Chapter XX
Princess Mi Amore Cadenza sighed as she listened to the pony in front of her prattle on his proposal for his ‘new’ tax code. The Crystal Empire was, unfortunately, a bit behind on the times—an unfortunate side effect from being essentially thrown a thousand years into the future. Because of this, the new laws and regulations that Princess Cadenza and her husband had brought to the ancient city had been met with… resistance.
They had been more than happy to put the new alicorn and her husband on the throne, especially since they had been the ones to remove its previous ruler. In general, the new freedoms and privileges enjoyed by all were almost loved by all.
That, in and of itself, was the problem. Before the rule of King Sombra, the Crystal Empire had had a very strict caste system. Many ponies had expected the empire to quickly revert back to said system, and for everypony to quickly know their place.
It had come to quite a few nobles’ shock, then, when they found out that they were noble in title alone.
Many still had authority to help govern, but they found that they had no real weight to order around the ‘lesser’ ponies, as these ponies now found that they had rights that were equal to even the highest born duke. Essentially, the old guard felt like glorified scribes, especially after the crown had dismissed several of them and stripped them of their titles when they had tried to swing their weight around.
There was very little they could do but petition for things to return to how they had always been. The only obstacle to that, of course, was the royal couple, and they had the support of thousands of crystal pony commoners and common soldiers, so they didn’t even have the voice of the people or the army to back them.
Oh, and of course there were the two demigods that Princess Cadenza called kin living in Canterlot. That alone made things far more complicated than any of the Crystal Empire’s old nobility wanted to even think about.
All in all, the only thing they could really do was waste the princess’s time, and hope that she signed something just to get them to go away.
Princess Cadenza’s counter-strategy was quite simple: she refused to sign anything that they gave her.
Yes, she did sign a few things, but each and every thing that she did sign had been drafted or triple-checked by Cadenza’s chamberlain: a shrewd old bat pony by the name of Balanced Ledger, whom the royal couple had brought up with them to the Crystal Empire to help bring the old place into the fifteenth century, kicking and screaming if they had to.
This didn’t stop the old guard from trying, though. Especially since Prince Shining Armor had been summoned to Canterlot to help with the looming invasion.
Unbidden, Princess Cadenza, or rather, Cadence, glanced to her left.
She felt a stab of longing in her heart when she had to remind herself why Shining Armor wasn't there, sitting in his throne at her left. She knew that what he was doing was important, but that didn’t set her heart at ease in the slightest.
Something bad was going to happen, and soon. She was absolutely certain of that.
“Your Highness? Is there something wrong?”
Princess Cadence looked up in surprise, having temporarily forgotten what she had been doing at the time. “I’m sorry, I have been feeling a little under the weather lately. If you could please continue?”
The stuffy old noble cleared his throat a little, somewhat put out that he did not have the princess’s full attention. “Very well, Your Highness. It is very important that we… What is-?”
Before the pony could finish his question, a cloud of ash materialized in front of the Princess of Love, which quickly condensed in a flash of orange flame, forming a rolled up scroll in front of the now worried-looking princess. Before the parchment could fall, she deftly caught it in her magic and unrolled it.
“I apologize, Silver Sword, but it is from Princess Celestia. Our meeting will have to wait until another date,” Princess Cadence said, her eyes quickly scanning over the letter.
Silver Sword seemed annoyed that his presentation had been brought to a halt, but he hid it well. “Very well, Your Highness. Perhaps some other time, then…” He then gave an overly polite bow, then quickly retreated from the throne room, muttering darkly to himself as he left.
Princess Cadence ignored him, her attention riveted to the letter as she quickly devoured the information contained there. Once she had finished, she rose to her hooves, levitated another piece of paper, a quill, and an inkwell towards herself, and penned an answer to her aunt. She then rolled it up and incinerated it. The moment she was certain that it was on its way, she turned to the guards that lined the throne room. “Flash Sentry!”
A light orange pegasus in Solar Guard armor stepped forward, his hoof making a slight ding as he cut a crisp salute. “Your Highness?”
“I am leaving for Canterlot soon. Have one of your soldiers ready the train, while you and Battlement follow me. We have something… extremely sensitive to retrieve.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” the pegasus said, falling into line behind his princess as she quickly swept out of the room. Solid Battlement was close behind, the crystal pony’s face an inscrutable mask as he followed the two out of the throne room, and up higher into the Crystal Palace.
