Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience

[ses]

@OurLadyOfWires I know you dislike "social actions that combine multiple goals" and "planning for next turn way too early" but I was just curious as I was trying to figure out our options for getting a 3circle site next turn. If we do [HONORED GUEST] with Mareinette to try and grailbomb Spoiled can she also handle obtaining a non-suspicious 3circle site from Filthy? Especially if we sign off on whatever bits she needs to just rent a place from him. Would that be allowed without interfering with the "grailbomb Spoiled" objective too badly? We could also Leash Filthy if needed and I'm not sure how that would effect things.

Speaking of which how does budgeting work with social-fuing people? We were told way back when that 30-50 bits would be the baseline cost of social lubrication on trying to get people up to the threshold of Confidante (the explanation blurb on our contacts threadmark even says "actions OR bits"). Do we have to declare ahead of time that Mareinette has a budget or does she just not need one or what?

Honestly, I'm kind of just confused on how we're supposed to Confidante people on purpose. Like, how would we even approach bumping Cheerilee to confidante? I mean as players how would we approach it not as asking for metagame spoilers. Since as I understand it Confidante isn't the level you reach by just hitting the "spend an AP on them" button, but in previous cases we were offered votes that gave us our path. Is there just no option to Confidante Cheerilee unless a FO somehow shows up for her?

 

[Zxzx24]

I think a lot of these small details are difficult because we chose to "leave it up to Mareinette" and she isn't strictly beholden to act on our specific desires?

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

I think a lot of these small details are difficult because we chose to "leave it up to Mareinette" and she isn't strictly beholden to act on our specific desires?

Click to shrink...

Mareinette was working over Spoiled Rich, not Cheerilee.

 

[Zxzx24]

I am aware. I was referring more broadly to having mareinette perform those social actions on our behalf period?

And they did mention spoiled in their post above

 

[spiderhellian]

Mareinette is busted on social actions. She rolls what, +90? It's fittingly obscene. I don't think we particularly need to worry about her.

Honestly, I'm kind of just confused on how we're supposed to Confidante people on purpose. Like, how would we even approach bumping Cheerilee to confidante? I mean as players how would we approach it not as asking for metagame spoilers. Since as I understand it Confidante isn't the level you reach by just hitting the "spend an AP on them" button, but in previous cases we were offered votes that gave us our path. Is there just no option to Confidante Cheerilee unless a FO somehow shows up for her?

Click to shrink...

I think the answer is "spend a social action on them." And then the dice are rolled and any anywhere from success, to figure out further things to be done, to not much happens. Probably the second is most likely.

…That uncertainty is tough. It's hard to justify actions on things with unknown challenges and unknown rewards. When there's often known challenges with clearer rewards at hand.

(Perhaps another variant on the issue that's pushed us from exploring the Mansus, really.)

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Yeah questers not taking chances, even for things that would massively payoff because of 1% chance of failure, is to great a risk, is known issue.

 

[Quaxotia]

Yeah questers not taking chances, even for things that would massively payoff because of 1% chance of failure, is to great a risk, is known issue.

Click to shrink...

To be fair we very recently hit the 1% chance of failure and nearly died for it. When a long running quest rolls enough times the rare catastrophic risks become a real consideration.

 

[ses]

 

[BritBiscuit]

Its been quite a while since I've picked up my digital art tablet so I thought I'd do some fanart.
In the style of a propaganda photo inspired by Ciaphas Cain but without shading or anything because I couldn't be bothered to turn my fun drawing into actual work...

Spoiler: Ciaphas Velvet Covers

And here is the image I took some inspiration from

Spoiler: Ciaphas Image

But wow is trying to figure out how to put clothing on ponies a nightmare, after trying so hard to get the hat to work with a horn and the ear I kinda gave up on the coat.

 

[Pittauro]

Man I don't think anyone else has pointed out what a beefcake Team Leader was. He's almost Shining Armor tier. Will he be a Worthy Opponent with just the first level of Edge? Because that'd be hilarious.

On the subject of combat by the way I ran a simulation and Velvet with [A Resolution] at +69 personal combat needs seven +8 normie enemies at the same time ganging up on her to have a 50/50 winrate. Outnumbering penalties are brutal, and Edge Influences are scary. Those are both true statements.

