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

[Pittauro]

Velvet would not kill her child.

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Velvet very explicitly HATES her male "children".

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Wish we had taken the options to find Sunset.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

For our personal action, I think it should depend on what we learn about getting to level 6 in a lore.

Because getting enough level 5 Moth scraps to reach 6/6 is surprisingly viable.

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How is it viable? We got a max Moth Influence way back in the day from the Master, so we'd need books, artifacts, and chance to get an absolute ton of high-level Lore Scraps.

So far, the lore that has been seen comes from Velvet and a dead snake.
Moth, SH and Knock have been used to traverse the place, there's no proof they were used to make the place.
But sure, leave the Lore Junkie to overdose on fascination and dread both as we leave her behind, no biggie.

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Look, that snake has to have plastered her home in a ridiculous amount of wards for some reason. Best I can think of is to protect against other Lore chicanery.

 

[Greymere]

Like, Family first has been Velvets motivation for as long as I remember, in story and out of it as stated by Our Lady and many of us on multiple occasions. Would you not call it love, to doom the world for someone?

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No I wouldn't, actually. I would call it a profound lack of empathy and awareness that other people do, in fact, matter.

Edit: Also, hello? Are you forgetting that Velvet's family and other loved ones do and would have to live in the world that she would have fucked up almost beyond repair?

 

[Cochimetl]

So far, the lore that has been seen comes from Velvet and a dead snake.

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And the Frangiclave.

 

[Limabot]

I say just leave Mirror Twilight be, she's got a Lore detector and confirmation that the Lores exist in a world that demonstrably has the Lores, she's not actually doomed to never find any sort of Eldritch spookiness in an endless futile search. She just needs to miniaturize her current device to something hand-portable and wander around until the beeping starts, basically.

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On that note, I really hope for an answer of what this "dream" actually is with this latest Exploration action. I find it strange that the Lores and Lore-entities can work there fine despite seemingly no connection to the Mansus, as well as the weird Visual-novel-esque pathing that leaves everything outside of major setpieces like the School or Downtown as functionally imaginary.

 

[Alan975]

Velvet very explicitly HATES her male "children".

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Yes! Because they are regrets, they are born of great mistakes. Velvet and mostly we -the voters- are at fault, not them.
It's not a one to one, but remember that QM has taken our discussions and votes into consideration to form the mentality of Velvet. Those feelings can be changed if the conscience is.

Look, that snake has to have plastered her home in a ridiculous amount of wards for some reason. Best I can think of is to protect against other Lore chicanery.

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Sure, that is one assumption that works with the limited information we have.
Could also be that since she got there, she belived someone else could as well.

We did, after all, but either are just as likely right now.

No I wouldn't, actually. I would call it a profound lack of empathy and awareness that other people do, in fact, matter.

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Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
Edit: also, the "Would you not call it love" was rhetorical, since eons of drama older than the Greeks have already answered that question.

 

[Pittauro]

On that note, I really hope for an answer of what this "dream" actually is with this latest Exploration action. I find it strange that the Lores and Lore-entities can work there fine despite seemingly no connection to the Mansus, as well as the weird Visual-novel-esque pathing that leaves everything outside of major setpieces like the School or Downtown as functionally imaginary.

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how do you know there's no connection to the Mansus? For all we know there's secret cultists around or even a whole Suppression Bureau.

It might be a reflection. It might not exist unless someone from the "real" world is in here, and once we leave the realm will cease to exist.

...actually, I'll point out something:

It's likely been centuries since the sister went to this realm and died. HOW IS THE HUSBAND STILL ALIVE?!

Either time moves differently here (at least when the passage is close)... or time stood still after she, the only real person in this world, died.

Actually, it's not even possible that time stood still, because there's reflections of our FRIENDS and people we know here. And yet they're younger that in Equestria, which implies they were born LATER. But not THAT long later, maybe a decade at best? Main 6 seemed to be in their early 20s in Equestria at worst, if we assume human lifespans and lifestyles.

So... did those friend-reflections even EXIST here, before we traveled to this place? If they did... WHY did we meet so many of them? If this world is "real", then there has to be FAR more than a single city. If it's not... is it reflecting Ponyville?

Actually, why did Axe's sister end up living and was buried in the same town as all the copies of our friends live?

