4. Hunter, Prey
Grogar’s stitched golems didn’t hesitate a moment, rushing forward claw-over-foot, using their forearms like forelegs and letting loose hollow, low-pitched wails. The jasmine-coated pegasus, who had just managed to stand, was the closest pony to the lead golem, which leaped, claws outstretched, mouth wide, ready to rip and tear…
…and in the next instant, it went flying backwards, its face a crumpled mess from where the pegasus had punched it with surprising force and accuracy. It rolled a few times before landing in front of Grogar, tried to pick itself up, but then fell to the ground, deflating like a balloon at its master’s hooves as the light in its gemstone eyes went out. The other constructs paused in their charge, looking at their fallen compatriot as they processed this new, unanticipated information.
Grogar raised one eyebrow, but whatever the rest of his reaction might have been was lost as the world suddenly flashed painfully bright white. Grogar grimaced as he closed his eyes against the glare, throwing a shield spell up in front of himself instinctively. When the light at last cleared, the six ponies and alicorn – Celestia – were nowhere in sight, and the golems were looking around, heads snapping about for a few moments, before they turned as one to Grogar and bowed their heads, one of them automatically taking the lead.
“Ponies – and alicorn – have escaped – Master,” the lead golem said, its voice halting, watery, and sounding like it was echoing from the bottom of a well.
Grogar scowled at that. “So it would appear,” he noted, glancing behind him, eyes darting over the rubble and detritus that was the main gate of Castle Tambelon. He noted the largest pile in particular, or more specifically, the hem of a robe sticking out from behind it. “Bray. Stop hiding and get over here.”
From behind the rubble, a brown-coated, turbaned donkey head appeared. Regrettably, the head was still attached to its owner’s body, as Bray came slinking out from where he had been hiding, head bowed low. He still wore the same robes he had before their exile had begun, though they had seen much better days. “A-aku iki ora ndhelikake, Pemilik – ”
“We can’t have that. Dedi verba.” Grogar’s horns glowed as he flicked a hoof at Bray.
The donkey let out a yelp of fright, ducking down and covering his head, but when pain, misery, and death failed to fall on him, he opened an eye, glancing at his master. “What – what did – gah!” Bray put a hoof to his mouth at the sound of his own voice, speaking a language he had never heard before. “What is this?”
“Equestrian,” Grogar noted, rubbing one hoof against his coat. “The language of those ponies these days, it would appear. You will find it useful.” Grogar turned, indicating the five golems. “You five, awaken five – no, ten more. The fifteen of you will then follow and obey Bray until I order otherwise.” Grogar turned to Bray as the donkey was muttering to himself, getting used to the language that had taken root in his mind with no warning. The five golems, meanwhile, took off at full speed through the gates of Castle Tambelon, heading for the Necropolis contained therein to gather some reinforcements “Bray. When they return, you will lead them. Scour the city. Find the ponies and Celestia.” Grogar pushed past Bray, heading towards the palace. “Kill Celestia. Bring me one of the ponies alive, it does not matter which, but I want it unharmed if at all possible. Kill the rest.”
“Of course, Master. A-and I hope you know, I wasn’t hiding, I was...was assuming a position of tactical – ” Bray tried, when there was a sudden sound, like a mountain falling and hitting the ground, from above. Both Grogar and Bray flinched in surprise as they looked up instinctively, and saw the gray shield that Grogar had erected, now covering the whole of the island, ripple, but hold strong. Just barely visible beyond the ripple was a small, midnight-blue dot.
Grogar frowned. That would be Luna, then. “Oh, and Bray,” he said, turning to the donkey once more. Bray glanced, then let out a cry of fright as white energy struck the ground near his hooves. The donkey stumbled backwards, falling on his rear. Grogar jabbed a hoof at him. “Don’t. Dawdle.”
“Of course not, Master!” Bray exclaimed, scrambling to his hooves, and taking off towards the Necropolis, that he might meet his golem servants halfway. “Right away, Master!”
Grogar watched him go for a moment, then glanced upwards again at the shield as it was rocked under another blow from Luna. It would hold – not for long, but this time, maybe it would be for long enough. One of his hooves went to the bell hanging at his neck.
