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

[Talon Tiger Dino]

On the one hand, healing the scar gets us Velvet Lore. On the other hand, healing that scar might disappoint Murder Grandpa. This is difficult.

All hail The Moth!

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Hate to break it to ya, but The Moth's dead mate, and so is its heir, and so is its heir's heir. Hail the Velvet instead, most of the alicorns are doing it these days.

Edit: I also find it fucking hilarious that now our faction technically spans from the pure cinnamon roll that is Cadance to the utter foulness of Paranoia and Ash.

 

[Greymere]

On the one hand, healing the scar gets us Velvet Lore. On the other hand, healing that scar might disappoint Murder Grandpa. This is difficult.

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If he can't give us a way to transform it into a strength and stop being constantly one bad day away from being on death's doorstep, he'll have to be disappointed

 

[Solace2117]

Good to see Cadence come into the fold. Definitely need to properly use our constables next turn. Glad we picked the ingrain ourselves to the Bureau option the last few turns, it means we may be able to fully use them soon, though we do need to start interacting with the other groups soon.
Also, we can finally heal the scar and learn more about Velvet's past so that's awesome. That immediately moved up the list of things to do next turn.

 

[Greymere]

I can't help but hope that at some point in the future when Comet escorts Fluttershy along to one of our tea parties there's just the entire ensemble of all our Confidants and Names. I just think it would be funny to see Comet bluescreen at the sight of two alicorns and four or five Names, depending on when exactly this would be happening (Baldomare, DoA, Mareinette, Biedde, and future Forge Name), all attending a Velvet Covers Friendship Gathering like it's a completely normal thing to do.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

I do wonder what "her role will be much larger" means. Maybe she can help bring the Lores to the whole country or something.

I can't help but hope that at some point in the future when Comet escorts Fluttershy along to one of our tea parties there's just the entire ensemble of all our Confidants and Names. I just think it would be funny to see Comet bluescreen at the sight of two alicorns and four or five Names, depending on when exactly this would be happening (Baldomare, DoA, Mareinette, Biedde, and future Forge Name), all attending a Velvet Covers Friendship Gathering like it's a completely normal thing to do.

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Comet: …the Cult never stood a chance, did we.

 

[Greymere]

I do wonder what "her role will be much larger" means. Maybe she can help bring the Lores to the whole country or something.

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I imagine it's because she'll probably be the most involved in dealing with the Daybreaker Situation aside from Luna? Which seems to be winding up to be our next Big Problem Plotline if Sombra doesn't show up first.

 

[Greymere]

On a slightly related note, talking about the Malleary and possibly acquiring the Forge Heirloom gave me a thought. Do we think we might need to get a Forge Sacrament in order to get access to the Outsider Juicer? I wouldn't be surprised if something that potent was locked behind the Forge Sacrament barrier.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

I imagine it's because she'll probably be the most involved in dealing with the Daybreaker Situation aside from Luna? Which seems to be winding up to be our next Big Problem Plotline if Sombra doesn't show up first.

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I mean, sure, but the line was in direct comparison to getting AP from her, which makes me think it'll be more of a general resource. Maybe one directed at the Daybreaker problem for the moment, but hopefully also applicable to something other than this one problem.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

If Sombra does show up in his shadow form then Celestia will demonstrate how well darkness can withstand a sunbeam.

 

[DelightedOne]

I do wonder what "her role will be much larger" means. Maybe she can help bring the Lores to the whole country or something.

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The Crystal Empire says hello.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

The Crystal Empire says hello.

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"Hey Copper, I am now funneling the taxes of an entire empire into my warchest, how's that Manehatten racket going for you? Should have went legit like me, pays far more dividends."

 

[angelsadvocate666]

God, if Cadence actually started paying for even some of our shit, that would be so amazing. Keeping a bunch of Names on the payroll is starting to get expensive as shit.

 

[Greymere]

God, if Cadence actually started paying for even some of our shit, that would be so amazing. Keeping a bunch of Names on the payroll is starting to get expensive as shit.

