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

[JenMGold]

I thought the other ones were the test rolls, and that one was the real result of Cadance's attempt. If not... Well, hopefully we get a better result and not a worse one.

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

GM will announce when they are doing the roll.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Oh, the wait for this update is going to be tense.

 

[spiderhellian]

There's a quest I love where the readers do the rolls, in the lead up to an update. It is quite fun — and also incredibly stressful sometimes. What does that critical success mean, or that low-roll, how doomed are we or how successful…

I can only imagine doing it here would be ten times as stressful!

 

[Sveta08]

But at this exact point of the story, this particular omake is delightfully fitting enough for me to want (with the writer's permission) to have it in the main threadmark.

Click to shrink...

Should need be said, permission granted. It is an honor (and terrifying) to have it there.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Spoiler: Winning Plan

[X] Plan: A Song of Bright Snow
-[X] (Detectives) Investigate Neighnia
-[X] (Constables) Expedition: The Quarry of Yuxtabai
-[X] (Commissioner) Get your hooves dirty
-[X] (Director) Heart
-[X] (Mareinette) Honored Guest: Mayor Mare
-[X] (Baldomare) Lantern lesson
-[X] (DoA) Consult
-[X] (Smiles-Free) Lead an expedition: Is It Free Real Estate?
-[X] (Cherenkolt) Consult
--[X] Recalibrate: Grail
-[X] (Selene) Soothe the night
-[X] (Jade) Study Moth 3 artifact
-[X] Summon a Mare-in-the-Light
--[X] In a barn on our estate
-[X] Acquire a dead body
-[X] Help Smiles (x2)
-[X] Cover your bases (-5 Follower AP, +2 Velvet AP)

[X] Plan: The Princess of Love's Chosen Has to Make an Effort
--[X] You don't have time for this. (Costs 0 actions. You will only roll ONE healing dice.)
--[X] The medicine taste is worse than its appearance. But it is exactly what you need, if they are to be believed… (Costs 30 bits. One dice will auto-succeed)
-[X] Before this month starts, you will perform a ritual to draw the attention of [SECRET HISTORIES]
-[X] The delights of subservience (Leash currently targeting: NO TARGET)
--[X] Change Leash to another target. (Spoiled Rich)
-[X] [KNOCK] The Shattered Stairways
--[X] [KNOCK] A labyrinth of stairs. A monument of a gone age. A sprawling ruin. See where the many paths might lead you.
-[X] These are the skills that allow you to climb the Mansus
--[X] Take that terrifying leap, into the abyss we call change
---[X] Don the mask, shear your mane, pick the only pony who will notice it. Snip snip snip (Spoiled Rich)
-[X] Filthy Rich has reached a crossroad in his personal life. His marriage is not where he wants it to be, and he is not sure what he should do. You should nudge him in the right direction. (FREE ACTION) (SAVE)
-[X] The Royal Castle feels, quite literally, like a powder keg, and the temperature is rising. Cadance will come out of that boiler at some point. When she does, she will need your help. (5x)
-[X] [FORGE] It's actually a lot simpler than it sounds, now that you know what you are doing (produce a reagent, write in which Lore/combination of Lores.
--[X] [FORGE] Level 4 reagent (80 bits)
--[X] [FORGE] Purify a level 6 Forge Reagent (110 bits)

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] (THRONE) You will try to change things.
[X] Plan: All and Two
-[X] (YUXTABEI) Artifacts and curios: Everything
-[X] (SMILES) Artifacts and curios: None
-[X] (SMILES) Accompanying team: Mareinette and Selene

You are Velvet Covers.

And you are so very busy.

You thought you would be able to strike a balance of sorts. You thought, either in ignorance or hubris, that you would be able to find a rhythm to your abridged work schedule. You hoped, or perhaps dreamed, that you would be able to keep your usual level of supervision over the Bureau while also being able to oversee whatever most critical fire is currently raging over Equestria.

But you were… sorely mistaken, to say the least.

For starters, word of Cadance's "unavailability" spread almost immediately. In fact, it spread too quickly, and you can only assume that some of the castle staff went out of their way to spread said news.

