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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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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!

Kaelor said:
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)
 
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By the way, a few more or less interesting insightful ratings from BirdBodhisattva since the groom update:
zxzx24 said:
We even pulled the rug out from under the Baldomare just a little bit ago.

Hm. I wonder if Harmony is also working with incomplete information.

That would be hilariously ironic wouldn't it? Given some of us have all largely assumed "Harmony" must know everything about the lores and be actively combating them...
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Light Seeker said:
Good point.

Our main point is to, supposedly, teach Harmony how to hide - but if it doesn't understand how to "understand"/interact with Lores properly, and we can teach it that, it can be even more important. Lores, alone, could keep Worms at bay one way or another. Harmony can multiply the effect, and allow for new avenues that we aren't aware of.

Something to keep in mind.
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These two is basically a confirmation that Harmony is also working on incomplete info.

Nothing surprising, but good to have.
Void_510 said:
I don't know why people think that Baldomare will save us. She will definitely notice, she will likely feel somewhat bad for us, and probably refuse the Master if he asks stuff of her but she will not act on her own volition to get rid of the Master. She likes us but we have not earned her loyalty. If we had lost the contested summons she would have helped destroy us.

Baldomare will help in whatever plan we can come up with on our own that we can sneak past the Masters control. That's it.
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Baldomare is, indeed, not yet actually attached to Velvet.

Again, nothing surprising, again, good to have.
Void_510 said:
I would think it more that in the pony eating pony (sometimes literally) world of yore the nastiest bastards would be the ones to make it to the top, probably having sacrificed the kind pony and the loving pony to get passed the threefold gate. And then immortaly enforcing whatever messed up values they hold as the new pony gods

Content ponies did not climb, they lived their lives in the Wake. And cooperation is mostly selected against when considering those who seek Glory.

Love could have had a chance to be represented but if so they probably became an Alukite.
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A little bit of worldbuilding. I don't believe such musings are marked insightful often, so probably quite a few truthful details.

Not really useful, but interesting.
 
reborn214 said:
Oh definitely, but I would want to double check if Tirek is an Outsider. If Tirek isn't an outsider, then I would recommend looking for the door to the outside of Equestria because I can't imagine us beating Discord. There is a bound to be relatively weaker outsiders that we can jump or scout for something to take out or bargain with. I guess we can also research or scry for what are the ways to acquire an Outsider's blood.
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We could scry "the weakest Outsider able to die/be killed in the Wake" or something similar. Rather than trying to scry each suspect individually. I... don't think there's ever been any indication that Outsiders as a whole are immune to scrying.

And if the weakest Outsider still ends up being Discord... well I guess we better start working on those Sacraments (esp. Edge), cause I suspect we'd need them :V
 
Glau said:
There is, I think, nothing I will regret quite as much as rolling over and giving the master what he wants.

I wonder if Windy can unleash another wolf on the world without us taking a regrettable action?



To put it another way, what AP would you sacrifice next turn to deal with Windy, who has been hinted to be being up something nasty, and Discord, who is conspicuously missing and presumably also being up something nasty?

Do we really have any choice except to take the hits as they come?

There's also Starry who might bite us, our father's agenda, Marinette possibly/eventually going rogue, etc.

And picking the wrong one to look into will just be waste.

Personally I'm going to vote to try and befriend Baldomare and DoA and hope that we can deal with punches as they happen.
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"Continue to take punches until we win the big game" strikes me as very... likely?
 
spiderhellian said:
But what will you do if he marks this post insightful‽ :V:V:V
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I don't post all insightfuls, only those that are relatively easy to interpret and of potential long term use, that is, which I think are applicable beyond a single vote. Or are interesting to me personally, but those are already basically exceptions.

These posts are there mainly for future reference, and there's no use in seeing any of them marked.
 
Daecl said:
Okay, fair cop. But how are you applying that argument? In favor of RA right now? Not in favor? It's not exactly clear.
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Right now we've lost. No if ands or buts. Having to use the RA is a loss, Trade is a loss, Accepting the deal is a loss, Banishment is a loss, and Reject is simultaneously a loss and the part of the worst portion of every other option. We didn't take our opponents seriously enough and had a very inflated idea of our own prowess. Baldomare just casually immobilizing us and scanning our soul and this situation are a wake up call. But lessons learned and all that. Try to be smarter and stronger.

And for right now I am in favor of the RA, for a couple reasons.

First, in my view only two options actually solve the problem of the master.

Next, I am not ethically a collectivist, utilitarian, greatest good, however you want to phrase it. The needs of the many do not always outweigh the needs of the one and the violation of a friend is more important than the suffering of strangers. PLEASE do not try to change my mind on this. I understand and respect that other people have different values. Also, I despise betrayal of trust.

Finally, Just 'Fuck that guy'. Spite. I want the Master dead.
 
Starlit Horizon said:
By the way, a few more or less interesting insightful ratings from BirdBodhisattva since the groom update:


These two is basically a confirmation that Harmony is also working on incomplete info.

