(Inspired by Boatmurdered, the famous Dwarf Fortress succession game) If you check the official Equestria map, you see a place called "Undiscovered West", north of Las Pegasus. Why was It never explored?
After their trip to the Crystal Empire, Mane Shaker invited Pinkamena for some exploring while there weren't new contracts. Since Pinkamena's trip to the Crystal Empire, she accepts with a new passion in visiting new places.
A place in the map called "Undiscovered West" always caught Mane's attention and what mysteries could lie there. The region's only information were rumors and legends, often written in books and told in legends that only few knew at the time.
But the question is: What happened there that Equestria, even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna preferred to forget and never mention again?
The start of June, marked per usual by the coming of the hot temperatures. Celestia's sun raging in heat in the sky, good times to go to the pool, beach or even the river and take a refreshing bath outside while enjoying a cold drink.
Everypony was happy... except one guy, hiding in the basement from society along with his pink friend.
"I. HATE. SUMMER!" Mane Shaker screamed while laying in the sofa.
"Why? And stop screaming! I got it already." Pinkamena complained, sitting on the smaller sofa next to him while cleaning her knives.
"It's easy to understand. I'm from the north, I'm used to the cold. My fur as a tendency to be more fluffy." Mane explained.
"If I give you a cold coke with a lemon slice, will you stop complaining?" Pinkamena sighed.
"Extra cold please." Mane begged. "Or better yet, make me an Applejack Daniels. Extra extra ice."
"We are out of whiskey. You drank It all last night, dummy!" Pinkamena complained again.
"I was thirsty. Heat makes me thristy." Mane sighed in boredom.
"Well start drinking cold things then. I know you have an alcohol resistance but fucking hell!" Pinkamena checked the cabinet where their mini-bar was, with most of the bottles empty. "I guess we are going to the pay a visit to your bounty hunter friends this night."
"At least It's fresher during that time..."
Later that night
Sneak by the shadows as always, dodging the squads of the Royal Guard patrolling the streets looking for them, this time they were more due to Mane's provoking letter he sent to Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire.
They arrived at the abandoned building and went to the basement, where Mane knocked at the door and the dark yellow bouncer with spicky green hair greeted them again. And per usual, the whole place welcomed them.
"Hey! It's Mane!" Said a voice. "How was the trip to the Crystal Empire?"
"Good I guess. Lots of things changed there." Mane answered with a smile.
"We saw the news." Mixer, the barcolt waved the outdated newspaper. "You two really thrashed that mansion."
"That place was like a war zone." Pinkamena sighed, taking the seat next to Mane in his reserved table. "You should have been there to see the episode in the motel..."
"Yeah... about that." Mixer turned the pages of the newspaper to the topic. "Shit Mane, you totally lost It there."
"I don't wanna talk about It. Serve us the coldest thing you have there." Mane requested making a two with his fingers. "The heat is killing me."
"We are also here to refill our supply. This drunkass finished our bar..." Said Pinkamena gazing at Mane with a frustrated stare.
"Hey, you know I very rarely get drunk." Mane retaliated.
"Whatever..." Pinka sighed.
Mixer served the soft drinks with an exaggerated number of ice cubes in the glasses. Mane quickly took It to his mouth and drank half of It in seconds, letting the breath with the smell of his drink come out. After some moments, a huge figure sit next to them. A dark green unicorn, white hair and light grey beard, wearing a black t-shirt and ragged jeans like Mane. The beard telling his age, but his physic showed his young and strong spirit.
"Ah... Thunder Fists." Mane forced a smiled. "It's been a while."
"It sure is. Did you complete the contract?" Thunder asked smiling as well.
"The guy is more than dead." Pinkamena answered. "Rich bastard, undercover criminal mastermind in the drug trade and weapons. Topaz was his name, middle aged but ruthless. He was the godfather of a local mafia."
"I see... Well, good job. I knew I could count on you." Thunder Fists laughed.
"Not without the Royal Army in my ass." Mane complained.
"That was to be expected honestly..." Thunder pulled out his pipe and a little bag of tobacco. "Do you mind if I smoke next to you, miss?" The strong elder looked at Pinkamena.
"Nah. Just puff to the other side." Pinkamena answered. "This is your place, I don't have control in what you do here."
"It's called being a gentlecolt." Thunder smiled while using his magic to lit up the tobacco. "So. Do you have any plans?"
"Are there any new contracts?" Mane asked in a grumpy way.
"There are, but not inside your interests." Thunder answered.
"Well fuck It then. I'm gonna play some darts." Mane stood up and walked to the target and picked the three darts on It and walked away to the line in the floor. He launched the three darts kind of in a irritated way and missed all of them, proceeding to stomp the floor in frustration. He tried again, missing the three darts again and this time stomping even more and starting to scream his nerves out, making quite the scene attracting some attention.
"What is wrong with him?" Thunder whispered to Pinkamena.
"Summer time, a fluffy fur from the Frozen North. You get It..." Pinkamena answered back with a sigh.
"I know the feeling. This beard is a problem sometimes too." Thunder laughed. "Say, how was the trip to the north?"
"Very pleasing. I didn't knew an entire city could be made of minerals." She answered happily. "In our way back, we though about going somewhere else, for a change."
"Where are you going?" The elder asked taking a puff on his pipe.
"There's a place in Equestra's map called Undiscovered West. north of Las Pegasus. We wondered why it's called like that, and we both have an interest in finding out stuff. In this age, why hasn't It been explored yet?"
"Hmm..." Thunder leaned towards her, so only both of them could hear It. "I wouldn't suggest."
"Why?" Pinkamena asked confused.
"A lot of shit happened there in the old ages... Hellish shit..." Thunder lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone. "Not many know what happened there, only in history books for hardcore historians and some old stories."
"What precisely?" Pinkamena asked.
"I don't know. Maybe if you both read a book about It, but if you're gonna travel there, I suggest you go armed and with precaution."
"I don't mean disrespected, but if they are only stories, I personally don't give a shit. I'm going there with Mane." Pinka took a sip of her drink.
"If you say so, then I'll don't be surprised if I don't hear from you aga-... DAMMIT SHAKER!!!" Thunder interrupted himself with a roaring scream.
Pinkamena turned around to see everypony there looking at Mane breaking the dart's target into pieces, by stomping It on the floor countless times. The heat was really making a number on his patience.
"You're gonna pay for that!" Thunder screamed pointing at him in the other side of the tavern.
"Of course I'm gonna pay! What about you buy some fucking fans for this place?!" Mane answered screaming as well.
"I was thinking of that the other day! Maybe your money will go to them!" Thunder answered with his nerves by the limit.
Pinkamena stood up quickly and walked fast towards Mane and held his arm. He slowly calmed down with her by his side, and pulled out his money pouch, putting some golden bits in a nearby table.
"Here's your fucking money..." Mane snarled.
"Calm down. Getting angry won't make It better..." Pinkamena whispered hiding her face behind his shoulder ashamed from the scene he was making. "Let's buy the stuff we came here for and let's go. We need to talk about our trip."
Back in the basement...
"Easy on the whiskey, we just came back!" Pinka complained while putting down the bottles in the table.
"Fuck the Summer..." Mane answered with a rude gesture.
*PAF!*
The pink mare slapped him with all her strength in the back of his head,and Mane took It by surprise and even spitted out the drink in his mouth.
"The fuck was that for?!" Mane asked rubbing where she hit him.
"You better behave in the next days if you desire to explore the Undiscovered West, or else I'm not going with that attitude!" Pinkamena's eyes were flashing in her sadistic rage, while pointing a finger right towards Mane.
"Well shit, sorry then. But this heat is killi- WOA!" Pinkamena interrupted him by grabbing Mane's vest by the collars and pulling him towards her until their muzzles were almost touching.
"Listen here..." Her voice was menacing and Mane knew that kind of tone from her was not to be messed with. "If you don't cool down that temper of yours, I swear It's not the summer's heat who is gonna kill you..." She slowly putted a hand around his neck and squeezed It lightly. "I'll rip your fucking throat out of your neck and take out your vocal cords with my bare hands after going to the toilet without washing my hands!" Her tone changed to a psychotic one, and Mane could see that side of her almost snapping by his fault.
"I'm sorry... I'll shut up even if I have to sew my mouth shut." Mane whimpered. "And... p-p-please don't look at me like that."
"Are you scared..?" She asked in a low but terrifying voice.
"Yes..." Mane whispered in fear.
"Are you scared, Mane?!" Pinka raised her voice.
"Yes!" Mane started to go down on his knees.
"ARE YOU SCARED, MANE?!!" Pinkamena screamed out in rage, making him start crying.
"Y-YES!!!" Mane cried in terror from her stare.
Pinkamena with a single move pushed him making him fall on his rear on the floor, crying a bit in pure horror. He crawled backwards while whimpering from the scary pink mare. She didn't say anything else and headed to the exit of the basement.
"You're not the only one who is scary when angry..." She mocked in an angry tone.
"W-where are you going?" Mane asked in a fragile voice.
"Gonna pay a visit to Twilight's library. Gonna get some books borrowed."
"You mean snatch them? For what?" Mane tried to stand up from the floor but the coldness in the energy she emitted from those moments still had him frozen in fear.
"Thunder Fists told me some stuff from the Undiscovered West that we could only find in history books." Pinkamena pulled the lever to the secret door. "You better think about your behavior until I come back." Pinkamena glanced at him again. "Understood?"
The next morning, instead of the usual breakfast, the table was filled with a pile of "borrowed" books and two mugs next to a jar of coffee. Mane walked in the living room on his shorts and a t-shirt with a tiny headache, from his normal night suffering a nightmare which he was getting even more used to. The smell of warm coffee woke him up even more, noticing Pinkamena sitting by the table preparing his mug with coffee.
"Good morning." Said Pinkamena in a cold tone.
"Sorry yesterday..." Sighed Mane rubbing his eyes. "I'll promise It won't happen again."
"I'll forgive, but I won't forget. Just like you told me once." Pinka answered.
"Good memory. *yawn* So, what are the books about?" Mane asked while stretching his arms.
"Mostly history, and a bit about geography. At least that Twilight Sparkle's organization made the search easier before her pet dragon could notice me." Pinkamena grabbed one of the books and searched for anything related to the Undiscovered West. "Drink your coffee and come help me."
"Hey... wait." Mane sat in the opposite side of the table and scratched his red and black hair while taking a sip of the coffee. "Why are you so determined to go there all the sudden? You're even doing research about It."
"Your boss Thunder Fists told me something about those lands." She looked at him over the book. "Something pretty bad happened there in the ancient times."
"So..?" Mane sighed.
"So maybe It's the reason why nopony is permitted to go there, or why nopony dares to venture there." Pinkamena sounded a bit irritated. "Drink your damn coffee and grab a book."
"Alright... settle down. Let me just go wash my face." Mane got up and headed to the bathroom.
Later on, they had searched a third of the books Pinkamena brought. Most of them had no answers for their questions, but others had some interesting information. They had taken note in the mountains there was a sleeping volcano underground, which meant a lot of rocks, minerals, ores and gems were a huge possibility in that place. Also the numerous underground caves and the maze of connections between who could get any explorer lost and probably stuck there forever until they died of starvation and dehydration.
The author of that data was unknown but seemed legit. In a history book, Mane found out something the other books didn't had, and something that blew his mind.
"Hey, Pinka." He called.
"Found something?" She asked eagerly.
"Yeah, listen to this." Mane started reading. "Before the current civilizations and even before Ponyville was founded, and the Royal Sisters were both rulers before Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, there were a different race of ponies."
"Really? Keep going!"
"Dwarf ponies. An extinct race of cousins of the earth ponies, known for their lower height but mighty strength, their big beards and their undying thirst for alcohol. Living inside the mountains and mostly underground. Proud miners and blacksmiths with an extensive knowledge in mineralogy, metal crafting and engineering. They first originated in the cold lands of the Frozen North. It's said the last stand of their race was in the Undiscovered West."
"The Crystal Empire!" Pinkamena smiled. "Maybe you have a bit of dwarf pony blood in you."
"Haha, maybe." Mane laughed back. "No wonder we have the best blacksmiths in Equestria!"
"Keep reading please."
"According to the little data that survived, their lust for a legendary mineral is what ended with their race, and if It wasn't that, It was their own traps or simply greed among them. Tantrums were a rare thing among them but once something that caused them to do It, an effect called "Loyalty Cascade" would take action."
"Do they explain that?" Pinkamena asked.
"They do, let see..." Mane looked for the part. "Dwarf ponies were also known for their loyalty among their friends and family but also known for their bad temper if something would go wrong. The "Loyalty Cascade" can be explained like this. If a dwarf pony would snap for some reason, he could kill a foal in his uncontrollable rage, then the father of the foal would lose his mind and would kill a cow for example. And then the cow owner would go mad and could break something or kill somepony, then somepony close to the victim would kill the agressor and so on and so on until everypony would be rather dead or the tantrum spiral would stop at any point."
"Woa..." Pinkamena seemed surprised just like Mane after what he just read. "What a chain of events. You read something about a mineral, didn't you?"
"Yeah, a legendary mineral. I don't see anything about It here." Mane looked over the page of the index.
"Maybe we can find in the geography book or the mineralogy one." Pinkamena picked one of them. "I'll get the mineralogy book."
"Okay, I'll take the geography again then."
After some time, Pinkamena found a section of rare minerals. Diamonds, zircons, titanite, she knew all of them from her childhood in the Rock Farm taught by her parents when she was very young. Until something caught her attention, an image of a cyan mineral encrusted between rocks.
"Yo, look at this." Pinka turned her book to Mane, allowing him to check.
"Adamantine." Mane read.
"Yeah. I though It was just a myth." Pinkamena turned the book back to her. "Two hundred and fifty times more valuable than gold! WHAT?!"
"DAAAMN! We could buy Canterlot's palace if we could get our hands in a mine of that!" Exclaimed Mane.
"You betcha! But there's more." Pinkamena looked over the texts again. "This mineral was a legend among legends. Whoever could find would be considered a hero in their town due to It's value. This mineral according to legends had the weight of a feather, one hundred percent flexibility which could be weaved into threads and used to make super expensive clothing, or smelted again by the temperature of a live volcano in a magma forge, which was the only temperature capable of melting It, and used to make indestructible armor and weapons with an edge capable of cutting obsidian and diamonds!"
"Holy shit, we should get some mining equipment!" Mane suggested excited.
"It's not over, listen to this..." Pinkamena took her focus to a paragraph. "It was said adamantine was cursed and fated to be the end of a dwarf pony civilization due to their greed. It was said among miners that those who dug too deep and greedily just for the sake of the mineral, would meet their doomed fates if they weren't careful, along with their own demons."
"Edgy..." Mane commented. "Anyway, I found out that the wild life there is... unusual..."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you ever seen an elephant?" Mane asked.
"In a circus when I was little, and they live in jungles. Why?"
"Apparently, according to this book, the vegetation there is like a normal forest, but then there are animals like elephants, mandrills, tigers... you get what I mean."
"Weird..." Pinka commented with a confused expression.
"No shit. Also, if we are gonna do some ancient ruin exploration, I guess we are gonna need a book about ancient languages, one with dwarven language by preference." Mane raised a finger. "Oh! I almost forgot. They knew how to write for what It seemed but most of time they kept their history engraved in the walls and floor of their fortresses."
"Interesting. So It seems we settled our trip's objective." Pinkamena closed her book with a smile. "But according to Thunder Fists, he suggested we go armed and with precaution."
"Why is that, if I may ask again."
"Think about It, Mane. Why is there a place that is forbidden to go for what it looks like, and/or hasn't It been explored in this age?"
"He has a fair point, we are going to unknown lands anyway. Something may jump on us."
"I'm taking the flintlock pistols I brought from the Crystal Empire." Pinka concluded.
"I have my magic. And we are gonna need some new stuff from the outside."
"Like what?"
"You entered in Twilight's library, so you may give these books back and find one about ancient languages. While me, I know Canterlot's palace very well and will not be my first time sneaking in there. I'll search their archives for any ancient map leading to any of these ruins. We shall wait for the night to do this."
"It's..." Pinkamena checked the grandfather clock against a wall in a corner of the room. "Almost one in the evening. We still didn't eat lunch yet, I'm gonna cook something for us."
"I had enough reading for one day. The last pieces for the forge arrived some days ago. I'm gonna finish It and start making some bullets for your pistols if you're taking them, and sharpen your knifes as an extra."
"Thank you." Pinka smiled at him. "I'll start packing some stuff after I'm done with lunch. We still need to make a list so I request your help after lunch for some time."
"Can do!" Mane gave her a thumb up with a smile while heading to the new brand workshop eager to debut It.
"Ancient Languages and Ciphers, check! Myths and Legends, check! The ancient royal maps leading to the ruins, check!"
"Flint and steel?"
"Check!"
"Pistols, pouches of ammo and gunpowder?"
"Check!"
"Soap and personal hygiene?"
"Check!"
"Change of clothes?"
"Still working on mine." Mane scratched his head in a bit of shame
"Well then go finish It, the list is almost done." Pinkamena ordered. "It's still one of the things missing."
"On It." Mane disappeared from the room.
The list was rather big with other things they had to make sure were there. The camping backpacks couldn't be that heavy, with Mane in charge of carrying the heaviest one. How to reach the Undiscovered West was still a question. They could sneak in a train to Los Pegasus regarding their destination was on the way there, but jumping out of a moving train was no way the best option. Only a pony out of his mind would do that, but what could they say when they were about to venture to an unknown place to the rest of Equestria, but maybe not unknown for the princesses.
"Hey, what do we do about the dirty clothes then?" Mane asked across the basement from his room.
"We could wash them in a river and let them dry whenever we set camp." Pinkamena suggested.
"Then had to the list. One extra bar of soap." Mane added.
"And... done!" She answered finishing the note.
"I think we should take some rope too, so we can hang the washed clothes to try." Mane came back with an extra pairs of underwear and black and grey t-shirts.
"It's on the list, don't worry." Pinkamena sighed while looking over the piece of paper.
"How big is It?" Mane asked.
"Enough to hang twenty guys by their necks." She answered in a morbid tone.
"Fuck, Diane! Was that line really necessary?" Mane sounded shocked.
"Eh... I have my days." She sighed. "Just like you."
"I'm not that direct, jeez..." The unicorn looked at her with concern.
"I'll tell you something." Pinka lowered the list and looked at him in the eyes with a killing stare. "When a lion roars, they show how you feel with your presence. They are angry, they are giving you a warning. Now a serpent... they stay in silence, saving their poison to kill without their victims knowing..." Her voice was slow and cold like death.
"Are you saying my presence is making you like that?" Mane raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't forget that day in your friend's tavern." She stepped towards Mane slowly and grabbed his vest by the collars like she did that night. "I left the place humiliated by your childish behavior. And... I recall you said something the night before we left the Crystal Empire. You would like to meet my family one day?" Her blank stare turned into a fierce one with her ears flopping down in anger. "Do you expect that to happen if you keep behaving like that?! Because they live near the San Palomino Desert!"
Mane didn't change his expression. He had no fear this time because he remember an ace up his sleeve even if his vest had none.
"Do I need to mention whenever you go mad for no reason, that I must lock myself in my room before you get your hands on me?" Mane dropped.
"I have a problem and you know that!" Pinka screamed at his face.
"Well shit, I have one too and I go out of control sometimes. Sounds like we are even!" Mane smirked at her with a provoking expression. "Pretty little psycho..."
*PAF!*
Pinkamena delivered a slap to Mane's cheek and turned her back pouting checking the list again, leaving Mane rubbing where he was hit and laughing quietly.
"Listen, crystal brains." She called without looking. "How are we going to the Undiscovered West? There's a train to Los Pegasus but jumping from a moving train is madness."
"I've heard of an anual event that happens in a forest on the way there. White Tail Woods?" Mane asked.
"Oh, you mean the "Running of the Leaves"? Yeah." Said Pinkamena. "It's happens every autumn."
"According to the map, It's nearby Ponyville. If there's an event there every year, so It's easy to get there." Mane decoded.
"Makes sense. So you're saying we're going by our own hooves?" Pinka asked.
"Looks like It. We should go at night per usual so nopony notices us." Mane justified. "If we keep a steady pace without getting too tired, we should get there in some days."