Following that, ponies who had been waiting for some time to have an audience with the Princess became understandably upset. After that, ponies who hoped their ongoing issues would be solved in a timely manner were soon to follow. And finally, ponies who thought they were entitled to the Princess' time began causing issues on their own.

And you were left with the very… peculiar chance to see the governmental equivalent of a trainwreck happen in slow motion. One hour at a time, one day after the other.

Of course, you didn't just let it happen. You jumped in to try to fix things almost immediately. You cut the Bureau loose in its current tasks, authorized Cherenkolt to make preparations on your behalf, and basically ignored the periodic reports of the investigators in favor of hoping that somepony would give you a non-written warning if they actually found what they were looking for.

Still, as you tried to use your Princess-given authority to solve ten problems at once, you couldn't help but mull over a much deeper question…

What is the root of all of these issues? How can ponies, yourself included, be able to live in harmony and have such a complex society, and yet not be able to hold on to it when things go wrong?

It was easy to point to the Princesses at first, while you were thinking about it. It was easy to think that one thousand years under Celestia's benevolence is solely to blame. But the more you thought about it, the more you realized that it couldn't be just that.

After all, there are no other pony countries or civilizations other than Equestria. And even though it is known that there are lands and riches beyond Equestria's borders, very few ponies dare to set hoof outside of Ponykind's lands. So, even though being ruled by the Princesses is safe and comfortable, you can't help but think that ponies want to be ruled.

Your kind, your fellow ponies, are able to build, and rebuild. But during a crisis, when things are in the midst of crumbling, ponies simply panic. And the more you thought about it, the more you mulled over that as the days passed you by, the more you realized that…

… that ponies seem to want to be told what to do.

Either by a Princess… or by a mark on their flank.

…

Having those thoughts almost felt wrong. Having those thoughts made you feel dirty, or ungrateful, or perhaps something else you couldn't quite name.

And yet, you couldn't deny the evidence before your very eyes.

Of how everypony seems to be panicking at the mere thought of a Princess being unavailable.

Of how everypony becomes calm and focused once they are told what to do.

Of how… of how you looked into the past, the distant past during your Mansus-dreams, and you saw that ponies were far more independent and resilient, before there were Princesses or cutie marks. Back when power and authority were available for anypony to grab, at the top of the Mansus. Back when a mark upon the flank was something earned and honed rather than gifted and seemingly random.

You do not blame the Princesses for the current state of Ponykind. You do not blame Celestia for nurturing your kind for millennia, you do not blame Cadance for being given the burden of alicornhood, and you are physically incapable of blaming Selene for anything.

You do not blame the Princesses, because the more you think about it, the more it feels like they were introduced into this world as a solution to an existing problem.

Which means the problem, the true root of this problem, must be…

"This world is crooked. It is not as it was, nor as it was meant to be."​

Well, you certainly don't have time to fix something of this magnitude or scale. Not during the short period of time you will be covering for Cadance.

Not in the Wake.

Not until you reach Glory.

But you do think you can make a few changes, here and there, to begin to address all of this.



- - -



It is morning. The sun rose in the distant horizon not long ago, and you are just about to reach your limit.

You are currently in your office at the Lunar Bureau. And your life has basically been a repetition of drinking your medicine, waiting for Evergreen Bloom to come with another crisis for you to handle, and pass out on the makeshift bed on the corner when you can't take this anymore.

How long has it been since this started? You have no idea. At least a week. Probably a bit more. The Secretariat, bless their hearts, has been on duty twenty-four hours a day with a rotation of shifts. And by some miracle, the fact that you have been covertly ruling over Equestria has not leaked to anypony who shouldn't know about it.

But even then, you don't have enough hours in the day to make the problems stop.

Of course, you realize you have been dedicating yourself exclusively to filling Cadance's horseshoes. You do realize that you are taking as much out of this situation as you are giving it. You could be doing less, and you know that everything would still be fine. Equestria wouldn't crumble down in a day if you gave it a break, and you know it.

But you wouldn't be able to look Cadance in the eye if you didn't give this your all. And what is more, you have been dedicating a few hours of your day to… a little project of yours, that will hopefully help in the long term.

However, the fact remains that right now you are purposefully biting more than you can chew. And you have abdicated food, sleep and comfort in favor of putting just a few more hours per day into this.

