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

[Sveta08]

Its rare I have no clue how things might go. It's novel and terrifying.
Was this what it was like, casting the Path through Nightmares? Knowing things will change, but not how?



This suspense is terrible. I hope it lasts

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

It is morning, in Equestria and beyond. And just like everywhere else, the bright sun is gracing the skies of Canterlot.

And just like every other morning, a small ritual is taking place within the Royal Castle.

It is a ritual of respect, and reverence, and maybe even a little magic. Although not the kind of magic that contravenes the laws of this world.

Instead, it is a formality, or perhaps it might be better to call it a "ceremony". Still, it is a sequence of events that is both practiced and revered, meant to give both respect and thanks to those who sit above mortal ponies. A way to remind everypony present that, despite their benevolence and grace, their rulers and guides are still their betters.

Even if they are too humble to admit it, or even think about it.

Still, like it happens almost every day, the ceremony once again begins.

The trumpets sing, the banners flow, legs bend down into kneeling, and the practiced hoofs and proud hearts of armored guards ensure that everything is as it should be.

And once more, the doors of the Throne Room swing open.



"Hear ye! Hear ye! A Princess comes before you!"



The throne room is full, as always. Full, but not crowded. With rows upon rows of ponies from all walks of life, some dressed in expensive and noble garbs while some wear nothing but the fur on their bodies. All of them waiting for the chance of an audience before the throne.

And of course, all of them are bowing down at the presence of the one who will guide them.

All of them are bowing down to you.

At the very end of the short trumpet-song, you cross the wide-open doors. And you make your way to the throne itself.

However, there is something else going on today. There is something else, something new, that follows you into the throne room. Something that nopony here has ever felt before.

Something that was not part of the ceremony, and that is certainly not part of the practiced routine of anypony who frequents this most noble of places. But still…

… still, it is something that is felt, and appreciated, and even welcomed nonetheless.

It is the tiniest hint of grace that wafts from you like perfume, and that makes the throne's advisors, and then the guards, and then even the most distant of audience-seekers, smile. It makes them all smile just a little more when they feel it.

It is that melodious tone that came from your hoofs just now, as you walked into the room, as if you were also dancing to the last few notes of the trumpet-song that hailed you. A dance that, somehow, was so subtle and so beautiful that nopony was really sure if they imagined it or not. And yet, they can still hear it on your hoofsteps, as you ascend the steps to the throne.

Why, some of them think they will never stop hearing it, ever, whenever you walk.

These things, this new presence that surrounds you as you sit on the throne, is a tiny secret that you hold. A hushed whisper, that you can now use to guide these little ponies.

But more than just that, you feel… fine. You feel great!

You feel lush and you feel revitalized and most importantly you feel ready to help all these ponies before you feel the same way.

"Princess Cadance, you look…" the mare standing next to you, one of your advisors, speaks up without thinking. Or rather, her expression makes it clear that the words just flowed out of her mouth.

But of course, she quickly realizes what she was doing, and places a hoof before her mouth as she clears her throat. Embarrassedly raising the scroll she has on her other hoof as if suddenly very interested in reading from it.

"My apologies, my Princess. I just meant to say I hope you had a wonderful night of sleep," she says. Although you can see she is still stealing a few glances at you every now and then.

But you don't blame her. You stop yourself from letting out a soft giggle. But still, you know exactly how you must look like, in her eyes. In her eyes, and in everypony else's eyes.

Why, everypony else in the throne room is acting the same way! They are all looking at you, with eyes that hold much more than mere expectation. And for all that they know this should be just another day of "business as usual", they can't help but feel that something else is going on.

In fact, they are all so fascinated that the throne room itself is entirely quiet. There is not a whisper or a hush coming from anypony, not from the conceited nobles who would be vying for your attention by now, nor from the worried townsponies who traveled from afar to have their concerns heard.

A soft smile graces your features, and you give another wave to your assistant, signaling for her to start the day.

