The Land of the Forgotten
My steps feel heavy for a reason, as if something was beginning to drag me down all the time, but that is only my imagination as I kept on watching the world around me. The mountains being strip mined for resources and one could say that it is the sign of progress, but what you may see at first may not be the truth. I have seen many things like that before and this is no different. To get all this metal and minerals they must have workers working all the time.
“How long since the city looked like this,” I ask my new companion as we walk across the streets while no gryphon bothers us. I can see their weariness behind their eyes, but more than that, I can see their hunger and desperation; that is a look that I have never seen on my little ponies’ eyes. No matter the hardship, there will always be food for all, rest for all and justice for all. I’ve spend years across the planet trying to repair the damage from wars, draughts and monsters. To see my work undone like this? There is no joke that can lift the darkness that has settled in this city, but you can bet everything you have that I will mock the living daylights of the guilty ones.
“It has been getting worse the last two months; first they opened new mines and brought new jobs. What a joke, gryphons don’t belong inside a mine, we belong in the sky!” This was definitely a sore topic for Gilda because as she basically screamed and as she did that several gryphons avoided her eyes; maybe ashamed of what they have done? This is definitely bizarre and something to think about. I knew that gryphons were really proud, maybe not to the extreme of Yaks, but to considering working as miners a huge offense? Something to be ashamed of? This is definitely bizarre. It feels almost like whenever necromancy is brought on a conversation with a unicorn, or the idea of being capable of doing spells by an earth pony.
“And these mines? Who controls them? The crown?”
“Nah, the crown is basically a puppet now; everything is being controlled by a new company. Some fluffed gryphons just came one day and began to sell us the idea of gold and power. Every gryphon went crazy with the idea of getting gold, they all signed contracts. Idiots never read the damn paper, now we are in trouble,” even when having a beak instead of a mouth or snout, it doesn’t deter on a gryphon’s ability to show their emotions. It is painful to talk about the problems that have in the city; like a good gryphon, Gilda is proud and showing weakness to another species must be killing her. I like that of gryphons, the pride that is, guess I find it refreshing after spending so much time with ponykind. In a way it reminds me of mankind and their pride on everything they discovered and build.
“But when I see the gryphons living here, I don’t see that amazing wealth they promised.”
“There are gold and steel, coal and many other things, but is not for us; they are all getting richer and richer, the ones that control the mines eat and scheme, while we all stay down here and work to our last breath.”
“Let me guess, no one really read the contracts?”
“They never saw the fine print, they all just went into the dark with a pickaxe and only got crumbs as the fluffed gryphons pocketed everything; then others came and build furnaces, then others came to build factories, one after another,” that Gilda not only used the word fluff, not once, but twice, was serious. To call a gryphon fluffed or anything similar was a great offense; if I remember correctly from my studies about gryphons, there have been duels to the death and even several clan wars after uttering that word in public. But beyond that, there is something even darker at work here; that gryphons first came with information about mines and then little by little more arrived to start purifying the minerals and then build what must be war stuff? This is a larger operation for sure.
“What’s the crown been doing all this time? No one is doing something?”
“Who will do it? They became a union and simply bought the crown with the money they started mining! They even bought the guards! Now they work as factory security! The fluffed bastards even have the Idol of Boreas in their main office!” Okay, now this was serious; I should have never let them continue their absolute monarchy. It would have been a good idea to push them into the constitutional monarchy way. Stupid Celly! I still have too much trust and faith that the good of the creatures in this world will win. I should know better after the last several centuries.
This is bad, this is beyond bad; whatever these gryphons are planning, things are even worse than I thought at first! Not only they were able to make a plan and organize each other, they were capable of striking fast enough for me not to know, but what’s their plan? They really cannot hope that they will win an open war against me and Equestria. Like I told the nightmare, many have tried, none have ever come close.
No, this may go even beyond war, but what is it that they are looking for? If it is power and money, they already have it here, so what then? Is there something in the mines? Probably, which will also explain how they knew about these underground mines? Gryphons have always been more focused on open veins in the surface, unlike Earth ponies and their love for the underground deposits of crystals and minerals. The Pie family was a master of that department.
