My Loyal Ponies: Submission Is Mandatory #93

>>28991575
Was wondering when someone was going to remake this thread.

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oooh you are back

>>28991575
I felt so anxious not being able to check on this thread every two hours.

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time for submission

AiE Clocktower when?

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>>28993403

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>>28993438

We did have a consensual Twilight/Anonymous story here (http://pastebin.com/dGBtPp6h) that falls into a similar category. But it's not Clocktower-related at all, and actually I think came long before that group got rolling.

>>28995305
I like rereading this one. Wish someone would write a longer fic with it.

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>>28994184

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>>28996139

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>>28996802

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>>28997625

>>28998396
helpless/10 would tickle

>>28999729

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>>28998396

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So, this is something I've recently been working on, critiques? Mistakes? It's probably too anthro-esque for this general but w/e, any onion is a good onion.

Now, the most important question, which pony. What else should be added? I was thinking of tossing this one up as a YCH since I want to make a bit of more money for December so I can buy my friends presents and stuff. course I could always be a jew and just make it my OC and then some recolour into a canon horse

>>29002648
Glad to still have you around Mona.

>which pony
I think that the pose would look best on someone with short mane so, Twilight/Spitfire/Lyra.
>Mistakes?
I don't know much about cameras but I'm pretty sure there isn't one with this kind of aspect ration. The viewfinder itself is hot though.
>What else should be added?
Tears. They should be dripping of her forehead and the blindfold should be soaked dark with them.

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>>29002041

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>>29003693

>>29002648
Concur about the short mane.

Good touch on putting in the nostrils this time. Frankly, they always were noticeably missing.

Aside from that... hrm. Maybe somebody's magic holding their head in place? I'm not sure how well-fitting that would be.

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>>29004151

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>>29005195

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Is this just pet ponies again, but under a different label?

>>29006304
Pretty much, yes.

>>29006304
The pet pony threads that I remember were more about treating ponies like literal animal pets.

This is more BDSM-ish stuff, although admittedly there's some crossover with pet play.

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>>29002648
Progress update. Can you guys suggest a BG for it?

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>>29008134

>>29008521
Basement background

>>29008521
>>29008936
Seconded. A "professional" dungeon, with old looks and some heavy wooden support beams, kinda like they use in Infernal Restraints for example.

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>>29008933

bleubird epilogue when

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>>29009403

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>>29010620

>>28993403
It was almost not sexual.

Almost.

>>29009653

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>>29011251

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>>29014689

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>>29015671

>>29015671
She's literally staring at the bird butt

>>29016228
In her defense... who wouldn't?

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>>29016218

>>29000388

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>>29016746

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>>29020397

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>>29020869

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>>29021363

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>>29021781

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>>28991575
Sometimes I see a pic and feel like having fun with it. And I don't even know why.

>>29022684
fun?

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>>29022713
Yay, fun

>>29022843
I still don't know where this is going, but you do have my attention.

>>29022862
It's just me fooling around.

I'm gonna do the eyes tomorrow.
I'm not sure what I'll do afterwards. Maybe color it for fun.
The coloring mistakes in the original pic triggered my autism.

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>>29022189

bump bump

>>29023458
>super powered demoness held back by mighty duck tape
seems about right

>>29024059
Bitch don't know bout my mighty duct tape.

>>29024438
green about anon dominating all lil ponies with mighty duct tape when?

>>29022843
>7530x10000
>still having nice sharp clean edges
how?

>>29024974
Pretty sure that's called a vector.

>>29024992
no shit.
I wasn't asking what it's called, I was asking how he got it so large with nice clean edges.

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>>29023458

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>>29024974
I can actually pretty much put whatever size I want. Though 4chan won't take any image with one size bigger than 10000 pixels.

>how?
Paint Tool SAI has very cool linework layers using vectors

tfw proportional punishment will never be completed.

We will never see Twilight and friends coming to the rescue and finding a broken Celestia and cock-sleeve luna for their efforts.

>>29026564
Its sad too say and bluebird Epilog were are you

>>29026564
Oli didn't quit did he?

>>29026678
No, he didn't. From the last thread:
>Olibird's been in and out of the hospital for the past few months. It's probably not life threatening. He's been writing when he's feeling up to it, but it's few and far between.

>>29026715
Thanks, I must have missed that.

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And for people who think bigger is better

>>29027018
>>29027301
Thank you.

>>29026678
>>29026715
Still missing him. Hoping he feels better soon.

>>29026664
Epilogue currently stands at 25k characters and rising. I hope to roll it out this weekend.

I will probably repost the last sections before just to have it in this thread.

>>29027635
>no eyelashes

>>29027645
It makes her androgynous to cater to everybody's fetishes

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>>29025853

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>>29028513

>>29027854
>androgynous
I was wondering why I found it very hard to fap to.

>>29026715
>>29027503
Oh didn’t know He is in and out for Hospital.
Hoping He is feeling better soon.

Thanks for the Progress updat, cant wait

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>>29029158

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>>29033454

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>>29039476

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>>29040017

>>29008521
Finished. Hope cum is allowed as a pic on a blueboard. http://imgur.com/a/3yb0m

Hope you guys like it. Took longer than expected. So, Twilight has found herself in quite the predicament, what’s the story behind this drawing? Why is she tied up? Why is she being recorded? I’d love to hear your ideas.

>>29040937
This is good, very good.
Twilight is learning the magic of gangbangs

>>29040937
Well done

>>29040937
Absolutely delightful. Love the tears btw.

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>>29040486

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>>29041589

>>29042030
Every time I see this pic, my first reaction is "wow, looks like she's really gotta pee.."

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>>29042030

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>>29042616

Wheres the full version of all these picks?

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Found this in another thread. Figured it'd be enjoyed here.

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>>29040937
Very nice Mona. I wasn't here to help with ideas and what have you, but the end result is very satisfying. It may just be me and my pervertedness, but if you'd added a cum bubble on her nose it would have been perfect. Just my 2 cents, but great art as always!

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>>29043173

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>>29046347

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>>29046650

whats your favorite pic?

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>>29047062

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>>29048032

>>29048483
Don't bite!

>>29048489
>slave pone bites dick
>no damage but hurts as hell
>what do?

>>29048546
>Take dick out of her mouth
>Put it in her ponut

>>29048546
>use ring gag
>fuck throat
>keep pone gaged
>feed only liquids until cock sucking improves

>>29048963
Something like this, yep.
> In permanent muzzle and ring gag
> Force her to eat from an inverted straw, like those hamster water bottle things
> Train her with electroshock and incredibly spicy foods until she is considerably more skilled.
> Eventually take the gag out
> But first, show her an alligator clip
> A heavy, spring-loaded one
> Make it clear that if you ever so much as feel teeth on your dick again, she will go through all of this again... only this time, with that clip on her clit

>>29049069
>First, show her an alligator clip
>A heavy, spring-loaded one
>Put in on her ear
>Pone starts crying and screaming
>Wait for her to stop screaming
>Just crying is fine, she looks cuter like that anyways
>Then show her a dozen more alligator clips
>Tell her to resume sucking
>Punish mistakes and lack of enthusiasm by adding alligator clips to sensitive places

>>29049426
jesus fucking christ

>>29050348
...that's not even that bad. It's not like you're heating them up before you put them on or anything.

Seriously, alligator clips could be a good way for your poneslave to keep track of how good or bad she's been - put them on for screwups, take them off for trying extra-hard to please you.

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>>29048483

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>>29052677

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>>29053166

a little bit of my autism here:

http://pastebin.com/U9RBTEkA

Hey anons.

Healthy ways to get my kidnapping and mind breaking fetishes out without kidnapping someone and forcing them to wear a bitch suit and tail plug?

>>29055319
Your story is good.

Each paragraph read as s short story. Mediocre on their own, but together, they don't just tell us Stawberry's history, but manage to wonderfully set the tone. I don't know much about her character, but I now fully understand couple of things about her life. things about her life One, her life is all encompassing sadness. Two, she has nothing, yet still has so many things to lose.

>"Fine, I'll take it."
Being picked for her color, and not really being a first choice... this is probably the most objectifying treatment i can imagine and, aside from being quite funny, tells me more about her worthlessness than everything else combined. It even out-objectifies the fact that she doesn't even have a name but a number. Well played.

I want to read more. I'm especially curious to see the slave-slave relationships. Stories that show these are exceptionally rare and "your number is twenty-three" promises exactly that.

But I also have a couple of complaints.

>Synopsis
This whole section is a spoiler and should not be there at all. Your prelude tells us everything we need to know and in a much better form.

>New master
I know you want to establish that humans are evil. But randomly kicking a pony is bordering on mustache-twirling villainy. Not letting her say goodbye to her mother because nobody cares about her feelings is deep. Adding a kick to is distracting and makes it laughable.

Also, please post the story normally instead of just linking your pastebin.

>>29040937
Saw the multiple versions on DB. Very well-done. I especially like that little leg twitch - she's having trouble holding still with that vibrator in her.

For some reason this one has the feeling of consensual humiliation to me. I don't know why, especially because of the tears. Maybe it's that for me, bukkake has just never been on my list of go-to things for when I imagine a nonconsensual scene. Now, a consensual one, on the other hand...

Imagine, for a moment, something like that one consensual Twilight story we had: She's feeling overwhelmed by her princessly status, and goes to be humiliated - to be reduced to a cumdump for stallions. Even though the blindfold doesn't let her see who they are, her imagination substitutes - endlessly analyzing who it might be standing around her, grinning and laughing at the "princess" with her cunt filled and mouth opened by the ring gag. At least, analyzing until the sudden burst of salty seed filling her mouth hauls her back to the reality of the situation. Then all she can think about is how they must see her - painted with their dripping seed.

>>29056454
thx for the comment
>Synopsis
it's something that doesn't belong to the story. It would be in the "description section"(if I ever post it on fimfiction.) You can ignore it.
>Adding a kick to is distracting and makes it laughable.
I'll think about changing it.
>Also, please post the story normally instead of just linking your pastebin.
Can a post on 4chan fit 1k++ words?
I'm too lazy for dividing it(( Plus, I need change 'everyp0ny' type of words.

>>29056578
>Imagine, for a moment, something like that one consensual Twilight story we had:
Link?

>>28991575
Pretty sure that's a boy.

>>29057819
Yes, and?

>>29045023
Most pictures can be found at "derpibooru.org/XXX", with "XXX" being the number in the filename of the picture you're looking for.

>>29056909
>Can a post on 4chan fit 1k++ words?
Maximum post length is 2k characters, but posting only link makes it really easy for people to miss your story entirely.

>>29057346
This I think
http://pastebin.com/dGBtPp6h

>>29058015
hmmm hasnt worked on few I tried, Ill keep trying that going forwards though

>>29057838
No, it's just that I thought someone would have flipped their shit over it by now.
I remember some faggot spamming the thread over that not too long ago.

>>29058171
Any pictures in particular?

>>29058187
I figured it out im dumb

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>>29053835

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>>29059693

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>>29060845

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>>29062311

Patiently awaiting that broken epilogue.

>>29025033
>vector
You don't know what a vector is.
Vectors are literally mathematical equations for each of the strokes/fills of the object; because it's just equations, if you have the original vector file, you can make it as big as you darn well please whilst maintaining the quality, the sharp clean edges, as you call them. The program converts the mathematical equations to pixels only /after/ generating them in the requested size, so you don't see the pixels at the zoom you're used to.

