Chapter Ten
Legends and Profits
Swift Wing took the wheel after midnight while I scouted back along our course to make sure we weren't being followed. He really wanted to take a full watch, and he assured me that his wing wasn't bothering him at all.
"Just until Lance and I have finished with our little sideshow, then it's back to bed with you," I told him. "We will need you whole and healthy in the days to come."
"Uh… sideshow, Ms. Nightshade?"
"Yes, we're going to put on a performance for the baron and his guards," I said, heading for the companionway to the lower decks. "There may be screaming. Just ignore it."
I met Lance in the empty passenger cabin for a last-minute whispered conference. Then I went through the hatch to the cargo hold and worked my way forward until I was near the area where Baron Ironhoof and the pegasi were being held.
I watched them from the darkness for a few minutes. One pegasus was clumsily and ineffectively trying to loosen the hobbles on the baron's forelegs. He'd obviously never been held prisoner before.
I spread my wings and gave them a tiny shake to make the feathers rattle together.[1] The baron didn't notice, but the unoccupied pegasus certainly did.
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[1] Yes, rattle. Unlike Luna's soft owlish wings, my own—particularly when influenced by dark magic—were more like a raven's: stiff, and loud.
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"What was that?" The pegasus peered toward me, but his night vision was ruined by the lamp hanging directly above the group. "I thought I heard… what… what is that?!"
I'd brought up as much of a charge of dark magic into my horn as I could manage. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to get my eyes glowing and my horn crackling with greenish electricity.
"Meeeeeeat…" I growled low in my throat. I didn't walk so much as creep into the lamplight. "Fressssh meeeeat!"
Give those ponies credit: none of them screamed. The baron blanched and tried to scoot himself backwards through the bulkhead, and the guards put themselves between him and me as best they could.
"Release me, demon!" One of the pegasi demanded. "Let me die fighting! Let me go to the Summerlands doing my duty!"
I laughed. A long, low chuckle that burbled up out of my throat like blood from a deep wound. "Foolish little bird thinks it's a fighter. No… no… just food." I let my jaw fall open, and thin streams of drool dropped from between my fangs.
And that's when Stalwart Lance rushed to the rescue. He came through the hatch in the bulkhead opposite me and interposed himself, holding up a flat circular piece of brass that he carefully kept obscured from the prisoners' direct view. "Get back! The captain said you're not to have them yet!"
I hissed and flinched away from the instrument as if it were some sort of amulet that had the power to hold me at bay.[2] "I am hungry!" I whined. "Let me feast!"
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[2] In actuality, it was a simple nocturlabe from my navigation chest, useless on that world where the stars didn't match its markings.
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Lance thrust his hoof toward me again, and I growled and backed away. "Not yet! Get back to your cell!"
I snarled and noisily retreated until I was hidden in the darkness again. Then I settled in and listened.
"You'll be alright," Lance said. "For now."
"You… you… serve those monsters!" One of the pegasi accused.
Lance didn't reply. Neither of us wanted to rely too much on his acting ability, so his few lines were reserved for specific requests.
"Don't leave us! That thing might come back!" That was the baron. "You're a good earth pony! Why would you help those… aleak… al..."
"Al leekornu," the second pegasus said. "The destroyers."
"I don't know anything about that," Lance said. "I don't know what they are. I never heard of them before they descended on my village and took me."
"My guards say they're monsters from another world," the baron said. There was a long pause before he spoke again. "Some sort of tribal legend they don't share with… outsiders."
"Free us!" the first pegasus pleaded urgently. "Let us die on our hooves!"
"Shut up!" the baron snapped at him. "How about we not die at all?" Then, to Lance, "You're an earth pony! You can't let that thing eat us! Help us get away, and I'll make you rich!"
"I don't know…"
"Come with us!"
"You don't understand!" Lance said, and I think he did a very good job of sounding uncertain and afraid. "There's more of them. A lot more!"
"Gold," the baron said. "Mares, servants, anything you want, just help us get away!"
"I… alright. Okay, I will."
"It won't matter," the second pegasus said, almost too quietly for me to hear. "They come to scour the world. They will kill all—"
"Shut up, or I'll leave you here!" The baron snapped.
"Wait here," Lance told them. "I'll be back soon!"
