//------------------------------// // Chapter 08 // Story: The Mirror-Stone Wasteland // by Robipony //------------------------------// “What separates a master from their slave? Having been in both positions I can tell you. It is a fine line where one pony must serve the other willingly or not. So what separates a slave from the rebel? Nothing. It is the master’s blindness that allows their slaves to slash their throat.” -Shadow-Stalk Twilight was stuck in the large web. She tried to tug free despite her mind telling her that it was really a bad idea to do so. She continued to tug only to find herself more entangled in the web then before. Then out of the corner of her eye something moved. A large white spider walked the web towards her its eyes glistened an angry red. Those eyes looked Twilight over before stretching out two long legs spinning the purple Alicorn in a circular motion entangling her further into the sticky web. Once the spider had stopped wrapping Twilight in the web it left its prey and moved back up the web toward a white sac. Twilight gasped as the sac broke open and six spiderlings exited out onto the web. She watched them while some fell off the web into the inky darkness below a few of the others appeared to be fighting. Among them a black spider with two large horns fought until it was the last remaining spiderling on the web. The white spider walked over to its child and tried to nestle up close her youngling, but the black spiderling disapproved of its mother’s affection as it bite down on its mother’s leg. Twilight had read that the venom of a young spider was generally more toxic then that of the adult counterpart. A few seconds later the white spider fell off her web to the blackness below. Once the mother spider was gone the black horned spider walked the web towards Twilight. The princess screamed knowing that she would be its food. As the arachnid stood over her it spoke a few words. “You… Are… Mine!” Twilight awoke before the spiders fangs sank into her flesh. She breathed heavily as reality swept over here. The light of the morning sun swept in through the window illuminating the bedroom. “It was just another dream.” Twilight said as she pulled herself out of bed, rubbing her eyes. Browney groggily raised one of his heads in response to her movements however his soon fell shut and once again he was back to snoring aloud on his pillow. The Alicorn noted how cute the orthros looked as he slept. Twilight paced nervously in front of her desk. There had been more sittings of the mysterious diamond dog and more royal guard ponies had been eliminated. While the celestial princesses might view the royal guard as mere tools Twilight preferred to view them as individual beings. Well, aside from that there was some good news. The restoration of the city was progressing steadily. While some areas of the city were merely covered in dust there were other parts that looked like a war zone. Evidence was found indicating that in the final years of the empire a war had been waged against it. Twilight remembered back to such a day. ---3 days prior--- Trixie escorted Twilight and Fire Stride through the laboratory showing them some of the discoveries that her team had uncovered in the ruins. “What we have here is what appears to have once been a unicorn war chariot.” Trixie said motioning to the chariot. It was different from all the chariots that Twilight had ever been in. However that was due to the chariots either being flown by Pegasi or pulled by earth ponies. It was like a chariot except there were no wheels or anything by which it could be pulled. Large magical artillery cannons hung from its side. “This is a rather perplexing device,” Twilight spoke, “now how did it work?” “Well, we believe that each chariot may have consisted of a two pony team,” Trixie said, motioning towards the vehicle, “The pony in the front of the chariot would channel their magic into the crystals to their left and right to pilot the vehicle, while another unicorn would be in the bag controlling the artillery cannons with their magic.” That made sense and was consistent with the documents Twilight had found in the library and other parts of the Obelisk, discussing the empire during its latter years. After Princess Platinum and the other tribal explorers had found Equestria, only a small portion had actually moved on. Leaving behind three tribes waged in a large war against each other. In the end the Earth pony tribe and the Pegasi tribe joined forces to wipe out the Unicorn kingdom. At this time there was also a civil war going on among the unicorns. One part of the kingdom desired to leave for Equestria and to be at peace with the other tribes. However due to the assassination of her husband Queen Sapphire had refused and forced them to stay. Thus there was a great war that lasted twenty