More is Lessby EpicGamer10075ChaptersAcknowledgementPotions & SexManiacCageDeathShatteredNames & FriendshipOpen & FreeAcknowledgementTo Princess Celestia of Equestria, This is Changeling Queen Chrysalis. I know I’m probably the last creature you care to receive a letter from, but I’m writing to you to simply tell you what you have done to my hive. My hive is the most important thing to me, just as I am to it. I don’t desire power, wealth, or any of the many superficial things you may think I wish for above even my own subjects; no, they come first, and likewise, they follow me with unfaltering resolve. I understand that I’ve done something unforgivable to those you love; abusing one’s relationship to grow my own strength and unleashing that upon an event meant to be precious to ponies, taking any love you all may express for each other there for my own purposes, and further attempting to take over your nation. But, please be aware that I did not do that for no reason. We have fed off of your kind for as long as we have existed, for the love you ponies give off so freely is what allows us to live. We are parasites upon that which you value most, and we have attempted to harvest as much as we can in an event you value above so many others, all in an desperate attempt to prolong our lives, waning as they were from the loss of so many of our kind and the sustenance they carried with them. Your kind has slowly become better at detecting my changelings over the centuries, with spells and wards and gems all becoming better and better at weeding us out of your own ponies, and either they kick the changeling out, leaving them without the love they were there to collect, or they kill them, leaving us with nothing. I have heard much about how... creative your kind has gotten with killing my subjects; from simple and clean beheading, to being hung and slowly split in half, boiled alive in a metal shell, beaten with as many tools as can be found, or even shoved in a stockade and left to rot as their body is abused. I know that you pride your nation on being peaceful and kind, but it’s clear to me and my kind just how untrue that is, even moreso after that fateful day. We were all propelled from Canterlot by a dumb miracle on your beloveds’ part, and sent flying out across Equestria and landing less than softly in many different places. Many of my changelings simply died as they hit the ground; they were the lucky ones. Some lived from the impact, only to die from the wildlife they had landed in. Others were left to slowly die of starvation and thirst in the middle of nowhere without their Queen or any being to feed off of. A decent few landing near or within your subjects’ settlements and were promptly killed. But, so many others were tortured for hours, days, even weeks or months for your ‘kind’ ponies’ sick pleasure, and nothing more. There were certainly quite a few of us that lived, including myself of course, but with that life came more suffering that we ever had before. Several of my changelings die every day just to keep myself alive, and while we may be a resilient race, able to spring back from disasters that cut out numbers by an order of magnitude or more, we are far from unstoppable, and right now, our numbers are running dangerously thin. All of this, and with how I have received a report about a week about what you ponies did in the aftermath of our forceful eviction has lead me to write this letter to you. A few of my subjects had managed to stay within the boundaries of Canterlot and live after that event, and learned of what you ponies did there, and then managed to find their way all the way back to me, and they told me this: You celebrated. You and your ‘kind’, ‘precious’, and ‘perfect’ little ponies celebrated as we were thrown out and left out to the wolves amongst you that saw fit to maim us for no more than pleasure. You danced... as we bled. I do want you to think about that for at least a moment, Celestia, because I know you didn’t back then, and everything that happened then deserves to be at least acknowledged. Your kind has never considered us anything more than monsters, but at least back then you acknowledged us, instead of ignoring our plight and dancing in our blood. Now, I should state here that I truly don’t anticipate you helping us in any way after all of that, especially given how you were one of those must impacted by what happened, but I am writing you here because I simply wish that you acknowledge what happened and what it has done to our kind. What you do with this information is up to you; if you wish to leave us to die, or even seek us out to finish the job, then so be it. I do not care, for we are already so close to death. The choice is yours, Princess Celestia. From, Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling Hive Author's Note I do hope you can see by now exactly why I needed this to be separate from the ‘E’-rated stories. All of this particular story fall somewhat into headcanon territory, but given what happened there, I can’t imagine they all made it out perfectly fine. And for Chrysalis, I imagine that it really did all come down to desperation for life, and given how real-life insects value their Queen more than pretty much anything else, it would make sense that the Changelings would too. I do personally headcanon that Chrysalis isn’t all too special in this regard, and the Hive could just kill and replace her with a changeling that would become a Queen, but that option would’ve been cut off due to how limited their food already was. It’s just that that piece of information wasn’t too relevant to this story in particular, and I couldn’t find any real way to make it relevant. Potions & SexZecora wasn’t all that social, for multiple different reasons. She was a Zebra to start with, and being amongst a town of ponies would already get her more attention than she’d like. She, like most other creatures, valued her privacy, and having a bunch of ponies asking about her unusual coloration, magical talents, speech patterns, etc. wasn’t exactly something she cared for. Unfortunately, despite living in a hut in the middle of a dark and dangerous forest that few ever entered and managed to live, she did still have to go out into that town of Ponies on occasion, and amongst all of the expected questions about her non-pony-ness were a set of them that she absolutely despised. Her abilities in alchemy were far beyond that of any pony in that town, and with how some ponies could get during their heat, perhaps it was inevitable, but it really did feel like some elaborate and disgusting form of psychological torture with just how many times she had been asked to make potions relating to sex! Oh, to be fair, some of them were alright; just help dealing with getting in the mood or getting off, but most were far more explicit than she wanted to think about. How many times must she tell them that that’s not how her potions work!? She had utterly lost count of how many times otherwise relatively normal ponies had asked her about something to accentuate their sexual experiences for nothing more than pleasure, with little regard for how feasible what they were asking was, or even her own discomfort with the prospect of creating those potions. She was certainly capable and willing to make brews for those who had actual issues in the bedroom, and couldn’t properly express that type of love to their beloved with that issue unresolved, but so many of those requests weren’t just perverted in what the results would entail, but also perversions of her entire craft and culture! Zecora sighed in exhaustion as she looked across the many batches of flowers, fruits, roots, and other natural resources she had collected from her recent trips through the Everfree Forest, with the sharp blue of Poison Joke standing out amongst them. She knew very well of the plant’s strange and chaotic properties, and all of what it had done to other creatures in the past, and she couldn’t help but shudder in disgust at her memories of a few ponies asking her if those flowers could perhaps be somehow used in that way as well. Some of other ponies had even been exposed first-hoof to the dreadful and horrifying nature of the plant, so as to why they’d ever want to get close to it ever again was beyond her. Heck, she had half a mind to just go up and toss some of it in their faces to shut them up about the prospect of using it for pleasure ever again, but knowing them, they’d probably just tell her to ‘figure it out’. She scoffed in irritation, and spat to herself as if quoting one of those perverts, “Zecora, you can certainly figure it out; I hardly know what this magic is all about.” They, with their punitive knowledge on magic, seemed to assume it could do anything, and while the new librarian had already tried to prove them wrong on the case of unicorn magic, but with how Zebra magic was even more mysterious, surely it could actually do anything. She swore to herself, cursing out just how stupid and disrespectful ponies could be--and that really was only ponies. The other types of creatures she had met, be it crass Gryphons, gleeful Sea-ponies, honourable Longmas, or even that young Dragon the new librarian had with her were all far more respectful about her craft and culture, likely due to them not only interacting with others of their kind like ponies did. Seriously, for as peaceful Equestria was in comparison to her rather unsafe homeland of Zebrica, its leaders and subjects really ought to get out more. Maybe that would also stop them from being so perverted to ask her those disgusting questions... Author's Note This one’s less of a criticism or venting about the canon itself, and more about the actual MLP fandom. I’ve seen a lot of stories and images that have Zecora as just a one-stop shop for sex potions, and I find that immensely disrespectful towards her character. I myself have actually gone towards that at one point in the past (my second fic specifically), but even back then, the potion she made wasn’t explicitly sexual, even if it did end up resulting in something that went that way. I know it’s easy for people to treat characters as just placeholders that they slap onto whatever sexual fantasy strikes their fancy, but I’d argue that they should really be trying to respect the characters in some way, else there’s literally no point to having them in that specific position. I’ve certainly fallen into that trap with my earlier fics, but I’ve really tried to rectify that in my more recent stuff, as even though the stories are basically just smut, they have enough actual substance to them to actually respect the characters. I know a lot of the reason characters get put into situations that don’t respect them is simply because the author/writer simply doesn’t know them that well, and while I’m hardly advocating for someone who wishes to create art or a story to learn everything they can about a character before making something with them so that they can be ‘respectful’, or even for people to just stick to characters that they do know to actually respect them, I do still think it’s worth considering just how often characters get stripped of all that makes them who they are just because someone doesn’t know or care enough about them to actually make a piece of art or storytelling that actually fits them. ManiacHow many times have they defeated her? How many times had she carefully crafted a masterful plan and tirelessly went through with it, only for it to be so easily ruined by them? How much time and effort had been wiped away because they kept getting miracle after miracle given to them?! The Mane-iac could only seethe in contempt and rage at everything that they had so carelessly ripped away from her, only for them to get the praise for being ‘heroes’. She had never hurt anypony in her efforts, always tying them up carefully and keeping any of her more dangerous creations doing little more than temporarily paralyzing them, and yet they all still claimed her evil. They, who she had to note, were far worse than her in this context, as their ‘heroics’ left roads cracked, machines and houses smashed, and ponies getting an inordinate amount of physical trauma from how they were thrown around so hastily as the ‘heroes’ sought only the attention from their actions, lapping it up so eagerly while not caring in the slightest about any of the collateral damage that they wrought. But above all else, they never cared about her. It was all self-righteous shouts of ‘Don’t you dare, Mane-iac!’ and ‘Stop right there, Mane-iac!’ and ‘You’ll never get away with this, Mane-iac!’, with never a concerned or worried mention of ‘Are you alright?’ or even a confused ‘Why are you this?’. She could tell beyond their vail of the title ‘Heroes’ that they didn’t care about anyone but themselves and their reputations, as they immediately branded her as a complete and utterly deranged criminal that sought only what she desired at the expense of herself, despite how she’d gone out of her way on multiple occasions to prevent ponies from getting hurt when one of her creations went awry, and how they had repeatedly ignored problems or even made them worse, but were still all seen as ‘heroes’ because they kept getting the ultimate victory given to them! The Mane-iac was sobbing at this point, so taken by her rage and grief that she could hardly suppress the sounds from her position atop a tall skyscraper in Maretropolis, sitting on the edge and overlooking the myriad lights that kept the place bright even in the dark and cloudy midnight sky that covered it all. She wasn’t sure why she wanted to be there specifically, but apart from the relative silence, there was the lone thought of... well... But, she never gave in; she couldn’t give up on her goals and let them win, after all. She couldn’t give them that, too! All she ever wanted with all of her ‘crimes’ was just to make her own life better, with no reason to help anypony else, especially because of how they always branded her as ‘insane’ and ‘evil’ and... ‘crazy’. She wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t... a maniac. Did it... all really hive to be like this? She remembered a time before all of this, where she was just a normal pony working a middling job at a shampoo company, but one wrong step made everything go wrong. She had a family back then, and she wasn’t sure if they knew what had happened even now. Had she been written off as dead, and they mourned her before moving on? Did they still think she was alive somewhere and were still searching for her? Or... did they know what happened to her, and were they now afraid of her...? She could hardly bare the thought, which is why she never bothered trying to find them, even keeping herself away from them, with that possibility being too great and far too terrifying for her to ever want to approach. Her mane was reached around and tightly gripping some of the metal pipes that poked out of the rooftop behind her, as she didn’t trust her body to stay under her control with all her emotions plaguing her as they were, and her eyes turning downward to watch her teardrops falling all the way to the ground far, far below made her mind feel so numb. There was nothing stopping her, and she was sure nopony would mourn her; heck, they’d probably celebrate it! But, again, she would never give them that satisfaction. Not on her life would she let those bullies truly win against her, and she would fight them again and again, for however long it took to beat them, and finally prove them wrong. She wasn’t a lunatic that did nothing for any reason, and she wasn’t an evil that only wished ruin on everypony and everything around her; no, she was just so tired of everything going wrong that she just wanted something good, no matter how hard she had to try to get it. She wasn’t... crazy for wanting something like that, right? She wasn’t... a