"I like the idea." Pinkamena looked over the list again. "Okay, let's review the list over again."
Pinkamena opened the hatch for the fake basement, and checked the alley. Empty. They stepped outside in silence, closing the trapdoor and arranging their camping backpacks on their backs. The streets had the usual army patrols walking around. Mane pulled out his compass and searched for the north.
"According to where I'm facing, west is... that way." Mane pointed in the direction.
"Then let's get moving. Our street is empty now, It's our chance." Said Pinkamena peeking by the corner.
"Let's go on an adventure!" Mane cheered.
"Shhhh!" Pinkamena putted a finger in front of her mouth.
Three hours later of walking, they were already outside Ponyville's perimeter, following the train tracks in the distance. Three in the morning and some minutes after that with the coffee in their bodies making the desired effect of keeping them awake and walking. The moonlight was their only night, avoiding lighting up anything else, knowing some patrols were around the train tracks in case of something.
"Hope It's beautiful place." Said Pinkamena, trying to keep track of Mane in the weak light.
"Me too. At least It's chilly outside." Mane expressed happily while gazing at the stars.
"I wouldn't said chilly. It's just those warm summer nights."
"Yeah, those are enjoyable too." Mane agreed. "Is It your first time camping?"
"No. When I was little, me and my sisters used to go camp in a very unusual place." Pinka smiled over the memories.
"Where to?"
"In the mines." Pinkamena giggled.
"Mines?" Mane laughed. "What's so interesting to camp in a mine? There's no moon or stars there."
"I've seen them enough times in my time. Have you heard about light emitting minerals?"
"Not much. Do they actually exist?" Mane sounded eager for the answer.
"Yes. Some emit light after being present near a source of It, and some others emit naturally." Pinkamena caught up with his pace until they were walking side by side. "If you go deep enough, you might find a cavern complex, and sometimes there are these ones. We used to bring our sleeping bags and an oil lantern. And then we would turn It off and see the gems glowing in the walls and ceiling of the cavern."
"Sounds like a natural wonder."
"It is." She smiled even more. "If we get to visit my family, I'll ask my sisters to take us there."
"I'll wait." Mane's horn glowed and made his night vision spell. "We are getting a bit too far away of the train tracks."
"Let's walk there then." Pinka suggested.
They walked closer to the train, following the same direction they were going for with a change ahead. A flock of birds coming from some trees passed by chirping away, adding more to their alert senses.
"There's something there." Said Mane.
"I can sense It too." Pinkamena whispered. "Whatever It is, I don't feel like fighting It."
"Me neither, let's speed up a bit." Mane agreed, starting to walk away.
Mane took the chance to teach Pinkamena a technique he learned to speed up without getting exhausted. Twenty paces running, twenty paces walking and repeat. After some minutes doing It, they were a good distance from where they were. The stallion kept walking and looking up front were they were heading to, but Pinkamena kept looking over her shoulder, but there was nothing coming after them.
"Mane?" She called.
"What? Is there something behind us?" He asked.
"No. But... what do you think we're gonna find there, besides ancient ruins?" She asked nervously.
"You mean creatures? Dragons are pretty territorial, but I don't think one would be there." Mane answered concerned too.
"What could have happen there? Do you think It's was a creature?"
"Maybe yes, but maybe not."
"If It was not, maybe a war? Themselves in one of those tantrum sessions?"
"Who knows?" Mane asked with a sigh.
"We don't. Maybe Princess Celestia and Luna?" Pinka commented. "They lived all these years reigning over Equestria and the books mentioned them during those times."
"Only adds more mystery why they have seemed to forget the place..."
"Yeah..." Pinkamena sighed in thrill. "Do you think It's haunted?"
"I'm a cursed stallion, so I easily believe if weird shit happens there." Mane consented. "Hey, can you pull out the water in my pack?"
"Sure, just stop so I can take It out." Mane stopped and Pinkamena opened his backpack searching for the bottle. "Here, leave some for me."
"Thanks." Mane opened the bottle, took It to his mouth and drank some of It. "Here. We should save It until we get there unless we find a something to refill It."
"Obviously." Pinkamena accepted the bottle and drank some water too. "Refreshing... where are we?"
"Good question." Mane pulled out his map and looked to the sky. "The moon's position should say almost five in the morning. And our place..." He performed his night vision spell on him again. "I see a bifurcation in the train tracks ahead. I'll say we are here." Mane made a small light with his magic allowing Pinkamena to see.
"Alright, let's take the left then. Pretty much keep going forwards." She said looking over the map.
"Let's keep going then." Mane folded the map and putted It on his pockets.
"Can we stop a bit when the sun rises? I could get a rest." Pinka complained softly. "This backpack is killing me."
"Yeah, we'll need to eat something later. But let's not linger or else we won't get there that soon."
One in the evening from the day they departed. The duo stepped away from the train tracks to eat their breakfast and lunch at the same time, a passenger in a train could recognize them and alert the authorities once they would get to their destination, making their trip harder being the last thing Mane and Pinka wanted was the Royal Guard chasing them with muskets.
"I think we're close to White Tail Woods." Said Mane.
"Means we are halfway from Undiscovered West's border." Pinkamena added.
"We could go through the forest. We won't step away that much." Mane suggested.
"Sure, why not?" She nodded.
They walked away from the train tracks and headed to the woods next to them. The trees blooming their flowers among the green leaves lit up their spirit a bit. Some of the trees already had some of their leaves dry, showering the sight with a mixture of orange and yellow among the green. They walked down the path where the Running of the Leaves event occurs every autumn.
"It's pretty out here." Pinkamena commented.
"I know right? My knowledge of Equestria's places is a bit limited too."
"Where have you been then?" She asked.
"Let me see. Crystal Empire, Canterlot, Everfree Forest and Ponyville." Mane counted with his fingers.
"Well... let me see my list counting my childhood before I ran away." Pinkamena thought for a moment. "Rock Farm, how we call It. Ghastly Gorge, Ponyville, Crystal Empire thanks to you, and... Canterlot but I don't know shit about It."
"I don't blame you. We got there just because of a contract from one of your contacts. Still, going there is suicide for both of us." Mane sighed.
"But you've been there. Enough time I guess. How is It there?" She asked curiously.
"A place for rich bastards. It's not only the capital, but also where the Royal Sisters live."
"I have a guess how much a house costs there."
"A house and everything. It's like you have to sell a kidney to have a dinner there." Mane groaned.
"Jeez..." Pinkamena sighed. "But you lived there before."
"Yeah, under some special conditions until I fucked up." Mane answered somewhat in a bad mood.
"What did you do? You were with the princesses, you must have pissed them off really bad." She said in a way it sounded like a documentary.
"Simply put, I discovered things and passed a good time analyzing them... until I fell asleep and got caught by Celestia herself." Mane groaned.
"Was It about them?" Pinka asked nervously.
"No. It was a series of forbidden books, mostly black magic used for fight and destruction. And attending my origins and the blood running inside me, Celestia though It was dangerous to keep me there since I knew about those now... so she kicked me out..." Mane sighed sadly.
"That's so harsh! And do you remember anything from those books?" She asked worried.
"Ironically, I don't! And she didn't give me a second chance. The only one who remained by my side was Luna, because you know... we had some stuff in common and she was more understandable."
"She was like a mother to you, wasn't she?" Pinkamena sounded sad.
"The mother I never had or met..." Mane sobbed even more sad. "You have a mother and a dad. How are they?"
"Yeah... about them. I have not written to them in a long time, and with a reputation like mine and with you next to me, I don't know what they would think. I don't even know if they know of this!" Pinka panicked for a bit.
"Hey girl, chill... if we happen to visit them, It's not like they would attack us or their own daughter." Mane tried to comfort her.
"What if they reject me?" She asked startled.
"Then we are on our own..." Mane sighed.
The word "our" aroused Diane. Clearly Mane choose to stand by her side no matter what, just like she had choose months ago to stay with him as a debt from saving her from herself. To lighten up the grim mood they had created, two foxes passed by in front of them, stopping and staring at them.
"Shhh." Said Mane with a whisper. "No sudden moves."
"Yeah." Pinka whispered back. "They're so cute. Are they a couple?"
"I don't kn-" A third smaller fox showed up from where the other two came from and stopped next to them, staring at the two ponies staring back at them. "This answers the question." Mane whispered.
"Can I pet them?" Pinkamena whispered with a smile.
"I don't think they allow you. Give a try, I guess." Mane suggested.
Pinkamena stepped very slowly fowards and the three animals run away back in the dense bushes and keep running along the woods back inside to It's core.
"Dammit..." Pinka sighed sadly.
"Too bad." Mane giggled quietly.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Seeing you have a girly side." Mane laughed.
"What do you mean, crystal brain?" She pouted.
"Most of times you are so rough. It's rare to see you being so sweet." Said Mane still giggling.
"I comforted you many times in the Crystal Empire when you were depressed." She stated.
"Maybe I was too distracted to notice then." Mane looked around the woods. "It's takes more time when the road is straight, doesn't It?"
"Quite a change of topic." She grumbled. "And yeah, at least we now have a more pleasing view in our trip."
"There's a river nearby." Said Mane while checking the map. "Should we camp there? We've been walking for a while."
"Nothing against that. My back could use a rest from this backpack." Pinkamena complained.
They arrived to the river bank hours ago after some walking around appreciating the scenery, where they lit up a bonfire surrounded by rocks and rolled their sleeping bags in opposite sides of the fire, with an extra of a makeshift mattress made of tiny branches and leaves. The crickets and cicadas were starting their noises while the sky kept turning darker. Both sitting in their sleeping bags rarely talking for some reason or simply because there was no topic.
Mane kept looking at the stars and their constellations while Pinkamena kept grilling marshmallows in the bonfire.
"Can I have one?" Mane asked looking at her chomping a marshmallow.
"Shure. Hafe one!" She offered the bag while trying to talk with her mouth full of warm melted sugar.
"Let me see if I remember the procedure..." Mane whispered to himself while readying a soft sugary sweet in a stick's end.
"Put on top of the fire and role It slowly." Said Pinkamena readying another marshmallow. "Simple!"
"I only did this once and failed miserably." Mane grumbled a bit.
"You got distracted." She mocked with a small laugh. "And burned It."
"Don't distract me now..." Mane positioned the marshmallow above the fire and started rolling It as soon the white sweet started to become brown and the sugar to caramelize and bubbling on the sides. "I think I got It!" Said Mane happily.
"Taste It then, you'll love It!" Pinka cheered.
"Can't wait." As soon he finished his sentence, the tiny branch burned and the cooked marshmallow fell on the flames making a bubbling noise of sugar and caramel burning to a crisp. Mane stood silent without knowing what to think while Pinkamena tried to contain her laugh. "Fuck this..." Mane threw away what was left of the stick and lay down in his sleeping bag, while the pink mare burst in laugh.
"HAHAHA! *snort* HAHA! I can't breath!" She laughed hysterically.
"Hahahahahaha! SHUT UP!" Mane yelled in anger.
"Mane! Haha! Why so serious? Hah... my sides..." She asked while cleaning her tears of laughter.
"I have nothing to laugh at." Mane muttered still nervous.
"You will one day." Pinkamena took the marshmallow to her mouth, and she quickly spit It out when she felt like she just chewed a scorching iron. "FUUUUUCK! WATER! WHERE'S THE BOTTLE?!" She didn't let her marshmallow cool down.
"Karma, fool!" Mane laughed evilly while throwing the water bottle to her, which she caught and drank most of It.
"Who the fuck is karma?!" She asked angrily. "My tongue hurts..." She moaned.
"Karma is like... you laugh at somepony's misery for example, but then something happens to you right away or later. It's like life's revenge." Mane explained with an evil smile.
"I can't feel my tongue." She cried a bit. "I won't taste sugar or blood ever again."
"It will heal, don't worry." Mane turned around in his sleeping bag and looked at her. "And blood? I though I made you go through that phase."
"Not totally." Said Diane. "When you have your own demons, you can imprison them but you can't kill them. Besides, we have something in common what comes to killing, so don't tell me a bit of somepony's blood never got into your mouth by accident."
"Does mine count?" Mane asked.
"When you taste your own blood, It's expected to taste the same most of times. But when It's from a different pony, the chances are so infinite... Also, I'm more messy when I kill compared to you."
"Is that a challenge?" Mane smirked. "At least in my case, the scene is easier to clean."
"HA! Are you planning to take away the jobs of the forensic cleaning teams?" Pinkamena laughed.
"No, but jeez. I still remember the basement when I met you for the first time. The miasma there was... urgh! I don't even know how I didn't puke during all that time." Mane looked back at her. "How the fuck did you never got sick or an infection?"
"Easy. I came from a family of miners, and anything could happen in a rock farm where the ground is mostly polluted with metal ore sediments, sharp rocks and gems." Pinkamena pointed to the ground without taking her eyes from him. "And underground, there were some lakes sometimes where the metal content was so much, we couldn't wash our wounds there. Not to mention, an open wound there in a moist place can be a true danger. And if It wasn't moist, could be the toxic dusts."
"So you're telling me your body created It's own antidote?" Mane guessed.
"Say no more." Pinkamena took another sip of water.
"One, that's impressive from you. Two, what a harsh childhood." Mane commented.
"Yeah, but my parents weren't that bad, they are just... old fashioned. And the rock farm is a family business from many generations, It's easy to understand."
"Did you went to school there?" Mane asked a bit uncomfortable. "I mean, you lived in the middle of nowhere."
"Oh, I went. There used to be a bridge in Ghastly Gorge offering passage to Apple Loosa. Then one year after I finished primary school, the bridge fell. Nopony got hurt, but then I got home schooled about the jobs in the farm."
"What did you learn there?" Mane rolled on his belly and rested his head on his arms, paying close attention to her.
"The basics, from how to use a pickaxe to the metal's and gem's names. Then the complicated stuff like precautions in dangerous caves, some techniques for many stuff." She answered with a blank expression.
"What dangers?" Mane asked with a smile, eager to hear her.
"Sometimes a cave-in. Toxic dusts or even underground creatures."
"Creatures? What sort of? I've never been in a mine honestly."
"Insects mostly, big ones." Pinkamena made a face of disgust. "Ever saw a centipede?"
"BLARGH! I hate those!" Mane expressed with total repulsion.
"Imagine one twenty times bigger and It's exoskeleton made of rock. The only way was with the pickaxe straight to It's body, if you could get closer."
"Sounds like a problem." Mane's spine shivered after hearing the size.
"They are. Besides disgusting and big, they would eat the minerals we dig." Pinkamena yawned and stretched. "Why are you asking all this?"
"If you think about It, I don't know much about you." Pinkamena's yawn caught him too. "*yawn* Just wanted to know you better."
"Well, besides what I already know, what can you tell me from you?" Pinkamena opened a bag of chips and started eating It.
"Well... all I know comes from my grandfather." The mare offered him some chips. "Thanks. *crunch* Too salty... Anyway. My parents conditions were neither bad neither good, It was... we had the necessary to live a good life. But then my uncle's lust for power made him make a dark ritual and pact with Tirek giving him the powers he needed to take the throne by force, and his greed made him forget about my family."
"No offense, but that was to be expected." Said Pinka taking some chips to her mouth.
"You wait, there's more." Mane took another chip from the bag. "By the time being, Sombra's reign of terror made the Crystal Empire's life and pride a pitiful misery, including to my family." Mane's expression lost all emotion and he stood silent for a moment. "One night... an angry mob stormed in our house. I was still one year old so I couldn't do much. They had torches, hammers, crude wooden clubs according to what my grandfather told me."
"Why did they attacked your family?" She asked a bit sadly.
"Simple. It was my uncle who took the power and started a dictatorship, with an iron fist of full oppression and slavery. How do you think the population reacted when they knew of us and we were unprotected?"
"Oh..." She let out a sigh of the obvious answer. "But you were innocent!"
"You gotta learn about mob mentality. But let's not get side tracked... my grandpa told me, that my mom told him to grab me from my crib and run away by the back door while my father was holding the door. Since then, the only thing I know is that my grandfather had no choice but leave me by the gates of the Crystal Empire's palace with a note to my uncle Sombra in hopes he would take care of me. And seems my uncle had a bit of pitty left on him."
"That's so sad..." Pinkamena commented in a depressive low voice. "But... all that happened because of Sombra. And I don't get something."
"What is It?" Mane asked.
"Why do you still like him after all the shit he has done?!"
"It's a hard concept. First and foremost, without him I wouldn't be alive today and I wouldn't have my crystal sense and my shadow form." Mane turned his hand into crystal, swap back to normal, then in a cloud of black smoke then back to normal again. "Second, chances are that I wouldn't be here talking to you. Third and last one, I think... I learned a lesson about the past."
"And what is It?" Pinka asked, finishing the bag of chips.
"Don't try to change the past. Even if you look away, It will always haunt you even if It was good. And my origins can't judge me. You are who you are, and the mistakes and stains from those years are lessons to be taken. The good memories are to remember and make us laugh, the bad ones also to remember and learn from your mistakes and from others too. In this case, from my uncle."
"But... I was who I was." Pinkamena approached him.
"No. You weren't that sick psychopath. I saw somepony else behind that mask." Mane stood up and sit, looking at the stars.
"And who was It?" Pinkamena got closer without him noticing.
"A sweet girl with a tomboy behavior from time to ti-" His words got cut, when he felt her mouth against his cheek. He moved his eyes to the side and saw the pink mare giving him a small but long kiss. They both blushed a lot but Mane was all red over his face with the unexpected action. "Err... uhm..." He babbled with a funny face of confusion and disbelief.
"Does this add to your list of good memories?" She giggled looking away, trying to hide her blush.
"Ce-certainly..." Mane tried to make eye contact with her but her long hair was hiding those blue eyes. "See? You have a girly side!" Mane laughed.
"I don't!" She said loudly with a mixture of laugh and nuisance.
"Then what the heck was that?" Mane laughed even more.
"A kiss of...sympathy. For your past." She grumbled.
"If you say so." Mane giggled checking the moon's position. "I think It's almost midnight. We should get some sleep."
"Yeah... *yawn* All this storytelling made me sleepy." Pinkamena crawled back to her sleeping bag. "When do we wake up?"
"When the sun rises, or the birds awake us or when the first of us wakes up." Mane opened his sleeping bag and got inside It, but quickly opened It again when he started to get hot. "Damn summer..."
"You'll get used to It." Pinka entered her sleeping bag and rolled over to the direction of the bonfire's dying flames. "Goodnight Shaky." She wished in a cute voice.
The sun rose in the sky slowly, creating the cinematic effect of a blue like aura through the sky. The forest creatures came out of their holes and nests for their morning hunt and activities. The wind rustling the leaves of the trees and other plants was nature's melody together with the birds singing and the river's water flowing.
Such melody that woke up the two outcasts of Equestria from their sleep in the middle of nature... or at least one of them. Pinkamena opened her eyes to see Mane in his ragged jeans and a light grey top tank, boiling a kettle of water in the coals, while pouring powder coffee inside. She slowly rose from her bedroll, rubbing her eyes followed by a yawn and a stretch.
"Good morning." Said Mane noticing her getting up.
"Go'mornin'" She yawned. "What time did you got up?"
"I barely could sleep." Mane grumbled. "Even outside the night is too damn hot."
"Jeez..." Pinkamena got up and walked to the river's edge. "You really don't go well with heat, do you?"
"What do you think? I already explained, I came from the north. I'm more used to the cold." Mane poured the instant coffee in the mugs. "Coffee is ready."
"Thanks." She answered after washing her face with the river's water. "Is there sugar?"
"Nope." He took a sip. "It wasn't in the list."
"It's your fault! I was reviewing the list with you for a reason." Pinkamena picked her mug and sat next to Mane.
"Hey, you're the one who eats sweets!" Mane complained. "How could you forget that, candy girl?"
"Urgh..." Pinka creaked her teeth. She took a sip and quickly spitted the coffee out. "ARGH! Coffee without sugar tastes like shit!" She complained.
"What, have you tasted actual shit to actually know?" Mane mocked with an evil laugh.
"THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Pinkamena raised a closed fist in Mane's direction, but only made him laugh more.