Click to shrink...

That's a bit of an exaggeration. They have the same health, sure, but it's +18 vs +25.

Considering +10 is the "average" pony, this guy is BASICALLY halfway between "average pony" and "Shining Armor".

Yeah questers not taking chances, even for things that would massively payoff because of 1% chance of failure, is to great a risk, is known issue.

Click to shrink...

To be fair in some cases that 1% can spell disaster.

Like if we failed to heal ourselves we would have been at 1 health for the Windigo.

A comparatively small chance of failure (and some bad decisions) led us to dancing with death.

failing a Name summon could have also been disastrous at times in the past. And so on.

 

[Sveta08]

To be fair in some cases that 1% can spell disaster.

Click to shrink...

Looking at you Red Church

 

[spiderhellian]

Looking at you Red Church

Click to shrink...

What?

You can argue about the fight, where we had very good odds (I think it was 10% chance of getting a wound?). But the Red Church was a dangerous Mansus Expedition! Not at all a 1% chance of failure thing, much higher than 1% even before we know what obstacle we'd have to face.

 

[Sveta08]

What?

You can argue about the fight, where we had very good odds (I think it was 10% chance of getting a wound?). But the Red Church was a dangerous Mansus Expedition! Not at all a 1% chance of failure thing, much higher than 1% even before we know what obstacle we'd have to face.

Click to shrink...

I'm talking the "1% away from success" problem, not the rolling a 1 problem.

 

[Pittauro]

What?

You can argue about the fight, where we had very good odds (I think it was 10% chance of getting a wound?). But the Red Church was a dangerous Mansus Expedition! Not at all a 1% chance of failure thing, much higher than 1% even before we know what obstacle we'd have to face.

Click to shrink...

I was more thinking the combo of bad rolls from that point.

Failed red church.

Be attacked.

Have the attacker get past both Biedde and Mareinette

Have Velvet fight

Have Velvet be WOUNDED.

 

[Nevermort]

I wonder if Mareinette can succeed were we failed and bring Midday Dew to our side. Anyone interested to try?
Or try to social Celestia. Can we invite her on anti-changeling expedition for example? We won't need to worry about lacking firepower then, or spending Biedde action to do it.

 

[ses]

Attentions	Major Victory	Minor Victory	Loss
0	23.2%	13.6%	63.2%
1	47.1%	11.5%	41.3%
2	58.2%	14.7%	27.1%
3	60.4%	18.2%	21.3%

Major and Minor victories being 0 and 1 wound taken. Here are the odds for Biedde's Edge Sacrament. Man it's hilarious how much worse our odds are against Biedde than roflstomping +25 combat Heroic mortal Shining Armor with an Influence. Our loss rate doesn't go below 21% no matter how many Attentions we stack. I'm starting to have second thoughts about rushing into Edge Sacrament seeing that failure rate and chance of going down to 1 wound again. Maybe we can make a 2nd try at getting hold of an Edge artifact that actually gives a combat boost? We may have flubbed last time (pocket sand!) but it's a likely thing to exist in an expedition after all, and every point of bonus swings the odds a lot. Like there's at least double-digit odds of one being in BTRC3 let alone expeditions in general. I really want to do more expedition spam, hopefully we have Axe's action next turn and there's no delay on getting her back.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

I wonder if Mareinette can succeed were we failed and bring Midday Dew to our side. Anyone interested to try?
Or try to social Celestia. Can we invite her on anti-changeling expedition for example? We won't need to worry about lacking firepower then, or spending Biedde action to do it.

Click to shrink...

Given that Alicorns are implied to have some innate resistance to Lore BS (they just flat-put cannot be Leashed, for example), and that Celestia has Lantern, having Mareinette approach her could go very wrong very quickly.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

There is also the technical problem that Mareinette can be ordered to do things "you" can do. And there is no way in hell I'll let you guys vote to socialize Celestia.

So this is just an invalid game command to begin with

 

[Proteus]

There is also the technical problem that Mareinette can be ordered to do things "you" can do. And there is no way in hell I'll let you guys vote to socialize Celestia.

