three trillion counts of disturbing the peace and vandalizing of public property does not a death sentence make.
Illuminating Invitation (MLP: FiM AU)
- Thread starter Alivaril
- Start date
- Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeaaaah, if I'd realized that was the part everyone would focus on, I would've just posted it as part of a larger chapter. Whoops. I mean, I expected it to draw attention, but I don't think anyone has commented on Sunset's portion, and very few people on Flighty's. ^^;
Oh well, live and learn.
EDIT: Since it's addressed literally next chapter, no, Discord is not dead.
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will we be getting a short aside of him being dropped into (random setting) or equestria girls, then ignored by the story indefinitely while he has adventures elsewhere?
- Location
- OK
More importantly, the Elements of Harmony, which are perfectly capable of dispensing justice and are fueled by pure unadulterated good didn't go "Well, Discord is way past stoning, let's make this rainbow mafuba into a rainbow death beam."
Thank you for this clarification. So the least interesting option is off the table, at least.
Nuew
“Mankind, be vigilant. We loved you.”—Julius Fučík
- Location
- hiding in ∅
- Pronouns
- She/They
To be fair, Sunset's section is mostly cuddling and having some extremely typical and frustrating Sunset thoughts. The other stuff is more novel, even if Sunset being Sunset is what we're here for.
- Location
- OK
"Oh god oh fuck, she's actually going to treat me well for once?!" Sunset's Cognitive Dissonance Braincramps hitting hard, lmao.
Oh! That's another good way for Sunset to realize Celestia cares. When she pisses solar plasma from pure fury and turns the cardinal direction that assassin is in into so much molten smoke.
Meanwhile, it's a good thing Cadence didn't hear this, or she might go Nightmare Moon: Version "beat Celestia to a pulp until she becomes a better mother".
Flighty Flame is so cool. I hope she actually gets the chance to do that confession.
Here ya go, cause I know how delicious commentary is!
- Location
- Australia
Labour and material resources spent on dealing with Discord's antics are resources that aren't available for other purposes. Food supplies, water supplies, police, fire fighters, paramedics, etc.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Wow. I mean, that could be hilarious, but it's also more direct and hurtful than Voice acted before.
...To whom, though?
This makes me think Sunset or Celestia, since who else would have that power, but obviously Celestia can't listen to every confession or to just some of them either. So probably Sunset, which will either be very funny or very relieving.
egoo
Totally Not Creating Problems Where None Existed
- Location
- Russia
In many a story, Flighty "confessing" would be a vehicle for cheap drama.
Immediately suspending her away from Sunset via local justice system naturally being predisposed against those taking pacts with daemonic-seeming entities.
Just common sense, ya know?
Bur here, somehow, I doubt that will be the case.
I don't think Vocie would want to drop such a nest side character, if nothing else
I'm still not sure just what the Voice offered her, though.
Edit: Oh, and I guess Discord is locked away further.
oh noooo.
Honestly, I feel mite weird seeing all the people bemoaning his presumed death (prior to WoG he ain't).
We all remember just how shitty of a character he was as written in the show, right?
Quite literally no loss for the narrative to just have him disappear away, one way or the other.
Especially when the niche of an Eldritch Plot Device is already taken.
Immediately suspending her away from Sunset via local justice system naturally being predisposed against those taking pacts with daemonic-seeming entities.
Just common sense, ya know?
Bur here, somehow, I doubt that will be the case.
I don't think Vocie would want to drop such a nest side character, if nothing else
I'm still not sure just what the Voice offered her, though.
Edit: Oh, and I guess Discord is locked away further.
oh noooo.
Honestly, I feel mite weird seeing all the people bemoaning his presumed death (prior to WoG he ain't).
We all remember just how shitty of a character he was as written in the show, right?
Quite literally no loss for the narrative to just have him disappear away, one way or the other.
Especially when the niche of an Eldritch Plot Device is already taken.