"I was just kidding! Relax. And you tell me that I'm too serious." Mane finished his coffee and checked the map. "Let's lift the camp and go. We can follow the river to the west, where it flows in the South Luna Ocean. We will find the railroad to Los Pegasus and then we only need to go north until we find the road again and a bifurcation to north and, our destination... west."
"If we keep a good pace, we might get in the Undiscovered West's border by the end of the evening." Said Pinkamena, taking a look too.
"And we could camp there." Mane folded the map with his magic and stored in his pockets. "Fill the bottles and wash the mugs and the kettle. I'll put the coals out and pack up the sleeping bags."
They walked and walked while enjoying the beauty of nature. They started to see in the distance the bridge giving passage to the train to Los Pegasus. It was almost midday by the time they got there, but nothing would beat a bag of chocolate muffins and a can of beer, a strange combination.
"Hmm. Tasty." Said Mane. "Where did you get these?"
"A light grey mare with blonde mare was selling them... in the middle of the night." Pinka made a funny expression. "I think she works in the post office too."
"Somepony saw you?! What were you thinking?!" Mane panicked in a funny way.
"Calm down... It's not like they know where we live. And as if the Royal Guard doesn't know where our base is." Pinkamena giggled. "Besides that, the poor girl is a bit... special."
"What do you mean?" Mane asked in suspicion.
"Her eyes are kind of funny. She barely pays any attention to her surroundings." Pinkamena sighed with a bit of pity. "She's clumsy but everypony in Ponyville likes her." She smiled.
"I trust your words, if you say so." Mane took another bite of the muffin. "If she suffers from her eyes, I think we could buy more from her. She needs a help, you see?"
"So kind, coming from a guy with evil powers." Pinkamena teased, taking another muffin to her mouth.
"Hey. It's not your past, origins or powers who define you. It's your personality. You define who you are." The stallion finished the muffin.
"Again with the philosophy?" She sighed. "You are boring sometimes..."
"I can be funny too." Mane smirked.
"Prove It." The pink mare looked at him with an expression of expectation.
"A naked mare robbed a bank... nopony could remember her face." Mane dropped.
"HAHA! That's also so perverted." She laughed.
"Are you impressed by that?" Mane looked at her with suspense. "A normal girl would have slapped me for such joke."
"AH! There's stuff you don't know about me, do you?" Pinkamena looked at him in the eyes with a naughty expression. "I can be a virgin... but I can be an animal in bed." She winked.
"Uhr... okay..." Mane blushed like he never did before.
"Which translates to, you pet my belly and bring me cookies while I lay in bed." She giggled.
"Y-you brat!" Mane stumbled on his words.
"HAHAHA! You should see your face!" She took a closer look. "Is that blood in your nostrils?"
"Wha-what?" The blushing stallion scrubbed his muzzle with a hand, leaving a drop of dark red blood on It. "DON'T PLAY WITH ME!" Mane's face took an evil expression while his eye's pupils got smaller. "I'M MANE SHAKER, THE LAST OF THE SOMBRAS! NEPHEW OF KING SOMBRA, THE CRYSTAL WARLORD AND DEVIL OF THE NORTH! HOW DARE YOU PLAY ME FOR A FOOL!" His tone became deeper like a voice in a cavern. "I AM DEATH INCARNATED! I SHALL BE YOUR BAN FROM YOUR LIFE!" His horn sparked red thunder like a ranging thunderstorm while his upper body started to emit the evil purple aura around himself.
"Says the "evil" stallion who wants to buy muffins to the mare with derpy eyes to help her..." Pinkamena sighed with a smirk.
"Fuck you..." Mane groaned, ceasing his intimidation failure. "Anyway, we are almost getting to the railroad bridge. We go north from there."
3:30 hours later, Undiscovered West's border
"We arrived sooner than I expected." Said Pinkamena in a tired voice.
"Looks like It." Mane looked at the sun, covering his eyes with a hand. "I think It's around four in the evening."
"I can see a sign there." Said Pinkamena pointing to the distance. "Let's check It."
They approached the sign made of grey rock with most of the carved letters worn out by time. The moss around It could tell the age of It, but It could be read on top of the sign before the warning written in old english.
"What kind of english is this?" Pinkamena looked at It confused.
"I'll translate for you." Mane payed more attention and processed the old grammar in his brain and voice.
1016
Do not cross the border!
This land has been seized to abandonment by Our Highnesses Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It's restrictively prohibited to walk these lands of evil due to the past this area of Equestria has witnessed. Anypony caught crossing this border will be imprisoned and sentenced to one year in prison in the nearest Royal Guard post.
However, to those who dare venture in such forbidden lands, good luck and don't expect any rescue parties.
The duo felt paralyzed by the age of the warning and It's words. Nopony has settled hoof in that place for a millennium and they were about to be the first ones to break the law of the rulers of Equestria. Either way, It has been what they have been doing for over five years in their lives even before they met each other.
Mane Shaker had entered the bounty hunter business when he was only sixteen starting with deliveries and search contracts, entering in the elimination of criminals at the age of eighteen. Pinkamena Diane Pie's insanity took her when she was fourteen, making her run away from home to Ponyville and start satiating her thirst for blood, to be saved by Mane himself five years later making her his ally.
Breaking the law was nothing new to them, but crossing the forbidden line not walked over one thousand years felt like an event regarding the warning.
"Screw the rules..." Said Mane in an imposing calm voice with an emotionless expression.
"You read my mind." Pinkamena smirked.
"Shall we cross at the same time?" Mane showed a little smile.
"Oh, no. It was your idea coming here. You do the honors." She made a gesture, giving him passage.
"I insist..." Mane looked seriously at her, but with a compassion of a friend. "We are on this together, aren't we?"
Pinkamena stood in silence looking at him in those green eyes. She slowly smiled and nodded. They walked closer to the line of dirt in the middle of the grass and aligned their hooves. Together, they rose their hooves, together they gave a step forward.
Together... they crossed the border to the forbidden land...
Two hours later walking the faded dirt road, they diverged from It and set camp some hundred meters way from a forest. Mane lit up the bonfire while Pinkamena prepared their bedrolls, then reviewing together their supplies. There was still enough for a week, going against their expectations of how much time they took to get there.
At nightfall, they shared stories with laughs while chewing on some sandwiches of tomato, hay and cucumber, quenching the thirst with water and soda. And to celebrate the breaking of the millennial rule, a bottle of whiskey Mane sneaked in his backpack and he gladly shared with Pinkamena.
Later, they killed the fire to avoid unwanted attention and fell asleep. Mane normally and Pinkamena drunk off her butt.
The sun got up in those unknown lands, just like the creatures roaming them. There were no birds to sing nor a creature to make a single noise in the morning. Mane opened his eyes and curiously the sun didn't shine a lot in that place, being the only noise around him the wind in the grass around him. He looked at Pinkamena, snoring loudly, with part of her sleeping body out of her sleeping bag and next to an empty bottle. Mane approached her and shook her gently.
"Hey, drunken beauty. Wake up." He ordered.
"Hmm... wa..?" She moaned in a tired whisper.
"Drunken beauty. Come on before you puke in your bed." Mane insisted.
"Dunken beuty..?" She babbled trying to open her eyes. "Da fack is dat supposed do mean..?"
"I'd call you sleeping beauty, but given the circumstances." The stallion giggled, shaking her more. "Get up! We have exploring to do. Caves to dwelve! Secrets to reveal!" He cheered.
"Help me then. And stop screaming." Diane begged.
"I'm not yelling." Said Mane while helping her get on her knees. "Want a pill?"
"Gladly..." Diane opened her eyes slowly. "Two. For my stomach and my head."
Mane opened her backpack and searched for the medicine and the water, while Pinkamena tried to get up. A struggle in her stomach made her have a choking reflex but she managed to keep It inside. The grey unicorn passed her the pills and the water bottle which she took in a hurry and waited the effect.
"Coffee?" Mane asked readying the kettle.
"I dispense. No sugar, no coffee for me. I'll content myself with a can of conserved fruit." She moaned still half asleep with the pills making effect slowly. "We don't have a lot of water anyway. I didn't see any river in our way here, I think we should save the water for now."
"True..." Mane putted the kettle back in the backpack. "Give me a piece then."
One hour later they lift the camp and explored the area for some hours checking the ancient maps. The grass was darker in those lands with pine trees being the majority specimen among trees, and the strange wild life for such environment composed by animals who should belong to the Forbidden Jungle south of Baltimare in the extreme south-east of Equestria.
"What is that?" Pinkamena asked pointing to a striped creature in the distance.
"I think It's a tiger." Mane focused in eyes, but then looked back to the old map. "The map points to a place alone in the north mountains, but has no name."
"I wonder what It is." Pinkamena took a look too. "Maybe It's the said pony dwarf civilization." She moved her eyes around the old of piece paper looking at the villages and city's names that existed at the time. "This english is so weird."
"Ancient times." Mane commented. "And even Celestia and Luna are older than these."
"I wonder if they are vampires..." Pinka giggled with a funny expression.
"No! Vampires don't exist anymore. They were all eliminated in the middle ages." Mane imagined Princess Luna as a vampire for a moment, with a goth dress, showing a pointy smile and a glass not of wine but blood, while keeping her beauty. "She would look even more beautiful though." Mane whispered with a grin.
"What?"
"Nothing. Erm..." Mane focused on the map again. "We are pretty much in the same spot where we were camping, but probably a kilometer away."
"Mane..?" Pinkamena poked his arm.
"Wait, I'm trying to think." Mane answered.
"Mane!" She called again.
"Wait!"
"MANE!"
"WHAT?! I'm trying to not get us los-" He looked in the direction she was pointing and what he saw but the tiger from before slowly approaching and showing his fangs. "Don't... move..."
"C-can I shoot It..?" She whispered reaching to one her flintlock pistols in her belt holster.
"Don't. It's just an animal on his life." Mane answered.
"He's coming towards us." Pinkamena raised her voice.
"*GROAAAR!!!*" The giant feline roared at her.
"Don't do anything." Mane turned his body into black smoke in surprise and glanced at the tiger. "AAAARGH!" He screamed.
The unexpected happened when the tiger charged at him, but even if he moved out of It's path a claw went through the smoke body while the creature regained his strength for another attack.
"Attack or run..?" Pinkamena asked while stepping back.
Mane returned to his normal body next to Pinkamena. Killing or hurting the animal would be wrong against nature doing It's own life.
"Attack or run?!" Pinkamena screamed while the tiger kept advancing at them slowly.
"RUN!" Mane yelled. "NORTH!"
They started sprinting full speed while the big feline gave them a chase. Running was a minor nuisance thing to Shaker but when adrenaline would take possession of him, almost nothing could stop his running. Pinkamena's psycho sense make's her lethal to a fierce fight without getting tired, so speed was on her side most of times. The keen mind of an unicorn, the strength of an earth pony and the speed of a pegasus like Mane once thought about her.
"HE'S GETTING CLOSER!" Pinka yelled in anger.
"I'll wrestle him if I need to!" Mane answered.
"What is that noise?!" She asked while they both started feeling the ground beneath their hooves tremble.
"It can only be one thing!" Mane looked to the right, and saw not one but a pack of seven gigantic grey creatures with big long pointy tusks, heading in their direction at full speed. "ELEPHANTS!!!" Mane screamed on top of his lungs.
"We are gonna die if we don't fight back!"
Slowly, the pack of pachyderms changed their course. The leader of the pack lowered his head and rammed his ivory tusks in the tiger, and the feline flew in an arch leaving behind a trail of blood in the air. The victimized animal rolled on the floor trying to crawl his way to safety, but the rest of the pack surrounded him and started stomping his body to a mangled mess, until he was beyond recognition. Mane and Pinkamena stopped running to see the bloody pounding the poor animal was taking.
"My God!" Pinkamena baffled seeing the tiger being beaten to a pulp.
"That's nature for you..." Mane sighed sadly. "We should take advantage and go. Elephants can be peaceful but if something approaches them, they can be deadly. I don't think a crystal fist would stop them."
"Neither a normal bullet. Their skin looks thick." Pinkamena added agreeing with him. "Let's go."
"Scout pace? Twenty running, twenty walking."
"I think we need a bigger number in the running part or else we might end up like that poor tiger."
They ran normally and then taking the resting phase without stopping. Pinkamena kept an eye over her shoulder while Mane kept facing forwards to where they were heading. The landscape started to have a grim look around them, with the plants around having a dying look and the trees looking even balder the more inside the land they walked.
"I think we lost them." Said Pinkamena, stopping to catch her breath with Mane doing the same.
"Good." Mane breathed heavily. "Quite a welcome!"
"I know right?"
"It's like the animals here have a blood lust." Mane looked in the distant mountains. "The tiger attacked me when It was supposed to be intimidated, even if It was just a bit he would have stepped away before charging."
"Wise words. The way the elephants killed him was exaggerated." Pinkamena took out the water bottle and took a sip. "Where are we?"
"Let me check." Mane took out the map with his magic and opened It in front of him. "We are on the other side of the dirt road. I think..."
"Are we lost?" She asked worried.
"Not entirely. I remember we came across It and we just kept going forward." Mane analyzed the map closer. "We got sidetracked while running away.
"The scenery looks... dead." Pinkamena took a look around. "What happened here?"
"I don't know, but It wasn't work of nature." Mane looked around too. "I think we are here." He pointed on the map floating in front of him.
"Where do we go?" She asked, while moving her ears around paying close attention to the surroundings.
"North-west. The said ruins are there somewhere in the mountains, giving we are looking for a lost dwarf pony civilization."
"Silence." Pinka ordered.
"What's wrong?" Mane looked at her by the corner of his eyes.
"Sush!" She gestured without looking at him. "My senses are picking something..."
"Is It bad..?" Mane whispered impressed by his friend's capabilities.
"I guess..." The ground beneath her hooves started to shake smoothly, and slowly became stronger. Mane picked It seconds later and looked around. "They found us." Pinkamena's eyes were washed by fear.
"Who?!" Mane panicked for a bit, and a sound started forming in the distance. In a distant hill, a group of gigantic tusked beasts showed up running in their direction. The same pack now was eleven elephants, aiming at them with their tusks and those beady black eyes looking looking at them with rage. "OH FUUUCK!"
"SCREW THIS!" Pinkamena screamed, grabbing her pistols and shooting the two bullets at the pack, but none of them stopped. "Damn!"
"At this distance and their thick skin, It's pretty ineffective! Start running!" Mane ordered.
"I can feel the breath of their snouts!" She panicked.
"FOR REAL?!" Mane yelled, thinking they were that close.
"NO IDIOT! That was an expression!"
They ran and ran in adrenaline, up and down the hills heading to the mountains. After some more minutes, by the top of a hill the noise behind them ceased. They stopped running and looked back breathing heavily and very tired. The pachyderms stopped while looking at them, gave a few steps back and for some reason they ran away.
"My legs..!" Mane complained taking his hand to the side of his thorax. "My body hurts."
"No shit... what the fuck is wrong with these animals?!" Pinkamena complained as well. "It's like some evil force is controlling them. Elephants don't hunt! Do they?"
"No. They are herbivores, but these ones are far too aggressive for such diet."
"Why did they gave up?" Pinka wondered while catching her breath.
"I think I see why..." Mane was looking at the other side of the hill, some meters away from Diane.
"Why? Woa..." Pinkamena walked next to him, gazing at the landscape if she could It a landscape.
Down the hill, a fading road of cobblestone leading to a bridge on top a channel of a nonexistent river. Beyond that, a land of dirt and ashes clustered together in the ground, where plants didn't grow anymore and the trees were just burned stumps of coal. The place had bones and skeletons all laying around. Most of them were from elephants reduced to bones and ashes, and others clearly from earth ponies and some unicorns, but most of the ones that weren't from wild animals were from griffins. The air reeked with sulphur and carbon even if the air there was supposed to be clean one thousand years ago. In the distance, carved in the mountains was an entrance with some fortifications in both sides with the rock charred black in the white grayish rock , and It's gates open.
"What the..." Mane baffled.
"So this is why they ran off." Pinkamena stated. "Looks like hell was here and It changed the address without cleaning the place."
"Word..." Mane was lost in thoughts. "Let's go."
"Right behind you."
They walked down the hill and crossed the bridge taking a look in the bottom of the channel with fish bones. An unsettling feeling washed their minds and bodies while they walked down the road, with the unicorn skulls making Mane shiver even more. Paying closer attention,the griffin skeletons or what was left of them had armor and weapons around them, some mangled and others barely changed only by rust.
The duo approached the rock gates wide open to them, and on a rock slab with fading letters, a word in dwarf language. Mane pulled out the book of ancient languages and alphabets and searched in.
"Nil...Lam..." He roughly translated. "LamNil." He repeated, correcting and making sure that was It.
"What does It mean?" Pinkamena asked.
"Uhr..." Mane turned the pages to the dictionary section of the language. "HammerStone."
"What kind of name is that?" Pinkamena grabbed the ancient civilizations book, guessing It would be the next thing checking. "Take It." She passed the book.
"So..." Mane flashed through the pages. "Dwarf ponies used to name their fortresses and locations according to what was related to them, most of cases war, mountains, craftdwarfship and sometimes other things. The mixture of words could make a rather funny name, something normal or something menacing."
"I think It's lame..." Pinkamena sighed. "It's really dark inside."
"Grab this." Mane picked a charred stick with a part of It's wood still intact for some surprise. He lit up It's carbonized end on fire with his magic and gave to Pinkamena. "I can't be the only one, if something happens."
"Right." She nodded.
"Let's stick together. We don't know this place, there's no maps from the inside and what else is inside."
"I hope It's no more fucking elephants..." Pinka snarled between her teeth, looking in the distance behind them. "Son of a bitch." She grumbled again.
"What?" Mane looked back too and he saw the pack of elephants peeking over the hill, just observing them. "Speaking of the devil."
"Let's go. Hope It's safer inside." She walked ahead with a tight grip in the torch and her empty hand closed tight.
"Don't jinx us." Mane prayed.
They ventured inside the fortress, under the light of the torch and Mane's magic. The smooth raw stone floor covered in bits of moss and sometimes small puddles of water, littered with bones and sometimes the small skeleton of a dwarf pony next to a sword, pickaxe or a piece of clothing, with their beards and hair still stuck to their skulls. Occasionally they saw strange black spots in the floor as if the place was on fire.
"Look down." Said Pinka.
"What?" Mane pointed the magic light beam to the floor, revealing an engraving.
"It's a... cheese??" She was extremely confused.
"Don't ask me... and It's seems It's the walls aren't the only thing engraved." Mane moved the the light beam to the walls revealing something really different.
"Is that... a unicorn burning..?" Pinkamena asked impressed by the detail of the flames and the expression of the character engraved.
"Looks like..." Mane whispered slowly. "Sick..."
"Sick indeed. Why would somepony engrave this?" Pinkamena touched the sculpture. "I mean, fuck! Ponies used to walk in this hall all day!"
"Let's keep moving..." Mane requested trying to look away.
They kept walking down in silence while looking around in the engravings, mostly being ponies and griffins burning... and sometimes a random cheese for some reason they couldn't understand. A door with an image of a pony dwarf called their attention and they opened with precaution. A rock table and throne got illuminated by Pinkamena's torch, and by their side an ancient book shelve with what looked like scrolls and books. They entered in silence and checked the room entirely made of rock.
"Look at this..." Pinkamena whispered with a smile. She pulled out a book made of leather and adorned with metal strands and some jewels.
"It's a book." Said Mane. "Looks like the paper is made of plant fibers and animal leather. Open It."
"It's all... in dwarf." Pinkamena looked confused at the writing. She passed the book to Mane while sitting in the hard chair. "Only Maud would enjoy this..." She grumbled.
"Don't distract me, please." Mane opened the book of ancient civilizations next to the ancient book and focused all his mental energy in both of them while turning and translating every words on It to a notebook he had brought with him.
"Cool." Whispered Diane sitting in the rock throne with her hooves in the table, while enjoying the magic aura in the half dark room.
"Got It." Mane finished his spell, ending with some pages of his notebook written in readable english.
"Already?!" Pinkamena baffled impressed.
"I used to study in the Canterlot Palace, remember? I got this spell really early in my student life." Mane reminded her.