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I think the answer to "subsidized Name expenses" is get Bureau loyalty high enough that we can introduce Luna and the Lores to them without Celestia finding out

Edit: Also, as much as I'm looking forward to eventually getting the Bureau properly initiated into the Lores... we're probably going to have to spend at least some of our precious AP on writing manuscripts to fill out the Secret Library. And/or reading books that we get no (personal) benefit from.

 

[Quaxotia]

She says that, and on the other side of the room, the great executive chair on the far side of the room, behind the large wooden desk, begins to slowly spin. You didn't even notice before that the executive chair had its back turned to you. But now, it is slowly turning towards you, as if somepony is sitting on it.

And once the chair finally turns to face the two of you…

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Ah the shadow ruler sitting behind the empty chair, who is in turn guided by the shadow ruler in front of the chair. It's just too perfect for the Lunar Bureau. A moth hiding in the direct orbit of the Daybreaker's light.

 

[Gyldir]

-[X][SELENE] Realize something about Edge. (Unlock her Edge skill) (TRAINING ACTION)
-[X][SELENE] Realize something about Knock. (Unlock her Knock skill) (TRAINING ACTION)

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Does them not being crossed out meant there is more to come on this, or that QM didn't have their coffe, yet?

ut more importantly, you have learned that your Constables to not appreciate being used as a support to your Detectives, and they will feel a lot more useful if they perform dedicated actions that reflect their abilities. However, your efforts to ingrain yourself with the Bureau are making more progress than your casual use of their skills is mining their trust in you.

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Yeah, time to stop using the Constables as bonus AP.

"Problems" that were attached to Princess Cadance, such as her knowing about your scar, are no longer in effect. And Velvet Covers will safely assume that, if worst comes to pass, Cadance will side with her instead of Princess Celestia.

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Woohoo!

Well hot dog! Glad this didn't get left up to a vote to decide, but now we've successfully "stolen" two alicorns!

By accident!

All hail The Moth!

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All hail The Mother!

WOOHOO! Alicorn not-quite-a-Confidant get! That makes two out of the three

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And in an excellent position to make it 3 out of 4 once they do make Flurry.

Edit: Also with both Cadance and Shining Armor seemingly in line to be introduced to the Lores, we might be able to offer Forge's Redemption to Twilight earlier than we thought. Or well, Mareinette/Cadance/Shining Armor/Luna can offer it on our behalf and we can perform it. I'd be inclined to go with Selene, I think? With the whole dreamwalking thing being able to bypass "doesn't want to communicate" and Twilight not feeling very communicative right now (understatement of the century).

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Or Silky Soft Sweeps, if we can get Twilight to go to Silkys Soft Sweep's self help group. (Maybe through Luna dream manipulation?)
<edit>corrected character mis-name</ediit>

That's why we need more books, so ponies can self-study in our library.

Who knows, maybe we can find a Forge artifact in one of those local expedition sites?

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We can also write manuscrips for 1 AP -> 1 [our lore level] lvl scrap for the library.

 

[Steady Gaze]

Spoiler: Copyedits for Turn 19 - Results, part 4

@OurLadyOfWires: Copyedits! I had nothing for part three by the way.

I that right…?

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Is

Fillies had school, and Stormy is still at work.

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I would say "The fillies". I usually hear "the kids are…" when referring to the person's children doing something. It's not just any random fillies, so using "the" feels appropriate.

Better than I did the first time I returned, while I was still so lost and recluse."

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I still find it strange when "recluse" (more commonly a noun) is used as an adjective over "reclusive".

You have further ingrained yourself with the Lunar Bureau. And, very technically, you have revealed the existence of Princess Luna to the very highest echelon of the Bureau (your Deputy). But more importantly, you have learned that your Constables to not appreciate being used as a support to your Detectives, and they will feel a lot more useful if they perform dedicated actions that reflect their abilities. However, your efforts to ingrain yourself with the Bureau are making more progress than your casual use of their skills is mining their trust in you.

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Perhaps ingratiated is the intended meaning?

If you like the concept, the whole dream fakeout thing is basically what happens in Bloom and Gloom.

Spoiler: Episode embed on YouTube

View: https://youtu.be/age4Y20NHTk

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Hello! My name is CADANCE.
And my HUBBY works here.
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Knowing that it's a dream makes me less annoyed at Cadance for this .