He left via the hatchway and I remained hidden in the darkness, hoping to overhear more of interest.
One of the pegasi started to say something, but the baron cut him off. "I don't care what idiotic superstitions you believe in! You can keep quiet and obey me, or you can stay and feed that thing!"
"I only obey you because of the destroyers!" The pegasus hissed back. "But you stompers have failed us! They have come—"
"How dare you use that word, you flit-wit!" Ironhoof snarled.
I had just enough time to regret that I couldn't conjure a bag of popcorn to go along with the show before Lance returned with the key to the hobbles and a parachute. He released all of them, despite the baron's incensed desire to sacrifice his rebellious guard. Lance led them up to the main deck far enough forward that Swift Wing couldn't see them from the quarterdeck. The baron only realised Lance didn't have his own parachute a second before he jumped.
"I can't come with you," Lance said. "They have my family."
"Too bad," the baron said, swinging his hind legs over the rail. "Good luck." And he dropped out of sight.
The first pegasus followed him, but the other paused to give Lance one last piece of advice. "You will die soon. Die fighting them, and your spirit will dwell in the Summerlands. Serve them, and you will suffer in Tartarus for eternity."
"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," Lance replied. The pegasus was gone before he finished speaking.
"Gee, Lance," I said, slapping a wing across his back in a friendly gesture that made him jump. "If you ever give up jousting, you might have a career in the theater!"
He sort of skittered sideways, not quite enough to shrug off my wing, so I took pity on him and folded it away myself.
"What was all that about, Ms. Nightshade?"
"I can't be absolutely certain," I said cheerfully, "but all knowledge is power, and we just got a little stronger. Conversely, we've weakened them by providing them with misinformation. Not bad for an hour's work. Go get some sleep. We've got a busy day tomorrow."
I took over the wheel from Swift Wing, despite his half-hearted protests, and steered Nebula from her deceptive westerly course onto a South-Southeast heading that would take us back to the southern pass. Then I cast the keel spell, and slowly and laboriously set as much sail as I could manage by myself. I shut down the engines and opened the cover on the binnacle post to check how much charge we'd used, remembering to close one eye to preserve half my night sight.
All four power indicators were well below the halfway mark. That meant about three days to bring the crystals back up to full again. We'd have to run the engines for half a day to get through the southern mountain pass again, too, so tack on another day for that. Considering the time we'd need for repairs, we wouldn't be fully charged until we crossed the border into the Empire itself. I wasn't pleased by that calculation, but there wasn't anything to be done about it.
I spent the rest of the watch mulling over the fruits of our little play while listening to the old familiar creaking of Nebula's rigging.
= = =
In the morning, Skyla and I revealed our true nature to our new recruits. They took it very well, certainly better than the baron's pegasus guards had. Evidently, he'd been right about it being a closely held legend.
"Well dip me in gravy and call me a biscuit!" Star muttered.
Daisy gave me one doubtful glance before staring, wide-eyed at Skyla and gasping, "You're so beautiful!"
"We are alicorns," Skyla said. "Have you heard the word before?"
"Cain't say as I have… uh… Cap'n," Star replied.
"So beautiful…" Daisy's eyes filled with joyful tears. I began to worry that she might pass out.
"We're a blend of all three of the pony tribes," I said. "So you can see why we're naturally more egalitarian than your empire."
"Wait. You got earth pony in you?" Star frowned at me, then pointed a hoof at Skyla. "But not her, right?"
I silently counted to ten before going over the facts again, slowly.
= = =
The traditional three skills required of a professional sailor or aeronaut are the ability to hoof, reef, and steer. That is, they must be able to control sails and lines, reef sails in heavy weather, and steer a ship accurately and safely.
The other essential three skills, rarely mentioned in daring tales of adventure, are scrape, sand, and paint. I will assume that my readers need no explanation of those activities.
I tended to the broken liftstay, with Ao assisting. The rest of the crew, with the exception of Skyla and Swift Wing, spent their day with scrapers, sandpaper and paintbrushes.
"Ah, the thrilling life of a pirate! Invigorating, isn't it, Ms. Ao?" I said, intentionally loud enough to be heard on deck.