>>29026530
>transparent background
>text tool
>memory and drive space
I do not have this on my Sai, what sorcery is this?

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>>29063857

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>>29067183

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>>29068480

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>>29068922

Real fast: Bluebird will probably be delivered inside of 24 hours. Do people want me to re-dump the last section since it came up at the end of the thread, or just do the epilogue?

>>29071275
Re-dump.It's not like there's any other green in the thread right now.

>>29071873
like there's literally zero green
the only oc here is one person's art

it's good art, but still

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>>29069671

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>>29072092

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>>29072972

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> Your snarled roar is, however immediately surpassed by a scream from the pony beside you, rising until it reaches an even more stricken tone.
> "Why... why, why, WHY?!"
> Dash leaps from your lap to plant her forehooves on the desk, the contact thunking heavily.
> "You swore to me. YOU SWORE, CELESTIA!"
> "And I have also sworn to protect all my subjects. That is the first and foremost promise I have made, and it will not go unfulfilled."
> "I am one of your subjects!"
> While the two of them argue, you have immediately switched tracks - updating the Obstinance with a pre-loaded navigational course that you'd hoped never to call on.
> You were, in some ways, deeply in luck - it was swinging around in its low orbit back towards you, only a few minutes out of a perfect position to begin reentry.
> Which, altogether, put it no more than twenty minutes at most out from beginning its attack.
> Already it would be swinging around, you knew - pointing its main thrusters to the rear to slow its speed and drop it back down through the atmosphere.
> In the background, Celestia and Rainbow continue to argue.
"Celestia..."
> Your growl cuts through their dueling voices.
"I'm giving you exactly one chance to pull back and restrain yourself. You've got fifteen minutes, and then things are going to be out of my hands. I very much hope you are considering the lives of those subjects you are talking about."
> "I care about them, Anonymous. And that is why I cannot allow you to escape justice any further. You provoke war with your sales of weapons, you kidnap ponies, you hold hostages, you sneak back in beneath our laws with subterfuge and deception - you are everything we stand against, Anonymous. And today, you will answer for it."
> The first coil of fear begins to curl in your stomach.
> This was unusually strident from Celestia; even when she'd stood against you in the past, there'd always been some offer for you to turn back...

>>29073799
> Surely she couldn't have found a way around the threat the Obstinance represented...?
> Not all of its missiles could be caught; once launched, they'd be flying far too fast and far-spread for ponies to intercept.
> And the ship itself was reentering the atmosphere far, far too high up to be intercepted by any one pony, even an alicorn.
"If you think I am bluffing about what I am willing to do - remember that my life is my ship and my freedom. I will pull the trigger."
> "This only shows how low your spirit has sunk, Anonymous."
> "Don't you even talk to him that way!"
> Dash reenters the argument, leaning in until you imagine her muzzle fills the camera's view on the alicorn's end.
> "He's the only one here who's been aiming for peace. You - I thought I was a subject of yours, but I don't want to be anything to anypony like this!"
> That actually catches you by surprise.
> You'd weaned Dash from the influence of her friends and her princesses, certainly.
> But to hear it spoken of that frankly and that openly...
> Shaking her head softly, for a moment see a fraction of the normal Celestia - the soft, caring ruler - peeking through from behind her armor.
> "I have given you chances, Anonymous. So many chances. I pleaded with you, even, to return Rainbow Dash and consider further negotiations with us."
"Exactly because of something like this!"
> "Then, it could have gone another way. No... My sister is already on her way to deal with you, Anonymous. There will be an end of this at last, and you will face her justice."
> As if there'd been any more need for confirmation of what was going on, that settles it.
> Celestia might have once offered you a chance for peaceful surrender, but you knew there'd be no such thing from Luna.
> Her mind would demand unflinching 'justice' - and your head on a pike.
"Twelve minutes, Celestia. Twelve minutes to consider what you've done and rethink it."

>>29073801
> "I rethink nothing, Anonymous. As long as you are allowed to operate freely, injustice will continue and violence will be inevitable. I-"
> You've heard enough.
"You can call me when you realize just how insane this is and think twice. I'll wait."
> Finger nearly crushing the button, you cut the comms call.
> And then, without hesitation, you bury your head in your arms.
> This was... bizarre.
> Why now?
> What had driven Celestia so far as to run this risk?
> No - not a risk but a certainty.
> The Obstinance would deliver its payload.
> What had possibly convinced Celestia to pay that cost?
> "Master?"
> Dash nudges her head in against your arm - her tone, her posture, her everything positively exuding a kind of fear you had come to be associated with imminent punishment.
> "What do we do...?"
"We..."
> What do you do?
> If the day that repairs would be completed and you would go home seemed like an impossibly far-off eventuality, then this seemed unimaginable in any stretch of time.
> Your hand curls into a fist that slams onto the table.
"Celestia must believe she's found a way to halt the Obstinance's bombardment. I don't understand, though - no shield could possibly protect against that kind of-"
> "And if she does...?"
"I don't know. Interception of all the warheads once they're out isn't possible; the strikes will spread out to hit all around Equestria, I-"
> It suddenly occurs to you, reality sliding into focus at last, that you are talking about the annihiliation of uncountable pony lives.
> Ponies that had nothing to do with you.
> It isn't just a theoretical threat anymore, a sword held but not swung.
> Now, lives are in play.
> You unexpectedly find yourself retching, doubled over in your seat and clutching your stomach.
> "MASTER!"
> Dash is clutching your belly as well, now openly shaking with fear.
> Nothing had come up, but your mouth was filled with a foul taste.
"It's - I'm okay, Dash."
> No, you aren't.

>>29073803
> You wish this question wasn't there, that you didn't have to face it.
> Unbidden, a question wanders into your mind.
> Is this how Dash felt, when she asked you to bind her so she could not even think of disobeying?
> Had she felt this same way?
> Maybe there was something to her desire to be bound away after all.
> At the time you'd dismissed it as the ramblings of a broken mare, but now...
> Now you wonder.
> ...no.
> Have to focus.
> Keep adapting.
"The shuttle is still preparing for takeoff. Whatever happens, we can ride it up into orbit. She won't be able to touch us there."
> "But Luna-"
"My perimeter drones are still active. They won't stop an alicorn, but they can give her pause."
> And, of course, there was still the one final resort you had hidden away...
> Needing to use that, though - that is a last ditch action.
"We need to get moving before she can get here, though."
> Nearly leaping from your chair, you're back at the screen ordering the housekeeping drones to pull the most valuable things they can fit into the shuttle and load it.
> Soon you find yourself micromanaging them - doing anything to keep yourself focused away from the fact that Celestia is not calling back.
> Hands trembling, you force yourself to stop.
> Scooting back from the keyboard, you instead hold your arms out and call softly:
"Dash? Come here."
> She does, filling your lap without hesitation and wrapping her forelegs around you.
> A moment later, they are joined by her wings - spreading to settle around your shoulders.
> Obviously she'd sensed what you needed.
> Her coat is smooth and silky as it ever had been, her barrel warm with the heat of her heart.
> You can feel the vibrations when Dash speaks.
> "When - when she comes. Let me go out and talk to her, Master. Please-"
"Do you think Luna will listen to you? She is set in her ways. Set in her demands. I am the devil, and she is - is an avenging angel come to smite me."

>>29073808
> "I have to try. Don't fly unless you flap your wings; don't break a record if you don't race it. And maybe-"
> She shiffs softly, head burrowing in to your neck.
> "-maybe I can get you the time you need to get the shuttle out."
> Your hands slip up to hold her just beneath the wings, and both of you stay like that a long time.
> The moment is snapped away by the shrieking tone of an alarm.
> Dash falls away, spinning around to peer at the screen.
> "Master, what's-"
"It's the Obstinance - an intercept alert. But it's reentering the atmosphere, well outside of its attack window. It's out over the ocean; nothing could reach-"
> A threat display is brought up on one screen, and your stomach seizes.
> Something is coming up - alarmingly fast, well past the sound barrier, it's track originating on an island far below.
> And, somehow, it was keeping an intercept trajectory with the Obstinance.
"Impossible..."
> You voice is a whisper.
"Twilight - she can't fly like that. Not even an alicorn should be able do that."
> Silence holds, and then-
> "Oh, no. No, no, no - they couldn't have-"
"What? What did she do?"
> "It's - it's something the princesses did before. To stop Tirek, they shoved all their alicorn magic into Twilight. She was - incredible. Impossible. I've never seen anything like it."
> Another wave of nausea sweeps you.
> "But - Celestia was right there. She was with the soldiers, we saw her-"
> Dash trails away, watching the dot marking the single contact continue to rise.
> You want to send an order - to have the Obstinance change its own trajectory, to flee the impending attack.
> But that, too, is impossible.
> It was still moving far too quickly; push too far up, and it would overshoot Equestria entirely - you'd have to call off the attack and have it come around again.
> Perhaps it could ride out whatever she was trying to do...?
> Another alarm sounds.

>>29073809
> The Obstinance again - reporting, as it had before, an unexpected and inexplicable thrust on it.
> Now orders of magnitude greater, and in a direction you had never expected.
"That little bitch..."
> "She's trying to crash it into the water!"
"No. That purple cunt did her homework - she doesn't need to crash it. She's pushing it back up into orbit!"
> "What?!"
"It's orbital mechanics. When you hit atmosphere, if you come in too shallow or too fast for the angle you'll bounce off the atmosphere and skip back out into space."
> Your fingers are already dancing over they touchpads, new instructions being written and sent off at a frantic pace.
"The Obstinance isn't deliberately slowing itself; it's just letting the air pressure drag it back. She just has to cancel a fraction of that to make it overshoot Equestria entirely."
> Dash's brows knit.
> "I don't understand. Can't you just make it slow down more?"
"No."
> You shake your head.
"Turning completely around, once entry's begun, to point the engines backwards? It'd tear itself apart under the strain; the Obstinance isn't designed for that. It's still going way too fast - going to overshoot Equestria, and..."
> Your hands are trembling now.
"The warheads - they can't launch. They're not designed for launching during reentry speeds; hell, they're barely good for atmospheric flight. I'm going to have to push back out into orbit, away from her - come back around for another circle on the next orbit."
> "Then..."
> Dash watches the same screens you do.
>Tthe Obstinance is at last beginning, engines straining with effort, to pull speed and altitude and rise away from the pursuing alicorn.
> "...how long...?
"With time to rise back into orbit, come around, and reenter again...?"
> Quickly sorting through the math in your head, you find the answer to be a deeply unwelcome one.
"...two hours, at least. How fast can she fly with all that magic?"
> "I need a map!"

