Ted wasn't paying attention to either of the two females. It was safer this way. No letting them get a rise out of him, no allowing them to see a prod getting a reaction out of the alicorn-returned-human, and definitely no paying attention now that the two were strangely quiet.
Wait, that last one was a bad thing.
Finally tearing his gaze from the sunset, he found himself face to face with Luna once more, the alicorn once more at her reduced stature.
"Ci-Ted? I would like to request a chance to speak with my sister. I know you can reach her, and being able to speak with her after the Nightmare's visit would likely help her stay strong. I now have an escape, something to do to pass the time, but my sister is not so lucky."
"She doesn't know how to dream walk?"
Luna shook her head sadly "I've attempted to teach her a few times in the past, but she always broke the dreams she stepped into, attempting to use more force than is necessary. It is the personality trait that always prevented her from doing so. She has become much more subtle with her words over the centuries, but her magic style is the same as it always has been."
Ted took a moment to let the idea sink in. He had nothing against the princess, in fact she'd helped line up the lunar alicorn as a mentor of sorts for him. So he kind of owed the solar princess.
"Sure, I'll do it. It doesn't take me long to find someone when I know who I'm looking for. I could probably find your sister's student if I looked. Find out one way or another if I'm right."
Luna shook her head. "Please do not risk it at the moment. If you can find a way to release my sister and I, then I wouldn't mind helping you stop the Mad Queen, but until then, you give us a connection to the outside world. You are in a way our window to the rest of Equis."
"Fine, I'll get it set up. Will she even be asleep?"
"Yes, the interrogations we are put through are quite long and exhausting. I personally have been asleep physically for two days. Seeing as my sister was personally involved with Twilight, it is probably worse for her. Please hurry, I can't stand the thought of her being alone for too long."
Pandinus watched in confusion as Safe/Warm/Food faded from the dream, off to visit what she assumed was the Princess of the Sun. The princess took a few breaths before focusing intently on the queen, causing Din to take a few cautious steps back.
Luna grinned wickedly at the changeling, the miniature alicorn practically prowling up to her. "My sister's dream will be available shortly. I would give him five, ten minutes at most before she is receptive to us. That means you and I have ten minutes just to ourselves."
The queen was on the verge of panic. Ten minutes alone with an alicorn who dream walked on a regular basis? There wouldn't be anything left of her, in fact she'd probably be in a worse condition than when she'd first attacked Ted! She had to-
Suddenly the princess lunged at her, earning a strangled yelp from the changeling. Cracking her eyes open, Pandinus spotted Luna latched onto Din's muzzle, grinning at the changeling like a psychopath.
"Tell. Us. Everything!"
Pandinus' panic slowed at the statement. "What?"
"Everything! We require vast detail! How did you meet him, how did you learn you wished to pursue him, how did he react, what actions did you take to win his affection, I must know! All of it, in excruciating detail!"
The shape shifters response was filled with such inspiration it would be repeated for centuries to come.
"What?"
Luna finally backed up a bit, her grin fading a bit. "I have nothing to ponder these days. Before I was imprisoned I guarded the dreams of the entire planet. Now there are barely a thousand dreamers in the world, not including myself. Do you have any idea how excruciatingly boring it is? The only thing I have to entertain myself with these days is meddling with the dreams of ponies, and even that can only be done during the day where I am. Otherwise I am subjected to an immortal's greatest enemy. Boredom. So speak, make words! I will know everything I can! Oh, this will be so fun!"
Queen Pandinus was lost. The alicorn was mad! "Why would I tell you such things? I'll not help you learn of him, he's mine!"
Luna merely laughed. "I have no interest in him, not in that way at least. I have been helping the young one. Teaching him of his body and our world, hoping that one day he may release my sister and I. What of you? Certainly he's done something for you recently, for you to be so possessive of him." Her smile thinned just a bit. "So what are you doing to help him?"
"I plan on allowing him to rule with me." The queen said, anger in her eyes.
"Oh, good! A demotion for helping you!" The alicorn chuckled in amusement. "He already rules his subjects, even the changelings accept him as their ruler."
"Grift answers to me!"
"Yes, one of four, though the other two are young. Tell me, what would happen if you were to leave? Would the changeling still follow you when your link was no longer protected by Cimmerian's magic? Would the changeling still follow you if you did not have access to the abundance of food Cimmerian provides for your hive?"