So this is just an invalid game command to begin with

Click to shrink...

Awww come on! We should invite her to a tea party and introduce her to our daughters. I'm sure that will go well.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

You are Selene, and right now-


"It's not fair. It just isn't! I mean, just LOOK at her!"


-right now, you are... trying to de-escalate a very delicate situation.

School is finally over for the day. The bell rung five, maybe six minutes ago, and half the foals of your class are still in the classroom doing this and that. Some of them are chatting, and deciding whose house they will go play in for the rest of the day. Some of them are looking out through the window to see if their parents have arrived to pick them up. And a few rare eggheads are even surrounding Miss Cheerilee as they ask some last-minute questions about today's homework.

However, you are not in the classroom. Usually by now you would be walking out of the front door with your sister, to meet up with Soft Sweeps (or more recently, uncle Steppes) so you could all go back home. But today was a little... different.

Because right now, you are outside of the classroom. Right now you are in the playground, hiding behind one of the larger trees, as you try your best to de-escalate this situation.

Right now, you are behind the large tree of the playground, hoping against hope that nopony hears all this yelling, and you are not alone.

Because there is a very, very angry Diamond Tiara here with you.

And this, really, is the short version of your problems.


"Prancing around all happy-go-lucky, practically RUBBING her flank on everypony's faces and-!"
"Can... can you at least yell a little less? Or maybe-"
"I. AM. NOT. YELLING!"


Today is the first day of school after your sister got her cutie mark.

This kind of thing has already happened before, and it's a rare but not unusual occurrence. Still, given everypony's age and the fact that maybe a third of your class doesn't have their cutie marks yet, it is not unusual for a filly or colt to come to class beaming with joy after getting their cutie mark. And it just makes sense. Everypony in the classroom is a foal, so it's normal for everypony to get excited over it, and Miss Cheerilee is more than enough experienced with this to keep the class under control and continue with the lessons, while giving the happy occurrence enough of a spotlight for everypony to be glad about it.

So, you thought the day would be just like that. You arrived in the classroom with Silky, your sister beaming with joy as she pranced in, everypony talked about it for several minutes until Miss Cheerilee got the class rolling, and then everypony swarmed your sister the moment recess started.

Everypony was happy about it. Everypony should be happy about it. It's like a shared ritual everypony knows about, like celebrating a classmate's birthday or greeting a new student who just joined the school.

But Diamond Tiara... wasn't.

Boy oh boy was she unhappy about it.

"Diamond, please... please hear me out," you plead to your friend.

"No, YOU hear me out. Are you even listening to me? Can't you friggin SEE?!"

More than just unhappy, she was angry. She was angry, and you swear you could almost feel something in her eyes the moment she saw your sister prance into the classroom.

She didn't talk to Silky for the whole day. She quite literally sulked on a corner of the classroom, forelegs crossed and all, while everypony else surrounded your sister.

And most worrying of all, the moment the bell rung, you saw Diamond Tiara get up from her seat and practically march towards your sister. Her eyes filled with a kind of anger that was just out of place in a filly's eyes. And you were sure, or rather you were sure, that Diamond was going to do something very mean and very thoughtless the moment she reached Silky's desk. Then and there. In the middle of a classroom full of foals, and a teacher, without any warning.

So, you did the first thing that came to your mind. You quite literally lifted the mutely irate Diamond Tiara on your back, and you jumped out of the window while carrying her.

A few of your classmates saw you, probably, and you heard a few giggles to the effect of "Selene being weird again". And most importantly, you don't think Miss Cheerilee noticed it, or she would be reprimanding the two of you right now.

Regardless, the fact remains that you are here... outside on the playground, trying to calm down one of your sister's best friends who for some reason is acting like the exact opposite of that.

"Am I going nuts?! Am I the only one who can see what's going one?!" Diamond Tiara continues. And for all that you wish she would yell a little lower, you are glad she only started yelling after you carried her out through the window.

But still, you are at a loss for words. Speaking was never really your forte. You are quite happy with letting your sister, or your mom, or anypony else really do the talking for you. So, it goes without saying that trying to calm down an angry filly is definitely outside of your area of expertise.

