Josho and Seclorum weren’t alone. A contingent of heavily armed enforcers escorted them as they trotted east down a winding path that scaled down from the craggy face of the jutting plateau. The air whistled with falling shells as the old friends and their fellow equines trotted into the depths before the trenches.
“We’re a bit exposed out here, don’t you think?” Josho remarked.
“Not so long as we keep tight to the walls,” Seclorum said. He pointed at the winding trench ahead of them, leading the ponies deeper and deeper into the muddied earth. “Besides, the Xonans won’t shell this spot directly. They know there’s something of value here. We just gotta make them think it’s worth preserving and they won’t cash in all their chips.”
“Not yet, you mean,” Josho said. “Lasairfion’s just a sneeze away from wiping you clean from the plateau.”
“She’d be a foolish monarch.”
“And you aren’t?” Josho frowned as the two came upon a straightway past an embankment. “This may be a well-fortified position, Secchy, but it isn’t exactly impervious.”
“Most of it is,” Seclorum said. “You’ll see.” He stumbled briefly, but picked himself up with help of his grinding braces.
Josho blinked. “Just what in the hay happened to you?”
“Meh…”
“Seriously, pal. You look like you made love with a water heater.”
“I was caught in the crossfire while personally overseeing the dispensing of enemy rangers,” Seclorum said in a droning tone. “I had third degree burns across most of my body. It damaged a lot of the nerves in my legs.”
“Seems like it did a number on your horn too, bud.”
“I’ve lost direct control of my leylines,” Seclorum muttered. “Without this device suppressing my magic…” He pointed at the aluminum cap on his horn. “I’ll literally rip my own body to pieces with telekinesis.”
“Yeesh, that sucks.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“Guess gone are the days of frisking the mare enforcers at uniformed drills,” Josho said with a smirk.
Seclorum was silent.
Josho raised an eyebrow. “What? Not even a titter? That sort of crap used to have you in stitches. Literally.”
“A lot has happened to me since the last time we met, Josho.”
“Yeah. No crap.” Josho trotted closer, craning his neck to catch the old enforcer’s expression. “But your battered body aside, what’s gotten you so obsessed with this place? There’s just so much I don’t understand.”
“I’m hoping to show you.”
“What? Did you dig up a bunch of dragon bones or something?”
“It’s a great deal more complicated than that.”
Josho glanced up at the flashing gray sky. “We’ve trotted a long distance. How close are we to the actual front?”
An explosion rocked no more than twenty meters away. Mud and chunks of rock fell loosely over the trench. The enforcers shuddered in fright. Seclorum didn’t twitch one single muscle.
“We’re close,” he muttered.
Josho trotted in silent contemplation for a while. Not long after, the party reached their destination. The trench opened up to a sharp cliff hanging over an inexplicable hole in the earth. Walking to the edge, Josho peered down, and he could see layers upon layers of multicolored rock. Beneath the sedimentary slivers, a different landscape entirely caught Josho’s eyes with an otherwordly sheen. The breath left his lungs, for with each flicker and flare of the falling shells, entire swaths of light reflected off a veritable sea of metal. He saw conveyor belts, pendulums, and dozens upon hundreds of golden platforms. The metal looked very old, but also incredibly immaculate.
“Sonuvagarbagecan.” Josho gulped. “It’s friggin’ real after all…”
“So you know of it, then?” Seclorum pivoted to face him. “You know of the machine world?”
“I… uh…” Josho turned to look at Seclorum. It was hard to wrench his eyes away from the sight below. “I know a thing or two that a certain bird told me.” He blinked. “A bird with hooves and a rainbow colored mane.”
“We’re battling over the carcass of an old, old fossil, Josho,” Seclorum said. “This battlefield… this landscape… this world--it’s all bigger and grander than this war and all the wars that have happened before it and all that will happen after.”
“Your point?”