>>29073816
> You pull one up, and she leans in to peer at it, the gears turning away in her head.
> "...I don't think it's going to come back in time."
"What about getting the shuttle off the ground?"
> If you could load it up, not only could you escape but a second reentry attempt with two separate craft would be far harder to-
> New alarms scream; both of you flinch at their sudden howling.
> "What is it now?!"
"Energy surge of some kind. Twilight-"
> What had she done?
> You'd gotten a brief burst of energy across multiple frequencies; the Obstinance's sensors had completely given up trying to categorize it.
> Its cameras, looking back, showed a radiating burst of rainbow-hued colors, snaking their way back towards Equestria at impossible speeds.
> "Oh, no..."
> Snapping your head around so quickly your neck almost pops, you narrow your eyes at Dash.
> She is too caught up in the screens to notice your glare.
"What does that mean?"
> "She - she released their magic. Sent it back to the other princesses."
"Luna."
> Your words is hissed, laden with rage.
> That was why Celestia had sent Luna after you.
> All her pieces, set in place like perfect little chess pieces.
"She'll be coming, and soon. I expect she'll be waiting just outside my perimeter for her magic to return to her."
> "What do we do?! Can you turn your ship around and come back-"
> If rage now simmered in every word you spoke, fear was coiled in every one of Dash's.
"No. I told you, it can't pull a maneuver like that. But, my point-defenses here will still give Luna pause - give us cover to ride the shuttle out."
> Fingers dancing on the keypads, you give in to the temptation of micro-management and check in on the shuttle's preparation.
> "Anonymous... master..."
> Dash's hoof brushes your arm.
"What?"
> "I - there's still something not right. I had my magic sucked out of my once; it was - eurgh. I felt like - like all my muscles had turned to jello. I could barely stand up, let alone fly!"

>>29073826
"What's your point?"
> The snap in your voice is not intentional, but Dash doesn't flinch from it.
> "Celestia - she still had her magic..."
> You pause, at last accepting the point in her argument.
"Can she get magic from other ponies? The other element-bearers? Does that work?"
> "I... don't think so. When Twilight told us about it, she said it was more raw magic from any one pony than she'd ever felt. Like, she'd have to get the magic from hundreds - thousands - of other ponies to do that!"
> The sick feeling in your stomach grows deeper again, a suspicion slipping into the corner of your mind.
"And you said it had a noticeable effect on you to be 'drained'?"
> "Yeah. All of us - we were weak. Small. No energy to do anything..."
> A pause, and she adds more softly:
> "...felt like I did when I came out of that cage. Small. Helpless."
> If draining a pony of their magic left them anything like what she turned into when you put her in the cage, then there was no chance that the pony you'd spoken to had actually been -
"Chrysalis."
> "Chrysalis."
> Both of you hiss the name at once.
> As if on cue, an incoming comm line pings; you do not even need to look at it to know who it is.
> Twilight's unit - and 'Celestia' on the screen when the line is opened.
> Her gaze is just as fierce, expression as iron-clad as it had been before.
> "I hope, now, Anonymous, that you understand the full situation you find yourself in. You will not be able to stand against my sister when she arrives."
"Fuck you, Chrysalis."
> Normally you aren't one for swearing, but this situation has taken what self-control you had and put it through a mulcher, thrown it into a furnace, and chucked the ashes into the ocean's deepest trench.
> 'Celestia' doesn't even look surprised; instead delight flickers over her face.
> "Well, you figured it out at last."
> She giggles, a malign and predatory sound.
> "Oh, you would not believe how much fun that was... 'I swear on this crown, and-"

>>29073835
"Does the fact that I saved your hive - saved your subjects - mean nothing to you?!"
> Your knuckles are white, fingernails biting into the palms of your hands under the pressure your fists are squeezed with as you interrupt her mocking impersonation of Celestia.
> "Oh, it does."
> Shooting you a toothy grin that looks terribly out of place on the solar princess' face, Chrysalis laughs aloud.
> "It really does... but you know what else you are to me, Anonymous? You are a competitor. You are one of the few creatures on this planet that I have reason to fear. I came to you in my hour of need, and you saved me - but you also saw a chance put a chain on me, and I will not be chained back."
"......"
> No words come.
> Had she completely lost her mind, admitting her betrayal to you?
> Seeing your expression, Chyrsalis lets out another cackle.
> "You think those two alicorn nags will listen to you if you tell them this? They're far too trusting when someone has their ear; they'll believe anypony if they've 'given up their evil ways and seen the magic in friendship'. Hah!"
"You actually think they trust you while as you're turning traitor on me?!"
> "Me? Oh, no no no. Not me alone... but Chissik has been such a good little spy, 'running away' from me and then whispering in their ears... and she spent so long with you, she can tell them all about the secret deals you've been making with the dragons - trading your weapons for their aid against Canterlot."
> The way she lays emphasis on certain words, it is easy to tell that Chrysalis is outright enjoying this.
> "When I 'offered my aid', they were all too willing to accept. Except that rotten little pink whore of a 'princess', but her betters' magic will be more than enough to put an end to you."
> A cold, icy feeling settles across your shoulders like a shower of freezing water dumped from above.
> So that was what Chissik's mysterious meetings with other ponies had been about.

>>29073840
> And what had prompted the alicorns to action.
> It wouldn't have been too outlandish a claim, after all; you were making rare metals that they might want for their hoard, you were forging other alliances in Equestria...
> Maybe Chrysalis had even had her other Changelings play the roles of appropriately-interested dragons.
> Chissik, that little-
> "Cockroach!"
> Dash plunges her muzzle straight into the camera, tears running down her cheeks but eyes lit with a burning, raging, fury.
> "You rotten, two-timing, sniveling little cockroach! He saved your entire nest of stupid bugs, and you do this? You've killed him."
> "Of course I have."
> Chrysalis, still wearing Celestia's visage, shrugs.
> "It's what I meant to do... we are both predators, Anonymous and I. Do you know what happens when two predators meet on the same territory? One kills the other."
> You open your mouth to respond, but a far more violent, artificial howling interrupts it.
> A sound you've heard before, but that now sets your heart thudding and skin prickling in understanding of what it means.
> The perimeter breach alarm.
> Your face must've gone pale, because Chrysalis unleashes another bout of laughter.
> "I see your guests have arrived. I'll leave you to entertain them now. Goodbye, Anonymous."
> She even denies you the chance to cut the call, being faster to do it herself.
> For a moment you are left simply grinding your teeth in incoherent rage as the true depth of the betrayal became clear.
> And then the alarm starts again, snapping you back to reality.
> The breach, you find, is twofold.
> One a small group of ponies in the far distance, just beyond the very edge of your 'territory'; snapping open a quick camera view, you zoom in and find a the other Element bearers - minus Twilight - and a group of unicorn Royal Guard carefully spread out in a small clearing.
> But the other breach...
> Two distinct forms are tracked, hurtling through the air straight for your home.

>>29073844
> There's little question in your mind who those two are.
> A single alicorn, your defenses might have delayed for a time.
> Two of them would be exponentially harder - a far shorter time for you to remain safe, and no hope of being able to drive them away from an ascending shuttle.
> They must have been waiting just outside of your perimeter, waiting for Twilight to release their magic.
"Rainbow Dash?"
> She doesn't even answer, simply leaning forward in answer to your call.
"Dash - there is no easy way out of this. I -"
> You choke, swallowing hard.
> Tongue leaden and lips stiff, you spit the words out - each one a monumental effort in its own right.
"I have been outmaneuvered. Badly. I never considered a scheme this large, this risky, so many things planned so close together. I wonder what Celestia would have done if one of them hadn't worked..."
> Shaking your head, you sigh one last time.
"Regardless, it's pointless now. Celestia believes I am plotting against Equestria, and I don't think she will stop in time for me to show her otherwise."
> "What - what do you want me to do?"
> Not even what can I do.
> What do you want me to do.
> Even at this moment, Dash's dedication draws a smile to your lips.
> Raising a finger you point to the dots that signify the cluster of ponies waiting in the distant clearing.
> They're more than enough distant to keep her safe.
"There. Princess Cadance - she might be able to stop Luna and Celestia. Or at least make them pause long enough for me to escape."
> "But she's-"
"Dash!"
> Your voice is raised, the first time you've actually had to reprimand her with force in some time.
"This isn't a time for you to argue. I can't stall two alicorns for long enough; you go - go to Cadance. Get her to stop this."
> And get far enough away she wouldn't try to come back and help you.
> "I... I don't want to. I'm not going to leave you alone, Master!"
> Reaching out, you slip your fingers around Dash's cheek and stroke softly.

File: 1475809573323.png (542KB, 1024x1325px) Image search: [Google]

542KB, 1024x1325px

>>29073852
"I'm making this an order, Dash. A direct order - go out there and get Cadance."
> "But-"
"Shhh."
> Pulling her up into your seat, you slip your arms around her and she reciprocates with her wings, nuzzling your shoulder.
"You still have the compass-watch I gave you. Use it. Whatever happens, wherever they take you, you'll be able to find your way home."
> "But what about where they take you?"
"I'll be fine - but only if you can do this. Go now; stay low to the ground, or they'll spot you and stop you from reaching Cadance. Understand?"
> "Y-Yes, Master."
> One tear dampens your shirt, then another.
> Scratching lightly between her wings, you chuckle.
"If it's anything, Dash - in the end, you were right. It looks like sending you out to save me was the right choice after all."
> She doesn't speak, and eventually you're forced to set her down.
"Go. Fly like the wind, get to Cadance, and I promise I'll be there when you come back to me."
> For a second Dash gazes up at you, her eyes tear-laden crimson pools and mouth trembling, ears laid flat and wings hung despondently.
> And then, in an instant, a change comes over her.
> Wings snap in, ears fold back aggressively, and she jerks her head in one singular nod.
> "Right. I - I'll get her back, Master. I'll do it!"
> Before you can even respond she is gone, a snap of rainbow tail in the doorway and then only her fading hoofbeats.
> Turning back to the screens, you call up the perimeter cameras.
> It is with these that you see Dash appear at your bedroom balcony, taking a cautious step out onto the balcony.
> Turning around, she vanishes back within - but not a moment later appears again taking a running leap from the balcony, past the eyebolt you'd once chained her too, and spreading her wings at last.
> She does not merely take flight so much as erupt into the air, like a fish diving back to water at last.

>>29073858
> Go fly like the wind - your orders taken literally as she hits the edge of your home's clearing and weaves into the trees, a rainbow trail vanishing among the trunks.
> At that rate...
> You pause, doing the calculations in your head.
> At that rate, Dash would only need a few minutes to reach the cluster of waiting ponies.
> Good - plenty enough time for her to get to a safe distance.
> Turning your attention back to the two still-approaching alicorns, you split your face into a feral grin.
"Alright, you two... let's see how well you dance."
~~~~
> Duck, dodge, weave, swerve, slip aside.
> A beat of the wings here, a twitch of the tail there.
> It all rushes back, like the blood pounding in your veins - old memories and familiar instincts.
> The weight of Anonymous' compass-watch and collar on your neck barely seem noticeable.
> This - this is what you were born to do.
> You might not be ready to pull a rainboom yet, but there wasn't a pony in Equestria who could catch you now.
> A quick glance up at the sun confirms you are traveling in the right direction.
> There'd barely been a chance to glance at the map on the screen before you'd fled Anonymous' office.
> Just enough time to get a general idea of the right direction to fly in, the general proximity to the major landmarks of surrounding hills.
> But, they were in a clearing, right?
> Making a brief ascent at the end should bring them into view.
> Forcing your wings to beat just a little harder, you add a tiny sliver more of speed to your flight.
> Already a low burn was settling across your back.
> Those muscles had been exercised, but there was a difference between merely building them and putting them to the fiercest test in months.
> But it didn't matter.
> All you had to do was get there.
> Get Cadance.
> And your Master would be safe.
~~~~
> If they had a choice, no doubt Celestia and Luna would have teleported straight into your home as soon as they were in range.

