1964 replies and 53 files omitted.
>>83406Hmmmm....
>>83407"You say you are from Stalliongrad, Sait Petershoof I think, but then you said you were doing work in the vicinity of Ponyville. And 18 years after that, you were attacked by bandits who originated from somewhere around the area of Ponyville"
She thinks this is a question
>>83408"I do"
>>83404"i guess."
>>83409"they why did you frown at me?"
>>83410"It seemed odd that you would give me drinks that you didn't like"
>>83411I mean, he can wake up >>83412"i like hard liquor more than fancy drinks."
>>83409"Such is life of mercenary. You go where work is, or where you think work will be. As for Ponyville job, I got tip off for work near there as I was travelling in region. I forget who gave me tip, then..." He rubs his chin in thought as he tries to figure out who gave him the original tip, but he comes up with nothing.
>>83415She smiles
"You think Storm Warning was looking for a knight in shining armor to rescue her from her life of boring maidenhood?"
>>83414"Why is that? And why do you give me the fancy drinks then?"
>>83416KEK
>>83418His rectum swallowed it. Of course it's living matter like The thing, so that just means it made its home in his ass, but still>>83413Probably
>>83419Silver gets a good laugh from this. "Her? Pfft, nah. Well, perhaps not in
that particular fashion. But it could be she made extra sure to spread word of her band's deeds as far and wide as possible, to bring in more bounty hunters after her."
>>83419I'll assume he got at least a quarter of his health back, maybe half.Iron wakes up, panting heavily. His coat is sweaty, his hindlegs feel weak, forelegs are heavy on him. He throws away the blankets that he was on, looking for any damage on his supposedly broken legs and bloodied anus, unsure if it was a dream or some sick, twisted reality he was stuck on.
>>83421"Unless she had a death wish - and it sounds like she may have - that makes little sense to me. If I were a thief in a forest, the last thing I would want is for everypony to know that there is a thief in a forest"
>>83422Nope, he is not dripping blood from his anus. He does feel like he might have a mild case of colic. There is a pain in his mid to lower intestine. Must be from the grass he ate yesterday
>>83423"Perhaps she did. All I know is that she felt unfulfilled. She had lost all feeling like she was challenged, so she tried to bring bigger challenges to her, until she would either be matched, or be beaten."
>>83424She looks at him
"That's kind of scary. Imagine if a creature with that kind of attitude took control of an entire nation, rather than just a three pony band of highway mares"
>>83423>looks up colic on web browser>find out Iron can die from colic>inb4 Iron dies from eating grass of all thingsOr, you know, the thing has nestled inside me and is waiting on Iron going to sleep again to start eating his insidesIron breathes a sigh of relief followed by a grunt, lightly rubbing his belly. He groans in mild pain. He slowly stands up from the bed and lazily walks outside of his room. He decides to explore the abbey some more, maybe hoping to see some of the rescued foals to see how they are doing so far.
>>83425"I suppose we are lucky, then, that neither of our naitons have had leader like that."
>>83427Her offended look suggests that she interpreted his statement as intended ironically. She takes a sip of her drink.
>>83426The foals seem to be released from dinner when Iron comes out, transitioning from a cafeteria to a common area. The Sisters seem sort of surprised to see him, while the foals are less afraid than they were the day before
>>83419"i didnt know if you would like it or not."
>>83427>>83425"heh i wouldn't exactly say lucky."
>>83428Iron is relieved by the receding fear the foals have on him. He is interested in that unicorn foal that was very clingy to Ash, just in case he might act dumb some more in front of him with some small teasing.
>>83429She smiles and places a hoof over Dark Star's shoulder after he makes that last comment
>>83430The small unicorn foal is not in the common area. When Iron looks around, he can find the small foal in a high chair in the dining area as a Sister tries to feed him
>>83431Iron watches intently at the scene.
>>83428He raises his hooves in innocence, and smiles awkwardly. "No, no, I did not mean it like that. For what I think of your Duke, I do not think he is like that."
>>83432A sister takes teaspoons of honey out of a jar, and seems to be feeding it to the foal
>>83433She looks at him more
"You don't seem to be willing to chose him over Chrysalis"
>>83434Huh, seems the foal is acting more civilized than he expected. Strange. He hissed and was relatively angry at Iron on his trip here, which was rather endearing for him. Iron watches some more, just to make sure he doesn't do any funny business.
>>83431Dark Star Puts his arm around her neck
>>83434"I don't suppose you are happy to call your new government your ruler either in Nimbusia."
>>83436Iron is a bit embarrased. "Oh, sorry. I did not mean to be a nuisance. How is the colt you are feeding doing? He seems quite different from yesterday when he was brought back here."
>>83434"Of course I would, but that does not mean I
want to choose him. It is choice between giving up our sovereignty to foreign power we do not feel cares for us, or being slaves to creatures that feed on emotions. It is choice between two evils for us, even if one is clearly lesser."
