Secrets of the Moon
Sweetie managed to reign Jade in just before she managed to actually enter the Temple proper, leaving the foursome stopped at the top of the Temple stairs. However, what actually brought Jade to a halt was the sight of a young Chinese girl about their age dressed in green, curled up on the floor in tears. As she heard them, she lifted her head to look towards them. Her long black hair hung in twin braids to either side of her face, and her brown eyes stared at them in a mix of fear and hope. "You should not be here!" she called out worriedly.
"Why?" Jade asked worriedly. "What's the matter?" She started to take a step forward. "Why are you-"
Sweetie Belle yanked Jade back with her magic. "Have you learned nothing from adventure movies? If mysterious stranger little girl in a temple gives you a warning, you listen!"
"But-"
"And she's absolutely enveloped in the magic of the Temple!" Sweetie Belle continued. "She's probably some sort of Temple Guardian or something."
"Your Qi Lin companion is correct," the girl spoke up sorrowfully. "I am the Guardian of the Lotus Temple...though not by choice."
Apple Bloom tapped her chin. "Lemme guess. Ya wandered in one night when you were cold, next thing ya know the sun's up, Temple's gone, and you with it?"
"And that's how you find out you were drafted as Temple Guardian?" Scootaloo inquired. "Probably a result of some sort of preservation spell to keep anyone inside the Temple when it vanishes with the Moon alive by binding them to the magic of the Temple."
"But the only reason something like that would happen is if there were a way to circumvent it so people could leave," Sweetie Belle pointed out. "Otherwise there'd be dozens, if not hundreds of Temple Guardians, and no one would be able to move without bumping into each other."
"Or tripping over corpses as they died of starvation or old age," Jade murmured worriedly.
"Your deductions are accurate," the girl spoke up. "Five years ago, I wandered into the Temple...only to vanish with the dawn. I have been the Temple Guardian ever since, and I transform into a fell beast to drive out intruders. I did not want to hurt any of you, so I warned you away."
"So...can we come in?" Jade asked hopefully.
"I just said-"
"Yeah, you have to chase down and drive out intruders," Jade confirmed. "But if we're invited guests, then we aren't intruding, right?"
Apple Bloom grinned widely. "That's some good out-o-the-box thinkin', Jade!" she praised proudly.
The girl's eyes widened, as though she'd never thought about that. "Please, do come in as guests," she offered warmly. "But if I start to change into a monster, please run away!"
"How would we tell?" Scootaloo asked curiously. "Gotta be honest, even after growing up with them, humans look kinda freaky to me."
"I'm guessing horns," Apple Bloom suggested. "Humans don't normally got horns."
"But I keep reading about humans getting 'horny' in my stories!" Sweetie Belle complained. "What else is it supposed to mean?"
"Is...is this normal for all of you?" the girl asked Jade worriedly.
"You get used to it," Jade confirmed as she stepped over the threshold and towards the girl.
The Guardian winced, reaching her hand up to her forehead. When she felt no horns, she sighed in relief. "My name is Xu Lin," she introduced herself warmly.
"I'm Jade," Jade greeted happily. "This is Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo."
"And we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" the three fillies called out together.
Xu Lin turned to a nearby cabinet and pulled out a large jug. "For some reason, the Guardian magic insisted I carry sap remover for as long as you are within."
"Where are we gonna find tree sap in a bamboo grove?" Scootaloo demanded crossly. "I mean, come on-"
"Bamboo has sap," Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle pointed out together.
Scootaloo grumbled irritably.
"So, you will help me find a way to leave the Temple so I will no longer be bound as Guardian?" Xu Lin asked hopefully.
"Yup," Sweetie Belle agreed. "And the first step is to find the library."
"I will guide you there," Xu Lin responded eagerly.
"Wait!" Scootaloo yelled out. "What if Uncle Jackie comes looking for us and wanders in? He'll be an intruder."
"That's a good point," Apple Bloom murmured worriedly.
"Couldn't we hang a sign on the door that says we're inside, and Xu Lin could write that Jackie's allowed to come in?" Jade suggested. "That'd be an open invitation to him, right?"
"And we could add that all others should stay out!" Sweetie Belle insisted. "I don't trust that monk guiding us. He looks creepy. I mean he's a sleazy mustache and a snake staff away from being Jafar."
"I can not step past the threshold to hang the sign," Xu Lin spoke up. "But if I write it, could one of you hang it prominently?"
"I'll take care of that," Scootaloo responded eagerly. "I'm the only one who can get to Jackie's eye level-"
"We should make sure Audrey III's invited too," Apple Bloom added. "Wouldn't want two monsters dukin' it out amongst all those rare books and scrolls, and who knows what other artifacts."
"Audrey...III?" Xu Lin asked curiously.
"Mah Dryadic Familiar," Apple Bloom explained. "Giant flesh eating Venus fly trap that sings."