"This one can barely contain an inappropriate expression of excitement, Ms. Nightshade," she replied in a deadpan voice as she helped roll my splice smooth with her magic.
We excused Cream Puff early so that he could prepare supper for the crew. Ao, Filigree, Skyla, and I settled in next to the engines and began feeding them mana. The rest of the crew kept on scraping.
After supper, I overheard a very interesting conversation.
Daisy (who had been given special dispensation to keep her non-pirate name), shyly approached Filigree and said, "May I ask you something?"
Filigree smiled at her. "Of course! You can ask me anything you'd like!"
"I was wondering why you don't sing as you charge the crystals. My overseer would have beaten me if I had forgotten to sing."
Just when I thought I couldn't despise that Celestia-forsaken world any more…
"That's horrible!" Filigree gasped. "They forced you to sing for them?"
"Oh, no! Not for them! For the crystals!"
"Ah… what?"
I decided it was time to butt in. "You sing to the crystals as you charge them?"
Daisy jumped and squeaked when I spoke to her. "Oh! M-Ms. Nightshade! You startled me!"
"Sorry. Now what about the singing?"
"Well, it's what we do. All the unicorns, I mean. We're taught the song when we're very young."
"Would you sing it for me, please?"
"Yes, ma'am," she said, and walked away from me.
I was nonplused for a second and then realized she was heading for the forward starboard engine. She settled in next to the open access hatch and began to sing. It was a slow, gentle tune, hardly more complex than an exercise practicing scales, really. The words were just nonsense syllables, Ah na la re, Ah ba ha fe… It was in common time, all quarter notes, something that would be boring for anypony but a beginning student of music.
But it was pleasant and soothing. After the first few measures, Daisy lit her horn and began to feed mana into the engine crystal. The flow of her magic was as smooth as silk.
I was impressed. I hadn't previously taken epithaumic factors into account when dealing with power crystals. Back home, charging crystals was a simple matter of power and time; other elements had so little effect as to be easily discounted. But on that low-magic world, any slight advantage or improvement in the process—like a musical meditation technique—would make a significant difference.
"Thank you, Daisy," I said. "You can stop now."
She let her magic fade, but kept singing for a few more measures afterward. "Was that alright, Ms. Nightshade? I can keep going for as long as you'd like."
"We'll put you on charging duty on your next watch. Go ahead and get some rest now."
"I'll walk with you, " Filigree volunteered. "You might need help hanging your hammock."
A half hour later, Filigree still hadn't returned to the main deck and I heard the soft notes of Daisy's song floating up from the crew quarters... in a duet. Oh, fickle stallions! Forgetting his devotion to his pirate princess so soon? Well, Daisy was quite a pretty little thing.
Thinking of pretty little things,[3] I made Swift Wing return to his bunk in the Second Mate's cabin and cast another series of healing spells on his wing.
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[3] Such an observation was in no way disloyal. Luna and I have an understanding. Appreciation of the visual aspects of other ponies was completely acceptable. And since we were both accomplished shapeshifters, mental notes reserved for later reference were not uncommon.
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I had about four hours before I went on watch, and it would have been wise to get some sleep before then, but Daisy's little revelation had gotten me thinking. I spent those hours disassembling the baron's broken gun and carefully examining each part of it.
What I found was well worth losing sleep for.
I won't bother to go into details of the chemo-thaumic interactions in regard to metallic contacts involved in mana flow mechanisms.[4] Suffice it to say that the second most suitable material for contact points is gold, and even that corruption-resistant metal degrades over time and wastes a measurable amount of mana with each connection or disconnection.
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[4] Somepony has written "Oh, thank Celestia!" in the margin of my manuscript, and the quillwork looks suspiciously like Rainbow Dash's. This is what comes of asking one's friends to act as pre-readers.
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The most desireable metal—one that neither degrades nor wastes mana—is an alloy known as orichalcum. Anypony who is neither a magical historian nor a thaumic material specialist can be forgiven for not recognising the name. The secret of its making was lost during the exodus to Equestria before the three tribes united. Even Starswirl was unable to recreate it.
It might seem like a trivial task to experiment with proportions and temperatures until the metal was reproduced, but there was another factor that eluded even the most persistent alchemist. It was some sort of magic, of course, but that left nearly limitless possibilities to be explored.
