//------------------------------// // Tale 5, Part 2: Conspiracy // Story: Tales From The Omniverse // by Lucar //------------------------------// “As expected, the Parahunters are putting their muzzles in our business. We should deal with them.” “How?” “I have an idea. But first, let’s do the second ritual.” “So, what do you guys think caused such a huge number of ghosts to appear in the middle of a random street?” Dark Vision asked. “Somepony is responsible. I’m sure of it. That’s what the symbol says,” Summer Road said. “But how did they manage it?” Soul Speaker said. “I propose that we return to the street and investigate,” Gray Matter proposed. The four Parahunters agreed. Good Will, who was also present, only watched. She still was new and knew nothing about the paranormal, so she felt that it was useless for her to say anything. Let the pro do their work and just follow along. It also allowed her to see the Parahunters other than Gray Matter for the first time without their uniforms. Thanks to that, she was able to see their Cutie Marks. Soul Speaker’s was a brain with wiggly lines coming from it. Dark Vision’s was a ghost, simply. Summer Road’s was a suitcase filled with paper to the point that some was spilling. Summer Road’s job before he joined the team sucked, uh? But then, Sunny Feather entered the room and said, “We have a customer. One Miss Bookworm whose library was suddenly overrun by ghosts. The poor dear looks like she saw a ghost, or several.” She giggled at her joke. “See, Soul? This is a good joke,” Dark Vision said. Soul Speaker rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go to Miss Bookworm’s library.” “Shouldn’t some of us remain behind to investigate the street?” Summer Road asked. “No. I feel that we will need all of us in this case,” Gray Matter said. “You think that this will be like in the street?” Good Will asked. “Yes. Ghosts suddenly appear in some library. I don’t like that.” Miss Bookworm, a lavender unicorn with a brown dress and glasses, guided the team to her library which was revealed to be a large one. While they drove, she repeated to them what she said to Sunny Feather, how ghosts suddenly appeared and began to mess the library, attacking and scaring the ponies. When she was asked how many ghost there were, she simply answered, “Many!” For Gray Matter, it was a good enough answer to know that it was indeed like in the street. Maybe even worse. For Good Will, this was her first mission. She now had her own Spectrovacuum. However, the Parahunters didn’t have a uniform in her size. She mentally prepared herself. It will apparently be a hard one. Gray Matter actually hesitated bringing her, but Soul Speaker and Dark Vision convinced him that, if the number of ghosts was really like in the street, then it was best to bring everypony. When they saw how large the library was, they understood that it was a good decision. “We will have to disperse to cover everything and not miss a single ghost,” Gray Matter said. “Dark Vision and Good Will, first floor. Me and Summer Road, second floor. Soul Speaker, since you are the best of us, you will go alone to the third floor.” “Aye aye, captain,” Soul Speaker said. “Of course, if anypony needs help, scream,” Gray Matter said. “No need to say it,” Summer Road said. “It’s common sense,” Dark Vision said. Good Will looked worried. “Will Ah be alright alone?” “Don’t worry. Dark Vision won’t be far. Like I said, if things go wrong, scream and he will come,” Gray Matter said. “Okay.” Once everything was said, they left the vehicle and entered the library, leaving Miss Bookworm outside. Immediately, they followed Gray Matter’s instruction and dispersed, Good Will remaining close to the entrance. The ghosts didn’t wait long to manifest. Books suddenly flew out of the shelves and went after Good Will who went under a table, using it as a cover. Six ghosts then came out of the shelves and one of them flipped the table. Good Will immediately activated the Spectrovacuum on this ghost and moved it around to hit the other ghosts and get them away. Suddenly, a seventh ghost, an old mare, came and shouted, “Silence in the library!” before she threw a book at Good Will who ducked to avoid it. Good Will then used the flipped table as a cover while she continued to capture the other ghosts one by one, always targeting the closest one and using it to push the others back, all the while resisting being dragged around. “When the last blue ghost disappeared inside the Spectrovacuum, the old mare shouted, “I said silence!” with books levitating around her. As she threw them at Good Will one by one, the filly blew air at them, sending them back at the ghost. After three hits on the head, the old mare was stunned and the levitated books dropped, giving the occasion for Good Will to approach and capture her. Recovering her breath, she said, “Well… That’s not so bad.” More confident, she began to explore the first floor of the library, capturing a few more ghosts, but never as many as the first wave. Eventually, ghosts stopped coming. Even the sounds of Dark Vision fighting disappeared. “No more ghosts on mah side!” she yelled. “Me too! What about you up there?” Dark Vision yelled. “Nothing to signal anymore!” Gray Matter shouted back. “Not a ghost since five minutes ago!” Summer Road said. “Seems like our mission is complete, guys!” Soul Speaker shouted as he walked down the stairs from the third floor. Good Will turned around a shelf and suddenly stopped, seeing something on the floor. “Guys! Come here!” She immediately heard hoofsteps approaching and coming down the stairs. Dark Vision was the first one arriving and immediately saw what she saw. “Oh…” One by one, the others arrived and saw too what Goodwill saw. On the floor was the same magical symbol than back in the street, the skull of a ram. “As I thought,” Gray Matter said. “The two invasions are linked.” “How many ghosts did you guys catch?” Soul Speaker asked. “I caught seven.” “Eight,” Dark Vision answered. “Eight too,” Summer Road said. “Ten,” Gray Matter said. “Thirteen,” Good Will