The trio of travelers swim towards Thistlegorm, inching closer and closer to the long abandoned buildings of stone that adorn its landscape. A slight underwater current blowing past them as they approach causes a bit of dust to be kicked up into the water, clouding their view forward. The dust slowly settling drops to reveal a dark blue unicorn. Her long yellow hair floating in place and a sparkling cutie mark on her flank. Skystar and Posada immediately recognize her, their posture changing from relaxed to on guard.
“It’s her!” Posada yells out.
Lucien can only look over in confusion, “Her? You’ve met this pony before?”
“Yes. Before we made it to Northpoint this exact mare ambushed us on the road. If you look at her right shoulder, you’ll see the wound I left after stabbing her with my dagger.”
He looks over and sure enough it’s there, a healing but still noticeable wound mark on her shoulder.
“She’s correct,” the unicorn interjects. “There will be no repeats of that here, Posada.”
“You’re right about that! There’s no way we’re letting you get away from us with just a flesh wound!”
“No, there will be no fighting. Even if there was, you’d lose, with or without your helper,” she confidently smirks.
“You’ve never even seen me fight and you already think you can win? What an ego you have!” Lucien sarcastically remarks.
“Silence, staff wielder. Your pathetic skills would be no match for a proper unicorn. And besides, we have no interest in you, only your two companions.”
“We?” Posada asks out. “Are you like, referring to another personality of yours or what? I’m not seeing anyone else.”
The unicorn giggles slightly, “you asked that exact same question the last time I saw you, Posada.”
Posada is taken back by this, visually recoiling her head back in confusion. “Last time? You said like three words when we fought on the road!”
“No, after that. At the inn right after you met Lucien. I used a spell to get information about your plans from the innkeeper. But you heard me, poked your nose around the corner and saw me. So I tied your claws and hooves to the floor before putting you back to sleep and wiping your memories.
She looks at the unicorn in disgust, “How many times have you done that!? What gives you the right to just mess with people’s minds like that?”
“Since meeting you? Only once. I got all the other info I needed from tailing you,” she smiles, feeling confident in her espionage skills.
“So you’ve been following us this whole time…? Even when you attacked us back on our way to Northpoint? What was up with that?”
“I was ordered to try and capture you two. I didn’t expect you to fight back, let alone injury me… So it was decided we’d simply let you come here on your own. Guiding you on your way if you wandered off the path we had set.”
“And you were certain we’d make our way here, huh?”
“Of course. One way or another you’d find yourself in Thistlegorm for the Trident’s Paw. Fate has a way of working like that,” she says, her horn now glowing as she summons an object out of thin air. The Trident’s Paw, a forked scepter made of platinum, Floats above the unicorn’s head, encompassed in her magic as it levitates. “We’ll tell you about this and much more, follow me,” the unicorn walks towards one of the better-looking buildings among the ruins, her back turned to the three travelers.
Skystar quietly whispers to Posada, “we aren’t really going to follow her, are we?”
“No,” she turns to Lucien, “cast a spell and see how she reacts. I doubt she would just leave herself open to an attack but it’s worth a shot.”
He nods and grabs his staff with his fin, the top of the staff glows briefly as Lucien casts a simple air bullet spell towards the unicorn. Hearing this she turns her head slightly, continuing to walk forward as a slight smile flashes on her face. The air bullet travels across the water like a rapid current, its location easily seen as a giant pocket of air. It comes within inches of the unicorn but dissipates into bubbles as it hits a protective ward that she’s cast around herself.
“I told you; I’m not interested in fighting. You’ll either follow me willingly or I’ll drag you by your tail fins. Unless you want to let go of the precious artifacts, you’re after.”
Posada scrunches her face, letting out of an audible sigh. “Fine. We’ll follow you.”
The other two seaponies look reluctant but go along with Posada. The three closely follow the unicorn as they swim towards Thistlegorm. Posada walking right beside the pony as she strikes up a conversation.
“You know our names, but we don’t know yours. What do you go by, unicorn?”