The alicorn circled the changeling, her smile gone. "Food. Shelter. A home. Acceptance for your race you will find with no other ruler. He has given this to you, and that is only the things I know of, what else has he done for you?"
Pandinus winced, the memory of her almost feral attack on the alicorn coming to the forefront of her mind. She could almost hear, no, she could hear her growling as she jumped the invisible source of emotion that had entered her nest. Turning to the princess, she saw Luna gazing at a window, displaying the attack she'd been thinking of.
It was over. The alicorn would destroy her, leaving her the shuddering mess she'd been before this all began. Maybe worse.
"Ah, I see."
Pandinus opened an eye to see the alicorn still gazing at the memories, this one of her first time in the alicorns bathroom. As she was cleaned, she caught a glimpse of her self in the mirror, and Luna paused it with a touch. It was her just after her release from the cell, with barely two days of low amounts of emotion given to her, since Cimmerian was still recovering from her attack and didn't trust her. She was dirty, gaunt, her mane and tail in tatters. But worst of all was her eyes, giving off barely a spark of intelligence. She never wanted to be that hungry again.
"Fear. That's why you cling to him, isn't it?" Luna said, approaching her. "You fear what could happen if he abandoned you, fear what would happen if you didn't have his protection of the link." The alicorn began circling the changeling, the smaller creature still making her feel infinitesimally small. "You fear the possibility of returning to that state. Fear the hunger, the loss of self." Finally the alicorn finished her circle, sitting before her.
"I've known loss myself, young one. If not for my sister, I may have been lost after my return from exile. Everything I knew was gone. The only thing that remained was my position and my sister, and my position was in a tenuous situation at best. Only by a great deal of political experience and placing her own position on the line did my sister save me from the ire of the nobles. After all, if one of the immortal rulers of the country had fallen to darkness, what is to say the other could not fall to the same fate? By having two on the throne, one does not hold too much power, and they may keep their counterpart in check. Because my sister did this for me, the moment I was strong enough I began returning to my duties. I held court, allowing the backlog of citizens requesting audience to voice their concerns. I entertained dignitaries while my sister took her first vacation in centuries. I even lectured at her school while she was busy with an emergency, so she did not feel like she had abandoned her duties, even though it was in the middle of my sleep schedule." Luna smiled sadly at the queen. "But the most important thing we did for each other was to forgive our mistakes. Not the mistakes the other made against us, but the mistakes we made against each other. That is where the fear comes from, correct? You fear that he still holds your attack against you."
Luna cocked her head quizzically. "What is your goal?"
"My goal?" Pandinus asked. "I, I want his love. I want to know what it tastes like, what it feels like to not have to steal it. It's all so much better, so much more filling when he freely gives it to me, so what would love taste like? How much strength would it provide me and my children? Is that bad? Isn't it what ponies want when they look for a mate?"
Luna closed her eyes in thought for a moment, before smiling again. "Perhaps that is where our understanding differs. Love is your goal, and what happens when you reach that goal? You wish for more. Love should not be your goal, it should be your reward. It is what you want from your lover, in return for your care and affection. You fear him leaving you? Give him reasons not to. Advise him, offer an ear for his fears and worries." She grinned wickedly all of a sudden. "Offer him a chance to relieve stress."
"I, I have... repeatedly, actually. If not for the fact that I can taste an undercurrent of desire when I tease him, I would have thought him a colt cuddler." Pandinus said, dragging a hoof in the sand. "He actually just told me why he's been saying no before you arrived. He said he wishes to return home after all of this."
The alicorn was silent a moment, chewing this revelation. "He said that, did he? I do not know as much about traveling worlds as my sister, she was much closer to the mage who studied such things than myself, but I will speak to him. There is an important detail he seems to be missing."
Pandinus brightened up. "He can't go back? He'll stay here?"
"Cease your celebrations, fool! Were he to witness your joy at his expense, what would he think of you?" The queen took a few steps back at the outburst. "You wish for his love? Seek to bring him happiness, not cheer when his misfortune benefits you. Truly this situation can become advantageous for you, but if you are not careful, it could ruin you just as quickly." Just then Luna's left ear perked up, and she looked off into the distance. "We must continue this another time, my sister calls me. I will visit every now and again, and we will discuss your progress. If you have questions, I will aid you." Luna pulled the changeling into a firm hug. "My sister and I can offer little but council and training in our current situation. You however are free to aid him in whichever way you find necessary. Make that your goal, ahead of merely bedding him. I am sure you will see better results. Now come, I wish to introduce my sister to you! Oh, Tia is going to love this!" The alicorn giggled, before she pulled Pandinus across the dream realm with her.
