Thankfully for Scootaloo's calmness and state of mind, it didn't take long for Xu Lin to lead the group through to the library. However, that wasn't the end of their amazement. The shelves soared upwards, seemingly into the very sky, and they stretched out in all directions beyond sight. All four girls stared around as they took it all in. "Are...are those clouds up there?" Sweetie Belle squeaked out as she stared upward.
"No, just a visual magic effect," Scootaloo corrected. "No actual moisture in them. It'd be bad for the books with that formation, anyway. If you want clouds to help in a library, they need to be white thin clouds with attraction magic embedded in them, so they'll naturally leech just the right amount of moisture out of the air to keep the books dry but not too dry. Either that or have them sapient, like Cumulo."
"But kinto un are incredibly rare and hard to find," Xu Lin pointed out.
"Guess that's why I had to get mine from Santa," Scootaloo concluded.
"I thought Santa just added magic to the cloud you already took everywhere?" Sweetie Belle asked curiously.
"I guess that is what the note suggested," Scootaloo concluded. Her eyes widened in amazement. "Say...you think that means now that I've got this divine lightning chi, I can make my own kinto un?"
"Can we focus on helpin' Xu Lin?" Apple Bloom demanded. "Ah mean, there's a lot o' scrolls here, and Ah dun' wanna spend an entire month till next full moon figuring out which scroll ta read, let alone decipherin' it ta learn how ta get around tha bindin' magic."
"Oh, we probably won't be able to help this Full Moon," Sweetie Belle allowed matter-of-factly. "But we won't be sticking around here, either."
"But...but how are we going to help Xu Lin, then?" Jade demanded angrily.
"Next month," Sweetie Belle allowed. "You're okay with waiting one more month so we can get Uncle to look at the scrolls and figure out what to do safely, right?"
Xu Lin shrugged. "I have searched and waited for five years. One more month with new hope will fly by."
"Wait...your plan is to take all this back to Uncle?" Jade gasped in shock, gesturing to the entire library at 'this'. "How?"
"This box," Sweetie explained, reaching into her saddlebags and pulling out a folded cardboard box bigger than the bags themselves.
"How..." Jade began in confusion. "How is it all going to...fit?"
"Same way the box fit in the bags," Sweetie explained as she unfolded it into a decent size box, the flaps magically affixing themselves into a closed bottom of their own accord. "It's a box of holding."
"But I thought an artifact of holding could not be placed inside another?" Xu Lin gasped worriedly. "How did you manage it?"
"The holding enchantment isn't active on the cardboard box unless it's unfolded," Sweetie explained. "Really useful for packing. Now stand back, I need to shape a couple spells. Scootaloo, help me spread the smoke? Apple Bloom, you've got the potion?"
As the three fillies gathered, Jade stepped beside Xu Lin worriedly. "So...you're going to raid the place?" she asked curiously.
"That'd probably trigger the transformation, since raiders likely qualify as intruders," Sweetie Belle corrected.
"We're usin' a duplication spell with a closed limit o' one ta make copies of every scroll and book in here!" Apple Bloom explained as she uncorked a bottle, letting a pink smoke float up out of it. "The spell will last a month."
"And we're taking the copies with us," Scootaloo explained as she wafted the smoke to flow around the entire library.
"And I'm going to energize it with an extra packing spell, so we only take the copies without having to sort them out ourselves," Sweetie Belle concluded. She stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth as she focused energy into her horn. "Now...how did this one go? Higitus...Figitus...bigitus bum...Prestedigitonium!"
As the green magic lashed through the pink smoke, copies of every scroll began to dance to unseen music, marching slowly into the box of holding and laying themselves flat on the bottom, seeming to vanish into the shadows as they did.
Jade and Xu Lin watched in awe as the magic guided all the tomes safely into their resting place. "Could I not escape through this box?" Xu Lin asked hopefully. "Holding items obey their own laws of magic, after all..."
"Bad idea," Jade spoke up quickly. "If it didn't work, you'd be ripped out of said pocket space as we carried it out of the Temple. I don't know how much damage tearing a Holding space open would do, but I really don't want to find out."