Although, you can't help but think that this is all…

"Easier said than done," you grumble to yourself, as you try and fail to blink the exhaustion out of your eyes.

Because the problems that Evergreen Bloom brings to you aren't the clear-cut issues brought to you by the Bureau. When you are working as the Commissioner, your officers do bring you problems, but they also bring you options and solutions.

Whether to arrest somepony, whether to give up on a lead, whether to set up a listening post that will either cost horsepower or incur other risks. Those are all variables you can weigh and ultimately decide on.

"But here? Every time I smell Bloom coming closer, I never know if…" you trail off, quite literally talking to yourself in your otherwise empty office. "I never know if she is going to ask me where we should focus for the next weather change, or if she is just going to tell me that the sun stopped moving as if I could somehow fix it."

You say that out loud, feeling what little focus you had slip from your grasp as your body once again protests for sleep. Naturally, that also means you forgot what you were doing just now, and that your eyes are already drifting towards your makeshift bed.

"Maybe I should stop for a few hours," you mumble, already getting up from your chair and making your way towards the chaotic bundle of bedsheets and pillows you have been sleeping on. "Secretariat already knows that locked door means not to disturb me, and with any luck Bloom won't be-"

-but you almost wince as you are interrupted by the familiar presence of the pegasus mare making her way to your office.

You groan. You don't even try to hide it. You let out a long groan, that gets progressively louder, that threatens to turn into a cry of sheer frustration.

And not for the first time, something inside of you gives up. You give up on your dignity, if nothing else, because by the time Evergreen comes into your office you are quite literally tucked into bed.

Whatever the mare has to say, whatever stupid crisis she is going to tell you about, can certainly wait after you slept at least half an hour.

"Commissioner?" she asks, looking around the room in a curiously confused way.

Which makes you realize that you don't have any lights on inside your office, and that you have been working in total darkness for a while now.

But the mare eventually homes in on you and glances in your general direction, after you let out another unsightly grumble.

"What?" is all you ask, already sure that there is nothing the mare can say that will make you leave your bed.

"It's the Princess. Princess Cadance, that is. She wants to talk to you. She asked me to come get you," she says.

And you are done jumping out of your makeshift bed before she even has the chance to finish that sentence.



- - -



True to her word, Evergreen Bloom brought you to Cadance. She didn't take you to the Royal Apartments, of course, given how unbearably hot that section of the castle currently is. Instead, she took you to a secluded guest room, not too far from your own, where Cadance and Shining Armor were resting.

You thought, or perhaps even dreaded, that Cadance would be worse for wear. You feared that she would be exhausted, or crying, or maybe even physically hurt. But instead, when you were let into her room, you found the couple surprisingly well.

In fact, Shining Armor looked worse than Cadance did. The stallion thinner than when you last saw him, and he had that strange exhausted-but-rested look of a pony who was recovering from an illness. It also did not help that his false horn was not attached to his forehead, as his crippled member made him look that much worse.

Still, compared to him, Cadance was more than alright. She looked like she was nursing him back to health, even.

Of course, of course, you are so tired that you didn't even think of the obvious. Cadance had already left Celestia's residence before, when she first sent word for you to take care of her obligations. There was no reason why she couldn't have left Celestia's presence more often, without you being any the wiser.

So, it only makes sense that this time, she called for you because she has been away from Celestia for long enough that she was able to rest. In fact, given how it is morning, you assume that Cadance was able to sleep the entirety of last night.

But of course, all of that means that, compared to Cadance, you look…

"Velvet? Are you alright?! Goodness, what happened to you?" Cadance immediately asks, the moment you enter the room and close the door behind you.

You open your mouth to answer, but before you can say anything the mare is already in front of you.

The quickness of her movement startles you, actually. Because how the hay is she moving so quickly? One moment she is looking at you from the other side of the room, and in the next she is already in front of you. You think she is hugging you, until you realize she is hugging you and carrying you to the large sofa by the side of the guest room.

"Please tell me this isn't because of Bloom. She mentioned that you have been taking care of things but… hello? Velvet?" the Princess says, as she places you in the all-too-soft sofa. So comfortable that you fear you might fall asleep if you close your eyes.

