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

You are Velvet Covers.

And despite everything that everypony else thinks about you… despite all the hardships you have endured, all the experience you have accumulated, and even the sheer esoteric resilience you are able to call upon…

You are stunned.

You are stunned. Plain and simple.

"Commissioner Velvet? Are you… alright?" the mare standing in front of you asks.

What was her name again? Everbloom? Green something? You have no idea, nor do you care to find out. All you really want to do right now is sit down and-

-and the world spins as soon as you try to move one of your legs-

-to the point that you barely stop yourself from tripping and falling face first on the floor.



"Commissioner?!"

"Get the Secretariat here!"

"W-whats going on?! Princess Cadance was very clear th-!"



And the moment that happens, everypony around you panics.

The Bureau officers you were having a meeting with just a moment ago start shouting. One of them runs out of the room for whatever reason, and another looks like he wants to come help you but doesn't really do anything.

The Everbloom mare, also, looks frozen on the spot. As if the notion of you taking more than three seconds to answer her is an incomprehensible mystery.

All of that while you are still trying to come to terms with the implications of what she just told you.

Because she spoke to Cadance, apparently? So Cadance was reachable, but unavailable to talk to you right now? Is she okay? Is Shining with her? Is the building wave of heat getting taken care of, or is Cadane in desperate need for help while you are here wasting time?!

You don't know. You have no idea. And while you are trying to get your damn hoofs under you-



"Listen here lady, you have to leave. You can wait outside for all I care, but we are-"

"Excuse you?! I am here for the will of Princess Cadance. Do I make myself clear?"

"And unless Princess Luna was standing next to her when she told you that, I don't care. Now either you leave, or I make you leave."

"Wh-! I'd neve- Hey! Watch it you brute!"



And this is typical. Typical. The moment you falter… no, the moment you barely trip everything around you starts falling apart.

Is this really all it takes to make ponies panic? Is this really all it takes for Equestria to fall apart? One worrying message, one slightly shocked figure of authority, and they all just lose their wits?

Can't they do anything without being told? Without having somepony else there to hold their hoof and pull them along?!

Can't they just-






You are not seeing red. You are not even angry. If anything, the room is still spinning around you and you feel like you are looking down at yourself from outside your own body.

But still, you finally have your four hoofs under you once again. Never mind that the floor underneath one of your hoofs is split where you stomped down on it.

And you take this blessed moment of silence to breathe.

You breathe in, and you breathe out.

Breathe in, then out.

In.

Out.

…

Now you are ready to address the… the bumbling foals that you have surrounded yourself with.

"You," you say, addressing the intruding mare that caused all of this. "Just to be clear. Cadance said she wants me to take care of things while she is gone. You mean to say she wants me to cover for her responsibilities, correct?"

You say that as you turn to face the mare, this time taking a proper look at her for the first time.

The pegasus mare, you finally realize she is a pegasus, is surprisingly young. At least for the position she holds. She is sufficiently well-dressed to have her cutie mark covered, but her chest area is entirely uncovered in favor of proudly displaying the thick necklace of her station.

Light-blue coat, green-ish mane, but what catches your attention the most is her eyes.

They are wide-open with fear, as she looks back at your stern gaze.

And quite frankly, you don't much care about soothing her right now.

"Y-ye…" she tries to say, but fails, eventually deciding to answer you with a stuttering nod.

"Is she available to see me?" you ask.

She shakes her head.

"Did she specifically hand over her authority for me to do what I have to?"

The mare nods.

And that is all you need from her right now.

"Now you," you say, turning to your Bureau officers.

Only to notice that their eyes are also wide open. But not out of fear, you think.

There is an eagerness in their eyes, as if they hope you will do something. For a moment, you think they just want you to give them orders. For a moment, you think they are just hoping you will organize this chaos by giving them purpose.

But then, you remember the ruse you helped Selene build up, and you realize what they are truly hoping for.

They are hoping that, in this moment of crisis, you decide that enough is enough. They are hoping, you can tell, that you will confirm the very "poorly kept secret" that you allowed to spread through the Bureau over the last several weeks.

They are hoping that a Princess will dramatically reveal herself and take charge of things.

And a part of you can't help but think that… maybe Ponykind reached the state it's currently in precisely because this hope has been so deeply ingrained into your people.

…

For a moment, you wonder if this is how Celestia feels.

But you don't have time for idle musings like that.