>>83438"I left there before they let the boneheads vote" she says with a slight disgust
>>83437She smiles, as she likes this
>>83439"We think his digestive system suffered partial damage from starvation. He refuses any solid foods, but we discovered he will eat honey. I am trying to mix in vitamins"
>>83440"You know the new Marelanders are your own Equestrian kind, right? Descendants of the same three tribes, worship the same religion, speak the same language, have the same basic legal system, had entirely the same history for 500 years and a linked history for 500 years after that... They had the same sovereign until living memory. And that to you is 'foreign'? They have more in common than either does to
any eastern pony nation, or really than the Eastern pony have with each other. If The Duke is 'a foreigner,' then so is the Mi Amore dynasty the Equestrians installed as a puppet government over the crystal ponies"
>>83441Iron is not happy with this response. "Will he recover with the vitamins you are putting in the honey?"
>>83441"But do New Marelanders view themselves as Equestrians? Or do they view themselves as New Marelanders?"
>>83441"I'm glad you made it out. There is no place for ponies like us to go though. We are stuck here."
>>83442"That is what we are hoping, yes"
>>83443"From speaking to them, they have more of an identity than as simply another Equestrian dominion, to be sure
>>83444"Indeed"
>>83445"Do you believe we deserve to be stuck here?"
>>83446Snoonetdoodle is not quite touched
>>83447"What?"
>>83445Iron cocks his head. "What do you mean, hoping? If a pony eats food again, then he should be cured of any starvation, right?"
>>83448"Do you believe we should be stuck here? As in do we as defeated ponies of a nation that fought against the Duke deserve to be stuck on a land that at any moment can be consumed by the changelings?"
>>83445"500 years is long time. It is half lifespan of Equestria. In that time, they have developed their own culture, their own history. They developed their own accents to speak. They have developed their own denominations of Celestialism. They have their own flora, and fauna, that they recognize and study. They made their own businesses. They have their own holidays. They had their own laws. By time they had declared their independence, all that linked New Mareland to Equestria was that we were both nations of ponies, and that long ago, we were one. Fairly flimsy link, as you have pointed out.
"New Mareland is New Mareland. Equestria is Equestria. In end, they are just as foreign to us as we are to them. And as they would not want to be ruled by us Equestrians, we Equestrians do not want to be ruled by them."
>>83449She moves closer to Iron, as if to say this only to Iron
"When the body is deprived of food for too long, it starts to cannibalize itself, destroying its own organs for sustenance. The intestines are among those. We think that this process started on this foal, and it means that he is not taking solid foods well. That is why we are giving him honey, for the hope that he will recover"
>>83450She folds her ears back
"... I... no?"
>>83451"Then maybe the Equestrians should have left them alone, and allowed them to have their own destiny"
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>>83446"Help me with these political debates, Dark Star"
>>83452"I can't blame New Mareland for what happened and how they treat us now. But most of us didn't want anything to do with a war. A few may have just because Celestia said so, and of course we followed what she said. But now we are doomed to die for something we had no control of, unless the changelings can be defeated, in which case we are at the mercy of the Duke for the rest of our lives."
>>83452Iron thinks he understands. He starts to whisper. "Anything in particular that is needed to boost his recovery? There must be something to restore his body from starvation." He thinks some more. "Are the other foals that we brought back having this problem as well?"
>>83455"The other foals are not. They say that this particular foal was kept in a cage. I am trying to add vitamins to the honey, which itself is high enough in calories, and sweet enough for him to take it"
>>83454"Which is why we intend to keep back Chrysalis. Ask this guy here why he does not want to help"
>>83452"And maybe New Mareland should have recognized that we are stronger together, and put aside their differences with us to fight against Chrysalis. Maybe they should not have acted so rash, when they interfered in tricky political situation. But they did not recognize this, and they did act rash. And now, these should haves and should have nots will serve us no purpose."
>>83456"You are not keeping them back. They are holding back of their own accord, building strength while they have no enemies attacking. If they decided to attack, New Mareland would not have enough forces here to do even half of what Equestria was doing by end of war."
>>83456Right. He forgot about that. "It seems you have this under control." Iron thinks some more. "Tell me, who is the most knowledgable pony about the religion in this building? I want to ask a few questions about it."
>>83457"In fairness, we declared war on them. Not much they could have done to stay out of political situations from that."
>>83456"However... he makes a good point. You aren't prepared for a war. Tell me, why were you so excited to get those books?"
>>83457She look at him with mild annoyance
"Equestria declared war
first. Before the Changeling invasion. They openly supported the Iconoclast griffins in their war against us, even sending expeditionary forces. It is Equestria that had the power to recognize that they were stronger with their old dominion than without it. They left New Mareland no choice"
"Have you ever thrown meet to distract attacking dogs?"