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Chapter 29: It's just a joke, sis
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Special thanks to @saganatsu, @DB_Explorer, @fictionfan, @Adephagia, @Wordsmith, @Taut_Templar, Jamie Wahls, @Elfalpha, @BunnyLord, @Drcatspaw, @tinkerware, @Lonelywolf999, D'awwctor, @magicdownunder, @Mordred, @Nuew, @Greydrone, and my 18 other patrons not mentioned here. An extremely enthusiastic "Thank you" to @Torgamous for her patronage as well. Also, if you're not on here, you fit the tier, and you want to be added, please tell me.
Author's Note: There was a short chapter on Monday! Also, thank you all for the votes on the User's Choice awards; I'm thrilled that II is in the lead!
Princess Cadance
Cadance stumbled into the dining room, bleary-eyed, and gingerly slid into the seat left open for her. The lingering fog of sleep was not enough to stop her from registering Celestia's presence at the head of the table. Celestia not only wasn't sitting next to Sunset, but the filly in question was, in fact, nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Sunset?" Cadance asked, already fearing the answer.
"Hm?" Celestia uttered, glancing up. "Oh, she is still sleeping. She looked so happy that I could not bear to wake her."
Cadance let her head thud against the table, sending dishes rattling, and sighed. Celestia had been doing so well last night, too.
"One of these days, I am going to throw you out a window," Cadance halfheartedly threatened.
Celestia leaned away, obviously taken aback by the threat of even harmless violence.
"I beg your pardon?"
Begging won't save you, was the quip that came to mind, but it wouldn't salvage the situation. Instead, Cadance settled for a sigh, raised her head, and tried to explain why this was a problem.
Sunset Shimmer
I awoke in a reasonably comfortable nest, but one that wasn't comfortable enough and grew worse the longer I laid there. Unlike yesterday, the curtains hadn't been drawn, and sunlight streaming in through the balcony's windows fell upon me at just the right angle to guarantee overheating. I wish I could say that I was surprised Celestia had decided to ditch me again, but it seemed that even my impending adoption wasn't enough to get her to stay.
A rattling of dishes on a cart drew me from my brooding, and I cracked one eye to see Voice once again deciding to provide breakfast service.
"Please tell me you've actually been introduced to the staff this time," I halfheartedly queried.
"I have!" Voice said cheerfully, and thankfully, normally. "I do believe that a few of them even attempted to bully me into resigning my position. It was quite entertaining."
I raised my head, eyes and mouth opening, but no sound escaped. I could scarcely imagine anypony bullying Her, but at the same time, I could understand why. She was doing a remarkably good job of pretending to be pony, Her current form looked far too young to have 'earned the position properly,' and She was a complete unknown to Canterlot in general. 'Personal attendant for the Princess's student' was more prestigious than just being a general member of Canterlot Castle's staff; 'personal attendant for Princess Celestia's daughter,' far more still. If Celestia left me in order to get an early start on notifying the staff of my impending adoption, the timing would work out for somepony deciding to harass Voice.
"That's—unfortunate?" I hazarded.
"They are real pieces of work," Voice agreed, sounding quite happy about it. "More importantly, I found a petrified God of Chaos amid a nearby hedge maze!"
I froze, thoughts coming to a crashing halt. She what?
"Discord's seal is in the middle of the gardens?" I squeaked. "Foals and families take tours through there!"
Why did Celestia put him there? Why not in Tartarus like everypony thought? Year after year of the unchanging routine enabled by an inescapable prison seemed much safer than the chaos of excited foals running amok and occasionally biting each other.
...Tartarus was still inescapable, right? Given Celestia's neglect of her war regalia and own well-being in the name of stupid symbolism, I suddenly had doubts. The defenses might be outdated by now. But no, a foreign actor would have already freed prisoners using modern methods if the defenses weren't actually being updated, so it was almost certainly fine. It might be worth asking if Cerberus wanted to quit by now, though. Oh, he was probably happy in his current role, but it would be better to check than to assume.