It didn’t take them long to reach the room they were searching for, and Battlement felt his composure crack ever so slightly when he recognized the door that Cadence had led them to. “This is Master Starswirl’s room…”
Cadence looked back at the crystal earth pony, a single eyebrow raised. “Did you know Starswirl?”
Battlement gave a slight nod. “Not as well as I would have liked. During the Age of Chaos, when this place was the only remaining haven of Order against Discord, the noble wizard stumbled into the shield, bearing two foals on his back.” The crystal pony looked down at the floor, apparently ashamed of himself. “I admit that I was one of the ponies who had originally wanted to turn him away. Our empire was small, and the Crystal Heart could only protect so many from the mad Draconequus’s reign. We had many laws at the time that would have been seen as barbaric today, simply to protect our sovereignty from Discord’s influence.”
Princess Cadence nodded in understanding, then turned and pushed the door open. “Who was it that allowed him to stay?” she asked, somewhat curious.
“Back then, the fate of all was decided by the King,” Battlement said, as he almost reverently followed the princess into the hallowed, if somewhat musty, room.
The room looked like it hadn’t seen the touch of a single pony in ages, which, if the three ponies were being honest with themselves, was the absolute truth. The walls themselves seemed to have been nothing more than large bookcases, upon which rested thousands of books. To the right, there was a small alcove which contained a lone bed, while to the left was another, similar alcove, though this one contained two beds, one a white, sun-themed affair, while the other had dark, night-time themed sheets.
Near the back of the room was a large dais, upon which sat a writing desk, a basket which contained a select few very old and worn toys, and a waste basket. In one corner, seemingly as if put there by accident and forgotten about, was a large, beautiful mirror. It was framed by a purple horseshoe of unknown material, with purple gems inlaid into its frame, while along the outside was a weave of curly flairs that were made of the same material. On the very top was another horseshoe, inside which was the image of a stylized, rearing earth pony.
Battlement shook his head, trying to get back on track, despite the awe he felt towards the one-time occupants of this room. “King Noche was strict, could even be called cruel at times, but his rule saw to our continued survival. He was not cruel because he wanted to be, but because he had to be. However, he seemed to see wisdom in the old one’s eyes, since he let Starswirl and his two young charges in the castle for a time.”
“He didn’t stay?” Flash asked, somewhat shocked by that.
“No, he did stay. For quite some time, I might add. I was not privy to all the conversations between him and the king, so I could not say why he stayed with us for so long.” The stallion rubbed the back of his neck somewhat wistfully as his gaze swept over the long-abandoned room. “I do know that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna practically grew up in this room.”
Princess Cadence and Flash Sentry quickly turned towards the guard, shock on their faces. “Wait, those two foals were-”
Battlement nodded his head. “Yes, they were the Princesses of the Sun and Moon.” Battlement’s face then grew dark, as if an unpleasant memory had surfaced. “The then-Prince Sombra was quite upset to see Princess Luna go. He had become quite infatuated with her; feelings that the alicorn did not reciprocate.”
Flash Sentry scrunched his muzzle in confusion. “I thought you had to ascend to Alicornhood. Were they-?”
Battlement shook his head. “They were but unicorns when they first arrived here. They became alicorns during Starswirl’s tutelage and left the empire with the odd one soon afterwards.”
Cadence looked at Battlement, a question in her eyes. “Why do you call Starswirl odd?”
Battlement shrugged, then waved his hoof a little. “The stallion hid from the Chaos of Discord, yet seemed to be immune to the madness the draconequus caused. He also spent much of his time muttering to himself while locked away in his study, and there were a few times when his eyes would glow, and he would speak in a deep voice in an unknown tongue. Calling the great wizard odd is a kindness, considering these facets of his character.”
“I suppose you would call that odd…” Princess Cadence said as she approached the mirror in the corner. Her hoof slowly traced the frame, before she let it fall. “I am taking Starswirl’s mirror with me to Canterlot. Apparently something has come up.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Captain Sentry said with a bow. “I shall have some unicorns bring it down right away. Is there anything else you need from here before we go?”