You have further ingrained yourself with the Lunar Bureau. And, very technically, you have revealed the existence of Princess Luna to the very highest echelon of the Bureau (your Deputy). But more importantly, you have learned that your Constables to not appreciate being used as a support to your Detectives, and they will feel a lot more useful if they perform dedicated actions that reflect their abilities. However, your efforts to ingrain yourself with the Bureau are making more progress than your casual use of their skills is mining their trust in you.

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So:

1. Telling Cadance = telling Shining? So Shining knows about Luna now.
2. Now we know there is a relationship malus to overusing the constable paperwork action. Hope the description gets updated in the turn planning so no one forgets.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Or Silky, if we can get Twilight to go to Silkys self help group. (Maybe through Luna dream manipulation?)

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I believe you mean Soft's self help group. Silky is still a little filly.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

Luckily we do have Heart/Grail/Winter 1, so hopefully Cadence can spend at least some of her own AP on getting the first levels of Lore sorted. Heart and Grail are even at 2! Not sure how her Lore levels will peogress though, being so weird.

 

[Greymere]

Now we know there is a relationship malus to overusing the constable paperwork action. Hope the description gets updated in the turn planning so no one forgets.

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I feel like it's a fairly obvious narrative downside to getting +1 AP, tbh. I think it even came up a bit during this turn's Follower Phase that constantly using the paperwork action likely wouldn't be a good idea?

 

[Pittauro]

No, no. We've been over this, though not for a while so i forgive you for forgetting. Pinkie Pie is the Party-in-Splendour, awaiting us at the top of the Mansus with a congratulatory cake.

(Glory is the candle on the cake)

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Glory would be more the flame on top of the candle.

which would make candle = mansus, and cake = reality?

or maybe the cake is the mansus, and the candle is just the tricuspid?

Is there any point to getting the physical elements? What I gathered from this convo is that unless you're a once in a century prodigy or a prophesied hero you get nothing out of having them other than getting a cool desk ornament.

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They're one of the very few physical links to Harmony besides the alicorns (which *gestures at the Daybreaker Issue*) and the Tree of Harmony (have literally zero idea that it exists IC), so I feel like it would help at least somewhat in understanding what Harmony even is. Not even necessarily because I expect us to completely switch tracks to focus on Harmony victory barring some sudden collective change of heart, but like. Even if we're going for the Glory victory, I would still like to learn what Harmony's nature and origin is.

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I personally believe that there's still value in researching Harmony stuff and House of the Moon stuff even while committed to glory ending (either because we can gain powers and valuable knowledge from them, or because it's not guaranteed reaching the Glory is quest end, as I can still see it making us a Long but then having us continue), but even so, I also am the first to acknowledge that right now we have no real reason to aim at the elements of harmony.

At the very least, they're USELESS to us until we have all the bearers on our side. Twilight most important of all, and before even considering doing anything in regard to her I want either Selene to visit her dreams or Cadance to tell us anything about her.

IF we got a chance at them, then maybe. But dedicating APs to them right now is pointless. If we were to try and "steal" anything from the Castle, I'd much rather try and steal the mirror. And even that is too risky to be worth it.

Hopefully between "Memory of Light" and Selene reaching her full powers we'll get more information on Harmony, what it is, what it does, and what it can do for us.

Author's Note: Apparently, some people were not entirely sure that the two "teenagers" yelling at each other at the end of the last update were, in fact, Soft and Axe. The wording has been changed to rectify that.
And yes, that is definitely something important enough to warrant its own note, at the very top of the following update

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it seemed so OBVIOUS to me!

You are Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. But you are called "Princess Cadance" by most ponies, and just "Cadance" by the ones that really matter.

And right now, you are…

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CADANCE! FINALLY!
...so, honeymoon shenanigans? Twilight?

let's see...

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Hello! My name is CADANCE.
And my HUBBY works here.
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...well, that IS vital information!

You know, make it clear to all the hussies scarlet mares very proper mares working for the bureau that he is off limit.

You know, just in case the wedding to end all weddings wasn't clear enough!

You are here because today is a "Bring your family to work today".

And you are here because you are Shining Armor's family.

You are his wife.

Because the two of you are married now!