maniac. Author's Note You know, for the longest time, I’ve really hated the idea of superheroes. These people who think they can break the law and do whatever they want in the name of something as arbitrary as ‘justice’ or whatever. And so often they’re seen as heroes, while the ‘villains’ are the ones who just want to do their own thing, sometimes for an objectively good goal, just with negative means. Obviously, not all villains fall into that group, and their are those that are straight-up evil, but I know the Mane-iac isn’t one of them. A lot of canon MLP characters are so severely under-explored that we have so little to go off of in terms of who they are, and so much of the fandom just takes that 1-dimensional side of them as-is and just does whatever with it, rather than actually bothering to explore the hidden depth that ought to exist in these horribly tragic characters. Both of these ideas, superheroes and simple fandoms, aren’t all too similar, but still do share the idea that entire characters, who ought to have actual depth to them, are just projected onto an archetype with maybe a slight catch, and then spread around with no-one bothering to care about the truth behind it. While I could certainly make some case about Marvel or DC superheroes and post that somewhere, I feel like it’d be rather hollow, but in the rare case where MLP and superheroes collide, I can actually use this to make something interesting. Cage“Mmph...” It was rather hard to think in her current position. It was dark, with little light coming in through the thick curtains, and she could hardly move due to the cage she was trapped in. There was something stuffed into her maw as well, keeping it mostly open, yet still managing to restrict her breathing somewhat. Of course, that in particular wasn’t helped by the thick leather choker around her neck, one with a leash attached to it and with its other end wrapped around the bars of her cage. She wasn’t really afraid there, just... uncomfortable. Though she had already spent a lot of time in that cage, with those implements impeding her senses, it was starting to feel a little tiresome. She did still like this place, but she really just wanted to be out for a while and stretch her legs, cuddle up in a warm bed with her marefriend and go to sleep for maybe a full day. Unfortunately, said marefriend was currently out of the house, working on some business project in another city, and the train home would likely take another couple of hours... Sighing in exhaustion, she lamented on her own foolishness for agreeing to stay locked up for all this time, and wished she had at least let the cage stay unlocked, but there wasn’t much she could do right then. She knew it could certainly be worse; her previous stint with another mare she let take control of these parts of her life was far more controlling, forcing her into her cage as well as other things she wasn’t too comfortable with, all justified as obliging and expanding on her desires. She wasn’t too sure that the other mare had actually believed that reasoning, but based on other experiences with her, she certainly doubted it. Trying to take solace in her new marefriend being better than that, she let her eyes rest amidst the dark room and just tried to lay there for a while, not thinking about anything, but not really trying to go to sleep either. The discomfort and faint cramps from being in there so long made it difficult to keep her mind calm, but she kept trying for quite some time, as she didn’t have anything else to do. Click! She suddenly shot her head up in alertness at the faint noise, opening her eyes to jerk her gaze over to the main door, and saw it shake ever so slightly, then get pushed open, letting orange and purple light of what must’ve been dawn flood in and push out a silhouette across the fine carpet that covered the entire floor. Keeping her eyes glued to the open entranceway, she soon saw her marefriend walk inside and quietly shut and lock the door behind her with her cool blue magic, then sigh and hang her head in utter exhaustion. She took a few deep breaths before lighting her horn again and pulling open the curtains to let in the lovely light of daybreak, then slowly looked up and towards the cage, and spotted the mare inside looking right back at her. “Oh,” Rarity said dumbly, clearly not expecting her marefriend to be awake. Coco herself had to blink a few times to actually process all the time that had passed, and that she may have accidently dozed off at some point, letting her marefriend arrive sooner than she would’ve thought. When her mind finally caught up, she tried to mumble something through her gag and pointed to the lock on her cage. “Ah, of course, sorry dear,” Rarity fumbled in response and briskly trotted over to the cage while lighting her magic again and picking a key up from somewhere out of Coco’s sight and flying it over to the cage to swiftly unlock and open its door. Grunting as she pushed herself up just enough to tread just above the ground and step out of the cage, Coco groaned in discomfort from being cramped up and stretched her legs, then leaned forward and raised her rear to stretch her back. Standing back up, she noticed Rarity standing near her, a light flush across her face as she observed her marefriend, likely finding her noises and motions adorable. Flushing a bit herself, Coco twisted her neck a bit to work out its cramps, and finished up by presenting the side of her neck to Rarity, the gag around her head having a light lock visible there as well. The unicorn took the hint and levitated the key up and unlocked the gag as well, then used her magic to unbuckle and pull it away from her marefriend’s head, allowing her to work her jaw and rub the indentation around her head where the gag’s belt had dug into her fur. “So, Darling...” Rarity started, trailing off as she leaned forward and stared with bedroom eyes at her marefriend. “Not now,” Coco replied curtly, making the other mare blink in surprise while Coco worked the rest of the kinks in her neck out, and finished by vigorously shaking her head. Smoothing down her mane a bit, she looked back at her marefriend, still silent in shock, and sighed, explaining, “I may love these sessions as much as you, but staying in a cage for most of a day can get a little exhausting.” Pulling back, Rarity nodded in assent, though sounded slightly dejected as she replied, “Ah, s-sorry, Coco, I just thought...” “I know,” Coco said calmly, looking her marefriend in the eyes. “We’ve always had a bit of a nymphomania, but I just wanted to calm down today. I just didn’t think about how long it would take before you got back.” “R-right!” Rarity nodded eagerly, blushing a bit in embarrassment. Observing her marefriend’s emotions through her eyes for a few seconds, Coco eventually cocked her head to the side a bit and said, “If you’re still horny, you can take care of yourself; I just want to get something to eat.” “O-of course, Darling,” Rarity replied with a much harder flush than before, and quickly darted forward to peck her marefriend on the lips, then swiftly turn around and gallop towards the stairs and up them, presumably to her own room to rut herself silly. Closing her eyes and blushing at the kiss, Coco breathed slowly for a moment to calm herself down before heading over to the kitchen to sate her ravenous stomach. Author's Note With sex, and BDSM in particular, it’s really easy for people to think it’s all about having a good time and just screwing the heck out of each other, but there’s so much more to it than that. Sex can be a form of romance, a way to share one’s most precious thing, their own body, with another in a way that cannot truly be replicated by anything else. BDSM, thusly, is an extension of that romance, placing immense trust in each other that they won’t hurt each other, physically or mentally, with all of the action they get up to. I have read some stuff that explores that romantic core really well, but there’s always so much more pure smut out there, which I find somewhat disappointing. Not that smut is a bad thing--I write it quite a bit, after all, but I just think there ought to be more to it than just screwing for the sake of screwing, which transforms what should be a special experience or a lovely read into little more than junk food, consumed without thought and tossed aside when the next thing comes along. DeathDeath was always uncomfortable to think about. It was only natural, really, that a living being would fear death, but there was far more to it than most creatures cared to think. Tianhuo was sitting on a beach, during what was otherwise a beautiful day, with the Sun high in the sky and its light reflecting off the shimmering water of the ocean. The lightly-coloured sand lay all around her, uneven by all the waves that passed over it and the steps creatures had across it, including her own as well as those of... the one that lay dead next to her. The middle-aged Gryphon captain lay amongst the sand, utterly unmoving, with his body covered in many scars, as well some very recent precise wounds, both made by blades and by flames, and both letting his blood flow into the sand to turn it pink. The air around them was calm, but hardly eerily so despite what had just transpired. There were somewhat laboured breaths coming from Tianhuo herself, but everything else was simply the mostly tame flames of her mane, tail, and wings, the slow, calm waves that rose and fell on the beach itself, and the light winds that blew across it all. It truly was a beautiful day, but... Looking back over at the dead Gryphon she had just defeated, the Longma knew her duty required her to do ugly things sometimes. No matter how many times she had to do this... she’d never feel comfortable with it. In fact, she always found herself disgusted by the feeling of taking another’s life, with all they time they’ve lived ending in mere moments, and all the time they had yet to live cut short. Looking back out at the early afternoon sky, she reflected on the way creatures viewed death. Every one of them was afraid of it to some degree, but it tended to be a subconscious thing, a faint sense of existential dread bubbling just under the surface of one’s thoughts, and they preferred to push it away by focusing on the present. It was a fair stance to take, but it often left them unprepared for the inevitable consequences of time reaching them and those around them. Even beyond feeling the icy grip of death close in oneself or their family... Tianhuo knew that they never dared even thinking about what it would be like to wreak that pain onto another. It was truly a good thing that life hardly ever required that horrible feeling to be wrought upon someone, but there were always those few that it did... Of course, being a soldier, and a Champion of her people at that, often forced Tianhuo’s hoof, and made her execute another creature to secure the safety of many others, no matter how noble their intentions. The Gryphon she had just killed was a warlord, and she could only stop him by killing him, but she did know that he was only trying to conquer others to take back the honour and livelihood that had been stolen from his species over generations of turmoil. It was a foolish idea, certainly, especially with how war was often the reason for that turmoil in the first place, but he had honour, and she respected that. It was truly the least she could do to have a proper duel with him, and give him some honour in his death. Author's Note I may want to preface here that I’m not contemplating suicide or anything like that in any way, despite all my musings on Death possibly giving some people the wrong idea. Honestly, there have just been some things relating to Death in stuff I’ve been writing and outlining recently, and I wanted to expand on that a bit with this story here, as well as some thing about how Death could be view by some in the MLP/TFH world. The environment and general situation is something I’ve come up with not just for this story, but as a possibility for a Tianhuo-centric story, with a much expanded version of this as a chapter. I don’t know when or if that story will ever get written, but it’s something to think about for now. ShatteredShe saw them mourn her. She saw them lower her coffin into the ground and read out their speeches, crying the entire time amidst the dim, rainy skies. She saw them talk to each other, all of them lost in a sense, their friend, their sister, their daughter, their beloved student, now just... gone. Forever. She had given herself for them, as well as everyone else in the world that would've died because of the Storm King. Tempest Shadow made sure nobody ever would've in the future. The broken Unicorn watched Twilight Sparkle's friends leave her grave, barely able to pull their eyes away through their tears. They were clearly regretful; the last time they saw her, they weren't on the best of terms after she tried to betrayed their trust. Her parents were next to leave, holding onto each other as they hid under their umbrella. They must've had barely any context for why their child died, and knew that she should've outlived them, but fate had other plans. Next was Celestia, the mask that hid her emotions utterly shattered by what had transpired. The Alicorn definitely had greater plans for the mare she saw as a daughter, but those were never going to come to fruition. Finally, there was just one creature left: Luna. She was the one to do the proceedings, as nobody else could possibly hold themselves together through it, but the Mare of the Night could. She was still clearly despondent and mourning, but it seems almost like she was expecting Twilight's life to get cut short, based on how much quicker she seemed to grapple with it all. Now, she was just standing before the filly's grave, hanging her head down as rain pulled her mane and tail to the grass, the stars and constellations that usually lifted it up now just painted across them. Tempest stepped out from the shadow of the tree she was under, a ways away from the gravesite. She knew her presence would've interrupted things, and everyone there deserved better than to deal with her. At this point though, with just Luna remaining and clearly not moving any time soon, she decided to head over. The rain drowned out her steps, but she could Luna already was aware of her presence--in all honesty, she probably knew she was there from the moment she arrived. For several seconds, the air was just filled with those noises as Tempest walked forward, even the chilly breeze that blew along her exposed coat being nearly inaudible underneath everything. When she finally reached Twilight's grave, Tempest just moved to stand next to Luna before it, and saw the epitaph. Twilight Sparkle 985 A.N. - 1005 A.N. Friend to everyone, everywhere. "She was far too young for this." Tempest looked over at the Princess after she spoke, her words ringing utterly true in the Unicorn's mind. "It really shouldn't have been her. She..." She sighed out a deep, chilly breath, "She shouldn't have to dealt with any of this stuff." Luna nodded slowly and looked up at the grave as well. "One could certainly blame my sister for that. She's always had a bad habit of not being able to accept that she's wrong." Watching the rain pour down the Alicorn's inexpressive face, Tempest asked, "Do you? Blame your sister, that is?" "...Somewhat." Luna looked back at the other mare and elaborated, "'Tia kept Twilight close in her Palace for longer than she should've. She encouraged the filly to go out and make friends, but never forced her to until I nearly killed them." Taking a deep breath, likely from the guilt she felt in that statement, she then continued, "She kept pushing her to improve and learn more, but she was still far from ready to rule alongside us like my sister wanted." Tempest silently nodded, recalling