"Oh..." Xu Lin concluded sadly as the copies finished filing into the box, allowing it to seal itself up on top as the music came to an end. "I...suppose you are done for tonight then?" she asked morosely. "And it...is time for goodbyes..."
"Don't be silly!" Scootaloo insisted firmly. "It's several hours before sunrise. I'm sure you didn't spend the entire five years just searching for answers. I bet you know a few places around here to have a ton of fun!"
"The least we can do is give you some company!" Sweetie Belle agreed.
"At least until Uncle Jackie comes and finds us," Apple Bloom allowed playfully.
"And you never know," Jade pointed out wickedly. "We might stumble on the way to get you out completely by accident!"
"Or by asking me," a soft voice asked from behind them, tone warring between amusement and annoyance.
"Or we could-WAUGH!" Jade screamed out as all five girls leaped in the air in fear, spinning towards the source of the voice.
The young woman who stood leaning against a bookcase could almost pass for human, at least in shape. However, her coloration definitely painted her as magical. She had pale blue skin, purple hair, crimson irises, pale red corneas, and a blue-green mask marking on her face. Two thin arms ending in clawed hands extended through the short sleeves of her top, the higher arms with fingerless gloves on the hands, which ended in four fingers, while the lower arms ended in three-fingered hands. She wore a uniform that seemed achingly familiar to Scootaloo...except she was pretty certain the one she saw all those years ago was yellow, not red and purple(1). "Considering this is my library you're raiding, I feel like I should be the one screaming," she pointed out dryly.
"Your library?" Jade demanded in shock. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, not originally," the woman explained. "It originally belonged to He Xiangu, but the Veil Council left it in my care 200 years ago as thanks for helping create and maintain the Balance of the world. It was a big project, after all." She glanced at the five with a frown. "The name probably doesn't mean anything to you, but I'm Luna, daughter of Tso Lan-"
"One of Shendu's brothers?" Sweetie Belle gasped in shock. "Are you helping Valmont free them?"
Luna's eyes narrowed. "Oh, is that what's going on?" She rubbed her forehead. "Look, I honestly don't care if someone's messing with that side of the Balance. I did my part, so I just want to be left alone to follow my own project, making sure no one tries tapping a hell dimension on a massive scale. That's what I have this Temple for now, to focus my studies and not be disturbed." She turned to Xu Lin. "Normally I don't interfere with the Guardian aspect of things here, but I'm not about to keep a little girl prisoner when she just wants to go home. Just inside the Temple entrance are suits of armor, meant to be worn by the Soldiers of the Moon when they go off to battle. For those who lack their own means of warping in and out of this Temple, donning a suit will let you leave."
Xu Lin smiled happily. "My thanks for telling me! I look forward to seeing my family again!"
"Why didn't you tell her sooner?" Jade demanded irritably.
"I didn't know she was even here," Luna countered dryly. "Like I said, I leave the Temple to more or less take care of itself unless I need something. I only even came out here because your little musical packing spell disturbed my concentration."
Sweetie Belle's ears went flat against her skull. "...sorry about that..."
Luna shrugged. "No big deal. Been a while since a Qi Lin got this close to me." Leaning forward, she gently stroked Sweetie's mane. To the girls' surprise, neither Sweetie nor Luna showed signs of pain. "And in case you're wondering, I'm half-human...which means as long as I'm not actively doing evil, Good Magic doesn't automatically hurt me."
"Good to know," Apple Bloom spoke up happily as she lifted the box onto her back. "We won't bug ya no more."
"If you can find someone who might make a better Guardian, please send them my way," Luna called out as the group left. "Having one around is...useful."
(1) This refers back to the chapter "Crazy Customers"...specifically, the first customer to visit that chapter.
Well then.
That was easy!
Where's that Staples button when you need it?
Ahh, that sorting spell is like music to my ears.
Finally Xu Lin is armored up and ready to go.
Oh if the girls only knew half the things Luna was up to.
You know, Luna reminds me to Raven from Teen Titans.
8172395
Don't jinx it -they ain't home yet. Jackie ain't either.
Woo! I like me some True Neutrals!