"I have orders for the Bureau. Cut everypony loose. Myself and the Deputy will be unavailable, so every team is to run with their current orders until we return. The investigators already know what I want, so just make sure the constable teams are ready for departure on schedule."

The officers hesitate, but only for a fraction of a second. You think for a moment that you see disappointment in their eyes. But thankfully, their expressions quickly turn into disciplined focus.

"Yes, Director," they reply in unison, the small gaffe in addressing you with the wrong rank making it clear what is in their minds.

You won't bother to correct them. Whatever helps them go about their duties more efficiently.

"I will be scarce. One of you, get me a secretary on your way out. And not a single word about this to anypony else. We don't need a panic spreading because of news that that the throne is empty."

You shoo them away with a wave of your hoof, and they quickly file out of your office shortly after.

Leaving you alone with…

"Now… Evergreen Bloom, was it?" you say, once again addressing the mare who just managed to regain her composure.

She still looks cautious though. And you notice that she is looking at the spot where you split the floor before she turns to face you.

"Y-yes, Commissioner," she says. You can tell that she is mustering the will to say something else, perhaps to explain to you what Cadance's duties are or some other introduction to the temporary relationship you will be having with her."

"Sit," but you interrupt her, taking your own seat and nodding towards one of the chairs in front of your desk. "You just kicked away several of the plates I was spinning. So, let me give you some ground rules before we begin."



- - -



You had plans for this month.

You had plans.

You wanted to supervise the Bureau this month, given how Lore-heavy their activities will be. You wanted to… to summon more creatures, to have more conversations with your guest Names, to be able to prepare for your coming attempts to reach. For. GLORY.

Because you are about to REACH FOR GLORY.

There is so much you still need to do, and so little time.

But Cadance needs your help. And you cannot, will not, leave her hanging. You don't think you would have changed your plans this drastically even if Pride or Steppes were in a life or death situation.

However, Cadance is… well, she trusts you. She trusts you, and you care for her.

And to be honest, given the responsibilities she has to carry as a Princess, you don't know if she has anypony else who can help her.

Still, this will be tricky.

The worst part, you think, is that you don't even have the entire picture to work with. You know that Cadance is absent, and anypony who can touch a wall of the Royal Castle can tell that something is happening related to Princess Celestia. It's not hard to put two and two together to know why Cadance has disappeared.

But you don't know anything else other than that. Nopony does.

Is she just talking to Celestia? Did the two of them fight, either verbally or literally? Was she using some… Love Alicorn… spell… to keep Celestia sedated, like some sort of magical surgery?

Does she need help? Is there anything you can do to even help her?

Perhaps when Cadance makes herself unavailable again Shining Armor will be able to give you more information. But right now, you know the stallion is exactly where he needs to be: with Cadance, helping her however he can.

Which leaves you here, holding the literal fort for her.

The only consolation you have is that, according to Bloom, Cadance herself is asking this of you. So, you can only trust her that this is the best way you can help her.



"First ground rule: we keep this a secret. Nopony, and I mean nopony, can know about this arrangement. I don't care how you do this, lie to the rest of your office if you must. But you will come here to confer with me, and you will tell everypony else that these decisions are coming from Cadance's own mouth."



All of that being said, you get to work.

In the grand scheme of things, you are sure that this situation can give you room for… opportunities.

But you know yourself too well. You know you won't really take advantage of them. Not in a negative way, at least. After all, you forsook every opportunity you had to swindle even your own father. So, you know you won't really have the will to do any chicanery during your… temporary regency? Whatever this is called.

Besides, you are doing this for Cadance. You wouldn't dream of, say, stealing from the treasury while she is gone, using her own authority, when the only reason you are here is because of how much she trusts you.



"Second ground rule: no micromanaging. I won't be holding court, for obvious reasons. But since the only pony I will be talking to is you, this won't work if you bring me every problem in Equestria to solve. I don't care if it takes you claiming that Cadance has is sick and decided to seclude herself, but I will need you to filter the issues you will bring me."



Still, it is… a lot of work.

What you thought would be a quick conversation with Bloom, when you first met her, turned into a full-day briefing of… well, of the current issues that Cadance was dealing with before she left.

Some of the issues are large, and slow-moving, like the worrying increase in crime plaguing all major cities.

Some of the issues are local but complex, like the shortage of supplies required by Cloudsdale to prepare for the next season change.

And some of the issues just popped up, like the several powerful ponies who just had their audiences with Cadance cancelled at the last moment.



