//------------------------------// // The Memoria Guard // Story: Umbra Memoria // by Lunaexcelsior //------------------------------// “HALT TRESSPASSER OR FACE THE WRATH OF ISDEUH!” the voice commanded as Luna quickly turned. Behind her stood two creatures, both so strange and yet so familiar to her. The one that introduced itself as Isdeuh seemed to be the larger of the two. The creature's head seemed to be covered with a helmet shaped like a dark unicorn horn. This helmet went all around his head, only showing the two red, beady eyes, peering from behind the dark abyss. His upper body was covered in heavy armor with the Royal Crest on his chest. His feet were covered by steel boots with spikes protruding from the sides and his hands were covered by a pair of gauntlets ending in sharp claws on his fingertips. Even though the creature held a recently used halberd in his right hand, Luna could clearly see two swords comfortably lying on his hips. The beast stood imposingly towards Luna and his bombastic voice still rang through her ears. The other creature was notably different. Unlike Isdeuh, this being had a more feminine physique. She stood at the same height as Luna, able to look her right in the eyes, while Isdeuh was a good head taller than both of them. The feminine creature appeared to be dark blue with octopus like appendages flowing from her head and onto the floor. Apart from her interesting hair, this creature also had real opals as her eyes which contrasted against her pale green skin. The rest of her body was covered by a dark blue dress, making her appear as if she were floating over the ground. Her hands were covered in white fingerless gloves which revealed a set of rings on each hand. Luna thought one of her rings looked like her cutie mark, while another resembled that of Celestia’s. This creature kindly smiled at Luna. “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” Isdeuh commanded. “My name is Princess Luna, sovereign ruler of the night and a protector of all ponies, both in the waking and slumbering world”, Luna presented herself. “I DON’T NEED YOUR LIFE STORY!” Isdeuh yelled. As he did so the feminine creature tapped his shoulder. “WHAT?!” Isdeuh yelled again as the other being just stared at him awkwardly. “Oh, tone”, Isdeuh spoke softly, feeling a bit embarrassed, “I forget sometimes”, he apologized awkwardly. The feminine creature rolled her eyes. “Umm, excuse me”, Luna said, drawing attention of the two creatures to herself, “but who are you two?” “My name is Isdeuh Zorn”, the creature introduced itself, “And this lovely minx next to me is Eluvietta Parsaphon. Together we are the Forefront of the Memoriam Guard”, Isdeuh explained as he pointed to the feminine creature next to him. Eluvietta extended her arm and shook Luna’s hoof. “Pleased to meet you”, Luna said as Eluvietta only nodded. Luna was confused by this. “You’ll have to forgive her, she tends to have a very powerful voice that has been known to drive some creatures insane, so she doesn’t speak as much”, Isdeuh explained. “I see”, Luna commented. “Enough of these pleasantries”, Isdeuh commanded, “I want to know, what are you doing here in Darkrim’s mind! This area is strictly off—“he began, but Eluvietta stopped him and pointed to Luna’s necklace. She whispered something in Isdeuh’s ear. “You don’t say”, Isdeuh commented as he observed Luna’s protection amulet. “Pray tell”, Isdeuh turned to Luna, “where did you get that amulet from?” “I brought it in with me”, Luna replied. “Interesting”, Isdeuh trailed off as he turned to Eluvietta. She nodded her head and touched Luna's forehead with her hand. One of her rings started to fly off of her hand and it dispersed in many bubbles, each showing a scene from Luna’s and Darkrim’s time together. Luna watched in awe as each of the bubbles awoken pleasant memories. “Her reaction seems genuine”, Isdeuh commented, “So I’ll give her the benefit of a doubt. You can call it back”. As Isdeuh said that, Eluvietta, much to Luna's dismay, signaled her hands towards the memory bubbles, making them condense once again in her ring. “It seems you check out, princess”, Isdeuh spoke a bit less commanding, “but we are still perplexed as to why have you graced us with your visit. Care to explain?” “Well”, Luna began, “It would appear that Darkrim’s mind had been plagued with a terrible curse and I can see it has begun to take its toll.” “You mean the shadow serpents?” Isdeuh asked. “Yes”, Luna replied, “I see you have encountered a few of them”, Luna said and pointed her hoof towards Isdeuh’s halberd. “Unfortunately”, Isdeuh replied and wiped his halberd, “The accursed things began to appear a few months ago and have been popping like wildfire since.” “Well I have a way we can stop them”, Luna said, peeking Isdeuh’s and Eluvietta’s interest. “Go on”, Isdeuh signaled Luna. “Well”, Luna began as she took a map from her satchel, “Judging by the latest nightmare, Darkrim’s source of misery can be located right here”, Luna pointed to the high point. “Well that is quite high up the memory ladder”, Isdeuh said, “You’re going to need quite some time till you get there.” “I was hoping you could help me out in that department”, Luna said. Both Isdeuh and Eluvietta looked at each other with a concerned look. “Well we can’t do much, since our duties here still call us”, Isdeuh spoke, “We could open the Mindgate for you. Eluvietta here is the only one that knows the combination to unlock it, so she could help you with that”, Isdeuh explained, “but from there on you’ll be on your own.” “Well that’s a start”, Luna sighed. “Alright then”, Isdeuh said, as Eluvietta nodded her head. Just as she was about to unlock the door, Isdeuh gave something to Luna. They were two black and white earplugs. “Trust me you are going to need them”, Isdeuh said as Eluvietta shot him an angry stare. Luna put in the two earplugs as Eluvietta took in a deep breath. Her