Apparently she traveled the world, according to her husband and the diary. Did those areas she explored even actually exist? She was presumably not as good as Velvet at the Lores (she explicitly did not have Knock 5 at least), so... maybe she THOUGHT she explored those places, by they were "fake" memories, like the ones Velvet gets when she goes "out of bound"?

...I'm starting to think this world is not real, or to be more clear is as real as a dream, and the moment we leave it will just stop existing.

...actually... another point: It's been "years" since the wife died. not days. so time moved on at least a bit... Maybe it only started to move on when SUNSET came here? That happened maybe 10 or 20 years ago at best, if we go by canon (Twilight was a child yet to join Celestia's school when Sunset left).

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... @OurLadyOfWires care to comment about any of the above?

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Also calling the wolves "sons" is a bit of a misnomer, at least according to the Baldomare. They're more like autonomous extensions of Velvet's soul-stains. That's why they would poof out of existence if Velvet dies. Which would probably do something... curious, to the Mansus, since Ash is functionally an entire layer of it currently.

Also the Wolf-Divided is the only somewhat active Hour we know of currently, so Velvet is going to have to argue with him quite a lot upon ascension. Do not give him further hooks into her, that's just giving up negotiation leverage.

 

[Greymere]

...I'm starting to think this world is not real, or to be more clear is as real as a dream, and the moment we leave it will just stop existing.

...actually... another point: It's been "years" since the wife died. not days. so time moved on at least a bit... Maybe it only started to move on when SUNSET came here? That happened maybe 10 or 20 years ago at best, if we go by canon (Twilight was a child yet to join Celestia's school when Sunset left).

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... @OurLadyOfWires care to comment about any of the above?

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Perhaps we'll find out soon enough, when we seek out what lies at the end of this dream.

 

[Alan975]

WHY did we meet so many of them? If this world is "real", then there has to be FAR more than a single city. If it's not... is it reflecting Ponyville?

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... Only thing that springs to mind -beyond a neat story and tying in the movies- is the Tree of harmony? Not sure how large the everfree is, or how far away the castle of two is. If the school is Ponyville then the city might be Canterlot?

 

[Limabot]

SNIP SNIP SNIP

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The idea of this place essentially being a dying dream/fantasy of Parsharka to keep the man she loved alive is a really interesting one; it kind of reminds me of the "Legends" episode from the Justice League cartoon, where the entire town and its heroes is an illusion placed over a nuked ruin by a delusional mutant.

For the Equestria Girls movies, their version of Twilight didn't meet her friends until 5-ish years after the real one did, which seems to compound the idea that the entire dream is working on a noticeable time delay compared to the real world.

 

[Pittauro]

The idea of this place essentially being a dying dream/fantasy of Parsharka to keep the man she loved alive is a really interesting one; it kind of reminds me of the "Legends" episode from the Justice League cartoon, where the entire town and its heroes is an illusion placed over a nuked ruin by a delusional mutant.

For the Equestria Girls movies, their version of Twilight didn't meet her friends until 5-ish years after the real one did, which seems to compound the idea that the entire dream is working on a noticeable time delay compared to the real world.

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there's another problem too.

Supposedly Sunset Shimmer left for the EQG world around... minimum 10, maybe even 20 years before episode 1.

how is she still in High School? It was heavily implied time didn't flow at the same rate, so there's not just a delay, but also a time flow differential.

 

[IronHydra]

Honestly at this point, I'm only being more convinced that this mirror world is a flawed reflection, only having its parts become real when a piece of its other side crosses over, or at least those that are duplicates seem to possibly exist outside of those times.

Mirror!Twilight has been going in her own words "Insane" from not being able to get anywhere. she has no one. If the one person who validated her ideas and proved she wasn't crazy. Would then after dangling a false hope in front of her face, then go away and disappear, without any actual concrete proof of her being able to return to fulfill what she spoke of. Would be just another betrayal.

I'll leave it here with: I know I'll be voting to take EQG Twilight with us when we leave, we've been having our disagreements about what to do, it's still in my opinion that it's the painful but overall better decision, we'd be helping one Twilight for once, and while I see that Pony!Twi on the mirror side would go one of two ways, I think it's better for her than to keep sitting in hopelessness, staying away from everyone while we might not ever be able to help her be right again. Not to mention I think it would be more expensive AP and bits wise to heal her, more than it would be to help EQG! Get up to pace to be worth it.

