Stories in Stone
Capricorn's Curse
By TDR
New Divide
[ Isle of Tamberlane inside the lost Library.]
“ By my sisters multi colored tail Twilight, will you calm the buck down!” Luna growled having reached her limit with the excitable Princess of Books at least two hours ago.
“But there's so much here! There's books I’ve never even seen before!” Twilight whined.
“Twilight look! Trixie found a book on pearl farming in the nineteenth century! Written by an actual pearl farmer.” Trixie stated loudly, though she sheepishly ducked back behind a shelf at Luna's glare.
“Trixie you are not helping. In case the pair of you forgot we are looking for useful information to get us out of here. While those two journals were informative they do not aid in our escape.” Luna sighed.
“What about one that describes the worms around our horns?” Lyra stated flatly looking up from a book she held.
“Yes that would be a good first step if we found a book like that.” Luna admits before blinking and looking back at Lyra. “ Did you find one or was that just a suggestion?”
“I think so. I haven't found anything on the worms yet but this seems to be a series of books detailing various creatures of the island. So it's got to be in one of them.” Lyra trotted over setting the book on the table as the others crowd around it.
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[Examination log 27. ]
King Tamberlane
While there are numerous topographical and even maps of the underside of the six finned whale like creature that was formerly known as King Tamberlane, few have bothered to delve any deeper than that.
The island itself is six miles by six miles with little to no erosion since the data was first recorded. Many of the buildings are anchored into the very flesh of the creature and it's hard outer skin is much like bed rock. From the earliest data it is clear that the creature has been growing and is now nearly three times the size it was when it first took the city on it's back.
Aside from the main castle and the tombs and basements underneath there is also the town surrounding the castle, a number of docks on all sides of the island and at least a mile of farmland before one comes across the black sand beach. The 'sand' is actually gathered shed skin from the leviathan mixed in with the usual dead lifeforms, and rock fragments that make up regular beach sand. I have toyed with the idea of making the sand itself into some sort of creature, but I have yet to figure out how to filter the dead creatures from the simple rock. Interesting in theory, but not useful.
The creature itself is quite literally brain dead. It does not eat, sleep, or defecate, yet it will swim in the direction and speed I wish. What ever King Tamberlane used to be he is little more than a mindless beast now.
The flesh of the beast itself can be tunneled through and indeed many tombs and castle basements go down well past the point of of the creatures flesh. The issue with this is that the tissue regrows quite rapidly. This has suited many necromancers purposes as the flesh and bone can be harvested and worked into golems or a variety of undead. I have been experimenting with this for quite some time now and in the absence of fresh bodies these items are a more than adequate substitute.
The creature radiates easily ten thousand sievert in necromantic energy, this is enough to kill and reanimate any lesser lifeforms that comes with in the radius of it's influence. The oddity in this is that the sphere of effect around the creature is quite varied. Near the end of it's tail the radius is barely half a mile, the same can be said of points near it's head. The result is that the sphere of influence of the magic only extends a half a mile , to a mile when the flippers are extended, in any cardinal direction. The island itself however is covered both two miles above and below the main body. It is less a sphere of influence and more like a pillar.
For those of the necromantic persuasion this means increased power as well as ease of animating corpses and other darker arts. For me it means I can utilize the full power of the creature to do any sort of magic I wish. Long ago I set up a shield that can easily be activated and powered soly by the islands magic. It appears as a sickly yellow color as opposed to my own black energy and Bray's gray tinged red colored magic.
My hypothesis is the heart of the creature is the real source of the islands power. I had considered carving my way down there to see, but that may finally end the creature and it is too useful as is.
Perhaps after I take over some sizable land mass I may investigate further once Tamberlane is of no further use to me.
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“What's a mile?” Lyra asked.
“An old unit of measurement based in terms of inch and feet. Trixie read some where that that form of measurement was called imperial and was primarily created by ancient Diamond Dogs. A mile is approximately point two nine leagues. “ Trixie added in. “An inch is one forth an apple and a foot is approximately three apples. “
“Weird.” Lyra admitted.
“Allow me to tell you about the metric system someday.” Twilight chuckled.
“While that was informative that did not have anything that would help us. “Luna commented “ Though it does make me feel slightly better that when we destroy this place we shall not be killing anything that will feel pain. “Luna added.” I profess to feel a small bit of kinship with the Griffon Tamberlane. Under appreciated for his efforts and doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.”
“Yes well, lets see what else we have here...... Earth pony male, Earth pony female.........Pegasus...... Horned Mer....... Island Dead?” Twilight questioned as she flipped through the book.
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[Examination log 31. ]
Island Dead.