In the vaults beneath Canterlot, there is a strategic reserve of the alloy, amounting to a little less than five pounds. It's worth somewhere upwards of three hundred million bits.
The contact points in the gun were solid chunks of orichalcum. Nearly two ounces by my rough estimate. When I dragged the other guns out of the arms locker, I confirmed that the baron's weapon was not an anomaly. All of them used solid orichalcum contact points, and the larger ones had the delicate parts of their waveguides made of the stuff. The amount of the metal aboard Nebula could have bought a dozen Canterlot mansions. After sharing out the profit back home, everypony aboard would be remarkably wealthy.
All we had to do was sneak into the heart of a hostile empire, find and steal some ridiculously valuable gems without having access to high-level magic, and get away without being shot to pieces.
Simple.
= = =
=
Dang it Ms. Nightshade! you'll pluck some of Daisy's leaves.....!
Heeee. Twilight playing Nightmare is waaaaaaay too much fun!
Ah-ha! I knew Twilight would get around to investigating those guns! Now all that remains to be seen is if she can upgrade them.
Singing huh? I guess it's some form of wave resonance. Insightful. Wonder if there are any more tips or tricks like that Twilight can pick up. Knowledge is power after all, and the Nubula will need all the power it can get.
On the rebellion side of things, seems knowledge of Alicorns makes pegassi uncooperative. Strange that they see them as demons, but at least there might be fewer ponies on the Empire's side if they all have a similar reaction. Not to mention some moght be willing to sell their souls to 'demons' if it means ending tyrany.
Mmm, metallurgy. Do go on.
Not the first time I've seen orichalcum mentioned in a Fimfic.
In the "The Assassination of Twilight Sparkle" series it was described as the only metal that could kill an alicorn.
That song should be replaced by a shanty.
That'll work fine.
Also, stop spelling my name wrong.
8119976
Ooh, that's cool!
8120072
Oops! Bettere correcte thate!
The simplest things are always the hardest.
I am looking forward to seeing what Twilight's plan is.
8120155
8120155 Thank you.
Attempts broad unsettling smile, fails.
"Then we went through the hatch to the cargo hold and worked my way forward"
"Then I went" or "worked our way"?
Lies, I've never seen a demon while around one. They work perfectly.
You just had to say that, didn't you? And because one facehoof is not enough I'll give you another.
I rather suspect these ponies know the secrets of orichalcum.
8120523
Seems legit.
Well, this is interesting. If this is the typical dynamic amongst the locals, then the pegasi are only reluctant allies. Looks like Skyla and gang will eventually have to decide whether doubling down on demon alicorns or disabusing them of the notion will be more effective in dividing the empire.
He who controls the orichalcum controls the universe. Now, who's willing to bet that the secret to its manufacture involves something horrifying, like unicorn bones and such?
See, Twilight, the best idea is to see if you can find the formula to make Orichalcum while you're in this world, & thus potentially give your world a HUGE leg up!
also if you played ElderScrolls series that metal us used there as " medium level " metal for creating weapons and armor
8120523
Try visiting Silent Hill with one and then we ' ll talk
So this is a profit-making venture, now?
Depends on how hard you thow it...
8121379
Are they not pirates...?
8121379 Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually ends up as a racket.
And we're talking about an adventure which originally began as a schoolfilly's romp with her followers and coterie of would-be beaus, and is now a matter of a rambunctious young alicorn and her friends being bear-lead by her aunt the part-time pirate. They were never all that far from 'racket' in the first place.
Twilight is fiddling with magitek guns, eh? What she really needs to do is modify them so that they shoot the same stone/crystal-eating blob that ricocheted all around the cavern beneath Canterlot when she was trapped by Chrysalis.
Seriously, does anyone else remember that? That spell eats things. Stone. Crystal formations, presumably as dense as silica at least, though probably more like quartz.
Alllllright. This week has been hell, but time to make it better with some adorable ponies being 'bloodthirsty' not-pirates. Also, yes last ep, wow the "CALLED IT!" for this story. Still... so Twi's plan is working, spreading the legend of the unicorns and pegasi willing to stand up together for all. Recruiting new crewmates. Meaning I am now more worried over fatalities among the crew given that. And time to see how the Empire tries to respond to this. Also, how they are turning a profit.
