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

[jelloloaf]

Heartened to see so much Copper sympathy. Still one of my favorite characters; I really wish we'd befriended her when we had the chance.

 

[Maer]

I love how Velvet's entire family just… Moth's and SH's their way into increasingly Bullcrap situations.

Velvet? Random nobody who got lucky to be courted and loved by just the right point with a knack for knowing when things are IMPORTANT. Then she got invited to a cult, learned ancient spooky magic Lores, did STUPIDLY well at them, accidentally lucked into Luna not being able to talk about her tormentors, successfully escaped and mostly separated herself FROM the cult, girl-bossed her way into single-hoofedly pulling the weight that the entire nobility dropped the ball on, earned the personal attention and favor of Princess Celestia, found and adopted a mentally damaged Princess Luna who came to truly see her as her mom, befriended Princess Cadence, took down the NAME OF MOTH in its own domain and body, then slipped across time and space to give ANOTHER Cadence a chance at love, before surviving an impossible assault that should have and effectively DID KILL HER, all while playing host to a dozen other Names!

Then there's Stormchaser who found and instinctively felt the need to marry a random cold mare who seemed painfully distant. After marrying her, they fell in love and had a daughter they ADORED, and she joined an odd book club. He eventually was told about everything, nearly abandoned her before realizing that he needed to stay and managing to let her mend the break between them, only to start learning. He indulged and found ways to slip into others lives, trade places and let them help him, which helped him help Comet, alongside numerous other tiny moments he's had of just… KNOWING what he needed to do. Culminating most recently in defusing a ticking time bomb through sheer himbo lack of awareness of the aggression in the room and wife-obsessed, lovesick agony over his injured beloved. It didn't even seem intentional or like he noticed anything at all!

Then there's Silky, who met and somehow befriended a Name through sheer innocent love and kindness, met and instantly attached herself to Selene- secretly the Princess of Equestria Luna herself. She reinforced that friendship when Axe returned, and has become something of a niece to all the Names she's been allowed to meet, learning from and spending time with all of them.

Luna was assaulted by worms and saved by Harmony, attacked by an ancient magical nightmare and driven nearly to total collapse only to be saved by pretty much the only Mare in Equestria both equipped to help her, familiar with raising a daughter, and willing to help rather than harm or shape her. She then learned the lores, gained a sister, recovered her memory, gained new parents, and is actively working on healing her OTHER sister, gained the trust of that Mare to the point she was willingly handed the reigns of a number of the most powerful creatures in all of Equestria, easily succeeded in a difficult task to protect her family and regain her self confidence, and has a perfect opportunity to learn grow and improve herself with endless love and affection from her family while also growing in strength and knowledge and capability with every passing month!

Soft Sweeps is maid to a minor noble house, innocent thanks to reading THAT BOOK so young instead of when she'd actually have internalized it, got effectively adopted by the lady of the house, DIED AND WAS BROUGHT BACK by said adoptive mom, has founded the beginnings of her own cult, and has not grown any worse(more Wolfish) thanks to her mother VERY CAREFULLY avoiding further stains on her soul, and may soon claim Twilight as a member of her following. In the process, she formed the closest possible thing to a Wolf cult dedicated to comforting and supporting those around them, the most harmonious POSSIBLE interpretation of the Wolf that I think can actually exist- community in shared suffering, support through pain, and connection through loss. The unmaking of your life left to fester and hurt, while using that commonality to grow closer as friends and found family. Still not healthy or ideal, but INFINITELY better than most examples of The Wolf…

Pride stumbled into his Sister's life and didn't find spite or resentment, but a caring sibling who was wary but willing to offer support. Then he fell face-first into love with a Name, got his sisters hesitant support for the crush, got support from ANOTHER Name on how to pursue the first Name, got 'not rejected' BY that Name he is pursuing, and is hoping to make further overtures since he's already made more successful overtures of romance towards a Name than any other living stallion has in thousands of years!

Just… our entire family is the most glorious and wonderful kind of Bullcrap in existence. I love them so much. XD

 

[spiderhellian]

Just… our entire family is the most glorious and wonderful kind of Bullcrap in existence

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You're not wrong on this part…

and has not grown any worse thanks to her mother VERY CAREFULLY avoiding further stains on her soul

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And nor are you here, because those stains on our soul only make Soft Sweeps better!

 

[Rafuki22]

And nor are you here, because those stains on our soul only make Soft Sweeps better!

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If you use a specific non-conventional version of better, then yes, she is made "better".

 

[Greymere]

It's sorta surprising if the underworld-involved pony in Manehattan didn't have some interaction with or knowledge of another pony involved with that same underworld!

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Not really. Manehattan is a pretty big place after all, and Copper's cult didn't have a ton of time to make themselves major players in the underworld.

 

[Venerable Ro]

Not really. Manehattan is a pretty big place after all, and Copper's cult didn't have a ton of time to make themselves major players in the underworld.

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Especially since Copper's Winter Name seems to have insisted on Copper going into public works and the arts instead of organized crime.

 

[spiderhellian]

Not really. Manehattan is a pretty big place after all, and Copper's cult didn't have a ton of time to make themselves major players in the underworld.

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Especially since Copper's Winter Name seems to have insisted on Copper going into public works and the arts instead of organized crime.

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The cult has been there for a while at this point (it goes back to well before the Master left) and it even started off with taking over some gangs.

It is a big city, but it would be a little surprising…

Not clear it matters much now, though!