<-(0)->
It didn't take Ted long to find his target, and as soon as he was certain he was close, the dream started taking form. He entered even as it began to take shape, and was immediately pulled into a powerful hug.
"Thank you! Oh thank you so much, Luna sent you didn't she? Oh, I cannot believe we didn't see it before, her posture, her speech, everything about her was wrong. I Just, I don't..." The rest of what the alicorn had to say was incomprehensible as she devolved into sobbing, leaving Ted to pull her into a winged hug. This was supposed to be a goddess to the locals, right? Yet here she was, blubbering like a lost child into his barrel.
'Then again, everyone needs a shoulder, don't they?' He thought, pulling her closer. 'And she spent the longest time being the shoulder everyone else needed.'
'When the world starts crushing you, who does an immortal goddess turn to for support?' He thought sadly.
'No one.'
Thus the alicorn waited, allowing the princess to vent. She cried, and he comforted. She despaired, and he reassured. She clung tighter, and her held her closer.
Finally wiping away a few remaining tears, Celestia finally pushed away from the darker alicorn.
"T-thank you, I'm sorry I put you through that, I-"
"Don't apologize." Ted cut her off, pulling her in close once more. "You and your sister have done a lot for me. I'm happy to return the favor, even if it's just acting as a snot rag." He said with a grin. The smaller alicorn chuckled at his words, and he continued.
"All I ask, is that you continue to help me, and if I need it, return the favor. After all, you and a drake I've met from a nearby port town, are the only ones who didn't attack me during our initial or follow-up meeting. Unless staining my fur counts as assault. Personally, I don't trust him as much more than a companion, though."
Celestia chuckled, even as she pushed herself free of his grip.
"I understand. I've met a few gentledrakes in the past, and while they can be wonderful company, the moment something shiny or female becomes involved, they tend to be easily distracted."
"So it's not just that idiot? I swear, that guy was either talking money, or females."
"Oh stars no, I do remember this one dragon I met, he was convinced he was Creations gift to females! Kept trying to convince me that "Once you ride the bad drake, nothing else will satisfy." I'm not kidding, he actually said that!" The princess said with a giggle.
Ted merely hooked his hoof around his muzzle. "I don't think Sahkest would do that but-"
"That was him!" She shouted. "Blue scales and a love of drink, right? I can't believe he's still around!" She giggled, clopping her forehooves together in glee. "Tell Him, heehee, tell the bad drake that Sunny Days remembers him, nor did she think he lived up to his talk."
"Wait, you mean to tell me you actually-"
"Sister! It is wonderful to see you again!" Luna said, taking her sister into a bone crushing hug. "I feared the worse when I saw the feather! Are you alright?"
"Feather?" Ted asked. "What's this about a feather?"
"The Mad Queen, she likes to taunt us, flaunt our inability to stop her from committing her crimes." Luna said softly. "She brings trophies, newspapers, whatever she believes will get a rise out of my sister and I. Her most recent present was a few long pink feathers."
Ted pondered the meaning of such a thing a moment, before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, it doesn't sound familiar."
"How could you- right, your memories began before Luna was introduced to her." Celestia said sorrowfully. "The only source of feathers of that size and color would be my niece. She was a pink alicorn, the alicorn of love."
"The one from the Crystal City you mentioned earlier." Ted said, frowning at the implications. "What happened to her?"
"We do no know for certain, only that the Mad Queen was extremely smug for, in her own words, breaking the alicorn of love." Luna said with a stony expression. "I fear for her, Cimmerian, more than my sister or myself. Please, if you hear anything of her, and can aid her without compromising yourself, do so."
"On a different note, sister, I have somepony I'd like you to meet." Luna walked in the direction she'd come from, drawing the attention of all the residents to the third guest in Celestia's dream. "Sister, be known to Queen Pandinus, Queen of a mighty hive of one changeling." The alicorn said with a mischievous smile. Pandinus shuffled her hooves, muttering something to Luna.