Ah, now you understand. Cadance isn't the one who is moving quickly. It is you who are so slow, and so tired, that you probably took too long to answer her question. You probably just stood by the door, half-asleep, until the mare came to you.

Which reminds you, it's not that you took too long to answer her question. You haven't answered her question at all.

"Am fine, Caddy…" you say, already curling up on the soft, soft sofa. "Just a bit tired…"

Your eyes are closed, but you can see just fine. Which means you can see the way that Cadance is looking at Shining Armor.

If you still remembered your big mare words, you would say that Cadance looks "distraught," and that Shining looks "resigned," probably because he has worked with you for longer. But you do not remember your big mare words, so you just watch through your closed eyelids as they glance at each other.

"V… Velvet? I… is everything alright? Is there anything you want to tell me o-or… hay, is there anything I can do to help you?" you hear Cadance ask.

And you think your answer to her was something along the lines of staying quiet for a few minutes.

Maybe you really are just too tired to do anything, after working for so long. Or perhaps, your mounting stress was just hit by too strong a wave of relief, after entering this room and seeing that Cadance is okay. Or at least that she is okay enough that she doesn't need to talk to you immediately.

Or, who knows, maybe this sofa just is that comfortable.

Regardless, you feel a lot better after you wake up, two hours later.



- - -



After you wake up, you have the opportunity to speak to Cadance and Shining.

Of course, being summoned by a Princess and immediately falling asleep in her room is embarrassing. However, you much prefer the interpretation that you were paying a social visit to a friend, and that you were so tired (after overworking yourself because you were taking care of their responsibilities) that you graciously accepted their offer to take a nap.

Regardless, you are here now. You are here, in Cadance's commandeered guest room, with the mare herself and her husband. And all the problems of Equestria are currently outside these four walls.

So, as you hungrily have your fill from the breakfast that the maids just brought in, you and the royal couple talk.

Naturally, Cadance does most of the talking. And given Shining's expression, you are sure she already discussed all of this with him before.

"It is hard to describe it," she says, after you ask her the obvious question of what the hay is going on. "Celestia is there and I… most of the time I just keep her company. Or rather, I keep her company while she does… well, whatever she feels like. But that's not what is so strange about it. I mean to say that Celestia is there… but sometimes it feels like she isn't."

Cadance tells you a lot of things that, to be frank, surprise you.

Because she tells you that most of the time she just talks to Celestia. She stays there, in that sweltering residence, as Celestia paces around, and talks to herself, or just sits in absolute silence. She stays there, using her own magic to survive the heat, until she feels like Celestia wants, or needs, to be interacted with.

"Sometimes she almost feels normal. Sometimes she is tired, or apologetic, or she even tries to make light of the situation. That's when the temperature usually goes down, even if only a little. But then, there are times that…"

There are times, she says, that she yells. At Cadance, or at the world, or at herself.

There are times where she gets violent. At anything she can get her hoofs on, although she has thankfully not tried using her horn for that.

And then there are times that she speaks with a… with a purr to her voice, a tone that is at the same time matronly and condescending, that she never heard Celestia speak with before.

"But the strangest part is that…" Cadance trails off, as if picking her words very carefully. She thinks for a moment, and then she looks at Shining. Perhaps for inspiration, or perhaps to reassure herself that she is not going insane. "The strangest part is that I don't know exactly what I am trying to do. Celestia is frustrated, and angry, and so many other things. And the castle is almost melting around her, of course. But even those things feel… I don't know, mundane? It's hard to explain, but I still feel like whatever I am trying to do is not related to any of that. Not exactly."

She pauses for a moment, her eyes looking towards the distance as if she is trying to see something that is hiding from her.

"I just have this… this feeling that I need to go there, to be with her. This is the same feeling that tells me when I can leave, or when I should leave. And also when I should go back. And I know this sounds crazy-"

"It's not crazy, dear. You are a Princess. It's bound to be related to that," Shining Armor says, not quite interrupting her, but not letting her speak ill of herself either.

"-or that, Princess mumbo-jumbo," she says with a tiny smile. "But still, I… well, the thing about this is that I don't even know if it's working. The castle isn't getting any colder, and Celestia isn't getting any calmer. And yet, there is this voice in my head telling me I shouldn't be doing anything else."

