Their Otherworldly Grace

by MonoGlyph

Unforeseen

My anxiety climbed a few notches in spite of the reassurances contained in the letter. Princess Celestia was coming to Ponyville? It didn’t matter that this was to be a brief check-in with me, others would catch wind of this, and they would insist on arranging a hearty welcome. Canterlot aristocrats could rarely infiltrate the town undetected. She’d always stressed that her subjects should remain at ease, casual even, during these events. These suggestions were patently inappropriate and the pony folk would have none of them. Royalty was royalty, after all.

I quietly dreaded the inevitable arrival of the Princess. What would I tell her? After taking some time to practice in front of a mirror I realized there was only one thing to do. I had to be honest. The prospect of lying to Princess Celestia was simply inconceivable. I resigned myself to whatever punishment lay in wait for me in the future. I still wished the meeting could be postponed somehow, that something might happen to prevent her from landing onto Ponyville soil, but I also understood that these thoughts were without import.

In the meantime, I dove back into the books with renewed vigor. During my first appraisal of the Volumes of Vehement Vengeance I judged that it would take me the next two seasons to fully translate the tomes. I did not expect to work as fast as I have. It has been one month at most and I have already completed a full transcription of the first. I was indefatigable in my task. It was as though I was seized by something, as though the Volumes sang their blasphemous words to me as I worked. The translation became easier. I no longer needed the reference texts, and I asked Spike to return them to the Archives for me. There was a method to the disjointed arrangements of foreign signs. The quill that I animated with my magic danced madly across the parchment, jotting down every word I deciphered.

I remembered the words of the strange stallion I met in the purgatorial graveyard. I remained unsure about the path ahead. If Princess Celestia saw fit to forbid me from working with these books, my choice would be made for me, and this was a relief. I refused to make myself accountable for what might happen in the future. As such, I ignored the other spells I came across in the first Volume, “[Revive] the dead,” “Ceaseless waltz,” “Newton’s folly,” and “Influence others”. These were tempting, to be sure, but I had learned from my past mistakes. Things had gotten bad enough as is.

There was a public announcement from the Mayor the day before the arrival of the pure white alicorn. As the crowd fidgeted in the freezing wind, she relayed several reports of ponies that have gone missing in recent times. I did not know anyone on the list, though I heard Pinkie Pie gasp as some of the names were mentioned. I recalled the she was friendly towards everypony in town and was probably familiar with the misplaced individuals. A number of pegasi have not returned to Cloudsdale, as well. No reason for the disappearances had yet been uncovered. The Mayor enacted a strict curfew until this issue was resolved, and urged us to talk to her if we had any information regarding it. I wondered if this had anything to do with me. Although I had not put any knowledge from the books to use, it was hard to dismiss this as something completely unrelated.

As I lay sleeping that night, I had one more strange vision. I was a lowly painter, traveling the well-worn path from the golden city of Regwelshen with my like-minded peers. On my back I carried a few blank canvases, and the paints and brushes required by my craft. The high priest Nuzwell promised that once we arrived to the fertile lands of Ooris, we would build our own nation, free from the oppression of the haughty upper crust. We journeyed through the desert for weeks, and the aristocrats had probably noticed our absence. Each day we expected to see a legion of soldiers on the horizon behind us. Food, water and morale were running perilously low. At last, the desert gave way to the chilly steppes. We rejoiced, but the elation was short-lived. As with the desert, there were very few resources to be found here. The grass was hard and bitter, and there was no other vegetation to speak of. The high priest Nuzwell urged us not to give up for Ooris was near, but we grew weary of his command. Early the next day, the others tied him up and roasted him over the crackling fire they built using some of the furniture we brought with us. Disregarding their herbivore roots, they passed around his pieces and feasted on his flesh. I didn’t care that I was hungry; their transgression struck me as barbaric. I tried not to watch, and made due with the frozen grass of the steppes.

The days grew darker afterwards. Hostile-looking clouds formed across the sky. As we watched on the third day, the clouds parted like gates of the heavens, and out poured large black shapes that defied description. As they drifted over us, each grew seventy limbs and started to grab at the party. The panicking ponies were caught effortlessly by the alien shapes, and their entrails rained from the sky. Not even the pegasi could escape the monstrosities. I cowered in the center of the carnage waiting for my gruesome fate. It never came. When I opened my eyes, the skies were empty, and the surrounding fields were soaked in blood. I wiped the fluid off of my face and shuddered.

