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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Reader mode
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.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
(Quote slightly edited to avoid spoilers)
 
Last edited:
There weren't many people we'd only spoken to once, and presumably we had talked to our mom—the only female member—multiple times.

I think the other possibility might have been me going "well Pinkie would have welcomed us to Ponyville but we don't seem to know her otherwise, so that's an option." But as I said, it's been a while.
 
There are theories buzzing in my brain, and I really need to sleep. So I'm going to put them out there (not least so I remember them tomorrow), and I'm curious if anyone else has thoughts.

1) The Apocrypha is canon when you think of Cadance.
2) The Apocrypha is canon when you think [REDACTED]
3) Velvet's Mom has some deep connection to the Master (pre-summoning, at least..?). The one moment we heard her voice, that we could never forget, was the single moment our "meek" Mom ever [...something'ed]. Spoke from her soul? Let slip her mask? (And thanks for digging through your memory, Eric!)
4) After the Rite of Mother and Father, Luna will Awaken with Moth/Edge/Knock lores. Selene will persist with Winter. Like some of the Winter Long, her ending will be fixed to a specific time, irrevocably and undeniably.
5) Next turn, Velvet Covers will receive a pony.

Curse you @BirdBodhisattva ! You spoke only the truth, which of course sparked Fascination! Now I'll take a -10 on rolls tomorrow (no, it's surely not the lack of sleep) :V

(What, there's a super contentious vote going on? Sorry, you must be thinking of another History!)
 
Last edited:
Light Seeker said:
Then you have Offer option. But you would rather take mechanistic approach to it instead of narrative, because everything about Offer is uncertain and it would presumably fuck us over long run more than Wolf. Which is, uhh... Wolf is always worse.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Wolf is one and done. It is bad, horrible, not a Good option but mechanically yes, I consider it better than Offer. We'll find out what the consequences are, adjust, and continue on towards Glory. With Offer we'll have to spend time continually dealing with the Master on top of losing an AP. I especially can't stand him having a veto option on our actions and I fully expect him to continue to do horrible shit we would object to.

People always say that Wolf is always worse like it's a self evident article of Faith. Rather than a subjective thing backed by CS Lore. I did not regret voting Wolf to destroy the door and I didn't make that vote based on the AP savings. Will I enjoy the consequences of metaphysically dropping a nuclear weapon? No. But I have considered these options and determined what one I can live with. And that is the Wolf.
 
[X] Accept her offer.

Don't mistake Velvet to be the paragon of virtue, she will steal, destroy, erase and murder anything that bring harm to her family first then her fiend second, she will feeling awful sure but this is not the end of the world, Shining and Cadence will still love each other, our family will still be safe and nopony will know what happened.
 
Talon TigerDino said:
How is the Wolf one and done when it is a worldwide persistent effect?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Because the increased suffering of the entire world won't be happening around us and thus won't be directly impeding us in our actions. I FULLY UNDERSTAND that this is a worldwide effect that makes things just that much worse for everyone who isn't near us. But in terms of this quest, mechanically, it is one and done. The effect will happen, we will have to take it into account, and then that is it. No more actions spent on dealing with it.
 
Actually @BirdBodhisattva is it possible to choose Accept while requesting the Master to sleep in Shining, with Velvet using the Leash to get Shining to do whatever it is Marinette instructs for the transfer ritual to work? We should get a little bit of leeway considering we're doing as the Master says, right?
 
[X] Offer yourself instead.

It seems that quite a few people have this as their first choice and one of the other two leading options as their second one. I'd like to ask for them to drop the second choice so that this is more likely to win instead in this neck and neck race.
 
[X] Accept her offer.
Whatever. I'll stay the course. In lighter news, by the end of the whole mess, maybe Velvet will get a nice break with the wedding! :D
Edit: I..guess I'll swap votes huh.
 
Last edited:
yeah she'll just have the master routing around her head learning all her secrets and dreading who will get hurt by her hooves because of it
 
Oh lord. I just had a nightmare about planning with -1 AP. And vetoes, alterations, and manipulations. (I wonder if we'll ever be able to spend an action on our family ever again?)

[EDIT: Changed vote later.]
 
Last edited:
This vote is interesting to me personally because I normally am all for Wolf options, but I'm also normally all for Master options and now these two are mutually exclusive :V

The choice that gives the most Master interaction is Offer which is by far the most mechanically detrimental path, and as someone who actually wants to win this game is obviously suboptimal... but I really do like the Master, and I imagine possession will offer a lot of juicy lore/eldritch horror bits, which is my jam.

Thankfully it seems I'm likely to get at least half of what I want (as of the current tally), although that does mean I'm also likely to get half of what I don't want. In other words, the Velvet experience :V
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Back
Top