"I... you kinda are?" you say, cringing as you realize your words only made your little friend angrier.

Well, she is angry at you, now, which is good. You will gladly become the focus of Tiara's anger, if it means she isn't about to punch your little sister out of the blue after class. But still, you were hoping to dig yourself out of this hole rather than just swap places with your sister?

"I-I'm sorry, what I mean is that..." you stammer, grasping at straws as you try to figure out what you should say. "Well, why are you so angry at Silky? I mean, she just got her cutie mark. What did she do? W-why are you so angry?"

You say that, and for a moment you think you made the worst possible decision. For a moment, as Diamond absolutely glares at you, you think you are done for. And that the filly is either about to jump at you, or gallop back to the classroom to jump at your sister.

But as the filly looks at you, eyes wide in anger and lips pursed into a line, something happens. Something happens, she takes a deep and angry breath, and by some miracle she doesn't escalate the situation any further.

"Being the rich filly in school was my thing. My thing," she says, stomping a hoof at the ground for good measure. "Until a noble filly, that nopony even know existed, came along. Just like that, out of the blue."

You can practically feel the anger in her words, as she says that. No, really, you can actually feel it. Diamond Tiara is talking, or maybe growling, through clenched teeth. And you know in your heart of hearts, or perhaps from some other intuition, that if you say anything right now she will take it as a challenge, or as a reason to pick a fight with you.

So, you stay quiet. You stay quiet, and you stay as small as possible, and you even nod every now and then as she speaks.

"Having a fancy cutie mark was MY thing," she stomps her hoof on the ground again. "And then THIS happens."

You gulp something dry, and to be honest you are a little afraid. You are not afraid that Diamond Tiara might hurt you, of course. However, there is something deeply wrong about seeing a filly her age this angry. And that makes you feel...

"Making everypony listen to what you say WAS. MY. THING!" the dirt actually becomes marked with the shape of her horseshoe now. "So how is it fair that EVERYPONY IS PAYING ATTENTION TO HER?!"

Diamond Tiara says that, and then she takes in a sharp, sudden breath. Almost like a sob. And for a moment, you think her eyes were getting a little moist. But that only lasts for a moment.

Your friend blinks once, then twice, and then she shakes her head.

And just like that, Diamond looks... well, she looks less angry now. You still feel you can mess this up, if you say the wrong thing. And by the moon you know you are not good at this.

But still, Diamond Tiara looks less angry now, and maybe more sad than she was before. To the point that the silence between you is getting uncomfortably heavy. So, you take a deep breath, and hope you aren't about to put your hoof in your mouth.

"Diamond, I... you know it's not her fault. I mean, she doesn't do any of that on purpose?" you say, very carefully, hoping that the pink filly isn't about to regain her scowl and glare up at you. But still, even though Diamond Tiara is your friend, and you don't like seeing her like this, you are a little relieved to see that she is still looking down to the ground.

You hate seeing her sad and dejected like this. But this is definitely better than seeing her as angry as she was before.

"And c'mon, Diamond. Even if she was doing this on purpose, you know it wouldn't be because she was showing off or being mean about it. She can be a clutz sometimes, but you know it's just because she's happy about stuff."

There was definitely a better way to say that, you tell yourself as you mentally kick your own flank. There was definitely a more diplomatic way to express that. To remind her your sister likes to share, and not to show off. Maybe tell Tiara about one of the times where your sister's excitement got the better of her. You definitely are not a diplomat, and it is showing.

Still, Diamond lets out a cough. And you are surprised on the next moment when you realized that was actually a chuckle.

And when Diamond looks up at you, she has a small smile on her face. Although she is still not looking you in the eye.

"Yeah, Silky can be a bit of a clutz sometimes..." she says, letting out another chuckle through a weak smile.

You do your absolute best to hide how relieved you are by this. Because by the stars, how are you supposed to be a Princess if you can't even placate a filly? Still, you think Diamond you managed to calm Diamond Tiara down. But you are still not exactly sure of what to do next.

Although, apparently the correct answer was that you should have "waited". And thankfully, your awkward and panicked silence gave your friend a little more time to sort through her emotions. Because once again, Diamond Tiara gives the ground a small, half-hearted stomp, as she say something else.