...does Luna count as a True Neutral? She's not out to aid or hinder the heroes, but isn't above helping them when inconvenient...
8172418 No, I think this makes her Chaotic Good. She trying to help, she just does it her way. And while she may not care about the vast majority, she won't make an innocent suffer either. Being True Neutral means you have essentially washed your hands of everything but your own concerns. She wouldn't have cared one way or another about Xu Lin.
Oh, police girl!
8172418 Seems more like Lawfull neutral, as long as one or the other sides dont mess around to much she wont interfer.
I hate being dyslexic.
Yeah. That was the first thing i thought she'd do.
An interesting twist, that.
That reminds me... If the girls are leaving... where is Jackie?
This Luna is cute in her own way. I hope to see her later with the Chans.
Ok, another Luna just got my vote for being in the top five.
I can SO see Luna getting dragged into the New and Improved CMC, as much as I can see Luna REALLY, REALLY making that monks new life MISERABLE!
I feel that in the future, there needs to be a 'Luna, meet Luna. Luna, this is Luna.' style of joke. A long ways off sure, but something to keep in mind.
8172780 Agreed wholeheartedly
Sweetie Belle and her spell
Now I wanna see a dark wizard that delights in the gruesome and grim; one that with only a touch, they have the power (Zim zaba rim bim!) to wither a flower.
Fantastic, no other words to describe it And once again, I thank you for including my OCs in this.
8172780
Imagine Twilight's confusion when the timeline is repaired.
AB: We introduced Luna to Luna!
TS: *a teacup breaks as traumatic memories surface* Who???
Sc: Our friend from the Moon Temple!
TS: Oh...
Prestidigitonium... a packing spell of Merlin's own. Oh, the memories. Yay for CMC awesomeness.
Great reference with the song.
Heh. I glanced down at the bottom to read the foot note, saw the picture before I knew it was his daughter, and my first thought was "Huh, so that demon decided to be a girl human? How very self-aware and progressive of him. Her. Them."
Also going back and thinking about it, now it makes more sense why Tso Lan is inclined to help Vdog ascend. If he has a half-human daughter, he knows what love is.
Or he drank a bit too much of an illegally produced and highly alcoholic substance. Although that possibility doesn't preclude love.
8172418
True Neutrals imply a either total lack of interest in (often due to incapability of reason) both good/evil and law/chaos OR that they actively reject such things and strive for balance. In this case, I suspect Luna considers maintaining the balance to be in her best interest (as it keeps the majority of beings that are far more powerful and likely to be hostile to her off world), making her more a Lawful Neutral (keeping the world's rules intact) or Lawful Evil (using the rules to her personal benefit and gaining power as a result.) I suspect she would fall in between; LN with Evil tendencies.
The thing with Lawful alignments is that they generally come with a honor code. As such, they can be dealt with diplomatically as long as you know what their personal code is (though few object to good manners in general.) From what is shown here, Luna has no issue with enslaving a worthwhile adult guardian, but is not interested in enslaving children. This is part of why I suspect she's closer to LN then LE; she shows some morality while taking full advantage of the rules.
Hooray anticlimax!
8173043
... or he could be the sort of demon who enjoys the evil delights of Lust and/or Rape, either of which would allow him to create a half human child, possibly without intending to.
8173088
Yeah... I actually had that written originally, and then the tiny part of me that still has restraint while on the Internet tapped the brakes, so I erased it. I believe the words I was going to use were
"Or he got a little rapey. And this possibility doesn't preclude getting drunk. Or love. "
Restraint is for pussies.
8173118
... If it helps, I suspect he'd be more likely to frequent brothels (or have one in his palace, so to speak) then allow anyone that annoyed him enough to rape to survive long enough to give birth...
Chapter One Hundred Fifteen
"Aiyah!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 46
"One More Thing!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 80
huh. nice. & not jest the story but the picture.
I wonder how Jackie and the rest of the Chan family will react when they find out about Luna.
If I remember right the first customer was Seras from Helling.
So does this mean Luna is working with/for the Helling Organization? If so i'm curious to learn the story behind that.