“One more,” he intoned, before setting off for the palace.
---
For several moments, all there was in Raindrops’ mind was running alongside her little herd of friends. The only thinking part of her brain still active was badly wishing that there could have been flying instead, but though her wings were no longer quite as stiff as they had been, they still couldn’t flap with nearly as much speed or force necessary for her to fly, even with pegasus magic.
At length, everypony stopped, if for no other reason than to try and figure out where they were. It was pointless, though – all they could see was cobbled stone beneath their hooves, and ruined buildings everywhere. They sky overhead was gray and shimmering, a field muting all sunlight that managed to filter through.
The six ponies were panting, glancing between each other, Trixie putting one hoof to her head to check that the Element of Magic was still in place. She had been the one to engineer their escape, quickly conjuring up black fields over all their eyes before letting loose a burst of bright, painful light. In the confusion, they had run, as even Raindrops knew that her strike on one of the golems had been a lucky one – the remaining five would have no doubt overwhelmed them, especially if Grogar had entered the fray.
Raindrops nodded her head at Trixie. “Horn’s glowing,” she noted.
“Huh?” Trixie asked, glancing up a moment. Indeed, her horn was glowing cerulean. “Oh, right, I grabbed…”
Her eyes widened, and she turned around quickly, as the remaining five all did as well. Each of them stifled shouts of surprise, as held in Trixie’s telekinetic aura was none other than the Tyrant Sun. Trixie’s horn cut out in shock, and the white alicorn fell to the ground unceremoniously, breathing but otherwise lying still.
The six stared. “T…T…Trixie…?!” Lyra exclaimed.
“I wasn’t thinking!” Trixie exclaimed, as they bunched together, holding their breaths. Corona didn’t move, however. At length, Trixie let out a sigh. “Okay,” she said. “Okay, um…uh…what do we do with her?”
“We can’t leave her,” Carrot Top said.
“We could,” Raindrops put forth. “We very easily could.”
Carrot Top glanced at her. “That’s the adrenaline talking,” she said, pointing at Corona. “She’s still Princess Luna’s big sister. I don’t think Luna’d be too happy if we left Corona to get killed by Grogar.”
The other five considered a moment, wincing. “She’s weak right now, remember?” Cheerilee asked. “Like after the first time we hit her with the Elements. She could barely stand, couldn’t even fly, couldn’t do magic. She…she could be our prisoner. Once we get away, we can turn her over to Princess Luna.”
The ponies looked to Corona with more than a little trepidation. “O…okay, um…” Trixie said, making to step forward. Corona’s wing twitched then, however, and she let out a cry of surprise, backpedaling several paces with her friends. After a moment, Lyra leaped forward, horn glowing gold and seizing Corona in her telekinetic aura. Trixie joined her a moment later, their two auras mixing together as they jointly held the alicorn in place.
Corona’s wings twitched a few more times, as did her hooves. One eye opened slightly, groggily – revealing a violet iris and normal pupil – as she struggled to try and move herself into a sitting position. When she realized she was being held in place, however, her eyes snapped open, quickly locking onto the two unicorns. She snarled. “You would dare – ”
“Sh-shut up!” Trixie exclaimed, stepping forward and pointing a hoof. “You’re – ”
“Do not speak to me like that, you treacherous – ”
“You’re our prisoner – ”
“I am nopony’s prisoner! Never again!” Corona struggled against the telekinesis, but weakened as she was, she couldn’t do more than twitch and spasm, and after several moments stopped, breathing heavily and glaring at the six ponies.
Trixie took another step forward, feeling much more confident now that Corona had shown herself as unable to escape. “You know, we could have left you behind with Grogar. He wanted to kill you.”
Corona paused a moment at that, before smiling darkly. “Your attempts at a bargain proved futile, then?” she asked mockingly.
Trixie blinked, glancing to her friends. “What?”
