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.
Naw your choice of portrayal of the issue makes sense. I can totally follow the logic, as long as the edge element is not a direct acceptance of the problem, and I feel the votes as they stand currently shows some degree of want for regret even if the current leading vote wins.
EDIT: ok, it's not quite as evident here, but I also used a different program to tally things, and it shows me 50 unique voters!
Adhoc vote count started by Pittauro on Sep 26, 2020 at 11:49 PM, finished with 105 posts and 49 votes.
[X] You nod, a grim understanding coming to you: Equestria is in danger, and something must be done about it. You have not reached the point where you think a line has been crossed, not when considering what you have just seen. But you will keep that line close to your heart, for you know that you will lose something the day you cross it, and it is not something you wish to lose if you can avoid.
[X] You shake your head in denial. This, just now, was wrong: There are better ways to do this. YOU know better ways to do it. But it is undeniable that you do know no a lot, about almost everything else. Your cult has an established structure and is growing, and you have a position of power within in, but after tonight, you do not intent to stay forever.
[X] You realize that you had a smile on your face: Princess Luna is weak, but she still bears immense power. She is like a spoiled child, unaware of what she could do if she had the will to, so perhaps the term "Princess" really is fitting, after all. You will take her power, or you will take her, and then you will take what comes next. Everything between here and there will become means to those ends.
[X] You realize just how right your Master is: Your Master is right, and it is a blessing that you have met Copper Secateur and, through her, been induced into the cult. You must defend Equestria, no matter the cost, and only by furthering your cult will that be possible.
[x] You loudly decry your master. A moment too late, a second after his presence is gone, but you are heard by everypony else: What you did tonight was wrong, and your Master either knew of the consequences, or he is not wise enough to be worth following. But regardless of what he is, you will actively oppose him.
[X] You left. You broke. You galloped away, screaming, and you arrived home limping, your leg cramped with debilitating pain. No more of this. No more.: You do not want to have anything to do with this anymore. The ritual was too wrong, the memories of Princess Luna too vivid. The worms were too frightening.
[X] You shake your head in denial. This, just now, was wrong: There are better ways to do this. YOU know better ways to do it. But it is undeniable that you do know no a lot, about almost everything else. Your cult has an established structure and is growing, and you have a position of power within in, but after tonight, you do not intent to stay forever.
Meh I am more a mixed bag, I acknowledge the system I follow is not fully consistent but thats mostly because its hard putting down simple rules for moral behaviour, I do believe most people mix in a bit of everything in their everyday approach to ethics.
You call it fence sitting I call it realising the good and bad in the cult, we stained our hooves with blood today, but we still need to hide, Equestria still needs its protection, and the cult is a vehicle for that, if we do not fall any further we stay because casting aside tools to save us all would be pure madness.
Huh, I'm suddenly wondering if the whole 'Discord was actually taking the blame for someone else's actions the whole time' thing will be a thing in this quest.
You call it fence sitting I call it realising the good and bad in the cult, we stained our hooves with blood today, but we still need to hide, Equestria still needs its protection, and the cult is a vehicle for that, if we do not fall any further we stay because casting aside tools to save us all would be pure madness.
I am so/so on it which is why I am in the "This went too far, never again" camp, we sure did damage, but also what we got was insanely vital info about how the true enemy have evolved, sure that knowledge was not what we came for, but the destruction wasn't either.
Its very much a case of (i feel) going a step too far but for good cause (in our eyes), the knowledge we got from it was just proof that we where justified in going diving for info, but the consequences a proof that our fine-control is not fine at all, and that as such we have shown a way too casual disregard for peoples lives.
I feel my take on it at least with the "We stained our hooves" perspective pushes for a degree of reformation.
[X] You shake your head in denial. This, just now, was wrong: There are better ways to do this. YOU know better ways to do it. But it is undeniable that you do know no a lot, about almost everything else. Your cult has an established structure and is growing, and you have a position of power within in, but after tonight, you do not intent to stay forever.