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oh, right.

I had already forgotten that.

...Selene will meet Cadance for the first time. I wonder if anything will come out of it.

To which Shining answers with a small sigh, as he looks at your identification badge one last time. But still, less than a moment later he gives you a smile, clearly showing he can't keep the façade of being upset anymore. And then he waves for you to follow him.

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What we did with the Leash is STILL wrong... but it's easy to ignore when we see what came out of it.

I'm reminded of a quote from madoka magica, actually.

"Junko: That sort of thing happens all the time. You get drunk on your own "correctness," and the more stubborn you get, the further happiness flies away from you. It's a bitter pill to swallow.

Madoka: I wonder if there's any way I can help...

Junko: Even good advice from others won't bring any clear solutions to someone in that frame of mind. ...Even so, you want to find a solution? Then go ahead and screw up. If she's being too correct, then somebody should make mistakes for her.

Madoka: I should screw up...?

Junko: Yep! Tell a really bad lie. Run away in the face of something scary. She may not understand what you're trying to do at first, but there are times when you realize in hindsight that a mistake was the right thing to do... During those times when you're just stuck for an answer, making a mistake is one method of unsticking yourself. Madoka, you've grown up to be a good kid. You don't tell lies, and you don't do bad things. You're a girl who works hard at what she thinks is right. You get an "A" as a child. So before you become an adult, you have to start practicing falling down. You see, we adults have our pride and responsibilities, so it becomes harder and harder to make mistakes."

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It's very much not a perfect fit, and even in that anime it doesn't quite work as well as poor Junko likely hoped... but arguably we did "a mistake, a bad thing" for Cadance, and it kinda made things better for both her and Shining...

well, enough of trying to rationalize our use of the Leash, moving on!

"As if. How could I ever not come?" you say, hugging her back just as tightly. "I mean, what if one of those secretaries starts eyeing my Shining Armor?"

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that's what I said!

"Right, right, as if anypony didn't get the memo after the greatest wedding in history."

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That's ALSO what I said!

"Well, me and Shining decided that we should wait… until things calm down a little, you know. Everything has been so hectic that we both agreed that, well, it just isn't a good time right now."

You say that, and Velvet gives you an understanding nod, as the two of you look at a group of foals that is currently gathered around one of the flying chariots.

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This conversation would so much more awkward if we... allowed the Master...

They have been there for a while, and for obvious reasons. Flying chariots are more than just rare, they are almost exclusively used by the Crown. And knowing that, Velvet arranged for a flying chariot to be available for families to ride in, for today. One of the chariots that doesn't have any covers on it, where the passengers can really see the sights and feel the wind on their faces. And of course, there are more than enough Bureau pegasi who volunteered to fly it around.

So, it is no surprise that a small crowd of fillies and colts is currently waiting for their turn. Especially the non-pegasus ones.

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that's such a cute image!

Great idea Velvet!

"There, there, I'm sure it will happen sooner than we think," she says, patting your shoulder as she does. "And Silky will have a little cousin to fawn over in no time."

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aw, Velvet is at this point nearly Family for Cadance... heartwarming, but that only makes the secrets so much heavier...

I hope we can introduce her to Selene soon. The GROWN UP Selene, I mean. We're so close to fix everything with Cadance... We can even repair Shining's horn! And Twilight's!

We can't bring back Shining's parents and Spike, but we can still make things better than they are!

"I that right…? Speaking of which, I am sorry they couldn't come."

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"And here is the Director's office," she says, with a particular expression you can't quite name.

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my daughter is my boss is at least 1000 years (and a few centuries) older than I am!

Coming to you on Questionable Questing!

"Velvet, why don't we-"

"Actually, Cadance, I lied."

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...

are we going to introduce her to Selene now? and WHAT KIND OF INTRODUCTION?!

"Cadance, first of all I want you to know that I trust you," she says. "I really mean it, and I am not lying about this. And what I want you to know is that… I trust you even with the things that are most important to me."

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...Are we showing Selene as LUNA?!

She says that, and on the other side of the room, the great executive chair on the far side of the room, behind the large wooden desk, begins to slowly spin. You didn't even notice before that the executive chair had its back turned to you. But now, it is slowly turning towards you, as if somepony is sitting on it.