Corona’s eyes narrowed again. Her horn flashed bright gold – and Trixie and Lyra cried out as streamers of magical force seemed to reach from Corona’s horn to their own, wrapping around them. The telekinesis surrounding her failed, and she stood, pulling her head back. Lyra and Trixie struggled, but it was like Corona was pulling them towards her. “I had thought I might need this against my sister,” she intoned, wings spreading wide “but I have prepared for this moment, treacherous foals! I shall take your power to fuel my own, and then – ”
Raindrops was moving then by then, galloping towards Corona and leaping at her, having already shucked her saddlebags. Corona’s eyes widened, but she didn’t have time to react beyond that as Raindrops’ hoof landed on her muzzle. She crumpled, though her wings beat to carry her backwards and away from a potential follow-up blow. None was coming, though, as Raindrops was too busy holding her hoof in pain – hitting Corona had hurt, like punching a solid, reinforced concrete. It had, however, been enough to disrupt whatever Corona was doing to her friends, as Lyra and Trixie both stumbled and fell to their knees and hocks, breathing heavily.
Corona was on her hooves again quickly, glaring at Raindrops as her mane briefly lit up in flames, though it sputtered out and died a moment later. “You would dare strike – gah!” she had to move quickly, as without her noticing, Cheerilee had somehow moved up alongside of her and bucked at her. She still stumbled slightly from being clipped by Cheerilee’s hooves. Her eyes widened further when she noticed Cheerilee in particular, as the schoolteacher slipped off her own saddlebags. “You!”
“You?” Cheerilee asked, a grim smile on her face. “Not thou? Goodness, I’m a good teacher.” She blew Corona a small kiss. “Still single, by the way.”
Corona sputtered helplessly at that, as Raindrops charged at Corona. Though she was flabbergasted by the school teacher, however, she noticed Raindrops’ charge, and lashed out with her own, longer foreleg before Raindrops could land her own blow. The pegasus cried out in pain as she fell backwards and away, but Cheerilee was on Corona then, this time solidly bucking her side. The alicorn cried out in pain as she stumbled backwards, though she didn’t fall. Her horn glowed as she saw Raindrops charging again, and she lashed out with a line of fire straight at the pegasus – a line which passed right through her harmlessly, as she disappeared in blue mist. Eyes widening, Corona’s head whipped around as she saw Trixie’s horn glow, having recovered somewhat from the magic-drain that Corona had cast on her. Lyra was standing too, taking her lyre from her saddlebags and glaring at Corona.
The alicorn sneered again, then closed her eyes and set her horn glowing. With a golden flash and pop, she was gone.
Raindrops couldn’t stop herself from letting out a sigh of relief despite herself as she picked herself back up. “One less problem,” she noted.
“You mean one more,” Cheerilee corrected, as she and the pegasus rejoined their friends. She glanced up. “I’m going to assume that whatever that shield is, it can’t be teleported through. So Corona’s still stuck under it. Meaning that now, not only do we have to look out for Grogar and those killer rag dolls, but we have to keep an eye open for her, too.” When they rejoined their friends, Cheerilee looked over Lyra and Trixie. “You two okay?”
The two nodded. They were panting, but then, so were Cheerilee and Raindrops. “Corona leeched our magic, somehow,” Lyra said, as she put her lyre back in her saddlebags. She glanced over Raindrops, who, between Zecora and Corona, had so far taken the worst beating out of all of them. “How about you?”
Raindrops was getting her saddlebags back on, and Cheerilee retrieved hers as well. “Not too good,” she said bluntly, looking at her wings, fluttering them as hard as she could. She managed to get a little lift, but not much. “At least this is wearing off…”
Ditzy flapped her own wings. She got more lift than Raindrops, but landed again in moments. “Give it an hour, maybe,” she said, glancing around. “Okay, um…so, what is the plan, then?”
Trixie took the Element of Magic from her head, putting it back in her own saddlebags. “We need to get to the edge of that field,” Trixie said, pointing over her head. “See if we can talk to Princess Luna, somehow, ask her what to do. Hang on…” Trixie closed her eyes, horn glowing. One by one, the six of the blinked out of sight.
“Um, Trixie?” Cheerilee asked. “It’s a good plan, but I can’t see anypony, either.”