>>29073866
> Dropped right into the front lobby, accompanied by some speech about your actions against Equestrian and the triumph of friendship over cruelty.
> You do not give them that chance.
> The best of your drones might be gone but there were other, lesser units that now rose like hornets from a stirred nest - not to intercept the two alicorns, as they would surely have just teleported past them.
> But instead feinting after Dash, towards the cluster of ponies waiting beyond your perimeter.
> As you had expected, both princesses diverted in an instant - diving after the drones, who soon pivoted to engage the two sisters instead.
> To any lesser force, those drones would have been a fair duel.
> Against an alicorn, however, they were no match.
> Against two, hopelessly outclassed.
> The shells they threw and missiles they launched were only mildy more of a nuisance to the sisters' arcane shields than if you'd run up swinging a hammer yourself.
> Though they danced, spun, and whirled on thrusters, the alicorns gracefully exceeded their maneuvers.
> Soon the sky was filled with smoky, uneven trails where burning frames had crashed to the earth, brought low by the might of your opponents.
~~~~
"Hello, Celestia. And Luna too, I suppose. I'm leaving this message on Cadance's machine, since that roach has Twilight's."
...
"Well. First of all, Chrysalis. She's going to betray you - told me as much, though I didn't think to record that message. I was... a little distracted at the time. Anyhow - she's got Chissik feeding you a nice line of lies to provoke your attack, and is planning to sink her fangs into your neck the moment your back is turned. Just like she did with me. Might not believe me, but if you do your own investigation I'm sure the facts will turn up. I know I'm not in a position to be asking favors, but if - once you're done with me - you could put that roach's head on a pike, it'd be nice."
~~~~
> There was fighting somewhere behind you.

>>29073871
> You could hear it, a booming chatter like lines of firecrackers going off punctuated by periodic louder blasts.
> Now you could feel the weight of collar and compass on your neck - tugging, heaving, pulling as if still linked to him by a leash.
> Demanding you go back and join the fight, protecting him.
> ...but no.
> You have your orders, and the echo in your head - echo in every wingbeat you put into driving yourself forward.
> If there was one thing your Master had taught you, it was control over all but your strongest emotions.
> How to subsume the 'Want' under the weight of 'Have To'.
> And so you hurl yourself on, trees snapping by so fast they are almost blurred.
> Master would be safe.
~~~~
> The drones were dying at a precipitous rate.
> You'd thought, perhaps, that some of the legends you'd uncovered of alicorn potency in battle were exaggerations
> Tall tales designed to intimidate neighbors, rivals, even ponies who might otherwise look on Equestria's riches with a greedy eye.
> There was no doubt anymore.
> They were a two-pony army, forces of nature incarnate.
> Or, more accurately, forces of magic.
> Concealed canisters' ends blow off with staccato pops, the missiles within streaking into the sky on pillars of smoke.
> Never designed with the intention of being shot at anything like those two, however, most go wild when both sisters teleport from their seekers' cone of vision - spiraling uselessly into the horizon.
> A few more are carved to shreds by streams of magic flowing from the alicorns' horns.
> The few rockets that do find them do no more than sputter against the might of their shields.
> But that was okay.
> All they needed to do was buy Dash a few minutes longer.
> She was already almost to a safe distance.

>>29073875
~~~~
"So, uh, congratulations. You win. I honestly - honestly didn't see a lot of this coming. The magic-transfer trick you pulled, Twilight being able to get good enough resolution with her telescopes to spot the Obstinance and figure out reentry mechanics... yeah. You stacked yourself a perfect deck and played it well. By the time I figured out half of what you were doing, it was far too late. So - one pegasus, returned to you alive and uninjured. The spoils of your victory. I hope it makes you feel good."
~~~~
> Almost there.
> Your entire back was alight now, as if someone had been flaying it with a whip.
> But it didn't matter.
> Nothing else mattered.
> Erupting from the treeline, you turn yourself skyward at last.
> Free of the cluttered obstacle course you'd been flying in you are able to push a last few drops of energy into your flight.
> You are not aware the rainboom's shock-cone forming around your body.
> Even the riotous explosion of color and sound barely penetrates your focus.
> The shield, though, you immediately see - a shimmering dome not too far in the distance sustained by the ponies within.
> Most are royal guards, jaws dropped and wings spread, faces similarly expressing varying degrees of total shock.
> Your friends - no, not friends.
> Four of the five ponies you'd once called friends.
> Their faces are just as shocked, but there is an unknowable, indescribable joy there too.
> A joy you do not share, as one most critical face is missing.
> Diving down, you nearly splatter yourself against the shield by preserving your velocity until the final moment.
> Only at the last second do you reign your wings back, fanning them out and letting the air snag you to a merely painful stop atop the scintillating magic.
"Where's Cadance?!"
~~~~
> Most of the missiles were expended now.
> A handful of laser arrays around the very edge of your home fire at last.
> They do nothing to halt the two alicorns.

>>29073883
> Another, final flight of missiles sails skyward from their canisters.
> Immediately a half-dozen are cut down, but there were only a couple of them whose warheads really mattered anyhow.
> The rest were merely decoys.
> In the distance, a thunderclap sounds.
> Like an artist had spilled their paint-pallet onto the sky, a semicircle of multihued color erupts from somewhere just above the treeline.
> Despite the situation, it brings a smile to your lips.
> For Dash to pull that, even when she was flying the first time in so long...
> Truly, her friendship was a powerful thing indeed.
~~~~
"But you know what you don't get, Celestia? One, you don't get me. If you think I'm going to let you pick me up, put me on some show trial, throw me in a dungeon or turn me to stone or whatever it is you do to your enemies... no. I'm no prize of yours. Two, you don't get any of my technology. I won't have your little tyranny benefiting from what is mine... although you'd probably just lock it up anyhow, just like you tried to do with me. And three - most important of all - you sure as hell don't get Dash. Rainbow Dash belongs to me now - mind and spirit. Nothing you do now will change that. You can take her away from me, but you can't take me away from her. She's my little bluebird. "
...
"Anyhow, I've got to wrap this up. You and your little attack-dog sister are getting pretty close. I don't know if this will actually hurt you - I'm not inclined to think so, given the way you just cut down the rest of my stuff - but it ought to get my point across."
~~~~
> "Cadance?"
> The shield vanishes with a hollow pop; you fall a few feet before your wings snap out and halt your descent.
"Yeah! Cadance! Where is she, Rares? I gotta find her - she's the only one who can stop Luna from-"
> "Rainbow, hon..."
> Applejack reaches up with one hoof, plain desperation in her eyes.
> "Cadance ain't here, hon. Ah - ah dunno where she is, but she ain't here."
"But he said-"

>>29073888
> Your heart seizes.
> Wings almost do too; only sheer instinct of a born flier keeps them beating.
> Impossible.
> "Dashie..."
"Don't call me that!"
> Your ragged scream sends Pinkie rearing back.
> "Rainbow Dash!"
> Fluttershy is angry - actually angry.
> You made Fluttershy angry.
> That is hard enough for your mind to wrap itself around, and it is already struggling with what you had been told.
> Her tone quickly softens to its normal, soft tone.
> "Come down here, Rainbow. I'm, um, I'm sure Cadance will, um-"
> "What Fluttershy is trying to say is that it's time to come home, Rainbow."
> No!
> Your home is-
~~~~
"And Dash? I'm sorry. I lied to you. I told you to go out, that Cadance would be there, that everything could be okay. I'm sorry for that, because... in the end, you did more for me than I expected. You were a better pony than I had hoped for. Just... Remember. You'll always be able to come home."
> Without hesitation, you end the call and slam your finger down on the button.
~~~~
> White.
> Everything is white.
> The entire world is overcome with a brutal flash of white that leaves spots dancing in your eyes.
> It's too much for you at last; your wings seize, and you tumble to the ground.
> On unsteady hooves you force yourself back up; spinning in place - staggering as your head pulses with pain under under the effects of the flash - you're struck dumb by the sight that greets your eyes.
> An incredible point of light is roiling up from the hillside where your masters' home had been, a monumental sun-like ember clawing into the sky atop a pillar of fire and smoke
> Nopony speaks.
> How could they?
> Even you have nothing to say.
> Until-
"No!"
> You are the first to recover, wings snapping out to carry you back into the sky.
> Why, you do not even think about.
> That isn't relevant.
> All that matters is that you have to get back to your Master.

>>29073893
> While your will might have been stoked into a powerful flame, though, your body was not so compliant.
> The effort of flying here - of pulling off a Rainboom after so long grounded - must have been far, far more than you realized.
> One leg folds under your weight, and a harsh voice calls out:
> "H-Hey! Stop her!"
"Outta my way!"
> The cry reinvigorates you, but the royal guards who had accompanied your one-time friends are already moving.
> You might've been the fastest pegasus on a planet, but you were also unsteady and laden with aching muscles, limbs seeming to be weighed down by lead.
> On instinct you duck the first guard to leap at you, but stumble on the recovery.
> A second is shoved off, and two wingbeats lift you back into the air-
> Only to be piled on by another pair of armored pegasi.
> The unicorns and earth ponies among them add their magic and muscle to the effort, but even so you fight them tooth and hoof.
> Snapping out, battering them with your wings and driving sharp kicks into any unarmored or vulnerable bits of exposed coat you could find.
> Everything is chaos; dimly you can hear Pinkie crying and Rarity's scream for them to stop, stop, they're hurting you.
> But they aren't.
> Or if they are, it doesn't remotely compare to the burgeoning ball of agony set in your chest-
> There's an awful crunching, and your neck snaps back.
> They'd torn Anonymous' compass-watch from your collar.
> Howling with unintelligible rage, you drive a hoof into the muzzle of the stallion responsible.
> He tumbles back - blood pouring from his nostrils - but you aren't able to follow up yet as an all-encompassing golden field surrounds you.
> Magic prickles your coat, makes your ears hum, and turns you to face your captor.
"You..."
> Spitting both metaphorically and physically, you snarl at Celestia.
"Let me go! I have to go back in there!"
> "You will go nowhere, Rainbow Dash."

> It takes you a few moments to actually notice how tired she is, or that the tips of her feathers, mane, and tail are actually seared and in some cases still smoking.
> "Anonymous is... gone. You have endured enough; your trial is over."
"No! I have to go back to him, I have to!"
> Celestia regards you with an even gaze as her guards back away; steadily she sets you back to the ground, but retains her magical grip on you with enough pressure that it is clear you would not be escaping again.
> You scramble for the compass-watch where it'd fallen on the ground, but when you pick it up your breath freezes in your lungs.
> There is nothing on the screen but a blank, black background and a series of deep cracks running through its face.
"No..."
> Desperately you press it between your hooves, pressing the button on the back like he'd shown you.
> Hoping against all reason to make it bring up the compass again, show you a way back-
> But nothing greets your eyes except the bare hint of your own reflections in the cracked screen.
"Please, no..."
> Every time you repeat it, your voice becomes ever-weaker.
> Instead, that energy feeds into your chest - reigniting and feeding the flames that live there until, at last, you rise to hurl yourself bodily at Celestia.
> Slamming against her chest you drive hoof after hoof into her, screaming out as you do:
"You killed him! YOU KILLED HIM, YOU-"
> Spraying a line of obscenities that would make the most hardened sailorpony blush, you eventually fall back to the ground - resting on your haunches and staring up as tears mat your cheeks.
> "I..."
> Celestia's voice is low, emotionless, and surprisingly soft.
> "I did no such thing, nor did my sister. What he did, he did to himself. He left you behind, Rainbow Dash."
"LIAR!"
> Launching yourself up, you strike her across the muzzle.
> Immediately Celestia raises a wing to halt the guards who had begun to charge you.