And again, subtle little things that say a lot. It's one of the things I love best about your writing, the shear depth to it. Showing just how devoted the crew is, dedicated. They aren't just doing this to get home ASAP and because they have to. They WANT to do this, to help Twilight and Flurry, to do the best they can. They have pride in what they are doing and don't want to be a burden. Soft Wing could use the injury as a perfect excuse to get out stuff, yet is pushing to do as much as he can. So damn good.
And also very smrat Twilight. Knowing this, but also how bad pushing yourself can mess with recovery and letting him do enough to not go stir crazy, but also making sure he doesn't overdo it.
Oh.... boy... She's acting like their mom.... she really is taking after Celestia!
Twilight devouring a pony and then turning her blood dripping maw to them?
I like it. No idea what it is, but I like it. You know Twilight wouldn't actually torture them, or mistreat them beyond some indignities like turning them into ablative armor if their troops decide to fire. So yeah, going with scare the crap (Almost literally, hope the new crew members enjoy being the nubs.) out of them. Dis gon B gud.
Add in some jump scare, nice.
The Baron or the Pegasus? Given how the Baron acted... then again how he acted I'm guessing hobbles are not part he's used to.
Well, very interesting detail. Not something you see brought up often, yet it kind of makes sense. Also, it really makes sense for Twilight to have firmer, stiffer feathers. Better self made quills.
Somepony has certainly learned a lot from Luna. Whenever she's in town for it, she has got to be able to turn her castle into the BEST Haunted house EVER!
CALLED IT! At least in part, see what else happens.
Twilight.... you might be a little TO good at this. Creeping me the fuck out... which means these guys... ohhhh fuck. Enjoy the show!
Leave it to Twi to find SOME use for it anyway. Still, okay not going full on show them a feasting demon, but just, put the fear of it in them, make them think only their captures good graces are keeping them from being food. That Nightshade is just a monster being held in check by wards and magic, feral, primal, a tool. Ohhhhhh I am loving this plan, SO GOOD on so many levels.
Good call. She's likely perfected this after having to deal with AJ 'helping' a bit to often.
Ohhh interesting twist. Make it seem the rest are all slaves, forced to obey out of fear. Captured.. something the Empire would understand. And maybe get some sympathy from the baron. Or attempts to sway the crew to their side by offering protection, revealing just what sorts of things they can do, or maybe a nearby base they could flee to. Very smart.
Now this... this is REALLY interesting. The Baron doesnt know, meaning this isn't some major, well known tale. Some tenant of faith. Propaganda. This isn't a sign of something truly major. But rather more of a lower key, urban legend type superstition. The sort of thing spread among the commoners but which those above them dismiss as mere nonsense and pay no attention to. Echos of something long, long LONG ago. And from another world? Given it's ancient, the idea of them being Demons... more of whatever the Red Queen was? looking for other world to farm? Showing up, doing their thing, experimenting, just being the heartless assholes they are. Before abandoning this world for being to limited in magic for their needs?
Ohhh okay was mostly right, tribal thing works well too. So why would it just be the Pegasi that remember them? Or is it 'tribal' more as, their village then them being Pegasi? It's a regional thing?
And you're a racist.
He's telling the truth. If who the 'them' that inspired the legend is who I think it is.
Hmmm, maaaaybe coming around a bit to fast, but is likely all part of the plan, and the baron is so head up his ass and the pegasi so terrified, unlikely to notice.
Ohhh, get some derogatory terms going the other way. And, very interesting. Their fear of the Alicorns trumps their fear of the Empire. Also "We obey you BECAUSE of them" Huh? As in, the rise of the Empire was due to this and they set thing up as is? Or speaking more at this point they only listen to the Baron to GTFO, and the arrival of an Alicorn is their version of the Anti-Christ's rise. World's totally fucked, so screw everything and just do whatever the hell you want while you can?
So, following him, and/or using him to disseminate some false information? Not fully seeing what her plan is here. Can see many ways this might play out.
ALL HAIL TWILIGHT! LORD OF THE NERDS! Yet, very true, so, if it's a pegasi thing, this could complicate stuff. As their fear of Alicorns would make them more likely to fight rather then use the chance to rebel. Yet also, seems them just existing here can make the pegasi doubt the Empire's divine right to rule them so, requires a light touch just right.