"I know that, and maybe that's the worst part. I know she is a good filly. But it also makes me mad that I can't even be angry at her without being the villain!"

She says that, but then she takes another deep breath. Bringing up a hoof to her forehead as she tries to do... something.

By Equestria, you really need to ask your mom for a few more lessons on talking. You have no idea what to do next!

"I'm fine now, thanks Selene," Diamond says, and you once again bite down your awkward-relieved expression right before she looks up at you again. But still, true to her word, you are happy to see that Diamond's expression is a lot more normal now. "I mean it. I wasn't really thinking, back in the classroom. So thank you for stopping me from doing something stupid."

None of that unnatural anger in her eyes anymore. None of that alien ugliness you couldn't really describe.

Right now, you are just looking at a filly. You are just looking at a young and healthy earth pony filly, who is one of your school friends.

"You're welcome, Diamond. Anytime," you say. "But uh... is everything alright? I mean, you kinda almost blew up back in the classroom, and that's just not like you. Did anything happen over the weekend?"

You ask that, as the two of you walk out from behind the tree and make your way back to the classroom. But the only answer Diamond Tiara gives you is a... very unusual expression.

It's not an expression you have seen in a while now, but it is one you think she wore a lore more frequently when you first met her. A strange mixture of confusion and helplessness, and maybe anger that she always had when...

"Is... is it your mom again? Did something happen at your..."

Diamond winces, the moment you ask that. She physically winces, as if you had just kicked her on the chest. And you immediately understand that you are right, and also that she doesn't want to talk about it.

"I-I mean, it doesn't matter!" you say, trying your best not to think of how you just jumped out of a hole, and almost landed inside another one. "Besides, what do you say we go talk to everypony? I'm sure they must be looking for us. And who knows, maybe uncle Steppes will take us all to Sugarcube Corner again!"

You try your best not to trip on your words, and you pray to the stars that oh Moon please don't let you mess this up again and make Diamond angry at you. But thankfully (and you mean it, thankfully), Diamond's expression immediately turns into a small smile again. And her youthful innocence allows her to glaze over whatever mud puddle you almost just tripped into.

"Yeah, let's go see where everypony else is," she says, her hoofsteps getting lighter as you two walk side by side. "Speaking of which, I can't wait to see how Silky's cute-ceñeara will be like. I mean, yours was already big, but I can't imagine hers not being even bigger!"

You let out a small laugh, thinking back to how embarrassed you were at your cute-ceñeara. After all, everypony knows you don't like being the center of attention, but that Silky has no problems with that. So yes, your friends definitely agree that whatever brakes were in place during your party will not be there for Silky's.

"I mean, Silky is so much better than us mere mortals, isn't she? So of course her cute-ceñeara will be just another chance for her to rub that on our noses," she continues.

And you can detect... a little meanness in her voice? You give her an awkward half-nod for an answer, but you aren't entirely sure how to respond. Because you think this is helping Diamond let off some more steam?

She lets of a few more pointed remarks here and there. But true to her word, the moment you two reach the front of the school and see all your friends, Diamond is back to her usual pleasant self.

And you... you let out one final, thankful, sigh of relief.

Because yes, this might have been something as small as you calming down a friend. But still, you did it! You manage to make things better with just your words (and maybe the unnatural strength it took to jump out of the window with a filly on your back). But still, go you! The Princess of the Night is now one step closer to being a worthy ruler!

"Selene! Diamond! What were you two doing?" Silver Spoon is the first to notice you two, and the grey filly immediately makes a beeline to the two of you.

The rest of your friends, you can see, are currently gathered around uncle Steppes, probably as he entertains them with another one of his stories.

"Oh, just having a grownup mare's chat, Silver. You know how it is," Diamond says to Silver Spoon.

And for a moment, Silver Spoon gives you a glance that... well, you have no idea of what it means. But you wonder how much she knows, just from Diamond telling her that.

"Well, I'm glad you're not grumpy anymore," Silver Spoon says, casually confirming to you that she does know a lot more than she lets on. Well, you were told she was friends with Diamond before anypony else, so it makes sense. "And come on, Silky's uncle is going to take us all back to their place!"