Now: onto our Sons:

That's also a parallel that could be fun, if people are so keen on ignoring the "Velvet does not want to talk to Pony-Twilight" then I'd like to restart the push to talk to our Sons.

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Either way the Twi vote goes, I would like to do this, to get a better feel on them, be less in the dark as to their natures, and wether or not we could pull them away from the control of the Divided.

Those feelings can be changed if the conscience is.

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My hope is for Velvet to become more comfortable with them, they're her mistakes, ones she can't take back or wipe away, they came from Velvet, whatever you want to call them, they are her progeny. I think we should accept them as such, the whole deal of them not being under the family tree can be changed according to Velvet's feelings.

It'll make it easier to accept, if we come to a point that we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, and another child is born from our decisions.

 

[Alan975]

how is she still in High School?

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Held back, she was just very bad at math

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Velvet is an unreliable narrator remember how she got here, a trip that takes either mastery of knock, or shedding ones own skin, so fully you forget mortal stuff. Compared this to the mirror that connects the worlds without need of either of those requirements every month, both are primitive, I half expect the dreamlike state Velvet is in is just her using her new Knock knowledge without realizing to skip stuff doesn't care about.

 

[LieutenantSpirit]

I really hope further exploration will grant us another option for Twilight. Even just being able to talk to mirror Twilight through reflective surfaces would be a drastically improved option.

 

[Shaper47]

How is it viable? We got a max Moth Influence way back in the day from the Master, so we'd need books, artifacts, and chance to get an absolute ton of high-level Lore Scraps.

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I suspect Stalking games would get us scraps but really we only need books.

Turn 21 - search for a level 4 Moth book

Turn 22 - buy and read level 4 Moth book, have Mareinette get us a Confident
-Jade scry's level 5 Moth Book
-Selene steals the level 5 Moth Book that was scry'd
-Baldomare scry's for level 6 Moth Book

Turn 23 - get Moth Sacrament
-Get Baldomare SH influence (also for personal SH Sacrament)
-search for level 5 Moth Book, buy level 5 Moth Book
-Expedition for level 6 Moth Book
-Jade scry's level 5 Moth Book
-Selene steals the level 5 Moth Book that was scry'd

Turn 24 - Get Baldomare's lantern influence (also for personal lantern sacrament)
- read Books for 6/6 to get Moth level 6

Given there's no other requirement listed for level 6 in a lore we just need the scraps so it technically should be possible to get Moth 6 by the end of Turn 24.

21- 1 Moth 4 Book, 1 Moth 5 Book (3/4)
22- 2 Moth 5 Books (4/4)
23- 4 Moth 5 Books, 1 Moth 6 Book (0/6)
24- (6/6)

 

[Arrkhon]

I have a felling that if we gave slightest amount of focus to Harmony and it's magic we could have likely influenced our canine kids with it, because honestly Harmony seems a lot like something that doesn't require much of investment to start providing support
Also speaking of Harmony, cold we tell Ash to camp around the dream realm door? It could be good for him

 

[Earth-Destroyer]

Supposedly Sunset Shimmer left for the EQG world around... minimum 10, maybe even 20 years before episode 1.

how is she still in High School? It was heavily implied time didn't flow at the same rate, so there's not just a delay, but also a time flow differential.

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By all accounts Sunset departure is like a few months before episode 1 at most. With time flowing faster on the pony side by around 3x.

 

[Diamondfiend]

[X] Apparently, they are not alicorns here. But they are still the highest authority. (Approach the Principals)
[X] Now that you can reach the city center, it is time to explore it properly. Check the stores, see the sights, and discover what wondrous things this world considers mundane.
[X] Now that you can reach the city center, it is time to explore even beyond that. Map the roads, learn the rules, and seek the very end of this dream.
[X] Alright, WHERE is Stormchaser? (Look for your dear beloved)
[X] Return home, with Diary, Frangiclave, and something else besides. Or rather, someone. (End the dream, bringing Twilight Sparkle with you, and redistribute your remaining action points.)

 

[Limabot]

By all accounts Sunset departure is like a few months before episode 1 at most. With time flowing faster on the pony side by around 3x.

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I thought Sunset had her tantrum and fled Equestria when Twilight was still a filly, which (assuming ponies and humans age the same way) means that Sunset would have been gone for about 5-10 years.