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>>29073904
> Not until later would you realize that she herself could surely have blocked you... if she had not wanted the blow to land.
> As it is, you throw kick after kick until every bit of fire in you has been spent.
> Until you cannot resist as she slips a tender, ivory-coated leg around you.
> Until all that remains is the wrenching sobs of a broken mare, echoing off the hills over the distant crackle of flames.

Just reposting this before the epilogue.

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>>29073907
Just a quick reminder.

You are the best writefag we ever had and your story is awesome.

>>29073907
Hype train incoming.

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>>29073299

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>>29075335

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"...and, in conclusion, although I have been able to examine a number of examples of his technology seized from the lowest levels of the tunnels - those that survived the blast - I'm really no closer to actually understanding exactly how they work - though I have made some progress in discerning fundamental principles."
> "And in your estimation, Princess Twilight Sparkle, is there risk of his machines rising against Us again?"
> You shake your head fervently at the lunar princess seated across the broad, oaken table.
"No, Princess Luna. They are nearly all inactive, and even those that are still working seem to be stuck in a - a loop, passively waiting for instructions. Without anyone to give them orders, they will not do anything."
> "But thee cannot give them commands."
> Luna tended to - slip back into the old ways when she was emotional.
> Even the memory of the battle seemed to be enough.
"No. I don't know how. I don't even think Rainbow does, and even if she did, she - "
> You break off, glancing aside to the massive, gilded oaken doors that barred entrance to the hall.
> They seemed as utterly impermeable as the ancient stone walls that surrounded them, lit by the flickering light of the room's torches.
> But to you, they are nearly transparent - your thoughts running past to the rainbow-maned pegasus resting in a suite a few doors down.
> "-Twilight?"
"Huh?"
> Looking back to the table, you give a little nervous smile to the four other ponies assembled around the table.
"Sorry, I - my thoughts are wandering..."
> Celestia smiles one of her signature reassuring looks in your direction.
> Immediately you feel a wave of relief and comfort flow down your neck, across your shoulders and withers.
> It was the same imperturbable look that had calmed the innumerable, frantic outbursts of a little faithful filly student.
> "It is fine, Twilight; I understand. I asked what of the construct that is still in orbit."

>>29076378

"It's... well, still there. Just circling the world - I marked no deviations from its path or other signs of activity before I returned home, and I've left Aurora Gaze with a jar of dragonfire to alert me if she sees anything."
> "Can it be reached? Investigated?"
"I don't think so. Even with our magic joined, it's too far up for me to put meaningful force on it. I don't think it's going to do anything, though - its owner is dead, and without his orders it is too."
> Luna sniffs unhappily, and you frown.
> She was... distraught by having an intruder in her sky, especially one that had been used to threaten Equestria.
"I know it's not optimal. But there's so many other things we need to focus on now - and we don't even know how it will react if we try and bring it down! I believe it's really best to just leave it there, for the time being at least."
> "Agreed."
> Your mentor's backing is, again a welcome relief on your mind.
> "It can be addressed another time, and there are more pressing concerns immediately at hoof."
> "Chrysalis."
> Cadance's tone flattens your ears and sets your coat prickling.
> "I am raising a new battalion of guards in the Empire. She is an immediate threat, and-"
> "Thy overstep thine bounds, Mi Amore Cadenza. Our rulership will protect you."
> Lips drawing back in a snarl, Cadance drops a hoof to the tabletop with a sharp thud.
> "Protecting my own realm is overstepping my bounds now, is it?"
"Luna, Cadance, please-"
> "Thy lack of faith in Our leadership is what concerns Us!"
> "You kept us completely unaware of what you intended to do! All three of you!"
> Cadance's tone is as much one of hurt as anger, and you wince in sympathy.
> That particular bit of deception had been... painful.
> Not something you agreed with.
> "Our plan worked, did it not? Anonymous is dead. Equestria is safe. You should trust that We are certain of our plans."

>>29076383

> "So I should just assume that everything is still going to be alright no matter what? You heard his warning, Princess Luna - Chrysalis will betray us!"
> "We know this, Cadenza. The insect-queen is Our momentary guest, just as Anonymous was in Fillydelphia. And just like We brought him his just fate in time, so too will she be dealt with."
> "And what if you don't? Is it that much of an insult if I protect my ponies from that possibility?"
> "It is an insult that you do not keep faith with Us!"
> "Well then maybe you shouldn't have locked me out of-"
> "Everypony, ENOUGH!"
> Shining Armor may not have had the force of a Royal Voice to project, but the stallion's angry roar still cut through the argument.
> Though in Luna's case, the expression on her face makes you wonder if her silence had more to do with shock that the prince would raise his voice to a far-elder alicorn.
> You'd have to thank him for that later, though.
> "Your Highness Princess Luna - please understand. We trust you. But being excluded from the plans was a painful blow to us, and Chrysalis has proven herself to be a cunning enemy. We have to be prepared for her. If you are angry with anyone-"
> He slips a hoof around Cadance's withers, and she extends a wing across her husband's back in turn.
> "-be angry with me. The expansion of the Guard was my idea."
> Luna seems ready to launch a retort, but Celestia speaks first:
> "Sister, she is right. Even if the Crystal Empire's rulers trust our plans, the Crystal Ponies will wish for reassurance in these troubled times. Let her be."
> At last, Luna ducks her head - lips moving as if silently trying to stifle back her true thoughts.
> "...fine. We accept this."
"Um. Right. Well then-"
> Your own tone is far, far too nervous.
> Shuffling through the scrolls in front of you gives a moment of distraction, but does little to actually alleviate the tension in the room.

>>29076389

"Well, after that we have the issue of Anonymous' business associates. They are none too happy about what happened, and are making some noise about trying to sue for the lost profits."
> Again Luna snorts.
> "Let them. Anonymous' fate was his own choice; he is the one at fault here."
> "Agreed."
> Celestia stretches a wing towards her sister, nodding.
> "Twilight, if you can confirm - I do not think there is any legal basis for that kind of action."
"No legal one, no, but they could certainly make it quite public and messy if they wanted."
> "Let them. It shall be a reminder not to rub shoulders with Equestria's foes. With Rainbow Dash returned to Us safely, there is no reason to pretend he was anything but."
> Quickly you force away the frown that Luna's declaration brought to your face.
"Then I think that's-"
> "There's one thing left, everypony. And we have to talk about her."
> Shining Armor's tone - the implacable tone that from your fillyhood had meant there wasn't to be any argument or discussion about it - makes your ears fall again.
> "I am sorry, Twilight, but we do have to talk about this..."
> Sinking as a long breath is blown from your nostrils, you nod.
"Yes, Princess Celestia. I - I guess I have to."
> It takes another moment for you to gather up the willpower to do so, however.
"R-Rainbow Dash won't speak to me. She - she turns her back and stares into the wall each time I try to visit her, and won't even speak a word. She holds me responsible for this all, I think."
> "For saving the lives of untold millions of ponies? A truly foalish error, if We may-"
"She was brainwashed! We don't know the half of what he did to her; if even half the things are true-"
> "Twilight."
> Again it is only your mentor's calming, soothing voice that manages to stop you.
"...sorry, Princess."
> "Do not be. It is... you have lost a deep and dear friend to this."
> Her eyes flick, for just a moment, to the seated form of her younger sister.

>>29076395

> "I understand the pain of losing someone close to you."
"W-What do we do, then? Rarity says she is barely talking to any of the others."
> A long, pointed silence follows, only breaking when Cadance sighs and dips her head.
> "I will speak to her again. She - she is speaking to me."
> "Thank you, my niece."
> Turning away, Cadance silently leans in against Shining Armor.
"I - I think that's everything?"
> Looking around, Celestia focuses on each pony's expression in turn before nodding a shallow affirmative.
> "I suppose that will be it for tonight. We will have to talk again soon, everypony."
> With the scrape of a chair on the stone floor and rush of broad wings, Princess Luna is gone - the final tip of her ethereal tail vanishing around a corner.
> Celestia looks between the three of you and bows her head.
> "...forgive my sister, please. I..."
> Her tail flicks, head falls, and for just a moment you catch a glimpse of the truly tired pony behind the princess' mantle.
> "...I truly am thankful for you coming here. All of you. This has not been an easy time. It is over now, though, and may we all of us - and Rainbow Dash - soon begin to heal from this trial. Shining Armor, if I may have a moment of your time - I would like your input on the deployment of Equestria's guards in light of this situation..."
> And there it is:
> Her signature bridge-building, your mentor's distinct and unique ability to mend fences.
> Shining Armor nods, and the two quickly depart in close conversation as well.
> You slip from your chair as well, but a soft voice calls out from behind:
> "Twilight, wait!"
> You do, but there is a silent sigh in your voice.
"What is it, Cadance?"
> The older alicorn approaches, and you shy away.
> Her expression falling, Cadance reaches out one wing towards you.
> "I'm sorry, Twilight, I... I don't know. I just wanted to talk to you. Not - not as a princess. Just - sister-in-law to sister-in-law. One worried pony to another."

>>29076400

> Now your face falls as well, wings and tail drooping similarly.
"What is there to say? It's over. It's done. We - we should all try and move on. It wasn't the best choice, but-"
> "Twilight."
> She had slipped closer to you; the outstretched wing resting on your shoulder.
> One of your own wings rises to brush it away, but never quite makes it there.
> "I foalsat you, Twilight, and now I can still tell when you're upset. Those wings only make it easier - remember, I was born a pegasus. I can read them, and you're not very subtle with them. So - please, tell me?"
"I thought you were angry at me. For excluding you."
> Cadance pauses, her wing slipping off.
> "I am. But you were little Twiley to me long before you were Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I still can't help but worry about you too."
"I..."
> She's next to you now, a wing across your back and hoof beneath your chin.
> "Please, Twilight?"
> Shades of old comforts well up from your memory.
> Of that same voice, those same hooves holding you - a little filly, angry for whatever reason little fillies were.
"...I wasn't good enough."
> Cadance goes silent, just listening now.
"I pushed myself harder than I ever have before. I - I pulled myself away from my friends, practically invented a whole new telescope design to find that thing, and - and -"
> Your voice cracks, eyes squeezing shut.
"- and it wasn't enough. We couldn't stop him from - from almost -"
> Emotions that had been long-pushed back within you, crushed beneath the need to focus on finding a solution, crack through the dam you'd built around them.
> Tears begin to leak from your eyes.
"Rainbow Dash would have died if he hadn't let her go. Everything I did, and Rainbow Dash would have died... and I wasn't anywhere near enough to stop him. I don't even know if it would have helped if I was!"
> "Shhh..."
> Cadance is rubbing your back with her wing now, nuzzling her chin into your mane.