the irrationality the young mare displayed in her time as prisoner under the Storm King and the general foolishness she knew of long before then. Obviously, that triarchy would've still been decades away, and she doubted the efficacy of turning a nerdy goody-four-shoes into a Princess, but there was something else weighing more on her mind. "Do you blame me?" Luna paused at the question, having to close her eyes in thought for several seconds before opening them back up to reply, "...You were in a terrible place, and your hoof was forced by him. He's the one that wrought all of this, and you weren't able to stop it from happening." Turning her head to look at the Unicorn once more, she carefully added, "I can't say I enjoy being around you, Tempest, but to not at least be cordial about this... would both be disrespectful and hypocritical." Tempest simply slowly nodded her head in response; she knew the other mare already knew she kept her distance for those same reasons. "Do you blame yourself?" Tempest didn't know how to respond to that, though. She froze on the spot in indecision and surprise, even as Luna continued to watch her with the same conflicted expression. Pulling her head away, the former Commander tried to think; she remembered the conversations she had with Twilight in harsh vividness, from her own taunting to understanding and freeing her after the Storm King showed his true colours, and she could recall the determination clear the younger mare's voice as she spoke about how she was going to stop him, no matter what. Tempest just didn't realize at the time she was willing to go that far on that promise. In fact, it was that realization about how badly she messed up, both in her trust of the Storm King and misunderstanding of Twilight's willpower that made her avenge the mare in question. "...I don't know how much that matters," She finally replied, still looking away. "She made her choice, and I've made mine. There's no changing any of that." "...But you still feel the need to make things right by her," Luna finished, drawing Tempest's gaze back up her. She really shouldn't have been surprised, with the Alicorn's own sins giving her more than enough empathy. "You're a good mare, Tempest. You never deserved to be put in these situations either, and you can still make amends with everyone that knew her." Tempest smiled wryly and replied, "Oh, don't tell me you're all going to try and 'reform' me like I'm some fool that just 'made some poor choices'." Smiling with humour as well while she turned to look forward again, Luna responded with, "I know. I understand you're far more than that, and the forge that made you into what many would call a monster has also made you far stronger than them. No matter what the Elements have faced, they're still quite naïve." Neither of them said anything for a moment after that, Tempest looking back to the grave and thinking on the Princess's words; she knew most ponies wouldn't be able to see past the sins she had done, and it was refreshing to speak with someone that knew better. But, as she recalled the ponies she had wronged, she was reminded of an oddity at the funeral... "I'm surprised Cadanza wasn't here." She heard Luna suck in a breath and seem to consider her words for a moment before answering the implied question with another, "Twilight's brother did not show up either." That distinctly pulled Tempest's sight over to her, letting her cautiously continue, "Her brother, Captain Shining Armour, if you recall him," She glanced over to see the nod of comprehension on the former Commander's face, "Was far too distraught with his sister's untimely death. He's been in denial ever since, and has delved deep into his work and tries obsessively hard to keep Equestria secure, and his wife, Cadance, is doing her best to keep him from doing something rash." "...That's going to be all the more difficult for him since he hasn't come here yet," Tempest noted, looking back toward the grave once again. Grunting and nodding slowly in agreement, Luna remained looking at the grave for several seconds, seemingly pondering something before finally saying, "I believe a lot of Equestria is going to be affected by this, and I do hope Cadance can keep the military in control while her husband remains in pain." "How so?" Tempest asked in response, though already had a hunch of where it was going. Taking a deep breath, Luna then spoke, "While other nations may try something against us while we're weakened, most will still respect our mourning. Internal politics will be more complicated, though; my sister has already tried to put things in place to give Twilight some hold in our government, and while I've prevented most of it from going into effect, there are still a few things--mostly just some flexibility in the numbers of Princesses and necessities for Twilight's presence in the Palace--that will need to be amended." Tempest hummed in understanding, though it did make her ask, "I imagine you wanted to save that other stuff for later, correct?" "..Somewhat," Luna replied with a second of hesitation. "But I was always aware that this may happen as well. With all of what they get up to and all that they face, I am honestly surprised it took this long for one of them to perish." "Yeah, you did seem to be expecting this..." Tempest mused, but knew of everyone else's expressions as well, and added, "I don't think the others were at all, though." "Well, as I said, they are quite naïve." Luna's tone became a bit more somber than normal as she continued, "They may all view me as cynical and a 'fun-killer', but I simply prefer being realistic. My sister's optimism and Cadance's enthusiasm may help with diplomacy, but in the possibility of war, my strict adherence to logic and honour is what keeps us on top." Tempest gave a bit of a lopsided smirk as she recalled, "Well, that didn't seem to prove too helpful during our invasion, huh?" Smiling a little as well, Luna looked over and responded, "Well, perhaps if we could have a proper fight instead of cheating with dark magic, then we could truly see who's better." Turning to look back at the Princess as well, Tempest replied, "That'd be cool; I'd like to see someone that can match me in combat, too." Turning back to the grave before them, their emotions fell away as something else became more prevalent in their minds. "I always despise this feeling..." Luna begun slowly, considering her words as she looked at the grave with an almost apathetic expression, "Of someone with a full life and so much possibility getting killed. I've dealt with it countless times, yet it always feels underwhelming and... unfair, really." "Yeah, this could've turned out countless other ways, but you could say that about just about anything she's dealt with..." Tempest mused in return. "I guess her luck just ran out, and... well," She laughed a bit to herself, looking up at the rainy sky above, "It's not like she didn't go out with a bang." Nodding and grunting in agreement, Luna still saw fit to add, "I do suppose it's quite poetic. She was brought into power by little more than an accident, being in the right place at the right time..." Glancing over at the Unicorn to read the look of familiarity she had with the story, "And she was taken out of it in just the same way." Author's Note This story was inspired by a Tumblr post I found here, which speaks about the possibility of Twilight getting killed off in the MLP movie and getting replaced by Tempest Shadow, with everyone having to deal with the ramifications of all of that. Obviously, there are many reasons they wouldn't do that in the show, not the least of which would be the shift in continuity, but I did still find the concept very intriguing and decided to explore it a bit. This story in particular only focuses on the most direct implications of Twilight's death, but there are other things that I may want to see about in the future, but this will do for now. Names & FriendshipTempest Shadow sighed in disgust and disappointment. “Is that really what they called it?” Princess Luna couldn’t hold back a scoff and replied simply, “Indeed they did.” Sighing once again, Tempest walked through the threshold of what should’ve been a large and imposing Palace, but was instead awkwardly placed and stuck with the name of ‘Friendship Castle’. Luna followed just next to her, closing the massive main doors behind them with a loud noise that echoed across the crystalline main hall for several seconds. “...They really don’t have much respect for anything, do they?” Luna looked back to the irate Unicorn near her, then around at the... well, somewhat garish architecture, and commented back, “I believe that they value friendship more than anything else, so that would be a respectful name to them.” Tempest rolled her eyes and shifted her head a bit uncomfortably. “...I guess.” “Still, if you suppose that this place is some manner of sacred to them, then perhaps we are tainting it with our mere presence.” Stopping in place as both mares were about halfway down the hall, Tempest gave a slight smirk over to the Alicorn, who stopped beside her, and said, “They said they believed in friendship in the face of everything, even literal Demons, Nightmares, and Gods, so...” Looking down the hall ahead of them to the main area, with the supposed ‘Friendship Map’ in the center of six thrones, she grimaced in jealousy and further disappointment, “...I guess they only care about their friendship remaining the same as it ever was.” Luna paused for a moment to think, and eventually took a deep breath and spoke, “I have heard of some others they’ve attempted to add, but they are no less destructive than those seven alone, and such relations were always superficial in comparison, and never truly lasted.” Lowering her gaze to the all-too-clean floor, Tempest soon responded wryly with, “They always keep brushing my ideology under the Storm King to the side, believing it to be completely wrong, but if their friendship is based on all this shit,” She gestured to the thrones ahead of her, and to the castle at large, “Then I clearly wasn’t completely wrong with believing friendship to be bullshit.” Slowly nodding and starting to walk forward, letting the Unicorn raise her head and follow just behind, Luna replied succinctly, “But you’re not completely correct, either.” Letting the silence reign for several seconds as they trotted through the hall, their steps echoing about as they pondered their new circumstances, she eventually turned her head back to see and address the other mare, “They always like simplifying things, but... I always know better than that. “I have always been the ‘odd one out’, as they say, in our relationships,” The Lunar Princess continued, getting closer to the thrones, “I am one thousand years behind this world’s society, I am nocturnal and find kinship with Thestrals, I am reserved and concise with my words, never wanting to ramble on and on... and above all else, I understand war. They--” She slowed down and turned around to face Tempest, though still kept moving backward towards the thrones, “--My friends, my sister, and everyone else, they all want peace. They want this world to be a utopia where no-one, not a single creature has to suffer for any reason, and no creature has to truly deal with the ramifications of their actions. “But that’s not how the world works. I know that. You know that. And that’s what makes us different.” Stopping next to the thrones, both mares put on hold their dialogue to observe the crystalline furniture, it seeming to be attached or grown out of the floor itself, and each throne beheld a carved image of the mark upon each of the Element’s flanks. There was a bolt from the blue, some balloons and confetti, peaceful butterflies, shiny apples, sparkling diamonds, and-- “...That’s not supposed to be like that, is it?” Luna shook her head, staring at the six-pointed star upon Twilight’ throne, but the carving that was her mark now seemed as though it was improperly made, with cracks stringing out from multiple parts of it, webbing out lightly across the top section of the throne. “I fear...” She soon spoke, hesitant and wary, “That this entire building may eventually collapse because of...” “Her death, yeah...” Tempest finished, though with her limited knowledge about the magic of friendship, she was uncertain about much at that moment. “..No, actually,” Luna then amended, sharply bringing the other pony’s focus to her, “I mean, yes, that was the catalyst, but this is due to her friends falling away and there not being someone in her place to keep them together.” “...I see,” The Unicorn replied at length, clearly annoyed and yet further disappointed. Looking at the mare beside her as she turned her attention back to the cracked throne, Luna tapped a hoof idly in thought for several seconds, then looked over at the thrones to ponder something, finally beginning with, “She was the one that begun their friendship, out of circumstance and with a magical bond between them. The Elements themselves will not be able to function without all of their Bearers, and the Bearers are falling apart due to one of them being lost. These are facts.” Tempest Shadow looked back to the Princess at the same time she turned to address the Unicorn, but a response made her pause; “...Are they?” Squinting and pursing her lips in intrigue, Luna gestured with her head for the other mare to continue, allowing Tempest to preface, “I know their friendship is supposed to be related to this ‘Elements’ and saving the nation all the time, but... you know them. Did their friendship ever seem like it was forced due to these things? Due to straight-up needing to be friends?” Genuinely taken aback, Luna turned her head upward in thought, and recalled the occasions she spent with the Elements and the many, many times she had heard of their deeds, both heroic and chaotic. “...I know they have forgiven each other for a great many things,” She eventually answered, turning her gaze back down, “Even horrible offenses like abandoning each other due to naïveté or greed have been gotten past. However, I do believe they had an obligation to each other due to their totality and happiness that they do not now. Now, they wish to suffer and mourn alone, forgoing their friendship as they never wish to deal with that hole in their hearts they have been left with. “This may end up degrading their relationships without someone there to help, turning them into little more than strangers to each other that will be unable to save this world when the time inevitably comes once more.” “...That sounds very ‘worst case scenario’.” Luna smirked. “Indeed, it’s very unlikely.” Her expression turning more serious, she sat down on the floor, gesturing for the Unicorn to do the same, and she continued, “They all have friends and family that will help them through this, and they will retain some level of friendship, but never at the level it once was, and the Elements will still be unusable. In order to amend that, one would need to... replace Twilight Sparkle,” She finished, her tone turning somber and slightly bitter at the end. Tempest, having sat down before the Princess and looking back at her with a hesitant look on her own face, took a moment to reply, “...That is something that needs to happen, though, isn’t it?” Taking a deep sigh of defeat, Luna nodded. “I... have already thought about this to some degree, but the throne tells us we may be under a time limit. My mind first went to Starlight Glimmer, as she is quiet similar to Twilight, especially Twilight’s younger, more foolish self, but her relationship with the rest of the Elements are already quite... strained due to her issues.” “I don’t believe I’ve met her,” Tempest added, slightly concerned about a mare that even the destructive and forgiving Elements considered problematic. “I do not think you have seen her