"Oh, our apologies, Queen of one changeling and seven eggs." She corrected, breaking into giggles.
Celestia merely gaped at the changeling before her. The princess had seen one or two, but neither prepared her for the sight. The changeling was not quite at the size of a fully empowered alicorn, but what caught her attention was the holes along the queen's body. Rather, what drew her attention was the fact her shell was nearly devoid of them.
"Why did you bring her here, Luna?" She finally asked, still inspecting the uncomfortable shape shifter.
"You cannot imagine how glad I am that you asked, dear sister. Pandinus, the adorable little hormonal creature she is, is currently pursuing your nephew's hoof! Oh, we had a nice, long conversation about it while waiting for Cimmerian to open your dream to us, and we discussed much about her goals. After all, I wished to know why a young queen was pursuing a stallion that is everything but my own flesh and blood. A mother should always attempt to get to know the mare pursuing her son."
Even as he buried his face in his hooves, Ted could see the changeling shrinking from the miniature alicorns, her shell somehow seeming slightly more pale than it was moments ago.
'I will never understand how that works. Ponies blushing through fur is weird enough, but seeing the color drain from her face through chitin?'
Ted watched the sisters talking to each other, both about, and to the squirming changeling. Every now and again, she'd throw a pleading look his way, but the sisters just wouldn't leave her be. At one point they even ushered the poor bug away from him, so they could speak to her without his presence. It was extremely strange to him, and left him uncomfortable. He knew Tia liked pranks, and both of the sisters would be bored after spending so much time trapped in their individual prisons that they'd be chomping at the bit for any kind of entertainment, even if it was at the expense of their benefactor. The slowly rising noise of conversation brought him back to reality, or at least the dream version of it, and he turned to see the princesses approaching once more with Pandinus, though the queen was somehow sporting both a blush and was still slightly pale.
'Don't question it, just go with it.'
Celestia trotted ahead, greeting him with a smile. "Upon further inspection, I second my sister's opinion of your chosen consort. I also believe you would be in a much better condition to lead your ponies if you just took her to your room and-"
"Stop right there, princess." Ted interrupted her. "I've already told her why that's not happening."
Celestia's smile dropped slightly, but she continued on a different topic. "Yes, she told us. She also spoke of goals, both hers and your own. How she has done much to garner your attention, even if my sister and I find her attempts entertaining and cute, if a bit misguided." She smiled at that last thought, before her expression became serious. "She also told me of your desire to return home. I understand your desires, but I must ask you two things first, Cimmerian."
Ted's heart was in his throat as she finished her statement. There was no context in which that could be considered a good sign. Not trusting himself to speak, he merely nodded, prompting the princess to continue.
"The first is; how old was the rest of your family? You said that humans live for at most a century, correct? And it has been nearly four decades since you were lost to them. I truly am sorry for asking this, but would they still be alive? Even if they are, would they have not laid your memory to rest by now?" She asked him, eyes glistening with pain.
For his part the larger alicorn said nothing, having already considered the possibility. It could be true, it could be worse. That wasn't what drove him on. It was the not knowing that was truly hurting him.
"Next I give you a warning. The farther you get from our world, traveling through others, the harder it becomes to find your way back. Even when guided by a master of traveling between worlds, the worlds we saw were still saturated with magic. To travel far enough to find a place devoid of magic? You would never find your way back to us. I do not believe the Nightmare had any intention of returning, knowing we had the strength to defeat it. Should you pursue it, you would not see Equis again."
Ted nodded, knowing that it was a possibility. That was part of life, right? Risks were expected to be made for rewards.
"Finally, the form you now take, an alicorn, is a being of the strongest magics, second only to the titans and the fiends in sheer capability. As such, your body renews itself continuously with the magic in the air. Have you ever seen a fish that has been removed from water, nephew? That would be your fate once you reached those fringe worlds, even those with traces of mana. You may never even reach your goal, your power running out before you reached the correct world." Tears falling freely, the princess voiced her final question. "Would you, Cimmerian, be willing to relegate yourself to a certain death with no guarantee of finding the correct world, much less making it to a world as devoid of magic as you believe your own to be?"
That... that was brutal ending. Poor Ted.
Why he didnt parry Luna`s comment about her being his mother?
now i have to wonder, is the actual nightmare moon a magic being like an alicorn and would she(it?) have magically burnt out like it sounds like he would? if so would his body be in a coma?