Whatever happens, I hope we'll at least be prudent enough that if, say, we get sent to find Luna--a probable thing, given our general competence compared to pretty much everybody else--we won't immediately turn over what we find or any connection we build to the Cult. OR say we get Rarity interested, or Twilight--later, of course, she'll be harder to manage--or any of the Elements. Basically I want them to be our connections, not the Cult's.
Also, can I just comment on how cool it was to see the Master lose composure. Like, until now they've been this creepy, eldritch, and damn near unstoppable force of mystic lore and power, but for the first time we got to see that there's a pony beneath it all. They purposefully keep that aura around themselves, and if sufficiently surprised it can slip. It takes effort. Which means that if we catch them off-guard, we might just be able to win a fight.
[X] You shake your head in denial. This, just now, was wrong: There are better ways to do this. YOU know better ways to do it. But it is undeniable that you do know no a lot, about almost everything else. Your cult has an established structure and is growing, and you have a position of power within in, but after tonight, you do not intent to stay forever
I found the narrative implications of the Villain vote here fascinating. If everything we saw saw far was just a mask... then what is the real Velvet? What kind of person would she have to be, for her to lust after Luna's power, for her to ignore Luna's worth as a person, but simultaneously for her to have lived the life she has, making the choices she has, and made her manifest the cutie-mark she has? What sort of motivation would produce these at the same time?
Judging by the current vote, I don't think that vote is going to win, but nevertheless, nevertheless, I want to see it. So I decided to figure something out - and then write it.
And so, an omake - my take on an "origin story" that would explain Velvet's cutie-mark and her reaction to Luna, at least.
(I might write a followup, if there is interest. We'll see.)
Velvet Covers used to hate stories, back before she knew what they really were.
As a young filly, stories didn't make any sense. Sometimes, they'd say one thing; other times another, with little sense or reason. And then when Velvet repeated what she heard in stories, her parents would laugh and correct her. It was infuriating! How was she supposed to understand anything when it kept changing? When none of it lined up?
One day, she was so frustrated by her bedtime story that it brought her to tears. After a regimen of hugs and quietly whispered reassurances from her mother, Velvet calmed down enough to explain why she was crying - and her mother finally deigned to explain the nature of what she had been reading her filly every night. "Oh, sweetie. You don't need to try to make the stories line up. They aren't meant to be taken that seriously! They are just... stories. Make-believe. Fun to read and think about, and maybe with a lesson to teach, but they don't have to be true. Stories are filled with unbelievable wonders so you can enjoy them, not worry over them!"
Velvet was relieved, because she finally understood what was going on. Velvet was annoyed, because apparently a bunch of what she had been told was "make-believe", and now she needed to sort through her head and make sure she didn't mix it up with the other knowledge. Velvet was angry, because why didn't anypony tell her earlier if they were making things up for fun? And Velvet was scared, because she thought only "bad ponies" could tell lies, but apparently that was also a lie, since nopony seemed to have trouble telling stories.
…And Velvet was intrigued, because she had worked really hard on trying to keep everything straight so she wouldn't tell lies, but if "make-believe" was allowed, didn't that mean she didn't have to worry? After all, it didn't matter if stories were true.
~~~~~~~~
It didn't mattered if stories were true, but it mattered if ponies thought they were true, Velvet soon learned. Her parents frequently scolded her for lying over the last few days, but only if she tried to pass of a story as real but they didn't believe her.
It was okay to listen to stories, apparently, even when they were clearly made up - but when you told stories, you needed to make sure they were believable.
~~~~~~~~
It frusturated Velvet, how often her stories got seen through. Apparently telling believable stories was hard. Adults already knew a lot; it was easy to accidentally say something contradicting what they expected, and then the game was up! Worse, fillies weren't expected to know much either, so a lot of times her stories wouldn't be believed because they didn't make sense coming from her. A double bind; the only story that would work would be something that a filly would know, but adults wouldn't.
The best idea that Velvet could think of within these constraints was telling stories about herself - her thoughts, her feelings, that sort of stuff. Nobody could expect to know that better than her, right? So any story she told would be believable!