years. “Interesting,” Twilight said as Trixie directed the group to another object. “Alright now I hereby offer you both a challenge,” Trixie spoke gesturing to the item, “I would like you to guess what this device is?” Twilight looked at the device, it was made of the Mirror-Stone and consisted of three major parts. The first part was long and was split halfway down the center. In this slit green crystals were encrusted which the ones seen on the chariots artillery cannons. The middle section was more rounded and bulky, but what made it bizarre was that it possessed craftsmanship of both Earth pony and Unicorn design. Due to a large crack in the section twilight could see that the interior consisted of gears as well as some magical crystals. The last section was long and almost resembled a large staff; however there was nowhere anyone could hold it as the shaft was entirely covered in purple crystals, much like the ones that a pilot would have used to fly the chariot previously seen. “It looks like a weapon of some sort,” Fire Stride spoke, “However that is all I can say about it.” Twilight nodded, “These sections do appear to be components for a weapon of some sort. However I am puzzled by who would have used it. It contains mechanical parts like that which an Earth pony would develop yet it also has components seen in Unicorn craftsmanship. Considering that fact that both parties were at war with each other at the time I can’t see how such a device could have been created at this time.” There was a long pause before Trixie spoke again, he face full of pride, “While I don’t have enough evidence to support this claim, I am confident enough to say that this item might in fact be a Neos-Blade.” Twilight’s jaw dropped while Fire Stride merely looked confused. “What is a Neos-Blade?” Fire Stride asked, clearly not understanding the significant of the item. Trixie smiled widely and resumed speaking, “A Neos-Blade is a magical weapon of sorts used by unicorns of significant power. They were designed that they could serve in both close range and long range combat.” Twilight nodded remembering some notes that she had read in some of the accounts found in the library. There had been mentions of such weapons being crafted during the civil war, however they were always mentioned being created by the loyalist party, which didn’t match with what Twilight saw in front of her. “Trixie I am not sure that is possible,” Twilight spoke, “only the loyalist created Neos-Blades and this device is clearly of both unicorn and Earth pony craftsmanship. Seeing as the loyalist would have been aligned with Queen Sapphire, such combined craftsmanship shouldn’t happen.” “Perhaps,” Trixie nodded, “However I do have a theory that would explain this.” Trixie directed the group to table where she laid out a map for them to look at. It was a detailed map with a layout all the excavation sites around the Mirror-Stone Empire. The blue unicorn pointed a hoof to one section of the map that had a large circle swirled around it. “The Neos-Blade was found here,” Trixie spoke, “As the excavation team searched here they also found what appeared to be a large burial ground of Earth ponies. All of the skeletons appeared to have been bound using shackles and were surrounded with various tools.” A flame of understanding lite up in Fire Stride’s eyes, “So you’re suggesting that some Earth ponies may have been captured and were perhaps forced to create such weapons.” “Either that. Or they were enslaved.” ---Back to the Present--- The knowledge that the kingdom Twilight was trying to restore had once enslaved other ponies had left a foul taste in her mouth. That was until she thought on the matter further. No, that wasn’t the kingdom she was restoring. No, she was building a new kingdom that would outshine the previous and be unmarred by that stains of its processor. Another matter that pleased Twilight was how quickly her orthros Browney had adapted to his present accommodations. Years earlier Rainbow-dash had traded for an orthros in order to obtain a first edition Daring Do book. During which Fluttershy had explained that it could take a few months to house train an orthros. Yet it had only taken Twilight a couple weeks to train Browney. It also helped that Browney didn’t salivate that much. Most likely do to him living in the wasteland, where the conservation of water was important in order to survive. Browney began to bark as Claudia entered the room. Despite the noise the maid ignored the orthros as she started to clean the room. “Calm down Browney,” Twilight said, soothingly to the orthros, “Claudia is just going to clean the room.” The orthros stopped barking but kept both pairs of eyes on the maid as she cleaned the room. After Claudia finished cleaning the room she opened the door and left. Shortly after Browney stopped growling