Cadence shook her head. “No. And I want you to stay here, in case the matter from eight months ago comes here. I need you to plan our defenses; am I clear?”
Both guards knew instantly what she was alluding to, and cut crisp salutes. “As you wish, Your Highness.”
Princess Cadence took one last look at the mirror before turning away and making her way to her room. She had a lot to prepare before she left and not a whole lot of time left in the day. She had to hurry if she was going to make it in time.
* * *
Celestia nodded to herself as a cloud of ash floated into the throne room, which resolved itself into a scroll. She quickly unrolled and read it before turning back to Queen Titania. “It is on its way. It will take a couple of days for Cadence to arrive with the mirror; in the meantime- Oh!” At that precise moment, the door to the throne room opened, revealing Star Blaze. In his magic he carried a very particular book; one that Celestia had sent him to get in the middle of Queen Titania’s story. She waved at the stallion, and he quickly brought the book to her. “There are a few things I need to ask ~Alex,~ and I’m sure you have some questions for him as well.”
“I could not agree more,” Queen Titania said with a bow. “There are many things I wish to hear from him, not the least being what happened to the ancient Prometheans who came to our aid.”
“However, I believe that both our questions, and yours, will have to wait,” Princess Luna said, pointing to the wounded ~human.~ At some point during the queen’s tale, the exhausted ~human~ had fallen into a deep, deep sleep.
Celestia pouted in frustration. “When did he fall asleep? Did he at least hear what happened to the mirror?”
Luna nodded. “He did indeed. His dreams are full of hopes of returning home, though there is a dark undercurrent of what the reaction from his friends and family might be.” Luna shook her head as her horn began to glow. Instantly, ~Alex’s~ sleep seemed to deepen, and the ~human~ soon wore a peaceful smile on his lips. “I suggest we let him sleep for now, and to take this time to treat his wounds, as well as the wounds of Titania’s people. There is much we have to do still, before this day is done.”
“I… I still do not believe that this is truly happening…” Titania said, rubbing her forehead right underneath her horn. “It feels like a dream, that any moment I will wake up, and things will return to how they were before…”
Celestia shook her head. “While I can understand the sentiment, let me assure you, this is very real. We will work out the issues between our peoples, but for now, it would be best if you return to your hive and contact the others. We will send an escort with you, to ensure that Chrysalis does not try anything in the meantime.”
Titania gave a small smile at that. “Thank you, but I will not need one. We have a spell that uses beacons for quick travel, and it would be quite impossible for Chrysalis to attack me during transit.” She bowed her head towards the two princesses. “I would share with you a beacon of your own, as well as the secrets of this magic, but I am afraid that you have caught me quite unprepared.”
“It is fine, we will have plenty of time for that sort of thing later.” Celestia’s radiant smile swiftly turned to a worried frown. “After all, we have plenty of problems to worry about in the months to come. Any ally is a welcome one.”
Titania gave the solar princess a thankful smile before igniting her horn one last time. She was immediately surrounded by purple fire and seemed to sink into the ground before disappearing entirely.
“Sister, do you think she was telling the truth?” Luna asked as the purple flames disappeared from the throne room. “About how our master wasn't the real Starswirl?”
“She had no reason to lie to us,” Celestia said calmly as she watched her troops collect ~Alex~ and remove him from the throne room for treatment. “Despite her calling Starswirl an imposter, it was quite clear that she held that pony in high regard, whoever he was. Besides, it was he who set us on the path to discovering the Tree of Harmony in the first place. Whoever he was, it was clear that he was a friend of Equestria, regardless of his deception. I find it harder to believe that we have had a gateway to ~Alex’s~ home world right under our noses all this time.”
“We saw Starswirl use it several times. He always said it was his secret study,” Luna pointed out.
“True, but that does not explain why ~Alex’s~ people came here in the first place,” Celestia countered.
“That it does not. Just who was this 'Gaea' that the ~humans~ were so bent on saving?” Luna said, her gaze locked on the door that ~Alex~ had just disappeared through. “I will attempt to question him as he sleeps. It was over a thousand years ago, but myths have a tendancy to endure. perhaps he knows something that might provide a clue.”
“And I will-” Celestia started to say, holding up ‘Starswirl’s’ last journal, but was interrupted as her prized student charged into the room, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike close behind.