either,” Luna commented, glancing down for a moment to recall something, “I believe she was out of town at the time of your arrival with another mare, Trixie Lulamoon, who I have also considered as a potential.. replacement, but...” Taking another deep sigh, she finished, “I’m not certain how truly magically-inclined Trixie is. She is creative and more than able to hold her own, but she is very... slippery, and difficult to properly trust.” Looking back towards the thrones, Tempest took a moment before asking, “..So what will you do about it now?” Musing for a second herself, Luna then stated, “We need a replacement at some point; of that we are certain. We don’t know the time by which it must be done, but we do know, in some essence, what we are looking for.” The other mare’s head went back to her, letting her add, “While we may wish for an optimistic creature with immense magical power like Twilight Sparkle, I am realistic enough to know that instead, we require someone that is intelligent and capable, with the will to continue on in the face of death itself and the ability to command forces otherwise beyond their control... “Someone like yourself.” Tempest stared back at her, her expression emotionless. “Me.” “Yes, you.” After multiple more seconds of their staring at each other, trying to gauge the other’s emotions, Tempest sighed heavily and closed her eyes. “I assume you thought of this before we entered?” She asked of the other mare. “But a few stray thoughts,” Luna explained, her words slow and cautious as she observed the hesitant Unicorn before her. “‘Twas only this new development that made me truly ask myself this.” “...But you definitely know there’s more to it than just those qualities,” Tempest retorted firmly, opening her eyes back up to nearly glare at the Alicorn. “I’m not magical, and I’m nowhere near friendly. Some would say I’m a monster, and they’re hardly wrong to. But your friends, your family, and these Elements... they all hate me, and being forced to befriend me for the sake of the world would only make them hate me more.” “I am aware.” “Yet you sound completely affirmed in your decision.” “I am.” Tempest started to truly glare at the Alicorn. “Why?” Pausing for a moment, and guiding both their gazes back to the thrones, Luna explained with confidence, “You are a unique case in this world, Tempest Shadow. You do not believe in blithe friendship or blissful happiness, nor do you sing and dance and party and forget all the issues around you. You, like myself, are quite cynical and see the world as the messy maelstrom that it truly is, and will tear everyone’s eyes so they can look back and see the foolish shell of a creature they’ve made themselves into. “To resume my previous thoughts,” She continued, recalling their conversation before they discovered the cracks within the Twilight’s throne, “We know that a perfect world is impossible by its very nature, and we want everyone else to understand that as well. The Elements’ friendship was always frail to a degree, and has been pressured before by seeing the horrors of reality before them, but their ignorance let time mend those wounds. Death and suffering to others has meant nothing to them, and they do not go out of their way to help others unless they see it. “They’ve nearly destroyed this town so often...” Luna’s voice dripped with disappointment as she looked up and around at the castle they sat within, “They’ve left friends by the wayside for themselves and never bother to go out and forgive them, ruined others’ lives to some degree amidst their self-righteous chaos and never looked back, and even gotten almost each other killed on some occasions and haven’t thought to perhaps get a hold of themselves. They may ‘go to Tartarus and back’, I suppose, for their friends and those they see suffering, but in terms of truly trying their damnedest to help this world and its creatures, they could be doing so much better.” Looking back to the mare beside her for some seconds, letting her think before turning back herself, Luna then begun, “As of this moment, we are in a perfect position to change things. To right their wrongs and make them better. To truly make them good creatures and not just ‘heroes’. And perhaps... you may even help yourself in the process, and earn back your true identity.” Her mind stewing in silence for quite some time, when Tempest finally collected her thoughts, a small, wry grin appeared on her face. “I’m not quite like you, Princess Luna. This version of myself... it’s not a Nightmare.” Her expression falling back down into a sorrowful frown, she elaborated, “I can’t just call myself a different name and run away from my problems. Fizzlepop, that innocent filly, died several years ago and there’s no bringing her back.” “...I know,” Luna replied with regret and understanding. “You want me to be happy,” Tempest said, cutting off any elaboration as she looked at the Princess with somberness and determination, “But don’t forget why you wanted me to join these ‘Elements’ in the first place. I am Tempest Shadow, and I’m needed more than ever to fix things, but I have made so many mistakes of my own, ones that I can not and will not ignore until I have atoned for them. Maybe I’ll make some friends along the way, and maybe I’ll manage to do so with the Elements, but I won’t force it, and they don’t try to help me in the face of their own problems and they don’t bother to help themselves, then... I won’t be friends with them, even if it means the Elements will be unusable.” Luna at that last comment, truly taken aback. “You--” She tried to start, but paused and thought--truly thought about the decision for some time. “...It’s your.. dignity, and honour, that you are concerned with.” Smiling a bit and laughing quietly, she nodded at the Unicorn. “I can respect that.” “You ought to,” Tempest replied with a sidelong smirk of her own, “If you and all the rest of the ‘heroes’ keep trying to use the Elements as a crutch, I will lose any last shred of respect I have for all of you.” Author's Note Honestly, I don’t think this one fits too well into the T-rating, but I’m keeping it there for now because of its relation to the previous story, Shattered. I’m actually planning on branching this off into a new story, a sort of anthology thing in this specific universe, but it’ll mainly just be a normal SoL story I believe. About the story itself though, I have given some thought to Tempest’s former name, and if and why she’d revert to it, and after reading some stuff that generally has her use ‘Tempest’ while others use ‘Fizzlepop’, I’ll be going with the idea that that former name is dead, and she shouldn’t run away from the weight her new name has. I’ve seen a lot of instances where that old name is quickly reverted to, and that’s always felt weird to me, and I do now believe this ‘hiding from your mistakes’ thing is the main reason why. To me, the name ‘Tempest Shadow’ is more than just a edgelord name she adopted to make herself more intimidating; it’s her casting off her previous innocence and falling into her rage and obsession to regain her horn, and these things should very much not be undervalued. Tempest is a very tragic character, after all, and she needs to be treated as such. Open & FreeIt was the middle of the night, the bare grey cityscape lit up with all sorts of neon signs and traffic lights, all blurred and diffused by the constant rain that came down. It was all rather calm, though hardly quiet with all the cars flittering about in the rain, tires splashing the water off the road, really only interrupted by some honks and the occasional loud, sputtering wreck of truck that came through. It was perfect for many ponies, each of them having their own reasons; some preferred the pleasant sounds, others the lovely sights, and a few... well... “Yo, Thunder, try to keep up!” Some liked how they wouldn’t be judged out in the open. “Shut yer arse, mate! This be pretty fuckin’ stupid!” Lightning Dust laughed back loudly amidst the pattering rain and the loud roaring of her motorcycle’s engine, tilting it left and right with practiced ease to fly through the car-littered streets, feeling the chilled wind and rain striking her form much clearer than one would possibly consider. “What, you’re gonna judge me for being reckless?!” She yelled back at her friend, who was still trailing several car-lengths a ways behind her on her own motorcycle. “Ya know wot I’m fuckin’ talkin’ ‘bout!” Rolling Thunder shouted back as she ducked and swiveled around the many cars in her way, chasing the other mare in the open in more ways than one. Chuckling to herself, Dust couldn’t stop herself from feeling the freeing sensation that her friend spoke of, all the sensations usually muffled behind thick clothing striking her body at full force as she tore through the streets, no more than a visor to cover her eyes, fingerless gloves barely keeping her hands from getting drenched, and spike-studded boots to not slip on her expensive bike’s pedals. She knew most ponies--hell, most creatures wouldn’t dare do something like this, but she’d already done it on a whim multiple times in the past, and now was the time to show Thunder what it was all about. The sudden increase in volume of a roaring of an engine other than her own made her ears perk up, and she glanced down at a rain-splattered mirror on her bike to see a stretch of open highway behind her, Rolling Thunder popping a wheelie on her bike and swiftly catching up. Rolling her eyes, Dust decided to let the other pegasus catch up, and soon heard the telltale thwamp! of Thunder’s bike landing back fully on the drowned asphalt, keeping her speed up for a few more seconds until she rolled up at her friend’s left side. “‘Sup, Thunder. Took ya long enough,” She spoke loudly over the sounds of their engines as she saw the other mare’s smirking face come into view, visor covering her eyes and all. “Oh, fuck off, Dusty,” Thunder shot back playfully, looking just as wet as Dust felt, with her whole body, wings, and similarly scant clothing utterly soaked by the water that kept coming from the sky, with her usually curly and bouncy white mane trailing down her head and shoulders, not looking dissimilar to a practically liquified marshmallow. Snickering at the comparison, Lightning Dust kept a weather eye on everything in front of her while she continued to talk with the other thrill-seeking pegasus, calling at her, “Having a good time?” Thunder’s eyes shifted a bit in discomfort under her visor, and she breathed a sigh out into the cool air. “I love tellin’ stupid rules ta go fuck ‘emselves, but this shite is pretty fuckin’ cold.” “And you don’t care about your bike vibrating against your pussy?” Dust asked back with copious amounts of snark and a shade of lust. Rolling her eyes, the other mare seemed to blush a bit in embarrassment, though it was hardly visible on her dark and rain-drenched fur. “‘S a bit weird, yeah.” “Awww, come on!” Dust teased, taking her left hand up off the brake to punch her friend in the shoulder, forcing her bike to sway and wobble a tiny bit on its course. “Don’t tell the badass Rolling Thunder is put off by--” “I ain’t put off, mate!” Thunder shouted back, glaring at the other pegasus while she folded out her wings a bit more to keep herself upright. “Ya pull me out fer a day in the Sun in me skippies, and now we up to our bare fockin’ tits in the cold-arse rain! I don’t give a shite ‘bout what others be sayin’, but I ain’t the type of perv you are, Dusty! “And don’t tell me you ain’t gettin’ yer rocks off ‘cuz of this!” She swiftly added, cutting Dust off from interjecting. Of course, the other mare simply laughed it off and shot back, “Well, you ain’t completely wrong!” Looking ahead as they both continued to speed through the streets, she gestured in front of her with her head, saying, “Heads up.” Looking ahead of herself as well, Rolling Thunder saw the massive semi-truck they were gaining on and split left while Dust went right, both of them speeding up a tad as they went between the truck and the one or two cars a lane apart on either side. There was a decent amount of space in front of the truck, so Thunder quickly slid past it and into the space, though as Dust didn’t arrive next to her, she looked back in her rear-view mirrors to see the lusty pegasus blowing a raspberry at the truck driver, who looked very torn between straight-up masturbating to the lovely sight presented before her or yelling at the mare to stop being so gung-ho with her life. She didn’t stay there for too long though, and eventually drove back up beside Thunder and winking at her through her visor as she arrived at her side, both of them now lit up from the back by the truck’s headlights. “Seems like they enjoy the view!” Sighing and looking back in her mirror at the driver, who was now looking at the both of them with a mix of horniness and assent, Thunder scoffed at Lightning Dust and quipped back, “‘Course they fockin’ do, a nude slut jus’ flew in front of ‘em!” “Two nude sluts!” “Two--” Thunder rolled her eyes and swatted Dust with a wing, causing her swerve and let out a sharp ‘woah!’ as she regained her control. “I’m a bare brainless bitch, yeah, but I ain’t no stupid fockin’ slut!” Laughing in her utterly careless manner, Dust pushed herself up off her seat while keeping boots and hands firmly on her bike, and shifted her tail out of the way as best she could in the high-speed wind, exposing herself to the driver behind her even more than before. “If you’re gonna be such a prude, Thundy, I’ll just have to be even sluttier!” Thunder herself didn’t even bother to look at the no-doubt nose-bleeding driver, just sighing and looking around at all the other rain-drenched cars around them, which thankfully none of them having the proper line of sight to get a full view of what was happening. “Fockin’ hell, Dusty...” The still properly seated pegasus muttered to herself, then shouted over in irritation, “‘Ey, if you’re gonna keep flashin’ everybody, ya’d better catch up before I beat you to the nearest strip club!” “Strip club? Really?” Dust retorted, sounding slightly offended. “Contrary to popular belief, I do have standards!” Thunder just sneered back at her. “Bullshit!” Scoffing and plopping her butt back down on her drenched seat, then revving her bike’s engine a bit, Dust called back, “Fine then, A-hole! It’s on!” And with that, she was off, shooting her bike forward with a burst of speed as she veered into an open lane on her right and sped off into the rain. Thunder quickly jetted off as well, slipping in between a couple cars on her left and racing over to her friend, making damn sure she wouldn’t be getting ahead of her easily. Author's Note There’s something I love so much about characters who are completely unabashed about exposing themselves in public. Not even like, an embarrassed streaker or something; no I mean, taking pride in being nude in public when no-one else around dares to do so. Rainbow Dash sort of fits that, as in, I can see her wearing somewhat skimpy clothing with little issue, but at heart, she’s still a dorky little goody-two-shoes. Lighting Dust, though; she’s the bitch, she’s the slut, she’s the one that won’t ever stop showing off every single centimeter of her flesh because she knows the police can’t catch her, and I love that. Not even as a sexual thing, it’s just super entertaining to imagine her streaking with complete and utter confidence like that. As for Rolling Thunder, I imagine her as much the same as Dust, just a bit less proactive. She’s the one that just does stuff she wants to, but Dust is the one that intentionally pushes the limits. While Dust goes all out in public, Thunder just wanders around wherever, and only joins Dust when she sees her. As such, she’s a bit less experienced with the whole exhibitionism thing, but still eager and willing to through with it.