There is a interesting phenomena associated with any creatures made out of the islands flesh and energy. While they behave and act as ordered they are … different. Some of them develop odd quirks or personalities. Sometimes they even develop into copies of actual dead individuals. A ghost I created on a whim as a test to spy on Bray as he wandered the island during the first years after my take over eventually became what Bray saw as the ghost of Hinao. The ghost had no memories of the time Hinao shared with me, but it seemed to know everything Bray knew about Hinao, and was less than thrilled that he killed her.
A test with a captured sailing vessel proved the effect to work on more than ghosts, Zombies created with the islands flesh formed into dead loved ones and friends of the ships crew, driving them quite mad before they were finally finished off.
It seems that the dead created of the islands flesh or by using the islands magic have a passive ability to absorb the memories of the living nearby to mimic the deceased.
This has proven far more than advantageous in several situations and invasions. It also shows that Bray still has enough life left in him to set off the islands effects.
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“Well that makes a lot more sense than Platinum actually being a spirit here.” Luna stated.
“If any of you tell Octavia this bit of information I will find a way to.... to do something not nice......” Lyra snarled suddenly and in a much tone darker than any of them had heard from her before.
“What?” Trixie nearly yelped, though the Princess and Queen simply looked on curiously.
Lyra flattened her ears to her head glancing back at the door.
“Look Tavi is a friend, and before this she's been having a real struggle with how she views herself compared to Platinum. Since that duel she's sorta gone back to how she used to be. It's been a while since I saw her smile like that and if we tell her what she fought was just something in her own mind or our minds or what ever shes gonna start doubting herself again.” Lyra explained. “We do not need that, I’m just glad she's not close enough to hear any of this.”
“Makes sense.” Twilight shrugged going back to the book.
“Indeed.” Trixie stated.
“I do understand that Lyra but I would think you should not have a need to threaten us.” Luna commented.
“Yeah sorry.... it's just super important is all. Tavi actually helped me find a job playing after I retired from the Guard and I never really had a chance to pay her back.” Lyra muttered.
“It's fine, trust me I understand the lengths others go to for friends.” Twilight sighed.
“As do I.” Luna nodded.
“Should your title be Princess of friendship then?” Trixie snarked.
“Pfft, no, that's a dumb title, sounds like something made up to sell toys or something.” Twilight scoffs flipping another page.” Oh here's something.”
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[Examination log 48]
The Corpse Princess and her Entourage.
There is a bit of a mystery here that I have yet to find a solution for. There are five undead on the island that I have no control, nor even a connection to. Deep in the heart of the beast, in the tombs that draws close to the great creatures heart, there is a chamber. Seated in this chamber are five bodies.
They are perfectly perserved and if not for their lack of movement or breathing one would think that they were alive.
They are of a pair of Griffons, two Unicorns and, a Mer.
Bray has been taught that these five are the undead that helped Tamblerlane over throw King Gold and that Tamberlane thought they were alive through his entire reign. They actually ruled in his stead for nearly a hundred years after he became the island. One day they simply rose from where they were and retreated to this chamber leaving one of their advisers in charge. This adviser went on to become king Idosif and thus started Bray's family line of kings.
Several attempts were made to elicit a response from the corpses. Nothing can be done, they will not respond or react and they cannot be damaged as the necromantic energy pouring from the heart heals them as fast as the damage is done.
I spent some time studying them only for nothing to come of it. Despite this I am rather unnerved to be in their presence. They do not move and only stare blankly ahead of where they sit , yet I somehow feel they are judging me. It is a feeling I do not enjoy, perhaps one day when i feel up to it I will find a way to pull them from their thrones and study their magic, but I have little time for that now.
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“So the ones from Tamberlane's journal are still here.” Luna considered looking at the book.
“Not much help unless we could some how get them to aid us.” Twilight considered.
“If they wouldn't answer the real kings why would they help outsiders?” Trixie offered.
“That is a good point, but we may consider that later if we do not think if anything else. I do not wish to go even deeper into this place. Who knows what we might encounter..” Luna sighed.
“Well Trixie thinks this might answer some of that.” Trixie stated putting down another volume of the journal on the table.
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Examination log 174]
General and advanced undead
The island is home to numerous types of undead. At this juncture I have created most of them, though there are a number of older ones still around that were here before me. Those who have been killed here and island undead both fall into these categories with the exceptions being listed in the respective descriptions. All of the undead can be created at near any size and species so long as I have the proper materials.
Lesser undead
Ghosts.
Ghosts are the most basic of undead and are only brought about by the ambient energy on the island, they cannot leave the island, though while present on the island they cannot be destroyed. They cost the least amount of power to bring into being and are not limited by physical constraints such as walls and floors. They cannot however easily interact with physical objects, though there are some who can to a small degree, this is usual a result of another flaw of theirs.