"Oh well. Let's read!" She passed her eyes in the first words. "It's look like a diary."
"From who?"
"An overseer. The first one." Pinkamena looked at Mane. "Mind if I read for both of us?"
"Sure." Mane smiled and squatted until he has by the low table's perfect height. "I'll gladly reload and clean your flintlock pistols if you don't mind. You haven't reload them since you wasted two bullets in a pack of elephants, that didn't even stop them."
Prologue. It has been almost ten years since those barbaric griffins sworn war to our superior race. Our land and capital in all Equestria given by the generous Princess Celestia to our kind, the Crystal Mountainhomes as been target of attacks every week , every month for over ten years! Even if our carved fortifications were impenetrable, our king reached to a decision that our kind can't stay in only one place, and face possible death for the rest of history. According to his counselors, It was best to go far away as possible in hopes those griffins brutes don't find us anywhere. According to the Mining Guild, one of them had traveled outside the Mountainhomes in an expedition for research. He said the best place is on the extreme west of Equestria, where some good mountains would offer a good new city to our kind, and possibly the new capital! They set an expedition of seven pony dwarfs and appointed me as the leader, which I accepted normally. We packed our wagons with supplies for the trip, some tools, seeds, an anvil, some dogs and cats, etc etc... and my favorite... booze. I made a few questions and they swear these mountains are hoarding with precious metals and gems, and this is the best spot to start digging. I suggested a way of ruling our new fort. Each year, a new dwarf would take possession of the overseer position, and It would end in the start of spring and pass to the next elected. They surprisingly accepted!
"What is the name of the fortress, by the way?" I asked them.
"StoneHammer. Now go and strike the earth! Make our king and city proud!" The damn Mining Guild noble answered and ran off to his place... they only care for themselves and nothing else...
We departed while waving goodbye to the Mountainhomes. Hope you win the war and have the chance of celebrating the passage to the first millennium of Equestria's history.
March, start of spring, year 1000 We arrived to the place right in the first day of spring! Every pony dwarf in the group seems eager to start and I can't blame them. We are the hope of our kind! HERE, a new chapter of the pony dwarf civilization starts! HammerStone! STRIKE THE EARTH!
To start with, I ordered some trees to be cut to make the beds, while I ordered our two miners to a straight tunnel through the mountain and start also digging the future dormitory while I'll have to decide on the rooms later. Stockpile rooms next to the big area where the workshops will be. A dinning all for us seven and a kitchen.
Later, same month. Damn... there's a lot of big animals here. They are grey, with big tusks and small black eyes. The mason told me they are called "elephants". I hope they are peaceful, because I counted twenty in the distance!
April, 1000 The miners struck an underground river while digging the straight line. At least It was in a low point, I remember when in the Crystal Mountainhomes when a group found one and the mine got all flooded. I quickly designed a space to start a farm next to the river and start growing some mushrooms, so we can start producing our own drinks and some food too.
June, 1000 The digging is taking a bit more time than what I expected. We have only two miners, so I'm not surprised. The stockpiles and workshops have to stay outside for now. I scraped the plans about a dormitory and instead I told them to dig a new hall with spaces for our bedrooms, while the mason doesn't stop making doors, tables and thrones all in rock. While the carpenter made our beds and now he's making barrels for food and drink storage.
A few months like this and we might actually survive! I told our mechanic to make mechanisms and install the rock floodgate in the farm room connected to a lever. We let the room flood for a bit and then let the water settle down. Mud at last! Our farmer and me will start planting right away!
Those elephants have been quiet... too much. They sometimes come to the hill and look at us in the distance. They stare at us with those beady black eyes from the other side of the river. At least the river is deep enough... elephants can't swim, can they?
(Many pages of the diary have been torn out here, but the writing seems to tell something in autumn.)
October, 1000 Our carpenter has been having fun doing wooden crafts while the mason does some rock crafts, the bridge he built gave passage to the miners to keep digging inside the mountain, discovering metals and gems like the Mining Guild noble promised. We also built a trade depot near the workshops and stockpiles outside. And speaking of the devil...
We saw a small group of three merchants who dodged the elephants somehow. How did they find us? Maybe the king told Princess Celestia of his decisions and she told to her lands about this new place, because the merchants are earth ponies and unicorns. Oh well... they arrived and prepared their goods in the trade depot and... wow. The only thing that mattered was the food and drinks and some rolls of cloth. I would say 70% of their goods were all clothing and none of those fitted our size! I told them to think about It next time they would show up... if they survive the elephants and some griffin group roaming around! Traded all that mattered for us by the crafts the carpenter and the mason did.
November, 1000 With autumn almost ending, I take look with what had been made so far. At least I hope winter doesn't kill us. Our bedroom and dining rooms are finished, had to cancel making the workshop and stockpile area so the miners would speed up the other rooms, except for the stockpile of food and drinks between the still, kitchen and the dinning hall. I also ordered a statue garden for the magnificent sculptures our mason did. At least that stops them from throwing pebbles at the elephants at the other side of the river. Also a kennel for our dogs and start training them to guard us. The mason has been smoothing the walls and floor of the dinning room. The farm keeps producing food, and we have plenty of It thanks to the merchants.
I think we might survive winter!
But those elephants... I have a bad feeling about them.
December, 1000 Diary! This is fucking amazing! Apparently during winter, It doesn't snow here, and the rivers don't freeze! Only a slightly cold breeze! HAHAHA! It rhymed!
Which is great, because I have a new project to the guys that I planned with the other farmer who is also our animal trainer. I told the miners to dig a bit far away from our fort in the west side, three tunnels all connected by another tunnel. Kinda like a reverse "E", with a channel in the middle tunnel. Then I told them to dig a deep channel until the outside river and It flooded. Now the only way way to cross the channel is going through the other two tunnels. I told our mechanic/engineer to set up some cage traps along these tunnels. The plan is if those elephants would find a way across the main river outside, which It ends in a tiny swamp in the extreme west,. They must go through the tunnel, and the traps would get them. Then, the guy told me he could try train them for work and guard the entrance. I'm not sure if he's right of his mind...
January, 1001 Happy new year, and we start with some disturbance! Some funny looking creatures crossed the river and we caught them outside in our workshops. The animal trainer told me they are mandrills, and they love to grab and take anything that looks shiny! One of the war dogs we trained ran off to fight them...
And didn't go so well... But the other war dogs came out seeking revenge for their dead friend. And pay attention to what happened next! One of the bitches gave birth during the combat! And her puppies joined the fight! What the hell did I witnessed?! At the end of the day, the four mandrills were dead and they took another war dog with them, injured another and a puppy.
The poor thing is in a terrible shape. It missed It's lower jaw and now goes around with It's tongue hanging in It's neck. It's so disturbing to watch... And It keep passing away while looking for It's mom. He passes out, wakes up, walks around a few minutes and then passes out again. We feel like we should put him out of his misery by a sword, but nopony touches him. It's a sad way to treat a creature who fought off those mandrills in such young age.
End of February, 1001 My position of overseer is almost over. The fort seems to be going in a good direction! First year, got the bedrooms for us prepared, a dinning hall, a statue garden, a kitchen, a still and a farm pumping food and plants to brew. Our food and drinks stocks seem really good thanks to the merchants from autumn.
The elections will start in some days, and we shall elect the new overseer. Let's see what the future reserved to us.
Pinkamena closed Mane's notebook while he finished cleaning her pistols and reloading them.
"Seems griffins have bad fame since those ages." Pinkamena commented.
"Yeah. They have a big historic of war." Mane grumbled. "I hate griffins..."
"They are really arrogant and bad tempered." Pinka added. "They look even more shinny." She looked at the pistols in the rock table.
"You must keep a good maintenance of your weapons." Mane got up stretching his his legs from the squatting position.
"Should we keep moving? I want to see this dinning hall."
"Why not? I feel like exploring even more." Mane smiled, picking his backpack.
They walked around in the dark halls at the lights of the torch and magic. Checking the engravings of sorrow that civilization endured. Pony dwarfs burning or being massacred by elephants. It was weird how such low height ponies have carved such place fit to a normal pony, giving that a dwarf pony's max height was by a pony's stomach. Even stranger when the diary sounded like a nice start but not what the engravings were saying at all.
"Here." Said Mane, pointing the magic light at a open door showing eight rock tables and thrones.
"Everything is made of stone." Pinkamena observed.
"It was their main resource, giving they lived in mountains."
"If this is the dinning room, means the food stocks aren't far away." Pinka spotted a rock door. "There?"
They opened the door and destroyed barrels littered the place everywhere and some of them burned down leaving only the metal strands that held the wooden boards together.
"It stinks here!" Mane complained covering his muzzle, but Pinkamena didn't mind.
"I'm not surprised. The food has rotten away but the way this room was closed, seems the stench took possession." Pinkamena saw in the weak light some barrels in a corner, all still intact. "Look!"
"Go get It. I can't enter in there..." Mane squeezed his muzzle harder so the smell would stop on his head.
Pinkamena entered with her torch and lay the barrel on the smooth floor and rolled It to the dinning hall. Mane turned his fist into crystal and punched It's top open, and the smell of alcohol filled their lungs.
"Oh my... how strong is this?" Pinkamena asked a bit dizzy.
"Only one way to find out!" Mane dived a hand in the liquid and took to his mouth. "Woa! Shiiit! This thing is strong!" Mane laughed.
"How strong?"
"Doesn't get to the level of a Crystal Vodka but It's almost there. I think this is dwarven whiskey." Mane thought for a moment. "Maybe It's made of mushrooms, which is an art lost in time."
"An art lost with It's own civilization..." Pinkamena sighed, looking at the torch's fire dying slowly. "Wait." Pinkamena took a bit of the ancient drink in her hand and spilled on the floor, then took the torch to the puddle and It blazed instantly and kept burning for some time. "Perfect!" She smiled.
"What are you gonna do?" Mane asked.
"Wait and see!" She giggled, going to the food and drink stockpile and returning with a wooden plank of a destroyed barrel. "Grab this." Pinkamena passed her torch to Mane, and she searched her backpack for a rolled bandage. She rolled the piece of medical equipment around the board and dived It into the booze barrel. As soon she touched the soaked cloth in the torch, the thing exploded into fire without harming them, giving even more light than the previous torch. She looked at Mane with a smile, but his expression was of a terrified stallion as if he saw a ghost. "Are you okay?" She asked worried.
"N-no..." He babbled.
"What happened?" She asked again.
"It's like... as soon your new torch caught fire, I heard screams in my head. Screams of pain and terror."
"Are you sure?" She raised an eyebrow.
"So sure like just like I'm seeing you now." Mane looked to the sides nervous. "I don't like this place, let's go." He requested.
"Fine..." Pinkamena sighed.
They kept walking and eventually found the bedrooms. They were squares of two meters, all with rock doors and most of them without beds or anything. One of them at one small bed fitted for a dwarf pony, made of wood and the mattress were bags of straw along with the pillow and a rock chest without anything inside. That was the most complete one they could find.
"So tiny, but the room is rather... big?" Mane looked around.
"Only for a dwarf pony, but such space is still not good for a living." Pinkamena commented.
"Indeed. At least there's no engravings of elephants or dwarfs burning..." Mane sighed in relief.
"Look at this!" Pinkamena got up from the floor after grabbing something under the bed. "Another book!" She announced happily.
"Another diary?" Mane wondered, looking at the wooden cape decorated with gold. "I'll translate."
Sitting in the small bed, Pinkamena observed Mane's magic translating the whole thing with his magic flowing through the ancient diary and his notebook. Moments later, he finished while she opened a can of fruit and started eating.
March, year 1001 I came up with these idiots in hopes of building a mighty city, instead we made this hole in the dirt and full of unskilled rednecks! There is not a single good crafter among us and I heard rumors when the merchants came last time, that a group of immigrants will come from our lands in the north, and they might show up anytime. Better follow Oaken Mug's example and do the basics. I need some fresh air... PULL THAT STUPID LEVER!
NO! I didn't think they would show up this sooner! I just got the overseer position! Better put a work order for more beds, doors, chests and carve some extra rooms...
3rd of May 1001 A stubborn guy claimed our carpenter's workshop and demands shells and wood. I told the useless peasants to go check the rivers, maybe they will find mussels or a dead turtle.
6th of May 1001 So the guy found what he was looking for. He made quite an amazing table with some epic timberwolves drawings on It. I think the others might appreciate this if I put It in the dinning room.
8th of May 1001 A noise came from the tunnels deep in the fortress during the morning. I went to check and the river's tide was getting bigger until It flooded the tunnel. Nothing bad happened besides now It's all wet, and the bridge is still intact. I gotta thank our mason and his architecture skills... I've also started a secret project with our miners and engineers.
17th of May 1001 Today one of our carpenter newbies decided to take a nap on the bridge, just to be swept away when the river overflowed again with some brutality. We never saw him again. Ordered to engrave a memorial slab and then to be putted in our graveyard. Also, those damn mandrills keep nagging us and our dogs. They stole some stuff laying outside but nothing important...
19th of May 1001 Some guy tried to organize a party in the statue garden when everypony should be working. I locked the guy in there by myself. Let's see if he's the kind of pony who does the whole party alone.
Damn snakeponies (or lamias how the animal trainers told me) jumped out of the river and hurt one of the masons. Had to be one of the most useful ones from all the idiots in this place! He's so injured I doubt he can hold his working tools again...
24th of August 1001 Finally the miners ended the housing for all those immigrants. Just in time, they were getting too tired, and tired dwarfs become angry which isn't good. The secret project keeps running smoothly otherwise.
12th of September 1001 Remember when some crazy guy invaded the carpenter's workshop? Well, this time was a jeweler and a crafts workshop. He took some pieces of glass and tons of gems and made an amulet. Looks cool I guess... telling by the weird appearance! Picture this: The amulet had spikes everywhere! Made of red spinel, aquamarine, crystal glass and green glass. Looks more like a morning star than an amulet.
24th of September 1001 SECRET PROJECT COMPLETE! If any enemies try to attack our wonderful StoneHammer, we retract the bridge going over some channels we dug and filled with water, and the lever is on the statue garden. This will force the enemy to walk through the southern halls, where we will shoot them with our balistas in the east. If for some reason we need to drain the water away, pulling the other lever in the statue garden will do the job.
26th of September 1001 Unicorn merchants, from the far lands of Canterlot! I gave them some crap laying around, mostly wooden and rock crafts in exchange for food and drinks.
4th of November 1001 Autumn just started and ANOTHER STUPID IMMIGRATION arrived! Why didn't Oaken Mug tell me about this? Everything was going well and clean and... bah, whatever... I guess I should have put this in mind in the first place...
7th of November 1001 The way our brewers have to go back and forth to get a new barrel from the outside is starting to annoy for real! I designed one of the big rooms we've dug as a furniture warehouse, and ordered the immigrants to move all of the It inside.
27th of November 1001 Ordered the miners to dig quickly new rooms to the new immigrants. Taking us a while to get the place furnished but we got It done. I heard some talking among them in the dinning hall and seems the Crystal Mountainhomes and holding well against the griffins. I hope we win this war... Winter arrived. And seems we have enough wine, whiskey, beer and food to last.
12th of December 1001 For Celestia's sake! Another jeweler had another crazy idea! I hope the dumbass doesn't need crystal glass too!
26th of December 1001 The guy finished his work! An amazing green glass portal! It has rings of plant fiber and spikes of green glass, quartz and limestone. For some reason, there are images of flies on It... I'm not even going to ask.
16th of January 1002 Mid-winter. I gladly announce that the immigrant housing is finally complete. We have been digging in the past days when there was nothing to mention here, and so I built an armory for our future army, near the barracks,where the stockpile for weapons is at south, and the armor in the north.
8th of February 1002 Remember the mason who got attacked by the lamias? The poor guy died of thirst this evening... He was so depressed that he refused to eat or drink, even if we insisted.
19th of February 1002 The mandrills came back but this time we were prepared. The only death from our side was a crafter who got ripped into pieces, but we got all of them. Can't wait to order a pair of pants of mandrill leather and fur!
1st of March 1002 Spring has arrived! With this, I say goodbye to the position of overseer of HammerStone and I wish good luck to my next sucessor!
"Armory, eh?" Pinkamena stretched her legs and arms while sitting on the dwarf sized bed. "I like the sound of that."
"Can't wait to see these historic relics." Mane commented with a smirk. "Seems It's on a corridor close to the entrance."
"Let's go." Pinkamena got up, opened the door and got paralyzed by something. "Er... Mane..?"
"Yes?" He answered while picking his backpack from the floor.
"Was there a skeleton in the corridor before we entered..?" She asked in a trembling voice.
Shaker took a look over her shoulder, and there was indeed the skeleton of a dwarf pony, sitting against the door of another bedroom, with a rusty helmet and ragged old cloths of leather, staring at them with those empty eye sockets. They remained in silence without knowing what to say while Pinkamena slowly reached to a flintlock pistol in her waist.
"Don't..." Mane whispered.
"Why?" She whispered back.
"This is like a giant graveyard. The place is indeed haunted, and we should not disturb the dead."
"I agree... for now..." She muttered while putting her weapon back in the holster.
Suddenly, the skeleton raised a bone hand making both Mane and Pinkamena launch a short scream of the scare. The bony hand closed except one finger, and pointed to the main corridor.
"Is he... t-talking to us..?" Pinkamena started to tremble.
"I-I think he wants us o-out of here." Mane whispered in some fear.
They obeyed the dead dwarf and slowly stepped out while It's head slowly followed their moves, making the scene even more disturbing. After leaving the corridor, noises were heard. Mane pointed his magic light and they saw the skeleton crawling It's way in to the bedroom they were at. Pinkamena focused her eyes for a bit.
"His legs are broken." She whispered in suspense.
The bedroom door got closed shut with a loud noise echoing through that part of the fort. They were immobilized by what they witnessed, as if their bodies were tied by cold chains of steel, while losing their strength. Mane snapped out after a while and touched Pinkamena's shoulder.
"Let's... keep moving." He suggested in a low voice close to her ears.
"Yeah..." She whispered back.
They walked down the main corridor, and the light coming from the outside seemed week. It was the end of the day and night was coming. They had to stay inside or else the rabid pack of elephants would find them probably. After roaming around and checking rooms either empty or with destroyed furniture, or sometimes a skeleton who seemed It would come back to life any moment, making them step away. The exploring duo found the barracks with broken beds, armor stands and weapon racks, all filled with rusty equipment. Following the instructions of the translated diaries of Mane's notebook, they found the armory. And to be expected, everything there was worn out by time and climate's conditions of moist and heat.
"Smells like rust." Pinkamena snarled.
"You don't say..." Mane sighed. "This feels oddly familiar."
"What do you mean?" She asked confused.
"Your basement when I got there the first time. Death, rust, rotten body stench." Mane giggled. "Maybe you're the one who has a bit of dwarf pony blood in you."
"That's mean!" She pouted while grabbing an ancient war axe. "Look at this." She smiled. "They had skill in making these."
"Talented blacksmiths was part of their culture." Mane grabbed a spear, which the wood broke making It's end fall in the floor with a tingling noise. I was about to pick It up when something next to It in his magic light caught his attention. "What do we have here..."
"What?"
"A crossbow! They were the inventors of these after all!" Mane admired the old range weapon on his hands. The string was non existent and the silver of the arch in It's end was still shining, reminding him silver rusts very slowly. "What an amazing civilization..." He sighed in happiness.
"I thought you meant this." Pinkamena waved something in front of him. "You got work to do, crystal brains..." She giggled.
"How do you keep finding these?" Mane asked with his eyes following the rusty iron book.
"If I know what I'm looking for, I eventually find It." She laughed with pride.
"Give It to me then." Mane ordered while putting the crossbow back in the floor.
After the magic translation, he closed the old book and gave It to Diane.
"Put It where you found It. We are not here to plunder after what we experienced in the bedrooms." Mane ordered again in a serious tone.
"You read my mind..." She looked at him with some suspense. "I'll keep a lookout to the entrance." She grabbed both her pistols, making sure the gunpowder and the iron bullets were inside. She pulled the pistol's hammer behind with her thumb and kept the index fingers vertical to the triggers.