The unicorn turns her head and looks at Posada with disinterest, simply replying, “Cheery Star.”
“Alright then, Cheery Star… How long have you uh, been with the cult?” she asks in a silly tone.
“My whole life. My family became members before I was born. Now I’m all that’s left, save for the council members.”
“They’re the ones who want to see us, huh? If they’re hoping two hippogriffs from the future are going to save their sorry flanks, they’re sorely mistaken. All they’ve managed to do is take unwilling hostages who don’t give a damn about their dying cult.”
“You should watch your tone. While you and your girlfriend might be important, the same can’t be said for your wizard friend. Don’t make him suffer because of your mouth.”
“And you should be careful about assuming you have leverage. You harm any of us and you can forget about any cooperation. We’ll fight our way out of here!”
Cheery Star simply rolls her eyes. Pushing open the door that leads to the main building of Thistlegorm. Revealing the elaborate architecture inside. Marble pillars and stone statues are both abundant in the surprisingly well-kept structure. Even pieces of priceless enchanted artwork are hung from the walls.
Posada scrunches her face again, “I already hate it here,” she thinks to herself.
They exit the entrance way and walk down a long hallway, Posada still walking beside Cheery Star. The hallway is adorned with excessive displays of wealth much like the entrance way.
“Is Doria the God of greed or something? What’s with all the gaudy decorations?” Posada remarks.
“Doria does not reside over just one aspect of the mortal realm. And these are simply artifacts from a better time. Creatures had to give up everything they owned to join the cul- I mean, the following. A lot of it ended up here, as a dedication to the council and Doria.”
“Dedication, huh… Does Doria requests these things through visions or something?”
The unicorn stays silent for a moment before replying, “I don’t know. The council says they receive guidance from him, but they rarely elaborate on what that means.”
“And you’ve never questioned that? Do you even have a spiritual connection to this so-called God?”
“It’s complicated. But you’re in no position to judge us, whelp.”
“Sounds like a sore spot, got it. Let’s keep moving then, tour guide,” Posada sarcastically says.
Cheery Star lets out a huff, her teeth clenched as they walk down the hallway. Eventually reaching two wide hardwood doors at the end. Cheery Star’s horn glows as she opens the two doors. Behind them is a dark room with four figures sitting at a wide desk. All seaponies, who are wearing hooded cloaks like what Cheery Star wore once. All four creatures enter, Cheery letting the three travelers walk in front of her as she stands by the door.
“We have no further use for you. Exit at once, Cheery Star. And take the third guest with you. We’ll take over from here,” the center-most figure says in a deep voice and raspy voice. She quickly takes her leave with Lucien, shutting the door behind her. The central figure speaks up again, “Posada, Skystar. We’re certain you already know of us; we are the Free Followers of Doria. Some describe us as a cult, some as a proper religion. It makes no difference to us non-believers use which label. Before we get into why you are here, we shall tell you about our history. We were once a gathering of far greater size as you might imagine. Thistlegorm was a proper settlement, bustling with our followers. You might be wondering what’s happened since then. I shall answer,” he leans back in his chair.
“About 10 years ago one of our council members, a seapony by the name of Maverick, had a crisis of faith. He had been a follower since he was young, being one of our founding members. During this “moment of enlightenment”, as he called it, he declared Doria a false deity and accused us of gross manipulation of our followers. He not only boldly lied about such things to our face but called upon others to join him and rally against the council and Doria himself. Such a thing was unprecedented, simply unthinkable! We watched as creature after creature was stolen from us! From our deity! That monster was destroying everything that we had built upon here, that we, the council, had worked to preserve. And so we took… drastic measure. The remaining followers that were loyal to us were gathered here in this building and then ordered to storm the holdings the heathens had taken over. We armed them with all we had and watched as the two sides beat each other senseless.”