AcknowledgementTo Princess Celestia of Equestria, This is Changeling Queen Chrysalis. I know I’m probably the last creature you care to receive a letter from, but I’m writing to you to simply tell you what you have done to my hive. My hive is the most important thing to me, just as I am to it. I don’t desire power, wealth, or any of the many superficial things you may think I wish for above even my own subjects; no, they come first, and likewise, they follow me with unfaltering resolve. I understand that I’ve done something unforgivable to those you love; abusing one’s relationship to grow my own strength and unleashing that upon an event meant to be precious to ponies, taking any love you all may express for each other there for my own purposes, and further attempting to take over your nation. But, please be aware that I did not do that for no reason. We have fed off of your kind for as long as we have existed, for the love you ponies give off so freely is what allows us to live. We are parasites upon that which you value most, and we have attempted to harvest as much as we can in an event you value above so many others, all in an desperate attempt to prolong our lives, waning as they were from the loss of so many of our kind and the sustenance they carried with them. Your kind has slowly become better at detecting my changelings over the centuries, with spells and wards and gems all becoming better and better at weeding us out of your own ponies, and either they kick the changeling out, leaving them without the love they were there to collect, or they kill them, leaving us with nothing. I have heard much about how... creative your kind has gotten with killing my subjects; from simple and clean beheading, to being hung and slowly split in half, boiled alive in a metal shell, beaten with as many tools as can be found, or even shoved in a stockade and left to rot as their body is abused. I know that you pride your nation on being peaceful and kind, but it’s clear to me and my kind just how untrue that is, even moreso after that fateful day. We were all propelled from Canterlot by a dumb miracle on your beloveds’ part, and sent flying out across Equestria and landing less than softly in many different places. Many of my changelings simply died as they hit the ground; they were the lucky ones. Some lived from the impact, only to die from the wildlife they had landed in. Others were left to slowly die of starvation and thirst in the middle of nowhere without their Queen or any being to feed off of. A decent few landing near or within your subjects’ settlements and were promptly killed. But, so many others were tortured for hours, days, even weeks or months for your ‘kind’ ponies’ sick pleasure, and nothing more. There were certainly quite a few of us that lived, including myself of course, but with that life came more suffering that we ever had before. Several of my changelings die every day just to keep myself alive, and while we may be a resilient race, able to spring back from disasters that cut out numbers by an order of magnitude or more, we are far from unstoppable, and right now, our numbers are running dangerously thin. All of this, and with how I have received a report about a week about what you ponies did in the aftermath of our forceful eviction has lead me to write this letter to you. A few of my subjects had managed to stay within the boundaries of Canterlot and live after that event, and learned of what you ponies did there, and then managed to find their way all the way back to me, and they told me this: You celebrated. You and your ‘kind’, ‘precious’, and ‘perfect’ little ponies celebrated as we were thrown out and left out to the wolves amongst you that saw fit to maim us for no more than pleasure. You danced... as we bled. I do want you to think about that for at least a moment, Celestia, because I know you didn’t back then, and everything that happened then deserves to be at least acknowledged. Your kind has never considered us anything more than monsters, but at least back then you acknowledged us, instead of ignoring our plight and dancing in our blood. Now, I should state here that I truly don’t anticipate you helping us in any way after all of that, especially given how you were one of those must impacted by what happened, but I am writing you here because I simply wish that you acknowledge what happened and what it has done to our kind. What you do with this information is up to you; if you wish to leave us to die, or even seek us out to finish the job, then so be it. I do not care, for we are already so close to death. The choice is yours, Princess Celestia. From, Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling Hive Author's Note I do hope you can see by now exactly why I needed this to be separate from the ‘E’-rated stories. All of this particular story fall somewhat into headcanon territory, but given what happened there, I can’t imagine they all made it out perfectly fine. And for Chrysalis, I imagine that it really did all come down to desperation for life, and given how real-life insects value their Queen more than pretty much anything else, it would make sense that the Changelings would too. I do personally headcanon that Chrysalis isn’t all too special in this regard, and the Hive could just kill and replace her with a changeling that would become a Queen, but that option would’ve been cut off due to how limited their food already was. It’s just that that piece of information wasn’t too relevant to this story in particular, and I couldn’t find any real way to make it relevant.
Potions & SexZecora wasn’t all that social, for multiple different reasons. She was a Zebra to start with, and being amongst a town of ponies would already get her more attention than she’d like. She, like most other creatures, valued her privacy, and having a bunch of ponies asking about her unusual coloration, magical talents, speech patterns, etc. wasn’t exactly something she cared for. Unfortunately, despite living in a hut in the middle of a dark and dangerous forest that few ever entered and managed to live, she did still have to go out into that town of Ponies on occasion, and amongst all of the expected questions about her non-pony-ness were a set of them that she absolutely despised. Her abilities in alchemy were far beyond that of any pony in that town, and with how some ponies could get during their heat, perhaps it was inevitable, but it really did feel like some elaborate and disgusting form of psychological torture with just how many times she had been asked to make potions relating to sex! Oh, to be fair, some of them were alright; just help dealing with getting in the mood or getting off, but most were far more explicit than she wanted to think about. How many times must she tell them that that’s not how her potions work!? She had utterly lost count of how many times otherwise relatively normal ponies had asked her about something to accentuate their sexual experiences for nothing more than pleasure, with little regard for how feasible what they were asking was, or even her own discomfort with the prospect of creating those potions. She was certainly capable and willing to make brews for those who had actual issues in the bedroom, and couldn’t properly express that type of love to their beloved with that issue unresolved, but so many of those requests weren’t just perverted in what the results would entail, but also perversions of her entire craft and culture! Zecora sighed in exhaustion as she looked across the many batches of flowers, fruits, roots, and other natural resources she had collected from her recent trips through the Everfree Forest, with the sharp blue of Poison Joke standing out amongst them. She knew very well of the plant’s strange and chaotic properties, and all of what it had done to other creatures in the past, and she couldn’t help but shudder in disgust at her memories of a few ponies asking her if those flowers could perhaps be somehow used in that way as well. Some of other ponies had even been exposed first-hoof to the dreadful and horrifying nature of the plant, so as to why they’d ever want to get close to it ever again was beyond her. Heck, she had half a mind to just go up and toss some of it in their faces to shut them up about the prospect of using it for pleasure ever again, but knowing them, they’d probably just tell her to ‘figure it out’. She scoffed in irritation, and spat to herself as if quoting one of those perverts, “Zecora, you can certainly figure it out; I hardly know what this magic is all about.” They, with their punitive knowledge on magic, seemed to assume it could do anything, and while the new librarian had already tried to prove them wrong on the case of unicorn magic, but with how Zebra magic was even more mysterious, surely it could actually do anything. She swore to herself, cursing out just how stupid and disrespectful ponies could be--and that really was only ponies. The other types of creatures she had met, be it crass Gryphons, gleeful Sea-ponies, honourable Longmas, or even that young Dragon the new librarian had with her were all far more respectful about her craft and culture, likely due to them not only interacting with others of their kind like ponies did. Seriously, for as peaceful Equestria was in comparison to her rather unsafe homeland of Zebrica, its leaders and subjects really ought to get out more. Maybe that would also stop them from being so perverted to ask her those disgusting questions... Author's Note This one’s less of a criticism or venting about the canon itself, and more about the actual MLP fandom. I’ve seen a lot of stories and images that have Zecora as just a one-stop shop for sex potions, and I find that immensely disrespectful towards her character. I myself have actually gone towards that at one point in the past (my second fic specifically), but even back then, the potion she made wasn’t explicitly sexual, even if it did end up resulting in something that went that way. I know it’s easy for people to treat characters as just placeholders that they slap onto whatever sexual fantasy strikes their fancy, but I’d argue that they should really be trying to respect the characters in some way, else there’s literally no point to having them in that specific position. I’ve certainly fallen into that trap with my earlier fics, but I’ve really tried to rectify that in my more recent stuff, as even though the stories are basically just smut, they have enough actual substance to them to actually respect the characters. I know a lot of the reason characters get put into situations that don’t respect them is simply because the author/writer simply doesn’t know them that well, and while I’m hardly advocating for someone who wishes to create art or a story to learn everything they can about a character before making something with them so that they can be ‘respectful’, or even for people to just stick to characters that they do know to actually respect them, I do still think it’s worth considering just how often characters get stripped of all that makes them who they are just because someone doesn’t know or care enough about them to actually make a piece of art or storytelling that actually fits them.
ManiacHow many times have they defeated her? How many times had she carefully crafted a masterful plan and tirelessly went through with it, only for it to be so easily ruined by them? How much time and effort had been wiped away because they kept getting miracle after miracle given to them?! The Mane-iac could only seethe in contempt and rage at everything that they had so carelessly ripped away from her, only for them to get the praise for being ‘heroes’. She had never hurt anypony in her efforts, always tying them up carefully and keeping any of her more dangerous creations doing little more than temporarily paralyzing them, and yet they all still claimed her evil. They, who she had to note, were far worse than her in this context, as their ‘heroics’ left roads cracked, machines and houses smashed, and ponies getting an inordinate amount of physical trauma from how they were thrown around so hastily as the ‘heroes’ sought only the attention from their actions, lapping it up so eagerly while not caring in the slightest about any of the collateral damage that they wrought. But above all else, they never cared about her. It was all self-righteous shouts of ‘Don’t you dare, Mane-iac!’ and ‘Stop right there, Mane-iac!’ and ‘You’ll never get away with this, Mane-iac!’, with never a concerned or worried mention of ‘Are you alright?’ or even a confused ‘Why are you this?’. She could tell beyond their vail of the title ‘Heroes’ that they didn’t care about anyone but themselves and their reputations, as they immediately branded her as a complete and utterly deranged criminal that sought only what she desired at the expense of herself, despite how she’d gone out of her way on multiple occasions to prevent ponies from getting hurt when one of her creations went awry, and how they had repeatedly ignored problems or even made them worse, but were still all seen as ‘heroes’ because they kept getting the ultimate victory given to them! The Mane-iac was sobbing at this point, so taken by her rage and grief that she could hardly suppress the sounds from her position atop a tall skyscraper in Maretropolis, sitting on the edge and overlooking the myriad lights that kept the place bright even in the dark and cloudy midnight sky that covered it all. She wasn’t sure why she wanted to be there specifically, but apart from the relative silence, there was the lone thought of... well... But, she never gave in; she couldn’t give up on her goals and let them win, after all. She couldn’t give them that, too! All she ever wanted with all of her ‘crimes’ was just to make her own life better, with no reason to help anypony else, especially because of how they always branded her as ‘insane’ and ‘evil’ and... ‘crazy’. She wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t... a maniac. Did it... all really hive to be like this? She remembered a time before all of this, where she was just a normal pony working a middling job at a shampoo company, but one wrong step made everything go wrong. She had a family back then, and she wasn’t sure if they knew what had happened even now. Had she been written off as dead, and they mourned her before moving on? Did they still think she was alive somewhere and were still searching for her? Or... did they know what happened to her, and were they now afraid of her...? She could hardly bare the thought, which is why she never bothered trying to find them, even keeping herself away from them, with that possibility being too great and far too terrifying for her to ever want to approach. Her mane was reached around and tightly gripping some of the metal pipes that poked out of the rooftop behind her, as she didn’t trust her body to stay under her control with all her emotions plaguing her as they were, and her eyes turning downward to watch her teardrops falling all the way to the ground far, far below made her mind feel so numb. There was nothing stopping her, and she was sure nopony would mourn her; heck, they’d probably celebrate it! But, again, she would never give them that satisfaction. Not on her life would she let those bullies truly win against her, and she would fight them again and again, for however long it took to beat them, and finally prove them wrong. She wasn’t a lunatic that did nothing for any reason, and she wasn’t an evil that only wished ruin on everypony and everything around her; no, she was just so tired of everything going wrong that she just wanted something good, no matter how hard she had to try to get it. She wasn’t... crazy for wanting something like that, right? She wasn’t... a maniac. Author's Note You know, for the longest time, I’ve really hated the idea of superheroes. These people who think they can break the law and do whatever they want in the name of something as arbitrary as ‘justice’ or whatever. And so often they’re seen as heroes, while the ‘villains’ are the ones who just want to do their own thing, sometimes for an objectively good goal, just with negative means. Obviously, not all villains fall into that group, and their are those that are straight-up evil, but I know the Mane-iac isn’t one of them. A lot of canon MLP characters are so severely under-explored that we have so little to go off of in terms of who they are, and so much of the fandom just takes that 1-dimensional side of them as-is and just does whatever with it, rather than actually bothering to explore the hidden depth that ought to exist in these horribly tragic characters. Both of these ideas, superheroes and simple fandoms, aren’t all too similar, but still do share the idea that entire characters, who ought to have actual depth to them, are just projected onto an archetype with maybe a slight catch, and then spread around with no-one bothering to care about the truth behind it. While I could certainly make some case about Marvel or DC superheroes and post that somewhere, I feel like it’d be rather hollow, but in the rare case where MLP and superheroes collide, I can actually use this to make something interesting.