 

[DelightedOne]

By all accounts Sunset departure is like a few months before episode 1 at most. With time flowing faster on the pony side by around 3x.

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But that doesn't fit with Sunset being Celestia's previous apprentice since Twilight has been her apprentice since the entrance exam for Celestia's school that she took when she was a filly.

 

[Flaregamer82253]

Probably the core of my beliefs on Pony Twilight is just that I don't believe things are ever going to improve because there is no one left who Twilight would let in.

Let's go down the list of all those who remain:

Starting with the Mane 6, Twilight's friends, the problem is that they aren't actually friends. The world got interrupted 4 months from the day that Nightmare Moon returned. A friendship has to be maintained, and for whatever really happened beyond our vision, regardless of why or who, Twilight's burgeoning friendships didn't survive. Twilight wasn't ever inclined towards friends in the first place, so I wonder how she must look back on that night with Nightmare Moon. Probably only with depersonalization.

Celestia next. I'm going to put aside any and all consideration of how the Daybreaker situation will resolve. I'll also put aside most of the changeling situation too. The real question here is "Why would what Celestia says matter to Twilight?"

Consider Twilight's perspective here. When Celestia left to find Luna, what happened to their relationship?

"But…" you hear her say, almost in a whimper. And you can't help but raise an eyebrow as Twilight…

You can't help but feel a slight jab on your heart as Twilight Sparkle says something, with a voice that makes her sound a lot younger than she actually is.

"But Princess Celestia… she is not here to teach me… she doesn't answer my letters and I…"

You see her curl up slightly at that, her eyes leaving your own and going towards the floor as the unspoken words that "she doesn't know what to do" hang in the air around her.

Ah… you should have realized it.

Rarity didn't mention she was this close to the Princess. Maybe because she didn't know.

But from what you have seen, and from what you have heard, she must really be close to Princess Celestia. Extremely close, that is. And it makes sense that her current state couldn't have been caused just by… her rather unfortunate research, after the two of you parted ways.

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Celestia never responded to Twilight, not sparing her a thought. This is critical for two reasons. First, Celestia has a clear priority to her sister even at the cost of all other personal relationships. Second, it is the initial indication to Twilight that she isn't worthy of even a moment of Celestia's attention.

In itself, this isn't all that much, but Twilight is a smart cookie: she can recognize a pattern. We saw a bit of that in another history.

"Velvet…" she says, and you can hear that her voice is trembling, "do you know where we are right now? Do you know what they call this place?"

You feel a knot inside your chest growing tighter and tighter as you see her mane fluttering slightly. As you see her whole body shaking as she asks that question.

You don't have it in you to answer her, so you just shake your head, even though she can't see it.

"This place," she says, and you can hear her swallowing something dry, "is called the Apprentice's Tower. And I know that sounds obvious… I know it's something everypony knows… but still, I only found out that is what it's called today."

She says that, and then she turns around to face you.

"Isn't that funny?" she asks with a smile.

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"For the longest time… for years, even. I thought of this place as my home, I thought this place was called Twilight's Tower, or something like that. After all, this place was all mine, and I spent every… I was here all the time. I only ever left when I had something more interesting to learn somewhere else."

Her tone is so low that she might as well be talking in whispers. But still, you don't dare get any closer to her.

And that is because… her eyes are so hollow and her smile so faint that you think she will crumble into dust if you take even a single step towards her.

"Princess Celestia said it herself, even. That this place was all mine to do anything I wanted. That is, to study anything I wanted," she continued, turning her gaze towards the surrounding bookshelves. "And I remember how happy I was… this place was a like an amusement park, like twenty different libraries mashed together in a single place. And I thought Princess Celestia had prepared all of this for me, Velvet…"

Twilight lets out a dry cough, her chest shuddering so much with the motion that you have no doubt that it was actually painful for her.

It takes you a few moments to realize that was a chuckle.

"That's the thing, Velvet. I just realized that she didn't. This place… all of these books, on all of these subjects, and all of these tools… they are all leftovers. They are all the interests of her previous students, things that were left behind and that piled on top of each other as the years and decades passed. They were all left here for the next occupant of this place to pick up, because this is what this place is for. This is the Apprentice's Tower."