"Oh, yes," said Voice. "All those twists and turns, but only one entrance and exit. It is perhaps the single most passive-aggressively deterministic prison I have ever seen. Your new mother has a vicious sense of humor buried beneath all that serenity."
I slowly relaxed, reassured that we were not about to have an irate God of Chaos once again plaguing Equestria. When Voice put it like that, Celestia's reasons sounded much more sensible. Regardless, I scanned Voice's features in an attempt to figure out nuance. Satisfaction wasn't the same thing as amusement and despite Her words, She seemed more satisfied than amused.
"You don't like Discord any more than we do, huh?" I ventured.
Watching Voice's features twist into a rictus of hatred was a jarring surprise. I hadn't been sure that She could feel hatred.
"I imagine I 'like' him even less," Voice hissed. "There are rules, and chaos does not merely break them. No, breaking them would be preferable as determined defiance of the natural order can make for a very good story. Chaos does not acknowledge these rules even exist. It warps every narrative until it is the sole focus of everything within its domain, and by its very nature, it does not confine itself to a small territory. It spreads as far as it can until there are few satisfying stories to be found within an entire reality."
Voice huffed, the hatred slowly fading from Her features.
"So, no, I do not like this 'Discord.' My distaste might be acquired rather than innate, but it makes little difference."
Voice paused for a moment.
"Incidentally, his seal was fraying and I expect it would have broken within the next decade or two. I took the liberty of reinforcing it."
I almost choked on my own breath. It had been what? Ensuring his seal stayed intact was even more important than raising the Sun! I'd felt confident that summoning Voice had been worth the risk, but for self-centered reasons. Now I had an actual justification.
"Certain worldly forces might take issue with my actions, however,"
I promptly shook my head. Discord might have destroyed much of the historical record, an issue not helped by him reshaping or shifting geography to suit his whims, but what I did know about him was plenty damning all on its own. Even ignoring when he was directly malicious and twisted ponies for his own amusement, too many carelessly created monsters still plagued the world; even if a fair number of them had turned out to be perfectly amiable when not threatened, that still left all the rest.
I was a bit concerned by what sounded like some short-sighted idiots wanting to release him for their own gain, though. Such an attempt was remarkably moronic. It might break Equestria, but Discord would undoubtedly set his sights elsewhere the moment he got bored.
"I don't think anypony—or anybeing, for that matter—deserves his attentions," I said firmly. "As long as we tell Celestia so she can take additional steps, I don't think we need to worry about foreign actors after what you've done. Keeping Discord sealed is really, unbelievably important for the sake of the entire world, and I think you'll earn a great deal of trust if you tell her. Thank you."
Voice did not look particularly enthused by the suggestion, or my thanks. She glanced away and I briefly braced for maid-mode, but the rest of her body language remained somewhat normal; looking away seemed to be due to discomfort instead of deference.
"That feels like cheating, though," She complained. "I'm supposed to stay as support. I just want to make sure that abomination doesn't ruin everything."
That, I actually had an answer for. Ponies sometimes took humility entirely too far, and Celestia provided plenty of arguments from me to pull from — even if even she seldom succeeded at convincing them, either.
"You can call it 'preserving stories' if you want," I told Her, "but the result is still concern for the well-being of other p—of others, and steps taken to help them. If you don't want her to, I think she'd be just fine taking it as a reference to your character instead of something worthy of applause."
From one excessively paranoid view, reinforcing Discord's seal might just be eliminating the competition. Not wanting to make a big deal out of it would actually speak better of Voice's motives than wanting praise.
"I guess. Now I feel guilty," She grumbled, but smiled impishly and moved on before I could ask why. "You were about to say 'other ponies,' weren't you?"
Of course She fixated on that. Still, I let Her change the subject.
"You're pony-shaped, doing much better at imitating us lately, and it's a natural thing to say in general," I said defensively.
