate you without asking permission, let alone apply at least some level of mind-control, they're just asking to be stabbed in the back.

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fair enough, villain comes with some unfortunate connotations most of the time. Like Thanos' moronic plan, for example.

Yeah, speaking IC this somewhat hostile takeover of our body might very well be what shakes our faith in the cult/master. Velvet hasn't really been tested yet, after all. Not on her loyalty at least.

Still though, is the Master so far removed from humanity that he can't predict there's a decent chance of betrayal at this point, or is he just so confident he can deal with any of us that dares try to stop him? MAybe he simply believes that it's obvious how he's right, how he's the true hero, and that none of the members of his cult could ever consider him being wrong.

 

[chocolote12]

I didn't see anything wrong at all with being turned into a free-floating moth creature, so maybe they just didn't either.

Like, that's what we're shooting for anyways. It's about as upsetting as the GM letting you use a higher level class feature that you don't technically have yet for a story bit that needs it.

But I guess I could see how it'd be upsetting from somepony else's point of view.

 

[Pittauro]

Like, that's what we're shooting for anyways.

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to be fair, I don't think Velvet actually KNOWS that's the end result of accumulating Moth Lore.

It might not even necessarily be the only path. Elements of game and show are being altered a bit, maybe it's possible to use and/or master the Lores without literally incarnating them. who knows.

 

[CedeTheBees]

[X] Witness. (You will accompany the Ritual, and be presented with further choices at the end of it.)

 

[Ericwinter]

I don't think we're quite to the level to openly challenge the Master. IF we had royal backing maybe, depending on just the relative strenght of Master vs Alicorns, but not on our own, which makes a takeover something very far from being possible, at least without powerfull backers

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As a Moth aspect I doubt he'd be particularly strong in direct combat, not enough to fuck with the ponies who are capable of moving celestial objects and apparently threatening the Manaus itself, at least.

I didn't see anything wrong at all with being turned into a free-floating moth creature, so maybe they just didn't either.

Like, that's what we're shooting for anyways. It's about as upsetting as the GM letting you use a higher level class feature that you don't technically have yet for a story bit that needs it.

But I guess I could see how it'd be upsetting from somepony else's point of view.

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Oh, certainly, the transformation itself wasn't a problem, my issue was the lack of consent. Also the mind control. Like, if the dude had just said, as your earlier comment framed it, "hey, I can turn you into a ghost moth so you can come to the cult meeting faster, set up the ritual, and maybe learn a thing or two from it, would that be cool?", I would be perfectly fine. Hell, I'd be ecstatic. Instead he shoved us through a rather unpleasant transformation—seriously, getting eaten alive by moths? It makes sense, but is rather terrifying to come out of the blue—with no warning and planted a subconscious Personality to pilot our body because he was impatient. Perhaps he lacks malicious intent, but even the sheer negligence would be enough to make me want to walk my own path. It's not like betrayal means we fight or kill him, after all. We can just leave.

 

[PrimalShadow]

I'm curious here, How many people would be willing to actually go through with a betrayal in the right circumstances, and how many would instead prefer a villain playthrough?

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I would be up for a betrayal, if we had the motivation for it.

The problem is, right now we simply don't know enough about what is going on to make anything like an informed decision about things. We have a feeling that the current world is wrong somehow, and our place in the cult involves working against that - but we don't know what exactly is wrong, or how we are going to fix it, or what sacrifices it will take and what alternatives we have. Until we learn more, it is hard to have any sort of agenda of our own, seperate from what the Master intends.

 

[PrimalShadow]

Yeah, speaking IC this somewhat hostile takeover of our body might very well be what shakes our faith in the cult/master. Velvet hasn't really been tested yet, after all. Not on her loyalty at least.

Still though, is the Master so far removed from humanity that he can't predict there's a decent chance of betrayal at this point, or is he just so confident he can deal with any of us that dares try to stop him? MAybe he simply believes that it's obvious how he's right, how he's the true hero, and that none of the members of his cult could ever consider him being wrong.

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Yeah, I'm not sure what was going on with our transformation here; why did the Master do this to us?