More often than not the ghosts will develop a personality based on the strongest memories or emotions of the nearest living individual. Despite being the only living individual on the island most of the time, I have yet to figure out how they pick memories and often they will develop into personalities of those I barely recall at all. Perhaps they are not subject to the fade that most of the living have to their memories, recalling things that even I do not. Still with the amount of musicians that I have claimed here, most of the ghosts seem to develop musical attributes which does make for some interesting entertainment as they tend to gravitate towards the old hall. Ghosts only real attack is a overpowering cold that they generate. It cannot be directed, but just the presence of a specter is often enough to suck the heat right out of a mortal form. Due to the cost and this power they are quite effective for general defense, even if they have conflicting personalities and sometimes let mortals by simply due to some odd morality or sense they develop.
Corpse Crawlers.
Perhaps the most basic of creatures, I have also heard them referred to as zombies and shufflers. They are little more than the reanimated flesh of the dead or flesh of the island. They take a bit more power than ghosts, but are blindly loyal and tend to act in swarms. While some do develop personalities most of the skills that they knew in life are forgotten. Depending on how fresh the body was before being raised, some can fly or even run. Any sort of creature can be made into one of these, from the largest sea life down to the smallest ant. If not for the issues with keeping a swarm of ants or other smaller creatures moving and animated I would have the whole island covered with them as they are very effective. Despite having a few unicorns, spell casters raised like this cannot wield any sort of magic, though I have seen them use their horns as more basic weapons.
Skeletons.
Almost exactly the same as the Corpse Crawlers, though the Island version of these always develop personalities...... unfortunately most of them are very similar to Bray's lecherous nature and I tend not to make many of them despite the skills these undead seem to retain, even if they are made from the islands bones.
Ghasts
Also known as Wights and Ghouls, this undead is a much smarter and stronger version of the Crawler. Normal versions of these retain all the knowledge they had in life and Island versions of these will have some randomly generated knowledge. Likely of some one who used to reside on the island that died here. While the island versions of these have their quirks, they are less pronounced than with the Ghosts and Skeletons. They are faster, tougher and many are quite skilled in a variety of fields, they still cannot cast spells unfortunately. Most tend to be focused on combat as I have made many from armies that have invaded in the past. They are often indistinguishable from the living at a glance, though their rotting flesh and putrid scent will soon give them away. If not for the moderate effort it takes to create these as well as the delicate nature of the ritual involved I would not even bother with the lesser undead and have a full force of these.
Mimics
The rituals for these are quite complex, even more so for the greater versions, but the creatures are very useful. They are able to disguise themselves as practically any object, they can remain dormant for an untold length of time before attacking. They are experts at capture tactics as well, engulfing their prey and holding it inside their bodies. The greater versions are much smarter and larger, the lesser ones often acting like a pack of animals following specific orders. The greater ones can set out on their own missions and command any number of lesser ones. They are perfect infiltrators, yet the greater ones will often do what they wish and need to be cowed before they will obey orders. Their creation is not simple either, neither type of mimic can be created from the flesh of the island and if bored, the Greater Mimics will tear apart the lesser ones after using them as playthings. This makes it a pain to keep any greater Mimics around unless I have a mission for them.
Greater Undead
Vampire
Like the Ghasts vampires retain all knowledge of their past lives. Vampires cannot be created of the island's flesh and the stronger ones often resist my control, making fielding them in large numbers rather problematic. They are stronger than any of the others are practically invisible when they wish to be. Some of my experiments have resulted in ones that can change their shape to great wolves or giant bats. Sadly neither of these types are prevalent as they were not particularly effective in the long run. Most vampires have a small selection of spells even if they were from a race that did not have access to any magic. They can blend in perfectly with society and if not for their flaws and cost to create they would be better infiltrators than even the Greater Mimics. Unfortunately like many of my earlier works they have a vulnerability to sunlight. They also have a strange aversion to garlic that I have not fully figured out and some of them cannot travel across running water, though that might be something held over from their days as a mortal. I have altered and experimented with a number of them to see if I can improve or alter what they are fundamentally and have had mixed results. The solar vulnerability remains though some have developed greater powers and others more weaknesses depending on what I do when I create them. Karlac and Visna are the oldest on the island and they keep the others in line. While they can feed on the blood of Tamberlane itself, eons of that have caused a number of them to grow bored with it's flavor.
Lich
Little more than an undead spell caster of some power. There are only about six on the island at the time of this writing as the cost for creating them is quite high. While it grants new untold powers to those who under go the process, it also binds them to who ever holds their phylactery, which is me. The powers this group wields are on par with my own and two are likely that much stronger. Bray was the first of these I created. Oddly the fool still thinks he's alive, but that was an error on my part as I also utilized the preservation spell that had been used on the Corpse Princess and her entourage to make him, thus he never changes from how he looked when he was alive, the effect also seems to fool the ghosts.... Bray is the most useful of the lot, the others prefer to be left alone and only bother to come out when something disturbs their study or the island is threatened.
Gallows Gaunt.