She held up a hoof before I could continue, banishing the mischief from Her own smile.
"Joking aside," She said, "I consider it a good thing if you're relaxed enough to start making such minor slips of the tongue. Like I said, my involvement is supposed to be for the purposes of support. Reverence isn't necessarily antithetical to that, but I do not think it helps."
I wasn't entirely certain how to reply to that. I became even less certain when She made herself seem smaller and lowered her
"Behaving in such a way that you will become more comfortable is not as easy as simply imitating another pony, Your Grace."
I shuddered and halfway looked away, confining myself to looking out of the side of my eyes instead.
"Why do you feel the need to keep doing that? You say you're trying to make me relax, and then accomplish the exact opposite by acting like that."
Thankfully, Voice dropped the act before answering.
"Because I am not very good at harmless teasing, but I already know behaving in such a way produces entertaining reactions without going too far. Also, it will be much funnier in a couple years when I bring my A-game."
I hesitated, befuddled. She was already indistinguishable from a trained personal attendant. How was She supposed to improve on that?
"Your what?"
Voice grinned, opened Her mouth — then appeared to think better of whatever she was going to do. She produced the same paradoxically pleasant pout as earlier.
"You have no idea how tempting it is to demonstrate, but that would be grossly inappropriate," she confessed. "I would banish myself out of self-loathing guilt. At any rate, this conversation has reinforced that I might have gone too far, and owe somepony an apology. I will be back soon, or sooner should you call."
She vanished, leaving the cart behind and out of reach. Apparently, I would need to serve myself after all. I was almost tempted to point out the breach of protocol when she got back, but considering what happened the last time I noted a discrepancy…
Yeah, no. I'm not saying anything.
Flighty Flame
Flighty Flame didn't particularly want to get up after a late night spent despairing followed by crying herself to sleep. She needed to, though. No matter how she'd justified it to herself in the moment, she had committed a crime against Celestia and Flighty refused to be a craven coward who selfishly hid from the consequences of her own mistake. Cleaning up didn't help her feel any better; if anything, the water reminded her that she'd let a demon tether themselves to her soul. Water wouldn't wash that away.
She normally managed to force herself to eat something even on worse days, but this clearly set a new benchmark; all she could do was stare at her breakfast pancakes and halfheartedly nudge them. Soon enough, she gave up and trudged toward the door to her apartment, resigned to the inevitable.
"Good grief, you look much worse than I expected," came a now too-familiar reverberating imitation of Flighty's own voice. "I most certainly owe you an apology."
Flighty sighed and glanced toward the cruel parody of her own form. She couldn't even muster up the energy for a glare.
"Well?" she halfheartedly asked.
If Flighty didn't know better, she would take Devourer's shuffling as discomfort. After being so thoroughly tricked the day before, however, she was unwilling to ascribe proper pony emotion to this thing.
"I deliberately, for my own amusement, let you assume that I was some form of malicious entity; judging by your current state, I took that entirely too far. I am actually quite invested in the long-term health of the royal family, and I am sorry that I let you believe that I intended harm to their subjects."
Flighty didn't feel even a little bit better, and did not restrain herself from glaring. Words were cheap, and it did not escape her notice that Devourer was saying this after their deal had already been struck. Worse, Flighty was now impaired by sleep deprivation and despair. Devourer should know that. They were the one to demand the right and ability to spy upon Flighty's life. That they only intervened right before Flighty went to turn herself in did not escape her notice.
Despair turned to budding terror when Flighty realized that her thoughts might no longer be private, either. She'd thought that she was only giving permission and magically enabling Devourer to spy on her, but her thoughts were part of her.
"You are not supposed to be getting more scared," Devourer said plaintively. "I strongly suspect that something I just said was badly misunderstood. Please calm down and tell me the problem. Misunderstandings of this sort are much less fun to be involved in than they are to watch."