I suspect that, in part, this was supposed to be a REWARD. As he said, "she is one who has fulfilled her duty"; and indeed the mechanical effect is that we got 2 full scraps of Moth lore. We've been shown an experience beyond mortal ken; is that not in line with our wishes, with our ambitions as one seeking eldritch lore?

Of course, the fact of the matter is that it was decidedly unpleasant, and possibly traumatizing. A lesson, yes, but not one we asked for. And forcing knowledge on someone is not a good reward. I don't know; does the Master not recognize this? Or does it simply not care?

 

[x0Nothing0x]

[X] Witness. (You will accompany the Ritual, and be presented with further choices at the end of it.)
and if it should brake us we shall simply build ourselves up once more stronger than before.

I find it somewhat amusing that the cult leader got so excited that we made it further into Manaus that he basically ran to our home without throwing on pants (that we could actually focus on where he was in our house) started nerding out over what we found, throw a bag of moth stuff at us and told us to come to his club house (turn us into moth thing with forbidden knowledge). Hell we get any further I wonder if he's going to try asking us out on a date or something.

Also now very curious on what Velvet might become should she make it far enough to ascend.

 

[Ericwinter]

Yeah, I'm not sure what was going on with our transformation here; why did the Master do this to us?

I suspect that, in part, this was supposed to be a REWARD. As he said, "she is one who has fulfilled her duty"; and indeed the mechanical effect is that we got 2 full scraps of Moth lore. We've been shown an experience beyond mortal ken; is that not in line with our wishes, with our ambitions as one seeking eldritch lore?

Of course, the fact of the matter is that it was decidedly unpleasant, and possibly traumatizing. A lesson, yes, but not one we asked for. And forcing knowledge on someone is not a good reward. I don't know; does the Master not recognize this? Or does it simply not care?

Click to shrink...

I could definitely see a lack of understanding, to be honest. Most eldritch beings generally fail to comprehend more human mores and perceptions and will hand out "rewards" that do more harm than good. And while I wouldn't hate such a being for it, I definitely think it might be safer and easier to seek our goals without that sort of double-edged guidance.

 

[PrimalShadow]

I didn't see anything wrong at all with being turned into a free-floating moth creature, so maybe they just didn't either.

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You dig your useless horn into the dirt, drawing the cycles of the moon and the lines of the Mansus with the delicate attention that they require. Part of you wishes that your horn will just fall off from the effort, seeing how much of you it is blocking inside your skull, another part of you could hear a few worried gasps from the ponies around you.

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I mean, Moth!Velvet apparently wanted her HORN TO FALL OFF. That is very much not cool! For actual Velvet, I think that would result in not being able to use magic. I feel like being piloted by an alter-ego that hopes you get crippled is really bad. If it was me in Velvet's place, I would be absolutely not okay with things just based on that.

 

[Ericwinter]

[X] Witness. (You will accompany the Ritual, and be presented with further choices at the end of it.)
and if it should brake us we shall simply build ourselves up once more stronger than before.

I find it somewhat amusing that the cult leader got so excited that we made it further into Manaus that he basically ran to our home without throwing on pants (that we could actually focus on where he was in our house) started nerding out over what we found, throw a bag of moth stuff at us and told us to come to his club house (turn us into moth thing with forbidden knowledge). Hell we get any further I wonder if he's going to try asking us out on a date or something.

Also now very curious on what Velvet might become should she make it far enough to ascend.

Click to shrink...

This is a beautiful mental image. Terrifying, but beautiful. Imagine how that would have looked if he weren't, you know, a big creepy moth thing.

 

[Doctor Elsewhere]

[X] Witness. (You will accompany the Ritual, and be presented with further choices at the end of it.)

 

[chocolote12]

I mean, Moth!Velvet apparently wanted her HORN TO FALL OFF. That is very much not cool! For actual Velvet, I think that would result in not being able to use magic. I feel like being piloted by an alter-ego that hopes you get crippled is really bad. If it was me in Velvet's place, I would be absolutely not okay with things just based on that.

Click to shrink...