"Y-yes my Princess, but of course," she says, finally reading from the scroll she had been pretending to look at this whole time, while she was busy stealing glances at you. "The first order of business is from a representative of Tall Tale. They wish to express their concerns about certain occurrences that are happening in their city."

She says that, looking up at you expectantly once she is finished. And you try not to smile at how happy she is when you give her an approving nod.

Still, you have work to do. So, you turn your attention back to the crowd and you watch as the representative from the named city comes before your throne.

"Princess Cadance, I thank you for this chance, and for a moment of your attention," he says, as he gives you a deep, full-body bow.

After which you open your mouth to answer his greetings, before you engage in business proper.

But of course, the melodious sound that comes from you is none other than-

"[GRAIL]!"​

- - -

- - -

- - -





You are Lady Velvet Covers, and you just woke up.

You just woke up, and you are in a… rather unfamiliar place.

Of course, you have already been here before. But you see, there is a bit of a problem when it comes to describe where "here" is, exactly.

Because you have already been "here", in Cadance's room.

And you have already been "here", in Cadance's bed. Or at least you are pretty sure you already sat down here, once, when you two were talking during one of your visits.

And when you really think about it, you have already been "here" between Cadance's forelegs.

But well… when you add two and two together… this is rather unfamiliar, when taken as a whole.



Because this is the first time you wake up, in Cadance's room, on Cadance's bed, and between Cadance's forelegs.



However, any shock or concern you could (or maybe should) be feeling right now is immediately crushed by the splitting headache you are feeling.

"Dear heavens I…" you mumble to yourself, as you try your best to suppress this pain.

And moments later, perhaps because of your mumbling, something very soft begins to move next to your face.

You never really appreciated how Cadance is slightly larger than you are, especially given how you are a tall mare yourself. However, you definitely did not mind being the party that was hugged for a change.

Because heavens, her chest fur is so soft. It only adds to your pain to realize that her forelegs are moving, and that she is now moving away from you.

"I… we have to… can't just…" you hear Cadance's confused voice, and you can't help but laugh at how her tone is just a little hoarse. Both of your throats, you figure, are probably bone-dry right now.

Still, you help the mare untangle herself from you, and you watch as she walks -and almost stumbles- out of bed.

Until finally, she lays her eyes on you again.

And for some reason, they go wide in shock.

"V-Velvet?!" she says, as if expecting somepony else entirely to be where you are right now.

Oh, right, she is married.

Wait, you both are married.

"I guess," you say, trying not to wince at the effort.

But thanks to Cadance's fortitude, you can tell that she is recovering a lot faster than you are. Which means she doesn't have, like you do, a headache stopping her from fussing about the little details.

"But I… but we…! W-wait, what did we do last night?!" she asks, as she takes a better look at… well, at everything.

"Probably had a few drinks?" you half ask, half answer.

Because what else could you have possibly done?

"Yes, I remember that. But… but how are we here? I-I… I remember us arriving at Ponyville, and then you introduced me to some of your friends, and…" she trails off, as if too scared, or maybe to embarrassed, to say out loud whatever happened next.

Which in turn reminds you that, alicorn or not, Cadance is still a neophyte when it comes to certain habits. In fact, you wouldn't be surprised if this was the first time she ever drank too much.

Hard to remember that despite being a Princess, she never really had a noble upbringing.

Well, you'd better help her out here. Or at least not let her be too hard on herself.

"Oh, don't worry Cadance," you say, still trying to either nurse or ignore your headache. "You aren't the first alicorn I slept with."

That… probably didn't come out exactly how you intended.

But in all honesty, your head hurts too much for you to care. Or for you to realize how embarrassed and blushing Cadance is right now. Or the fact that her wings are-

"W-wait, do you meant to tell me that you… and Princess Luna…?!" Cadance says, and you swear she is taking a half-step back for some reason.

But you really don't have it in you to figure out what is going on right now.

"I mean, there was this time Selene got sick. I didn't leave her side for several days, until she got better, so of course she slept on my bed," you say, waving an impatient hoof at her.

And you think you hear a relieved sigh… probably… maybe… you don't really care.