Despite ordering Flighty to explain the problem, Flighty did not feel instantly compelled to do so. That, at least, was something she could relax about. She had been just the tiniest bit worried that making any deal with a demon was tantamount to sacrificing her soul.
"My thoughts are still private, aren't they?" Flighty asked anxiously.
"Absolutely," Devourer agreed without hesitation. "I often tap into my Anchors' surface emotions to help me navigate social situations, but reality's fabric would need to be much thinner for me to be able to spy upon thoughts. If nothing else, please believe that I have more fun speculating on the motives behind actions than I do with simply learning the answer. Does that help?"
It did, if only a little.
"I still don't even remotely trust you," Flighty bluntly informed them.
Flighty omitted the part where she was telling Duchess Shimmer just in case Devourer hadn't yet realized her intentions after all.
"That's entirely fair," Devourer acknowledged. "To accompany my apology, I will give you a warning: Princess Celestia, upon the urging of Princess Cadance, has changed the date of announcing Sunset's adoption to today. I do not believe they expect her to wear anything special for the occasion, but if you want to impress her, you should consider bringing some supplies."
Flighty momentarily froze before remembering that short deadlines were no longer something that she would need to concern herself with. She might — might — be able to draw royal attention in a few decades, but it would almost certainly be too late by then. Today's announcement no longer involved her.
"Like they're going to want anything to do with me anymore," Flighty scoffed.
The demon wearing her form tilted their head in feigned incomprehension.
"Whyever not?"
Flighty's jaw clenched. The safe option would be to keep her mouth shut until she actually uttered her confession. She didn't feel like being safe and sensible, though; if she thought violence might help, she would love to outright slam that mocking innocence off Devourer's face.
"You promised me the knowledge I'd need for turning inert materials to their magical variants, and at the same time, ensured I won't be able to do anything with them! You even warned me and I was too stupid to see it! 'Devourer of Decadent Dreams,' indeed."
Feigned innocence turned to false discomfort, and Devourer twitched oddly. Flighty watched the demon warily, well aware that she would almost certainly lose a fight if violence erupted but unwilling to go down without knocking out a few teeth.
"I hope that, when you remember this, you will appreciate how hard it is for me to refrain from acting like a villain," said Devourer. "The situation is ripe for it. I will settle for asking: You intend to tell Sunset Shimmer of our contract?"
Well, there went the lingering urge to remain quiet.
"Of course I'm telling her!" Flighty bit back, only refraining from yelling out of consideration for her neighbors. "Even if we ignore what I did last night, I'm inherently not trustworthy by virtue of having you attached to my soul! Anything I'm ever told, you could hear, to say nothing of whether you might be able to look a little afield. I'm only going to the castle now so that I can confess, and then I expect I'll never be allowed to step hoof in there ever again!"
"'What I did,'" Devourer parroted in perfect imitation of Flighty's prior words. "You are aware that you have broken no laws, correct? I did check."
Because there surely wouldn't be any negative consequences to telling bad ponies that demons do exist after all, Flighty thought darkly. Princess Celestia can't make laws against it without revealing that fact.
"'The law stipulates what is required. Good ponies look to Celestia for what is desired,'" Flighty instead recited. "Every tale I knew of says that making contracts with demons is a mistake, and I still convinced myself that it would be worth it if I kept my soul and could ensure that Sunset was protected. I didn't even notice until afterward just how much leeway you left yourself, or how I'd been neatly talked into the standard 'Health, Wealth, Power' package."
And now the damnable demon was stalling her, weren't they? Flighty huffed and crossed the remaining distance to her door, taking the handle-attached rope in her teeth to yank it open. Locking it behind herself was a little trickier — she swore, whichever long-dead unicorn designed rotating locks needed to be taken out and forced to operate the damn things using solely their teeth or hooves — but it, too, was done quickly enough.
She wasn't pursued into the hallway, which she was thankful for. However, she faltered upon stepping out into the city proper and finding Devourer waiting. No passerby showed any sign of noticing the oddity of an alicorn-shaped clone of Flighty even as a few walked around Devourer. Flighty swallowed and forced herself to keep walking toward Canterlot Castle. Devourer matched her pace.