“Years ago, a Xonan transport ship powered by skystone plowed into this part of the earth at full speed after it was blasted to bits by Ledomaritan shells.” The prime enforcer spoke above the bedlam of landing explosives. “It exposed this secret world--something built by ponies older and wiser than any civilization known to ponydom--including the Confederacy. It was Madame Nightshade who personally inspected the brilliant flame located on a pedestal contained within. She had arrived to collect her brother, who had been terribly injured at the time of the Xonan crash. Only her company’s technology was capable of extending the poor soldier’s life. As it turned out, only her expertise could relocate the magical flame.”
“Yeah?” Josho leaned in, peering into the metallic abyss below. “Lemme guess, Nightshade’s brilliance gave you an excuse to cling to this thing like it was fool’s gold?”
“The flame isn’t mere magic! It’s part of this world beneath worlds!” Seclorum replied. “If we can harness it, we can control the power that runs the landscape itself! The battlefield itself will be ours to dictate in every dimension possible! We can turn back the tide of the Xonan Incursion and restore this continent! Hell! We can even invent new continents! Reshape the very fabric of this plane!”
“You realize how nutty that sounds?!”
“Josho, if we retreat or advance, we give up the most important discovery in the history of civilization!” Seclorum pointed over the cliff. “The war will go on and on, unceasingly, unless we do something dramatic to turn the tide!”
“And we’re all sitting ducks if we stay here!” Josho exclaimed. “The Xonans are onto you, Seclorum! They had spies infiltrating the Ledomaritan armada! That’s how they got ahold of the Lightning Bearer! Soon, they’ll get ahold of this place too!”
“Then what am I supposed to do?!” Seclorum shouted. “Give it up? If they get this, then we are all finished!”
“You know, this is how it started with Shell too!” Josho said. “He thought he had his hooves on a ‘final solution!’ But it turns out he was biting more than he could ever hope to chew! Soon, his task turned into an obsession and his obsession tore his life and his legacy apart!”
“I am in full control of my faculties!” Seclorum hissed.
“Like hell you are!” Josho pointed. “Look at you! You’re part refrigerator! I’ve never seen anypony like this before--much less my old friend!”
“Clearly you haven’t grasped what it means to truly sacrifice what’s necessary for the salvation of the greater good!”
“Don’t start with that bullcrap!” Josho growled. “It doesn’t fit you, Secchy! And, for your information, I sure as heck gave up a lot to bring my fat flank down here and try and talk some sense into you! So don’t screw it up!”
“Josho…” Seclorum folded his braced forelimbs. “I am not leaving this position.” He gulped, then dryly voiced, “And neither are you.”
“Huh?” Josho recoiled, only to feel a set of hooves slapping something cold and metal over his horn. He looked up, gasping to seen an aluminum supressor cap canceling out his leylines. “Oh Hell no-!” He tried bucking away, but four young stallions were holding his body firmly to the ground. “Nnngh! Get off me, ya beefcake vomit buckets!”
“The battlefield may surround us, old friend,” Seclorum said. “But the graveyard of all our past mistakes is here.” He nodded towards the enforcers, and they dragged Josho to the very brink. “You know, I always figured I would be the one to bury you. Looks like I’ll be the one to outlive you as well.”
“Dammit, Secchy! Don’t do this!” Josho began panting. “Nightshade! She has the book! If we can stop the Lasairfion and the Lightning-Bearer in its tracks, then we can still bring the damn thing here!”
“It’s too late for that, old friend,” Seclorum said coldly. “It’s too late for everything, flame or no flame. It is time for a new era. The ponies of this plane need a change.”
“What?! What are you babbling about?!” Josho’s hooves scuffed against the edge of the cliff. He struggled to fling one last, panicked glance over his shoulder. “None of this makes any sense!”
Seclorum opened his mouth to talk, but hesitated. A pale expression wafted over him, and his eyes dilated, moistened, like twin orbs bobbing at the surface of a deep lake. A blink, and they descended once again, dragging the rest of him away with a melancholic expression. “I don’t understand it myself, Josho. But I’ve… changed.” He swallowed dryly, gazing at the braces around him. “And it’s time that the rest of the world change too. All I know is that I’m waiting…”
“For what?!” Josho gritted his teeth. “A swift kick in the plot?!”