Is there some kind of power hidden underneath Griffonstone that I didn’t know? Possible, considering all the dark energy accumulated across the millennia. The wendigos are not the only dark creatures that have been seen in this world. Apparently, as harmony began to spread its touch across the world, pockets of dark energy still existed, strong enough that began to pull energy similar to it.
It was an extremely rare phenomenon that could be counted on one hand, well, if I still had a hand that is. The Gates of Tartarus were summoned due to one of those Dark Nodes as it had been called by several unicorns on my academy. Another brought the Nothing King to life in Equestria before it was destroyed. Those days were nightmares and I cannot believe things like that could be present in this world. What that creature could do was beyond forgiven and I will not waste more time thinking about that… ‘thing’. I have more important things to do, basically save two species before something catastrophically bad happen.
Well, it seems that Gilda and I finally got some attention from the local kingpins, because a group of four guards began to get close to us.
“Halt in the name of the King!” The one that looked like the leader, due to the strip of gold on the side of his beret, said to us as he and the other guards stood in front of us. It was quite interesting considering that the other three were basically dumbstruck while the other was either too drunk on his power or was a moron “what is a cub and two dumb ponies doing in the streets?” Dumb ponies? I took a look at my good helper Kibitz who had stayed behind me and Gilda all this time. It was basically impossible for him to not be on one of my adventures; if I didn’t bring him with me he would suddenly appear out of nowhere. I swear that stallion must have Pinkie somewhere in his family tree.
“Okay, can you please repeat that?”
“What? Not only dumb, but deaf? I said what are you all doing here? Ponies need to have a permit on them at all times! What? Because you have a horn and wings you feel important?” just as he was saying that, he began to poke me with a finger on the chest, right on my pendant -well, it is not called a pendant, but I never remember the official name- and with a voice that shows how much power has gone to his head. As he is doing this, I can see that the other gryphons are now colorless and look more like The Scream by Munch.
“Let me guess, he is new right? So, you really don’t know who I am?” I’m not even mad, this is entertaining for sure.
“I don’t care if you are the Queen of ponies!”
“Fun fact, the senate wanted to give me the title of Empress, but no, I prefer things to be as they are, so I just kept my normal title; you know, Princess Celestia?” As that name was dropped, the gryphon began to rummage on his uniform until he found a small book. After looking for the notes talking about me -because there was no other thing he may be looking for- the gryphon clearly reached the notes about me.
As he kept on reading, his expression changed from haughty to ‘oh shit, I’m screwed’ in record time. What I did, since I’m such a nice person, was to get right into his face with my patented grin.
“Hey, how ya doing?”
“Well, I, I mean-“
“Is okay, I mean, I get no respect I tell ya, no respect at all, it is always like this Gilda, especially in restaurants; last night I went to a restaurant with my sister you know? Everypony is always like that with me” Gilda at this point was too stunned to say anything so she just nodded her head “We ordered a full pizza with breadsticks on the side, then the waiter turned to Luna and asked her what would be HER order, I tell ya, I get no respect,” maybe it was my imagination, but I definitely heard a rim shot somewhere in the city. Just as I told the joke, the guards finally recovered from their and began to battle with a serious attacks of laughter and just as they were laughing I kept on going “but you know in what I get some respect? Pool, there is something on it that makes me a champ and you will not believe the adventures I’ve had, now, let me show you. Kibitz.”
“Yes princess?”
“Break out Lucille,” in a few seconds, a pool cue was soon on my hooves, the irritating guard inside a magical sphere and with a simple hit, it was send against the other guards sending them all on different directions and inside doors, barrels and such “yeah, I still have the touch, don’tcha think so Gilda?”
“I’m not even going to comment,” and just when I was finally enjoying my trip, the earth beneath us began to shake, making every gryphon take flight. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t react and instead I was hit by a wall of magic. My body and mind were affected by the wall, because instead of standing in four hooves, I was up and about in two legs.