"Anyways, I don't think either of us can work today. I mean, I definitely can't," you say.

To which Cadance answers with such a loud gasp that it actually hurts you.

"Oh no! Look at the time!" she yells, directly into your ears as far as you are concerned, as she begins rummaging around her room. "It's past midday, and I have so much to do!"

She says that, as she starts… well, you can't really follow her around. Your eyes are still too busy looking at the sole of your hoofs.

But still, as your memories of last night continue to slowly trickle back into your head, despite the several conflicting versions that you can remember, you also finally manage to get a better grip of yourself.

Which means, in turn, that you also remember why you just had this mare's night out with Cadance.

And that is more than enough for you to anchor yourself, through your concern towards Cadance, to say this next.

"Cadance," you try to say, massaging the side of your head one last time before daring to open your eyes. "Cadance." You say again, as you force yourself to follow her around the room with your eyes, as she tries to put on her horseshoes, comb her mane, and straighten her tail all at the same time.

Only to realize she really isn't listening to you. The poor mare, you can clearly tell, is already back at her panicked-work mode.

You think you also detect a hint of shame in her expression, whenever she glances towards you. But you have no idea why.

"Cadance!" you say again. And something in your tone finally makes her stop. Her cheeks going red once again, for some reason. "Cadance, dear, I really mean it when I say this. Please take the day off? You need some time out. Trust me when I say you do," you finish.

And despite Cadance's unreasonable dodginess, and strange unwillingness to look you in the eye, she actually… listens. Or at least, she stops trying to multitask herself into a semblance of good appearance, and starts actually listening to you.

"But… but I have duties to attend to, Velvet. I can't… I'm a Princess, remember?" she says, although you can tell that even saying those words is a little painful to her. As if she is forcing herself to say that, or as if those words somehow carry a burden on their own.

And of course, you know exactly why she feels that way. In fact, the more you remember what she told you last night between drinks, the more confident you are that you really need to make her cool down for the rest of the day.

"Equestria won't crumble like a house of cards if you take one day off," you say, daring to get up from the bed, and giving yourself a satisfied nod as you confirm your legs are not wobbling under you. "Besides, don't you remember?" you ask.

Because sure, enough, as you think back to last night…

"Mareinette said she will take care of your chores today," you say, giving her a confident smile.

And sure enough, as soon as you mention your now-mutual friend, Cadance's own expression begins to shift. Her sad and worried and tired face slowly turning into something that vaguely resembles a smile.

To which you let out a small sigh of relief. Yes, you will get there. Even if it takes you the entire day.

Also, your mind doesn't even stop to think about what you just said right now. You do not feel any sense of urgency, or surprise, or dear Mansus what were you thinking when you introduced an Alicorn to a NAME. None at all! After all, Mareinette is now Cadance's friend, and she can do no wrong.

So, you gently place a hoof on Cadance's shoulder, and try your best to keep her strangely embarrassed gaze, until she finally…

"Fine… I suppose I could take today off," she says, almost as if afraid a storm would break out if she said it too loud.

But still, you did it! You did it, you have a full day ahead of you that you can spend making sure Cadance rests, and everything will be alright moving forward.

"Wonderful!" you say. "Now, why don't we go take a shower and-"

"A-ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Cadance yells over you. And the only reason it doesn't hurt your ears is because her words are strangely honeyed and pleasant.

Still, goodness gracious, what is wrong with Cadance today? What could have possibly happened last night for her to be like this?

Oh well, you may never know.

Still, something else comes to your mind…

Because now that you think about it, this is a wonderful opportunity to explain to her a few things, and help her catch up to speed with what you have going on.

Spoiler: Winning Vote

Tally
[X] Turns out, she just needed more friends.

Cadance is doing better now. You have successfully cheered your all of your friends up, following your Dance with Death.

You have spent the rest of your day catching Cadance up to speed. You did not tell her everything (there was not enough time), nor did you tell her about your Regrets. Still, Cadance is now Level 0 on all her Lores. Although she does not yet know about Rituals, summons, or details about the Mansus other than of their existence.