“I can see all of you,” Trixie said. “I can’t silence you all, though – not after what Corona did. Everypony make for the main gate. Once we’re back in the forest, I’ll make us visible again. We can get to the beach we landed on then.”
“How’s Princess Luna going to know to look for us?” Raindrops asked, looking at her hoof, or rather, where her hoof should have been. She’d never been invisible before, and the novelty almost – almost – made her forget about the situation she was in.
There was a pause, and Raindrops knew Trixie well enough to know she was grimacing. “Get ready to run…” she intoned, as a blue glow appeared from nothingness, then launched itself into the sky. Raindrops heard hoof-steps, and set off herself, trying to follow them. Glancing up, she saw the blue glow burst apart into large, brightly glowing letters:
LUNA – IT’S TRIXIE – WE’RE OKAY – MEET YOU WHERE WE STARTED
“No way Grogar knows where we landed on Tambelon, right?” Trixie’s voice asked near Raindrops.
“I hope not…”
---
Smack.
Celestia’s teleport ended with her colliding with Grogar’s magical shield at the edge of the island, about a thousand feet in the air. She let out a cry, more in surprise then pain, as she began to fall towards the ground beneath her, where she could see thick forest lying at the edge of a sheer cliff face –
– no, not thick forest, but rather, the edge of a farm, with a fence erected to prevent donkeys from falling off. Celestia spread her wings and checked her fall, landing easily on the ground and looking around. It was as though she were in a dream. The field in front of her was bare, devoid of plants, but for the best of reasons – the harvest had already been brought in, and in the distance, Celestia could see a team of donkey jacks, pulling carts laden with wheat behind them. They trotted on cobbled, well-maintained roads that wended their way towards the distant city of Tambelon.
Celestia stared, wide-eyed. This was Tambelon as it had once been. But how was she seeing this? Beating her wings, she launched herself forward, towards the donkeys and landing in front of them. They paid her no mind, didn’t even acknowledge her. Acting on a hunch, she reached out towards the nearest, and found her hoof passing through the jack.
“This is a dream,” Celestia said aloud, glancing around. “A memory – imprinted here on the land somehow – ”
There was a slight squeal, and Celestia, and the donkeys, looked and saw a foal jenny chase after her even younger brother, who had a doll in his mouth and was laughing. The lead donkey of the procession held out a hoof and stopped the foal.
“Give it back, son,” he said, his voice stern but even. It took Celestia a moment to realize that what she was hearing wasn’t Donkey – though she knew it, even the archaic form that would have been spoken here – but instead, was modern Equestrian. How…?
The foal looked at his father, realized a tanned backside would follow if he didn’t obey his father, and relented, mumbling an apology as his sister took back her doll and held it close. “I wanna go to market,” he said.
“Not today, son,” the father said, mussing the foal’s mane. “It’s the King’s birthday celebration. Too many donkeys. You might get lost.”
Celestia paused a moment, before her eyes widened. “King’s birthday?” she asked. “Which one? Not… no, this couldn’t be…”
In the distance, from the city, there was a flash. Celestia looked, and saw, from the palace of Tambelon, tucked safe behind its city walls, a white sphere of magic begin to expand outwards. The donkeys themselves couldn’t perceive it, not being attuned to magic, as the foal continued to beg his father to let him go with him and the father kept saying no as he continued his trot, heedless of what was approaching…the jenny foal was just happy to have her doll back and was talking to it…the other donkeys in sight were talking to each other as well, one had told a joke and he was laughing…
“No!” Celestia shouted, beating her wings and taking to the air, horn glowing as she conjured as strong a protection spell as she could, shielding all the donkeys as the rim of the expanding magical sphere approached. She had mere seconds. “No – no – no…!”
The sphere reached her. It passed over her like she wasn’t even there – because she wasn’t. Neither was her protection.