Deep
Welp, that should knock some sense into him and make him focus more on his current life....the life of all those under him.
6151638
a 40 year coma? they'd have pulled the plug decades ago.
Keeping hope alive is easy, crushing it is also simple. What makes it difficult is emotional bonds. Celestia is practiced in one sense at both sides. However, doing the same to some one who might as well be one of the few family members you can expect to be around as long as you is a very different and entirely horrible idea for an effectively immortal being. I don't envy Celestia that she has faced this sort of thing twice now.
Aside from the Very downer ending... Squeeeeee! Luna is best pony!
Ahh yes, I know from personal experience that the only thing worse than the parents being opposed to a relationship is the parents being enthusiastic for the relationship.
6151641
Blub blub blub
I think this was your best chapter yet.
Moar!
6151645 Meh...he seems like the denial type.
"Isn't there any thing you can do?!"
No.
"May be if I have a crystal to act as a storage battery..."
That is ridiculous, and impossible.
"I have to get back!...there my family!"
You have been gone 40 plus years...your family is either dead or moved on, and you coming back drastically changed can only open up old wounds long since healed.
Well, at least Blur and Din will help him through it.
6151634 because she is, more or less towards his current physical/mental being-self.
I feel that Celestia might have forgotten one thing. Ted needs resources for either staying or going. And that either way he is going to be in conflict with Queen Twilight.
If he chooses to stay, he'll need to fortify, build towns, ports, create trade, actually govern and so on, so forth. And sooner or later, Twilight gonna hear of the upstart.
If he wants to go, he will need a dedicated magic research team, not just Shadow Weaver alone. And right now, Twilight has all of those. Even if he wants to go to the Equestria Girls world (unknown if it is canon for this fic) which he doesn't know about, he'll still at the very least have to bust though to Cadance.
Celestia should have emphasized that either way Ted will need to fight, subvert, and conquer Twilight and her forces to get his ultimate goal.
Please tell me Twilight gets a redemption arc.
Wow, don't pull any punches there girls, just tell it like it is in all it's brutal logical truth. If Ted is as smart as he thinks he is, I believe that he would quickly realize the full meaning behind their warnings. He has been gone a long time. And even if he did find Earth, the magic that's as much a part of his body as blood would leave him crippled if not slowly dying outright. This is all assuming he can find Earth too. Sure, the possibilities aren't zero but he'd have better luck winning the Powerball lottery, twice.
And aren't humans supposed to be so good at "adaptation"? Maybe in the future he'll be able to at least send a message in a bottle back to Earth?
He has a family in Equestria. All that people who call him "father" - do they mean anything for him? Luna too.
The last two chapters are fantastically fun to read.
6151809 Plus it doesn't seem like he has any personal ties to Earth, he just wants to go back because COMPLICATION AND REASON FOR CONFLICT LOOOOOL.
So fair question, Is Nightmare a being of magic? If so does that mean she evaporated on her way to Ted's body?
6151509 I see your point and I desperately hope you are joking. In modern English, there are two uses for the apostrophe: to abbreviate, as mentioned, but also in the construction showing a relationship.
Abbreviation: (Putting an apostrophe where letters have been removed)
you're (short for "you are")
don't (short for "do not")
Bob's driving his car (short for "Bob is")
Bob's got a fever (short for "Bob has")
the changeling's depressed (short for "changeling is")
Showing relationship: (Apostrophe S)
the changeling's wings (the wings are part of the changeling)
Bob's car (the car belongs to Bob)
Bob's wife (she is married to Bob)
(Exception: "its", "theirs", etc. don't use apostrophes even though they are possessives, probably due to the rise of use of apostrophes to abbreviate.)
Thus, there is more than one possible reason for an apostrophe to be followed by an S. In this case, the latter one applies.
"I'm not saying you shouldn't go back to your world. Just merely pointing out the most likely outcome. But by all means, go ahead; is not like our, your subjects or the entire world's only hope (puppy look) "
Damn, Celestia, you play dirty.
Not a bad thing, you know.
I'm already dreading the moment when Ted finds out Cadence 's fate.
6151634 cuz she technically is
This chapter was everything i hoped for and more, this includes the brutal truth punch that Celestia and Luna gave Ted about his plans of going home.