“Princess Celestia!! There are changelings in Canterlot!!” Twilight shouted, clearly upset.
“And I will leave you with this,” Luna said, an impish grin on her face. “After all, she is your student.”
Without another word, the Princess of the Night disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Celestia to deal with a hysterical Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
“Good grief…” Celestia said, a wistful smile on her face. Sometimes you can be quite the hoof-ful, sister, she thought as she turned to deal with her student and her friends.
* * *
The black van pulled up to the sleepy Portland street, its engine humming as several others quickly followed suit. It was unnerving how silent the streets were, the only noises coming from the engines of the three vehicles, as well as the sound of two cats (probably) fighting a few streets down from the current one.
Franky, the whole thing was making Sergeant Moore uncomfortable.
“Okay, and you’re sure about this, right?” the sergeant asked as he checked his M4 one last time.
Agent Vale gave a weary sigh. “To be honest, I really don’t know what to believe about this thing. All I know is that it could have killed us at any moment, and it didn’t. Not only that, but it let us go. My gut says to trust it, but there really are too many things we don’t know about this.”
“Cool your heels, Sarge. The lady told you everything she knows, no sense getting cold feet now,” Colonel Conners said, nodding to the soldier closest to the door. The corporal gave a short nod in reply, and pulled open the door to the van.
With practiced ease, the soldiers poured out of the vehicle, the other two vans quickly following suit, causing the sleepy Portland street to suddenly come alive with the presence of armed troops. However, despite the sudden influx of troops, they were all surprisingly quiet, the only real sounds being the engines of their transports.
“Alright, Vale, where is this thing?” Colonel Conners asked as he swept the streets for any signs of movement.
“It’s probably hiding,” Vale said, taking a few steps away from the soldiers and holding her empty hands up. “I told you that it told me that it only had the one probe left. It’s probably trying its best to not become stranded.”
“That is correct,” a mild voice echoed through the alleyway. The soldiers immediately brought their weapons up, ready for whatever horrors were about to come barreling down towards them.
“Please, put your weapons away. I mean you no harm.”
The colonel waved his hand to his troops, signaling them to do as the voice asked. “I’m Colonel Sam Conners of the United States Army. I understand that you require assistance?” Colonel Conners asked, a bit wary of the alien.
“I do indeed. Am I to assume that you have been given authority to speak for your nation?” the voice asked, its voice sounding strangely puzzled.
The colonel straightened up a bit. “I have, though I cannot agree to anything until you’ve returned our people.”
“Of course. I have not been holding them prisoner, though, by any stretch of the imagination.”
From the far alley, there was a flash of light from just around the corner, followed almost immediately by the sounds of two men swearing. “Come on, Yavaar! Give us a little more warning when you do that!” There was some sounds of scuffling, then without any warning, the two missing agents appeared from around the corner, holding their hands up in a clear sign that they were not dangerous.
“I would like to point out that, up to this point, I have done nothing to harm you or your people. I would request that you refrain from discharging your weapons,” the voice said as the two agents drew closer. “If it makes you feel any better, you may take my remaining, functioning probe back with you for study, provided that you do not destroy it. It is my only remaining link to the world outside my damaged base, after all.”
The colonel turned to his men, then nodded, signaling that they should keep their weapons lowered. He then turned back to the location of the voice, a slight frown on his face. “That would probably be best. I’m sure there is much we can learn from each other.”
There was an odd humming sound, before the probe finally came around the corner. It was basically exactly as Agent Vale had described:; small, silvery, and having very little distinguishing markings other than the ‘eye’ on the front. “While that may be true, there is much, much more that I can, and should, teach you. And quickly; the Krin could be back at any moment, and we really do not have much time to delay.”
The probe slowly approached them, before stopping a few feet in front of the soldiers. “As you have already introduced yourself, Colonel, allow me to do the same. I am Yavaar, and I have been assigned the honor of watching your species develop.”
Colonel Conners felt the corners of his lips turn up into a smile. While obviously alien, there was something extremely earnest and trusting about the strange computer. Odd. I always figured that artificial intelligence would turn out something like the Terminator… he thought to himself. What he said, though, was, “If what you’ve told us about you and these... ‘Krin’ is true, and you really did have nothing to do with the abductions, then allow me to be the first to welcome you to Earth, though I wish the circumstances were different.”