"Yes, yes, Silky's family is going to take us on her victory lap..." Diamond says. But whatever meanness was gathering in her voice dissipates less than a moment later. "Well, it'll be a good lap, so what the hay. I don't mind going with her."

Diamond Tiara says that, and then she begins making her way to your friend group. You stay behind with Silver Spoon for maybe one second, and that is all the time the grey filly needs to give you a knowing wink, and perhaps an appreciative nod.

And after that, the two of you are following Diamond, as you all make your way back to your friends.



...



But then... disaster strikes.

!!!!!!!!!!​

Suddenly, a windy gale envelops the front of the school. A raging gust of wind comes out of nowhere, and everypony needs to crouch down to stop the wind from carrying them.

Moments later, something blocks out the sun for a second. And you all look up to see that there is something flying down towards you.

"Oh... oh no..." you say to yourself, as you immediately understand what is about to happen.

Because you an everypony else look up to see... a carriage.

A flying carriage.

A flying carriage made out of pink and gold, encrusted with blue and green gems. Covered with laurels made out of precious metals, and topped by tiny, perfectly-wrought statues of ponies bearing wings and horn.

"Oh no... no, no no no no..." you say out loud, not even bothering to hide your voice.

Because one moment later, everpony catches up to what is going on. Everypony finally understand what that carriage means, even if nopony can really believe it yet.

Everypony understands it. And the moment the carriage lands on the ground, everypony bows. With two exceptions.

You do not bow, because it just isn't in your nature.

And Diamond Tiara does not bow, because her body is once again locked by her anger.

After all, just a few minutes ago your friend was angry at Silky Stream. She was angry at your sister for reasons she can't really do anything about, and that she channeled into the perceived notion that Silky is... well, trying to one-up her.

You managed to talk her down of it. You managed, between fumbles and stumbles, to remind Diamond Tiara that she is Silky's friend, and that your sister wouldn't even dream about lording whatever she has over other ponies.

But how... how in Equestria would Diamond Tiara ever react... how could Diamond Tiara feel anything but anger when, moments later, she witnesses the sight of a flying carriage landing in front of Silky Stream.

And what can Diamond Tiara possibly do but bristle with rage, as she watches the door of the carriage bust wide open to reveal-

"I came as soon as I heard! Now where is my favorite filly in all of Equestria?!"​

-only to reveal Princess Cadance, the Alicorn of Love, practically storming out of the carriage and hugging your little sister. Scooping her up on her forelegs into a tight embrace, just as your own mother walks out of the carriage right behind her.

And just like that, Diamond Tiara is insanely angry all over again.

...

It seems your work of protecting your little sister will never end.

---

Awww come on! We should invite her to a tea party and introduce her to our daughters. I'm sure that will go well.

Click to shrink...

Now, now. Silky Stream is a Name Magnet. Not an Alicorn mag-...

(Looks at Silky's history of interaction with the Princesses. Two out of three in the bag.)

Well I'll be damned...

Spoiler: Author's Note

Huh. One and a half hours to write this. This definitely spiraled out of control

Anyways, I had this idea floating in my head for a few days now. I hope you enjoyed Silky Stream flaunting 10% of her power level.

And of course this is not canon. It has "in which" on its title, so that means it's not canon, right?

And it couldn't possibly be the case that this is "not canon" because I undershot Silky's real power level. Right?

Right?

In other comments, the original title of this would be "In which Silky Stream is absolute bullshit". But good fillies don't curse, so I can't see them using language like that.

I hope you are all doing well.

 

[DelightedOne]

"I came as soon as I heard! Now where is my favorite filly in all of Equestria?!"

Click to shrink...

I could swear it would be Velvet, just to scratch the motherly wounds Spoiled gives her mind, but Cadance THE PRINCESS OF LOVE coming to a relatively small-still-growing town for a Cutie Mark is... brilliant.

 

[Venerable Ro]

Diamond being Edge-dominant makes perfect sense, the idea of her manifesting it without outside instruction out of sheer indignation is hilarious.

Poor Selene, having to keep track of such a volatile group of friends.