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"But in the end… that's what I was the whole time. Exactly what Princess Luna said. My whole life, I was just a passing interest, one more student in a long line of ponies who caught Princess Celestia's eyes…"

A single tear comes out of her eyes, slowly making its way down the fur of her cheek as she says those words.

"And when she said I was her faithful student… I can see that she meant I was a faithful student. Not her faithful student, or the faithful student… Just another pastime she decided to take under her wing and…"

The young mare suddenly shivers, as if a cough or a hiccup came up to her, interrupting whatever she was going to say next.

And with that, her whole demeanor changes. As if she just realized where she was, as if she was suddenly afraid of what was happening, Twilight's eyes suddenly shoot wide open. Her breathing becomes ragged as she looks around herself, and her horn lights up as she starts walking backwards, away from you.

"Twilight, wait!" is all you can say, running towards her after the split second it takes you to realize what she is about to do.

But before you even finish speaking those words, the light of her horn flashes a brilliant light purple, and then she is gone with the soft puff of a teleportation spell.

Leaving you alone, with nothing to keep you company, but the memory of Twilight's frightened expression.

And no matter how much you think about it, you can't describe it in any other way but as the expression of a pony who can no longer recognize anything around her. Not even herself.

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Twilight isn't special.

She knows that. It's something that has been proven to her multiple times throughout the course of this quest from multiple people, but really, the important part right now is that Twilight knows she's not special to Celestia. Furthermore, it's not as though Celestia has taken any action to disprove this. Daybreaker or not, Celestia hasn't reached out to Twilight, not even with a condolence for her losses, in 16 months now. And you know, Twilight didn't even have much faith in Celestia saying that she should get some friends at the beginning of the series. So really, I have to wonder why anything Celestia says to Twilight beyond the role of ruler and subject would make a difference when she hasn't been a mentor or a friend to her at all.

I have no faith in Celestia making a difference in the Twilight situation.


Alright, moving on to Shining Armor. Between the leash and the Lunar Bureau, I'd imagine we've had a good handle on what Shining Armor's doing on the Twilight situation:

"And that is why he wouldn't take the job with us. Vanhoover is too far away for a commute, and well… he just has to be there for her sister. Even if she only eats when he is out of the house, and even if they only speak through a closed door. She is still… all that he has…"

Shining says that, and for a short moment you can see how his gaze becomes unfocused.

More than just that, you can also tell that… you can also feel certain thoughts running through his mind. The idea that his words should mean something else to him personally. The impression that the story he is telling is… not only relatable, but also familiar. Coupled with the impression that he, too, should be doing… something about it. Just like the detective is.

But just before he can reach a conclusion, just before those disparate thoughts come together with his mind in a way that makes sense-

-you also feel the tug of the Leash he has in his mind. Stopping from taking that final step.​

And just like that, Shining Armor is looking at you once again. His expression focused and attentive as if nothing just happened.

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In order to prevent Shining Armor from following up on Twilight, Velvet had to stop Shining Armor from thinking about Twilight up to the point where Shining got married, where I find it unlikely at best to say Shining followed up on Twilight afterwards in any way that she would be receptive to. As far as Twilight believes, Shining Armor doesn't believe her, and thus, she has a lack of faith in Shining. I can't see her being receptive while Shining thinks she's crazy, and us and Velvet would/will continue to ensure that Shining thinks Twilight is crazy as long as our survival depends on it. Shining Armor can't help Twilight.

Alright, lastly, Cadance. How did Cadance help Twilight before the Wedding?

However, not even the soft light of the moon could hide the fact that…

"She… Velvet, are you sure this is the place?"

"… yes. I have already been here before. It looked a lot better, months ago. And I mean a lot better. But…"

"I… oh no… I should have come here before, I should have thought about her before… but it was just so much that…!"

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She didn't really do much in the 3 months between her rescue and wedding without us prompting her, even though Twilight also lost her parents and little brother and her horn/passion.

What about Cadance's perspective? She actually tried. We know very, very little about what came of this conversation, but I can't imagine it was positve.

She knew what she should do next. She knew what she had to do next. And yet, she hesitated. She hesitated because she was afraid. And she was afraid because she knew that… she knew, as she looked into that dark library, that…

… that there was no love inside that place.

And despite everything other ponies thought about her, despite everything she knew about herself, she still didn't know if she would be enough, even as she set hoof into that darkness.