The world around me had shifted and it remained the same. Like a vision of destruction or as if a great cataclysm had been present. It was Griffonstone, but it was destroyed, abandoned, grey and lifeless. It was a husk that no one will remember. Was this the future? The present? A vision?
“Hello Celly,” that voice.
I know that voice.
I just turned around and saw her standing there.
“Celestia?”
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That ending? SAY WHAT!?!?
Good job a thousand words longer than the last one
huh. Neat.
You had me laughing me ass off, good show.
Honestly the last two chapters feel.... forced? Or maybe like someone else has taken over. Or the plot having shifted into a totally different direction.
Well then...
media1.giphy.com/media/HtBKcjpHfD7s4/giphy.gif
holy shit i'd actually taken this story off my tracking list because of the long delay. I thought it was done for.
She is clearly having a stroke not a vision.
8394449
two things, someone took over, at least inside the story and second; the story itself had no real direction and I wrote whatever came to my mind, now it has a purpose.
So you're FINALLY addressing something I asked about several chapters ago.
Huh? .. So.. there is two white Alicorn stand on Griffonstone now ?
And .. wonder if Celestia is Day Breaker now..
Another update? So soon? If there's something wrong with the author, causing him/her/Zer0 to post chapters this quickly, I don't want it fixed.
Wait.. does Celly turned back to human body..?
Or there is two white Alicorn body ?
8394545
8394572
I read it as some kind of Mental Plane brought on by the magic mojo that hit Celly.
It describes Griffinstone as post apocalyptic, when it was just dystopian a few moments beforehand.
Sounded kinda like someone activated a Anti-Alicorn trap.
now all you need to do is go back through and correct every instance where you used "send" instead of "sent" for the past tense.
Well at least this story is being updated again and I'm loving it. Keep up the great work.
... AWESOME!!
*sigh* Well, time to reread another story, whoop dee doo. Stupid goldfish memory.
I imagine that it's humans, searching for the ingredients to make a nuke, so that the griffons stand on approximate footing with the ponies.
There's just one problem with his theory... Celly is the only 'Celestia' that Equestria has known for hundreds of years. They're essentially used to her being their crazy, but doting aunt, and would miss her greatly if anything were to happen to her. This isn't like with Celestia back when her only 'loved one' was a power-hungry Unicorn that sought to usurp her, Celly is positively surrounded by friends and family. Could they, would they accept the 'real' Celestia as some kind of replacement? Imagine how Twilight would feel, Cadance, Blueblood, Sunset, heck, even Luna has noticed that 'this' Celestia is more open and easier to talk to. How do you think she would react if she found out the truth *looks back at the Tantabus episodes* my guess is NOT WELL.
Celestia isn't perfect, she isn't some omnipotent deity to swoop in and fix things, she's just a very old, very powerful pony. Having Celestia replace Celly would honestly be no different from having a loved one replaced by a complete and total stranger. And even if she was somehow massively more competent and successful than Celly despite being out of the game for hundreds of years, do you really think anyone would care about that at all?
8394543
Just hit me up when you need a chapter edited.
8395314
I'll start working on the first chapters
8394404
That was what I was aiming for, thank you for the comment.
8394414
This time it was easier since the heavist work was already done by the last episode.
8394430
I have no idea how to answer to that, but thnak you.
8394448
If I did that, then I am capable of writing Celly once more with the same feeling, sometimes writing good comedy is the hardest thing. That and good horror is so hard to nail, slthough you can nail a vampire as he is making a joke and you can do both, right? Sorry, bad joke. Anyway, thank you for that.
8394490
i know, I make fun of the guy, but is so fun to use his way of filming for these stories.
8394494
You are not the only one since I also thought that.
8394498
That will be quite the way to go then, because things are only getting thougher so no, Celly is not dying yet.
8394545
I'm not sure if the idea of day Breaker can even exist considering the whole setup, also, now that you mention her, you have to wonder what happened with Starlight.
8394546
Well, nice to see my health is always at the front of my reader's worries, jokes aside, I finally was hit in the head with inspiration, so that's why this whole thing was retaken.