Also can we expect any of the other Demon Sorcerer kids created by Moheart7 to appear in the story?
Ah, Merlin's packing song. And my nightmare as a TSA screener if I opened what appeared to be a single small bag and an entire house worth of stuff popped out.
Luna seems a decent half demoness, I'd like to see her at least visit Uncle's shop once or twice. Plus, I can't help but picture three of her arms scratching a pony while the last one holds a book or something she's snacking on for a lazy day while the Crusaders are reading books of their own.
8172436
8172448
8173045
Eh. Either works. But the Lawful Neutral argument works well enough for me.
I hate to be a stickler, I really do, but unless Sweetie modified the spell due to copywrights the actual words used from what I can recall are Higitis Figitus Migitus Mum Prestidigitonium. I understand changing it for comical reasons or the like, but if you're going to use a well known spell it should really be translated correctly. As Uncle told the children if I'm not mistaken.
Either way a fairly ok chapter. I'm really put off by the short lengths, many of these chapters technically fit the definition of a single scene or two in all honesty. Which is good for quick reads, but terrible for when you want to experience something going on and bear witness to more mishaps and developments.
8173964
One, I looked at the actual clip and listened carefully as I could to get the words.
Two, if the words are wrong, it can also be explained that the spell itself was different to move copies and not originals (after all, she didn't sing the entire thing).
Three, the reason for the short chapters is both because I prefer reading shorter chapters as it makes it easier to pick it up and put it down with a marked spot, and because that's the comfortable length for my writing style.
8174101
Fair enough, I've always heard Migitus Mum and I'm fairly certain Richard Sherman even sang it like that in one of the bonus features detailing the background information on the making of the song. As I noted changing it to modify how the spell works makes some sense, if that's the reason.
I'm not knocking your writing style either, personally though I find it a real slow drag and a bit of a waste of time. No novels are ever written with such tiny chapters, and I'm a voracious reader. I tend to enjoy longer chapters with meatier content during my reading sessions. It's just my preference, not a knock against your style.
Now I want them to meet Merlin. Maybe have a small spat between him and Uncle over some small, stupid thing.
8174854
Uncle: "It's obviously the better choice for magical talisman! Good link to purity and fathomless mystery!"
Merlin: "And I still say my choice is superior! It embodies freedom and life!"
Jackie: "What are they getting so heated about?"
Applebloom: "They're arguing about which conduit for Good Magic is superior."
Uncle: "Pufferfish!"
Merlin: "Eagle!"
Sweetie: "Wait, I thought eagles were endangered? How do you even get one for your casting needs?"
Merlin: "Well, true, but a chicken is a good substitute."
Scootaloo: "So you just swing around a dead chicken to cast your spells?"
Merlin: "When you say it like that, it sounds weird!"
8176213
Okay, I'm going to see if I can't actually include that in the story at some point. I laughed too hard at that.
8176213
...
...
...
I luf eet
8173725 If you really want a nightmare, how about a case that's packed differently each time you open it? (hundreds of little legs are optional)
8179264 If I was told I had to screen The Luggage or its owner I would just go, "EEENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE!" and take a break.
Relevant:
3.bp.blogspot.com/-HvjnwDRBnjo/T6VwU_hzp2I/AAAAAAAAA4Y/ZQKyjt5E7aI/s1600/522630_10150900661888625_829178624_12894060_157796545_n.jpg
8406493
... Huh. A puddle seems to have spontaneously formed beneath me. Curious. Magic?
Oh, no, wait. That was just abject terror.
8689210
If it's any consolation, high-tier wizards sent to the astral plane by that device can simply get themselves back out.
It's also made of stuff that isn't exactly cheap.
8173725
Yeah, that skit was the icing on the proverbial cake; I loved their little trick with the munchkin Box of Holding nesting and copy spell, but that made me laugh.
8176260
Don't forget the three drops of mouse blood and an egg when doing necromancy!
...I miss Pratchett.
8179425
I wish those were real. The pranking opportunities would be endless. Heck, I listened to the "Song that gets on your nerves" for an hour. I might want one for myself just for the novelty factor.
Link is broken.