The magical force reached the donkeys, passed over them in a second, and each suddenly fell to the earth, as limp as the doll that tumbled from the jenny’s grasp –
Celestia hit the ground with a thud, unable to get her wings under her as the dream, the memory ended. She had landed on the cliff face, one hoof hanging over the cliff’s edge, her fall having broken more than a few tree branches, some of which had landed atop her. She lay still, ignoring the slight pain, unmoving, unthinking…
There was movement to Celestia’s side, beyond the cliff face and the field. She looked and saw her sister, flying at high speed. Their eyes met for a moment, and Luna checked her flight, looping back around as Celestia stood, wings spreading wide and feeling her rage taking shape as fire around her body.
“You…” the white alicorn hissed as she stood. Luna’s horn glowed, and she touched it to the field. She couldn’t penetrate it so easily as that, but she could project just the tiniest portion of her consciousness through, creating an avatar that materialized on the other side of the field, standing before Celestia and staring at her as impassively as possible.
Celestia was anything but impassive as she glared at her sister’s avatar. “You treacherous nag!” She roared, the flames wrapping around her flaring. “After all he did – all those he murdered – you would ally with Grogar?”
Luna blinked, daring to feign confusion to Celestia. “I’m not going to – ”
“LIAR!” Celestia shouted, launching a gout of flame forward.
Luna stepped out of the way, her neutral expression finally dropping to one of anger. “I’m not trying to – ” Another blast; Luna avoided this, too, and cantered backwards. Celestia advanced, leaping and driving her hoof into the avatar’s body. It burst apart into midnight-blue smoke that quickly dissipated; Celestia turned when it did, glaring through the field at the real Luna.
Luna didn’t waste any time in creating a second avatar, but this one was further away, ready to move. “I am not here to ally with Grogar!” she exclaimed.
“Yes you are!” Celestia shouted, lunging. Luna leaped backwards and away, but Celestia continued to stab at the avatar with her horn, lashing out at the only thing she could. “Because you are a traitor! And you fear that the Elements can no longer affect me so you are allying with the necromancer – ”
“I am not!” Luna objected, her avatar lashing out at Celestia. The blow landed ineffectually, and the avatar burst apart, having destroyed itself. Luna created a third, this one glaring angrily at Celestia.
Celestia was breathing heavily. Drained of magic as she was, this was beginning to exhaust her, but she couldn’t stop – wouldn’t stop. “You are!” she insisted, fire around her flaring again. “Why else would Tambelon return?”
“When I lost my connection to the Elements,” Luna said, as she avoided a burst of flame from her sister, “it returned on its own. I banished it again myself, but I can’t keep it away forever, it returns every five hundred years!”
“Lies!” Celestia, rather than trying a line of fire, instead released it as an explosion. Luna’s avatar only rolled her eyes, allowing itself to be destroyed and creating a third once the flames had cleared. By now, the flames around Celestia’s body had died down to nothingness as she sucked in air – she was taxing her stolen power to its limits, and needed to recover.
“I am not trying to create an alliance with Grogar,” Luna said, eyes narrow.
“Liar! You are – ”
“I am not – ”
“Yes you – ”
“Am not – ”
“Are too – ”
“Oh – just SHUT UP!” Luna’s avatar exclaimed loud enough to rattle Celestia’s bones, wings flaring and body glowing deep blue, her mane roiling and expanding into a vast, dark nebula that created a hemisphere around her, looking like it wanted to surge forward and envelope the older alicorn. “SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT! UP!”
Celestia backed away several steps at Luna’s display of power, before remembering that this mere avatar couldn’t do a thing to her. She held her ground, glaring at her little sister. “I – ”
“No. I am not doing this with you anymore, Tia,” Luna intoned, stomping a hoof. “I did not come here to ally with Grogar. That you would even think me capable of that speaks volumes about how delusional you are!”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “You dare – ”
“I came here to lock Grogar away again. But now because of you – YOU, Celestia – he may very well escape!” Luna jabbed a hoof at Celestia. “If you ever valued Equestria, Tia, if you really want Grogar to be dealt with, then you will stay out of my way!”