"I'll read again then." Mane sighed after watching her getting ready for a fight if It was necessary.
March I arrived in the first immigration wave of this place. Took my time to admire It and I say It's interesting here.
For my first orders, I told them to produce much food as possible. Until I visited the food stocks and we are good on that after all. But still, I'll order the farmers to keep working and growing all the mushrooms they can. Overconfidence would lead to starvation.
After studying the layout of the fort and being told of the previous attacks of the mandrills, I decide that I'll focus my attention on the security of this place. The traps system and their planning seems efficient, but everything else can be improved here with some extra traps.
First and foremost, I told the crafters to stop making mandrill bone things, and set up a work order of stone short swords. These should work like a steel one, and should be efficient for the military and some of the future traps. Also designed a rock stockpile next to the workshops, so It's not too hard for them to look for the materials.
I noticed the confusion of work orders that the previous overseer made. The word specialization seemed weird for the idiot... I erased all the work orders on fishing. We have lots of food from our farms and kitchen. There's no need of losing time around the rivers.
Decided to start digging deeper in the mountain. Let's see what can we find there.
The idea of my peasants dwarves carrying around boulders annoys me deeply. I removed the giant stockpile of rock from the outside. The masons can carry their own stupid stones!
Speaking of the devil. The furniture stockpile was empty... while furniture was laying around the workshops! I asked them what was wrong and seems nothing was allowed in the stockpile. What the hell was the previous overseer thinking?!
The miners found a rather large and bottomless chasm. Better order the masons to build a bridge over It.
The blacksmith just ran past me babbling something and went to his room. After hearing his grudges by the rock door, which makes me understand we don't have a forge built yet. Told them to built one and start producing charcoal in the wood furnaces.
On the other side of the chasm we found iron! Hurrah!
April At last, another blacksmith who seemed to be thinking straight finally built the forge. And why do we have so many dwarves smoothing the floors???
Another odd thing was... the farmer workshops were a distance away from the underground river, which would be the right place to put them, since the farms are close of It. Again, what was my predecessor thinking?!
The crazy blacksmith took over the forge and ran around the stockpiles, demanding a metal we don't have. Ordered out miners to start digging in hopes of finding It.
Oh no... It starts... While I was writing the previous entry, immigrants arrived with 3 nobles! A manager, a sheriff and a House Berite representative! I've heard rumors of these nobles. They don't care about anything else but power and themselves. This will slay my mind... And damn! Lots of migrants! We are now 58 in StoneHammer!
The lunatic blacksmith started his work of art. Instead of letting the others smelt them, he used two raw iron ores.
Began designing the quarters for the nobles. I plan to use the same space for their bedroom, office and dinning room.
The crazy blacksmith finished his work. An iron toy hammer, after all the trouble I went through?! At least I hope It works like a real one!
May The cage trap system proved Itself worthy. We captured an entire group of mandrills who were planning on stealing us.
Began building a second farm. Our fortress grows bigger.
GREAT NEWS! The miners found a lava river! It's weird to see such thing this high from the earth's core, but oh well!
June The quarters for the nobles are finished. The House Representative is nagging me It's not high quality enough, but he can go screw himself.
Our best miner decided to take a walk in the elephant trap... and a pack who was wandering close by ran away from him! But without some pain. He's severely injured now...
July More migrants, and the idiots decided to go through right between the elephants! One dead, one injured.. TWO dead and one injured.
And the ones who made It leaded the pack right into the trap tunnel. Six elephants captured!
August The elephant traps are reloaded with new strong cages.
Things have been too quiet regarding the previous elephant mini attack. I'm worried about the future of this place. Namely if the next overseers are not security-minded like me. So I shall order a deep channel to be built in the chasm and order our miners to dig channels leading the magma to the built magma-proof channels.
Finally the construction of the second has started.
Another blacksmith got another stupid idea! Since I'm doing a huge magma flooding in our artificial channels, building a magma forge isn't possible. But once this all is complete, we have some steel bars standing by.
The chasm's channel has enough magma in it. Construction can go as planned.
A note to my successors: DON'T pull the lever next to the chasm! It causes everything past It to die from magma!
September Autumn is here.
I'm preoccupied about the crazy blacksmith, in case the magma forge doesn't get complete in time...
Construction of It has started! Now It's a race against time.
Merchants arrived.
A griffin thief appeared!!! But luckily was struck down.
Two more elephants have been captured. And a farmer got trampled to death...
I traded some bone and rock crafts for some more food. Not that we need more but whatever...
Alert was sounded! A fire imp ambushed from the magma river! I hurled a fireball at a carpenter who was passing through. The injury was so bad that the guy ran towards It and they fought. Until a peasant showed up and wrestled It to death.
October Unluckily, the magma forge wasn't complete in time and the blacksmith went insane. He's right now running around babbling non-sense to himself.
Later on, he jump to one of the water channels and kept swimming squirming until he drowned. We couldn't recover the body, so looks like another memorial slab next to the other ones and the coffins.
We struck platinum! Yes!
Surprise! We caught a leopard! This makes 5 mandrills, 9 elephants and 1 leopard.
A mason was killed by an elephant...
A dog chased an elephant into the traps.
More elephants caught while I wasn't paying attention. I'll have to wait to get an exact number.
November Two extra deaths caused by the elephants.
The end of autumn is here. I decided to leave this position sooner and take a break after all these episodes with the wild life and the projects our fort have endured. But I won't say anything to them, I'll just let the fort's daily life run by and see what happens.
"Seems the elephant problem started in this year of 1003." Mane commented. "And a lava river this higher? No wonder It feels a bit too hot in here!"
"I find It cozy." Pinkamena smirked with a determined expression without keeping her eyes out of the door with her pistols ready. "Where shall we go next?"
"The previous guy talked about an underground river. We could go there and camp for a bit, because we need water." Mane closed his notebook with the translations.
"Alright..." Pinkamena holstered one of the pistols and walked slowly to the rock door. She opened It with some effort, surprisingly It was kind of easy regarding the heavy material. She opened It and pointed the pistol at something that would jump out of the dark, but there was nothing. "Coast is clear." She informed.
"Take It easy." Said Mane. "If we have to fight, It will be just a bunch of skeletons probably."
"It's still a fight." Pinkamena holstered her second pistol and grabbed the torch from a holder. "And I don't know how It would go. It's my first time seeing such crazy shit."
"Me too..." Mane whispered in doubts. "I wonder if the ruins Copper Spear talked about in Everfree Forest are like this."
"Oh yeah! We should explore those too... if we get out of here alive." Pinkamena checked the corridors with her torch and they were empty of any living thing. "We also should write to them. They don't even know if we got to Ponyville safely."
"That would be nice but they are in the Crystal Empire, I don't know how can we make a letter get in there without the Royal Army or anypony know." Mane shoved his hair out of his face. "I'll have to talk with Thunder Fists."
Again following the indications of the translation, they walked down the main corridor while trying not to look at the walls or floor with gruesome engravings. Sometimes a skeleton of a dwarf pony would make them gave a few steps of distance, wondering if It would come to life and jump on them. Pinkamena wondered what It would be like to be stabbed by a rusty weapon, while Mane tried to understand what made the skeleton from before come to life, but even more what would the next diary would say about the fortress.
They found a bridge and started to hear water flowing. It was the river indeed like one of the diaries had said, and the water even in the weak light of Pinka's torch looked clean and crystallized, making her wish to have a sip. Next to the bridge's ends, there was a passage with a small chore going deep and far through the river, surrounded by raw rock and sometimes smooth stone. They took the passage and sat by a small beach with some black sand and rock sediments.
"Mane." She called while putting her backpack down.
"What?"
"There's no wood here. How the hell are we gonna... camp?" She shrugged.
"Keep that torch lit." Mane sighed seeing she was right. He ended his magic light beam and casted a fireball in the ground and kept It lit with his magic. "It's night time outside. I think we could use a coffee..."
"Let me see this water." Pinkamena walked to the riverbank and knelled down, taking a hand to the water and bringing to her mouth. The taste was divine, of clean natural water washing her thirsty mouth. "This is the best water I ever drank..." She sighed with a smile in relief of killing her thirst.
"That's nice. Fill the bottles and the kettle." Mane suggested.
"Even if I hate coffee without sugar, I'll accept this time. If we are gonna keep an eye in our backs might as well stay awake." She complained.
"Yeah..." Said Mane.
Pinkamena grabbed the empty bottles and the kettle and went to the riverbank with her torch. In the bottom, she noticed something resembling a skeleton in the light of her torch.
"Hey! There's something there." She announced.
"What is It?" Mane asked.
"I think It's a skeleton..." She focused her eyes a bit more. "And he has something."
"It's probably not worthy, don't worry abo-"
*SPLASH!*
"-ut It..." Mane facepalmed while finishing his sentence.
Mane looked at the river where she left her torch stuck in the sand in the vertical, along with the bottles and the kettle. After a moment, she came back to the surface with something on her hands.
"Are you kidding me..?" Mane grumbled.
"He-he-here... I-I f-f-found It..." Pinkamena walked to the shore trembling all over with her clothes all soaked in water.
"Congratulations. Now you are wet, cold and probably gonna catch a cold." Mane clapped slowly with a face of disapproval.
"Shut u-up..." Pinkamena threw something to his lap. "T-t-there. Y-you can thank me l-later." She grumbled while chattering her teeth.
It was another old book. The gold decoration was partially rusty and some of the gems were missing around It. Mane had to give her credit for finding the diaries so easily. Pinkamena searched her backpack for a tiny towel and some new dry clothes, while Mane kept staring at her lustful pink body all wet,while the wet clothes showed a bit more of her underneath them.
"Don't look." She grumbled giving him a stare.
"Sorry." Mane blushed but he kept looking, and he blushed even more when she pulled out a new pair of red underwear.
"I'm gonna change. Work on that translation, I'll leave the torch with you." She ordered in a serious tone.
"O-okay!" Said the blushing stallion.
She walked down the cavern to a dark spot where the light couldn't reach. He started to hear her undress and he leaned forwards to attempt seeing her with a funny smile, but the light wasn't enough. He kept moving his head in attempts to see her, but suddenly, a rock flew in his direction, hitting right in the face with such strength that he even almost fell on his back and leaving one of his nostrils bleeding.
"YOU FUCKING PERVERT!!!" Pinkamena screamed from the dark. "WORK ON THAT TRANSLATION OR NEXT TIME IT'S A BIGGER ROCK!!!"
Shaker didn't say anything. He cleaned his muzzle from the wound and opened the wet old book. The writing was surprisingly well preserved and the pages too unlike the bookbinding. The magic flowed the notebook and the diary, with his magic taking the words to his mind along with the dictionary and the dwarven alphabet he had memorized, writing them with his own magic in his notebook.
After some minutes, Pinkamena returned wearing a white t-shirt and a new pair of shorts. She sat by the torch stuck in the sand while Mane kept his magic going over his task. She took the chance to fill the bottles and the kettle by the river, returning to him just when he finished.
"Done." Mane announced.
"Who reads then?" She asked.
"There's coffee to be made and we don't have wood here." Mane casted the magic fire in the sand again and levitated the kettle over It. "I can't, as you can see."
"You read two times in a row, so It's my turn anyway." Pinkamena grabbed the notebook and approached the torch for a better light, while Mane crossed his legs and focused on the reading while keeping his magic active.
Diary of Silver Shovel, fourth overseer of LamNil, StoneHammer
1st of March 1004 I've been selected as the new overseer. HammerStone is on the way of becoming a great fortress. In such dangerous lands, security and provisions are my biggest concern.
After strolling around, I've discovered the barracks are empty. We have no military. And checking the trap systems, they seem sufficient to defeat any enemies coming from outside or inside, but not an entire siege if those griffins manage to enter in Equestria somehow. We have few peasants to choose from, and most of them are busy doing and training the professions they were assigned to. I'll wait for new immigrants to draft for the local army. And until then, weapons and armor must be forged.
As a side note. My thoughts focused on the strange herd of elephants I saw roaming around the other side of the river outside. I thought about building a catapult line of defense and bombard their territory to train our siege operators. But such thing would startle not only the elephants but also the animal trainers who seem eager to capture them and train them. They must be out of their minds, but for now, there's bigger things to worry about...
4th of March 1004 Checking the provisions, and their aren't the higher numbers I hoped for. I told the farmers to expand the farm plots and to start planting the first mushrooms of the year.
10th of March 1004 For the armor and weapons, we could use copper for now. I checked the walls of the mines by the river and saw a small vein. I ordered the miners to start digging there but It's going too slow. We only have two miners and one of them is on the hospital healing a nasty looking left arm. I don't know what caused It, but I'm noticing that many peasants and farmers are in similar shape.
15th of March 1004 Amazing! Our only workable miner struck silver while digging the copper!
The previous overseer Fox Tail came to me saying we are not low on food after all. We got tons of prepared food. Prepared food? So these guys aren't the proud kind of sitting on the dark munching on cold mushrooms? That's so... undwarflike... but whatever.
1st of June 1004. Early summer. Fox Tail kept bothering me we are not low on food, with the kitchen staff on his side, I made the production of the farms slow down a bit. Time to focus on the magma forges.
I'm ordering the construction of another magma smelter and bronze bars to be cast.
3rd of June 1004 The production of glass crafts was interrupted when our glass maker had an idea. Maybe his strange mood was caused by the lack of skilled and healthy miners, who have been digging a space for a magma furnace. I stopped the mining of copper until the area is finished.
Meaniwhile, I took notice of a veeery unsafe giant tunnel near the magma forges. You see, instead of leaving the safe supports of natural raw rock, the previous overseer instead ordered to digging of this huge hallway, supported by rock pillars that look unstable! I also noticed a small lava flooding by the end of the hall near a support, blocked by rock floodgates. I think It's an emergency system to collapse the entire roof here, but if some pony dwarf in a tantrum would kick the lever, the result would be a huge mess.
13th of June 1004 While conducting the mining operation, with a unskilled mechanic drafted into the miner job, the underground river flooded! We weren't so lucky this time... the water claimed the life of a dwarf. However, the improvements of the bridge saved the life of a farmer dwarf mare and her pet cat, who kept holding the bridge until the water calmed down.
17th of June 1004 Three griffin thieves infiltrated our fort, somehow going through the traps. They were ripped apart by our dogs and the militia.
19th of June 1004 More invaders! Glad to see our cage traps are still working. We caught an entire group of mandrills. I'm starting to worry about the amount of caged and tamed animals. Nopony seems to adopt them, except the... battle scarred elephants... The amount of cats and dogs running around the halls is getting annoying! But none of the animal trainers seem to want to geld them! This is gonna be a problem in the future.
22th of June 1004 Used some steel bars to create a new glass workshop and a new smelter. This is well speed up the metal production. The glassworker who went nuts claimed a normal glass workshop and didn't found what he was looking for and didn't say what It was. I suspect of a shell so I ordered our fishers to look for a turtle or mussels. Hard to believe this big place has no shells, so perhaps It's a kind of glass we don't have and he seeks.
25th of June 1004 Well dammit. We couldn't find what he was looking for and went full insane. Now he walks around depressed babbling to himself. I heard rumors he had a weird fascination for demons, perhaps It was for the best. He later jumped in the river and drowned...
23th of July 1004 I've been seeing a lot of cages going to the animal stockpile. It's becoming too full and the trappers beg for more empty cages. I putted the work order, while the trainers are taming the wild elephants and mandrills. I would like to see the mandrills chained where we have been experiencing minor attacks. Unfortunately, they can't be trained for combat, but they would attack anything that would get close.
2nd of August 1004 The idiots accidentally released an elephant and a calf! They are now running around interrupting everypony nearby. The beasts and the workers seems equally disturbed as I am, we don't even know if they were tamed or not. At least they stopped complained about the lack of empty cages. I'm starting to think if this is the time for my catapult plans. The area where the elephants pass by in the other side of the river seem to be full of them. I'll begin the construction of catapult parts while observing their moves.
3rd of August 1004 Only today I noticed some stupid shit. The previous rulers placed most of the workshops and the stockpiles outside the fort! Everything is clustered out there, and nopony seems to go outside since the two elephants are still there. As I write this, the supposed TAME adult, who seems to be the mother of the calf, just stomped to death a war dog who got too close. I hope the catapults aren't too far to be interrupted by her, confessing that this place has proven to be gigantic and too confusing to know where I am...
5th of August 1004 The elephants responsible for all this seem to be the male calf, who just killed another war dog by stomping It's head into a pulp! It's better to put this elephants out before he gets a name for his infamy. I don't know who opened the cages by accident yet but was obviously a responsible for the animals. If I could find who started this and who "trained" those animals, there would be a public scandal.
7th of August 1004 A war dog somehow finished the adult elephant, and right now somepony told me another war dog killed the calf who walked too close of the fort's entrance. While watching this, another elephant got released from a cage, but strangely doesn't seem to disturb the dwarfs unlike the other two dead elephants. I'm having a theory that once these pachyderms taste pony blood, they can't be tamed properly. Again, a public scandal would be the best thing right now...
10th of August 1004 The mayor (not sure who elected him in the first place) finished the ban of exporting red spinel stuff. I don't know why he did this before, but soon enough he's gonna mandate something worse.
27th of August 1004 Started the construction of the catapults, but nopony seems to work on It. Either the parts are too close of the tamed elephant, or the workers are lazy. If It's in the first option, I don't blame them, after what this fortress went through in that week...
4th of September 1004 That tamed elephants has been interrupting the workers far too long and I've been having a bad feeling about her. I assigned some war dogs near her in case stuff happens.
Later on, a mare from the militia ran outside and bravely started fighting the elephant with a sword! Finally, somepony who shares my hate for this beast. The battle continued with the girl only slightly wounded while keeping striking the elephant. She wounded the beast mortally in the chest. The last moment was strange. The captain of the militia arrived there just to steal the glory, while his pet cat stood on top of the wounded elephant until It bleed to death.
The battle ended, with the mare promoted to leader of her squad in honor of her bravery!
13th of October 1004 Merchants! And will waiting for them to arrive, a griffin thieve showed It's stupidity by running towards the entrance's gates just to be slaughtered by two dogs and a soldier. Meanwhile, a mason saw in the distance some supplies of a dead dwarf or griffin, and ran through the fields. And he didn't notice the pack of elephants... Rest in pieces peace. Our fortress population is now 75.
15th of October 1004 Traded some low value bone crafts for the exotic meals these merchants brought. I know pony dwarfs like something else besides mushroom based cuisine.
20th of October 1004 I noticed that many dwarfs were relaxing while all the food I traded was sitting in the trade depot outside. I asked them about It, and they said they have been ordered to not touch any food or do nay hauling of It. I told them to resume It, but maybe they stopped because It was a problem back then.
26th of October 1004 The mayor mandated we built two red spinel items. Now I see why he had banned the export before.
23rd of November 1004 A group of lamias jumped out of the underground river killing a dog and a cat. They were quickly killed by a soldier and some peasants.
30th of November 1004 Autumn is coming to an end. A worker got a crazy idea and claimed a crafts workshop while picking random stuff from the stockpiles. He stopped and he's babbling stuff. I noticed a piece of glass, so I wonder if he needs more. But the problem is that our farmers keep taking the bags to stock seeds instead of letting some free to transport sand!
A guy organized a party in the statue garden, only to slow down our productions.
2nd of December 1004 Winter has arrived, and doesn't start well. Due to poor time management and laziness, the red spinel item mandate missed It's end without any of the items built. The mayor showed his frustration and enacted the ban of exporting jet items.
I'm not sure how to progress this fortress. My effort is now the construction of living quarters for the dwarfs working on the bank of the magma river.
5th of December 1004 The construction of the rooms for the magma workers is a bit slow, but by building these near the river bank in a safe distance while allow them to work and rest faster, without losing time walking around between the magma forges and their breaks. Now with a small stockpile of food and drinks near them too, the production of metal would double. I've heard of a fire imp attack previously, so I ordered the construction of some stone-fall traps near the workshops by the magma river.
8th of December 1004 Again, by laziness and bad time management from the workers, no clear glass was made and the worker with an idea went insane and made quite a scene! He started babbling loudly, they ran across the river bridge, jumped into the river, REMOVED HIS PANTS, came back up, ran across the hallways with his lower body all naked until he found his room. I told them to lock his door quickly! This stopped him from shocking the most sensitive ladies... He later died of thirst.