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"Cadance, I feel like I need to ask… how did that night go? How… how was Twilight?"

You ask that, and you watch as Cadance's eyes move here and there. You watch as she lies back on the chair she is sitting, as if thinking about what words she should use to answer you.

Still, she looks fine. In fact, she looks like you just asked her about the weather, or what time it is. Or as if you just asked her about something related to the wedding that she has already decided.

And not long after, she opens her mouth to speak.

Although what she tells you is… well, it's not the answer you are waiting for.

"Did I ever tell you about my family?" she asks.

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"Well, not long after that day… several things happened, and I became a Princess."

Still, you can only watch as she completely dismisses the thought. You can only watch as her previous lost expression… changes back to normal. In fact, you can only watch as she once again begins to smile, of all things.

"And things were great after that. They really were! Shining's parents were lovely. And of course, Princess Celestia herself took me in. She really was like an aunt to me for the longest time. I don't really feel like I lacked anything, back when it was just me and dad. But I definitely gained something I didn't have, after Princess Celestia brought me to Canterlot."

She says that in a tone that almost sounds distracted. As if she is telling you one thing, but thinking about something else entirely. In fact, she is so deep in her thought that she doesn't even notice her magic is slipping away. What little concentration she was focusing on the magical drawing finally fades, and her long-gone cutie mark disappears right after.

However, despite her upbeat words, you think that… you think you know what she is truly talking about.

Despite her content and distracted expression, you think you know what she is truly thinking about.

After all, she is talking about Shining's parents. About Shining's mother, who introduced her to her current husband-to-be. About Shining's father, as she vaguely recalls the lessons on magic he taught her while she was still getting used to the horn on her head.

And of course, she also tells you about her… "Auntie" Celestia.

However, it is painfully obvious to you that none of those ponies are around anymore.

And she knows that.

Oh, she definitely knows that.

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I can't help but notice that Twilight is very blatantly not spoken about here.

"Can you promise not to judge me?" she asks.

For a moment, you think about answering her with a joke of sorts. To try and alleviate the heaviness in the air, if nothing else. For a moment, you think about saying something like no promises, or trying to dismiss her concerns that you will judge her as silly. Because of course, you would never judge her, and you very much want to put a smile on her face.

But still, you also realize that what she needs right now is the serious, no-nonsense and honest answer.

"I won't," you say.

She doesn't look towards you. Instead, she keeps looking straight ahead, towards the center of the room, as if she could still see the disappeared drawing of her former cutie mark.

That is, until she lets out another, longer sigh.



"Promise you won't leave me?"

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It's very clear to me that Twilight isn't going to let Cadance in, and I'm pretty sure Twilight cut ties with Cadance entirely.

Cadance knows this, even in her nightmares:

"You just what? You are going to blame me? You are going to blame somepony else? Swear up and down it is not your fault? The same way it wasn't your fault when you let the country fall apart, right when Celestia needed you most? The same way it wasn't your fault that the pony you claim to love the most lost his horn? The same way it wasn't your fault when you failed to save Twilight?!"

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See, this is Cadance's nightmare, but it's important to understand where the distortion is here. Every event that happened is a fact, but Cadance's distortion is that she is at fault for them. I take this to mean pretty definitively that she failed in that conversation, and that she can't, or at least won't try further, to save Twilight in respect of her wishes.


So who's left? Twilight has no friends, no faith, no mentor, and no family that she would listen to. She said it herself after all.

"And ever since I moved here… ever since I met you, my life only got worse… it got worse… and worse… and worse… and now I have nothing left."

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As far as I'm concerned, Twilight Sparkle is a closed system that has exactly two people who could make a reasonable difference.

Velvet Covers

and her Apostle.

You get up from where you are sitting, on the dark corner of the room.

You watch as the mare begins to quietly cry, as you approach her.

But you also know that she doesn't want you to go away. Because even though everything you just told her was painful, her entire life is pain right now. So, what you are saying at least make sense. And since it makes sense, it helps her at least ground herself. And since it helps her to ground herself, she wants you to tell her more.

You have no idea what you are doing.

But it is working, and for some reason it feels easy.

Almost natural.

So, when you reach her, you very carefully put your lips close to her ear, and you whisper to her. Almost as if you are sharing a secret.

You whisper to her a question. A proposal. An invitation.

And finally, the mare begins to… talk.