8394649
Hey EbonHeartm nice to see you over here, but yeah, is something that has to do with the wall of magic they were hit.
8394729
In the works.
8394868
I'll try.
8394881
I just love that scene, when I watched it for the first time I was like, dude, he got had by uncle! How cool is that? Besides, it just seemed like something Celly and Kibitz would do.
8395039
Wait, don't do that yet since the whole story is being edited now.
8395040
Who knows?
8395143
I just love the way you describe Celly and that's pretty much how ponies have seen her for the last couple generations, but that's right, they have only seen the crazy, goofy and effective Celly; if the real Celly comes back there will be quite the uproar, but that is still not happening for now.
8396537
It's one of my fave scenes. Also from what I read you made Blueblood less of a douchebag. Which I like.
Oh shit
8396537
No such thing as a bad joke, just poor taste. That said I am a bad one to use for comedy am easy to make laugh. Then again I just don't hide my joy or fun unless I have to.
Now horror well, you need to know your audience for that, and horror is a VERY wide term because of it. Some people are horrified by unknowable things, some are only afraid of what is in front of them and creating false expectations till the last moment, that or you shamelessly use jump scares which are cheap and worthless. Though nailing a vampire telling a joke sounds quite horrifying to me as a good joke must always be told!
Gentle breeze guide your path, a warm smile welcome you home.
8396522
I'm sorry my response was as short as it was. I generally like to be more constructive than that or wanted to at least link you to the group I mentioned (though you say you have an editor now so you either found the group or found one on your own) but mobile is still sometimes wonky for me and I didn't want to waste time on a post that might not have gone through. That said, I'm happy you have an editor now, and look forward to what else you've got in store.
8396522
for the last couple days.
Would have replied to this earlier but I've been tired as F
I love the idea presented in Five Score Divided By Four where the humans-turned-ponies-from-the-show were actually the ponies they turn into before they were Human, as well as stories where any of the characters from the show, whether they are Mane6, Princess or Background character, was originally a human before being sent to Equestria and rather than "replacing" them in mind, that character's identity simply didn't exist before they showed up. The problem with this fascination is that there are few stories that meet one of these themes to start with (and by that I mean outside of the Five Score verse), and so there are even less that are done Well, so when I find a story like this where the circumstances are sufficiently ambiguous that's the vein my mind immediately tangents onto.
After so many chapters, Celestia finally turns up? What the world? I mean from I gather that Celly been doing her job for around a thousand years, and now she decided to show up
?
Not bad for a start into this story. Could use a editor, some of your language isn't proper English and it messed with me until I figured out just what you meant. It happened throughout several chapters so I just take it that you didn't know how to write certain sentences properly.
Otherwise I'm looking forward to this adventure. Especially since Celestia decided it's time to show up, that or its Faust.
Were in Tartarus have you been you lazy sunbutt?
8396537
More
look forward to more. Also i don't know if you have noticed, but you often in places use the word is instead of it's.
Also when will Faust show up to visit?
8503028
I think she shows up after the manure has hit the world. Sort of a gig when it comes to most super powered entities, they never show up when it matters.
I wonder what would happen if there was a multiverse convention of “I used to be a human now I am a pony” and my Luna from Lunar Replacement meet this Celestia
****
“So you can't tell your Celestia because it would break her heart and possibly go evil or get possessed due to the heartbreak?” Not that the Fake Sun could really complain.
“Oh like you are telling your Luna and at least you had centuries of practice being Celestia! Try being Luna with nothing but instint and conditioned reflexes to guide you!”
“What... you raise the moon... by reflex?”
“You don't raise the sun that way? Then what? You had a few years of the sun not moving until you figured things?”
“Let's... Let's just say is a good thing I get to decide what gets written in history books.”
“Save for that stupid romance book that said it was because of depression.”
“How the hay you got that? I am quite sure I burned them all!”
“Multiverse convention remember? They even got a manga version of Friendship Is Magic for sale.”
Is that racist slir?
Oooh, I liked that exchange, especially the pool joke.