You have introduced Cadance, the Princess of Love, to Mareinette, Our Lady Of Wires. Given your relationship with each individual party, the fact that you were the one introducing them made them immediately like each other.

Mareinette is now interested, and has access to, Cadance.

You will now have the option to vote on "The Moods of Mareinette" during your voting period.

Spoiler: The Moods of Mareinette

From now on, during the turn planning period, you will have access to actions of "The Moods of Mareinette".

You will have to pick one of the available options every turn, and the nature of those options may change or evolve. But at least one of the available options will always be free.

It is no secret that Mareinette is interested in you, but it also stands to reason that she expects you to reciprocate her interest, and that she will not wait forever. These options will reflect your actions for the turn, and will educate both yourself and Mareinette on how you wish your relationship to evolve.

Your options for the Turn 22 voting phase will be as follows:

[] Mareinette is her own mare, and Cadance could use some company. Don't do anything, and see how things turn out.
-You will not take any particular action this turn.
-From what you hear, Mareinette will be more absent from your home than usual. Something about spending more time in Canterlot.
-This is a free action, and will not interfere in Mareinette's ability to serve you.


[] You introduced her to Cadance, yes, but you are still very interested in her endeavors.
-You will signal to Mareinette that you are still interested in your ongoing relationship. She will hold you to that.
-From what you hear, Mareinette will continue to mostly lounge in your estate and wander around Ponyville. To the delight of the farmhoofs that adore her.
-This is a free action, and will not interfere in Mareinette's ability to serve you.

I will "catch up" to the thread in a few hours, finally seeing any pings addressing me and threadmarking what needs to be threadmarked. Thank you for your patience.

More to follow.

 

[ses]

and you can't help but laugh at how her tone is just a little hoarse.

Click to shrink...

but we just established that Cadance is a big horse!

 

[DelightedOne]

Also, your mind doesn't even stop to think about what you just said right now. You do not feel any sense of urgency, or surprise, or dear Mansus what were you thinking when you introduced an Alicorn to a NAME. None at all! After all, Mareinette is now Cadance's friend, and she can do no wrong.

Click to shrink...

... I knew it. Just... Ughh. And she is also gonna spend the day as Cadance.

At least it can't get worse.

Mareinette is now interested, and has access to, Cadance.

Click to shrink...

Ghtqnjikallgaaaaaa...

I swore I wouldn't get angry but THIS is too much.

And now we can choose if she stays mostly close to our home or if she stays more in Canterlot. I have no idea which one is worse.

Cadance only has a history of redeeming one pony if I remember it right so I'm not sure if she can change Mareinette or even if she will want to anymore.

 

[Hooded]

Praise be to our Princess Mareinette, who can do no wrong and long may she reign.

 

[des-pair-2]

But of course, the melodious sound that comes from you is none other than-

"[GRAIL]!"​

Click to shrink...

For a one horrible moment, I thought that Mareinette has eaten and became Cadance. This is worse than I ever could've imagined. I regret not advocating harder for other options.

I can't change the past, but I can at least change the future. But that is a bleak comfort right now.

I will vote for teaching Cadance more Lores, so she can recognize Mareinette's influences better. We can't let Mareinette loosen Cadance's morals, because before we realize it, she will be the one eating ponies first.

 

[Arrkhon]

See people? A little bit of trust goes long way, not only did Cadence get a whole free day and a friend she also got a excellent body double if need arises!

 

[DelightedOne]

I will vote for teaching Cadance more Lores, so she can recognize Mareinette's influences better. We can't let Mareinette loosen Cadance's morals, because before we realize it, she will be the one eating ponies first.

Click to shrink...

Good to see someone that understands what is happening(or at least is not trying to pretend). So if we want to avoid mental influences her first lesson should be Winter, yes? Or would Heart be more useful for Cadance in general?

 

[Sveta08]

Ah, hardly an ounce to wait or longer.
How delightful!