12th of December 1004 This place is a mess sometimes, but I feel grateful that I'm here and not fighting the war in the Crystal Mountainhomes. So I ordered to start digging the tombs for the previous rulers of StoneHammer, and me included in honor of this place. They told me my tomb was receiving "extra attention" but I believe I'm entitled. They should have though about building one for themselves before, at least they can be grateful I'm making some for each one of them.
29th of February 1005 The magma work are is almost finished. Only missing the trap systems and the furniture in the rooms.
Winter is coming to an end peacefully, just like my reign in the fort. None of the other pony dwarfs seem to want the position of overseer, so I sent a letter to our king in the Mountainhomes along with a merchant group that visited some months ago. Hopefully he will answer this quickly.
To whoever gets the position, good luck.
PS: I'll leave my diary in the desk of the office. I have some suggestions to the next sucessor: - Check the job lists - There is some inefficiency. - Cloth industry - The population is starting to complain about their old clothing. - Glass industry - The inefficiency made two guys go nuts and kill themselves.
"Well... seems they kind of started to give up on this place." Pinkamena closed the notebook.
"Still, this doesn't justify what happened here. This place is haunted for some bigger reason we don't know." Mane took the kettle out of the magic fire, opening a bag of instant coffee and pouring It inside. "Coffee is ready."
"Mane, I noticed something." She said while preparing her mug for the drink.
"What is It?"
"According to these diaries, these river floods every summer for some reason."
"Yeah, It's weird." Mane served her the coffee, by levitating the kettle with his magic. "Wait..." Something made I'm realize.
"You're thinking the same as I am, right..?" She looked at him with a fixated stare in the eyes. "It's summer..."
Ironically, a noise started to get louder, as if an army of two thousand soldiers were running in their direction from the depths of the river's cavern. It got closer and closer while those two kept staring in the dark.
"RUN!" Mane screamed while picking his backpack.
"I JUST CHANGED MY CLOTHS!" Pinkamena complained while picking her backpack too and running behind Mane.
They kept running along the riverbank while they started to feel the river's height going up. Before climbing the rock back to the bridge, they threw just in time the backpacks to the surface, while a huge wave started to be heard, raging in the cavern's walls. Pinkamena started climbing the raw rock wall while Mane gave her a boost in his back.
"The water level is raising!" Mane warned, with the river starting to get to his waist.
"Climb!" Pinkamena yelled over the noise of the river.
Mane grappled the rock wall and started to climb out of the water, then the wave from before struck his back, forcing him against the raw sharp rock starting to hurt his stomach. Pinkamena threw the torch to the floor and grabbed Mane's hand, starting to pull him while the rapids kept forcing him out of the wall.
"CLIMB ALREADY!" She yelled again.
Mane buried his fingers on the dirt between the stone bricks on the bridge's end, and forced his arms and legs in an effort to climb out of the water that reached to his neck.
"I'M NOT GONNA DIE BY WATER!" He screamed on top of his lungs. His muscles and will pulled him out of the water with Pinkamena's help, but not without the rock wall scrap his stomach, leaving some scratches that hurt a bit with the water's mineral composition. He crawled out of the edge and lay on his back all wet with his clothes soaked, breathing heavily while Pinkamena checked his belly.
"You got hurt." Pinka said.
"Yes, I can feel! How bad is It?" Mane asked tired while spitting some water.
"It's superficial, nothing serious." She sighed in relief. "I think It's over..."
A louder noise was heard again, Mane raised his head in disbelief while Pinkamena quickly looked at the dark cavern too.
"IT'S NOT OVER!" Mane screamed. "Get to the other side! Quick!"
Pinkamena grabbed the torch and the backpacks, while Mane got up and followed her in a quick pace. As soon they crossed the bridge, a giant wave washed It and getting some water in their side covering their hooves a bit. They walked away from the wet zone, so they could have a breath.
"Holy mother of Celestia..." Pinkamena sighed.
"Please no more..." Mane sighed as well tired from the event. "Argh... I'm all soaked." He complained. "Do you still have the notebook?"
"Yeah..." She opened her backpack, revealing It was safe. "Aren't you cold?"
"No. Ironically I was planning to refresh in the river. But not like this!"
"Since we are on this side now, we could search for the magma channels OR the forges they mentioned." Pinkamena suggested.
"Good idea. I need to get dry, change my clothes and put these drying. You too."
"Can you still do some light magic? I don't think my torch will last longer." Pinkamena looked at his belly showing some blood. "And you're gonna let me check that." She pointed at the wounds.
"Sure, whatever... let's just get out of here. I don't want more water..." Mane whined.
They walked slowly by the halls, avoiding getting closer of the skeletons while some them seemed to move when none of them were paying attention. The heat started to come higher, while a hall seemed to glow red in It's end. They looked around It and It was indeed what they expected. Magma, still glowing red and orange and raging in heat. The molten rock sometimes would burst a tiny bubble making the familiar *blop* noise. It was the channel talked in the diaries, so that meant the magma forges should be close by.
Walking around, they found the huge hallway with stone supports. It was indeed big and menacing a threat as if everything was about to fall down. The skeletons there were like a mass grave, most of them pilled in groups. Most of them had their tattered clothes still on, and a lot of swords, spears and axes all laying around. The scenery in the light of the magma river in the hall's end gave Mane and Pinkamena a uneasy feeling. It was pure silence broken by their steps in the raw rock. Some doors showed up in the middle of the massive hall. They felt It was better inside those rooms than in that place. It was another dinning hall supported by four natural stone columns, with rock tables and thrones, and the engravings on the walls and floor were back. Elephants killing pony dwarfs one after another.
"What the heck is this place?" Mane complained looking at the engravings. "I'm starting to think the elephants are the cause of all this!"
"Yeah, the corridors are enough to let them pass, but I don't think a herd of these couldn't match all the dwarf ponies outside that huge place."
"I could use a drink..." Mane looked around. "If this is a dinning hall, then a stockpile of food and drinks must be nearby."
"I see another door in there." Pinkamena looked across the hallway with the magma's light. "Maybe It's there?"
"Let's just cross this place in a hurry. I don't trust It." Mane looked at the piles of skeletons.
"Me neither." Pinkamena agreed.
They gave a quick run to the other side, opening the door and closing It in a hurry. They saw a set of destroyed workshops, with copper pots all over the place. Those were the kitchens and some stills where the drinks used to be made. Numerous doors behind them guided Mane and Pinkamena to the food stockpile, where the stench made the unicorn step back covering his nose. Pinkamena went inside coming back with an intact barrel, but see went back inside. Mane on the other hand, still wet from the episode with the river flood, kicked a copper pot in frustration sending It flying before landing with a loud noise. Under It, on the floor... a book in wooden binding and a bit burned on the cape.
"Mane! Is everything alright?" Pinka asked across the other room, referring to the noise.
"Kind of. I'm still soak and guess what I found."
"What?"
"I'll give a clue. i won the race this time."
".......I don't know." She asked unsure.
"Another diary!" Mane laughed.
"Really!? Where was It?" Pinkamena showed up by the stockpile's door.
"Under the pot I kicked." Mane looked over the pages.
"Luck protects the audacious one." She smirked while walking to the barrel. "We are close of the magma river. Let's go there and sit a bit, my previous clothes aren't completely dry too." She knocked on the barrel with a smile. "I brought this just for you...~" She chanted in an adorable way.
"Thanks." Mane smiled back.
They got out of the big kitchen, rolling the barrel over filled with booze. The heat got higher the more close they got, but It was somewhat comfortable even for Mane. He punched the top open with a crystal fist and took a sip of the drink. It was dwarven wine, and really well aged and preserved in that barrel and place.
"Meh. I don't appreciate wine, but I can go along with this." He commented.
"Is It strong?" Pinka asked tempted to drink a bit too.
"Not much. I think It's good for you." He answered. "I'm gonna change clothes." Mane searched his backpack for his spare clothing.
Mane went to behind another magma forge and changed his clothes. Pinkamena took some extra sips, starting to feel a bit tipsy. She looked where the stallion was and could only see his naked upper body, she started to giggle quietly while appreciating his average muscled back and arms, illuminated by the red magma. Mane came back with his wet clothes spread open on top of the forge, letting them dry in the heat including his beloved vest. Coming back with black jeans and t-shirt, Pinkamena appeared from behind the other magma forge and walked funny against him and hugged his stomach.
"Hehe... heeey..." She giggled.
"Diane, what is wrong?" Mane asked confused.
"Me..? There's noooothing wrong! Hehe..." She kept laughing while trying to balance her hooves while holding Mane.
"You're drunk, aren't you?" Mane looked at her serious.
"No! HAHA! You're the drunk one!" She laughed blushing red, taking her hands to Mane's lowered body startling him a bit. "I... I only saw *hic* I only saw your torso... ca-can I see the rest? Hihi..."
"Pinkamena Diane Pie! Control yourself!" He shoved her hands away from his legs and helped her up.
"Come oooon!" She whimpered in her drunk words. "Wha... why is hot in here..? Are you da hot stuff or am I in *hic* heat..?"
"Just uh... sit there." Mane helped her sit against the forge while he sat next to her. "Get over that while I work on this..." Mane opened the wooden diary. "I'll even read to you."
So there I am, working on my tavern in the Crystal Mountainhomes while the war keeps going on the fortifications and walls. When this slick looking noble of the Mining Guild (I wonder how sore his throat is from all the cocks he sucked to get the position) walks in and tells me I have the great "honor", of accepting the overseer position to the fortress outside of our city. Honor my hairy ass! More like somepony found about the silver strike I had my pals working on the mountains, and this is their way of getting me out of It. But can I do? The papers are signed by the King himself, even with the stamp of his ring in red wax! Which means any attempt to run from this "great honor" is gonna end with me getting the hammer of the Guard Captain straight in the face.
Nice situation eh? Well, pain or damage doesn't end the world. Or despair or fucking beatings. The world ends when you are dead. Until then, you got more punishment waiting for you. Stand It like a dwarf pony... and give some back. That's what I always say.
I take a look at the maps and this place is stuck in the middle of nowhere, FAR AWAY from our city in the extreme west of Equestria. StoneHammer they call It, a name which doesn't mean anything much less fucking nothing...
This morning I was preparing my wagon and my supplies for my trip in these frozen lands, and what I see but a group of dumb cocksuckers loading their wagons too, and BEHOLD, those carts are pointed the same direction as mine. I make a few quiet questions and they are all going to fucking StoneHammer too. I set out with all my speed, thinking It would be the best if I go ahead of these assholes, so I have my own time checking the place and get some order before they get in there.
Now, I'm taking a quick break under a tree full of snow, and figuring out I should keep some record of this misadventure. I'm not sure if this is all a plan to get me stabbed in the throat and end up in a grave or chasm. Documentation must happen, you see? Then if I get killed, there will be some record of what happened and maybe my men back in the Crystal Mountainhomes can get revenge for my damn soul...
Early Spring 1005 Well, I made It to StoneHammer, and my first impression can be said in three words:
What
The
FUCK!
The next entries are going to be extensive, so I'm sorry about these, but I must fucking get in my mind what I'm seeing here!
To start with, all our fucking workshops and goods and sitting outside in the fucking rain and sun. One of the previous rulers must have been some kind of sky gazer because having our industry out here is just inexcusable to the poor idiots who have to stand out here. I almost went fucking mad from the whole trip to get here under the fucking sky and sun, instead of a safe comfortable cavern, and some of these poor bastards have been working out in the open for four years. FOUR YEARS standing in the rain, or worse, under that horrifying sun!
Fuck that! i'm moving everything inside!
Oh, and I just noticed all the cages. Elephants... The previous overseer must had a sick fucking fascination with them, because we have elephants everywhere! Elephants in the halls, elephants in cages, elephants shitting in the kitchen and dinning room! EVERYWHERE! I don't know what to do with them, so maybe start butchering them and use their skin and bones for crafts.
I also noticed the lack of a road or a bridge over the outside river. It seems in the exaggeration of fucking precaution, the previous ruler blocked the entire fortress outside with rivers, leaving no passage to the other caravans besides making them go around the river far away. I'm gonna fix this, I'm a business pony at heart... and extra caravans will come before my reign here ends.
Checking the living quarters, and these poor bastards live in two meter cubes, with a chest, a bed but no room for a cabinet. I'm not gonna lose time fixing this for the current population, but I think I can do a better for new suckers on the way.
Further into the fortress, we have a gigantic hallway where the roof is held by fucking sticks, and a slight breeze would make the whole thing collapse. I don't know what suicidal asshole made this, and I'm bot gonna mess with It. But you can bet, I'm not gonna fucking step in that place ever.
Visited what they call a statue garden, or more like a room full of unlabeled levers. I don't know what any of them do and I'm not gonna try find out. The way this place is set up, any of them could make the whole fort collapse like a fucking tower of rocks. Celestia help me...
Oh! Did I mention? The dinning hall seats 8... and we have fucking 74 for population?! We're gonna work on that too!
To start with, I'm gonna move the kitchen and brewery near the farms. I'll also make a new food storage there too.
A new dinning room across the new food production. A new workshop are and products storage close of It. All in the Hall of Suicide how I call It. Should make the life easier for the magma workers too.
The excess of of traps and fortifications shows that the previous overseer seemed to have a military mind. Me, I'm a business pony. All the smelters and forges have been all time on full force, hammering steel and iron for weapons of fucking war. I changed their focus a bit and ordered them to make platinum bars.
The merchants are here but without a road or bridge, those horned cocksuckers can't cross the river. Sorry unicorns...
Remember the immigrants who were about to go with me but I ran away? They arrived and with two stupid nobles. A broker and some pompous asshole claiming to be the leader of the Crafts Guild. I bet he's just looking for a free room without doing any work.
22 immigrants counting the nobles. This should be fun...
Gonna dig out new bedroom in front of the new areas across the Suicide Hall.
The broker immediately came to my office mandating the production of toy forges. I just want to tell him that I mandate that go fuck himself, but I think better and just put the work order.
End of Spring 1005 The ponies working here are the biggest bunch of lazy assholes I've ever seen. If they aren't drinking, they are sleeping. Or "storing a rock in the stockpile", which must be a code to "screwing around carrying useless shit from place to place instead of doing real work."
I have six damn carpenters, I asked a workshop for them to be built months ago! It's three days job, but they are "too busy" to do It. Busy doing what, I don't fucking know since without the workshops they can't do anything anyway! We also have four miners, two of them sleep 20 hours a day, one is so injured he can't walk, and the other says he was the one of the previous rulers of this place but he's the only one who actually does any mining!
Seeing we have a military of 3, not counting the fortress guards, I draft a few more. Now we have 2 squads, with a schedule of who is on duty and who is being slacking in the barracks.
The Mayor just entered my office demanding I stop the export of red spinel items. I've never seen a fucking red spinel and I have no clue what It is, I told him I could accommodate his damn request.
Speaking of nobles, the Crafts Guild leader doesn't allow me to give production orders in most workshops, and the Broker keeps storming into my office demanding his fucking mini-forges. The best I can tell to our blacksmiths is to make "toys" and hope they figure out I mean "mini-forges", and not puzzle boxes, hammers, axes or boats or all this other shit that I'm now swimming on! And not a single mini-forge! And so the broker is pissed at me, and there isn't shit I can do since I don't know how to make a mini-forge myself to save my life! I need a drink...
Early Summer 1005 The new dinning hall is prepared and smoothed, which I'm about to give order to engrave. And a new E.I.A.F.C (Elephant In A Fucking Cage) storage room.
3 trappers, a suicidal profession, and the last thing we need is more caged animals. I told them to make cloths, since half the population here is wearing tatters and they are pissed about It.
The Manager just came to me, guided me to his room just to ask me the most stupid request I've ever heard. A clear glass window? TO FUCKING LOOK AT WHAT?! Your room doesn't have a hole leading to the outside. Your room doesn't have a view of anything! The best I can do is put in a window that is 3 centimeters away from a stone wall... He doesn't give a shit. He wants a window. Fine! I hope the cocksucker falls through it while drunk...
Speaking of nobles... again. Their room are a mess where the same place is a bedroom, dinning room, office and everything for all of them at once. They don't seem to notice, so I left It like that. Started carving REAL noble rooms deep in the mountain, for the next ones who might show up.
Another caravan arrived, but unfortunately I couldn't get the road built in time. I'll wait for the next one, until then the things should be finished and we get bigger merchant caravans. The bridge was complete at least, so they crossed the river and came to us.
I traded everything they had for an elephant in a cage. Have fun with that one, assholes.
FINALLY I finished the broker's mini-forges. He immediately mandated that no mini-forges can be exported. The cocksucker really likes his fucking mini-forges...
A farmer had an idea for a work of art. He claimed a crafts workshop, and he's babbling about artifacts, while making drawings of quarries, ores, trees and shells under the fucking sun. I'm sketching in my mind the image of the soldiers decapitating him in some weeks.
The road is complete! Welcome to greater society StoneHammer...
SURE! WHY NOT?! More migrants! Come on in cocksukers! The more the merrier!
I figured something to do with the trapped animals. A zoo! Friend, if you like too look at elephants or mandrills, or more fucking elephants and mandrills, this is the place for you!
The farmer went mad and now runs around naked screaming crazy shit. At least I have the workshop back...
A lamia jumped out of the well and attacked one of the military. He killed the snakepony really easily but SOMEHOW he got stuck in the well. Now the idiot is dying from thirst because he can't drink from the well that his fat plot is stuck in, and we can't get him out! His friends don't seem to have problem drinking around him. I guess they are using straws or something.
Autumn 1005 I told the engravers to start engraving the walls and floor of the new dinning room. And they proceededto decorate the room with some of the most horrifying shit I've ever seen. I mean, fuck! Dwarves are trying to EAT in there! There's engravings of fucking elephants trampling dwarves, elephants in fetal position, and to make It fucking worse, images of DEAD DWARVES.
We got uhm... a little elephant problem outside. I'm starting to understand why there are so many in cages. Two got pissed and killed somepony, and now the dwarves are trying to get the corpses and items of the dead ones, and the elephants are running wild over everypony. Some of the elephants got caught in the traps but one or two escaped somehow.
The brave military of StoneHammer, assigned in the fort's entrance getting ready for a rush at the mighty beasts.
And It was about then when the fucking merchants arrived with some guards! I ordered the military to hold back, let the caravan guards get themselves killed instead of us.
Which was also right about when a griffin thief appeared out of fucking nowhere and got clobbered by a stone-fall trap.
So the merchants arrive to see blood and vomit everywhere, us carrying corpses in mass to the graveyard, a couple of enraged elephants in a rampage.
WELCOME TO FUCKING STONEHAMMER!
Come for the elephants, stay for the blood and rotten corpse smell!
There's an elephant that killed so many guys that even the population gave him a name and title. But one of the dogs managed to knock him unconscious. And just to make things worse, 16 more elephants showed up to support their friends!
The thing is... the elephants keep trying to leave the trap tunnel who is all triggered and not working properly anymore. And then some asshole walks in to recover a dead guy's underwear of whatever, and It pisses the elephants right the fuck off and they come charging back up the tunnel again. I guess I should put a work order for more fucking coffins...
I keep saying these morons to stay inside, they keep going and try recover corpses! Time for hard measures, I gave the order to stop fucking gathering EVERYTHING. But It doesn't matter what I tell these idiots, they keep going outside, determined to walk into their deaths.
Harsher fucking measures are necessary. I installed myself two doors in the entrance and locked them. Nopony gets in or out! StoneHammer is closed until further notice! This stopped the kill streak of the elephants for now as a temporary measure. Hopefully they will go away bored when figuring no more fucking toys are coming out to play with them. We lost 20 ponies to this debacle!
Of course... just to add insult to the injury, 17 lamias jumped out of the river. Luckily we didn't lose anypony except some dogs and cats.
Those fucking elephants, I hope they choke in the miasma from the bodies they killed!
Winter 1005 I've started the project F.T.W. (Fuck The World), top secret attempt to dig a tunnel and channels to the outside from the magma river. I'll kill those elephants... I'll kill ALL those fucking elephants!