>>29076403

"And - and now you're angry at me because he managed to get away, and Luna is angry because he ran away...
> "Twilight... is this why you've been throwing yourself into reports and investigations ever since it happened? To - to try and put that aside?"
> You miserably nod.
"I've spent a sum total of sixty-two hours personally digging in the ruins of Anonymous' home alone. I have written seventeen complete analyses of equipment recovered, including six which are already being published to the Royal Academy; at least thirteen more are half-done, with harmony-knows-how-many more waiting yet. Thirty-four of the best researchers from the Academy are already at the site, and I am also examining ways to remove the toxic materials his weapon seeded the land with."
> Eyes squeezing shut, you gather strength to continue.
"But all of it... it just feels so empty. Like I'm going through it for the sake of it... what did all of this even gain?! Anonymous is dead, but Rainbow - she won't even look at me! He's - he dug himself so deep into her head she may as well still be in there, and I have to admit that the only reason she's even alive is because Anonymous..."
> Anger trailing off, your voice drops down to its normal levels.
"...because Anonymous did a good thing. Because he let her go. I nearly killed Rainbow Dash, and he saved her instead."
> "Twilight -"
> Cadance pauses, dipping her head to the floor.
> "I... I can't say I approve of what happened. It could have been done without loss of life. But - you aren't alone. Nopony should ever be alone. I'm here for you."
"Yeah."
> You crack a small, pained grin.
"Always little Twiley first, huh?"
> "Always a pony first."
"It's - it's great of you to offer, Cadance. But right now, I think Rainbow is more alone than I've ever been."
> "Then I'll just have to go to her too."

--------

> Looking down on Canterlot has become something of a fascination for you.

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>>29076407

> After so long with your only view out being the hills surrounding Anonymous' home, Canterlot is a treasure of detail.
> From the window of the royal quarters you'd been given, practically all of the city was visible.
> Gleaming and twinkling in the evening's last light, little dots of color moving down the avenues radiating from the palace...
> A city alive.
> Alive.
> Snarling, you grit your teeth - an unwelcome weight pushing in to the back of your head.
> The city was alive.
> You were alive.
> Anonymous was not.
> That fact alone makes every moment spent relishing in the city's grandeur feel like a betrayal.
> How could you take pleasure in it when he would never be able to see anything again?
> You sit in front of the cool glass, watching a million little lamps being lit as the sun slips down over the horizon and night drifts into place over the city.
> 'Traitor!' hisses the voice in the back of your mind, and you flinch at its viciousness.
"I'm not a traitor..."
> The mumbled objection is perfunctory, though.
> No true effort in it.
> Dropping your head, you bring your chin to the floor and simply lay in front of the window instead.
> There, you weren't looking any more.
> Maybe now Anonymous' voice would stop echoing between your ears.
> 'You said you would come home!' his voice hisses.
"I don't know where home is!"
> Curling into a ball, you bury your head in your forelegs and lift a wing to shelter it.
> 'Liar!'
"Please, quit it, okay?! I - I know I screwed up. I know I failed you. I didn't mean to let your watch get broken, okay? I'm sorry!"
> 'Liar. You aren't even trying to find home.'
> Instead of arguing further, you simply squeeze your eyes shut and pray the needling whispers stop.
> 'Come home to me, Rainbow Dash!'
"Be quiet!"
> Your voice is a mere mutter now, a whisper - as if speaking up could further attract the attention of the ethereal taunts.
"You - you aren't even my Master. He never called me that. He-"
> "Rainbow Dash?"

>>29076414

> The voice - a real voice - interrupts your mutterings.
> Lifting your head, you immediately feel your cheeks flush as you come nearly muzzle-to-muzzle with Cadance.
> That close, she must have heard you talking to yourself.
"H-Hey, Princess..."
> "Cadance, Rainbow Dash. Please, just Cadance."
> An objection dies in your throat.
> She was the only one of the four, it seemed, who'd ever given Anonymous a fair chance.
> So, you suppose, you should give her one too.
" 'kay... Cadance."
> Sighing, you lower your wing back down.
"So, uh. What's - what's up?"
> "I... I wanted to check in on you. It's been so long, and I heard you barely come out of this room or talk to anypony-"
"Twilight put you up to this, didn't she?"
> Cadance's hesitation gives all the answer you need.
> Setting your teeth, you shoot a glare past the alicorn to the door she'd entered through.
"I don't want to talk to her. I don't want to even see her! She - she started all this off, and for what? So Celestia would pet her mane and tell her she's a good pony?"
> "Rainbow Dash!"
> Cadance's objection is only halfhearted, though, and you lift a leg to rub at your eyes with a fetlock.
"I'm sorry, Cadance... I just can't... it's still getting to me, I guess. That - that he's really, really gone."
> 'I'll never be gone.'
> Anonymous' voice, seemingly hissed straight into your ear, makes you flinch.
"...everypony keeps talking like I'm supposed to be happy about this or something."
> "I understand, Rainbow Dash."
> Settling to her belly, Cadance looks at you with a pained expression.
"No. You really - really don't."
> Your chin falls to rest on top of crossed forehooves again.
"You don't get how it feels to have that kind of weight on your wings - to be told you should be happy, to know you should feel that way too - really, really should! - but to still have this big hole inside of
you where he was..."
> 'Rainbow Dash, you aren't even trying to come home!'

>>29076421

> This time, you're able to suppress flinching.
> Cadance, however, simply stretches out a wing around you.
> "I think you're wrong. I might not be able to really feel every bit of grief that you do, but I do understand how you are feeling."
"How?"
> Right now you aren't sure you even care, but there's a part of you that just wants to talk about something, anything, other than Anonymous.
> "Well. I suppose you know I was born a pegasus?"
"Yeah."
> "Then let me tell you, I had even less preparation than Twilight did when I was suddenly a princess. It was like - like day and night. One day, I was little filly Cadance playing by the stream and figuring out which stallion was making eyes at which mare, and this filly was preening for that colt..."
> She sighs.
> "That was day. Then came night. It felt like just a second, and then I had a horn, magic... ponies wanted me to do things. Wanted to do things to me. Stormy times for me, Rainbow Dash... and I couldn't go back either."
> Another interruption, and you look up to see Cadance staring off into the distance.
> This was something important to her, more than you'd understood.
"Is that why you didn't give your magic to Twilight? Didn't help with all this?"
> "Partly. Even if I had been told I wouldn't have had a part in it because my place is to mend hearts, not break them. I think Anonymous did evil, evil things, Rainbow Dash - but I do not think his heart was truly empty, like Chrysalis or Sombra."
"Or Luna."
> "Luna... is not empty heart. She is... I think she still sometimes pines for her ages past. She's been speaking in her old thees and thous ever since this all happened. It's like it's awoken something in her."
> Cadance lays her head down.
> "But - what I was saying before is that I don't think Anonymous was truly evil. He wanted you to live, Rainbow Dash. He let you go so that you could live."
"He let me go so I could find my way home. But where is home now?! I don't - I don't even know."

>>29076430
> "Maybe he meant for you to find a home of your own...?"
"No."
> Turning in place, you raise yourself to sit on your haunches and show her the broken compass-watch.
> It was on a chain necklace now - Celestia had refused to allow you to wear the collar, but she had relented and allowed you to keep the watch itself.
"This - this was supposed to help me find my way back to him. It was like a compass, you know? Always pointed home."
> "And it was broken..."
"The guards broke it. When I tried to fly back."
> Dropping the compass-watch, you lean back in against Cadance.
> It feels wrong, but the feeling of needing this - needing some contact, some comfort at all - is even stronger.
"Now... now I don't know what to do. I'm not the same pony I was, Cadance - nopony gets that, but I'm not. I'm not supposed to be here, but I don't know where I'm supposed to go."
> Again her wing settles over you, and you burrow down beneath it.
> It's not the firm, reassuring touch of your Master... but it helps.
> "I don't know either, Rainbow Dash. And I won't tell you where to go. But I think you do need to go somewhere. You can't just - stay cooped up in here forever. You were not a pony meant for staying inside."
> You aren't sure if that is a subtle jab at Anonymous' method of holding you.
> You aren't sure you care, either.
"I don't wanna go outside though. Everypony there... they all look at me funny. Or tell me how brave I was to fight him."
> "Then don't pay attention to them. Do what you were meant to do."
"Which is?"
> "Fly."
> There is no answer to that.
> A morose silence falls; eventually, Cadance stands.
> "I will be going downstairs, out into the gardens. If you want to follow... please do?"
" 'kay."
> She stares a moment longer before turning away.
> One ear swivels at the click of the closing door as it shuts behind her, and then you are alone again.
> Eventually, your gaze drifts back to the window.

>>29076436

> The moon has crested the horizon now, creeping every upward in the sky,
> Your eyes follow it.
> Maybe Cadance was right.
> He had to have known what he was risking by sending you out.
> That Celestia and Luna would simply... end him.
> Not even bother with a dungeon, or banishment, or banishment to a dungeon...
> That they were not the same ponies Twilight was.
> Maybe you couldn't forgive Twilight, or Celestia or Luna.
> But maybe that didn't mean you couldn't push on either.
> Fly...
> That had been his order to you, hadn't it?
> Fly like the wind.
> Heaving yourself to your hooves, you crack the room's door open and slip out as quietly as a pony can with hooves on a polished stone floor.
> The guards you passed, at least, did not bother you.
> Ordered not to interact, or simply learned that their complements cut you like jabs from the weapons they bore you weren't sure.
> Though subtle, watchful eyes were kept on you.
> No doubt they had been very explicitly ordered to watch where you went.
> Down and down Canterlot palace's many staircases you went, until at last you were spilled out into one of the grand central hallways that speared the palace through.
> This place was, unfortunately, vastly busier than the private quarters had been; almost immediately you feel the weight of a hundred gazes boring down on your back.
> Ears laid flat and tail hung low, you stalk as close to the nearest wall as you can - regretting, for once, your vibrant and immediately-recognizable rainbow mane.
> Un-hushed whispers tickle your ears, and even though the floor fills your vision eyes squeeze shut.
> This was a mistake.
> Legs move from a nervous walk to a trembling canter and then to a panicked near-gallop.
> Just enough to get you to a door.
> To the gardens.
> To Cadance!
> A side-hall's alcove presents an escape from their attentions, and without hesitation you turn down it.