Cage“Mmph...” It was rather hard to think in her current position. It was dark, with little light coming in through the thick curtains, and she could hardly move due to the cage she was trapped in. There was something stuffed into her maw as well, keeping it mostly open, yet still managing to restrict her breathing somewhat. Of course, that in particular wasn’t helped by the thick leather choker around her neck, one with a leash attached to it and with its other end wrapped around the bars of her cage. She wasn’t really afraid there, just... uncomfortable. Though she had already spent a lot of time in that cage, with those implements impeding her senses, it was starting to feel a little tiresome. She did still like this place, but she really just wanted to be out for a while and stretch her legs, cuddle up in a warm bed with her marefriend and go to sleep for maybe a full day. Unfortunately, said marefriend was currently out of the house, working on some business project in another city, and the train home would likely take another couple of hours... Sighing in exhaustion, she lamented on her own foolishness for agreeing to stay locked up for all this time, and wished she had at least let the cage stay unlocked, but there wasn’t much she could do right then. She knew it could certainly be worse; her previous stint with another mare she let take control of these parts of her life was far more controlling, forcing her into her cage as well as other things she wasn’t too comfortable with, all justified as obliging and expanding on her desires. She wasn’t too sure that the other mare had actually believed that reasoning, but based on other experiences with her, she certainly doubted it. Trying to take solace in her new marefriend being better than that, she let her eyes rest amidst the dark room and just tried to lay there for a while, not thinking about anything, but not really trying to go to sleep either. The discomfort and faint cramps from being in there so long made it difficult to keep her mind calm, but she kept trying for quite some time, as she didn’t have anything else to do. Click! She suddenly shot her head up in alertness at the faint noise, opening her eyes to jerk her gaze over to the main door, and saw it shake ever so slightly, then get pushed open, letting orange and purple light of what must’ve been dawn flood in and push out a silhouette across the fine carpet that covered the entire floor. Keeping her eyes glued to the open entranceway, she soon saw her marefriend walk inside and quietly shut and lock the door behind her with her cool blue magic, then sigh and hang her head in utter exhaustion. She took a few deep breaths before lighting her horn again and pulling open the curtains to let in the lovely light of daybreak, then slowly looked up and towards the cage, and spotted the mare inside looking right back at her. “Oh,” Rarity said dumbly, clearly not expecting her marefriend to be awake. Coco herself had to blink a few times to actually process all the time that had passed, and that she may have accidently dozed off at some point, letting her marefriend arrive sooner than she would’ve thought. When her mind finally caught up, she tried to mumble something through her gag and pointed to the lock on her cage. “Ah, of course, sorry dear,” Rarity fumbled in response and briskly trotted over to the cage while lighting her magic again and picking a key up from somewhere out of Coco’s sight and flying it over to the cage to swiftly unlock and open its door. Grunting as she pushed herself up just enough to tread just above the ground and step out of the cage, Coco groaned in discomfort from being cramped up and stretched her legs, then leaned forward and raised her rear to stretch her back. Standing back up, she noticed Rarity standing near her, a light flush across her face as she observed her marefriend, likely finding her noises and motions adorable. Flushing a bit herself, Coco twisted her neck a bit to work out its cramps, and finished up by presenting the side of her neck to Rarity, the gag around her head having a light lock visible there as well. The unicorn took the hint and levitated the key up and unlocked the gag as well, then used her magic to unbuckle and pull it away from her marefriend’s head, allowing her to work her jaw and rub the indentation around her head where the gag’s belt had dug into her fur. “So, Darling...” Rarity started, trailing off as she leaned forward and stared with bedroom eyes at her marefriend. “Not now,” Coco replied curtly, making the other mare blink in surprise while Coco worked the rest of the kinks in her neck out, and finished by vigorously shaking her head. Smoothing down her mane a bit, she looked back at her marefriend, still silent in shock, and sighed, explaining, “I may love these sessions as much as you, but staying in a cage for most of a day can get a little exhausting.” Pulling back, Rarity nodded in assent, though sounded slightly dejected as she replied, “Ah, s-sorry, Coco, I just thought...” “I know,” Coco said calmly, looking her marefriend in the eyes. “We’ve always had a bit of a nymphomania, but I just wanted to calm down today. I just didn’t think about how long it would take before you got back.” “R-right!” Rarity nodded eagerly, blushing a bit in embarrassment. Observing her marefriend’s emotions through her eyes for a few seconds, Coco eventually cocked her head to the side a bit and said, “If you’re still horny, you can take care of yourself; I just want to get something to eat.” “O-of course, Darling,” Rarity replied with a much harder flush than before, and quickly darted forward to peck her marefriend on the lips, then swiftly turn around and gallop towards the stairs and up them, presumably to her own room to rut herself silly. Closing her eyes and blushing at the kiss, Coco breathed slowly for a moment to calm herself down before heading over to the kitchen to sate her ravenous stomach. Author's Note With sex, and BDSM in particular, it’s really easy for people to think it’s all about having a good time and just screwing the heck out of each other, but there’s so much more to it than that. Sex can be a form of romance, a way to share one’s most precious thing, their own body, with another in a way that cannot truly be replicated by anything else. BDSM, thusly, is an extension of that romance, placing immense trust in each other that they won’t hurt each other, physically or mentally, with all of the action they get up to. I have read some stuff that explores that romantic core really well, but there’s always so much more pure smut out there, which I find somewhat disappointing. Not that smut is a bad thing--I write it quite a bit, after all, but I just think there ought to be more to it than just screwing for the sake of screwing, which transforms what should be a special experience or a lovely read into little more than junk food, consumed without thought and tossed aside when the next thing comes along.
DeathDeath was always uncomfortable to think about. It was only natural, really, that a living being would fear death, but there was far more to it than most creatures cared to think. Tianhuo was sitting on a beach, during what was otherwise a beautiful day, with the Sun high in the sky and its light reflecting off the shimmering water of the ocean. The lightly-coloured sand lay all around her, uneven by all the waves that passed over it and the steps creatures had across it, including her own as well as those of... the one that lay dead next to her. The middle-aged Gryphon captain lay amongst the sand, utterly unmoving, with his body covered in many scars, as well some very recent precise wounds, both made by blades and by flames, and both letting his blood flow into the sand to turn it pink. The air around them was calm, but hardly eerily so despite what had just transpired. There were somewhat laboured breaths coming from Tianhuo herself, but everything else was simply the mostly tame flames of her mane, tail, and wings, the slow, calm waves that rose and fell on the beach itself, and the light winds that blew across it all. It truly was a beautiful day, but... Looking back over at the dead Gryphon she had just defeated, the Longma knew her duty required her to do ugly things sometimes. No matter how many times she had to do this... she’d never feel comfortable with it. In fact, she always found herself disgusted by the feeling of taking another’s life, with all they time they’ve lived ending in mere moments, and all the time they had yet to live cut short. Looking back out at the early afternoon sky, she reflected on the way creatures viewed death. Every one of them was afraid of it to some degree, but it tended to be a subconscious thing, a faint sense of existential dread bubbling just under the surface of one’s thoughts, and they preferred to push it away by focusing on the present. It was a fair stance to take, but it often left them unprepared for the inevitable consequences of time reaching them and those around them. Even beyond feeling the icy grip of death close in oneself or their family... Tianhuo knew that they never dared even thinking about what it would be like to wreak that pain onto another. It was truly a good thing that life hardly ever required that horrible feeling to be wrought upon someone, but there were always those few that it did... Of course, being a soldier, and a Champion of her people at that, often forced Tianhuo’s hoof, and made her execute another creature to secure the safety of many others, no matter how noble their intentions. The Gryphon she had just killed was a warlord, and she could only stop him by killing him, but she did know that he was only trying to conquer others to take back the honour and livelihood that had been stolen from his species over generations of turmoil. It was a foolish idea, certainly, especially with how war was often the reason for that turmoil in the first place, but he had honour, and she respected that. It was truly the least she could do to have a proper duel with him, and give him some honour in his death. Author's Note I may want to preface here that I’m not contemplating suicide or anything like that in any way, despite all my musings on Death possibly giving some people the wrong idea. Honestly, there have just been some things relating to Death in stuff I’ve been writing and outlining recently, and I wanted to expand on that a bit with this story here, as well as some thing about how Death could be view by some in the MLP/TFH world. The environment and general situation is something I’ve come up with not just for this story, but as a possibility for a Tianhuo-centric story, with a much expanded version of this as a chapter. I don’t know when or if that story will ever get written, but it’s something to think about for now.