Conveniently, she was grounded until she "sincerely apologized" for her behavior as of late. She didn't much mind the grounding, but this would be a good way to test out how well these sort of identity stories worked out.
~~~~~~~~
Identity stories made for good stories. Really good. You could make up whatever you wanted, as long as you didn't say something too unusual and stayed consistent. Even if someone doubted you, as long as you stuck to what you were saying, you could usually make your stories stick too.
Velvet was feeling good. For once in her admittedly-short filly life, Velvet got to exert direct control over the ponies around her, and it was surprisingly gratifying. Of course, the scope of what she could affect with her stories wasn't extensive - but so what? Velvet wasn't greedy. Being able to shape a corner of their minds was enough. And if it wasn't, well, all she'd needed to do was expand that corner. That couldn't be so hard, could it? Even if the only reliable tool she had was stories about who she was, making herself important enough to someone would do the trick.
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Velvet wondered sometimes... would someone who truly knew her consider her a virtuous person? It didn't really matter, since that hypothetical was absurd - but still, she sometimes wondered.
They had been going over the various virtues in school recently, which were supposed to be the marks of being good - honesty, loyalty, generosity, laughter, and kindness. And Velvet understood them, she really did. She even practiced most of them! But, well, the others talked about virtues as if the were something you were, not something you did.
Velvet knew how to act virtuous, and she did; it made life easier and more convenient, usually. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, as the saying goes. But to be virtuous seemed somehow different. What would that be like, really?
Such were the idle daydreams of Velvet, on those occasions when she mused upon virtue.
~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Velvet tried writing fiction in class this week. It was the first time in a while that she had done such a thing; she'd long since abandoned telling stories about things she couldn't convincingly fake, and the practice left her feeling nostalgic.
In truth, despite the nostalgia, the task wasn't especially appealing. Velvet knew her own skill - or lack thereof, as the case may be. She wasn't a talented enough writer to truly influence ponies through text; and certainly not through something clearly labeled "fiction".
Whatever the initial spark for her picking up storytelling had been, Velvet decided that her path was set. Maybe in another life, Velvet might have had a passion for writing stories, or reading them. But in this life? She'd be more likely to convince a crowd that she'd written a best-selling book than to actually put ink to paper.
~~~~~~~~
Velvet got her cutie-mark that evening - a blank book, being attended to by an audience of attentive butterflies.
Everyone seemed to misunderstand the metaphor. But that was okay. Velvet preferred it that way.
[X] You realize that you had a smile on your face: Princess Luna is weak, but she still bears immense power. She is like a spoiled child, unaware of what she could do if she had the will to, so perhaps the term "Princess" really is fitting, after all. You will take her power, or you will take her, and then you will take what comes next. Everything between here and there will become means to those ends.
Its is kind of wild how many people are suddenly voting, I just found this because I randomly checked the quest page for ones, and suddenly there are somewhere around 50 people voting, thats pretty wild
Its is kind of wild how many people are suddenly voting, I just found this because I randomly checked the quest page for ones, and suddenly there are somewhere around 50 people voting, thats pretty wild
I believe a lot of people just lurk in quest as they're more in it for the story than anything else but they tend to pop up and cast a vote when they feel a vote is big enough.
[X] You realize that you had a smile on your face: Princess Luna is weak, but she still bears immense power. She is like a spoiled child, unaware of what she could do if she had the will to, so perhaps the term "Princess" really is fitting, after all. You will take her power, or you will take her, and then you will take what comes next. Everything between here and there will become means to those ends.
I think the master is not right even when we hid we needed defenses we still needed wards we need to be proactive not passive and stagnant like the master.
[X] You nod, a grim understanding coming to you: Equestria is in danger, and something must be done about it. You have not reached the point where you think a line has been crossed, not when considering what you have just seen. But you will keep that line close to your heart, for you know that you will lose something the day you cross it, and it is not something you wish to lose if you can avoid.