She says that, and you don't really know how to answer her.

Cadance said that she already conferred with Selene, in her dreams, but your daughter had no idea of what is compelling Cadance to do this. Nor did she have any suggestions on how to help Celestia any more than they both already are.

After that, Cadance has the nerve to say she is worried about you, and tries to ask you what you have been doing about her responsibilities. And of course you politely, but firmly, push back against her questions.

She asked you to cover for her precisely so she could look after Celestia without any other concerns, so that is exactly what you are going to give her.

Still, you manage to take a few moments of tranquility in the presence of your friends. Until eventually, and suddenly, Cadance's expression focuses, and she excuses herself in a practiced way that makes it clear she feels she must return to Celestia.

And just like that, you are left alone in her guest room.

You steal another hour of sleep from the world, before you go back to your own duties.



- - -



Time continues to pass. Day gives way to night, and work gives way to more work, punctuated by the regular taste of your medicine and sparse hours of sleep.

Eventually, and inevitably, you receive a visitor in your office that is neither Evergreen Bloom nor one of your secretaries.

It is Cherenkolt, stallion-sized and punctual to a fault. With the message you ordered him to deliver you when the time was right.

"Preparations are complete," he says with his voice of brass and cogs. "I will oversee the shipment of supplies and personnel to our staging area at the eastern shore. We will await your arrival there."

He says that and, with your permission, he leaves.

You have prepared for this day, of course. Bloom knows what to do, and the Secretariat has a system of couriers ready for you to keep in touch with the throne.

Still, now is the time for you to depart to Ponyville. Not to see your family, unfortunately, although you are sure you will spare some time to at least give them a hug. Regardless, you must go to Ponyville to… well, to visit a pony who thinks she is your friend, and to visit a pony who will become your friend. And then, of course, you will collect a number of items before departing with the Bureau.

You have done everything you can from here. Now is the time to act.





You will quickly relocate to Ponyville, before joining the Bureau in the coming expedition.

You have LEASHED Spoiled Rich. Not in person, of course, but while passing close to her mansion on your way to your own.

You have collected all your artifacts and curios for the coming expedition. They will be distributed to your expedition-goers when the expedition begins.

But right now, before you leave, you will make your way to a place where you have been invited. The promise of food, drink and good company teased about at length on the carmine letter you received in your dreams.

Dinner awaits.

 

[ses]

Sounds like we rolled "average/nothing happens" for Ruling Equestria and birb isnt letting us see the actual roll used?

I admit, I'm terrified of what's coming. Into the fire we fly.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Sounds like we rolled "average/nothing happens" for Ruling Equestria and birb isnt letting us see the actual roll used?

I admit, I'm terrified of what's coming. Into the fire we fly.

Click to shrink...

Haven't rolled yet.

One thing at a time.

Roll for administration will be during the expedition. And Cadance's roll will also be during the expedition, after we see the result for that.

I am as blind as you all are in this turn so I'm focusing on writing what I know what happens first, so it doesn't influence it ahead of the fact.

 

[Wise Wolf]

Haven't rolled yet.

One thing at a time.

Roll for administration will be during the expedition. And Cadance's roll will also be during the expedition, after we see the result for that.

I am as blind as you all are in this turn so I'm focusing on writing what I know what happens first, so it doesn't influence it ahead of the fact.

Click to shrink...

I really appreciate this approach. The characters are just as unsure and unprepared for the outcome as we are.

 

[ses]

There's a very small but real sliver of possibility space where Cadance fails her roll but Selene stops being hated by the dice and nat100s her Soothe roll this turn and I'm incredibly curious what would happen if that occurs. Or even funnier, Cadance fails her roll for "-1 Celestia Reaction" and Selene gets 96-99 for "+1 Celestia reaction" at the same time for net nothing happening.

Of course it's just as likely that Cadance succeeds her roll then Selene gets "I messed up" again. Probably more likely considering how bad Selene is at rolling dice.