"Should we include Cumulo, or do kinto un not count as separate creatures as far as intruders go?" Scootaloo asked curiously.
Xu Lin shook her head in wonder. "You keep amazing company," she told Jade. "How can you be so calm amongst such wonders?"
Jade shrugged her shoulders. "Like I said, you get used to it."
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Well, you certainly made light of this new situation!
Hehehehe...
In one of R.A. Lafferty's stories, Epikteses (a computer) said "Even a 9 day wonder is business as usual on day 10" In other words, "The new wears off"
Hooray for genre savvy C.M.C.!!!
Well, this got sappy all of a sudden.
Yay, they saved time!
You'd think that the magic temple would leave instructions for the guardian but I guess the ones who made it didn't think that far ahead...
I think this chapter is a sign of things to come...
Seems the girls made a guest appearance proper here.
Guess Xu Lin's prepared to make things not too sappy.
8155623 when do they ever?
8155665 Well, there was this one time in a D&D campaign...
8155691 hm?
Do tell
cute chapter i liked it
I remember this episode! Which is odd, since the show was finished for a while before I started Netflix/Hulu/Crunchyroll... and none of them have the full series...
8155623
If the unwilling conscripted guardian's job is keeping people out, then why would you let them know any loopholes that allows people in? The guardian is the last being you want to know the rules. After all, she doesn't need to know the rules to enforce them.
8155703 I would suggest piracy for the last season it is the one that never got on Netflix along with a couple of one-shot episodes for some reason.
Even the elusive magical temple know the reputation of the CMCs.
8155701
8155703
Duplicate comment.
I think that after dealing with the Demon Sorcerers, the projected end of the world, and - most destructive of all - the CMC, Jade deserves to be a little blasé about the whole situation.
8155814
If no one else
And yet they all seem to ignore the fact that they only have until before sunrise before they become the new temple guardians...
Yay for prep work!
Sweetie.......what kind of stories have you been reading?
8156028
"I think it was called 'Fifty Shades of Grey'."
Gotta love that logic and how it's implemented. Sweetie Belle is best crusader.
Goddammit, Sweetie Belle
Very true. I, myself, felt like an idiot for not realizing he was a turncoat when I first watched the episode.
8155703 Go to Crackle. They have what you desire.
8156137
*grabs newspaper, rolls it up and swats head*
No! Bad! Bad Sweetie Belle!
If you're gonna read smut, at least read some that's actually good.
I mean.....don't read smut at all.
So... Four Girls and the Temple of Moon?
Anyone?
A single clap?
Yes?
No?
Am I stretching it too much?
Wow! I really love this new turn of events with the girls actually using their heads! <3
Wow. I wonder how they keeep calm in such wonders.
It's almost like they're not friends with an Eldritch Abomination, are friends with Celestial Bodies, study under the literal Princess of Magic, have older sister figures who deal with world ending abominations as their part time job.
Wonders never cease I guess.
Chapter One Hundred Thirteen
"Aiyah!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 46
"One More Thing!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 80
Anyone who hasn't watched Labyrinth should.
"I have sworn that none may pass without my permission!"
"May we have your permission?"
"... ... Yes."
8155626 The sap references will never end, will they, Sans?
media.giphy.com/media/8XaceDrB8kYY8/giphy.gif
I forget. Does the guardian attack only uninvited intruders, or anyone in its sights after it transforms?
If it's the former, then it's okay. If it's the latter, then the sign won't stop that jerk from entering.
8157566
Only uninvited intruders.
I really hope Xu Lin gets to leave the temple. If she has no other place to go I can totally see her coming to live with the Chan clan. I can also see the Crusaders or Jade pointing out to a baddie "You weren't invited in, we were!" and watching her go Guardian on the baddy.
8155626
I guess you could say she's becoming jaded by magic going mainstream
8156393
they don't remember that life A.T.M.
8158189 Nevertheless, it is hardcoded into their cutie marks to be badass.
8151385 Funny, when I face palm... I imagine my face as a planet and my hand speeding towards my face, blazing in re-entry as it shakes my face hairs and my face shakes. You can hear a delayed boom after the impact wave.
Is bamboo sap alcoholic? If I still had that bamboo plant and a friend who drinks, I would have tested that long ago.
It just occurred to me that Tat has been using the "These ponies drive me to drink!" meme as reoccurring jokes!
...cool.
That "Guardian magic" is smart
*spits glass of water*
Jackie, you gotta put a lid on her access to reading materials!
8763962
Sweetie Belle... That is not good reading material for a filly.
Forget Jackie, Uncle is the one who raised them so Uncle should be the one keeping tabs on what they read and such. ...then again, he is an old man, so I guess you're more on the right track than me. Uncle should warn them away from such material while Jackie ensures they listen and obey.
Ok I had a Dr appointment today for a physical and found out I have type 2 dibities I blame the author of this story