As well as a good cover for those from this world that join their crew. They were forced to.
Granted won't quite work for ones that seem to eager. But still, nice cover.
Well, got some time to travel hopefully. And one more unicorn to help boost them back to full. Two given that your other one has the fittings set so can help with that.
That about works iirc. Took about three days last time with just three of them, but the tank was fuller. about 2/3 I think she said.
Not even Twilight at her worst would try to change fundamental math.
So, question is why and how. Why it's so secret, and how they alone know about it.
Twilight has to have at least ONE companion that makes bizarre countryisms.
Overprotective Aunt instincts... rising!
Twilight, allow me to supply the reaction for you.
Still this makes sense. She doesn't seem to be the brightest pony, but means well. And given the racism around, yeah can see that kind of creeping them out a bit. Also yes, the pretty pony you are trying to molest with your eyes is in fact part Earth Pony.
You fogort "Scrub, Wait, endure, and cope."
Scrub everything hours on end simply for the sake of cleaning and because you have to be doing something,. No matter how fucking pointless it is trying to keep a 45 year old engine room spotless. Wait around for long stretches when you should be free simply for some bullshit you could have had done two hours ago. Endure long, tedious bullshit, like six hour middle of the night watches where all you can do is stare at a single gauge. Cope, with the shear fucking hell that is existence there. Primary ways are becoming a drunk to the point you can't function sober anymore. End up on happy pills after you just totally break down, or just let it build till you end up going away after deciding swimming for home from the middle of the Atlantic is better then spending one more day in that living hell. And a whole lot of other bullshit.
Ah you were getting to those.
Luckily did not have to do much of those first two, only because the paint in our engine room counted as RAM (Radioactive Material) and so we would have needed a whole lot of extra steps for that. Versus just slap a new coat on every few months.
I am not kidding when I say we found pipes, that were no longer pipes, just hollow tubes of paint and lagging.
wait, unless you count scraping up the floor wax in berthing and the offices... by hand... with a wire brush the size of a toothbrush.
Have I mentioned how much I love Ao?
Doubt it's a moral thing, or a 'pretend you like it' thing. Though possible. Some odd quirk about magic here that helps the crystals in some way? r at least they believe it does?
Also...... ALL OF THE FUCK THESE ASSHOLES!
Right there with you Twilight.
Some form of resonance created by it? Either from the words themselves or the mental patterns caused by them?
Well, she summed up everything I figured out. So it's not for an external effect, but to help the unicorns focus better. Also, even Twlight can still learn, and she knows it. And I love her for it. This does make sense, every millithaum of power is rather precious here, so they'd find ways to maximize outpout, throughput, and all other 'puts'.
Hammocks don't creak at least. Also, Filligree got game.
So, finally break out of that 'gay/not gay' mindset beyond accepting Luna? At least enough to discuss a new maid's 'assets' with Luna?
Also, whelp, somepony just get latrine duty for the next month.
Of course you do. And no I mean the seriously. They are both mature and intelligent enough, and sure enough about each other by now to have talked about this kind of stuff and worked out an arrangement.
You... ohhhh you! You little!!! I was really, really debating putting in a joke about just that with the 'checking out the maids' bit but thought that might be going a bit to far.. and then you go and do it for me!
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!!
Still, can't fault them for this at all. And nice to see her relationship brought up casually like this now and then.
However, you sunk all your points into INT, not WIS.
More tricks to eek out a bit more from the crystals and gems and power that you overlooked last time because you were only going for the gross overvview of how it worked and not looking into the fine details you didn't realize mattered?
Again love that for all the OPness and genius and experience of Twilight, she's not perfect and can still learn, DOES still learn, and will not hesitate to admit when she need to learn more.
Damn you RD! Also
Secondly, damnit, I want to hear that!
Now I want to see a copy of the rough drafts for these stories with all the Mane 6's notes in them.......
And the most is something incredibly rare, hard to use, and/or insanely expensive, but it's what the gun uses isn't it?
OHHHHHH Nice reference there!
Yet these ponies have it. Well Twilight just got a secondary objective to try and complete while they work on the main quest.