"There is no point if you are not a willing Anchor," Devourer said evenly, then paused. "I apologize, that may have come across as far more ominous than I intended. What I mean to say is that if you truly regret the agreement, then I will allow its revocation after you have confessed to Sunset, but I believe you will deem it unnecessary at that point."
After you've already eaten my dreams, you mean. Devourer would get most of the benefits and none of the cost.
"I'm sure it would be Lady Shimmer for you," Flighty instead spat.
At this, Devourer smiled and shook their head.
"Flighty Flame, I am a close friend of Sunset. I am allowed to call her by her first name and without titles."
Flighty snorted derisively. If that were true, Devourer wouldn't have batted an eye at Flighty tattling.
"I am telling the truth," Devourer insisted. "As I took this prank much too far, I would allow immediate revocation if doing so would not needlessly hurt us both. Sunset is another of my Anchors. How do you think that you drew my attention in the first place?"
By looking like easy pickings who would provide regular access to the Castle.
She stopped just long enough to turn and gather every bit of her hatred into a glare. Gratifyingly, the demon actually took a step back, eyes widening.
"I don't believe you," Flighty said slowly, making sure to emphasize every word. "I hope that my dead dreams make you choke."
She turned and fled — or more accurately, charged to her deserved doom.
Sunset Shimmer
I was worried when Voice told me that Flighty was approaching with urgent news. At least I didn't need to tell the guards to let her in; Celestia had apparently done what she'd promised, and ensured that Flighty would be allowed into the castle without needing to produce evidence of invitation each and every time.
My worry turned to bafflement and nausea when Flighty all-but ran into the sitting room and threw herself at the ground before me. I winced sympathetically as she slid the last few inches from sheer momentum. That had to hurt.
"Please do not share with me any secrets at any point for the rest of my life, as I can no longer be trusted with them," claimed the prostrated mare. "I sold my right to privacy to–"
I stiffened and promptly enveloped us in a privacy bubble.
"–a demon-like entity calling itself the 'Devourer of Decadent Dreams,' and also agreed to act as an 'Anchor' for them. I cannot guarantee that they will not use me as a focus for spying."
I couldn't help but feel annoyed that this was the 'urgent' news. Voice could have just told me Herself. Previously, I had expected that Voice would only ever make the one major deal with me, plus temporary protection for specific ponies to ensure that their entertaining-for-her stories weren't cut short prematurely by accidents.
"I am deeply sorry and will accept whatever punishment you believe is appropriate," Flighty concluded. "I thought it was an acceptable tradeoff until hindsight struck, but I should still have known better."
The original agreement with Voice had similarly barred her from requesting anything that would significantly harm ponies, but privacy was a mild enough sacrifice for Her to argue that she hadn't broken the agreement. After all, it was the same thing I'd given up.
The more I thought about it, the more nausea I felt from Flighty's fear, and I soon decided that further thought could wait until later. I glanced over one shoulder and at the red-maned 'hoofmaiden' lurking behind me.
"Voice?"
"Yes, Your Grace?" she said unhelpfully, maid mode in full force.
I rolled my eyes.
"You can get up, Flighty, it's fine. I'm just surprised that the Voice of Inconvenient Dreams liked you enough to help you at all."
Flighty peeked to stare up at me, but didn't stand yet.
"The what?" Flighty asked blankly.
One flash of body-enveloping green fire later, and an alicorn version of Flighty was waving a friendly hoof at her. Flighty flinched, shot upright, and pointed an accusing hoof at the pony-shaped Outsider.
"You!"
"Me," Voice agreed, before flashing back to Her 'normal' form.
Flighty's gaze jerked to stare at me with wide eyes. On the bright side, the nauseating fear seemed to have been replaced with the savory sensation of awe and a jittery undertone I didn't yet know.