>>83458"That would be Sister Marery"
>>83459"We are
preparing for a war"
>>83460"Did New Mareland attack griffons first?"
>>83460"Thank you. I will leave you be now." Iron now looks for this sister Marey. He thinks it was the mare that greeted him and Ash last night, but maybe it was Thyme. He doesn't really remember.
>>83461"A different set of griffins, yes"
>>83462After asking around, he finds Sister Marery
>>83450>>83454"the duke has a war to win in the east. if you want some one to protect equestria, im going to be running next election." celestia did."
>>83463Iron pokes Marey. "Excuse me, are you going to be busy soon? I wanted to ask some questions."
>>83465"Oh... Questions about what?"
>>83466"Well, you never really finished explaining about how relationships have this natural order to them. It was you who told me that when I asked to sleep on the same quarters as Ash last night, right?
>>83468"Well, you never did finish your explanation and now that I have time to spare, I would like to know."
>>83469She tries to ponder the best way of explaining it
"You know how the lock only makes sense with the key, and the key only makes sense with the lock? Both are useless without the other"
>>83463"So, let me get this straight: New Mareland declared their independence, abandoned concept of Harmony, this ideology that promotes peaceful cooperation between countries that had been rooted in Equestrian culture for millennia, and then, when they declared war on griffon neighbors against Equestria's earlier wishes, they act surprised and outraged when Equestria comes to aid of griffons who were attacked first? Surely they must have seen that coming, and knew what they were going to cause."
>>83470"Huh? 'luck' makes sense with the 'peaks'? Is that a complex metaphor?" Iron cocks his head. Perhaps Marey should consider more natural objects to compare it with.
>>83464"I hope that goes well."
>>83471"You call armed conflict aid? What right did we have to war against a nation that declared independence? They fought against those that would have conquered New Mareland if they had the chance. And since when do we use war as our first means of settling the issue? Had we learned nothing from the Elements?"
>>83473"tell your pony friends. Dark Star Cares about them."
>>83473"Had New Mareland learned anything from Elements? For 500 years, their neighbors did not try to conquer them. Even with Equestria being so far away and so unprepared for war, they did nothing. I imagine we tried our damnedest to convince New Mareland to not declare war. I would be shocked if we did not. But New Mareland declared war on neighboring countries
first. I doubt any attempt we made to resolve issue peacefully would have convinced them to stop."
>>83475"If we declared war on the changelings first, would you expect others to come to their aid?"
>>83474"Sorry. I'm a bit low on friends. I have this fine team of ponies though that I consider friends."
>>83476"Perhaps those who thought like them, yes. I would certainly believe that most nations would not be supportive of us if we did, at least."
>>83478"Then how are you supposed to ever survive if you are not allowed to strike first to save lives? Are you supposed to allow the enemy to take lives just so you have the moral superiority to fight? There is indeed a wrong time and wrong way to war, but to say it is cut and dry defensive war only that is good, you are mistaken."
>>83471"Celestia being a dirty griffin lover would explain why the New Marelanders thought that they needed a new government certainly.
Now, let me see if I can get
you straight. You worship a God-emperor who was never elected, and is questionably even from the normal ponies to begin with. And for a thousand years She allowed disharmony and conflict within her Empire. She herself is too weak to fight back the world ending terrors that invade every year, be it Chrysalis the first time, Discord, Tirek, or the Storm King. Then, recently, she appoints a new princess, who is competent enough in her role... but who herself takes as an adviser who was a psychopathic leftist dictator who would systematically remove harmony magic from ponies as a way of bringing 'harmony.' And after she takes this new adviser, Equestria ceases its isolationism, but tries to convert its neighboring nations to its philosophic doctrine under the theory that they would take it in kind.
And so when the Reformistin begin murdering eastern ponies en masse, this means nothing to Celestia. When mass immigration of griffons causes social disruption in New Mareland, this means nothing to Celestia. When the successor states of the Griffonian empire were overthrown by dictators and revolutionaries and began to expand, this was not concern for Celestia. But a pony nation trying to take active measures against the threats... this is outrageous?
And so, they declare war on their old subjects. They are then invaded by their neighbors. They get their asses handed to them utterly. And then with this self caused catastrophe they point the blame to anycreature but themselves"
>>83472"Give me a minute"
>>83475"For 500 years their neighbors, your beloved griffins, attacked the Eastern ponies. they burned our cities, sacked our towns, raided and pillaged. They conquered pony land and set up oppressive knightly regimes. They appointed bandits as border guards. Are the Eastern ponies life not worthy of life to you? Do you care not for us? Are we too far away? But never mind that, because it wasn't the Griffonian Empire that was New Mareland's problem. It was the myriad successor states. Those were ruled not only by your beloved greedy nobles, but by iconoclastic griffin revolutionaries, and power hungry dictators"
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>>83480"Okay" Iron scratches his side. He hopes that he didn't insult her somehow. She's a nice mare.