KA-CHING! Also, well good way to profit, and yay on the share the wealth. Though if it's THAT precious, why not 'sell' it to the Crown to add to the strategic reserve? Or at least some of it.
Or again, find out the secret while you are here.
Compared to some of the stuff you've pulled? Yeah, it kind of is!
So, very nice bits of info, both on Alicorns, and the world building. Showing the ways that these ponies who have to struggle for magic have found to get the most out of it they can. Plus giving Twilight a side quest to try and deal with. Some rather fun set up and just.. yeah loving it. still
8119803
That's what I was thinking, but pay attention, at the end Twilight works out it's not about affecting the crystal, it's a form of meditation to help focus the unicorn's mind on the task alone and get them to focus their magic better.
8120215 Meh at this point she's just winging it. She likes to stay as flexible as possible now.
8120930
OHHH Or what if it's made of concentrated magic, absorbing some of the magic from the world itself to be created, and making to much of it was what helped lead to there being so little magic on this world in the first place?
8123589 It didn't 'eat' things, it was just scorching stuff. And I got the impression the 'bouncing' was more because it was simply reflecting off all the crystals then the spell itself being made to do that.
Oh. Right.
Alicorns are bullets in a war on a scale we cannot begin to comprehend, whose mere production is the highest good we can hope to achieve, worth any and every sacrifice.
Do you know, I'd almost forgotten?
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[5] I was not going to bother going into the details of chemo-thaumic interactions, but you know what? Just for that I am going to give Dash the full lecture on the thaumic chromodynamics of mirror-paired upspin thaumaturgical quibbs in a Harmony field. And yes, I will even include the bits about the propagation of Friendship vectors through a poly-fractal Riemmareian manifold space. [6]
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[6] Nooooooooo!
8125468
And then they realise that the war is being fought over the scarce resources that are being depleted by the creation of alicorns to fight the war for said resources...
8125468 oh, that made me think of "Fallout equestria" where a crazy person was using a weird chemical process to create artificial alicorns...they were some of the nastiest enemies the protagonist faced. (comparable to super mutants in the Fallout games)
and that made me think of a video i read about lost ancient technologies...nobody remembers how to make "Greek fire".
8125646
8125698 Someone must have told the Zebra's how to make it...either that or the figured that themselves, that makes me wonder which of their lost arts we possess?
Boooo
I'm with dash on this one "Ms. Nightshade" srry but your explanations do get rather in-depth
Ummmmmmm... No
You know, please pardon my curiosity - on the last night this was up, I went and crammed all of Skyla into one, straight 6 or 7 hour read as I dorked out and enjoyed it heavily - I think I figured I had an extra day to go due to timezones and left a few tabs open - and I wonder now how a last comment on a story that I don't have the password to goes through or not.
I remember now that what I wanted to comment on was erictheblue's mention of Greek Fire and how it was lost like the secret of Orikalkum to Equestria. Between the later discovery of its production here & just how it was looked at wrong in Equestria, I wonder if something was off about how they looked at Greek Fire in real life - perhaps there was a metal or chemical coompound ever-present in the Mediterranean Bay at the time (however many thousand or so years back) which, when met with the right kind of metal in the fire (akin to how Twi adds copper to fire later just to make it green and seem like extra Zebra Fire reserves), it simply resulted in a fire that would not go out not due to simply the fire itself but whatever was in the water as well that may just not be around in the Bay any more.
It could come from something as simple as a change in algae that once lived there but passed away - its happened before with the Greeks. There was a plant native to the area that worked perfectly as a contraceptive. The thing is, its not that they stopped growing it, nor did they find a better replacement for it - it just so happened that the Greeks genuinely banged so much that they overharvested it and fucked a plant out of existence!
And. aah, checks notes, Greek Fire... flips back a few more pages, aah, uhh, it's really cool and well done how Twilight takes advantage of learning new things when she's out on her journeys to keep pulling newer and cooler stuff off. It's great, I love it, and when I returned from a 7 year hiatus from the fandom in late 2019, stories like this series that took such a deep and thoughtful effort to continue to let a character explore, expand, further be challenged, and excel were an absolute treat every time I found one of their caliber.
Avast ye fears, maties, and may adventures and the Nebula sail ever onward to the skies beyond!