"You bound a demon as a maid?" Flighty squeaked.
I really should have expected her to come to that conclusion. That's what I got for not explaining matters immediately.
"Of course not," I scoffed. "Believe me, if I had any choice in the matter, Voice wouldn't be behaving like this. She does it to get a rise out of me. Think of Voice as an extremely powerful spirit of stories motivated by her own entertainment; she's neither a threat to Equestria, nor unknown to Princess Celestia. She actually reinforced Discord's seal to ensure that he stays sealed."
The wobbling of Flighty's legs was the only warning I got before Flighty collapsed once more. At least it seemed to be from sheer relief this time.
"Oh, thank Celestia," Flighty breathed. "I was terrified that I'd thoughtlessly betrayed Equestria."
"On the contrary," I reassured her, "keeping Voice happy is actually in all our best interests. She's easily entertained, but more variety is important considering that She is likely to be in Equestria for thousands of years. I am… curious…?"
I trailed off, eyes widening, as the distinctive sound of a sob escaped Flighty's trembling form.
"Um," I said uncertainly.
Flighty burst into full-fledged tears, and I could do little more than look on with utter horror. I had no idea how to handle a crying pony that I actually knew, and therefore could not politely ignore. A hug or nuzzle would be grossly inappropriate for the amount of time that we'd known each other, but what degree of physical contact was appropriate for this situation, if any? In the absence of knowing how to help with recovery, I went on the attack and shot a dark glare at Voice.
"What did you do?" I demanded.
"Took a joke entirely too far," Voice easily admitted, ears going flat. "I tried to apologize, but she was… less than receptive."
Flighty hiccuped, swiping a hoof across her eyes to enable a watery glare.
"You p-pretended to be a demon, you — you utter cad!" Flighty choked out.
Rather than take care of the problem Herself, Voice shifted to hide behind me — and then made matters worse by outright shoving me forward, sending me stumbling into Flighty. I wasn't quite sure what happened over the next few disorienting seconds, but by the time I regained my balance, Flighty was clinging to my neck and openly crying into it.
I suppressed a huff, unamused but also unwilling to rebuke Voice. Her shove did save me from indecision; I could deal with her later. I redirected my attention to Flighty, although it was a bit difficult to look at her when she clung to me like this.
"It's okay?" I tried. "I'm very sorry She did that to you — and for the record, it would take more than one mistake for you to lose my favor, if that's what you were worried about."
This did not, in fact, have the desired effect. I was certain that Flighty didn't place any extra weight on me, but she felt heavier due to sympathetic weakness of my own limbs. Relief? Whatever the cause, she was definitely crying much harder than a few seconds prior.
Uuuuugh. I might actually have to ask Cadance for help with some of those mostly-useless social skills after all. Wasting a boring afternoon learning how to act in situations like this would be much preferable to the incredible discomfort of helpless uncertainty.
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- Location
- Elsewhere
"Discord is that most heinous of beings, a Mary Sue!"
- Location
- Moscow
Surprisingly well-applicable to Warhammer's Chaos.
- Location
- 𐌂 ̢͎̩̤̲̙͓̑̀͂͒̀͆̏𐋏 ̛͏̫̚𐌀 ̛͉̥̩̤̰͈̂̅͒͊͟𐍈 ̣͛𐍃 ̡̅̈́
I should feel a bit uncomfortable, when so many people around suddenly hate Chaos. 
However, some intuition is telling me, that the Voice made something more interesting, than just reinforcing the seal. It would be too simple, too cutting for the story. Perhaps, they could make some surprise, which we would see in the future. Because why even bring Discord into thier story, if they not going to use this piece later? They could just do thier thing quietly and only speak about it, when asked for some reason. Bringing him into conversation already making him relevant for the story. Like, cognitohazard - curse of Chekhov's gun. But this is just my intuition.