“Something like that.” Seclorum looked up, and this time his expression was blank, glazed. “But one thing’s for certain. You are not the pony to bring that change.” For a brief moment, Josho thought he spotted a flicker across the stallion’s eye, but then he saw nothing, for he was being flung full-force into the metal abyss below.
“Awwwwwwww shhhhhhhh--”
well... We should have seen that coming
me:
Aw Shhhhhiii
Hope he can figure out a way to pop it off so he can mostly stop his momentum. Maybe explore a bit of the place himself.
Gasp! Maybe Josho is the Ordsjot. ......Pfft.
Also, [Dec 1st - ?] Hats!
Well, that could have gone better. Seems like Seclorum is just another entry in the list of misguided fools.
~Basso
well, that was a cliff-hanger...literally. =/
So, We have an entrance to the machine world, Seclorum's cap is his weakness, and Josho... is about to be part cyborg? That's my guess, anyway.
That machine world can do crazy things. I wonder, is Odrsjot perhaps the name for the flame?
Motherbucker! Seclorum is just another shell of Shell who needs to get his little tin can of an ass handed to him!
3566326 More of a cliff-faller, actually. A bit more severe.
~Basso
Silly Seclorum. Being Shell 2.0 doesn't mean your schemes have twice as much chance of working.
Goddammit, Seclorum... Goddammit! Being a soldier means doing the right thing, even when it's against orders. You are so blinded by the fog of war that you can't see what's in front of your face: your soldiers. Dying. And for what? The faintest of glimmers of hope?
I'm sorry, ):(. Bad commanders piss me off something fierce.
iiiiiiiit
And who didn't see that coming? Show of hooves?
... Nopony? No?
Okay then, glad we're all on the same page. Now all together, "---iiiiiiiitttttttt!"
For a moment I thought that Seclorum was onto something, but he's crazy just like Shell.
Most likely Josho will find himself trapped in the machine world for a while.
Ah hell no
Im still confused as to how the magic canceling cap is fixed in place so that it cant be easily removed, especially given its a tapered horn, very hard to make things stay in place.
Then again, its aluminium, that stuffs so soft I can leave dental impressions in the bulk material. Trouble is, Josho only has high speed rock to scrape his off. Or given his power level, he could melt or deform it off.
Pinball in the Chemical Zone time.
Inb4 Josho gets some sort of superpower, making him undeniably best pone. Also. I should've learned by now to not trust Colon's chars. They're all traitorous bastards.
HA. Undisclosed location, body, yadda yadda.
So, Josho is heading into the machine world, and his part of the story will be like Portal for a little while.
Except with teleporting, instead of portals.
And we add Seclorum to the list of ponies who need to have their existence corrected with the D & R Connection's EPM.
The next chapter had better start with "---iiiiiittttttt"
Well damn. Unless Josho can get that magic suppressor off or some kind of deus ex machina pops up, Josho's situation isn't looking good. Machine worlds aren't known for being very soft. Up yours, Seclorum.
And speaking of machine worlds, you have to wonder how hard the Xonans must have rammed into the bastard to break it open like that.
Dammit, Josho better not get killed.
What is seccy? He knows more than he should.
3567500
Well, they may not be really soft, but they are survivable enough. Shell fell deep into one and only broke a leg. Of course Shell, as the main villain, has a higher survival rate than one of many of the protagonist's companions.
Ehh he'll be fine.
"--iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..."
Pull yourself together, Seclorum! We really do not need another Shell right now!
Shell survived a tumble into the machine world back in Eljunbryo, so I don't think Josho's written off yet.
With what I know about ancient inexplicable machine worlds, I'm expecting Josho to emerge as some kind of nano-bot powered superstallion with laser vision.
And I doubt the next chapter will start with an "iiiiit". This is probably a good opportunity to switch to some of the other current perspectives, so that when the chapter which finally starts with "iiiiiit" appears we have forgotten about it, and this event will dropkick us in the face like a bucket of molten seaborgium.
3566535
While I can understand your frustration, I decided to make some polemic right there.
No. So much no in your statement. With all respect, it's all nonsense. Commander who don't risk his soldiers lifes is commander first to lose. The greatest theorists of military like Carl von Clausewitz stated that when two countries are at war, the one who sacrifises more to defeat its opponent will always win.