I only manged to make a few of these. They obey me, but in a way that makes one feel as if they only do it because they want to or haven’t figured out why they shouldn't. None of them have taken the same shape and even the Lich's are scared of them. The requirements for these are near impossible to meet and require the bodies of those that call themselves Gods in order to make. The successful ones retain what ever power they thought made them a god on top of an impressive array of spells, the ones that do not manage to keep their power are still very powerful Ghasts, but the cost is too high for those mistakes not to be considered a problem. I do my best to avoid using these creatures as no matter how potent they are, they are too costly to waste.
Barb Devil.
Perhaps some of my greatest monsters, uncontrollable killing machines. They are composed of many bodies and many souls stitched together in an amalgamated mess and are the only things the Gallows Gaunts fear. The power necessary to make them is enormous and the process takes months, if not years to complete. Thus far I have only managed to make three despite how long I have been about. After the incident with that damned bearded unicorn I have decided to keep one in the bell tower at all times in order to protect the bell. The Barb Devils will obey me if I force power into them, but they will naturally attack, torture, then kill anything that comes withing their line of sight, including other undead. Thankfully when there is nothing around they become dormant, which makes storing them away easy. They are highly resistant to magic, and I have seen one reduced to little quivering bits that was still trying to kill it's target, I am not completely sure these things can be destroyed fully once they are created.
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“Well shit.” Lyra stated.
“Hmm this still promotes his disbelief in gods, though from his point of view if he follows Bray's logic he isn't wrong.” Twilight pondered.
“Are you still on that?” Trixie demanded.
“It's a fascinating line of logic. By some old accounts gods lost power when you stopped believing in them, but the Dark times prove that wasn't the case.” Twilight continued.
“I think what is worse is this notebook goes on for another three hundred pages describing the other varieties of undead and variations of the first ones.” Luna grumbled. “With the trouble we had from just the Ghosts and Mimics I do not relish the idea of meeting anything stronger with my magic sealed.”
The others mutter in agreement before Trixie slammed down a book on the table getting a glare from Twilight.
“Trixie has found the solution to that problem here!” Trixie proclaims.
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[Examination log 327. ]
Tablet Caterpillar
While these creatures have been referenced since the time of the first king, I was unable to find a proper description of them in any tome I studied. As such, I have taken it upon myself to properly document the useful, but dangerous parasites.
The Tablet Caterpillar is a sickly brown creature about a four to six inches in length. Also known as a Witch Worm in some dialects, the creature feeds primarily on the mana generated by creatures that produce magic. The name Tablet Caterpillar comes from the fact that the large egg case of these creatures looks very much like a stone tablet covered in writing that shifts and moves as it is watched. Despite popular opinion that translating the tablet will give unimaginable power, it is more likely a defense mechanism as the changing lettering is rather nauseating to watch for long and it is made up of little more than the wiggling larva inside semi transparent eggs.
The outside of the creature is covered with thick plates that, while composed of chitin, are as hard as any iron forged by a smith. This shell is segmented to allow movement though it can be frozen in place as if it was a solid piece when need be, thus allowing the creature to feed. The case acts much like a snails shell to protect the soft multi limbed creature under it. The caterpillars themselves are aquatic, but seem to have no issue on land either in their middle stage of life.
Great swaths of these creatures were first discovered clinging to the underside of the island drawing the mana out of the beast that the island rests atop of. While there was no noticeable change in the flow of power at the time, the beast displayed enough distress to warrant an investigation. King Idosif sent the Bo- thane clan of pearl divers to investigate the source of the distress. After a number of weeks spent scouring the bottom of the Leviathan Tamberlane the source was discovered a massive nest of these creatures growing in the joint of the third fin on the left.
From my understanding many Bo-thanes died to bring that information.
Still the infestation was cleared, though a large number of them were kept for study of their magical nullifying properties. It was found that applying the creatures to the base of the skull or around a unicorns horn could sufficiently dampen the magical abilities of the creature they were applied to, enough of them could completely nullify the casting ability. Supposedly attempting to cast invokes a great deal of nausea as the creatures generate some sort of field to keep from being removed.
There are of course ways to remove them. Significantly fewer ways if one does not wish the host to suffer. Another magic user can easily pull the creatures off as the additional magic will make the greedy creatures eager for the new 'flavor' regardless of how big the meal is they already have. Another method is the surgical application of flame. This tends to heat up their shells enough that the creatures will cook inside them. Given the mild adhesive that allows them to latch onto a host this particular method tends to damage the host just as much as the Tablet Caterpillar. The heat needs to be rather intense and applied for quite some time, more than enough time to sear the flesh and bone of the one involved.