I continued my quest for Ooris alone, though I didn’t know what I’d do when I got there. The memories of the deaths of my comrades would stay with me forever. Slightly unhinged, I imagined my companions were still with me. As the weeks wore on, and the steppes morphed into hilly meadows, I got my first look at the new soil. It was a fertile country of forests and apple groves. There was a pegasus outpost situated in the clouds. A beautiful castle was built into a nearby cliff, overlooking a modest village on the edge of the woods. I consulted with the ghost of Nuzwell and he confirmed that yes, this was certainly the land we sought. I purchased an unused library in the village with a sack of gold bits I brought from Regwelshen, although I had no real interest in books. My sole purpose now was to alert the people to the existence of the vicious creatures from beyond the clouds. As I started painting the blood-spattered scene that haunted me, a tiny voice in the back of my mind shrieked ‘This isn’t right! This isn’t right!’

I awoke, dazed from the images still burned into my skull. The story that my dream told seemed familiar somehow, but I couldn’t place it. And the village… Was that…? I shook my head. It was probably just coincidence. Dreams have a way of clinging to the familiar. I made my breakfast and ate it in silence. As I did so, I became aware of voices outside the library.

“Look! It’s the Princess! Princess Celestia is here!”

I choked on my unchewed hay. She’d arrived already? I left the food on the table and hurriedly washed up. As I came outside I saw that a small group had gathered expectantly some paces from the building, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie among them. I looked to the sky. A glinting something was approaching over the horizon. I was surprised that anyone had actually noticed it from so far off. It was a shining white sky carriage, pulled by two royal guards with an escort of six others. I looked at the crowd and sighed. Typical. Now they’d throw a welcoming party and I’d be lucky to talk with her privately come evening, if at all.

An ugly black shadow fell over Ponyville. I looked for the source in vain, but nopony else seemed to have noticed. The darkness focused in one spot and an unseemly swirling mass emerged from the earth. I was about to speak up when I heard a familiar tone.

“There is no need for words. I am only seen when and by whom I choose.”

For a split second, I saw a horrific flash of insect-like features from the mass. It quickly transformed into a shape I was more comfortable with. Once more the enigmatic stallion called Solitaire stood before me. I groaned.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“Don’t mind me. I’m here to enjoy the show.”

“What show?”

He stepped closer and turned toward the approaching carriage.

“I always found it amusing how tolerant your kind is of its tyrants. Mayhap it’s time for a change, hmm?”

“She’s not a tyrant!” I barked, angrily. “Would you just tell me what you’re…?”

The crowd fell silent. For a second I feared they’d overheard me, but it seemed that I was not the focus. I turned and looked back at the sky. A number of small figures appeared over the horizon. They were quickly nearing the royal carriage.

“Oh no,” I breathed out.

As they got closer, I started to see their features. They had a simian body structure, two arms and two legs. Unlike any ape I’d heard of, they also sported two pairs of bat wings that made no sound as they flapped. Their appendages ended in spiked crab-like claws. They had no faces I could see, but their heads were decorated with jeweled golden crowns. The royal guards tensed up as the creatures approached. A few of them grabbed the ceremonial pikes that decorated the carriage. The things fell upon the escort. I saw Rainbow Dash break away from the crowd and attempt to assist the guards. Two of the escorts managed to wound the assassins, but they were quickly and violently overwhelmed, their weapons falling to the ground below.

“Wait,” I cried, turning back to Solitaire. “Stop this!”

“But this isn’t my work.” He grinned. “Why? Is this not what you wanted?”

Seeing that she was outmatched, Rainbow made a hasty retreat from the skirmish. She made a few loops around the raging creatures, trying to capture their attention. Three of them escaped from the pack and gave chase. Mare and monsters disappeared over the buildings. It was hard to judge since the carriage was still a decent ways from us, but I thought I saw the door jerk as the Princess tried to help keep the monsters at bay. It was of no use. Their claws must have wedged it in place. The creatures now turned their attention to the stallions pulling the carriage. One was cleaved in half. The other sped up, but was unable to guide the carriage alone. He was pulled along as it spun out of control and crashed on the edge of town.

One of the creatures now landed in front of the gathered crowd, which quickly dispersed in terror. I ran back into the library not daring to glance behind me. As I locked the door, I ordered Spike to close all the windows. Once this was done, I crawled beneath my bed and spent the rest of the day in quiet trepidation.

Comments

[Pleaseworkforonce]

meh not so sure about this one granted it seems more like a plot builder so i guess that would explain the meh

[MonoGlyph]

649292
Aw, bugger. Alright, hopefully this doesn't turn into a trend then. Consistent quality is hella difficult.