“As do I. As far as first contact with your species goes, this is hardly ideal. Nevertheless, we must work with what the Creator has given us,” the orb said, before giving a quick, three-sixty spin, almost as if it were nervously checking to see if someone was coming. “Now, if you would be so kind? We have much to discuss, and time is not on our side.”
“Of course. If you could please join us in the van, we can get out from the open and you can let us know just how deep we are in alien crap,” Colonel Conners said, gesturing towards the van. His soldiers looked a bit nervous about this, but they kept their cool.
“To borrow a phrase from your popular culture, ‘I thought you would never ask...’” the small silver probe said as it swooped into the open door of the van.
Sergeant Moore looked at his commanding officer, worry in his gaze. "Sir, do you think this is wise?"
"By all that is good and holy, I hope so..." the colonel said right before he followed the odd machine into the van, shaking his head in disbelief.
hm.
Hey dude you did what you could do with the scene
I mean Maybe you could have had a more grandiose sort of introduction to the agents and the alien, but you already blew your shoot the alien gag chapters ago.
Maybe have random agents look at the thing in wonder, fear, excitement; that sort of thing.
When you see that the story has been updated
media1.giphy.com/media/GCukKyf32k9B6/giphy.gif
8589412
or initiate the xcom project.
8589461
We already know that they were formed the moment an abduction happened, now to just get the skyrangers and intercepters some targets.... hehe
Well I, for one, quite enjoyed the bit with Yavaar at the end. The tense atmosphere at the beginning, and when Yavaar first spoke was quite efficiently shattered by the return of the agents, and their informal, friendly comment to Yavaar. And Yavaar himself was, as always, quite entertaining, with his unique tone and speech patterns he picked up from being an AI that's watched and learned everything about a race by watching them from afar.
If I have one complaint it's only that the scene is too short. I really want to know what's going on with the humans right now.
Hmm...
The plot.
...
It thickens.
...
Get your heads out of the gutter...
Twilight in a tizzy. Who would've thought?
Starswirl... if this turns out that he's one of the famous magicians of our myth, I have no idea whether I will be impressed, disappointed, both, or neither. Either way, it will be still an interesting thing to uncover!
And yay, the humans did not act rashly! Finally someone who can actually think normally
8589568
Thicc plot
I like it
I do have to say this. Marines HATE being referred to as soldier. My ait was mixed, having both army trainees and marine trainees and a couple guys got into a fight because a soldier called the marine soldier. Also why does everyone think the Marines do everything. I'm honestly askingere because it makes NO sense. THEY have the smallest number, and the least autonimity, the literaly do not have their own medics, their corpsman come from the navy. Hell we sent them in first during the initial invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan because it allowed the Army to concentrate more on setting up the needed supply chains. Hell even the Marines job of guarding the president is just ceremony left over from when he would have to travel by ship everywhere. I'm not trying to rant but I have been genuinely confused by this for years.
the 'fake' Starswirl is Merlin, isn't he? I remember seeing the name Myrddin a while back, which is his old Welsh name.
But something like this wouldn't be handled by marines, not even their sf unit (which is really just a recon unit on steroids). It would make more sense to have an sf unit like USASFOD:D (The acronym for Deltas full name) or the seals, especially being in an urban environment where they are trying to keep secrecy, due to the nature of the OP. A bunch of marines running around town screams LOOK, WERE DOING SOMETHING. Reality an sf unit would have roled up with jackets covering plate carriers in civies. Sry I'm just a bit anal about these kinds of topics. It's less to make you change anything than it is to just put information out there but I know I can sound like an asshole when talking about such matters.
8589687 I honestly did not know, and I did not mean to step on any toes. I apologize if it came across like that.
It's here! The meat of the story has begun! And it's delicious!
Ahhh the good ol' inter-service rivalries.
We're not the Army, the back packin' Army.
We're not the Air Force, the no flyin' Chair Force.
We're not the Coast Guard, the puddle runnin' Coast Guard.
We're not the Ma-rines, they don't even look mean.
We are the Navy, the world's finest Navy.
8589692
Did you change your profile pic to a red mage? Nice.
Also, its great to have an update from you.