And once the chair finally turns to face the two of you…

"Selene? Selene! It is so lovely to see you!" A smile appears on your face as you say that. Because sure enough, one of Velvet's daughters, the little earth pony she had adopted and that she loves so dearly, is sitting on the chair.

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ITSHAPPENINGITSHAPPENINGITSHAPPENING!

...also damn, Velvet really enjoys her dramatics! Even here and now!

"Cadance, I have been meaning to speak with you for a while, but I wasn't sure if I should," Selene says.

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IT'S HAPPENING!

And then she pushes with her tiny foreleg, gathering just enough strength to make the large executive chair spin once again.

The chair starts spinning in a circle. And one moment, it has its back turned to you again. And in the next, its front is once again facing you.

But when the chair finishes its single rotation, the pony who is sitting on the chair… the pony who should be sitting on the chair…

Selene is gone. The filly is nowhere to be seen.

And an alicorn is sitting in her place. An alicorn, much like yourself, or perhaps slightly larger. An alicorn who was born as such, and not transformed into one like you.

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Mother and Daughter are so alike, enjoying their dramatics and spectacle!

And then you wake up, with your face buried on your husband's chest, and the certainty that this is the morning of the day where you will visit your husband's workplace for a family event.

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I was suspecting a dream near the end, but then I have to wonder... was that the REAL Velvet? Did Selene bring Velvet with her in the dream?

You are not angry. You don't feel betrayed. And to be honest, you don't even have it in your to feel surprised, for some maddening reason.

Instead, you just feel dazed. Ever since you woke up, your mind has been dazed. And the only thing you can think about is that you need to discover if that was just a dream or not.

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Cadance lost her ability to even!

"But more importantly… you look like you slept well."

She says that, as she look into your eyes with a knowing expression, and your own eyes go wide with surprise.

No, not surprise. Your eyes go wide with understanding.

Because you can immediately tell from her tone of voice… the same part of your mind that learned you can trust her is also whispering to you that…

That she knows. She knows, and she knows that you know.

"Tell me, Cadance, did you have a pleasant dream?" she asks.

And before you realize it, a smile is slowly appearing on your face.

More than just that, a wave of something rushes through you. Coming from inside your chest and flowing through every part of your body.

Like a garden receiving the first rain of spring. Like a home being warmed by the first rays of dawn. Like the single greatest piece of good news you have received in a long, long time, surpassed only by the day Shining Armor proposed to you. You can feel that this thing coursing through you is…

Hope.

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well, yeah. Luna being back is a big reason to hope.

I wonder how much we're telling her...

She says that, and she finishes by giving you a mischievous wink.

"But Selene in particular has been looking forward to this all week."

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Velvet, you're such a Troll!

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has joined Velvet Cover's faction. She is not considered a "Confidante" for mechanical effects, and will not immediately translate into actions points/favor requests. But your relationship is just as strong, if not more. And her role to play is much greater.

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YES!


Sure, no Confidante and actions yet, but there's so much potential here!

Issues of Lore revelations, and other things besides, will be tackled at a later stage. For now, you have only revealed to her that Selene was Luna all along. Your bond is strong enough for you to trust her with that, and for her to side with you moving forward.

"Problems" that were attached to Princess Cadance, such as her knowing about your scar, are no longer in effect. And Velvet Covers will safely assume that, if worst comes to pass, Cadance will side with her instead of Princess Celestia.

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WE CAN HEAL THE SCAR!

FUCKING FINALLY!

well, we have something to do next turn it seems!

You have further ingrained yourself with the Lunar Bureau. And, very technically, you have revealed the existence of Princess Luna to the very highest echelon of the Bureau (your Deputy). But more importantly, you have learned that your Constables to not appreciate being used as a support to your Detectives, and they will feel a lot more useful if they perform dedicated actions that reflect their abilities. However, your efforts to ingrain yourself with the Bureau are making more progress than your casual use of their skills is mining their trust in you.

More to follow.

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ok, so Shining is in the know, and we should stop using the constables to give us extra actions... which, fair enough. I think the plan was to use them for changeling hunt next turn?