But, for the practical matters...
Tell me. Does anyone remember if there were any in built plans for what Marinette should do this coming turn?

I ask, as given the Moods of Marinette, it may be wise to, if we want her to stay in Ponyville, or more aptly, away from Cadence, be best to have something in particular we are looking to her for.


If there are none, I may have a perilous idea after all...

 

[BritBiscuit]

Well this is both worse than I expected and yet also better than I feared, I still stand by the better company being the better choice but I shall give up the arguement and accept the results of democracy.

Gotta love how the one Mansus being that we summoned which can break its bonds at anytime has now just been shown another pony which it could guide down the path she wants Velvet to walk, we gotta make sure the Moods of Mareinette is kept on the farm rather than Candace otherwise she might just decide she's more interesting and we'll lose her and she'd be free to follow her own wants in the Wake rather than being held slightly back by the bindings.

 

[Nevermort]

If she has a +20 general bonus and Grail 3, yes. Anything below that and she is not, in fact Velvet is better at that by default considering she has Forge 4 and the Forge DC is 100... Cadance would need a general bonus of over +40 and over +14 in her magic stat to be considered better.

Click to shrink...

When we get Juicer (for squeezing Discord blood) we can allow Cadence to borrow it. I bet it is very high level Forge artifact. Perhaps even highest level one.

Also I hope that Rarity is capable of teaching Cadance, as it would really free our hoofs.

And now we can choose if she stays mostly close to our home or if she stays more in Canterlot. I have no idea which one is worse.

Click to shrink...

She already stays close to our home all the time, so there would not be any difference. Although I hope that it is not just empty action. Hopefully she will teach us Grail Lore for free or something.

As for her staying at castle and maybe giving Cadance free time by replacing her. So what. There were some suspicions that Mareinette noms on farmponies limbs now and then. Canterlot Nobles are far more deserving target, especially those who would try to butter Cadance for their own goals.

 

[IronHydra]

Uggghhhh that was definitely the wrong choice to win, her having an interest and access to Cadence is probably worse than any other bad result we'd have gotten from Flank.

Now we have to either make a promise to make more time for Marinette, or allow her to be away from us with more freedom and being close to Cadence to slowly influence her over time.

Welp, now we'll have to live with the consequences once again, I don't know how many choices like this it's gonna take before something bad happens because of Marinette.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

Oh great, we just stuck a new perfect doppelganger into a position of Royalty in Equestria. How wonderful. At least it is only for one day thus far.

 

[BritBiscuit]

She already stays close to our home all the time, so there would not be any difference. Although I hope that it is not just empty action. Hopefully she will teach us Grail for free or something.

As for her staying at castle and maybe giving Cadance free time by replacing her. So what. There were some suspicions that she noms on farmponies limbs now and then. Canterlot Nobles are far more deserving target, especially those who would try to butter Cadance for their own goals.

Click to shrink...

I think the real cost of her being away in Canterlot for the month/turn is that she is away from our other Names who could try to take her wounded self out if she decides to break out early, if we keep her in the Estate then she is at risk if she breaks out. On the other hand she'd be away from our children when she breaks out so its a pro and cons situation.

EDIT: oh and also she'd be influencing Candace as well.

EDIT 2: tbh the chances of Mareinette choosing to break out in Canterlot and then after healing up choosing to come back and continue her role as a courtesy in order to still have access to hang out with us and influence us yet still have freedom is probably close to but not 0 because I would be shocked if that thought hadn't past her mind at some point. To just free herself but act exactly the same just because its fun

 

[DelightedOne]

She already stays close to our home all the time, so there would not be any difference. Although I hope that it is not just empty action. Hopefully she will teach us Grail for free or something.

Click to shrink...

If there wasn't a difference then there wouldn't be 2 different options. It will mostly be narrative if I'm reading it right though.

The action is not empty, no action is empty, it was stated that will be how we tell Mareinette how interested we are in her so that is what it will do at the very least.

It feels so weird to be seeing "yeah, but what do we get from this" in a game that is not even focused on material stuff.