>>29076439

> Your attempt at navigation, however, is promptly interrupted as reality turns abruptly grey-coated and soft, something tumbling you head over hooves with a decidedly feminine cry of surprise.
> Down you go, a tumble of grey-and-blue legs.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'll get off of you, let me get up-"
> The vigor that had filled you a moment earlier is gone, however; first and second attempts to rise end in sprawling in failure, while on the third you barely make it a few steps before dropping to your haunches again.
> "I'm terribly sorry; I wasn't expecting, ah - wait! Wait - Rainbow Dash, yes?"
> For the first time you glance at the pony who you'd collided with.
> An earth mare - charcoal mane and only slightly lighter grey coat, an instrument's case slung across her back and purple eyes regarding you with a mix of sadness and regret.
> Did you know her from Ponyville?
> If so, you were damned if you could remember her name at this moment.
> As if on cue, a hoof is stretched out in greeting.
> "Octavia Melody."
> Oh, yeah.
"H-Hey. Look - I - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to just gallop in t'you like that. I, uh - I just need some time to myself. And space. Sorry."
> "It's quite alright."
> The thinnest of pained smiles touches her face.
> "I very much understand. I was so terribly sorry to hear it..."
"Don't."
> The snap in your voice is harder than you'd expected, but you do nothing to stop it.
"Just, don't. I've heard it a million times by now, and I don't want to hear it again, okay? I just... don't."
> "I am sor- no, I suppose that is not the proper phrasing. But, I was instructed - strongly instructed - to give you something, though. From a dear friend."
"I don't want to talk to anypony, okay? I told you, I need some time for myself."
> A moment, and then a sigh.
> "So I see. My deepest apologies, Rainbow Dash. I will simply leave this here for you, then. Please, do, at least look at it?"

>>29076448

> This you do not even grace with an answer, head remaining down and your back to her even when something clinks softly against the palace's marble floor.
> Even when fading hoofsteps signal her departure.
> After what seemed like a little eternity but could not have been more than a few minutes, your curiosity finally forces you to look at what she had left-
> Your heart stops.
> Placed directly behind your splayed tail, gleaming in the lamplight, was another compass-watch.
> There's no mistaking it - a perfect copy of the ruined device hung around your neck.
> With a delicate, almost reverent touch, as if it might crumble to dust if mishandled, you scoop it between your forehooves.
> There it sat, the second hand busily making its way around the face alongside the minute and hour hands.
> Not a breath escapes your throat as you pin it between your hooves, squeezing the hidden button on the back as you'd been shown.
> A moment where the screen is reduced to a stomach-churning blank -
> And then it is back, hands swinging around to find their places as compass-points.
> Only two hands now, yellow and red.
> The blue - the one that had pointed to Anonymous - is gone.
> But the others...
> Yellow had been to give the watch's direction, but red - red had pointed back home.
> Except, now, it did not point to the scorched ruins you had left behind.
> Those, you knew, were more towards the northwest.
> Yet now the red bar was firmly locked to somewhere in the far east.
> Somewhere -
> - who knew where -
> - there was something out there waiting for you.
> Octavia had given shown-"
> Octavia!
> Barely thinking long enough to scoop the compass-watch between your hooves, you take to wing - launching yourself out into the hallways and hurling yourself up into the air, trying to spot that bob of near-black mane and tail among the ponies travelling the hall-
> But of course she is gone.
> Long gone, with how long you had been sitting in that nook sulking away.

>>29076459

> All that you have done is cause numerous golden-clad helmets to rise and watch you as their bearers make note of your sudden burst of flight.
> Dropping back down to the floor, you retreat back towards the nook you had emerged from.
> No, there wasn't any chance to pursue Octavia now.
> Not with the questions you wanted - needed - to ask her.
> ...probably all that would do is get her asked some rather more pointed questions by the Royal Guard - questions not unlike your own, primarily revolving around 'where in Tartarus did you get this thing and when did He give it to you?'
> Not to mention they would almost certainly take the watch again.
> Instead you walk - at a rather more reserved pace - out towards the gardens.
> More guards are waiting there, but they keep their distance.
> Cadance is there too, quietly speaking to a crystal pony at her side.
> Settling on your belly, you stare up into the night sky.
> Luna's moon quietly ascends and you shiver softly.
> Even after the departure of the familiar Mare-in-the-Moon, it never troubled you so much.
> Now, though, it sometimes struck you as the pupil of the night's eye - the gaze of a mare who had helped kill your master, staring down in the same unblinking fury she had lashed out at him with.
> Its gaze weighing down on-
> There was something crossing the sky.
> A single bright dot of light, still lit by the sun that had so recently passed beneath the horizon.
> It crept up from behind you, somewhere in the Northeast.
> Scudding between stars - an intruder in Luna's night.
> Unbidden, a small and bitter laugh works its way up from your throat.
> You hadn't been the only one left behind after all.
> Eyes tracking the Obstinance until it fades from sight out over the southern horizon, you're suddenly drawn back down to the second compass-watch still clutched in your hooves.
> A quick check of its hands reveals that no - it was not pointing towards whatever spot the Obstinance had vanished towards.

>>29076463

> But even so...
> If there was something out there...
> A home to be found.
> Your gaze again falls to Cadance, in the distance.
> After a few moments she looks back over at you and smiles a kind of half-somber, half-hopeful smile, but does not yet approach.
> For that you're thankful, and look down to break the gazes.
> If you did this...
> Would she come after you?
> Would Luna?
> Your 'friends'?
> Would anypony?
> Your hooves tremble.
> If you did not find anything...
> Would any of them welcome you back?
> ...
> But...
> If there was any hope at all out there.
> Any chance to find - you don't even know what.
> Somewhere you belonged.
> Wasn't that a risk worth taking?
> Wasn't that a reason to fly?

--------

> By the time the guards realized that their charge had managed to lose them with a burst of speed in Canterlot's twisting, ancient alleys it was already too late.
> All that was left in her room was a small pile of distinctive, multihued hair.
> By the time they arrived in the tiny town she had once called home, the window to catch up to the fleeing pegasus was long since passed.
> The apple farmer had already awoken to find several of her crop vanished as if into thin air.
> The fashionista had already discovered her shop ransacked - leg-warmers and a pegasus' jacket stolen in the night.
> The bakers' apprentice had already gone downstairs and confirmed the bag of hard-baked bread, salt, and one cupcake - a bag which a particular twitch and twinge in her wild tail had told her to leave out the previous night - was absent.
> In its place, a hastily-scribbled note.
> 'Thank you - D'
> The cloud-home above Ponyville, its form growing thin and almost on the verge of disintegration so long had its loyal occupant been absent, at first seemed untouched.
> Until the butter-yellow pegasus studying it for the guards realized the map of Equestria, long crowded between a signed Wonderbolts' poster and a Best Young Flyers' award, had disappeared.

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>>29076470

> And an orange coated filly had already yawned, stretched, batted her tiny tings against the mysteriously cold and hard object that had come to rest in her bed.
> Wide, lavender eyes peered in confusion at the silver cladding and blank face - three deep cracks run through its black surface.
> By the time anypony knew what had happened, Rainbow Dash was gone.

--------


> Round and round the handle goes, each turn drawing a grunt from you as the millstone grinds against its base.
> Barley always was a pain to turn to flour, much worse than wheat.
> But if you had any hope of making these scones work...
> "Hey, Gilda!"
"In here, Greta. Barley flour's halfway done."
> The hen wasn't exactly your friend -
> There weren't many of those out here.
> - but she was... tolerable.
> "Some pony's here looking for you."
> The next grunt turns into a drawn-out groan issuing from your beak.
> Ponies.
> In your list, they fell under decidedly "not tolerable".
> Couldn't even leave you in peace after you'd gotten out of their Winds-forsaken country.
"Well, tell them to buzz off. I'm not in the mood for one of them right now."
> Not in the mood to think about what you left behind there.
> At least the milling went easier when you had a little bit of anger driving your muscles.
> "I don't - I don't think she wants to talk to you -"
> Oh, delightful.
> The pony was actually that close.
> Evidently the interloper doesn't bother listening to Greta either, as the distinct sound of hoof-falls can soon be heard from your doorway.
> Pointedly ignoring them and keeping your back to the door, you release the mill's handle and start scooping out the ground-down flour into a bag.
"Hey, didn't you hear me four-hooves? Go bite their own feathers off; I don't want to talk right now."
> "Kinda rude, G. I've been flying a long time, and the word around here is you've gotten actually pretty good at baking."

>>29076482

> The bag falls from your talons, dropping to the floor as breath catches in your throat.
> Turning to face the doorway is done in a haze.
> You certainly don't mean to do it - if anything, you want to turn away from that voice, away from the shame and guilt it laid on your back.
> But at the same time, you couldn't not look.
> She...
> Doesn't look like you remember.
> Her mane must have been cut practically down to nothing - the old burst of wild, radiantly-colored hair had been reduced down to a strip no more than a claw-width long running down her neck.
> Judging by the conspicuous absence of her tail protruding from beneath the body-length hooded overcoat she wore, something similar had been done to it as well.
> There were... other differences too.
> A bandage spiraled up one leg to disappear beneath the coat, and the ragged scarf thrown about her neck doesn't quite hide the thin, black strip of fabric snugly circling it beneath either.
> Travel-worn but sturdy saddlebags hung beneath her wings, and two more had been dropped to the ground just behind her.
> The beaten pair of goggles resting on her head completed the roughened appearance.
> And yet...
"...you're here."
> It seems like an idiotic thing to say, and a moment later you're cursing your own stupid tongue.
> "Yeah. I am."
"I heard some... stuff happened. Word's slow to get out here, but it does."
> "Yeah. Stuff... happened."
> Her voice is -
> Tired.
> And yet, lit by a fierce internal flame.
> Tired, but not weakened.
> Not diminished.
> Clicking your beak, you turn your head away.
"I..."
> "G?"
"Sorry, Rainbow. I just - I..."
> Talons dig into the dirt floor, and your hindlegs' claws leave furrows when you nervously paw at the ground.
"I dunno why you're even out here."
> "Well - here, because of you. This way in general, I..."
> You barely hear the rest of what she says.
> Rainbow Dash had come out here for you.
> For Gilda.
> For -
"Why'd you come out here for me, Dash?"

>>29076486
> You can't even face her when you speak, head twisted away to stare at the grindmill.
> "...'cause I wanted to see you?"
"See who? The 'friend' who ran away when she should have helped you? Who walked off and left her best friend a prisoner to - that?"
> Clicking your beak again, you snarl out:
"All those times I called you a dweeb, but I was the one who ran away in the end."
> There's a hoof on your shoulder.
> Talons rake through dirt, ready to crush the offending limb.
> "For the only friend who didn't try to force me to be what they wanted me to be."
> What?
> Sheer shock makes you look around at her at last.
> Rainbow's head is tilted, her mouth curled into a half smile.
> "Look. You - you came out there for me. You showed me you cared. But - but you didn't try to force me. You walked away, and - and maybe, even though it musta seemed like pulling out your own feathers, maybe that was the right thing to do."
"...leaving you in there?"
> "Not getting so caught up in what you wanted it blinded you. Not letting it get in front of everything else. Not kill-"
> For just a moment the mask of exhaustion she wore had slipped, and you'd seen a glimpse of the fire that was hidden away deep inside.
"Tartarus-!"
> The swear comes soft and hissed from your beak.
"Tartarus' chains, Rainbow. What happened back there?!"
> Now it is her turn to look away.
> "Stuff. Stuff happened, Gilda."
> You swallow.
> Wonder to yourself what that fire concealed in turn - how deep the wound it burned in had been cut.
> "I forgive you, though. You - y'weren't trying to hurt me, and I'm not holding it against you. We cool?"
"I... yeah. We're cool."
> Rainbow Dash smiles, and you smile, and soon the two of you are grinning like chicks just taken to wing for the first time.
> That her relief is every bit the equal of your own is a barest hint of how much she had needed to hear that.
"So. Uh. So, you're out here now. Where're you going?"
> "Don't know."
"What's there?"