But I'm not sure if I'll have time to finish It. I've also started the personal project G.M.T.F.O.O.S.H. (Get Me The Fuck Out Of StoneHammer) and I hope I can finish this one by the end of the year. I've found a guy that kinda looks like me, since all our cutie marks are covered by our pants, the only difference between us is our eye color. When the time comes, I'll pass him a pouch of platinum coins saying he's me from that point on, then I'll slip out of elephant hellhole. Easy.
The elephants don't seem to leave! They love their tunnel smelling like rotten corpse. So, nopony can go outside yet. But all the wood is outside, which means the carpenters don't have a lot to do and they are getting bored. But if I open the doors, everypony will run straight to the elephant tunnel! On the the other side, we have lots of free rooms since most of their previous occupants are now fucking dead. So, we don't need the carpenters for now anyway.
Did you ever had a feeling that It can't get much worse... and then It does but at a bigger scale?
For everypony's surprise... they found us. The fucking griffins found us at last! They must have gone through the south of Equestria to try attack the Crystal Mountainhomes from the other side. And besides that, they found our fortress!
But do they think I'm scared of a little griffin siege?! I'm already trapped by four assassin elephants. Shit, I'm just hoping you griffin assholes manage to kill them, I'll give you a fucking prize! The worst thing would be they open the door, causing a deadly carnage to our fort and the idiots I'm stuck with to run to the elephant tunnel again.
Apparently the pachyderms don't mind the griffins. They are like best friends! The griffins are all confused by all this and decided to stand around by the tunnel and the channel. They lazily killed a cat that got stuck outside and just came back to the tunnel. I think they are starting their own town there... elephants and griffins living in peace and harmony, joined only by their endless hate for pony dwarves.
Spring 1006 Bad news. The project Fuck The World has failed. I struck the river by accident, now the channel leading to the outside is now flooded. To whoever comes next to this fucking overseer position, you may want to finish the project, you just have to make a new channel for the magma leading to the outside. Or build a military strong enough to destroy those griffins and elephants. Me... I don't fucking care anymore...
See... spring has come. And I'm taking my chances to get out of here. The poor sucker I said that looks like me, I've already talked with him and convinced him. Enough money and he went for It. The poor idiot will take my name, and by the time they figure out he's not me and just some moron, who can't run a fortress much less use a pickaxe, I'll be long gone.
New name, new town, new fortune... Nothing is worth staying here.
I'm leaving this diary in the table of the overseer's office. To whoever finds this journal,...
Good fucking luck to you.
PS: The place isn't a total loss. As long you don't open the damn front door! Just finish the project and flood the fucking outside with lava! It's all about protecting StoneHammer from the outside world!
"This was hilarious!" Mane laughed. "But also sad in some way..."
"Yeah..." Pinka answered with her short inebriation coming to an end. "That guy and me would get along I guess."
"Eh, you both swear a lot so I wouldn't be surprised." Mane took a second read in certain parts. "So yeah... this explains the engravings of elephants murdering dwarf ponies everywhere."
"Didn't he talk about a project... Fuck The World?" She reminded.
"Yeah, let me see again." Mane skipped to the winter part. "Now everything makes sense! The state of the land outside StoneHammer. They actually finished the project and burned the outside. Elephants, griffins... but... unicorns and earth ponies? They weren't in war with them." Mane inquired with suspicion.
"Maybe It was an accident?" Pinkamena wondered.
"I'm not sure. How can you activate something this big by accident and burn your allies?"
"The next diary may have the answers..." Pinkamena yawned while getting up. "I think our previous clothes are dry."
"Indeed, the heat is starting to make me nauseous." Mane grumbled while getting up as well. "How is the binge, tipsy?"
"It passed. Thank Luna I didn't had to throw up." She picked all the clothes drying by the magma forges.
"Where shall we go next?" Mane asked, putting his notebook back in the bag. "There's still a lot to explore, and seems we are still far away from discovering what caused the place to crumble."
"I think that crazy project with lava is what killed everypony." Pinka commented while gazing the red river of molten rock.
"I dunno... If It was the lava, then there would be no skeletons, barrels, workshops... or even these journals!" Mane puzzled together.
"Nicely thought." She agreed.
A noise started to be heard from the depths of the huge hallway. Something coming together and metal rustling on the floor, with clacking steps coming. Mane and Diane looked into the darkness with some fear and having a guess of what was. Slowing approaching, ponies of low height all in bones showed up in the light of the magma river, holding rusty swords, axes, knifes and all kinds of tools or weapons.
"Shit..." Mane was paralyzed by the army of skeletons walking towards them slowly.
"That's why we have weapons!" Pinkamena grabbed her pistols and shot both of them, cracking two skulls and making the skeletons fall in pieces. The others kept walking slowly. "Mane! Move!" She yelled.
"Oh... right!" Mane snapped out and looked for a way out. They had an army of undead in front of them, and a magma river behind. "We must fight our way through." He said.
"I don't think my knifes would be the best for skeletons..."
"Idea!" Mane announced. He kicked the barrel on the floor and kicked again in the skeleton's direction, leaving a trail of booze behind It.
The barrel stopped when It hit the group, with his magic, Mane ignited the alcoholic drink and a fire trail ran across the line, and reaching the half full barrel, It exploded in a show of fire and skeletons flying in pieces everywhere. But not all of them were finished, leaving yet a small group. What was left of the wooden container was in flames, and some skeletons looked at It and stepped away with a gesture of standing back.
"What are they doing?" Pinkamena asked confused.
"Look!" Mane pointed at some engravings of pony dwarfs burning. "They are afraid of the fire, even if It doesn't kill them!"
"Do your job then!" Pinkamena smirked with a determined look on her face.
Mane stepped forwards with his horn glowing red. He opened his hands towards the weakened group of skeletons. Second by second, the flames gained strength and blooming from his hands, two short ranged magic flamethrowers making the short enemies stumble back in fear, opening a corridor among them. Pinkamena took the chance and ran past them while Mane walked backwards following her still waving the magic fire in front of them. When he had a good distance from them, he stopped the flames and casted his magic light and followed Pinkamena in the dark, leaving the huge long hallway.
"Are they following us?" She asked.
"I don't think so. After I stopped, they didn't dare to follow me."
"They must have though you were a creature made of their worst fear."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Mane giggled. "That was a close one."
"Let's avoid dead ends, or something worse may happen." Pinka suggested with Mane agreeing.
They walked away fast and went back to the normal fortress hallways. Rooms filled with workshops, others empty and others presumably stockpiles with Its items destroyed, most of them looked by fire.
"I don't think we are going somewhere." Mane commented unsure. "Let's go back."
The duo walked back in the same corridors, finding the river bridge with the lava channels, and later one the water river now with It's tides raised almost reaching the fort's ground level. Checking rooms they didn't explore before, they found the farms. Mane's light revealed white and brown mushrooms flooding the dry mud floor, and some of them almost reaching his height, making them what they call tower caps.
"It's... pretty." Pinkamena commented while going under of the giant mushrooms.
"I guess." Mane looked at them drooling a bit. "I'm feeling hungry."
"We still have canned food." Pinka informed.
"I was thinking of these mushrooms. It was their basic diet, means they are edible." Mane plucked a brown mushroom from the mud. "This looks delicious."
"Careful." She warned worried.
Mane levitated the mushroom in the air with his magic and proceeded to grill with his fire. He let It cool down and took a bite. The taste was pleasing and was like eating a baked potato.
"It's safe." Mane smiled while eating the mushroom. "And It's delicious!"
"Let me try!" Pinkamena grabbed Mane's hand and munched what was left of It. "Hmmm! Grill some more!" She requested with a big smile.
"Alright. We could take some with us and save the food we brought." Mane plucked a bunch of mushrooms and grilled them with his magic.
Pinkamena kept walking among the plantation and under the tower caps, a spot where they weren't growing in a rectangular shape caught her attention. She pulled out a mossy book of brass bookbinding.
"Diary!" Pinkamena announced, raising the old book.
"Nice find!" Mane cheered her.
Moments later, the translation was finished with Mane sitting by the door, while Pinkamena kept eating the grilled mushrooms the stallion had prepared.
So people have been sending me some messages in private with questions, and how they are liking this fic so far. And you have no idea how happy I am right now for all this. So as a thank you for you people, I've made some drawings related to the FIC and include some descriptions about them. I hope this also answers some questions.
A comparison sheet about Mane Shaker, Pinkamena Diane Pie and a regular dwarf pony. Mane is 1,79m and Pinkamena is 1,68m. Sorry they look almost the same height and some anatomical errors. Now you get to see those two a bit more clearly and their "dress code" Dwarf ponies are all earth ponies like said in the fic, recognized by their beards, low height (variation around 1m), strength and chubby appearance. And no that's not denim, It's dyed leather. I couldn't get a mixture of brown with the colors I had at the time.
Her weapons are all flintlock action. The pistols are the most basic flintlock pistols. The sniper referred in "Stolen Technology" is an "upgraded musket". The action is still flintlock, but the bullets are made to be aerodynamic, armor piercing and long ranged, but still needs a lot of gunpowder for the effect. The thing in the stock is an alteration made in chapter 33 ("Training and Studies"), the pistons and springs installed in the middle of the stock absorb the huge recoil of the weapon. The longer barrel than a musket, a bipod to help the steadiness, and a brass scope is what makes the "prototype sniper" what It is.
I've started this diary around winter. I don't know which day It was and what It is today, since I have a small problem in keeping track of the days. All I know right now It's spring and the year is 1006.
There was no way I was gonna die in combat against brutes called griffins. All they know is pillage, kill, and repeat. My parents died in the first days when It started, more than 15 years ago. I have no wife, no kids, no brothers or sisters... all my life has been in the military since I was drafted, with the King in despair for troops. Since griffins can fly and sometimes our crossbow dwarfs can't get a clear shot on them, making them kill some of us by the walls.
So I've ran away. I'm starting a new life somewhere else. Most of us in the Crystal Mountainhomes only know our city and nothing else, and there's a huge world to explore and enjoy. During my travels to the south and going away as far away from the Mountainhomes as possible, I found the mangles body of a dwarf pony surrounded by some huge animal footprints. Seems whatever It was, they followed him because the footprints walked the same way they came.
I emptied out his pockets and I found a letter from the King himself with instructions, to a position of overseer to the fortress called StoneHammer, the last hope of our race and civilization that has been topic of conversation in our place for some years.
Figuring out this place StoneHammer never saw the guy's face, and they don't know me, I guessed I could start a new life there. So I followed the indications on a map this dead guy had scraped and It led me to some short of escape tunnel...
I found the place, and I find myself in some sort of office. I gained some bravery and stepped out of the room, to find a small group of dwarves asking me right away what to do about the "situation". I... played dumb and asked them what was going on.
So this place is under siege with a combined force of griffins and some huge dangerous animals called "elephants". From all the places I could have gone, the griffins had to find this place also! When I though I ran away from the war, It's like the war itself followed me here. I told them I was gonna think about It, and entered the office in a hurry.
I tried to re-dig the escape tunnel under the desk, but It just collapsed, leaving me no escape. And then, the dwarf ponies stormed in the office! I tried to hide the tunnel, but they pulled me and carried me to the front gates, demanding orders. I guess I'm in for the duration...
I told them to dig fortifications, so our crossbow ponies could shoot them. But for my surprise, they told the griffins had bows. I still told them to do It anyway, saying It would all work out.
This early morning I was trying to dig the escape tunnel again, when a bunch of guys ran in. I tried to hide the tunnel again, but they were cheering for some reason, just like the rest of the place. Turns out the griffins leaved! Maybe they got bored.
This was a good opportunity to dig the rest of the fortifications by the gates, so we could shoot the elephants. With a combined force of crossbows and balistas, we managed to kill some of them, forcing the pack to run away. I declare today an official holiday, whatever day this is...
Now that everything is safe, I played dumb again and asked them how things work here, and how much this job pays. They all looked confused at me and answered they don't use any money. Everypony here just works together. I told them to mint coins, and hopefully the next immigrant group comes with a bookkeeper.
Our soldiers by the entrance spotted a caravan from Canterlot. I hope they don't mind the corpses of elephants and pony dwarfs by the entrance.
A crafts dwarf made an amazing bracelet. I commissioned It to myself since this job doesn't have a payment at all, but when I got to the workshop, he was babbling about cities burning, the awake of the ancient demons before time. The bracelet shows a dog killing a mandrill. An elephant running away while a dwarf laughs... and a cheese? I don't know where the cheese comes from or to what is related to, but oh well...
As for the traders, I traded some stone crafts for berries and cloth. Funny enough, all the goods were on the trade depot already since nopony could bring them back inside.
I visited the cage trap tunnel, and had an idea. Since all the traps couldn't be reloaded in time, I told them to dig a tunnel from the fortress to this tunnel with fortifications blocking them, and installed two balistas so the siege operators could shoot through them. If any elephants or griffins get there, we can shoot them dead with only one shot.
I'm taking steps and measures to make sure the elephants or any other threat doesn't menace this fortress. The others thing I'm paranoid, but they are wrong. The elephants will return just like the griffins.
Seems my prays were answered. An immigrant wave arrived with a bookkeeper! Everypony started to bring their coins, and of course, some of them can't afford rooms to sleep in, but hopefully the free rooms from their previous dead occupants are enough. I couldn't get ready for this due to the siege.
Our brewers came to me with alarming news. We are running our of drinks, and there's no plants or mushrooms left to brew. Turns out I forgot to tell the farmers to start growing the plantations. This overseer stuff is hard...
Disaster. Our soldiers reported a herd of elephants coming from the trap tunnel direction. And due to poor time management and everything going around me and us, only two traps were reloaded. Time to test my previous balista plans.
Two elephants caught of course, but the rest got through. When I asked where the siege operators were, they were all eating, drinking and sleeping!
Finally, one single siege operator and for surprise, the balistas and incredibly inaccurate even at short range. But luck protects the audacious ones! One of the balistas killed one of the elephants by the tunnel, and his body got hurled a good six meters even out of the trap tunnel.
But disaster came back when a dwarf walked outside to get killed by the elephants, and the others seeing an opportunity for free clothes and items, ran outside trying to grab his values. I remembered what the previous ruler said in the end of the diary, I locked the front doors.
WHAT THE HELL?! The door is stuck! I can't get it closed! Somepony jammed It! That bastard! That traitor! THAT... mouse..?
Showing a great coordination and opportunity, a rat went inside the mechanisms, got killed between the cogs and now they are all stuck! Meanwhile, the siege operators saw the crowd going outside for the riches of the dead ones, they followed them in all haste. I assigned the other siege operators to the balistas, depleting our siege ammo. Now there's only two elephants remaining, and our crossbow soldiers are out of ammunition.
There's only one chance. I activated the whole military and send them in a charge against the elephants. They let out a mighty scream of war and ran. Nopony can blame their bravery. Only their results...
I consulted the diagrams of the fortress and I think I found a way to close It shut. PULL THAT DAMN LEVER!
With the survivors all together back in the fort, I begin to organize things for the best. Without wood, I can't make any siege ammo for the balistas, and the magma forges only produce a small amount of iron bolts. I told to the many ones I could to arm themselves with crossbows and hope they happen to find any spare bolts without going outside. But no! They instead go eat, drink and sleep!
Meanwhile, the elephants bored without a stream of pony dwarfs to kill, they are slowing torturing a dog to death that got stuck outside.
I lost to track of time per usual, but after some months without writing in this thing, the dwarves managed to forge some extra bolts and shoot the elephants outside, which they died of blood loss. VICTORY IS OURS!
I ordered the doors to be open, and the population comes out in joy of their first breaths of pure air in months.
New month, I think... And I get news a new pack of elephants is coming.
A single untrained crossbow soldier stands by the river ready to defend the place. I doubt he'll be enough. And why is there no new door in the entrance? I inspect and I found out why. The huge number of tamed animals, population and pets, plus the thin hallways caused an incredible traffic jam. I ordered the miners and masons to expand the corridors and then smooth them, while most of the tamed animals are going back to the cages.
Luck helps us again. The elephant herd skipped us entirely. With the corridors being widen and more passable, they installed the doors sealing the threats from the outside.
In the final days of summer (I think), a mason creates a shocking controversial work of art, expressing his frustration and guilt. A marble amulet with THREE images of elephants killing dwarves. He came to me and said: "Here, I've made an amulet of all the history I know. Look, it's an elephant slaughtering dwarves by the hundreds. You can really see the bones and gristle! If you check the back, there's a lovely image of a rat jamming the fortress doors open. Also, more elephants killing dwarves." I have him on prison for defeatism.
In autumn, the caravan arrived, and runs right into a group of elephants! It's guards engage in combat for a moment, actually killing two, and one of them ran towards the fortress following the merchants with various injuries, followed then by the others.
The elephants just had there and wait. The know the merchants have to go through the bridge to leave. And an elephant never forgets, said one of the animal trainers.
And during the confusion, a blacksmith came to me saying a fire imp came out of the magma river, but got killed by a stone-fall trap.
After some days, the elephants got bored without any killing going on and leaved. Great timing, because the merchants were about to leave too.
And after they leave, an immigrant wave showed up from the Crystal Mountainhomes! They replaced our population that got killed in the previous combats, making them 74 now. I drafted most of them to our army, mostly for crossbow duty, and others armed with swords and heavy armor.
Mandrills appeared and ran to the trade depot. I told the army to get there, but they were all sleeping! They got there but late. The mandrills ran away but after some checking they stole a platinum ring of high value... NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Wait! Another group of mandrills is on the other side of the river, and they can't find a way across. Tome for revenge!
A single soldier gets in the scene and starts firing his crossbow. In the end, three mandrills killed.
I came back inside and a foal shows me a work of art he made. A flint toy boat, with an image... of a elephant killing a dwarf. That kid needs some counseling...
The cold strong wind marks winter. And for an anti-climax, It is really calm and without any confronts from the outside. The new military trains hard in the barracks and the crossbow dwarfs in the archery range. Only a few months to train these peasants into a heavy and disciplined army. A few elephants just wandered around really far away, all looking at the fortress in a wish for pony dwarf blood.
The flowers and trees outside with new leaves mark spring. I decided to retire from this position and become the captain of our new army.
Memories of the elephant war haunt my sleep, and only with a spear next to my bed I can find peace.
Mane closed the book, Pinkamena sitting against the other wall next to the one where the door was. He took his hand to his forehead and let out a small hiss.
"Something wrong?" Pinkamena asked.
"I've been using my magic light and the translation spell too many times." Mane rubbed his eyes with an expression of annoyance. "My head hurts."
"We still have water." She informed grabbing her backpack next to her.
"There's no point searching..." Mane sighed tired. "...you won't find It."
"Why?"
And the lights got out. They remained in the darkness of the mushroom farm they were, with Mane slowly letting his head fall to the side and close his eyes while his head hurting from the extensive use of magic. Pinkamena tried to call him back to reality by repeating his name and pocking his legs with her hooves.
"Wake up!" She demanded, but he only answered a mumble. "Mane! Come on! Pull yourself together!"
"Wha..?" He whispered. "Mah head hurts..." Mane mumbled.
"If I don't have any light, I can't find the water or maybe a pill for you." Pinka searched for him in the dark, groping the walls and air. She found his hair and then his horn, and he waved in the air trying to get her hands out of him. "Hey! I'm just trying to find you."
"Don't touch..." Mane mumbled.
"I'm not touching your jacket, silly."
"No. You can't simply touch a unicorn's horn. Not only a sensitive area but also personal." He grumbled, trying to stay awake.
"Whatever. Come on, stay with me." She gave very gentle slaps on him.
"I just need a rest." Mane stopped her hands. "Let me sit here for some moments."
"Fine. Try to rest faster, we can't stay here for the rest of the day... or night. I don't even know what time It is." She looked at the emptiness in the dark. "For how long have we been here?"
"Don't ask me. Just let me rest." Mane closed his eyes and fell asleep in an instant.