Things become much, much easier after that.

And your heart hammers inside your chest, with tension at the thought that you are making progress, and maybe just a hint of pride at the fact that following your guts worked.

But most of all, you feel glad because…

Because you are helping Mrs. Velvet.

And that is exactly what you will strive to do, from now on.

Because you owe her too much, and it's about time you start paying her back.

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(After the Wedding)

And that is because Amor is currently staring at what is, or perhaps was, the town library. A treehouse, or a house that is literally built from a tree, that stands in one of the roads near the center of Ponyville.

Although, like anypony else, she can immediately tell that said library had seen better days.

After all, she can barely tell that the place is shaped like a tree. Because there are no leaves or flowers to speak of, and most of its branches have already rotted and fallen down.

Furthermore, to say that the structure is in disrepair is an understatement. The "natural" parts of the tree look rotten and sick, but the "pony-made" parts of the structure look no better. And everywhere she looks, she can spot a broken window, or a misaligned door, or some other sign that this place is in desperate need for the attention of a cutie-marked carpenter.

But most of all, this place is unique because of…

Most ponies prefer to just ignore this place. In fact, most ponies in Ponyville either pretend this place doesn't exist, and just avoid this road altogether.

However, Amor… doesn't. In fact, it is the opposite with her.

And just like every other week, she spends… more than just a few moments staring at the rotting tree-house. Just like every other week, she can feel the thing that is emanating from that place. Like a strange warmth that comes from an invisible bonfire, or a strong smell that sticks to the coat.

And just like every other week, she… slowly, cautiously makes her way towards the worn front door.

Amor makes her way towards the front door, noticing that the sign that used to hang over the door is no longer there. Although she was sure that it was there last week. Another sign of disrepair, no doubt. Another thing that was simply lost.

She reaches the front door, and she can almost taste the feelings that are covering this place.

And she knows that… she knows that it would be so simple. It would be as easy as picking up a ripe fruit, that is hanging from a low branch.

She could call whoever lives in that place right now, and she knows that pony would follow. All she needed to do was knock on that door. All she needed to do was extend a hoof, and the denizen of this catacomb would practically lunge to hold on to it.

Amor slowly raises her hoof, inching it closer and closer to the front door…



But like every other week, she stops.



She stops herself. She stops her hoof. And as painful as it might be, she wrangles herself away from that temptation.

Because there are rules to this. There are rules to their… gathering, that she knows she must obey.

In fact, she was the one who wrote them.

And just like every other week, she almost broke the very first rule that they all must follow.

Do not invite any newcomers, unless She was the one who called for them.

Yes… yes. She must follow the rules.

No matter how inviting this place seems to be.

No matter how obvious this option might look like.

The pony who dwells in this place has not yet been called by… her friend. Her one and only very best friend has not yet called for whoever lives in this place. She has not yet mentioned this place, or looked at it, or even thought about it. Which can only mean that something, perhaps the gathering, or perhaps the pony who lives here, is not ready yet.

Click to shrink...

Information control is something OurLadyOfWires maintains very well. If it isn't something we would become aware of or otherwise must need to know, we won't be directly told. Soft Sweeps has visited Twilight Sparkle and has set something in motion. Despair, the Wolf that devours thought. I am pretty sure, even if I can't confirm, that Twilight is rolling against something, perhaps Dread, every turn at this point. And I believe that at some point, Twilight will take any decisions out of our hands. I firmly believe that the moment she fails enough times, Twilight will become a critical member of Soft Sweeps cult, and I doubt anyone would be able to do anything to help her in the ways we would hope at that point.

What I'm trying to say is that regardless of what will happen, in a way similar to figuring out what the Master was up to, waiting for someone else to make a move for Twilight, or waiting for Velvet Covers to have an opportunity is a bad idea. Everyone is an actor with agency in this world, and I've seen no indication that people are making or are able to make a positive impact in Twilight's situation, and Twilight has a standing offer she's been sitting on for a while.

So I want to end this off by saying that if you don't believe that the method we have in front of us is one that can be abided by, then that's okay! I completely understand that some of us won't agree with each other on these decisions. My main purpose with this post is to stress that we have no guarantees that we will have another opportunity and that I don't ever see things changing without an action by Velvet Covers or Soft Sweeps, and the latter is the only one "active" with Twilight.

(That's enough effort for one day...)