The only other thing of note aside from their usefulness as magic nulifiers is the term used in their name. Caterpillar. Once the creatures have absorbed enough magic they will harden and become nearly perminately attached to the the host, to the point that removal is near impossible without burning. In about two to three months they will hatch from this shell to their final form. A creature called the Death's head jellyfish. How some sort of magic eating worm creature changes to become the most toxic animal ever discovered is a mystery. Though as a side note I will admit watching them hatch on a victim and render them into a screaming mass of jelly in less than twenty seconds is a very interesting sight to behold. But there is little left of the corpse that I would find useful in my research so it is not an amusement I have indulged in more than once. Unfortunately the poison is not something that can be duplicated or milked from the creature. Dead versions of the Jelly fish do not have the poison as it seems to be a singular gift of them being alive. As the name implies the final form cannot survive without water and often dies shortly after the host.
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“Well I’m officially panicked now.” Twilight stated.
“Honestly you should be fine Twilight it is the others I am worried about. A Deaths head sting will not kill us...... it will hurt like a son of a bitch for a few months, but we'll live despite wishing we didn't.” Luna sighed.
“Experience?” Trixie asked.
“Unfortunately.” Luna grumbled.
“So open flame.....” Twilight muttered. “Trixie bring that torch over here.”
“You cannot be serious?” Trixie demanded.
“I am. Normal flame won't be much of an issue for me given the inherent regeneration of a God and given Luna is no longer a proper god I'm not willing to risk her getting hurt. You and Lyra would probably be too pained when the treatment is over to do anything simply due to the damage the fire would do to your horn. If you survived it at all.” Twilight explained. “ I'm the least useful here without access to my magic so it makes perfect sense that I be the one to get these things cooked off my head. Besides we have a goal now, we need to find the bell tower and keep that bell from ringing. We are not going to have much a chance to do that without magic.”
The others look at each other then Twilight, Luna simply smirked.
“While I am quite sure a little fire would not be an issue I am quite content not to have to stick my head in it.” Luna admitted. “Despite your regeneration this will hurt a great deal. I hope you are aware of the anguish that you will feel from practically burning your head alive …...”
“Ummm if you are trying to talk me out of it........” Twilight stammered.
Luna simply grinned and lashed out with a hoof suddenly striking Twilight in two spots on her neck. The purple mare blinked once before her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed onto the floor.
The others stare at Twilight then up to Luna.
“You know, Trixie is certain just a few more vivid descriptions of the process and Twilight would have let you do it. You didn't need to knock her out.” Trixie chided.
“What? Oh no, by no means am I going to stick my head into a fire again. “ Luna admitted. “She volunteered I simply knocked her out so she wouldn't feel the process, hopefully, until after it's over. Velkorn showed me how to do that, but the timing depends a lot on the individuals body mass and recovery rate. Jer'rahd would be out for only about ten minutes tops. Hopefully Twilight will last longer than that as I doubt the worms will give up so easily.”
“Ummm” Lyra commented trying to think of a response as Luna picked Twilight up putting her over the table with her head dangling over the side.
“Let me have the torch Lyra, I need you two to keep looking for information about the bell and the location of this bell tower. Also Lyra check on Octavia see if she wishes to switch guard duty and let her know what I am doing. “Luna sighed. “ And please try to ignore the scent of cooking flesh.”
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[New Canterlot Castle]
Starfall sat in her chair across from the heavily armored mare, her forelimbs propped up on one of two desks set up before the thrones of the sun and moon. Wisps of yellow and red hair fluttered from along the sides of the skeletal helm and a orange muzzle poked out from the under side of it. Starfall was rather impressed at how thoroughly the armor covered the mare. She was a little shorter than Jer'rahd to be sure, but she had seen it on Big Mac and it covered him just as thickly. Which made it odd that on Luna and Twilight the armor opted to be revealing in the sort of way trashy sword and sorcery novels described their armor on fetching young heroes.
She shouldn't be surprised though, it was made in the Dark Lands after all.
The ponies who had been studying the mirror along with the other artifacts hadn't arrived yet, though the Guards were doing their best to hurry them along. Given some of their ages though, it might still take some time.
The mares eyes were mostly hidden in shadow though Starfall could tell she was clearly confused and annoyed.
“Where's Celestia?” She demanded.
Well that was straight to the point.
“Princess Celestia is away on business. Might I inquire as to why you are seeking an audience with her.?” Starfall asked glancing over to Peach Blossom who was standing by the throne rooms side door waiting for the researchers.
“That's my business. She owes me. I know she never leaves the castle, tell her to stop stuffing her face with cake and get in here, I don't have time to talk with her current aid.....”
“Guard Captain.” Starfall corrects.
“What?” the mare asked.
“I'm Guard Captain Starfall Silvertail. The stallion by the door is Guard Captain Peach Blossom. We are not Celestia's asides. The Princess has indeed left the castle on personal business and the two of us are here dealing with the running of things until she returns.”Starfall explained.
“No you're not!”
“What?” Starfall blinked.