[X] You shake your head in denial. This, just now, was wrong: There are better ways to do this. YOU know better ways to do it. But it is undeniable that you do know no a lot, about almost everything else. Your cult has an established structure and is growing, and you have a position of power within in, but after tonight, you do not intent to stay forever
[X] You nod, a grim understanding coming to you: Equestria is in danger, and something must be done about it. You have not reached the point where you think a line has been crossed, not when considering what you have just seen. But you will keep that line close to your heart, for you know that you will lose something the day you cross it, and it is not something you wish to lose if you can avoid.
[] You realize that you had a smile on your face: Princess Luna is weak, but she still bears immense power. She is like a spoiled child, unaware of what she could do if she had the will to, so perhaps the term "Princess" really is fitting, after all. You will take her power, or you will take her, and then you will take what comes next. Everything between here and there will become means to those ends.
[] You realize just how right your Master is: Your Master is right, and it is a blessing that you have met Copper Secateur and, through her, been induced into the cult. You must defend Equestria, no matter the cost, and only by furthering your cult will that be possible.
-Your loyalty will make itself shown through every small act, and every small word. You will grow in the eyes of your Master more quickly and will be more rewarded for your efforts.
[] You nod, a grim understanding coming to you: Equestria is in danger, and something must be done about it. You have not reached the point where you think a line has been crossed, not when considering what you have just seen. But you will keep that line close to your heart, for you know that you will lose something the day you cross it, and it is not something you wish to lose if you can avoid.
-This is the "neutral" option. Call it noncommitment or call it wisdom, but the pony sitting on the fence can see further and clearer than those on the ground.
[] You loudly decry your master. A moment too late, a second after his presence is gone, but you are heard by everypony else: What you did tonight was wrong,
this is stupid, because we don't know.
Because, you know, we don't have the full picture. However, Celestia was here for a really, really long time and either she is an idiot who was incapable of guessing the truth, or she knows and actively accepts the current situation, so I'm giving Master the benefit of doubt so far.
[] You left. You broke. You galloped away, screaming, and you arrived home limping, your leg cramped with debilitating pain. No more of this. No more.: You do not want to have anything to do with this anymore. The ritual was too wrong, the memories of Princess Luna too vivid. The worms were too frightening.
defeats the purpose of the quest so far. This leaves me only with
[x] You nod, a grim understanding coming to you: Equestria is in danger, and something must be done about it. You have not reached the point where you think a line has been crossed, not when considering what you have just seen. But you will keep that line close to your heart, for you know that you will lose something the day you cross it, and it is not something you wish to lose if you can avoid.
for now.
That said, I urge everyone to seek for Heart lore. Most principles quickly drift from common morality into uncomfortable places. Heart is the aspect most rooted in mortal society in a constructive way, and with Winter, Grail and Moth we need it dearly. Corpse-feasting moth doesn't look nice, though it might do for some very impressive NSFW gore (or more like guro) artworks.
[x] You nod, a grim understanding coming to you: Equestria is in danger, and something must be done about it. You have not reached the point where you think a line has been crossed, not when considering what you have just seen. But you will keep that line close to your heart, for you know that you will lose something the day you cross it, and it is not something you wish to lose if you can avoid.
I almost voted for shaking our head because I had this amusing thought of recruiting Luna and then forming a splinter cult with her right after just to troll the Master, but like a lot of people I enjoy seeing numbers go up and tend to building a foundation first. It is why in my current run in cultist simulator I maxed reason and passion and got 25 acquaintances/possible recruits before even founding the cult. This seems like the option in which we can gather the most resources while still choosing to take over later if we think it necessary.
[x] You nod, a grim understanding coming to you: Equestria is in danger, and something must be done about it. You have not reached the point where you think a line has been crossed, not when considering what you have just seen. But you will keep that line close to your heart, for you know that you will lose something the day you cross it, and it is not something you wish to lose if you can avoid.
[x] You shake your head in denial. This, just now, was wrong: There are better ways to do this. YOU know better ways to do it. But it is undeniable that you do know no a lot, about almost everything else. Your cult has an established structure and is growing, and you have a position of power within in, but after tonight, you do not intent to stay forever.