"Third ground rule: I will be gone in two weeks. No ifs, no buts. In about two weeks the Bureau will be embarking on an excursion outside of Equestria, and I am going with them. So, you either start praying that Cadance comes back by then, or you start making arrangements to keep things running even while I am away."



It is complicated, it is intimidating, and to be honest it is a bit too much for a single pony to handle.

But you don't really have a choice, do you?

After all if you don't do this, who else will?





Your plans for this month have been ruined. The entirety of your personal time, and then some, will be dedicated to helping Cadance.

You are not… frustrated. You will gladly help her, and you know she would have done the same for you.

Still, you wish you had more time. You wish you had more of everything, really.

Regardless, now is the time for you to make certain decisions.



- - -



As ordered, Cherenkolt reported to you when he arrived in Canterlot. The Daughter-of-Axes, to nopony's surprise, was nowhere to be seen. During your meeting with him, you instructed your faithful not-son to coordinate the Bureau's preparation of its supplies for the coming voyage.

You also presented him with something you prepared, and asked him for instructions on how to further refine it.

His instructions were… humbling. They were precise, of course. Precise, and detailed, and accurate. But also humbling in how absolutely nonsensical they were from your point of view.

His instructions dealt with fine clockwork contraptions, single-use purifiers, and the application of different kinds of forces in the most unexpected ways. And they were humbling because they gave you a glimpse of how varied and deep the practices of Forge were, and that you had not trodden far into even one of those avenues, while Cherenkolt was a master of so many of them.

Still, he laid the way for you to take another step towards your goal.





You have created a Level 4 Forge Reagent. 80 bits have been removed from your inventory.

You are in the process of refining it into a Level 6 Forge Reagent. 110 bits have been removed from your inventory, but the Reagent itself will only be finished AFTER Cadance's roll (and the process is at risk of interruption, without a guaranteed refund of resources).



- - -



At some point, during that strange period that is neither late night nor early morning, you stumbled back into your guest room to flee from your responsibilities.

Only to be surprised by the smell of burnt flesh and death.

You would later piece together that it was the doing of Smiles. It would seem that the horse-sized creature interpreted your orders to "acquire a dead body" a little too literally, and he decided to produce one through his own creative ways.

The dead pony, you learned, was the patriarch of one of the noble families. One that the Name-creature decided was committing the sin of hoarding too much authority. So, in one creative and incendiary swoop, he gave you what you asked him while also furthering his own goals.

Although the fact he presented it to you that way, like a morbid trophy left behind by a well-meaning cat, did not have the positive impact he hoped it would have.

You would have to talk to him later.





You have acquired a dead body.

You have transformed a dead body into a Torn Risen. As planned, its action point was retroactively applied to this turn, and it will decay at the END of Turn 24.



- - -



And of course, eventually you had to make some decisions of your own…



You have neither the time, nor the inclination, to go behind Cadance's back and further your own interests.

However, you still have to decide whether to be creative or careful with the authority you were entrusted.


[] (THRONE) You will be careful.
-You will NOT roll any dice.
-This option is the equivalent of "managing the decline" of Equestria during the Princesses' absence. Hoping that they will return in time to bring it back to good order.
-The affairs of Equestria will be "a little worse" than before Cadance's absence, and she will have to do some cleaning up. But if Cadance succeeds in her roll with Celestia, everything will turn out well.
-This is not a risk.


[] (THRONE) You will try to change things.
-You WILL roll a dice. The DC of this dice, and its thresholds, bonus or Lore usage, will not be explained to you ahead of time.
-This option is the equivalent of "being creative" with your authority, and trying to make certain changes to the system as a whole during your limited time here.
-The thresholds of your success can range from "catastrophic" to "things get much better", and this roll also has a CHANCE to further aid or hinder Cadance in her roll (or to not affect her roll at all).
-This is a risk.



You must also, of course, plan for your coming expeditions.



-[] (YUXTABEI) Artifacts and curios: WRITE IN


-[] (SMILES) Accompanying team: WRITE IN

-[] (SMILES) Artifacts and curios: WRITE IN

-[] (SMILES) Delay this expedition.





This is two separate votes. The "THRONE" vote is independent, and you can vote on it freely. However, you must make a plan vote that includes BOTH the Yuxtabei option and the Smiles option, since taking artifacts and certain characters will be mutually exclusive.

No moratorium, don't think there is a need for it.

I hope you are all doing well.