tendrils rose up and glowed in bright green color and her opal eyes became pure black. She began to sing in a low hum as the gates slowly trembled. Isdeuh stepped away from the gates and Luna followed him. “Patitur memoriis praeteritum libere vagari liberum, aperiantur portæ falle“, Eluvietta sang louder and louder as bigger chunks of the gate began crumbling down. At one point her voice became so loud and high pitched that it actually passed through Luna’s earplugs. It was then when Luna heard Eluvietta’s powerful voice. It sounded like a combination of so many different tones, but extremely feminine in its nature. Some frequencies resembled Luna’s own voice, while others belonged to Celestia. Isdeuh was surprised by Luna’s look of pure amazement at her voice. Nevertheless he placed his hand over Luna’s ears as Eluvietta sang so loud and high that even he felt a bit of a drawback. With the final tone being sung the gates crumbled down and a blinding white light skewered their eyes. Eluvietta bowed to the standing crowd and rushed towards them. Luna couldn’t see anything behind the veil of light. “This is the netrance to Darkrim's hall of memories”, Isdeuh explained; “From there on, you must find Gorgus. He is the only one that can bring you higher up. Give him my best”, Isdeuh said as they waved at Luna. “Thank you, so much, guardians”, Luna replied as she waved back as she entered the blinding light. As she entered, the steel gate returned to its primary position and Luna was locked inside this new place. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the blinding light died down, Luna could clearly see that she was in a pure white room. Around Luna were doors, not unlike those in the dream state, each colored differently and separated by severity. Luna could clearly see her gorgeous moon rising above a giant door. “This seems a bit too easy”, Luna thought to herself as she inspected the door. The door seemed to be leaking some sort of ominous purple energy behind it. Just as she was about to open the door, a battle axe went flying at it. Luna jumped back and looked behind her. Her heart raced as she saw a creature at least seven feet tall standing behind her. The beast seemed to be bipedal, much like the Memoriam guards, with the bottom half of a horse and the upper half much like that of a Minotaur, hairy and very muscular. Volcanic fire seemed to run through the beast’s body and it wore a belt filled with various weapons, from axes to swords. The head of this monstrosity resembled that of a fire rhino combined with bull’s horns. In his left arm it held a war hammer filled with the insignia of both the Tartarus Royal Crest and Equestrian Diarchy. Luna was pretty enraged by the beast’s action. “What is the meaning of this?!” Luna yelled as she pointed to an axe firmly implanted in the doorway. Instead of attacking her, the creature dropped down on one knee and placed its right arm on its chest. “Forgive me princess”, it spoke in a deep baritone, “but I had to stop you from entering. It is far too risky to go inside.” “Well you could’ve just said so!” Luna yelled. “Oh yeah”, the creature looked down in shame and scratched the back of his head. Luna fixed sighed and straightened her ruffled mane. She seized down the creature from head to hooves. “You wouldn’t happen to be Gorgus, would you?” Luna asked. “In magma and fur, your highness”, Gorgus replied. “So what are you exactly?” Luna continued to inquire watching this beast with a puzzling look. “Well I am a Memoriam Guide”, he said, “I was employed by Eluvietta and Isdeuh to guide you through Darkrim’s memories.” “Already? But I met them just a few minutes ago”, Luna looked at him suspiciously. “Well”, Gorgus began to explain, “We were told that an outsider will come in and help us to fend off this fiendish horde we have been fighting against for quite some time now. Since they allowed you to come this far, that has to be you.” “I see”, Luna said, a bit more convinced, “Still I don’t understand why I can’t enter this door. Isn’t that the core of the problem?” she asked. “True”, Gorgus said, “It is the place where the curse has been most aggressive and that’s why it is inaccessible. We have already lost so many Memoriam Guardians in there that it has been placed under strict quarantine." “So what do you suggest we do?” Luna asked. “Well”, Gorgus explained, “I believe that it would be best if we take the outdoor approach”, Gorgus stopped for a dramatic moment. “I see”, Luna began, much to Gorgus’ dismay, “Since all the memories are connected we can use one of the least infected memories in order to get to the top. That’s brilliant!” Luna clicked. She noticed Gorgus’ look of disappointment. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “I was supposed to explain that”, Gorgus said under his breath. Luna chuckled. “Oh, don’t be such a baby”, she waved her hoof, “now what’s the least infected memory?” “Oh”, Gorgus snapped out of his poutiness, “That would be his oldest memory. It takes a while for the curse to affect it, so I think that could be our best bet.” “So lead us on, guide”, Luna winked, as Gorgus blushed. He walked up to a green door with a crown on top of it. He took out an axe with the same symbol. “I’d suggest you step away for a bit”, he said as he prepared to strike, “It’s going to get pretty messy.” Luna stepped back slowly as she watched the fiery behemoth rise his axe. He swung the weapon as hard as he could and made the door literally explode in tiny shrapnel. In one fell swoop the door became dust as Luna shielded her eyes from the oncoming debris. “HA HA!” Gorgus laughed, “These muscles aren’t just for show. Let’s go!” Luna dusted herself off from the sawdust and followed the creature. Gorgus jumped into a swirly portal that seemed to resonate in the darkest colors of blue, red, black and green. Luna quickly followed suit, questioning what sort of things lie behind.