If the no magic in Ted's world and his world is apparently far away how did the Nightmare even switch with him out of all the magic worlds?
Was the spell like playing roulette with 3,000,000,000 magic worlds and 1 non magic world and she got realy unlucky?
6151634 Because he's made the exact same observation more than once.
6151750 "Redemption in Death" is a trope, unfortunately.
6151827 I'm pretty sure that family and friends count. None of the alicorns know for sure what the time dilation is like between Equestria and Earth, and if nothing else, he'd want to know what happened to them. Desire for closure is a powerful motivator.
6151930 There are probably just as many nonmagical worlds as there are magical worlds; they're just much farther away. So if the Nightmare wanted to escape as far away as it possibly could, the switch spell would pretty much be guaranteed to reach into one of those nonmagical worlds, and Ted just happened to be the happy winner of the Swap Lottery.
Poor, poor Tuna...
6151930 More like with endless magic worlds and endless no-magic worlds.
Ouch. Still, callous as it may sound, this was something Ted needed to hear. If he'd gone years hoping to return and then be told that, no, it might not work and even if it does your family has most likely died from old age and then you'll die like a stranded fish, gasping for ambient magic that just isn't there.
By telling him this now, Celestia is mitigating the damage. Oh, it'll hurt and it's going to suck hard, but imagine how bad it'd be if he had been clinging blindly to that hope for a decade or so?
And as someone pointed out, if he does decide to try to return he's going to need resources and a research team, etc, and he has none of that yet. Worse, any magical scientists will likely be under Nightmare Twilight's hoof and she really isn't going to let him borrow them...
As for Cadence... Yeah, her fate may be a terrible one, but what about Shining Armor!? Is he even still alive and if he is, what has Twilight done to him? Twisted as she is right now, I suspect petrification to "preserve" him or brainwashing because obviously she can let her beloved big brother work against her and who better to lead her Royal Guard?
On a happier note, Luna's interaction with Pandinus was a good one (and I even got to see some of the teasing I hoped for) and hopefully the Imperial Scorpion has grown some thanks to what Luna and Celestia have told/taught her.
She's definitely one of the better changeling oc's I've seen thus far.
6151750 Maybe not a redemption arc but I'm personally hoping for redemption. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say rescue since she's possessed and it's less her and more the evil thing using her that is responsible for everything and not Twilight herself.
6151827 ...He wants to see his family? It's like stated outright to be the reason he wishes to return to Earth.
His family is the personal tie he has to the homeworld. Did you not read any of the chapters where any of this was mentioned?
6151849 Don't forget though, that's for showing the possessive relation for singular nouns. For a Plural noun, the apostrophe would be placed after the S, should the word end in the letter S. If it does not it would still be written the same as a singular, with the apostrophe placed before the S.
Examples
This is the person's will. (The will belongs to this one person.)
This is the People's will. (The will belongs to all the people)
Despite being Plural, "People" doesn't end with an S so it is treated the same as "Person".
The Boxer's gloves are stored in the back store room (Only one set of gloves in the back belongs to the boxer.)
The Boxers' gloves are stored in the back store room (The gloves belong to all the boxers)
By changing where the apostrophe was placed, the back store room went from having only one set of boxing gloves, to all of the boxing gloves.
I keep forgetting this story is quite dark, even without the tag...
There's a world of hurt outside of the relatively peaceful temple...
I can believe Celestia and Luna withstanding physical and mental torture due to their long experiences, but Cadance?
Not only is she relatively young but also there was Shining to be used as a... well, breaking point.
And Shining's fate is another can of worms that we are yet to see opened.
So if there's no magic Ted/Cim would slowly die? Or just accelerate aging until her caught up on those 40 years?
Also, to remind you all who are bashing on "just" Twilight: If Luna got a second chance after being possessed by
a "parasite", why wouldn't Twilight? There is no Tragedy tag, nor a Dark tag.
Imho she is still essential, because as much as I hate the EoH, they're a good way to fix most of the damages done
to Equestria and the rest of the world.
On a lighter note, Celestia does strike me as an adventurous pony. I can see her "riding" a dragon...
Poor Ted, finding the family of his dreams, only to get hit by the neutronium star of truth.
You ned to build more pylons.