(Remember when people were saying the relationship-boost from being Cadance's maid of honor wouldn't be worth it?)

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And you know what this means, guys?

We have Forge 4.

We have Grail 4.

There is now no one who would cause issues if our scar disappeared.

We can do the Forge's Redemption.

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FUCKING FINALLY!

"The Forge's Redemption"
-CD: GRAIL 60, FORGE 100
-Cost: 20 bits on simple materials.

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ONLY 20 BITS!

It's even cheaper than I remembered!

we roll +53 with rerolls. We could honestly risk it even without reagents, but make a tier 3 reagents for Forge and we get to heal ourselves for 65 bits with very good odds (at least >90% I think).

Edit: Also with both Cadance and Shining Armor seemingly in line to be introduced to the Lores, we might be able to offer Forge's Redemption to Twilight earlier than we thought. Or well, Mareinette/Cadance/Shining Armor/Luna can offer it on our behalf and we can perform it. I'd be inclined to go with Selene, I think? With the whole dreamwalking thing being able to bypass "doesn't want to communicate" and Twilight not feeling very communicative right now (understatement of the century).

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Well, it's not immediately obvious that Velvet healing her scar is the same as healing a broken horn... and we still don't know what conditions Twilight is in.

But yes... The moment it's safe to do, we can heal both Shining and Twilight. Problem is, it will probably have to wait, assuming Celestia knows of both Shining's and Twilight's broken horns. Unless we can come up with an excuse, like it having been the "magic of love" instead of the lores?

We'd have to rely on Cadance being able to lie to Celestia though. I think most ponies would eat it up, the Alicorns are already known to be demigods and OBVIOUSLY the demigoddess of love can heal her loved ones, it makes sense!


actually, what were Cadance's lores...

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza:
-Lores: [GRAIL] [WINTER] [HEART]

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Shame, no Forge. and we don't have an artifact to let her use... though hey, maybe we'll find one on the expedition.

you know, I take it back. I no longer have even the barest shread of regret about killing the Master. He asked for it!

But yeah, good to know that Cadence is on side now. Honestly, we've been busy enough that telling her about the scar probably didn't actually cost us anything, since I doubt we would have fixed it by now anyways. But now we just need some money and we'll have Velvet finally looking less fragile.

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ritual is just 20 bits, so it's just a matter of it if we have the AP (we should) and if we want to use a reagent (and what level).

We have, I think, close to 75% chance even without reagents. with 45 bits we'd roll +83 on the dc 100 (still with reroll), and probably have something like 90 to 95% actual chance of success.

- She is in on Selene's secret and has hope this is the way things get better, since she seems to be the Alicorn that is more in tune with her intuition(Harmonious intuition, maybe?) I feel that may be true. All of this also looks like an end of season final battle, so Daybreaker may be coming no matter what we do.

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Best case scenario is that we manage to somehow restore Twilight, de-depress her, assemble the elements and use them on Celestia.

Second best case... maybe we can somehow craft a ritual Selene can use from the Dreamrealm on Celestia's dream, or something like that.

If not... well, we now have two alicorns on our side, and I imagine we'll likely teach Cadance the lores soon. If we can get her to all 4 that would help a fair bit.

She's not a "combat" alicorn, in that she doesn't have Edge... but hey, Grail is worth a LOT for a ruler! And Realizations to strengthen her natural abilities as Alicorn would help a lot too...

And we can finally get what should have happened at the early game: A character without Maluses(except for the Murderer thing) and her backstory.

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TECHNICALLY speaking, Velvet's family is still (partially) a malus, but we turned nearly all of our starting maluses into strengths or at least neutral factors at this point.

After all Both Stormchaser and Silky have been plenty useful too. Just look at what they did with Comet and Axe and Selene!

Well, I dunno about "better than ever" considering everything that's happened (it's not like restoring her horn will bring Spike and her parents back), but hopefully out of the "cripplingly depressed" stage and on to the road to recovery, yes.

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Sadly resurrection is one of the very few things that's near impossible in CS and MLP. only the Hours really ever come back from death, and that's because to them death is... different.

Though a part of me wonders... where do souls go here? They're not going beyond the Blank Door. Are they going beyond the Crossroads, in a different direction?