 

[Talon Tiger Dino]

As for her staying at castle and maybe giving Cadance free time by replacing her. So what. There were some suspicions that Mareinette noms on farmponies limbs now and then. Canterlot Nobles are far more deserving target, especially those who would try to butter Cadance for their own goals.

Click to shrink...

Do not give the cannibal glutton monster additional access to the resources of an entire kingdom. She won't keep to just the nobles, and the further away from others in her weight class she is the more likely I think she'll be willing to take some liberties she wouldn't on our farmstead.

 

[spiderhellian]

Ah, hardly an ounce to wait or longer.
How delightful!


But, for the practical matters...
Tell me. Does anyone remember if there were any in built plans for what Marinette should do this coming turn?

I ask, as given the Moods of Marinette, it may be wise to, if we want her to stay in Ponyville, or more aptly, away from Cadence, be best to have something in particular we are looking to her for.


If there are none, I may have a perilous idea after all...

Click to shrink...

I think we want her to social Spoiled so we can prep for Moth Sacrament?

Though I'm not sure if we need her to, as opposed to doing it ourselves.

I guess we should actually figure out what we want our relationship to be. Are we doing the Sacrament or not? Are we investing anything in her?

 

[Arrkhon]

Man, it's nice to see so many people wanting to keep Mareinnette close to us and finally commit to befriending her fully instead of letting Cadence do it, I knew you guys were just tsundere for her!

 

[BritBiscuit]

I wonder if there would be a roll each time that Mareinette stays in Canterlot for the month for Celestia to notice her considering she now has lantern and whilst Mareinette has her trait she also has no Moth to hide her Lores, I mean it's a large City and Mareinette isn't stupid but I feel like the access to royal cooks, nobility and Candace would be too much for her to not risk it.

 

[Pororurin]

Ok, looking at the moods thing, why are we/have we not bothering trying to actually friendship The Fair Lady? Like, reciprocating her friendship? I get the whole "you should be eating people" thing, but compared to what we've done it really isn't that big of a deal? I honestly feel we should invest more in her, and that this vote was a good first step to doing that.

And if we decide to send The Lady to be with Cadance more, well, might I point to the fact that in CS canon the Ligeians set up a "charity" to help with "burying" the dead? They don't exactly have the grandest of ambitions when it comes to their tastes.

I honestly feel we may be a little too scared of The Lady, and that we need to get over ourselves a bit.

 

[BritBiscuit]

You will now have the option to vote on "The Moods of Mareinette" during your voting period.

From now on, during the turn planning period, you will have access to actions of "The Moods of Mareinette".

You will have to pick one of the available options every turn, and the nature of those options may change or evolve. But at least one of the available options will always be free.

It is no secret that Mareinette is interested in you, but it also stands to reason that she expects you to reciprocate her interest, and that she will not wait forever. These options will reflect your actions for the turn, and will educate both yourself and Mareinette on how you wish your relationship to evolve.

[] You introduced her to Cadance, yes, but you are still very interested in her endeavors.
-You will signal to Mareinette that you are still interested in your ongoing relationship. She will hold you for that.
-From what you hear, Mareinette will continue to mostly lounge in your estate and wander around Ponyville. To the delight of the farmhoofs that adore her.
-This is a free action, and will not interfere in Mareinette's ability to serve you.

Click to shrink...

I will say that two lines in this stand out to me '' It is no secret that Mareinette is interested in you, but it also stands to reason that she expects you to reciprocate her interest, and that she will not wait forever.'' and ''-You will signal to Mareinette that you are still interested in your ongoing relationship. She will hold you for that.'' this might be stating that even if we keep Mareinette in our Estate she might start to get annoyed at in her eyes a lack of commitment to our relationship with her due to not taking any sacraments from her in maybe a few turns, considering that people dont really want to be a cannibal the Grail one is out and with only level 4 heart with 0 scraps itd take some doing to even see what she wants for the heart sacrament, it might lead to some anger. It might be possible to convince her that we are interested if we show her that we are working towards getting out heart lore up to snuff but idk.

