Golden Sun's Zenith Part 3 Preview (Spoilers, as usual) · 2:55am Feb 23rd, 2018
This chapter of Sideboard Stories has taken a lot, lot longer than I ever anticipated to complete, due in part to the complexity of the plot and also because I’ve added a few extra parts to it at the last minute, so I’m going to go ahead and spoiler an excerpt from it to show you that it’s still in the works.
As is tradition, check below for the juicy bits.
The library was somewhat less covered in plants than the rest of the palace, though that didn’t mean that there weren’t plenty of bioluminescent fungi and flowers to provide proper illumination. Stone shelves lined the walls, each packed with codices that took the form of long, accordion-folded sheets. Stone signs with pictograms labeled the shelves, though what each pictogram symbolized, Celestia couldn’t quite recognize. In the central area of the library was a series of long tables, with potted lamp mushrooms serving as light sources. At such an early hour the library remained empty, save for a single cuetzpali sitting at a stone desk near the front, who eyes Celestia warily as she entered.
At one of the central tables sat Daring Do, who had an especially long codex unfolded and laid out on the table as she examined it with curious eyes. As Celestia approached, she looked up, sporting a large, excited grin.
“Glad you could make it,” Daring Do spoke softly. “Check out what I found!” With a motion of her hoof, she pushed the codex closer and pointed to its contents.
Celestia sat down across from Daring Do, and peered closer at the codex. What she saw was not anything resembling a book or scroll in Equestria, but a series of elaborate pictograms drawn in colored ink. She squinted, some part of her hoping that it would help her comprehend, but ultimately remained baffled by the unfamiliar method of recording information.
“...I see,” said Celestia. “Do you know what it means?”
Daring Do shook her head. “Afraid not. From what I’ve seen, the cuetzpali don’t seem to have a traditional written language. All of their recorded information takes the form of pictograms and ideograms. As you can imagine, it’s extremely difficult to translate. But take a look at this.” She pointed her hoof at a pictogram near the center-left of the page. “If what I’m seeing here is accurate, then Commander Tempest may not have been the first pony on the Western Continent.”
The pictogram was an elaborate drawing of an ovoid stone, engraved with a single, glowing green-blue eye. Another pictogram was beside it, that of a cuetzpali dressed in priestly garb holding the stone, and a second cuetzpali kneeling in supplication. A thin, green ribbon of light was depicted emerging from the kneeling cuetzpali’s head, vanishing into the stone.
Then, finally, there was a third pictogram, that of an earth pony mare with an ash-grey coat and black mane, and a cutie mark of a twisted, thorned miasma of magic that vaguely resembled a claw. The mare was depicted in a galloping pose, with the stone perched atop her back.
Celestia’s eyes widened at the sight. “Impossible. Sifa Grent?”
Daring Do raised an eyebrow. “You knew this pony?”
“Not personally, thank Epona,” Celestia replied. “My old mentor taught me of her. Sifa was an evil sorceress of unfathomable power, and the archnemesis of Clover the Clever. Seeing her here in a historical codex is... worrying, to say the least. If this artifact was truly stolen by her, there is no telling where it may be today.”
“I’ll add it to my list of relics to look for when we get back,” said Daring Do. “But that’s only the beginning of what I’ve found. Check this out.”
Daring Do motioned to another page. On it was a series of pictograms depicting four figures. The first was the same winged, feathered serpent as Quetzalcoatl, though the image depicted a much more focused glare beneath his eyes. The second was an image of an aven, a winged birdfolk with the beak and plumage of a hummingbird. He was dressed bright red and green robes with a black trim, and brandished a staff in the shape of a serpent, the end of which was wreathed in blistering flames. The third was a jaguarfolk with black, green, and blue spots, with a large mirror embedded in his chest and a tree branch replacing his right leg. Finally, there was a massive beast with an elongated, canine snout, large goggled eyes, sabertoothed fangs, ape-like forelimbs, dog-like hind limbs, and a prehensile tail. His fur was pitch-black, with lighter blue fur on his stomach, jaws, and hands, and lime-green, fishlike fins grew out from his back, tail, elbows, and ankles.
“You remember how Quetzalcoatl said he was the Lord of Wind?” said Daring Do. “These are most likely the other Elemental Lords. And take a look below.”
Celestia’s eyes turned further towards the bottom of the page. Below each of the Elemental Lords was an image of another figure. Below Quetzalcoatl, there was an image of a single cuetzpali, and below the winged aven was an image of a smaller, wingless hummingbird aven. Below the jaguar was a catfolk not unlike the kind seen in the distant land of Abyssinia, though with far more pointed, lynx-like ears. Finally, below the goggle-eyed beast was a beast of similar shape, only it lacked the fins and sabretooth fangs, and had both a hand on the end of its tail and smaller, beadier eyes that were closer to its nose. Large arrows pointed from the Elemental Lords to each of the smaller figures, the interior of each arrow containing intricate patterns that Celestia recognized as alchemical markings.
“Now, this is just a hypothesis so far, and there are several other ways that this image might be interpreted,” said Daring Do. “But if I’m right, this is depicting the Elemental Lords teaching the practice of alchemy to each of their chosen peoples.”
“That sounds like a reasonable explanation,” Celestia replied. “Without magic of their own, the peoples of this continent would need another way to keep the cycles of nature flowing.”
“Exactly,” said Daring Do. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit worried about Mr. Googly Eyes’s chosen here.”
Yup. Ahuizotl's come home, and he brought his people's grievances with him.
Also, very nice integration of both Forgotten Friendship and the Magic IDW comics.