DId Harmony create a new afterlife?

Do they go Nowhere?

We can still assume there's no way to bring the dead back to life, not really... but we DID meet some long dead ponies once. It's not out of the question we could end up in a situation where Twilight and Shining could meet Spike, Twilight Velvet and Night Light one last time...

that MIGHT be within Harmony's power. It did it once before, after all.

 

[Greymere]

Luckily we do have Heart/Grail/Winter 1, so hopefully Cadence can spend at least some of her own AP on getting the first levels of Lore sorted. Heart and Grail are even at 2! Not sure how her Lore levels will peogress though, being so weird.

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We do still have to properly initiate Cadance into the Lores before she can start on that. And if Shining Armor's also getting included in the Lore lessons (which, considering he's also in on Knowing About Luna, I don't see why he wouldn't be?) we have to both initiate him and figure out what his affinities even are. So there's probably still going to be at least 1 AP investment up front.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Sometimes I wonder if the Princess's stuff like Love, the Sun, and the Moon are pseudo-Principles crafted by Harmony out of the existing Principles and that their Affinities are derived from the building blocks used for their Alicorn Principle. But then again, Love has existed before the last set of Hours, let alone Harmony.

 

[Greymere]

we roll +53 with rerolls. We could honestly risk it even without reagents, but make a tier 3 reagents for Forge and we get to heal ourselves for 65 bits with very good odds (at least >90% I think).

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Using a Level 3 Forge reagent would put us at something like 97.5% for the Forge roll (inc. reroll), and we naturally roll the Grail DC at something like 99% (also inc. reroll).

But yes... The moment it's safe to do, we can heal both Shining and Twilight. Problem is, it will probably have to wait, assuming Celestia knows of both Shining's and Twilight's broken horns. Unless we can come up with an excuse, like it having been the "magic of love" instead of the lores?

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While I could see Celestia knowing about Shining's horn, since it's definitely likely she met with him to tell him he's being appointed Deputy of the Lunar Bureau, I don't imagine she knows about Twilight's horn. Not in her current mental state.

Edit: Otoh, it's not like Celestia's going to be interacting with Shining regularly, or even at all, from this point forward, so maybe it still wouldn't matter.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Also, people who are hypothesizing about how to deal with Daybreaker: Selene said to leave it to her, remember? She's got a plan.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

I'm reminded of a quote from madoka magica, actually.

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> using Madoka Magica for advice

We do still have to properly initiate Cadance into the Lores before she can start on that. And if Shining Armor's also getting included in the Lore lessons (which, considering he's also in on Knowing About Luna, I don't see why he wouldn't be?) we have to both initiate him and figure out what his affinities even are. So there's probably still going to be at least 1 AP investment up front.

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Shining is probably Edge/Heart if I had to guess.

 

[Greymere]

Shining is probably Edge/Heart if I had to guess.

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Heart's definitely in there, yeah. I suspect it's his primary, since isn't his specialty shield/defensive magic?

 

[DelightedOne]

Second best case... maybe we can somehow craft a ritual Selene can use from the Dreamrealm on Celestia's dream, or something like that.

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The Incision of the Heart still exists, we could just use the generic option this time instead of taking a specialized one.

 

[angelsadvocate666]

Heart's definitely in there, yeah. I suspect it's his primary, since isn't his specialty shield/defensive magic?

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That's his specialty, yeah. I'm not entirely sure it would make him more Heart than Edge, since Comet's pure Edge despite his whole thing being wanting to protect people too, but it's possible. Maybe even probable.

 

[Pittauro]

On the one hand, healing the scar gets us Velvet Lore. On the other hand, healing that scar might disappoint Murder Grandpa. This is difficult.

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well, luckily we're meeting him first.

and healing the malus is not necessarily the same as removing the scars, who knows.

Hate to break it to ya, but The Moth's dead mate, and so is its heir, and so is its heir's heir. Hail the Velvet instead, most of the alicorns are doing it these days.

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Nah, WE are the heir's heir, remember? We drowned the Woods who ate the Moth's ash who had burst out of the Wheel!