EDIT: I am also an idiot because I forgot that the whole Mareinettes demands to extend the bindings are part of the whole commitment to the relationship bit, so it might just be saying that she would expect us to continue to acquiesce to her requests and that the other option to show that we arent interested (canterlot) might mean that she just doesn't show up to give that request (or is giving the option to extend it mandatory for summons im not clear on that part?)

 

[Nevermort]

I think the real cost of her being away in Canterlot for the month/turn is that she is away from our other Names who could try to take her wounded self out if she decides to break out early, if we keep her in the Estate then she is at risk if she breaks out. On the other hand she'd be away from our children when she breaks out so its a pro and cons situation.

EDIT: oh and also she'd be influencing Candace as well.

Click to shrink...

She also would be near Celestia . Who already knows what to do with pretenders on her throne. Not much better for Mareinette . Remember that breaking on her own takes from Mareinette tons of health, and potentially would not allow her to hold disguise for a moment.

As for Cadance I think you all overstimate how much Mareinette would be able to bend her. Alicorns are build different and our Leash for example don't work outright. Also Remember that Velvet is still only pony, if with some Lores. So either Mareinette can't push Cadence too far, the same way she can't push Velvet too far. Or she could have took control of Velvet at any moment, and thus we should make sure to keep her entertained for the time being.

 

[DelightedOne]

Ok, looking at the moods thing, why are we/have we not bothering trying to actually friendship The Fair Lady? Like, reciprocating her friendship?

Click to shrink...

Maybe because she is a monster that tried to eat Velvet(and also Silky Stream) and wants to corrupt her, caused us to lose Twilight by chomping on our Grail Influence and actively hides her true abilities from us?

And really friendship? If a dangerous cannibal attacked you, told you to call her back when you ran away and when you do she breaks into your home and is drooling in your youngest daughter's room while she is asleep while your adopted daughter is shaking trying to protect her and you have to force the monster to go away and never come back inside your home(and she finds a loophole by staying on the OUTSIDE WALLS) then she tells you that every 3 months you either give her something good or she will go away(and you know what she is going to do) and that she will only stay permanently if you commit cannibalism and dedicate a piece of your soul to her vision of pleasure WOULD YOU STILL CALL THAT A FRIENDSHIP.

 

[Pororurin]

Joke answer, of course, what kind of friends do you have where that isn't expected.

Serious answer, yeah that's fair enough. It's been a while since I did a reread, so that completely slipped my mind. Better get to rereading to not miss any more stuff like that.

 

[Arrkhon]

Maybe because she is a monster that tried to eat Velvet(and also Silky Stream) and wants to corrupt her, caused us to lose Twilight by chomping on our Grail Influence and actively hides her true abilities from us?

And really friendship? If a dangerous cannibal attacked you, told you to call her back when you ran away and when you do she breaks into your home and is drooling in your youngest daughter's room while she is asleep while your adopted daughter is shaking trying to protect her and you have to force the monster to go away and never come back inside your home(and she finds a loophole by staying on the OUTSIDE WALLS) then she tells you that every 3 months you either give her something good or she will go away(and you know what she is going to do) and that she will only stay permanently if you commit cannibalism and dedicate a piece of your soul to her vision of pleasure WOULD YOU STILL CALL THAT A FRIENDSHIP.

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I will be frank, I think you really overestimate our position compared to her, it's not a "some creep enjoys playing with you", it's "a being that can easily bulldoze everything we have and consume us, a tasty looking snack, decided to not eat us on the spot and even offered us her friendship while adhering to our house rules despite being quite rude to her". She's about as close to eldritch god as something from this world can get and we weren't even polite enough to say thank you until now, the friendship offer is genuine on basis of us not being worth the effort to deceive alone

 

[DelightedOne]

I will be frank, I think you really overestimate our position compared to her, it's not a "some creep enjoys playing with you", it's "a being that can easily bulldoze everything we have and consume us, a tasty looking snack, decided to not eat us on the spot and even offered us her friendship while adhering to our house rules despite being quite rude to her". She's about as close to eldritch god as something from this world can get and we weren't even polite enough to say thank you until now, the friendship offer is genuine on basis of us not being worth the effort to deceive alone

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I don't bow to monsters. End of story.