8589692
Like I said it's more just spreading the information. I understand that most people don't know these things nd that's the main reason why I comment. And lime Iif said sorry if I came off as an asshole
8589692
Knight if it makes you feel better I think most of us outside of the military would have gone the same route though that was an interesting piece of information he left us to know and gives you a start on what you could fix as you even stated in the note at the end you might go back and change some details after you found out how to that scene look better
8589530 What he said
no offence but this took a while to update.
and I'm VERY glad it did
If that wasn't the original Starswirl... Why did he have to be replaced? Or was it a mistake someone had to go and correct?
Yavaar's reaction to detecting the magic of the portal being activated should be telling, will he be exited?
Keep going! ;)
8590353
Maybe because the real Starswirl had already gotten himself sucked into limbo?
8590575
Perhaps. Were not that well versed in that lore.
Always a treat to see a new chapter.
This chapter seemed a bit shorter and fast paced, I think it comes from having so many different locations and groups. Makes it feel like we're approaching a climax.
8589684
Jesus Christ author, that's some intricate stuff right there!
8590105
Good lord... I wrote that post when I got home from work and was super tired, and now that I look back at it, I see that it's a total mess, lol.
I should fix that at some point... Maybe... I'll probably totally forget, though.
8590685 8590575 8590619 8590353 It's not really that intricate. Think of it like this: Starswirl was the one who taught Clover the Clever, correct? Well, according to what we've seen in the show, he was also around after the reign of Discord, as he was the one to stop Tirek the first time. Starswirl was old when he taught Clover, and the length of Discord's reign was quoted by Celestia as "eternal."
I don't think I need to say anymore about that.
Could I get a little help on this one? I don't remember exactly where these stories fit into the timeline any more or the exact timing of earlier events due to the update rate, so I have no idea what she is alluding to here.
8589678
In this case at least, it is probably tied to the Marines mission of guarding embassies, although there really should have been a state department official along. That said, the fact that this is being done on US soil does present a legal wrinkle because the US military isn't supposed to operate within the country for the most part (don't ask me the details on this, I don't know them), so it might actually make more sense for a law enforcement organization like the Secret Service to be doing this instead.
8589687
I don't think a SF unit would be deployed on US soil even if they are probably the best suited to the job. You could make an argument for the marines if there were a diplomat there for them to guard (which probably should have been the case, but that's a State Department question), but I think a law enforcement organization would probably be the ones that get the job. I would guess the Diplomatic Security Service since they are part of the state department or the Secret Service because of their ties to diplomacy and international relations through the bodyguard side of their mission, but the FBI might wind up with the job because they are so much bigger.
8590858
Oh god. Please tell me you aren't bending over backwards to try to resolve the nonsensical mess the idiots running the show these days have made of the timeline. I have seen far too many great stories utterly destroyed by trying to fold new material into an existing story, and I really don't want it to ruin this one.
8590858
I was more talking about your use of different cultures, historical knowledge, and the universe you created to weave this story.
It's truly fantastic, and getting all that information and depth to work like you did is really impressive to me.
8590987 No, not bending over backwards, just using what the show's given me. As you can see, the AU tag is still firmly in place. After all, I'm still not using twilicorn, or discord's release. I'm just saying that, by this point, the original Starswirl has died of natural causes. The second one simply took up the mantle.
8590987 As for the timing, she's alluding to the crashed alien ship. It happened almost eight months ago at this point.
8591048
I'm not entirely sure how to take that. Did you base the decision to have a second individual take up the mantle off the stupidity in the season finale, or was this something you had planned before that for other reasons? I have seen other changeling stories where they use his form for one reason or another and there does seem to be purpose behind it from what I've seen here so it's entirely possible it was pre-planned, but the way you worded it earlier makes it sound like it was something you decided to throw in at the last minute based on that episode which would basically guarantee the creation of massive plotholes that will wreck the story.
8591055
Thanks.
8591179 nah, I've been planning this way before the tirek episode. It was just that, I had been trying to figure out how starswirl could have been in the two separate time periods, had decided 'eh, it's AU fanfiction, I ain't gotta justify crap.' Then the tirek episode happened, showing starswirl alive during that time period. So I was all like 'I'll take it!'