Good to see Cadence come into the fold. Definitely need to properly use our constables next turn. Glad we picked the ingrain ourselves to the Bureau option the last few turns, it means we may be able to fully use them soon, though we do need to start interacting with the other groups soon.
Also, we can finally heal the scar and learn more about Velvet's past so that's awesome. That immediately moved up the list of things to do next turn.

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I wonder how close we are to being able to introduce Selene to the Bureau at large, really.

Shining and Cadance are on our side. Luna is too.

If we get them to trust us enough, a story of the "Celestia is fighting a possession similar to what happened to Nightmare Moon, so she can't be informed" is actually pretty believable.

I do wonder what "her role will be much larger" means. Maybe she can help bring the Lores to the whole country or something.

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eh, we don't want them THAT widely shared yet...

but... some more limited release... maybe let her give us an excuse to introduce them to the Bureau, like finding books in the royal archives, and then SHE decides to share them with Velvet, and apparently both Velvet and Cadance are NATURALS at them...


there's some potential there.

On a slightly related note, talking about the Malleary and possibly acquiring the Forge Heirloom gave me a thought. Do we think we might need to get a Forge Sacrament in order to get access to the Outsider Juicer? I wouldn't be surprised if something that potent was locked behind the Forge Sacrament barrier.

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well, hopefully not.

I mean, sure, but the line was in direct comparison to getting AP from her, which makes me think it'll be more of a general resource. Maybe one directed at the Daybreaker problem for the moment, but hopefully also applicable to something other than this one problem.

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I understand not getting Cadance to help us directly... but... @OurLadyOfWires we could really use some of Cadance's spare change, you know! Selene needs her pocket money!

God, if Cadence actually started paying for even some of our shit, that would be so amazing. Keeping a bunch of Names on the payroll is starting to get expensive as shit.

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you know, in CS you can join the board of directors of a society. I'd say becoming the head of the secret police AND having TWO princess demigoddesses as sugar mommies is better though!

Edit: Also, as much as I'm looking forward to eventually getting the Bureau properly initiated into the Lores... we're probably going to have to spend at least some of our precious AP on writing manuscripts to fill out the Secret Library. And/or reading books that we get no (personal) benefit from.

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Nah. we just do more expeditions and study those books!

...ok, MAYBE some manuscripts, when they're the only thing missing to reach the lvl 3s!

While I could see Celestia knowing about Shining's horn, since it's definitely likely she met with him to tell him he's being appointed Deputy of the Lunar Bureau, I don't imagine she knows about Twilight's horn. Not in her current mental state.

Edit: Otoh, it's not like Celestia's going to be interacting with Shining regularly, or even at all, from this point forward, so maybe it still wouldn't matter.

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Problem is, other people still know.

Now, admittedly we COULD heal Shining's horn anyway and keep it a secret (he currently wears an extremely realistic fake horn)... but... it's like giving him back a hand, and ask him not to use it.

I'm not sure he can.

Also, people who are hypothesizing about how to deal with Daybreaker: Selene said to leave it to her, remember? She's got a plan.

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She does NOT really have a plan.

That said, she'll PROBABLY come up with one. I'm at least willing to wait until her training is over, at which point she'll hopefully have an actual plan.

In the meantime we can work on our other stuff. Get Names, Get their friendship, Get the Outsider, Reach Glory.

Even if it's not quest end, even just becoming a Long would be a massive increase to our personal capabilities. Presumably it would translate to far higher health AND maybe a general bonus to replace our standard abilities?

> using Madoka Magica for advice

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I did admit it didn't work out there either, AND that it's at least partly rationalizing something objectively evil we did.

The very least bad way of putting it I can think of is that we basically got him drunk (on love) to make him declare, except he doesn't know he was drunk.

The Incision of the Heart still exists, we could just use the generic option this time instead of taking a specialized one.

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Incision requires to have the "subject" kind of unable to resist. I don't think that's viable with CELESTIA.

not with the standard ritual.

Maybe if we modify it. Or if somehow Selene can use the ritual from the Dreamlands.

 

[Pittauro]

Ok, I'm down from the high of CADANCE AND SELENE.

@OurLadyOfWires ... be real with me.

is the other horseshoe going to drop soon?

Things are going too well.

At the very least I'm now expecting a windigo assault on our home!