The QM wasnt kidding about this being a turn with many spinning plates. I do appreciate the QM's dedication to not just saying "You have a lot of plates spinning so I guess some of them will fail" but fully leaning in and saying "If the dice gods declare it so there is every real possibility that Velvet's amazing circus act goes completely flawlessly"

 

[Shaper47]

Of course it's just as likely that Cadance succeeds her roll then Selene gets "I messed up" again. Probably more likely considering how bad Selene is at rolling dice.

Click to shrink...

If we go via rational die probability both Cadance and Selene are set for some good rolls.

Unless of course they have some bad dice that are cursed which they haven't cleansed.

 

[JenMGold]

Of course, there's also the possibility that both of them Nat!1, and everyone looks up one day to see the sun just randomly snap in half like something out of a Monty Python sketch. Possibly even with a whistling tea pot sound effect as it shakes for a bit, followed by a "bleh" as it splits into two jagged-edged pieces.

And that's when the screaming started.

 

[spiderhellian]

… that ponies seem to want to be told what to do.

Either by a Princess… or by a mark on their flank

Click to shrink...

…There's probably Harmony's colour in here, isn't there?

I just have this… this feeling that I need to go there, to be with her. This is the same feeling that tells me when I can leave, or when I should leave. And also when I should go back. And I know this sounds crazy-"

Click to shrink...

There definitely is in here.

I feel this is the kind of thing that is metaphysically tied to the state of the Mansus, in the same way a broken door or what have you is. Perhaps it's the lock that blocks the way to the-light-that-is-purpose? Something about the monarchs' absence, their creation (?) of Harmony as replacement — but a replacement that is limited, or constrained, at least at present? And can only act through its Alicorns or cutie marks… which then imbue them with a purpose the rest of the world is missing?

There's something there.

Dinner awaits.

Click to shrink...

Damn.

It's… happening.

 

[ses]

@OurLadyOfWires I thought you might enjoy knowing that I did not actually know what carmine pigment was made of until I read this update. I was suitably creeped out.


In other news: update reactions

The Harmony hivemind thing Cadance and Shining have going on is super fucking creepy holy shit.

That said the fact that Cadance managed to get an actual full nights sleep is a good sign and makes me feel like the Velvet AP spent will have a non-negligible effect on the roll. That was absolutely due to Velvet's investment in force. I wonder if the way Bird wrote Velvet's thoughts about Cadance and other little details the way he did because the plan name used the name that it did as well as discussion during the turn plan talking explicitly about how much we want to support Cadance specifically and even going "what would Cadance do?" to the Filthy question.

That said where the heck is Cadance's Lore learning?! we were told two turns ago we wouldn't be allowed to teach Cadance the Lores with our AP because Velvet would do it automatically. I thought for sure we were going to teach her something with the AP we spent and was super proud of the fact that we took the Teach Cadance the Lores option on turn 21. Tis sad that she's going into it with Grail/Winter/Heart 0 instead of 1 or 2.

Also I enjoyed the little reminders of Velvet's Moth realization and its mundane utility/casual uncanniness. I wonder if QM went out of his way to have it show up multiple times because we're going to Moth Sacrament soon and evolve our realization.

 

[spiderhellian]

This world is crooked. It is not as it was, nor as it was meant to be

Click to shrink...

Huh. I know the start of this line is a through line of the quest, but I didn't remember the last part of it. If we've seen it before, it didn't catch my attention like it does now.

Because it does, very much. We have a much better sense of what happened. But this makes me wonder… what went wrong?

Because something does seem wrong. With Harmony, and how it's fit into the world. What the Forge tried to make seems clear, how it failed or faltered is not.

Perhaps her lock was too good? She expected Harmony to be able to leave, but it couldn't?

It would be funny if the Harmony and the Glory victory were the same door and the same lock, from opposite angles and angles of attack.

Tis sad that she's going into it with Grail/Winter/Heart 0 instead of 1 or 2.

Click to shrink...

I agree that I'm not sure what's happened with all that lore studying. But at the same time, the way her interaction with Celestia is described, I'm not sure it matters? If she was Lore 0 or Lore 6, this seems a test and a challenge that is Harmony through and through, where the lores have no purchase.

The Harmony hivemind thing Cadance and Shining have going on is super fucking creepy holy shit

Click to shrink...

(What do you mean by this btw? I got the Harmony/Cadance stuff, I didn't see this hive mind you're referring to?)