and rested both of his heads on his paws. “It just doesn’t seem right,” Twilight was still worried about the diamond dog. How had such a creature come to live here? The diamond dogs were normally native to Equestria so why would there be one here so far away from its natural habitat? Fire Stride had theorized that it may have been a reject from one of the diamond dog clans. It was common for lone diamond dogs to be kicked to of their clan if they were perceived as weak or had done something terrible to the clan. While the latter might explain the doll mask being sowed into the creature as a form of punishment, but why had it wondered this far away from Equestria. Surely the Everfree forest would have been an easier location to travel to, and for a creature like this easier to survive. Another thing that bothered Twilight was the dog’s behavior. Why was it targeting the patrols? Surprisingly enough it seemed to ignore the local farmers and the citizens only attacking the military forces. Suddenly Browney started barking again, the hair on the back of his necks stood on end. “What is it Browney?” Twilight asked, as she looked up from her desk and turned to face the angry orthros, “What is wrong?” A shadow covered the room as something moved in front of the window. Twilight turned to see a large shape outside of window clinging to the window frame. It was a cloaked figure with a white doll mask sown onto its face. The Alicorn gasped and fell backwards as shattered glass crashed to the floor. Here it was, the creature that had been causing so much trouble throughout the kingdom was here. It had come for her! Scrambling to her hooves Twilight ran out of the room her pet orthros following her as the diamond dog crawled in through the window. Despite how much time Twilight had the creature managed to catch up with her and was now hot on her heels. Reaching a stairwell she ran down the steps, two steps at a time. The diamond dog hesitated for a few seconds before continuing the chase. Reaching the bottom of the steps Twilight turned to her left and ran down another corridor where a group of six royal guard ponies were marching. Shortly after the diamond dog turned the corner. The royal guards raised their spears and as soon as their princess had passed, went into a defensive formation. This didn’t stop the diamond dog, within seconds the creature shredded through the guards as if they were paper, their bodies dematerializing into a powdery substance. Twilight kept running looking for a means to escape as she did. Then the princess noticed a storage chamber, perhaps if she locked herself in the room the creature would lose interest and stop chasing her. Once inside Twilight slammed the door shut only to discover that the lock for the door only locked from the outside. Browney barked as the Alicorn telekinetically lifted some boxes to block the door. Once the door was blocked Twilight and Browney went to the back of the room and sat hoping they would be safe from the diamond dog. At first everything seemed to be going well, as the diamond dog slammed and banged angrily on the door. However after a few minutes instead of leaving in frustration, the creature began to chuckle maniacally, as it scratched its claws against the door. Within seconds the wooden door was being torn asunder, as the diamond dog clawed its way into the room. Feeling the urge to protect his new master Browney stepped in front of Twilight barking furiously at the intruder. The diamond dog pushed the boxes aside and began to creep its way towards the princess. Then a shard of mirror stone lurched down from the ceiling and merged with the floor, just inches away from the diamond dog’s nose. The creature starred transfixed at whatever was being reflected in the newly formed pillar, before shrieking in terror and fleeing the room, as fast as it could. --- Twilight sat on her throne as a more secure room was being converted into her new bed room. The guards watched her to ensure her safety, not that it made a difference. To that monster these guards were like a wall of books, weak and easy to push aside. The fact that the diamond dog had been scared off puzzled Twilight. Why had it been the pillar that had scared away the creature? The appearance of the pillar was also puzzling. How had it formed out of nowhere? Was the integrity of the Obelisk at risk? Twilight continued to ponder these questions as Claudia entered the room with a plate of fruit. “For you,” Claudia said, with her monotone voice, “my lady.” Twilight looked at the plate of fruit and noticed that there were no apples on it. Perhaps she could convince Applejack or one of her relatives to start an orchard here. The princess magically picked a piece of fruit off of the plate, “Thank you Claudia.” “Anything for my master.” Claudia said before turning and walking away.