I think the context there is important. A vague inclination of dislike while using a limb 'with delicate attention' isn't nearly the same as a possessing daemon trying to rip your arms off or anything. I've been annoyed by body parts before, and disliking how something is holding you back isn't the same as 'being piloted by an alter-ego that hopes you get crippled'.

Generally, the responses to this update seem to be very different depending on what one thinks has happened.

+ 12 (Intrigue) + 20 (MOTH bonus, DOUBLED)

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I think that, since we used our Intrigue here, and our Moth bonus (with the doubling, just like the double-aspect ritual could), it's us. It's us as a very spooky thing realizing that it's pretty spooky, but at the end of the day it's only us.

One might find the idea that the scary monster is really, actually just us pretty distressing, but I'm just not seeing much of an abrogation of free will here, except for the bit where our Master (our spooky cult master, we did sign up for this knowing that spooky cult stuff was in the cards) kicked the temporary transformation off.

 

[Pittauro]

As a Moth aspect I doubt he'd be particularly strong in direct combat, not enough to fuck with the ponies who are capable of moving celestial objects and apparently threatening the Manaus itself, at least.

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to be fair Being able to move sun and moon doesn't really seem to translate to raw power in Mlp.

For all we know the Sun isn't actually like our own sun, but it's some kind of magical construct.

Of course, the fact of the matter is that it was decidedly unpleasant, and possibly traumatizing. A lesson, yes, but not one we asked for. And forcing knowledge on someone is not a good reward. I don't know; does the Master not recognize this? Or does it simply not care?

Click to shrink...

I think he simply doesn't understand it. It's not like he's truly a humanpony. Not anymore, at least.

[X] Witness. (You will accompany the Ritual, and be presented with further choices at the end of it.)
and if it should brake us we shall simply build ourselves up once more stronger than before.

I find it somewhat amusing that the cult leader got so excited that we made it further into Manaus that he basically ran to our home without throwing on pants (that we could actually focus on where he was in our house) started nerding out over what we found, throw a bag of moth stuff at us and told us to come to his club house (turn us into moth thing with forbidden knowledge). Hell we get any further I wonder if he's going to try asking us out on a date or something.

Also now very curious on what Velvet might become should she make it far enough to ascend.

Click to shrink...

...when you put it like that I suddenly can't find it in myself anymore to be annoyed at him!

I mean, Moth!Velvet apparently wanted her HORN TO FALL OFF. That is very much not cool! For actual Velvet, I think that would result in not being able to use magic. I feel like being piloted by an alter-ego that hopes you get crippled is really bad. If it was me in Velvet's place, I would be absolutely not okay with things just based on that.

Click to shrink...

well, seeing Tempest Shadow/Fizzlepop Berrytwist, a broken Horn can still use some sort of magic. It was mostly unfocused lightning strangely enough.


Damn, I can't wait to see what's going to happen! This is going to be, no matter what, a turning point for the quest, either locking us more firmly in our current path, or completely changing things.

I suppose it depends on how exactly he approaches his theft of knowledge from Luna.

I think the context there is important. A vague inclination of dislike while using a limb 'with delicate attention' isn't nearly the same as a possessing daemon trying to rip your arms off or anything. I've been annoyed by body parts before, and disliking how something is holding you back isn't the same as 'being piloted by an alter-ego that hopes you get crippled'.

Generally, the responses to this update seem to be very different depending on what one thinks has happened.

I think that, since we used our Intrigue here, and our Moth bonus (with the doubling, just like the double-aspect ritual could), it's us. It's us as a very spooky thing realizing that it's pretty spooky, but at the end of the day it's only us.

One might find the idea that the scary monster is really, actually just us pretty distressing, but I'm just not seeing much of an abrogation of free will here, except for the bit where our Master (our spooky cult master, we did sign up for this knowing that spooky cult stuff was in the cards) kicked the temporary transformation off.

Click to shrink...

Personally I'm not that concerned about our temporary transformation. It gave us knowledge, and we would have likely accepted it if we knew just what he was doing.