There are so many examples of the "sacrifise" that was not made to prevent the anihillation and in result, ended in tragedy. If you are not willing to sacrifise a thousand, thou shall lose a million. Do you know why did II World War begin in the first place? Because the commanders of France and Great Britain were not willing to sacrifise the lifes of their soldier to protect "small, tiny, not important at all country". In 1933 they could eliminate Nazi Germany in three days, because they didn't have army at this moment. But again, they didn't want to "sacrifise their fellow soldiers". In the result, milions died and now nobody speaks of the "uneccesery intervention".
And by so, Seclorum is a good commander, because he is willing to sacrifise his comrads, if it will result in saving this realm and his country. He know perfectly that if he will sacrifise his army to save all the ponies of Ledo, it will be the greatest victory he could ever ever achieve. Maybe the machine world can't save his country, but no matter if it can, or can't, his intentions as commander are wise.
Still, he shouldn't throw Josho down there. Crap.
Sorry, now that was I who got pissed of.
The Commonwealth shall always preveil.
- Verlax
Ah yes, the machine world. I had completely forgotten that it is kind of a big deal for someone who didn't know of it for as long as we did. And well they told him that being there made you insane. That's what you get for being loyal, Josho!
You tell me when you got out of that hole.
radiocool.lt/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/31687.jpg
3565160 We have a winner!
3566293 Hats!
3567500 Hah! Hahhahaa! Deus ex machina! Heeeheheheehe....
Sheeeeeeeeeeeet.
Really starting to sound familiar there. In basically the worst way possible.
Doesn't matter if Shell dies now, there's a perfect replacement right here.
Machine World reconfirmed for insanity inducing to non pegasi. Fun
Must obtain additional pegasi test subjects for further testing.
I told you! All the ponies on this continent are crazy!
Geomancy?! What do these insane ponies think this machine world can do?
This constant theme of world change by military conquest reminds me of the expectations that the disciples had of Jesus before his resurrection.
Also, refrigerator you say?
cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/6/68/Spr_5b_479R.png
Josho isn't gonna die, that much is obvious, but now the sacred hold is going to get there unchallenged (until it actually gets there) and the only ponies/zebras/elk-things left to get back together will be those on the Jury and Belle
Here's to hoping Josho does something fancy in the machine world!
Let's hope that Josho's bulk cushions his fall instead of giving him enough momentum to splatter.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Hm...the way that Seccy is described towards the end of the chapter could indicate some darker forces at work here. Mind control? Or am I just crazy? These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Er...huh? I realize that they had a difference of opinions, but it's not like Josho could make everyone leave if Seclorum didn't want them to. I don't understand what threat he posed, or why Seclorum thought it necessary to kill him. That "flicker" of unknown something must have been some dark power, or madness, or something, otherwise the order to off Josho immediately after taking him into confidence doesn't really make all that much sense.
Although I'm assuming Josho will survive this. Maybe I've grown complacent. We'll see.
Onward!
This is starting to sound familiar...
-Spirit
With Josho's affinity for falling, I think he'll be just fine.
"What does it matter, the lives of those around you, when all you do is for the greater good?" - Aberforth Dumbledore
Oh yeah? Did I ever tell you about my buddy Keith?
Seclorum must've stared too long into the abyss. Either that, or there's a serious mind-eating disease that only affects Prime Enforcers.
Holy hell that chapter's ending was a bit unexpected. Also, I kinda hope that's how he kicks the bucket. Sounds like a hell of a way to go out.
~SolidFire
6261038
Well Josho turned out okay. So not all Prime Enforcers turn completely insane. Just most of them.
But yeah it was probably as was mentioned eariler. Ponies look to long at that place and they go insane. As for Shell, he's always been crazy.
Gaah.
Throw him off a cliff? Sure, maybe *this* time it's gonna work.
There is such a thing as sacrificing too much, and eventually there will be nothing left to sacrifice, while you will still be in the same damn spot.
05/25/2017 01:35 UTC
Drills....drills drills drills- dear gawd he's not talking about a military drill is he?
6768041
Yay! Mom's spahegettti and confetti!