Celestia opened her mouth, but Luna didn’t wait, her avatar disappearing in an instant. Celestia turned to the real one on the other side of the field, but it had already shot off, skimming low over the water surrounding the island. Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “Get – you can’t talk to me like that! I am your older sister!” Luna didn’t slow down, however – it was doubtful she could even hear Celestia through the field – but Celestia didn’t let that stop her as she beat her wings and took to the air, following after her. “GET BACK HERE!”
---
The stitched golems were quick, and efficient. They couldn’t see through invisibility, but they could sense when and where magic had been used, follow it like a dog following a trail. Thus, it was only fifteen minutes before the squad of fifteen stitched golems stood at the gates of Tambelon, looking out into the forest beyond. Bray stood amongst them, glaring through the gate.
“Ponies – have fled – into the island – Prince Bray,” the lead golem said.
Bray flicked his ears in annoyance, and not just because the golems referred to him as prince rather than king. No, it was at the thought of leaving Tambelon, however ruined the city had become. It was exactly what he needed in his life right now: a trek through his old stomping grounds and a grand tour of what had become of them. “Let’s go,” he intoned.
The golems started to move, but stopped after a second, turning around in perfect unison and staring at a ruined building – a former shop of some kind, a bakery, if Bray recalled correctly. Bray looked as well, and thought he saw a black-striped tail.
“Intruder – found – Prince Bray,” the lead golem said, as two of the other ones rushed forward and into the building before Bray could give any kind of order to do such. He rolled his eyes even as a brief scuffle commenced; one of the golems flew back out from the ruined building, damaged but still functioning, while the other emerged after a moment, holding a black-and-white-striped equine, a jenny from the looks of her, in its claws and against its body, squeezing tight. After several moments, she realized she had been caught, and stopped struggling, instead glaring down at the donkey.
“Oh?” Bray asked, head tilting to the side. “Well that’s a new coat color on a pony.”
“Prisoner – is – a zebra – Prince Bray.”
Bray frowned a moment; he'd heard of zebras, but he'd never seen one before today. He sighed, however, as the damaged golem picked itself up. One of its arms hung limply by its side, and an eye was missing. “Not a pony…oh well. Take her to Grogar, I’m sure he’ll find her interesting. Or he’ll kill her. We’ll see when we get back. You,” he pointed to the damaged golem, “go as well.”
“We – obey – Prince Bray.”
The zebra said nothing, closing her eyes and apparently accepting her fate as she was carried off, back to the palace. Bray sighed again. “Very dignified,” he noted, looking back to the forest. “Alright, then. Lead on.”
---
The six ponies, against what seemed like all odds, had escaped the city easily enough. They hadn’t stopped running even once they were out of sight of Tambelon’s walls, though Trixie did dispel her invisibility. After a good fifteen minutes of running, the six of them skidded to a halt at the beach, tossing several stones in the air as they did and each of them gasping for breath.
Beyond the magical field that surrounded the island, Luna was standing in the water, waiting for them; beyond her, they could see Wingsong, floating undisturbed in the water. As they neared, Luna’s horn glowed, and suddenly she was there, inside the field and amongst them on the beach. “Princess!” Trixie gasped, dashing forward and making to nuzzle Luna.
Luna backed away, however, holding up a hoof. “This isn’t me,” she said quickly, pointing out to beyond the field, where another Luna yet stood, staring in. “This is an avatar. It is fragile; if you touch it, it will be destroyed, and I’ll have to create a new one.”
Trixie blinked at that, slowly backing away. She glanced over, at the real Luna, then back to the avatar. “So…” she intoned, “you can’t help us.”
The avatar shook her head. “Not as long as this field is up,” she said, looking past Trixie and to the rest of the Elements. “How are you all?”
“Tired,” Ditzy said, wings beating slightly. “I trot around a lot…not used to running, though.”
“Zecora did something to me and Ditzy, too,” Raindrops said, her own wings flapping, lifting her up for a few moments, then giving out. She hissed a little, looking back to the Princess. “Can’t fly. It’s wearing off, though.”