“Moskau, Nicker and that other guy whose name I can never remember are the Guard Captains.” the mare snapped. “Is this some sort of stupid prank of hers again? By the stars I hated those... yes yes bucket of alfalfa on the head it was certainly funny the first two hundred times you did it......”
Starfall blinked as the mare continued to rant about Celestia. She and Jer'rahd would get along great.
“Nicker died six years ago during Tirek's attack. Moskau retired about ten or so years ago after the war of the Gods. Guard Captain Shining Armor took over for Greenway a few years before that, though since he became Emperor of the Crystal Empire I've taken his position.” Peach blossom explained. “ Guard Captain Jer'rahd Kaisur is currently in Hospice Moskau's position. And Guard Captain Silvertail has Nickers old post.”
“What?! What the fuck do you mean he died six years ago? That uptight asshole was still here when I left three months ago!” the mare shouted.
“Three months?” Starfall pondered, her thoughts still on the Darklands and the issue of the time discrepancy came to mind. “ What year do you think this is?”
The mare stared at Starfall a moment at the question.” Nine hundred and eighty five ANM.”
Peach Blossom whistled.
“What?!” The mare demanded.
“ANM ended six years ago after a monster named Tirek wiped out about forty percent of Equss' population. We are currently in the AT time period. After Nightmare Moon only lasted until 1013 before becoming a new century. 985 was over twenty years ago.” Peach Blossom explained. “I was still in middle school.”
“I was a rock, so I suppose I am not involved in this conversation.” Starfall sighed.
“That's bullshit I have literally only been over there for three months.............. why are there two thrones...........” The mare stopped, as if finally noticing the thrones behind where Starfall sat. “I know there was one in storage, but why is it out?”
Starfall glanced back at the thrones of Day and Night behind her. The latter was no longer adorned with Luna's cutie mark but with Twilight's. They were also newly built given the last ones were destroyed when the castle was.
“Short version or long version?” Peach Blossom asked suddenly.
“Short version, she's not lying, but she still might be dangerous, we have enough problems without making another one.” Starfall responded.
“What?” the mare demanded, getting more annoyed the more confused she got.
“Approximately fifteen years after you left, Nightmare Moon returned from her imprisonment. She defeated Celestia and was set to have her revenge when a group of ponies activated a set of artifacts and stopped her, stripping the darkness from her and returning her to her senses restoring Princess Luna, Princess Celestia sister.” Peach Blossom explained.
“That's the story of the two sisters.... I theorized that the ones in the story were Celestia and her unnamed sister, but I was stopped from studying that.” The mare gasped.” And the artifacts were the Elements of Harmony. Where are they?”
“The Crystal Empire.” Starfall admitted.
“Before you ask I am getting to that. Two years after Princess Luna returned Discord was freed.” Peach Blossom explained noticing the mares wince. “ He was stopped but not before he freed a number of criminals who set about to wreck havoc on Equestria. They in turn freed The Changeling queen from Tartarus. Upon discovery of the freed prisoners the Princesses personal student released five individuals who she believed could stop them.”
“Okay I call bullshit again, I'm Celestia's personal student...” the mare snapped.
“Does the name Twilight Sparkle ring a bell?” Starfall asked.
“ No.”
“Well she evidently became Celestia's personal student after you. At any rate these individuals caused a great deal of issues and problems for every one.....” Peach Blossom continued.
“Buck you dear, we saved your asses.” Starfall snaps.
“Was that an offer?” Peach Blossom grins getting a raspberry blown at him by Starfall before he continued. “ The conflict that happened then was known as the War of the Gods, it saw the return of King Sombra, the Crystal Empire, the Changeling Swarm, the self proclaimed Goddess Avianna, the release of Forgescale and the destruction of Canterlot as it was. It also saw the defeat of said individuals and the rebuilding of Canterlot nearly on top of Ponyville, thus joining the two cities into one which was named New Canterlot.”
The mare had not said anything so Peach Blossom continued.
“Six years after that a creature that escaped Tartarus attacked and defeated numerous powerful individuals and killed many others. His reign of terror resulted in the destruction of Cloudsdale and many other cities in Equss as well as Canterlot Castle. He was finally defeated by Princess Luna wielding the powers of both the sun, the moon, and a Changeling Queen. After that Princess Luna stepped down and Twilight Sparkle became Princess of the Night.”
Starfall nodded as Peach Blossom spoke, he was keeping it abridged and to well known facts. Applebloom's involvement as well as that of the Elk was left out of most history for security's sake. He also thankfully left out the noodle incident despite the scale of chaos that caused. This should be enough to explain the past number of years while still keeping things vague. Well that was if the mare before them decided to believe it any way.
“I don't believe you.” she growled. “ Celestia having a sister makes senses, taking a new student maybe, but her getting off her fat flank and doing anything, no way, and the bit about a new god being promoted, it can't happen that way or it would have been me who ascended.....”