However, some intuition is telling me, that the Voice made something more interesting, than just reinforcing the seal. It would be too simple, too cutting for the story. Perhaps, they could make some surprise, which we would see in the future. Because why even bring Discord into thier story, if they not going to use this piece later? They could just do thier thing quietly and only speak about it, when asked for some reason. Bringing him into conversation already making him relevant for the story. Like, cognitohazard - curse of Chekhov's gun. But this is just my intuition.
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- Location
- Finland
Discussion about Discord's seal and why celestia allowed it to fray so badly (she probably can't actually fix it) could lead to lot of informative discussions.
Which is why sunset is probably going to completely ignore it and instead speculate on her own and come to wrong conclusions.
Which is why sunset is probably going to completely ignore it and instead speculate on her own and come to wrong conclusions.
Discord is my favorite character, but I'm ultimately ambivalent to this anyways because I figure the seal isn't honestly going to do anything but buy them a little more time. Like, maybe an extra year.
In other words, I think Voice is overestimating her abilities to interfere with the situation.
In other words, I think Voice is overestimating her abilities to interfere with the situation.
Yeah, except Voice is very biased and acting on said biases. Chaos in general might act that way, but that doesn't mean a Chaotic individual will, as was proven in the cannon Discord actively choosing not to return to his old ways.
Nothing exists in a vacuum and Chaos is no different. Yes, ignoring everything else Chaos is a force that breaks down rules/conventions with zero restraint but that doesn't give the whole picture. Chaos is balanced by Order, which in turn is balanced by Chaos.
Because where Chaos is about breaking rules then Order is about imposing them to the degree where breaking or even bending them is impossible. That makes unchecked order just as bad as unchecked Chaos, you need a balance of both to make something functional.
Chaos enables and encourages change, but to much prevents long term growth and development. Order provides stability that allows for things to grow and develop, but to much order is stifling and leads to stagnancy.
Of the two I honestly see Unchecked Order as being more dangerous than Unchecked Chaos. Unchecked Chaos by its definition cannot destroy all rules, because there being no rules is a rule itself. As such there is always the chance to beat Chaos, to one degree or another. Unchecked Order on the other hand has no such internal logic and it can and will binding everything down in rules, with the only thing being able to escape that fate is Chaos itself.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
Thanks for the update! I've heard about the story in the Nominations thread, thought that I should give it a try, and then didn't. Finally started to actually read it yesterday and finished it just in time for the new chapter.
It's a brilliant story and I immediately voted for it once I finished reading.
It's a brilliant story and I immediately voted for it once I finished reading.
- Location
- 𐌂 ̢͎̩̤̲̙͓̑̀͂͒̀͆̏𐋏 ̛͏̫̚𐌀 ̛͉̥̩̤̰͈̂̅͒͊͟𐍈 ̣͛𐍃 ̡̅̈́
It can. In these cases Chaos just self-imposes random rules, which usually don't make any sense. Bubbling foam of Chaos filled with 'stable' parts, when it devours rule about not having rules. 👓
Edit: Although, if rule about possibility of being only one true statement about something eaten first, we can have situation when there are and aren't rules at the same time.
Edit: Although, if rule about possibility of being only one true statement about something eaten first, we can have situation when there are and aren't rules at the same time.
Edit 2: It's Chaos. It's complicated and violating even at the best of times.
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serra2
Himouto! Sylvanas-chan
Cadance without her coffee has zero chill. The Equestrian Revolution will not be heralded by inequality or disaster, but by someone swapping out the mug with decaff.
Gonna admit, as much as I don't like Discord, *absolutely hilarious* if Voice tampers with the seal on an Eldrich god and fucks up/overestimates herself and meddled in affairs outside her comprehension. It's all dumbass wizards all the way down. 
(Do like Q in Star Trek, but in good Q episodes there's a difference in motives I like better.)
(Do like Q in Star Trek, but in good Q episodes there's a difference in motives I like better.)
She's going to learn how to pony! I'm so proud! 👏