Luna pressed her lips tightly together, looking them over. “Tell me what happened,” she said. The six did, leaving nothing out – especially not the strange, collective dream they had endured just as Corona’s attack began. Luna frowned at that. “It was an imprint,” she said, looking down. “You can’t just magically kill ten thousand beings in an instant, on their home soil, and not leave some kind of impression.” She glanced at the six. “I would ignore them if possible. They are memories of events that have already happened. They can’t harm you, but they might distract you at a critical moment.”
The six nodded. “What do we do?” Carrot Top asked.
Luna grimaced. She pointed to the field blocking her from entering the island. “I can destroy this, but it will take time,” she said. “This field is much like the one he used to keep Celestia and I out two thousand years ago. It is much more hastily cast, but then, there is only me this time fighting against it. Well,” she glanced behind her, past her true self, and to Wingsong. “Me, and whatever damage Wingsong’s canons can do.” She looked back to the six. “It will be several hours – perhaps as much as a day.”
The six started at that, glancing between each other at the thought of being trapped on Tambelon for a full day. “Princess,” Cheerilee said, stepping forward, “why does Grogar want one of us alive?”
“It would be a temporary thing,” Luna said, closing her eyes and scowling deeply. “Grogar did not kill the Tamberlaan simply because he could. It was part of a ritual – an attempt to bargain for eternal life. It could be that he needs one of you so that he could finish the ritual.” She shook her head. “I cannot give you all the details – there is no time. You must run, and hide. The Elements would save you from Grogar, but not from his golems. So stay on the move, remain out of sight. Keep each other safe.” She grimaced. “I…I am sorry. This was not how things were supposed to occur.”
“It’s not your fault,” Lyra said, shaking her head. “It’s Corona’s.”
“Yes,” Luna confirmed, her grimace worsening. “I should have anticipated something like this…but I did not.” She pointed to the forest. “Now go. Hide. And…good luck.”
The six nodded as one, then took off. Trixie spared a moment to glance back at her mentor, who only cocked her head at the forest. Grimacing herself, the unicorn set off as fast as her hooves would carry her.
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By the way, the stitched golems are heavily inspired by the movie 9, though the way they speak is inspired by the clay golems from Baldur's Gate II.
Oh, and incidentally, I have also started work on Magic Tutor.
I'll be the one to say it... CORONA YOU BIGOTED MORON!
Oh, my. I wonder how many years of self-imposed exile in Cavallia Celestia will impose on herself for THIS mess.
Its not a good day for Corona so far, although she seemed to be recovering from the elements worryingly quickly. I do wonder if repeated exposure is making her a touch less mad.
I liked how her face off with Luna more or less ended up as playground taunting.
Bray is interesting, he seems to start as a standard cowardly sidekick but I wonder if their's more to him than that, Grogar must keep him around for something.
The Golems are wonderful, more knowledgeable than standard constructs (they recognise a Zebra) but also not a tough as you would expect.
3119996 well remember the minion triangle; you can have any two of: loyalty, competence, or numbers
Great!
3119996
Bray seems to be a prince wannabe who bargained with Grogar because his zero chances of inherit the throne, or because he was promised with immortality in exchange for his betrayal. Maybe he is linked to Grogar as consequence of the failed ritual.
Interesting how Celestia, even in her madness, is still horrified by the vision of the massacre.
Tamb-aria Episode 4: Celestia is Bad at Teamwork
That's all I can think of now.
3120276
Yeh, I did sort of think she might be pony racist she seemed to have a protect the ponies above all else thing but it seems that at least she feels for Donkey's as well.
It would be interesting where Donkeys fit into RDD's background for the L-verse. Ponies were supposed to have been formed by a bunch of alicorn's working together. Did Donkey's come from the same thing, making them another tribe of ponies or were they a pre-existing sentient species? The existence of mules suggest they are related to ponies so either another tribe, a sort of prototype or maybe that ponies were created from / based on.
Interesting that the scenes from Tia 's viewpoint had her as Celestia instead of Corona. Is she self-identifying as Celestia now, and if so is that new or just yet another detail that I overlooked previously?
I´m a bit curious. Does Cheerilee´s door swing both ways, or she merely enjoy teasing Corona´s old sex morality a bit too much?