8591179. At any rate, this is something I've been planning for a while now. The whole Tirek thing is just a happy little plothole that gives a bit of a connection between this story to the history of the show. A little something so that, when the reveal of two starswirls did happen, it didn't catch everyone out of left field and I didn't have to keep pointing at the AU tag. If you don't like it, it's fine, just know that this is something I've been planning, the events of the actual show be danged, so to speak.
8591364
...That...there are no words.
Just because the idiot writers have stopped caring about things like continuity, characterization, and other critical components of writing doesn't mean you should too. Now, if you have some way to close that plot hole then by all means do so, but if not you should either avoid drawing attention to it or simply state that you are declaring one of the instances of him to be non-canon for this story like twilicorn and discord's reformation.
8591437. I haven't stopped caring, and it was something I was planning for quite some time. Please, just trust me, it won't screw up the story.
8591467
I will, but this is something I have seen completely destroy a number of amazing stories over the years including one that went completely stupid a month ago, so I think it is critically important to make sure you are not falling into this trap. As I said before, there are plenty of ways you can make this work from where you are now so I'm definitely not jumping ship yet, but your earlier comment does have me wary so I want to make sure this isn't going to be another victim of this trend.
8591501 No worries about that, then. That's actually one of my least favorite trends, where they crowbar in Twilight's Alicornification, or Discord suddenly free, or Tirek being free, or even flat out wholesale retellings of the entire show, except there's a human involved. That is NOT the fate of this story, nor is it where I intend to go with this.
8591736
That's very good to hear. It's one thing to get vague promises which may or may not be kept, but hearing that this drives you up the wall too makes me very certain you won't be making this mistake.
8591762
Even some of the best stories have some plot holes, they don't ruin a good story, only expose the bad. Also he doesn't owe us anything, he can write how he wishes and then we can tell him what we think.
8589571
Spoiler: I think the second Starswirl is actually both Merlin from Earth and from Yavaar's home planet.
The original Starswirl was just a powerful unicorn
Boy, it's refreshing to read about an encounter between aliens and soldiers that doesn't end with someone getting spooked and firing their weapon (and thus royally screwing everything).
8589684
Whoa, starswirl and merlin working together to save 2 worlds? Mind blown!
There are few things quite as satisfying as seeing stuck-up nobles lose most of their power and influence.
The frequency this story is updated always confounds me. Author IS consistently updating, yet the time intervals feel so different than the average story on this site that it throws me for a loop everytime. Whenever I see an update, I realize that I had nearly, but not quite, forgotten about this story, and then are thrilled to see its continued progress.
I'm certainly not complaining, for every author needs their own pacing, however this trilogy has been ongoing for so long now with such an unique update cycle that I am amazed every time I see it. Generally this kind of pace results in stories on this site fizzing away as the author loses interest or artistic drive. Yet Knight Breeze has continued to maintain this story/series longer than any other ongoing fic I'm currently reading or have read in the time since he started.
8593524 I'm glad you enjoy this story, and I am sorry for how infrequently I update, but there is a logical reason for it. It has nothing to do with my interest, because I can tell you right now that I am wholy dedicated to finishing this, then turning it into an actual book and getting it legitly published.
The only reason it hasn't by this point is time.
I work nights full time. On top of that, I have a wife, who is currently expecting. So when I get writer's block, it can take me some time to work through it, simply because I have real world responsibilities. Make no mistake, though, I'm not dropping this story, or any of my others for that matter. It's just going to take me a while to get to them, because real world stuff.
Starswirl had glowing eyes and lapsed into a deep voice to speak an alien tongue at times? Someone call SG-1, because clearly there's a snake hiding somewhere.
8593850
I had imagined that was the story. Life gets complicated, and it sounds like you have your hands full. Still, glad to hear how dedicated you are to writing. Your persistence shows and is definitely appreciated by your readers!
Okay that's it, I'm done. I really liked the first two stories but this third one just isn't as good as those. There's too many on going plots so the story just keeps jumping around, characters are brought in and then forgotten about, the whole plot lines with Earth and the changelings I didn't care for either. It just seems like unnecessary padding to stretch out the story and pushes the main plot aside. I really tried to like this one but it's just not as good as the last two, they were more focused and didn't feel like the plot wasn't all over the place. It just feels like you're trying to cram several different stories into this.