After around twenty minutes, Pinkamena searched his pockets, both backpacks in the dark. There was no lighter or anything that would make a spark of light. Even the mushrooms in the farm weren't the one kind that glowed in the dark, only found in the deepest caves. She didn't dare to leaver her spot next to Mane, afraid she would hit a wall or trip in something. Diane's hears started to tingle, with her sixth sense coming alive, the psychopath sense detecting something in the halls of StoneHammer. It was something big, something she couldn't fight alone if It would find them. The floor trembled for a bit, and every five seconds It would get stronger. She remained in silence with a hand in Manes's shoulder just in case. The tremors got stronger, as if whatever It would be was walking right by the other side of the door. Mane started snoring quietly and started to get loud. Pinkamena covered his mouth in attempts to silence him, but the air kept passing through her fingers.
"Mane." She whispered, starting to shake him. "Wake up." But he kept sleeping. "Mane Shaker. Wake the fuck up." She insisted between her teeth. "Something is going on outside."
"*Zzzzz*... hm..." He mumbled very silently.
"Wake up." Pinkamena insisted.
"Wha..? Let me sleee..." He begged in a whisper.
*CLAP!*
She located his face in the dark and threw a strong slap on his cheek, making Mane wake up in a hustle of surprise and confusion.
"Wake the hell up!" She hissed.
"The heck is wrong with you?" He asked with an yawn in an angry way.
"Shut up. Shut up." She insisted. "There's something on the halls..."
"What is It?" He asked worried. "Wha... why is It so dark?" He looked around even if he couldn't see anything.
"Are you stupid? We have been here for around one hour, more or less." She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "You got tired from using magic for too long and fell asleep." She stopped agitating him. "How do you feel?"
"Still tired. Head still hurts but less." Mane stretched his arms. "Is It gone?"
Pinkamena remained silent letting her sixth sense scan the area for a moment. It was gone. Vanished like a breeze of wind.
"It's not here anymore..." Pinkamena informed with a suspicious tone.
"Was It big?"
"The floor quaked when It was behind the door."
"We need to get out of here." Mane got up but soon stopped. "Help..." He whispered.
"What is It now?" Pinkamena rolled her eyes in the dark, trying to find the location of his voice.
"The dark... It... It is looking at me." Mane whispered again in fear.
"What the fuck, dude..." Pinkamena got up too and searched for him in the dark. "Aren't you nephew of King Sombra? My biggest question about you is how you are afraid of the dark."
"Diane... It's not funny." He trembled. "Help."
"It's alright... as soon I find you." She found his arm and his back. "Ah. There you are, silly."
"Please... take me out of here. I don't like this pitch black place." Mane begged, still frozen by his fear.
"Don't fret. I'm here." Pinkamena grabbed his arm with one hand and searched the door with he other. "Try to find our backpacks. Don't mind the dark."
"I-I can try..." Mane leaned down palpating the floor of rock and mud. "I think I got them."
"Okay, I found the door. Try to make some light, will you?"
"My head still hurts. Sorry..." Mane apologized.
"Well shit Mane. We can't go around in the complete darkness. We may even fall in a pit." Pinkamena grabbed her backpack from Mane's hand. "The medicine I brought was all for pains. Give me a moment."
Pinkamena let go Mane's arm and opened her backpack, searching for the little box containing the pills made of plant extracts and other ingredients. She found It, opened and passed one to Mane's hand holding It so he wouldn't let It fall. Then she passed a half filled bottle of water, and Mane took with a loud gulp.
"Takes some time to make effect." Pinkamena informed getting back up. "Let's leave the farm while we wait for It."
The pink mare grabbed his hand and guided him outside in the dark. The underground river next to the farm could be heard in the right, so left was the correct path. A loud step was heard making them stop dead in their tracks, and It sounded far away. Mane shivered and gave a step back but stopped by a forced pull from his partner.
"Man up!" Pinkamena snarled. "You hunt, kill and get in constant danger for a living."
"I'm not going there with something lurking in the dark." Mane murmured nervously.
The steps sounded closer and they stopped while those two kept walking slowly in the dark. Sometimes the loud mysterious steps would come back and stop for a moment before returning. Pinkamena slowly started to grow worried, and Mane started to hear screams on his mind as if they were coming from all the halls in the dark. Agony and fear in the ancient dead language, screaming things he could never understand. Looking around in the dark touching the walls and walking with careful steps, feeling the moss and tiny plants that grew out of the moist in the place. The pink mare started to have cold sweats and her stomach starting to hurt the more they lurked in the dark. Mane forced his hand out of hers, and stumbled backwards against a wall and sat on the mossy rock floor.
"I can't." He cried with a whisper. "I'm sorry, Diane. But I can't take this anymore..."
"Mane? Where are you?" She searched him in the dark. "Don't leave me here, please."
"I'm sitting here. Follow my voice." Mane sobbed while a tear started forming in his right eye and he tried to contain It. "I'm a coward. I can't stand in the dark. I hate It. I'm afraid of It."
"Found you." She touched his messy hair. "It's just air and walls. There's nothing to be afraid of." Pinka tried to comfort him.
"It's not the darkness Itself Diane!" He cried. "It's what lurks on It! There's something big following us! I can tell!"
"Keep It down!" Pinkamena took her hands to his mouth. "If there's something, don't let It know where we are."
"Diane..." He took her hands out of his muzzle. "Why does It smell... like a rotting corpse?"
"Yeah... *sniff sniff* now that you speak of It, It's really strong. It's even affecting my stomach." The pink mare took a hand to Mane's forehead. "How is your head?"
"From the headache, better. From the point of sanity, not so good." Mane shivered.
"Can you use your magic again?" She asked in happy hopes.
"Let me see..." Mane forced his brain into a light spell, but instead turned into a night vision spell on his eyes, and they glowed a greenish teal in the dark, allowing Pinkamena to see them too. "Not what I asked for, but works."
"Okay." Pinkamena whispered nervously. "See anything?"
"Oh no." Mane's pupils shrunk in his glowing eyes under the spell, while looking into the deepest hall from where they were coming from, seeing a familiar shape with a long snout, big thin ears and menacing two big pointy ivory tusks. "I see death Itself." Mane whimpered as if he was gonna start crying for real.
"What is It?!" Pinka asked in a panicky tone.
"Take my hand and run!" Mane grabbed her hand and started running with her trying to follow him without stumbling, in his turn to guide her in the dark being only him now able to see in the dark.
LamNil was shaking everywhere with every charging step of the beast, chasing those two down the halls. Mane's adrenaline kicked in allowing him to run for an extended time, always holding Pinkamena's hand guiding her in the dark thanks to the night vision spell, who also caught up with his pace. The mare was still confused by what was chasing them, but at times like those there was no necessity in wasting their breath and energy with questions, but put It to good use on their legs.
Mane's vision started to get all white indicating a source of light, and blurred by the effect he saw the bridge where the magma channel was. He took a turn, and sprinted down the corridors to a place where they could see the rampaging pachyderm and big enough to have a chance of fighting It.
They entered the giant wall where they were before, where the group of skeletons tried to corner them. Pinkamena started to see the magma river in the end of It, and guessed where they were before.
"Are you crazy?!" She screamed. "We are gonna get cornered again!"
"The hall is big enough! We can avoid It." Mane answered, while finishing the night vision spell when the magma's light allowed more light for both of them.
They stopped by the magma forges for a second time, to catch their breath for an instant. The steps of the elephant got louder and louder with every second. The light of the molten rock river started to show the elephant's head, and Pinkamena finally saw what was going after them. But this one was bigger, way bigger than the other's outside. It's tusks were not "medium" sized, they were way longer forwards and It's end pointing up like a hook. The beat kept charging at them without any signs of stopping. It was probably fifty meters away from them.
"He's not stopping!" Pinkamena yelled over the noise.
"We can use It for advantage!" Mane answered while looking behind them. "At my signal, dodge!"
"Dodge?!" She asked confused.
"Just jump or roll to the side, out of his range!" Mane explained.
The giant elephant was now thirty meters from them. They started to see his beady eyes aiming at them, and starting to lower his tusks until It's curves were dragging on the rock floor. A beast that size and weight wouldn't stop a charge that easily. Ten meters.
"NOOOW!!!" Mane screamed.
The grey stallion gave a quick run and jumped to the left, and the pink mare with a quick run too dodge rolled to the right. The tusks missed them for some centimeters, and instead destroying a magma forge. With a failed attempt of stopping, the elephant fell right into the magma river. The smell of burning meat filled the place, while the magma burned to a crisp the skin and meat of the elephant. Slowly burning down, the pachyderm let out a loud trumpeting echoing through the entire fortress. Mane and Diane only saw It happen, with nothing to comment and mouths slightly open as if they still had something to say but they weren't sure. She didn't mind the smell of burning meat, but Mane took a hand to his nostrils.
After a bit, the melting elephant lost the energy and let Itself drown in the fire. They took a synchronized deep breath of relief.
"Woa..." Pinkamena sighed with a smile, looking at him.
"Woa..." Mane answered back smiling as well with a small nod. "Let's go."
They started walking away slowly relieved. The magma river started bubbling more than usual. Mane stopped and looked back, the bubbles got more frequent, as if a creature was breathing under It. Pinkamena stopped and noticed the strange phenomenon. A portion of magma started raising, and slowly something white like snow raised. Walking slowly out of the river, menacing two big bones forwards and eyes glowing red with two orbs in the empty eye sockets.
"Noo..." Mane gasped in fear and surprise.
The elephant's skeleton came back to life, with the magma not affecting the bones and just spilling from It's bones. Those empty eye sockets now filled by two red orbs looked at Mane with unspeakable anger. The elephant charged on his general direction with increased speed, and Mane and Pinkamena dodged again in time, but this time the elephant skeleton made a quick turn and bashed Mane right with the It's tusks but luckily the pointy ends didn't got him. The hurt stallion flew in an arch, but transformed his body into crystal just in time before the landing. He got up and the monster charged again, Mane grabbed them in time and squeezed them hard, trying to keep the bone weapons down with his weight but the elephant skeleton slowly raised him in the air with effort. Hanging from them, Mane dropped down and closed a crystal fist, delivering a midair stone hard punch in the skull. He landed, but the skeleton just charged again. Even if they were bones, they weren't affected by the blow of the hammering.
"GIRL!" Mane screamed while wrestling with the tusks. "DO SOMETHING!"
"What the fuck am I supposed to do?!" She yelled while watching the whole fight from behind a stone support.
"Find something! Anything!" Mane begged, losing the grasp. "FUCK!" The elephant charged again, sending Mane flying again a short distance against the floor. "HURRY!" He screamed while getting up and avoiding the tusks again.
"I can't promise anything!" Pinkamena answered. She headed to a nearby door illuminated by the magma river, but the door revealed pitch black dark. There was no way she couldn't see a damn thing and find something to help her friend. "Think, Diane! THINK!" he thought stormed her mind. Mane with his "Crystal Sense" was able to wrestle the monster skeleton but couldn't get a certain victory, probably paying the price of death. "The diaries!" The idea came up.
She gave a run to Mane's backpack, and grabbed the notebook with the translations. With another run, she went close of the magma river for some light. Pinka started to read the entries with all haste, looking for a clue or anything.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Mane yelled from the corridor., looking back while wrestling the giant skeleton.
"The diaries might have a clue!" Pinkamena answered.
"Then get It done! I don't think I can hold much longer!" Mane requested in anger. "DAMMIT!" Mane released a tusk and pulling a crystal fist back, he threw a mighty punch right in the skull, this time cracking It a bit, and the giant elephant skeleton fell on It's feet and knees showing some weakening. "AND STAY DOWN!" Mane pointed at It. "Find anything, will you?!" He ordered to Pinkamena in fury.
"Hold on! Hold the fuck on!" Pinkamena yelled back. "There must be something here, come on..." She thought while rushing through the pages. She got to the sixth diary, authored by Ale Barrel, the angry sixth overseer, and between the initial text, she read something:
"Further into the fortress, we have a gigantic hallway where the roof is held by fucking sticks, and a slight breeze would make the whole thing collapse. I don't know what suicidal asshole made this, and I'm bot gonna mess with It. But you can bet, I'm not gonna fucking step in that place ever.
Visited what they call a statue garden, or more like a room full of unlabeled levers. I don't know what any of them do and I'm not gonna try find out. The way this place is set up, any of them could make the whole fort collapse like a fucking tower of rocks. Celestia help me..."
Pinkamena thought for a moment, and look at the expansive space where Mane and the elephant skeleton were fighting. The rock supports around the place seemed fragile indeed, and the room with the levers could be place to collapse that place, or the entire StoneHammer fortress.
She grabbed a nearby stick of wood and dipped It into the magma, making a quick torch. With a run, she avoided the fight but not Mane's sight.
"Where the hell are you going?!" Mane screamed while dodging the tusks and bone legs.
"I think I got the solution!" Pinkamena waved a book in a hand while running. It was Mane's notebook. "Keep It busy! I need time!"
"BE FAST THEN!" Mane ordered in rage.
She ran down the giant hall, trying to not let the wind put out the torch which didn't any fuel besides the wood itself. The fight could be heard in the distance, making her run faster. Pinkamena passed by the magma channel, and further more, the bridge by the underground river. A light in the end of the main hall, the exit showing daytime. The garden statue should be nearby with all the levers. Checking every door with the torch starting to go out slowly, after some rooms with no interest, she found her destination. Statues of pony dwarves, animals and other creatures broken in pieces, made of different rocks in white and many grey scales. All of them covered in moss, and the faces of each creature worn out by time and weather factors in the fort from all those years. Among the ruins, levers and levers. No labels, each task of them (probably) acknowledged by the ancient civilization. The mare opened the marked pages referring the statue garden, but none of them said which lever, and she was probably running out of time.
On the other side, Mane kept wrestling the elephant skeleton. Holding It's tusks, he took advantage of his grip strength and squeezed the tusks harder and harder. Those crystal hands started to crack the bones of the tusks. The giant bone animal feeling the pain and forcing harder the charge. In a blink, Mane cracked the tusks, shattering bone everywhere and leaving now two pointy ends of tusks in the floor cracked in every side.
The elephant skeleton stepped back in pain, and the two orbs in the eyes became stronger. It started hitting the floor with what was left of It's tusks breaking them piece by piece, leaving Mane confused by what It was doing and planning. Now the skull had no tusks left, and charged Mane who couldn't dodge due to the weight of his crystal body. Instead, he held tight to the head while the animal kept swinging to the sides trying to get ride of the crystal stallion. No use.
The skeleton changed the strategy and pointed to a wall and ran towards It. With a big impact, he squeezed Mane between It's skull and the wall, but he refused to let go. Another It and still the same. Mane started to feel some pain after some hits, and his crystal body wouldn't resist such punishment for so long. His hope and life was on Pinkamena's hands, wherever she was now.
Back in the statue lever room, the pink mare kept looking at them levers, indecisive which one would be the correct one to colapse the "Hall of Suicide" how the sixth overseer called in his diary. She grabbed a lever, ready to pull but she let It go slowly. Grabbed another one, let It go too. There was no way to tell. Her chest started to hurt for a bit, and started more as if It was being It by a hammer constantly. Her sixth sense picked the floor trembling for a second, strangely synchronized with the pains. Took her a while to understand, realizing It was like Mane's pain was being shared somehow. Panicking, she grabbed another lever but unsure if she should pull It.
"No. NO. NO!" She thought. "The whole fort might fall apart with us inside." Pinka took her hands to her face in despair. "How? HOW did this stupid civilization would operate this place?!"
The torch's fire reached her hand, giving a small burn, making her let It fall on the floor and the lights got out, leaving her in the darkness again, with one levers in her hand. A thought came to her mind, reckless but the only thing she could do in the room and at the moment.
"Pull the damn lever!"
Overcoming her fears and despair, she grabbed the lever with both hands and pulled It, making the old mossy rock mechanisms come back to life once again. The floor shook for a moment and a noise was heard in the distance echoing through the halls. She grabbed the notebook next to her and started to search for the door in the dark, sometimes tripping in a statue but not falling.
Back in the giant hall, Mane kept being squeezed between the wall and the elephant skeleton's skull. A loud noise was heard in the distance, as if another elephant was running towards them. A rock support in the visible area of the magma's light fell down, along with boulders from the ceiling and the whole place trembling. The unicorn started to loose his strength and the grasp on the skull, expecting to loose grasp of his "Crystal Sense" and be smashed into a paste by the undead pachyderm.
A rock support next to them fell, and the ceiling collapsed and a huge boulder fell right in the skeleton's body, making It go down with the weight and breaking a majority of the skeleton. Mane let the skull go and avoided in time a boulder who smashed the skeleton's head into dust. He looked into It's eyes and the glowing orbs died, showing It has dead for sure this time. The support behind the corpse collapsed, making Mane end his crystal body and start running with a night vision spell on his eyes. The whole place was going down, with the hurt stallion avoiding rocks and boulders falling from the ceiling. The hall was almost entirely destroyed and he was still halfway.
In the dark hallways, Pinkamena had memorized her path but not entirely due to the panic. She kept holding the notebook with one hand and touching the walls with the other. The light of the entrance was not enough anymore to the distance she was.
In the depths of the halls, she heard water flowing. It was the underground river telling she was on the right path.
"MANE?!" She called, but no answer. "Where are you?!"
Small puddles of water could be felt in her hooves, the bridge was closer telling by the volume of the water running.
"MANE?!" She called again.
"Pinka?" A voice called.
"Shaker! I'm near the bridge!" She called happily.
"I'm by the bridge! Come here!"
Pinkamena speed up her pace glad Mane was alive and safe. She stepped on the bridge, and stayed in the middle of It. She called him again, but nothing answered. Only sound was the water rushing down the mountain.
"Mane..?" She called. "I'm here, where are you?"
Suddenly in the dark, something grabbed her hands and pulled her to the side of the bridge. She screamed in panic and surprise realizing she was being attacked. Pinka tried to reach her pistols or the knifes, but whatever It was It had her arms locked behind, making It impossible to fight back, besides the darkness not allowing her to see.
"MANE! WHAT THE FUCK!?" She screamed, but a raspy voice laughed evilly back at her. "YOU'RE NOT HIM?! LEAVE ME!"
The mysterious attacker kept pulling her, and she felt the bridge hitting her back. It wanted her to fall on the river and drown, and It was stronger than her, making the resistance even harder.
"HELP!!! SOMEPONY PLEASE!!!" She cried loudly.
One of her hooves was already off the bridge floor and she was losing resistance to the pull. She forced her lower body to the opposite direction buying her some time in hopes something would happen to get her free.
"MANE!!! HELP!!!" She begged, not knowing if he was even alive.
Quick steps from the other side of the bridge were heard, she looked and saw two blue teal orbs in her direction. It was probably another creature coming to help the attacker. She closed her eyes and accepted her fated death. But a scream made her open them again confused, and the orbs getting closer.
"MANE?!" She dared to call.
"I'm here! Hold on!"
His ended his night vision spell and revealed a magic light from his horn illuminating the whole scene. He gasped in shock seeing now everything more clearly. Pinkamena looked back, and revealed the previous pony dwarf skeleton she found on the deeps of the river pulling her towards It. She screamed in terror seeing the skull up close covered in water plants and all wet growling fiercely, and a body without any muscles or flesh having strength than her.
Mane grabbed the skull with both hands and twisted It to the left and right repeatedly. He putted a hoof in the bridge's wall and pulled the head with all the strength he had left in his body. With effort and anger fueling his mind and body, he pulled the skull out of the body and smashed It into the bridge into a watery dust.
Pinkamena got released of the grip and stepped back while the rest of the skeleton fell on the water, being dragged by the flow along the river. She sat on the bridge in panic and shook, whimpering and almost crying. Mane recovered from his initial fury and knelled next to her hodling her hands.
"I'm here. Everything is alright." Mane comforted.
"I almost died..." Pinkamena cried. "I was gonna drown..."
"You're safe now, sweety." The stallion hugged her. "You're safe now..." He petted her.
"I thought you were dead!"
"I escaped in time, before the whole place collapsed." Mane sighed. "I jumped in time before the whole ceiling could fall on me."
"Seems I got the right lever." Pinkamena smiled with some tears running down her face. "But... I swear I could hear you by the bridge."
"How? I was still on my way looking for you. Until I heard your screams."
"Then... did that skeleton kind of mimicked you?!" She sounded surprised.
"It's the only explanation." Mane looked to the river. "Damn skeletons... Let's go."