So much for that Starfall sighed shifting her wing towards her weapon, noting the Changeling and Crystal Guards in the room doing the same. Despite being confused, this mare had the magical power or knowledge to bypass the security on Kaisur's armor. As far as Starfall knew the only pony to ever have done that was Twilight. Even if she was as young as she sounded with that much power and armor crafted by Luna and enchanted to who knows what level by Twilight, she could do a great deal of damage. This wouldn't be pretty if it wasn't done fast, Starfall was not thrilled that it would wind up this way but there was already a large threat out there, they didn't need another so soon.
The mare was continuing her rant as some of the Guards shifted to a better position. Starfall was about to signal them to attack when the door behind Peach Blossom opened.
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[ Tamberlane outside the Shield]
The massive skeletal giant roared some how before it, and it's four comrades stormed across the beach towards the impassive and fairly bored looking pair of ponies near the shield. The bipedal creatures lumbered closer before the gray unicorn of the pair they were attacking trotted forward looking up at them.
The first to reach him attempted to stomp the creature into paste only for a green glow to wrap around it's thigh bone and yank the massive thing away from the giant, sending the skeleton crashing back wards into the others.
The unicorn wasted little time in using his new weapon on the others as they all stumbled about trying to crush the much smaller creature.
Celestia sighed as the air was filled with the sounds of stomping and the almost musical impacts of Jer'rahd wailing on the giant skeletons with their own bones. Kinda sounded like an xylophone to be honest. She spared a glance at Grogar who simply seemed impassive, though Celestia had noticed he was developing a bit of a tic in his left ear. After perhaps five minutes tops ,Jer'rahd trotted back over to her still brandishing the cracked and splintered thigh bone.
“Well that was rather humerus.” The gray unicorn grinned as Celestia did her best not to face hoof, Grogar didn't bother to resist the urge.
“That's a Femur you uncultured swine!!” Grogar shouted and ranted to himself.
Jer'rahd shrugged and flung the bone away crushing a few still twitching zombies from an earlier fight.
“I'm going to have to lower the sun soon.” Celestia muttered watching Grogar rant.
“Might be for the best. He keeps looking at it like he expects it to go down. I bet he's got some stronger things that he can't let out until it's dark.” Jer'rahd responded.
“That's why I’ve kept it up so long. But if he thinks he can't win, he might just ring the bell.” Celestia sighed.
“Well I guess we give him what he expects and prepare for something tougher then.” Jer'rahd muttered. “It's got to be something nasty, because so far nothing he's attacked us with has been much a threat.”
“The parasprites were a pain.” Celestia admitted.” But you are right , nothing has been a credible threat yet. I expect that will change soon though.”
“It's also the girls bed time and Dawn will fight tooth and claw not to go to bed when the suns up.” Jer'rahd smirked. “I really don't want to owe Shining and Cadence another vacation.”
Celestia's horn glowed and the sun unhooked itself from it's spot in the sky rapidly descending into the west.
“You'll just pawn Shin and Glimmer off on Twilight and I again.” Celestia snorted.
“Not my fault Glimmer is terrified of me.” Jer'rahd shrugged as the shadows lengthen.
Both of them turn to Grogar who had begun cackling as the sun started to set finally. He then nearly choked on his laugh as the sun started going back up into the sky again. He stared a moment before it dipped lower nearly dropping below the horizon prompting another bout of evil laughter before it suddenly rose up again to it's noon day height prompting the Capricorn to start cursing.
“Must you toy with him?” Jer'rahd stated with a small smirk.
Celestia simply grinned and let the sun fall fully.
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Exert from time log presumably written by bray as the first few paragraphs are focused soly on the flank of a creature that was vaguely described otherwise to resemble a Shadow Walker. ]
[Relevant text. ]
Grogar's worshipers have finished the construction of the device to his specification. Honestly I’ve got no damn clue what it's for and the few bits of info I’ve gleaned from Grogar and his notes let me know it's not a weapon of any sort, but more of a way to protect the island.
Been too busy mounting the locals to look too deeply into it. Who would have thought a scouting mission onto an island we came across this far south would lead me to becoming king of this tribe of creatures. They are some tall buckers too, I practically need a ladder to mount one, but they got some rather nice asses so I can't argue much and it's been a long time since my dick got wet any way.
Thing is once Grogar showed up they practically ignored me and started worshiping him as a god. Something about the duel nature of his power or something. I don't know or care. Grogars had them working on something and he's left me alone to play, so I do hope this lasts.
Whole things getting it's own structure built on the southern side of the island near Tamberlane's head. The ones doing it started their own cult, began calling themselves Shadow Walkers. They listen to anything he tells them to do.
I think he's got them gathering any Zebra Gods they can get right now as Grogar wants to experiment. Wonder how that will turn out. I think Grogar's done cutting them up for study, he had no shortage of volunteers, but he's also teaching them necromancy for some reason. I think he's getting bored. Either that or he's starting to like this god thing a little much.