>>83480"How goes the preparations by the way? What are the chances for holding the enemy back?"
>>83482"we have purchased time thus far, and we are trying to make the best of it"
>>83483She coos, and nuzzles him
>>83484"In other words, we are bucked, but not right now."
>>83480Silver glares at her, and keeps his voice low. It's clear he's trying to keep from getting angry at what she's saying. "We did what we had to do. We did what we had to do to keep Harmony alive. Because we knew what would happen if it died. We already know what would happen, because it is happening now. There is no peace, only war. No life, only death. We look at our neighbors with suspicion. We stop believing in friends, in allies. All we see are enemies. There is no respect between nations and peoples, only distrust and hatred.
"Say what you will about what we have and have not done. But we had reason to do so. We tried to keep this world from falling apart into chaos and disharmony. We tried to preserve Harmony because we knew what we could build with it. And then New Mareland decided to invade Equestria. And now Harmony is dying, because last bastion of Harmony, its last protector, is gone. New Mareland has done nothing since it declared independence but declare war, after war, after war. You can not build with war. Only destroy. And, if New Mareland is not conquered by those who also seek to declare war, once there is no one left to wage war against, New Mareland will declare war on itself, and be destroyed."
>>83485"That's... not quite what I said"
>>83481"Well, I can't be sure if I remember the context of that conversation, but everything has an order to it. As the seasons, as the sun to the plants, and as the weather"
>>83487"Ah, so you are saying that there is a sort of connection between the two. I think you are insinuating that mares and stallions also have this as well, right?" Iron thinks he has it.
>>83487"And how did you come to purchase time? What are you trading to buy it?"
>>83486"No,
They -
we - did what had to be done to prevent harmony - true harmony - from being extinguished and wiped out. And I don't mean the 'harmony' that Snake whispered into Celestia's protege's ear. Unlike you, we have not given up.
I have not given up"
>>83489"Have you ever heard of a 'non-disclosure agreement'?"
>>83488"Why yes of course, an order in all things"
>>83490"I see, so what is the order between the two? You only said that mares and stallions sleep very far apart, which sounds unnatural. What is the reason for it?"
>>83490"I was afraid of that."
The sorcerer goes back to staring into his drink.
>>83491"The relationship between mare and stallion is complex. In that case, it is a separation of unmarried stallions and mares"
>>83485"i can stop the changlings."
>>83484Dark Star Nuzzles her back
>>83493"Never heard that before. When is someone 'unmarried'? How it is decided?"
>>83490He chuckles once to himself. "Of course you would view that as...'true'...harmony. You were never taught meaning of Harmony in first place." Silver sighs, and steps out of his seat. Just like earlier, when Silver told his story, he knows that Blue will never understand. "I do not like politics much. I like to separate politics from ponies, when it comes up." He looks right at Blue, something indecipherable in his vision. "You are good pony, when separated from your politics. Never forget that."
>>83483>>83490>>83492Silver turns to his companions. "I will be in my room here in tavern. Let me know when Ash arrives." With that, he leaves the bar to his room, to have a smoke and settle down.
>>83494"I don't want to rain on your parade Dark Star, but you can't. All you would be capable of is buying more time with whatever they trade for it. You would be far better than anypony else in such a position though. And it would probably a better job for you. Your marefriend wouldn't worry quite so much about you showing up within an inch of your life."
>>83495"It is the absence of a ritual binding a mare and a stallion together for life"
>>83494*coo*
>>83498"You mean the procreation process? Is that how you marry a mare?"
>>83499"I can't say I understand your friend there. He will go on tirades about Chrysalis, but when the time comes to commit to doing anything about it, he freezes up and says he will just die"
>>83500"In a way, yes, it is. But no. No, it is not. It is a bind together for life between the mare and the stallion, before society and before the universe"
>>83501"So do they tie themselves with a string of sorts? I have no clue how you could show that without a pregnant mare and the stallion protecting the mare." Iron scratches his head in confusion.
>>83502"No, it is a relationship between the stallion and the mare. One that is public and well known to all of those they interact with in society"
>>83503"But how can you show that? Is is not enough to live together and have children?"
>>83501"No Disrespect to silver but,that mentality is why we cant get anything done."
>>83505"I feel like at some times just throwing my hooves up and saying 'alright then. Become a Changeling feeding thrall. You are not my problem any longer.'
>>83504"Living together and having children is the substance of the relationship that forms its core. Marriage is this relations plus lines that define it. An explicit set of vows, and a ceremony known to the world that the world may know"
>>83506"What vows and ceremony are we talking about?"
>>83507"Vows of love and protection and whatever else may be necessary before a minister of religion. Attendance of peers from the community. And usually a contract that involves the state that has legal ramifications"