ShatteredShe saw them mourn her. She saw them lower her coffin into the ground and read out their speeches, crying the entire time amidst the dim, rainy skies. She saw them talk to each other, all of them lost in a sense, their friend, their sister, their daughter, their beloved student, now just... gone. Forever. She had given herself for them, as well as everyone else in the world that would've died because of the Storm King. Tempest Shadow made sure nobody ever would've in the future. The broken Unicorn watched Twilight Sparkle's friends leave her grave, barely able to pull their eyes away through their tears. They were clearly regretful; the last time they saw her, they weren't on the best of terms after she tried to betrayed their trust. Her parents were next to leave, holding onto each other as they hid under their umbrella. They must've had barely any context for why their child died, and knew that she should've outlived them, but fate had other plans. Next was Celestia, the mask that hid her emotions utterly shattered by what had transpired. The Alicorn definitely had greater plans for the mare she saw as a daughter, but those were never going to come to fruition. Finally, there was just one creature left: Luna. She was the one to do the proceedings, as nobody else could possibly hold themselves together through it, but the Mare of the Night could. She was still clearly despondent and mourning, but it seems almost like she was expecting Twilight's life to get cut short, based on how much quicker she seemed to grapple with it all. Now, she was just standing before the filly's grave, hanging her head down as rain pulled her mane and tail to the grass, the stars and constellations that usually lifted it up now just painted across them. Tempest stepped out from the shadow of the tree she was under, a ways away from the gravesite. She knew her presence would've interrupted things, and everyone there deserved better than to deal with her. At this point though, with just Luna remaining and clearly not moving any time soon, she decided to head over. The rain drowned out her steps, but she could Luna already was aware of her presence--in all honesty, she probably knew she was there from the moment she arrived. For several seconds, the air was just filled with those noises as Tempest walked forward, even the chilly breeze that blew along her exposed coat being nearly inaudible underneath everything. When she finally reached Twilight's grave, Tempest just moved to stand next to Luna before it, and saw the epitaph. Twilight Sparkle 985 A.N. - 1005 A.N. Friend to everyone, everywhere. "She was far too young for this." Tempest looked over at the Princess after she spoke, her words ringing utterly true in the Unicorn's mind. "It really shouldn't have been her. She..." She sighed out a deep, chilly breath, "She shouldn't have to dealt with any of this stuff." Luna nodded slowly and looked up at the grave as well. "One could certainly blame my sister for that. She's always had a bad habit of not being able to accept that she's wrong." Watching the rain pour down the Alicorn's inexpressive face, Tempest asked, "Do you? Blame your sister, that is?" "...Somewhat." Luna looked back at the other mare and elaborated, "'Tia kept Twilight close in her Palace for longer than she should've. She encouraged the filly to go out and make friends, but never forced her to until I nearly killed them." Taking a deep breath, likely from the guilt she felt in that statement, she then continued, "She kept pushing her to improve and learn more, but she was still far from ready to rule alongside us like my sister wanted." Tempest silently nodded, recalling the irrationality the young mare displayed in her time as prisoner under the Storm King and the general foolishness she knew of long before then. Obviously, that triarchy would've still been decades away, and she doubted the efficacy of turning a nerdy goody-four-shoes into a Princess, but there was something else weighing more on her mind. "Do you blame me?" Luna paused at the question, having to close her eyes in thought for several seconds before opening them back up to reply, "...You were in a terrible place, and your hoof was forced by him. He's the one that wrought all of this, and you weren't able to stop it from happening." Turning her head to look at the Unicorn once more, she carefully added, "I can't say I enjoy being around you, Tempest, but to not at least be cordial about this... would both be disrespectful and hypocritical." Tempest simply slowly nodded her head in response; she knew the other mare already knew she kept her distance for those same reasons. "Do you blame yourself?" Tempest didn't know how to respond to that, though. She froze on the spot in indecision and surprise, even as Luna continued to watch her with the same conflicted expression. Pulling her head away, the former Commander tried to think; she remembered the conversations she had with Twilight in harsh vividness, from her own taunting to understanding and freeing her after the Storm King showed his true colours, and she could recall the determination clear the younger mare's voice as she spoke about how she was going to stop him, no matter what. Tempest just didn't realize at the time she was willing to go that far on that promise. In fact, it was that realization about how badly she messed up, both in her trust of the Storm King and misunderstanding of Twilight's willpower that made her avenge the mare in question. "...I don't know how much that matters," She finally replied, still looking away. "She made her choice, and I've made mine. There's no changing any of that." "...But you still feel the need to make things right by her," Luna finished, drawing Tempest's gaze back up her. She really shouldn't have been surprised, with the Alicorn's own sins giving her more than enough empathy. "You're a good mare, Tempest. You never deserved to be put in these situations either, and you can still make amends with everyone that knew her." Tempest smiled wryly and replied, "Oh, don't tell me you're all going to try and 'reform' me like I'm some fool that just 'made some poor choices'." Smiling with humour as well while she turned to look forward again, Luna responded with, "I know. I understand you're far more than that, and the forge that made you into what many would call a monster has also made you far stronger than them. No matter what the Elements have faced, they're still quite naïve." Neither of them said anything for a moment after that, Tempest looking back to the grave and thinking on the Princess's words; she knew most ponies wouldn't be able to see past the sins she had done, and it was refreshing to speak with someone that knew better. But, as she recalled the ponies she had wronged, she was reminded of an oddity at the funeral... "I'm surprised Cadanza wasn't here." She heard Luna suck in a breath and seem to consider her words for a moment before answering the implied question with another, "Twilight's brother did not show up either." That distinctly pulled Tempest's sight over to her, letting her cautiously continue, "Her brother, Captain Shining Armour, if you recall him," She glanced over to see the nod of comprehension on the former Commander's face, "Was far too distraught with his sister's untimely death. He's been in denial ever since, and has delved deep into his work and tries obsessively hard to keep Equestria secure, and his wife, Cadance, is doing her best to keep him from doing something rash." "...That's going to be all the more difficult for him since he hasn't come here yet," Tempest noted, looking back toward the grave once again. Grunting and nodding slowly in agreement, Luna remained looking at the grave for several seconds, seemingly pondering something before finally saying, "I believe a lot of Equestria is going to be affected by this, and I do hope Cadance can keep the military in control while her husband remains in pain." "How so?" Tempest asked in response, though already had a hunch of where it was going. Taking a deep breath, Luna then spoke, "While other nations may try something against us while we're weakened, most will still respect our mourning. Internal politics will be more complicated, though; my sister has already tried to put things in place to give Twilight some hold in our government, and while I've prevented most of it from going into effect, there are still a few things--mostly just some flexibility in the numbers of Princesses and necessities for Twilight's presence in the Palace--that will need to be amended." Tempest hummed in understanding, though it did make her ask, "I imagine you wanted to save that other stuff for later, correct?" "..Somewhat," Luna replied with a second of hesitation. "But I was always aware that this may happen as well. With all of what they get up to and all that they face, I am honestly surprised it took this long for one of them to perish." "Yeah, you did seem to be expecting this..." Tempest mused, but knew of everyone else's expressions as well, and added, "I don't think the others were at all, though." "Well, as I said, they are quite naïve." Luna's tone became a bit more somber than normal as she continued, "They may all view me as cynical and a 'fun-killer', but I simply prefer being realistic. My sister's optimism and Cadance's enthusiasm may help with diplomacy, but in the possibility of war, my strict adherence to logic and honour is what keeps us on top." Tempest gave a bit of a lopsided smirk as she recalled, "Well, that didn't seem to prove too helpful during our invasion, huh?" Smiling a little as well, Luna looked over and responded, "Well, perhaps if we could have a proper fight instead of cheating with dark magic, then we could truly see who's better." Turning to look back at the Princess as well, Tempest replied, "That'd be cool; I'd like to see someone that can match me in combat, too." Turning back to the grave before them, their emotions fell away as something else became more prevalent in their minds. "I always despise this feeling..." Luna begun slowly, considering her words as she looked at the grave with an almost apathetic expression, "Of someone with a full life and so much possibility getting killed. I've dealt with it countless times, yet it always feels underwhelming and... unfair, really." "Yeah, this could've turned out countless other ways, but you could say that about just about anything she's dealt with..." Tempest mused in return. "I guess her luck just ran out, and... well," She laughed a bit to herself, looking up at the rainy sky above, "It's not like she didn't go out with a bang." Nodding and grunting in agreement, Luna still saw fit to add, "I do suppose it's quite poetic. She was brought into power by little more than an accident, being in the right place at the right time..." Glancing over at the Unicorn to read the look of familiarity she had with the story, "And she was taken out of it in just the same way." Author's Note This story was inspired by a Tumblr post I found here, which speaks about the possibility of Twilight getting killed off in the MLP movie and getting replaced by Tempest Shadow, with everyone having to deal with the ramifications of all of that. Obviously, there are many reasons they wouldn't do that in the show, not the least of which would be the shift in continuity, but I did still find the concept very intriguing and decided to explore it a bit. This story in particular only focuses on the most direct implications of Twilight's death, but there are other things that I may want to see about in the future, but this will do for now.
Names & FriendshipTempest Shadow sighed in disgust and disappointment. “Is that really what they called it?” Princess Luna couldn’t hold back a scoff and replied simply, “Indeed they did.” Sighing once again, Tempest walked through the threshold of what should’ve been a large and imposing Palace, but was instead awkwardly placed and stuck with the name of ‘Friendship Castle’. Luna followed just next to her, closing the massive main doors behind them with a loud noise that echoed across the crystalline main hall for several seconds. “...They really don’t have much respect for anything, do they?” Luna looked back to the irate Unicorn near her, then around at the... well, somewhat garish architecture, and commented back, “I believe that they value friendship more than anything else, so that would be a respectful name to them.” Tempest rolled her eyes and shifted her head a bit uncomfortably. “...I guess.” “Still, if you suppose that this place is some manner of sacred to them, then perhaps we are tainting it with our mere presence.” Stopping in place as both mares were about halfway down the hall, Tempest gave a slight smirk over to the Alicorn, who stopped beside her, and said, “They said they believed in friendship in the face of everything, even literal Demons, Nightmares, and Gods, so...” Looking down the hall ahead of them to the main area, with the supposed ‘Friendship Map’ in the center of six thrones, she grimaced in jealousy and further disappointment, “...I guess they only care about their friendship remaining the same as it ever was.” Luna paused for a moment to think, and eventually took a deep breath and spoke, “I have heard of some others they’ve attempted to add, but they are no less destructive than those seven alone, and such relations were always superficial in comparison, and never truly lasted.” Lowering her gaze to the all-too-clean floor, Tempest soon responded wryly with, “They always keep brushing my ideology under the Storm King to the side, believing it to be completely wrong, but if their friendship is based on all this shit,” She gestured to the thrones ahead of her, and to the castle at large, “Then I clearly wasn’t completely wrong with believing friendship to be bullshit.” Slowly nodding and starting to walk forward, letting the Unicorn raise her head and follow just behind, Luna replied succinctly, “But you’re not completely correct, either.” Letting the silence reign for several seconds as they trotted through the hall, their steps echoing about as they pondered their new circumstances, she eventually turned her head back to see and address the other mare, “They always like simplifying things, but... I always know better than that. “I have always been the ‘odd one out’, as they say, in our relationships,” The Lunar Princess continued, getting closer to the thrones, “I am one thousand years behind this world’s society, I am nocturnal and find kinship with Thestrals, I am reserved and concise with my words, never wanting to ramble on and on... and above all else, I understand war. They--” She slowed down and turned around to face Tempest, though still kept moving backward towards the thrones, “--My friends, my sister, and everyone else, they all want peace. They want this world to be a utopia where no-one, not a single creature has to suffer for any reason, and no creature has to truly deal with the ramifications of their actions. “But that’s not how the world works. I know that. You know that. And that’s what makes us different.” Stopping next to the thrones, both mares put on hold their dialogue to observe the crystalline furniture, it seeming to be attached or grown out of the floor itself, and each throne beheld a carved image of the mark upon each of the Element’s flanks. There was a bolt from the blue, some balloons and confetti, peaceful butterflies, shiny apples, sparkling diamonds, and-- “...That’s not supposed to be like that, is it?” Luna shook her head, staring at the six-pointed star upon Twilight’ throne, but the carving that was her mark now seemed as though it was improperly made, with cracks stringing out from multiple parts of it, webbing out lightly across the top section of the throne. “I fear...” She soon spoke, hesitant and wary, “That this entire building may eventually collapse because of...” “Her death, yeah...” Tempest finished, though with her limited knowledge about the magic of friendship, she was uncertain about much at that moment. “..No, actually,” Luna then amended, sharply bringing the other pony’s focus to her, “I mean, yes, that was the catalyst, but this is due to her friends falling away and there not being someone in her place to keep them together.” “...I see,” The Unicorn replied at length, clearly annoyed and yet further disappointed. Looking at the mare beside her as she turned her attention back to the cracked throne, Luna tapped a hoof idly in thought for several seconds, then looked over at the thrones to ponder something, finally beginning with, “She was the one that begun their friendship, out of circumstance and with a magical bond between them. The Elements themselves will not be able to function without all of their Bearers, and the Bearers are falling apart due to one of them being lost. These are facts.” Tempest Shadow looked back to the Princess at the same time she turned to address the Unicorn, but a response made her pause; “...Are they?” Squinting and pursing her lips in intrigue, Luna gestured with her head for the other mare to continue, allowing Tempest to preface, “I know their friendship is supposed to be related to this ‘Elements’ and saving the nation all the time, but... you know them. Did their friendship ever seem like it was forced due to these things? Due to straight-up needing to be friends?” Genuinely taken aback, Luna turned her head upward in thought, and recalled the occasions she spent with the Elements and the many, many times she had heard of their deeds, both heroic and chaotic. “...I know they have forgiven each other for a great many things,” She eventually answered, turning her gaze back down, “Even horrible offenses like abandoning each other