 

[Greymere]

@OurLadyOfWires would you mind elaborating on this bit?

You will signal to Mareinette that you are still interested in your ongoing relationship. She will hold you for that.

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As in, does this mean Mareinette will be expecting us to follow her Sacrament? Is it just indicating we want to continue w/ the current status quo of giving her something every three months w/ increasing cost? Some third thing?

 

[Nevermort]

Maybe because she is a monster that tried to eat Velvet(and also Silky Stream) and wants to corrupt her, caused us to lose Twilight by chomping on our Grail Influence and actively hides her true abilities from us?

And really friendship? If a dangerous cannibal attacked you, told you to call her back when you ran away and when you do she breaks into your home and is drooling in your youngest daughter's room while she is asleep while your adopted daughter is shaking trying to protect her and you have to force the monster to go away and never come back inside your home(and she finds a loophole by staying on the OUTSIDE WALLS) then she tells you that every 3 months you either give her something good or she will go away(and you know what she is going to do) and that she will only stay permanently if you commit cannibalism and dedicate a piece of your soul to her vision of pleasure WOULD YOU STILL CALL THAT A FRIENDSHIP.

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Well, we still don't know Mareinette backstory. We only got a barest glint of it when she gave us Ruby Necklace. And remember that Crime of the Sky was/is? actual thing in this setting, and as such we can't tell how much it affected/ still affects? Mareinette actions. Plus she undoubtedly still carries influence of Grail Hour whose Name she may have been before it. We can't change her as we are, but if Velvet reaches Glory there would be more options. If we get to Mareinette backstory before then we very well may be able to restore her to some previous, less deranged state.

 

[DelightedOne]

Well, we still don't know Mareinette backstory. We only got a barest glint of it when she gave us Ruby Necklace. And remember that Crime of the Sky was/is? actual thing in this setting, and as such we can't tell how much it affected/ still affects? Mareinette actions. Plus she undoubtedly still carries influence of Grail Hour whose Name she may have been before it. We can't change her as we are, but if Velvet reaches Glory there would be more options. If we get to Mareinette backstory before then we very well may be able to restore her to some previous, less deranged state.

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So what you're saying is "We don't know her and even if we did we can't do anything about it so let's focus on winning and leave this to Epilogue Velvet" with a hint of "Mareinette can be saved by us if we get some more knowledge and power"... You know what I agree with the second one, let's dive into Harmony and devise a redemption ritual.

 

[Sveta08]

I think we want her to social Spoiled so we can prep for Moth Sacrament?

Though I'm not sure if we need her to, as opposed to doing it ourselves.

I guess we should actually figure out what we want our relationship to be. Are we doing the Sacrament or not? Are we investing anything in her?

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Hmm.
That's still doable. If memory serves thanks to the work of Marinette Spoiled will slowly fall to Velvet one way or another.


So! An idea. A question. A potential that I imagine a great many people will either hate or love.
Now that we can see the Moods of Marinette, the obvious opportunity/problem exists. If we signal to her we are still interested in friendship, but do nothing, she will be slighted. Sending her to Cadence, the poor alicorn unprepared as she is... I'm sure we can agree would be trouble.
However, we don't want to eat someone. So what to do?

I have an idea. A terrible, beautiful, horrible idea. One that will keep Marinette focus still on Velvet to help Cadence, and requires eating no children! Might even be helpful in unexpected ways.
But, it requires checking something.



@OurLadyOfWires
I understand some options were removed because we never picked them, or functionally didn't. But I have to ask.
Can we still have someone accompany Velvet?

-[] Accompany you, and lend her hoof. (Pick HALF of your own personal actions, rounded DOWN, and Rarity will accompany you while you perform them, giving narrative advantages or mechanical buffs as needed)

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After all, it is best to spend time with friends, no?