The central figure leans forward now, his two fins propped up as he places them on the desk. “When everything calmed down, it turned out our side had won. All the traitors were either beaten to death or executed afterwards. But it came at a great cost. All but 50 of us had been killed or wounded beyond help in the battle. Our city was in shambles. The waters around it tainted red from the blood spilled. We are 10 years removed from that incident and now we are all that remains. The four of us all sat on the council or fought in the battle 10 years ago. While young Cheery Star was but a filly at the time. Her parents were both killed in the battle, and so we raised her ourselves. Teaching her everything she needed to survive and to serve both us and Doria.”
Another figure to the nearest right of the central hippogriff speaks up, taking over for him, “and so that brings us here to the present. Posada, Skystar. Before you two appeared in the 6th century we had prepared a ritual in accordance with Doria. It was to be completed on that fateful day almost 3 weeks ago. The timing had to be perfect, done exactly as Doria said. With great care, and with the help of the Trident’s Paw and Doria himself we bent time to our will, bringing you two back to us.”
Posada frowns as she hears this, “but why us? Why pick me and Skystar out of every other creature from our time?” Posada questions them.
“That is a question for Doria. We did not choose you two specifically, we simply performed the ritual which allowed Doria to transport you here. Perhaps it’s because of your accomplishments in your timeline, maybe it was just timing, it’s not something we can answer.”
Posada turns to Skystar and whispers, “the thermonuclear test probably gave them the perfect opening to manipulate time. That would explain why it happened when it did, and why it only targeted us…” She then turns to the central figure and questions him again, “and how come this ‘Doria’ figure doesn’t exist in our time? It doesn’t make sense. If he has the power to manipulate time surely he’d be powerful enough to still command followers in the 11th century?”
“That’s quite simple. A God’s power and ability comes from belief and worship,” he says.
The figure on the far left speaks up, taking over from the nearest right figure, “it is how the alicorn in Equestria, Celestia, has maintained her position and power for so long. Through the unwavering faith and devotion of her subjects. This is also why her sister, Luna, became so much more powerful once she gave into her darker side. The sheer fanaticism of Nightmare Moon’s followers amplified her abilities.”
The first figure continues, “the same thing would happen to Celestia if she were to go down a similar path. But she has no need to fan the flames of fanaticism with an entire country kissing her hooves.”
“So then your… ‘God’ only exists because of you last few members,” Skystar says.
“Correct. We spend almost all our waking hours in dedication to Doria as the last worshippers. When we die, so will our God. In your time our following faded away into nothingness as we drew our last breaths. Perhaps now you see why he has brought you upon us, to save himself from extinction in this timeline.”
Posada gets noticeably agitated, her voice raising, “No, the only thing he’s done is delay the inevitable. Placing your last hopes on us just tells me that your cult was doomed to extinction a long time ago.”
The central figure speaks again, “You don’t seem to realize that we hold all the cards, Posada. We have the artifact, the only means for you to return to your home. We also hold the power to break your will, if it comes to it. Cheery Star is a match for even the best fighters, we’ve made sure of that. You must realize, we will not keep you here for your entire life. What we ask is that you and Skystar lead this organization for 2 decades here. Recruiting followers and revitalizing our once great city of Thistlegorm. We will then send you back to your time. Assuming you’ve done satisfactory work, of course.”
“So we waste 20 years of our life serving you just to get sent back to a future world we won’t even recognize?” Skystar loudly says.
“Perhaps,” the main figure replies. “We don’t know if you’ll be sent to your timeline 20 years in the future or back to the moment you were transported away. Either way your bodies will age 20 years, there is no preventing the flow of time. And let me remind you that we are not asking you to join. Doria demands your obedience. We will get it through violent means if this diplomatic process fails.”
Posada and Skystar look at each other, both their faces frowning, a show of disapproval and uncertainty.
Posada then looks firmly to the central council member, “Go to Tartarus. We fought to keep creatures like you away from innocent creatures in our time, we’ll die before we enable monsters like you.”
The central council member snarls, slamming his fin against the desk. “If you want to play hardball then so be it! Cheery Star, get in here!”