My concerns are about what he's about to do, not what he did to us until now. Velvet is willing to bear the cost of knowledge, but is she willing to have Luna suffer for it? That's a better question to ask in my opinion, and depends heavily on just HOW is our master planning to get the knowledge he craves
I'm saying it now, if he starts torturing her for it I'm voting for the "sudden but inevitable betrayal", with zero regrets. I might be willing to stay on his side if he uses a softer touch though.

 

[Kamico]

I wonder if Changelings here, as well as Breezies, are connected to Moth.

The former might be also Grail-aspect?.. Like, their Queen Chrysalis is one at the very least.

Wendigo are probably Winter spirits?

IDK about Discord, might be from Nowhere.

 

[chocolote12]

Personally I'm not that concerned about our temporary transformation. It gave us knowledge, and we would have likely accepted it if we knew just what he was doing.

My concerns are about what he's about to do, not what he did to us until now. Velvet is willing to bear the cost of knowledge, but is she willing to have Luna suffer for it? That's a better question to ask in my opinion, and depends heavily on just HOW is our master planning to get the knowledge he craves
I'm saying it now, if he starts torturing her for it I'm voting for the "sudden but inevitable betrayal", with zero regrets. I might be willing to stay on his side if he uses a softer touch though.

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Yeah, this is about where we're going to start doing awfully sketchy stuff. How tactfully it's handled will be pretty important.

We signed up to be a bug pony, but not everybody is willing to make such sacrifices.

 

[Ericwinter]

I think the context there is important. A vague inclination of dislike while using a limb 'with delicate attention' isn't nearly the same as a possessing daemon trying to rip your arms off or anything. I've been annoyed by body parts before, and disliking how something is holding you back isn't the same as 'being piloted by an alter-ego that hopes you get crippled'.

Generally, the responses to this update seem to be very different depending on what one thinks has happened.

I think that, since we used our Intrigue here, and our Moth bonus (with the doubling, just like the double-aspect ritual could), it's us. It's us as a very spooky thing realizing that it's pretty spooky, but at the end of the day it's only us.

One might find the idea that the scary monster is really, actually just us pretty distressing, but I'm just not seeing much of an abrogation of free will here, except for the bit where our Master (our spooky cult master, we did sign up for this knowing that spooky cult stuff was in the cards) kicked the temporary transformation off.

Click to shrink...

The reason it seems like mind control to me is many-fold: one, our actions which seem almost automatic and like they've been planted there—such as automatically going to the meeting place and starting to draw the enhanced ritual without any instructions beyond "come", and doing so like a Mare possessed—the highly different thought processes and the way we considered our pony body more like a temporary cage we'd been stuck in than something we just found annoying, and most importantly, the way our memories started fading immediately after waking up from the transformation and wondering where the fuck we were.

 

[Pittauro]

The reason it seems like mind control to me is many-fold: one, our actions which seem almost automatic and like they've been planted there—such as automatically going to the meeting place and starting to draw the enhanced ritual without any instructions beyond "come", and doing so like a Mare possessed—the highly different thought processes and the way we considered our pony body more like a temporary cage we'd been stuck in than something we just found annoying, and most importantly, the way our memories started fading immediately after waking up from the transformation and wondering where the fuck we were.

Click to shrink...

I think that, the way he sees it, this is NOT mind control.

He probably boosted Our moth score through his own powers, and as moth is all about doing things without a clear reason in pursuit of your own goals, our boosted self went with for its current objective, which was preparing the two-lore ritual we had just learnt.

Basically he didn't, I think, Mind control us. He empowered us, and we could not handle the extra Moth power.

From a not-human/not-pony mentality he would probably believe it's our fault, if we had anything to say about it at all. We DID get 2 scrap of lores after all, isn't that what we always said we wanted more from him?

 

[PrimalShadow]

We signed up to be a bug pony

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What makes you say that? I certainly didn't get that impression from the previous description of our cult interactions.

 

[Pittauro]

What makes you say that? I certainly didn't get that impression from the previous description of our cult interactions.

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what, you wanted to study moth and remain a normal pony? Didn't you read the small print when you joined the cult and learnt your first scrap of Moth Lore?