Not sure what this things supposed to do... Just looks like a big brass bell to me.
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[Tamberlane inside the shield. ]
“ Well that explains the Shadow Walkers, Trixie supposes.” Trixie muttered through a rag wrapped around her muzzle.
“Why are you still speaking in third pony?” Octavia asked.
“Trixie falls back on old habits when nervous or in high stress. It was a practiced way to distract her from any feelings of stage fright , though it became a bit of a constant reaction to stress.” Trixie explained.
“Pavlovian response.” Octavia nodded, also speaking through a rag. “ We use the same thing to drill fundamentals into students.”
“ How's Sparkle?” Trixie asked glancing over to the pair at the table. Twilight was still out cold though the room was filled with the scent of cooking flesh and hair. Luna glanced up with a faint wince.
“Two of them have fallen off so the process is working.......I am just surprised at how flammable her mane is given whom she is dating.” Luna called back with a wince.
The torch crackled, nearly pressed to Twilight's forehead, the caterpillars bathing in the bright flame.
“HEY!” Lyra called from the door. “ I think the suns going down, it's getting darker out here.”
“Tia is a little late today.” Luna commented. “Lyra be prepared for anything, a lot of those monsters listed were nocturnal.”
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[Crystal Empire]
Cadence stared down at Dawn who looked up at her with a mix of embarrassment and feigned innocence.
“What are you up to...” Cadence demanded looking down at the small Kirin.
“Whatever do you mean dear auntie Cadence?” Dawn chimed blinking and smileing wide, the effect some what ruined by her rather sharp teeth.
Cadence swept out a wing to the bedroom set up for the visiting foals. The others were already in bed, or in the process of getting ready under the watchful gaze of Shining Armor and Cadence. Dawn had gone along with the bed time ritual with absolutely no fuss.
“You never just go to bed quietly... You are planning something I can feel it.” Cadence states coldly not taking her eyes off the Kirin foal.
“Don't question it.” Shining hisses under his breath as he helped Shin get into bed.
“I could just be reaaaaly tired, today was a long day.” Dawn waves her arms in the air in a vague gesture.
Both of them ignore the other foals slapping their faces with their hooves of claws depending, and in Shin's case a flipper. No one bothered to ask why he was a harp seal at the moment either.
Cadence wasn't buying it and she scanned the room looking for anything out of place. Something had to be up., she had gotten the whole Crystal Guard on alert moments before she told the foals it was bed time, as she expected another wild chase through the palace like there had been at nap time.
All that prep only for Dawn to ready herself for bed without the slightest fuss or complaint, it was maddening. That the Kirin had tucked herself in and was simply laying in bed right now waiting for the lights to go out screamed at Cadence's every instinct that something was up. She had checked to make sure it was really Dawn and not a Changeling she had convinced to help again. Not an illusion either, though Cadence had no clue how the little filly had pulled off something that complex last time.
She was about to demand to know what was going on when she felt herself picked up and floated out of the room by Shining Armor. Cadence grumbled and pointed to her eyes with one hoof then to Dawn who simply giggled.
“Come on dear lets get you to bed too before something else happens, we really need to find another foal sitter if you are going to get this worked up.” Shining grumbled shutting the door behind them and cutting out the lights. The foals remained as they were for a few moments and were not disappointed as Cadence bursts back in the door suddenly.
“AHHA!!.... huh.......” She started only for Shining Armor's magic to gather her up again and drag her back out the door.
They waited again until they were sure Shining Armor had a good hold on Cadence this time before any one spoke.
“Dawn must you try and break my mother?” Glimmer snorted.
“ I didn't even do anything this time.” Dawn rolled her eyes.
“I believe that is part of the issue.” Talon sighed.” If I didn't know better I would expect you planed that.”
“I have to keep them on their tippy hooves.” Dawn smirked. “ We ready stripy?”
“The enchantments are still in place, we should all wake up in more or less the same place......crap.” Rynthia grumbled.
“Well at least you rhymed that time.” Elusive added.
“I still wanna know what we are supposed to do this time that will work that didn't last time.” Shin muttered.
“We have to do something.” Talon added. “Perhaps something a bit more than the weapons we created last time?”
“Then there is Rynthia's mysterious jewelry.” Glimmer added.
So basicly we just have to see what happens.” Elusive sighed.” We can't give up there's likely ponies depending on us to stop this.”
“Who?” Dawn asked.
“I dunno some one having issue sleeping?” Elusive shrugged.
“In any event lets try to get to sleep, we can't do anything until then, so shh not another …. noise.... sound...” Rynthia muttered.
“Peep.” Shin offered to the grumbling Zebra.
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[?]
In the darkness, a series of objects began to softly glow.