Nothing surprising, but good to have.

Baldomare is, indeed, not yet actually attached to Velvet.

Again, nothing surprising, again, good to have.

A little bit of worldbuilding. I don't believe such musings are marked insightful often, so probably quite a few truthful details.

Not really useful, but interesting.
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I thought that Bird marked as insightful the comments that they considered were well reasoned regardless of whether they were correct or not though?
 
Glau said:
There is, I think, nothing I will regret quite as much as rolling over and giving the master what he wants.

I wonder if Windy can unleash another wolf on the world without us taking a regrettable action?
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I think we are the only ones able to take Regrettable Actions. That's not to say that Windy can't commit an atrocity but there is probably an element of sacrifice that permits the birth of a puppy.

Glau said:
To put it another way, what AP would you sacrifice next turn to deal with Windy, who has been hinted to be being up something nasty, and Discord, who is conspicuously missing and presumably also being up something nasty?

Do we really have any choice except to take the hits as they come?

There's also Starry who might bite us, our father's agenda, Marinette possibly/eventually going rogue, etc.

And picking the wrong one to look into will just be waste.

Personally I'm going to vote to try and befriend Baldomare and DoA and hope that we can deal with punches as they happen.
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We actually have no clue about Discord. For all we know when we weakened Harmony he decided to leave and went back to the Outside.

Let me amend that with: As far as Velvet knows he was killed by the Princess a millennia ago.

Windy we should check on though. Somehow. If we can't use a RotT, then maybe ask Uncle Steppes to see if his contacts could track him down and then pass that on as a tip to the Bureau.
 
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Daecl said:
I'm just not so optimistic that other Names won't be ready to kick in our teeth before we get strong enough,
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BirdBodhisattva said:
Well, it won't happen. Or it might happen at the Seventh, but the Seventh is an immediate victory, so at most it would involve a fight in the epilogue in which (by definition) Velvet would win.
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...
very well. if Offer ourselves is a no win scenario, then I just want the Master dead.

we see if the outcomes make reaching for Glory too much harder, and if it does...
we already killed one Name, why not kill Mareinette (and perhaps Neighnia) through becoming the Mother of Wolves?
we'd win, by definition so
[X] Kill the Master [THIS IS A REGRETTABLE ACTION]
 
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Daecl said:
I can respect the spite. I'm just not so optimistic that other Names won't be ready to kick in our teeth before we get strong enough, and I am more than a little nervous about what a Son related to the death of a Name will do.
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"Wolf, thy name is Anonimity. Now ponies can send their most inane, controversial or dumb opinions to newspaper editorials without revealing their names or go to town meetings in disguise. The collective intellect of Equestria has just gone down and ponies can let out their inner edgelords"

Edit: Also, every pony with a socially unnacceptable kink discovers that there is a community for it.
 
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Daecl said:
I can respect the spite. I'm just not so optimistic that other Names won't be ready to kick in our teeth before we get strong enough, and I am more than a little nervous about what a Son related to the death of a Name will do.
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The Names are by and large pretty apathetic. Unless we were so monumentally stupid to start spreading around information about how to get past the lock on the gate they are content to follow the commands of whoever summons them. The only ones currently dangerous to us are Neighnia, because she is under the control of Copper, and eventually Mareinette. But she wants to corrupt us so we have time on that one. But we should try to tie as many of them to us as we can.
 
Bakkasama said:
I thought that Bird marked as insightful the comments that they considered were well reasoned regardless of whether they were correct or not though?
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That is correct, but not so much in practice as it seems initially. As far as I understand Insightful doesn't necessary confirm anything, but it means - typically - that the line of thought is "correct" in some way.

It doesn't mean it's canon or true, but so far it was a workable enough sign that you should consider it. Not something you can per se trust, but something one should definitely keep in mind.

I call it "soft confirm" at times; while it isn't enough to draw inferrence on their own, it is true more often than not, and works well enough for as supporting evidence. Maybe not main one, but it works as supporting.

Also, this is a part of what I call "easy to interpret": it doesn't show much in large posts as it could be anything in them, but when it comes to smaller posts, that is kind of useful. Not much to judge insightful, and not much to search in.
 
I wonder, what happens if we hand off leashes to third parties as a show of trust? What happens if we give Baldomare her own leash and supply her with books as a favor?
 
What on earth would Baldomare even need a Leash for though?
Or are you talking about Summoning Bindings? I don't think Baldomare cares about the Wake enough for her not being Bound to matter, when she can just do whatever during her free time?
 
Alright goddamnit. Looks like offering ourselves is a worse option than I had considered probable beforehand. Damnation, this is a rough choice, but...

[X] Accept her offer.

Sorry Cadence, your ideal future and unsullied form is not worth the damage to the world a further Regret would cause. Though I fear my vote, now cast, is but a leaf in the wind of a more powerful winter storm, leading us further into a pit impossible to leave.
 
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