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We haven't seen much from Corona's point-of-view prior to this story, but each time we did she's thought of herself as Celestia. RDD had me use Celestia for her name in the first chapter of TtF&F. Corona doesn't self-identify with the name the world gave her; in her mind she's the same ruler she's always been and it's everypony else who's gone mad.
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Cheerilee, back in the day, had a...very interesting, varied, and active sex life.
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I'm not arguing that she isn't insane, I'm just pointing out that she doesn't think she's insane. She has no reason to think of herself as Corona.
Being a necromancer who killed so many I was expecting zombies or ghosts, the golems were an interesting suprise.
When the argument between princesses devolved into sister bickering i laughed.
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It's not like she's a heartless monster who cares little for innocent life lost for no or just plain selfish reasons. She's just insane.
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Mostly it's a callback to their first meeting:
Impressive chapter, the opening was a bit awkward though; but great escape plan from the cast and Corona getting some magic works well, Cheerilee was fantastic and I really liked the impressions. Celestia seeing the death and still trying to stop it, knowing it's already happened was tragic and her argument with Luna was surprisingly powerful; and yet entertaining. Looking forward to the next one.
Really nice chapter. Quite enjoyed how Luna, Celestia, and the Elements all interacted here. Grogar could've maybe used a bit more inherent threat and gauge of his powers, but overall was very solid. Thanks very much for sharing! Can't wait to read the next!
3119864 Interestingly enough that is exactly how I heard them in my head as I read this! Baldur's Gate II was awesome... can't wait til the Enhanced Edition finally comes out!
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Really? I don´t remember any fic about that in the Lunaverse fold.
Okay, Luna's outbursts are BEST outbursts! At the Celestia impersonators, after the Gala and now this. I just love it when she blows a fuse!
Anyway, I loved this chapter! And I'll say it again, Grogar is terrifying! I was not expecting Bray to make an appearance, so that was a cool surprise. There was just so much great action and humor for me in this one. But the tension is building and I can't wait for more!
3120589 I think it's a bit of both. Cheerilee seems to enjoy seeing the Tyrant Sun flustered. And that scene also reminded me why Cheerilee's the Element of Laughter.
BG2? Knew those golem's speech inflection evoked something familiar. Now Grogar is speaking in Irenicus' voice in my head.
I like how Corona is still so flabbergasted by Cheerilee's comments. Psychological warfare is much more effective against deities than direct combat. Mainly because it bypasses DR. Poor Raindrops, melee combat will probably never be effective against Corona, and that's her schtick. Then again, only reason Trixie's illusions can work is Corona is too depowered to be rocking a true seeing spell.
Grogar so far strikes me as a very intelligent and efficient operator. Knows exactly what he's after and wastes no time in issuing orders or taking action to get it. No ham to the ram. He's very much less talk, more action. I like it.
Celestia and Luna having the equivalent of a foal's argument speaks volumes of how alicorns really don't change much over the passage of centuries. Wonder how many other arguments they've had that pretty much went down the exact same way?
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That tendency will only grow, I assure you.
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Thatguyvex's fic, Her of Oaton, covers some of Cheerilees past, so that might be a good place to look if you are curious.
Is it bad if I feel good every time Celestia gets hit in the head?
Sorry, but she is just really starting to annoy me.
Giant genocidal goat is best villain.
3174617 If it's wrong, I don't want to be right. It felt almost... cathartic in a way. And Celestia... you magnificent IDIOT! I did not read your book!
Anyway, great chapter. Again, felt kinda nice to see Corona get told off and get beaten up. Love the golems, too.
I believe one should be forth.
“You?” Cheerilee asked, a grim smile on her face. “Not thou? Goodness, I’m a good teacher.” She blew Corona a small kiss. “Still single, by the way.”
Damn that Cheerilee is a sassy one
Imprints in the earth. Geomancy. So Celestia has some compassion left under her madness?
I like how that's her fallback line.
Running out of demands?
I'm sorry, are we twelve now?
Just kidding, that was hilarious 
I guess some things just don't change.
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That was very much the idea.
I love how Corona and Luna were acting like sister for a moment there.