File: 01010010001000000100010001000001010100110100100000100000010000110100111101001101010001010010000001001000010011110100110101000101.png (2MB, 1920x1017px) Image search: [Google]

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>>29076496

"Dunno that either."
> She lifts a hoof, pulling down the scarf to reveal a - a something, a heavy silver dusk hung from the black band around her neck.
> "I know how to get there, though. And I know that whatever it is... Equestria isn't the place for me anymore."
"You - got a place to stay, Rainbow? For tonight?"
> "I can make my own."
> A 'no' in five words.
"Y'want one?"
> "I'd love one, G. Been traveling on my own so long, I can barely remember what it feels like to actually stay with someone. Just one thing, though."
> Still grinning, you tie off the sack of flour and toss it away.
> Scones can wait.
"What's that?"
> "No Rainbow now. Just - Dash."

Final pastebin and my thoughts on the whole project will be arriving in a couple of days. For now, I just ask - as usual - for reactions, criticism, and suggestions.

And I really mean it. Let me know what you liked - but also what you didn't like. Tell me where I screwed up. What went wrong. Tear me apart. I genuinely want to know, so I can improve my writing down the line.

>>29076512
um well... what can I say? Im a huge dashfag so reading the parts where she was punished were hard, but for the most part I enjoyed this fic. I will say tho that this ending seems very all of a sudden, it feels alot like there should be more closure.

Why is dash hearing anons voice in her head? if its just a result of her anguish why is it being so hostile? Where is she going? what did anon lay out for her? what is the Obsitence's fate aside from a gradual orbit decay? Is twilight going to come looking for her?

Dont get me wrong its a solid ending but it feels like theres alot left unanswered which bugs me. I need to know if Dash gets her happy ending.

>>29076512
The writing is good, lots of really good tiny moments, full review incoming after I sleep on it (and re-read the bit 50 updates ago where Gilda was), but... I have to agree with >>29076548 that the epilogue is a lot less answer-y than I had hoped.

My gripe is not with Twilight and stuff, but with the new watch itself.

When Rainbow got the second clock, I was hoping that Gilda wasn't a "point on the road" but the destination. And that there wasn't another mystery but.. well, that Anon had someone set a homing beacon in Gilda's house and giving Rainbow a direction. That, during the last time skip, Anon finally solved the "what will I do with Dash when he flies away" question that was part of the story since post one, and being the longest running plot thread. That he wouldn't take her with her but.. direct her to her only real friend left.

I don't know... maybe it would be too much of a sappy wish fulfillment but... It would be way more definitive and less "stay tuned for the never-coming sequel - The Daring Dash and Anon's Other Hidden Base." I'm... it's okay the way it is but I can't say I'm fully satisfied.

Also it would show that, in the treason heavy climax of the story, even Anon was actually a traitor (just like everyone else except Dash, who literally was the only Element of Loyalty), and already had a plan to ditch Dash when he could... But the fact that he even bothered to think of what'll happen after he's gone would make it sweet too.... A fulfilling bitter-sweet ending... like you promised.

I don't know.. maybe I'm just being entitled readfag and will feel like ass for criticizing a near-consistently near-perfect story but... I'm just throwing what is currently my honest (and very tired) opinion.

Actually.. now that I think about it..
>be me (>>28957754)
>ask for Dash reconnecting with Gilda
>get Fash reconnecting with Gilda
>still complain about it
Yes I'm definitely an ass.

...But it still would have been better if Anon was behind it!

>>29076512
...I can't tell if that little blip was purposely put there.

>>29076548
>Why is dash hearing anons voice in her head? if its just a result of her anguish why is it being so hostile?

Her guilty conscience given voice. Not really surprising it's Anon's voice. She dreaded disappointing him above all.

>>29077002
Looks like an Eve screenshot. If so, that blip is a customs station.

>>29077002
Isn't that supposed to be Anon's ship out in orbit?

>>29076512
Is there a paste bin with the rest of this even if not finished, I only caught the last few updates.

>>29077207
It's linked in the OP.

>>29076512
Just figured out the hidden message in those filenames. I...fuuuuuck. That was exactly what it needed. Thanks so much for that. I'll give a real review tomorrow.

>>29076512
Cheeky with the binary. 9.7/10 satisfying end right there.

>>29076944
(cont.)
>that secret ending
Okay... ignore all my complaints I had about the ending. I should not have doubted you. You're god among writefags.

>>29077305
Love to see /you/ around too!

>>29077313
lol yes. I still check to see what's going on. I haven't given up on green entirely.

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>>29077342
>I haven't given up on green entirely.
No, but you've gotten pretty close a few times.

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>>29077363
Look who's talking.

When was event he last time, that anyone actually finished a green? A long running green like this, I mean... And we got a BEAUTIFUL ending to boot! Do you guys realize that this is the single BEST thing that has EVER happened in this thread? Ever!

Our greens are getting finished! Our writefags are coming back! We have a drawfag!
>2016
It just keeps happening!

>>29077289
>>29077305
>>29077313

how do i copy the whole binary string? I can only get part of it

>>29077525
You have to write it down by hand and work to get your secret, just like the rest of us.

>>29077529
actually i figured it out by going through the HTML editor. But end result is still the same

>>29076512
I was going to complain about the epilogue providing more questions than answers then, like everyone else, I saw the binary. Well played.

Actual spoilers for those who haven't read all the story: am I interpreting this right? The new watch points to a place where Dash can go to get to the Obsitence and Anon has left it to her. Or did Anon pull one final con, fake his death and retreat to space then send the new watch so Dash can find him so she can be with him once again.

>>29077811
I'm pretty sure it's the later. Dash wouldn't know how to access a terminal and verify credentials. Anon is alive and Dash is coming to their new home in Equestria's orbit.

The bird is free.

And to be honest last chapter It did kind of sound like more of a rocket / escape pod taking off than just a plain old explosion so maybe anon is too.

"a monumental sun-like ember clawing into the sky ATOP a pillar of fire and smoke"

Maybe i'm wrong, but that and the hidden message leaves me hope.

Either way. It's been amazing following this god tier story and i'm sad to see it finally coming to a close. It's whats been keeping me coming to /mlp all this time. Hope to hear from you and... maybe... see more from you to...

Does only the last pic contain a message ? The first two seem garbled to me. Or am I missing something here.

>>29078071
They all do, Anon. The first two each contain half of the first message.

>>29076512

Loved it as always, and as always I'll promise to do a full review which I will probably actually do at some random point in the future!

>>She's been speaking in her old thees and thous ever since this all happened. It's like it's awoken something in her."

Really liked this bit for some reason.

I probably disagree with everyone on the ending not giving enough closure. To me it was just the right amount plus showing that there was _some_ kind of forward direction and a mystery left behind without as someone already said it basically turning into a sequel.

>hidden message
I won't lie and claim I noticed it until someone else pointed it out, but nice.

I particularly liked the null terminator.

Am I missing something here? While the last one gives something.The first two pics only give me K0so5KTt...

>>29076512
Thank you for this story.

And I think its time to let go of SiM.

>>29078760
You should try that first one again. It's a pastebin URL

>>29078816
Thanks!

Was wondering what the meaning of that message means. Though now I am kind of wishing for a sequel that will never happen.

>>29076512
> Yet now the red bar was firmly locked to somewhere in the far east.
Alt-austraeoh here we come

>>29080785
>Though now I am kind of wishing for a sequel that will never happen.
I do too, but it would have to be a very different story. I mean, BB told a complete story, tied up almost all the loose threads (I still don't know what those magical crystals, that got buried around anon's house and Cadance allegedly didn't know about, were good for) and had a satisfying ending.

I'd love to spend two more years following a new story where, this time it's Dash instead of Anon who's running away from her past and (once she figures out what's what) also has to hide a huge secret. Probably with Gilda involved as an ally, and M5 as antagonists trying to capture her and bring her back (element of harmony is missing, Equestria is in danger...) There's lots of heavy themes to explore like trust, friendship, hope, guilt, revenge...

Do I want to start reading a sequel a few months from now? Yes! But I don't think I the story needs to continue per se. It's already complete and timeless as it is. What I really hope for is that BB will keep writing... If it's related to Space-anon doesn't really matter.

bampu

>>29076512
Wow, that was crazy good story all around.

Please continue writing.

sooooo
what active story do we have?

>>29083920
That IS the question, isn't it?
Punishment update is a couple days out still

>>29081898
>I mean, BB told a complete story, tied up almost all the loose threads

Yea, but I still want to see what happens with Dash. She is a mental wreck and has seen sides of each of the princesses that no one will ever see.

>This time it's Dash instead of Anon who's running away from her past and (once she figures out what's what) also has to hide a huge secret.

This was something I was hoping for, but as I said it will probably never come.

>>29083920
>>29084327

I think we need to start a suggestion pastebin and discussion.

The nature of this thread has been altered over time and now I am not even sure what this thread is fully about.

Adding suggestions will give a chance for new writers to bloom and give newbies an idea of what this general represents. Also it might help alleviate from the edgy aura that this thread always had.

>>29084960
>The nature of this thread has been altered over time and now I am not even sure what this thread is fully about.
It certainly has. I don't know about anyone else, but I think, if we want to keep the thread going...which at this point, is a big if...it might be time to drop the connections to the Namelessverse in the OP, amonst other things.

Looks like the BB pastebin is out of date. I think it's missing the last couple of updates and the epilogue.

>>29076512
>It's a good end after all
Thanks anon. I'm tired of so many bittersweet/bad endings.

>>29084967
I think we should keep this thread going.

Though content has always been slow, we have a lot of story potential from the ending of season 5.

Mind control and war for power from the sombra universe.

Manipulation of the law for under from the Nightmare moon universe.

Chrysalis having to come up with methods for Changelings to increase love absorption from the ponies in her universe. Actually after season 6 someone could have a story with Chrysalis trying to come to power as well.

I have no concepts for Tirek.

Flim and Flam's industrialization of Ponyville and Equestria.

>>29087598
I also hope this thread continues. Perhaps some of our writers will be inspired to return...

>>28991575
So is the original story going to ever be finished?

I wanna see what Anon does.. does he decide to help Twilight? Does he stay loyal to Nightmare Moon?

WHAT HAPPEN

>>29087969
After the Jin drama, last I heard was that he was roleplaying his fic in prison.

His last post was him saying he accidentally deleted the next part of his story and was rewriting it. Gave a link to a picture he commissioned then never returned.

>>29087944
>Perhaps some of our writers will be inspired to return...

Either that or new writes come and join the fray.

>>29088032
Sheeeeitttt boy, I just finished it, or caught up rather, like last week and have been dying to read the rest.
Welp, I guess for now I'll move on, if I can find anything good
I've read all good SPG stories and caught up with all the decent ongoing ones but haven't found anything good enough to keep my interest since.

>>29088093
There are plenty of other stories in our archive pastebin, Anon. Most stories by Escapade take place in the same universe.

>>29088378
Yea, I just don't know where to go after finishing what I've been reading. I'm kinda picky.
I'll dig around

This thread is the unholy trinity of edge, cringe, and autism.

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>>29089058
>This board is the unholy trinity of edge, cringe, and autism.
FIFY

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>>29089425
>4chan is the unholy trinity of edge, cringe, and autism.
FIFY

>10

>Before bed bamp