Theres a map of realities somewhere, very intrsting, but they didnt point out, I dont remember, that the map was produced from the viewpoint of our reality, but being a hyperbolic geometry, means it looks the same from the viewpoint of all the other realities, making us in no way unique or special. Otherwise the Copernican Principle, in that the Earth is not the centre of teh solar system, or the universie, or this reality etc.
Even if nightmare wanted to and could aquire the resources, it will be an awful long climb back out of the centre of the void that is the magic free realms.
So... his body continuously renews itself with magic?
Seems like Ted's in for a long life, because based on his current state of denial, it might take a century or two for him to come to terms he won't be going back (Or he might, I dunno).
Or not, I just figured if he constantly renews himself with magic, he wouldn't have to worry about his DNA, cells, and organs degrading with age (Immortality).
I don't know, I get some sort of horrible glee knowing he might live forever never seeing his family again, just based on how he has denied that his family could clearly be dead and going home to be a fruitless endeavor.
... and I guess his followers need him too. He needs to rule them and all that.
I hope he actually voices that it's the not knowing that's getting him. After all he wouldn't have to go anywhere just to look, and windows might be easier to open than a door.
Ted was a human. Hurt us and even the meekest can be forced into unreasoning anger.
I wonder how Pandinus will react to Ted reacting to realizing just how much the Nightmare spirit screwed him over, and how he's almost powerless at this time to do anything in return. How does rage taste? Methinks she'll want to vacate the dream world quickly.
Whelp, I found a great story. Now would you kindly please post the next chapter?
6152106 Yep. An apex predator's mind going into berserk mode combined with an alicorn's form and power would cause bricks to be shat.
Also, I hope Luna and Celestia are more clear on Pandinus that the real key is for Ted and her to really enjoy spending time together, whatever they may be up to. It felt like Luna diluted that message a bit.
Da~ymn luna and Tia are both horn dogs! mind you, it's kind of pitiful being immortals without a love that would last just as long as them, perhaps having a fling here or there helps that loneliness, who knows.
I hope pandanus does come to love ted, he needs a true confidant more than ever right now. When twilight says she has broken cadence, I hope it's not the type where she becomes a whorse or something, that would be too obvious I my opinion. Still, heavy stuff all around in this chapter.
we need ex-sacrificial foals to comfort the dark alicorn stat!
i saw this comment on the last chapter i knew it was going to come up soon.
Now, about the ending. I think you did great to bring up the problems without saying that it is impossible. This will allow your character to actually THINK about the possibility, but also give him some ability to hesitate.
Please, even if your ending is a relationship, run with this, have a few chapters about debate, have him research it a little more and come to the conclusion himself about how impossible it is. Even if the person talking is your recent aunt, humans tend to have an issue with other people telling them something is impossible.
Though a few things to also dig into if you wish. What if the worlds dont run on the same time? What if the 40 years he's been lost is only 4 years on home? what if it's 400 years? I mean you could just say that it is 40 years, but that's some more things you could have him dig into. Maybe also have him research the spell the nightmare used to see if she had to specify where she was going?
Once again i am please with the outcome, you have my unneeded permission to continue.
Similar to how you take candy from a baby?
more please!
6151979
A few chapter's back, Nightmare2.0 was gloating over how she shattered Shiny's mind trying to remove Changeling mind-domination spells that were never there, under the warped logic that was the ONLY reason he would try to stop Twilight, ever. Petrification would have been more merciful...
Poor Twi is going to need to be on suicide watch for decades when she is freed from that demon's hold.
I've been able to do that quite easily, but that's just me. I don't feel guilt by saying truth, no matter how badly it burns.
Damn. I REALLY enjoyed this story. Very well-written, with good doses of humor, adventure, and "d'aww"'s
Keep up the great work! Can't wait to see where this is going!
6152382 Right then, I forgot about that.
Yes, petrification would probably have been more merciful.
well that is sad i hope Ted can move forward from this and not go in a permanent depression because of his hopes of ever going to his home or seeing his home planet was blasted to death
anyway love the story so far even if this chapter ended in a sad note
Better Celestia tell him the painful truth now then for him to feed false hope and take greater pain later.
Forewarned he can plan and consider with open eyes. Mollycoddled and he would walk blind to his doom.
man good job keep it up
twilight needs to die i mean she really dose after doing all that shit shes going to be suicidal as fuck. but hay maby she will learn to live with it.
maby