due to naïveté or greed have been gotten past. However, I do believe they had an obligation to each other due to their totality and happiness that they do not now. Now, they wish to suffer and mourn alone, forgoing their friendship as they never wish to deal with that hole in their hearts they have been left with. “This may end up degrading their relationships without someone there to help, turning them into little more than strangers to each other that will be unable to save this world when the time inevitably comes once more.” “...That sounds very ‘worst case scenario’.” Luna smirked. “Indeed, it’s very unlikely.” Her expression turning more serious, she sat down on the floor, gesturing for the Unicorn to do the same, and she continued, “They all have friends and family that will help them through this, and they will retain some level of friendship, but never at the level it once was, and the Elements will still be unusable. In order to amend that, one would need to... replace Twilight Sparkle,” She finished, her tone turning somber and slightly bitter at the end. Tempest, having sat down before the Princess and looking back at her with a hesitant look on her own face, took a moment to reply, “...That is something that needs to happen, though, isn’t it?” Taking a deep sigh of defeat, Luna nodded. “I... have already thought about this to some degree, but the throne tells us we may be under a time limit. My mind first went to Starlight Glimmer, as she is quiet similar to Twilight, especially Twilight’s younger, more foolish self, but her relationship with the rest of the Elements are already quite... strained due to her issues.” “I don’t believe I’ve met her,” Tempest added, slightly concerned about a mare that even the destructive and forgiving Elements considered problematic. “I do not think you have seen her either,” Luna commented, glancing down for a moment to recall something, “I believe she was out of town at the time of your arrival with another mare, Trixie Lulamoon, who I have also considered as a potential.. replacement, but...” Taking another deep sigh, she finished, “I’m not certain how truly magically-inclined Trixie is. She is creative and more than able to hold her own, but she is very... slippery, and difficult to properly trust.” Looking back towards the thrones, Tempest took a moment before asking, “..So what will you do about it now?” Musing for a second herself, Luna then stated, “We need a replacement at some point; of that we are certain. We don’t know the time by which it must be done, but we do know, in some essence, what we are looking for.” The other mare’s head went back to her, letting her add, “While we may wish for an optimistic creature with immense magical power like Twilight Sparkle, I am realistic enough to know that instead, we require someone that is intelligent and capable, with the will to continue on in the face of death itself and the ability to command forces otherwise beyond their control... “Someone like yourself.” Tempest stared back at her, her expression emotionless. “Me.” “Yes, you.” After multiple more seconds of their staring at each other, trying to gauge the other’s emotions, Tempest sighed heavily and closed her eyes. “I assume you thought of this before we entered?” She asked of the other mare. “But a few stray thoughts,” Luna explained, her words slow and cautious as she observed the hesitant Unicorn before her. “‘Twas only this new development that made me truly ask myself this.” “...But you definitely know there’s more to it than just those qualities,” Tempest retorted firmly, opening her eyes back up to nearly glare at the Alicorn. “I’m not magical, and I’m nowhere near friendly. Some would say I’m a monster, and they’re hardly wrong to. But your friends, your family, and these Elements... they all hate me, and being forced to befriend me for the sake of the world would only make them hate me more.” “I am aware.” “Yet you sound completely affirmed in your decision.” “I am.” Tempest started to truly glare at the Alicorn. “Why?” Pausing for a moment, and guiding both their gazes back to the thrones, Luna explained with confidence, “You are a unique case in this world, Tempest Shadow. You do not believe in blithe friendship or blissful happiness, nor do you sing and dance and party and forget all the issues around you. You, like myself, are quite cynical and see the world as the messy maelstrom that it truly is, and will tear everyone’s eyes so they can look back and see the foolish shell of a creature they’ve made themselves into. “To resume my previous thoughts,” She continued, recalling their conversation before they discovered the cracks within the Twilight’s throne, “We know that a perfect world is impossible by its very nature, and we want everyone else to understand that as well. The Elements’ friendship was always frail to a degree, and has been pressured before by seeing the horrors of reality before them, but their ignorance let time mend those wounds. Death and suffering to others has meant nothing to them, and they do not go out of their way to help others unless they see it. “They’ve nearly destroyed this town so often...” Luna’s voice dripped with disappointment as she looked up and around at the castle they sat within, “They’ve left friends by the wayside for themselves and never bother to go out and forgive them, ruined others’ lives to some degree amidst their self-righteous chaos and never looked back, and even gotten almost each other killed on some occasions and haven’t thought to perhaps get a hold of themselves. They may ‘go to Tartarus and back’, I suppose, for their friends and those they see suffering, but in terms of truly trying their damnedest to help this world and its creatures, they could be doing so much better.” Looking back to the mare beside her for some seconds, letting her think before turning back herself, Luna then begun, “As of this moment, we are in a perfect position to change things. To right their wrongs and make them better. To truly make them good creatures and not just ‘heroes’. And perhaps... you may even help yourself in the process, and earn back your true identity.” Her mind stewing in silence for quite some time, when Tempest finally collected her thoughts, a small, wry grin appeared on her face. “I’m not quite like you, Princess Luna. This version of myself... it’s not a Nightmare.” Her expression falling back down into a sorrowful frown, she elaborated, “I can’t just call myself a different name and run away from my problems. Fizzlepop, that innocent filly, died several years ago and there’s no bringing her back.” “...I know,” Luna replied with regret and understanding. “You want me to be happy,” Tempest said, cutting off any elaboration as she looked at the Princess with somberness and determination, “But don’t forget why you wanted me to join these ‘Elements’ in the first place. I am Tempest Shadow, and I’m needed more than ever to fix things, but I have made so many mistakes of my own, ones that I can not and will not ignore until I have atoned for them. Maybe I’ll make some friends along the way, and maybe I’ll manage to do so with the Elements, but I won’t force it, and they don’t try to help me in the face of their own problems and they don’t bother to help themselves, then... I won’t be friends with them, even if it means the Elements will be unusable.” Luna at that last comment, truly taken aback. “You--” She tried to start, but paused and thought--truly thought about the decision for some time. “...It’s your.. dignity, and honour, that you are concerned with.” Smiling a bit and laughing quietly, she nodded at the Unicorn. “I can respect that.” “You ought to,” Tempest replied with a sidelong smirk of her own, “If you and all the rest of the ‘heroes’ keep trying to use the Elements as a crutch, I will lose any last shred of respect I have for all of you.” Author's Note Honestly, I don’t think this one fits too well into the T-rating, but I’m keeping it there for now because of its relation to the previous story, Shattered. I’m actually planning on branching this off into a new story, a sort of anthology thing in this specific universe, but it’ll mainly just be a normal SoL story I believe. About the story itself though, I have given some thought to Tempest’s former name, and if and why she’d revert to it, and after reading some stuff that generally has her use ‘Tempest’ while others use ‘Fizzlepop’, I’ll be going with the idea that that former name is dead, and she shouldn’t run away from the weight her new name has. I’ve seen a lot of instances where that old name is quickly reverted to, and that’s always felt weird to me, and I do now believe this ‘hiding from your mistakes’ thing is the main reason why. To me, the name ‘Tempest Shadow’ is more than just a edgelord name she adopted to make herself more intimidating; it’s her casting off her previous innocence and falling into her rage and obsession to regain her horn, and these things should very much not be undervalued. Tempest is a very tragic character, after all, and she needs to be treated as such.
Open & FreeIt was the middle of the night, the bare grey cityscape lit up with all sorts of neon signs and traffic lights, all blurred and diffused by the constant rain that came down. It was all rather calm, though hardly quiet with all the cars flittering about in the rain, tires splashing the water off the road, really only interrupted by some honks and the occasional loud, sputtering wreck of truck that came through. It was perfect for many ponies, each of them having their own reasons; some preferred the pleasant sounds, others the lovely sights, and a few... well... “Yo, Thunder, try to keep up!” Some liked how they wouldn’t be judged out in the open. “Shut yer arse, mate! This be pretty fuckin’ stupid!” Lightning Dust laughed back loudly amidst the pattering rain and the loud roaring of her motorcycle’s engine, tilting it left and right with practiced ease to fly through the car-littered streets, feeling the chilled wind and rain striking her form much clearer than one would possibly consider. “What, you’re gonna judge me for being reckless?!” She yelled back at her friend, who was still trailing several car-lengths a ways behind her on her own motorcycle. “Ya know wot I’m fuckin’ talkin’ ‘bout!” Rolling Thunder shouted back as she ducked and swiveled around the many cars in her way, chasing the other mare in the open in more ways than one. Chuckling to herself, Dust couldn’t stop herself from feeling the freeing sensation that her friend spoke of, all the sensations usually muffled behind thick clothing striking her body at full force as she tore through the streets, no more than a visor to cover her eyes, fingerless gloves barely keeping her hands from getting drenched, and spike-studded boots to not slip on her expensive bike’s pedals. She knew most ponies--hell, most creatures wouldn’t dare do something like this, but she’d already done it on a whim multiple times in the past, and now was the time to show Thunder what it was all about. The sudden increase in volume of a roaring of an engine other than her own made her ears perk up, and she glanced down at a rain-splattered mirror on her bike to see a stretch of open highway behind her, Rolling Thunder popping a wheelie on her bike and swiftly catching up. Rolling her eyes, Dust decided to let the other pegasus catch up, and soon heard the telltale thwamp! of Thunder’s bike landing back fully on the drowned asphalt, keeping her speed up for a few more seconds until she rolled up at her friend’s left side. “‘Sup, Thunder. Took ya long enough,” She spoke loudly over the sounds of their engines as she saw the other mare’s smirking face come into view, visor covering her eyes and all. “Oh, fuck off, Dusty,” Thunder shot back playfully, looking just as wet as Dust felt, with her whole body, wings, and similarly scant clothing utterly soaked by the water that kept coming from the sky, with her usually curly and bouncy white mane trailing down her head and shoulders, not looking dissimilar to a practically liquified marshmallow. Snickering at the comparison, Lightning Dust kept a weather eye on everything in front of her while she continued to talk with the other thrill-seeking pegasus, calling at her, “Having a good time?” Thunder’s eyes shifted a bit in discomfort under her visor, and she breathed a sigh out into the cool air. “I love tellin’ stupid rules ta go fuck ‘emselves, but this shite is pretty fuckin’ cold.” “And you don’t care about your bike vibrating against your pussy?” Dust asked back with copious amounts of snark and a shade of lust. Rolling her eyes, the other mare seemed to blush a bit in embarrassment, though it was hardly visible on her dark and rain-drenched fur. “‘S a bit weird, yeah.” “Awww, come on!” Dust teased, taking her left hand up off the brake to punch her friend in the shoulder, forcing her bike to sway and wobble a tiny bit on its course. “Don’t tell the badass Rolling Thunder is put off by--” “I ain’t put off, mate!” Thunder shouted back, glaring at the other pegasus while she folded out her wings a bit more to keep herself upright. “Ya pull me out fer a day in the Sun in me skippies, and now we up to our bare fockin’ tits in the cold-arse rain! I don’t give a shite ‘bout what others be sayin’, but I ain’t the type of perv you are, Dusty! “And don’t tell me you ain’t gettin’ yer rocks off ‘cuz of this!” She swiftly added, cutting Dust off from interjecting. Of course, the other mare simply laughed it off and shot back, “Well, you ain’t completely wrong!” Looking ahead as they both continued to speed through the streets, she gestured in front of her with her head, saying, “Heads up.” Looking ahead of herself as well, Rolling Thunder saw the massive semi-truck they were gaining on and split left while Dust went right, both of them speeding up a tad as they went between the truck and the one or two cars a lane apart on either side. There was a decent amount of space in front of the truck, so Thunder quickly slid past it and into the space, though as Dust didn’t arrive next to her, she looked back in her rear-view mirrors to see the lusty pegasus blowing a raspberry at the truck driver, who looked very torn between straight-up masturbating to the lovely sight presented before her or yelling at the mare to stop being so gung-ho with her life. She didn’t stay there for too long though, and eventually drove back up beside Thunder and winking at her through her visor as she arrived at her side, both of them now lit up from the back by the truck’s headlights. “Seems like they enjoy the view!” Sighing and looking back in her mirror at the driver, who was now looking at the both of them with a mix of horniness and assent, Thunder scoffed at Lightning Dust and quipped back, “‘Course they fockin’ do, a nude slut jus’ flew in front of ‘em!” “Two nude sluts!” “Two--” Thunder rolled her eyes and swatted Dust with a wing, causing her swerve and let out a sharp ‘woah!’ as she regained her control. “I’m a bare brainless bitch, yeah, but I ain’t no stupid fockin’ slut!” Laughing in her utterly careless manner, Dust pushed herself up off her seat while keeping boots and hands firmly on her bike, and shifted her tail out of the way as best she could in the high-speed wind, exposing herself to the driver behind her even more than before. “If you’re gonna be such a prude, Thundy, I’ll just have to be even sluttier!” Thunder herself didn’t even bother to look at the no-doubt nose-bleeding driver, just sighing and looking around at all the other rain-drenched cars around them, which thankfully none of them having the proper line of sight to get a full view of what was happening. “Fockin’ hell, Dusty...” The still properly seated pegasus muttered to herself, then shouted over in irritation, “‘Ey, if you’re gonna keep flashin’ everybody, ya’d better catch up before I beat you to the nearest strip club!” “Strip club? Really?” Dust retorted, sounding slightly offended. “Contrary to popular belief, I do have standards!” Thunder just sneered back at her. “Bullshit!” Scoffing and plopping her butt back down on her drenched seat, then revving her bike’s engine a bit, Dust called back, “Fine then, A-hole! It’s on!” And with that, she was off, shooting her bike forward with a burst of speed as she veered into an open lane on her right and sped off into the rain. Thunder quickly jetted off as well, slipping in between a couple cars on her left and racing over to her friend, making damn sure she wouldn’t be getting ahead of her easily. Author's Note There’s something I love so much about characters who are completely unabashed about exposing themselves in public. Not even like, an embarrassed streaker or something; no I mean, taking pride in being nude in public when no-one else around dares to do so. Rainbow Dash sort of fits that, as in, I can see her wearing somewhat skimpy clothing with little issue, but at heart, she’s still a dorky little goody-two-shoes. Lighting Dust, though; she’s the bitch, she’s the slut, she’s the one that won’t ever stop showing off every single centimeter of her flesh because she knows the police can’t catch her, and I love that. Not even as a sexual thing, it’s just super entertaining to imagine her streaking with complete and utter confidence like that. As for Rolling Thunder, I imagine her as much the same as Dust, just a bit less proactive. She’s the one that just does stuff she wants to, but Dust is the one that intentionally pushes the limits. While Dust goes all out in public, Thunder just wanders around wherever, and only joins Dust when she sees her. As such, she’s a bit less experienced with the whole exhibitionism thing, but still eager and willing to through with it.