was the last one to answer. The Parahunters stared at her, Soul Speaker whistling. “Not bad pipsqueak.” “That’s more ghosts than back in the street, right?” Summer Road asked. “Definitely,” Gray Matter answered. “So… Whatever is happening… It’s getting worse,” Dark Vision said. “Well, we are in a library. Let’s use the occasion to do some research,” Gray Matter said. “Let’s also warn Miss Bookworm that the library is now safe. She can help us search for what we need.” Before long, Miss Bookworm was standing before the symbol, looking at it in surprise. “I know this symbol,” she said. “Follow me.” The mare guided them through the library to a shelf from which she levitated a book. On the cover of the book was the exact same symbol. “Yes, the Logarat civilization,” she said before she gave the book to Gray Matter. For the following hour, the Parahunters studied it, discovering a lot about this mysterious Logarat civilization. It was a civilization of ponies who lived here, in Manehattan, before the arrival of the three tribes. When the tribes came, the Logarat immediately attacked them without even trying for diplomatie, forcing the tribes to destroy them. The Logarat worshiped an unknown god. The ponies couldn’t find more about it because Commander Hurricane destroyed the temples and other worshiping places. Apparently, when they discovered what the god was, the Founders decided to make it forgotten, not wanting anypony to worship it. The Logarat had three temples worshiping this god, and this book had a map that showed their emplacements. Summer Road pointed at it and exclaimed, “Hey! This is where the library is!” Gray Matter nodded. “Miss Bookworm, can we have a map of Manehattan, please?” “Of course, mister.” Once the mare brought the map, the Parahunters were able to confirm that one of the temples had been where the library now was. “And that’s the street where ya found me,” Good Will said, pointing at the street which had been a temple in the past. “And the third temple… Right where the city hall is,” Dark Vision said. “Coincidence? I think not,” Soul Speaker said. “Now we must really investigate these places. Maybe the underground?” Everypony nodded. “We will have to separate into two groups to explore the underground of the street and the library,” Gray Matter said. “I know a couple of friends who should be able to help you,” Miss Bookworm said. “They studied a lot about the Logarat civilization.” “It would be very helpful, madam,” Soul Speaker said. “We can’t thank you enough for that. Maybe sharing a drink would help?” “No thanks. I avoid alcohol.” The poor stallion didn’t know what to say in return, making Good Will giggle. Good Will explored the underground of the street with Soul Speaker, Dark Vision, and one of Miss Bookworm’s friends. A dark green unicorn mare with a white mane and an ancient temple as a Cutie Mark, known as Rich Past. They found the place right under the symbol, the same symbol glowing in the floor here. “So, we randomly search around?” Good Will asked. Soul Speaker shrugged. “That’s the best we can do, but let’s avoid going too far from here.” So they searched. Going from tunnel to tunnel, looking closely. It was eventually Good Will who found something. It was thanks to her small size. She saw on the wall, just at her eye level, the same ram skull symbol engraved. “Hey! Ah think Ah found something!” she said before she put her hoof on the symbole. To her surprise, the symbol sunk into the wall, and the next instant, the part of the wall at its left sunk into the ground, revealing stairs going down. “Woah, a secret passage,” Dark Vision said. “Impressive! I’m sure it wasn’t here when Manehattan was built,” Rich Past said. “Good job, pipsqueak,” Soul Speaker said, making Good Will beam. They descended the stairs which descended into a spiral. After a minute, they arrived at the bottom and their jaws dropped upon seeing what was now before them. A pyramid. “The… The temple was rebuilt,” Rich Past said, having difficulty believing what she was seeing. “And judging by the plants creeping over it, it was rebuilt a long time ago.” “Welp, let’s enter it,” Soul Speaker said. So the group entered the temple, taking right away a staircase that led to the top floor where they entered a large room with the skull symbol glowing in the center. Around it were black candles, all used, and there were also various symbols, like a ritual. More symbols were on the walls. “That’s Logarat writing. Give me some time to translate it,” Rich Past said. As the minutes passed and she read the symbols, her expression turned to horror. “T-that’s bad.” “What do they say?” Good Will asked. “It’s better if I wait for everyone to be together. They may find more info. Time to leave.” “You don’t need to tell me twice. This place gives me the creep,” Soul Speaker said when, suddenly, his hoof sunk into the ground, followed by a click. He immediately understood. “Oh… Shoot…” The floor opened under him, Dark Vision, and Good Will. Dark Vision flew and was able to catch Soul Speaker, but not Good Will. “Good Will!” he yelled before the floor closed. Good Will dropped into a hallway, before a slope. Right away, a trapdoor opened above the slope, and out of it came a giant spherical boulder. Good Will immediately began to run, only for arrows to come out of the walls. She dodged them with difficulty, but then, hole appeared in the floor which she also had to avoid. Finally, spikes came out of the ground, forcing her to stop and wait for them to retract. Eventually, she reached a big gap, and she had to use the Spectrovacuum to suck a liana to her before using it to reach the other side as the boulder fell. She landed and took her breath before she reached the exit which was just beside the staircase leading to the top of the temple. The exit closed behind her, and here she found the others. “Good Will! Are you alright?” Dark Vision immediately asked, looking over her to see if she was hurt. “Ah’m alright. Avoided a big boulder, arrows, holes, spikes, and Ah didn’t get hit.” Dark Vision breathed in relief. “Sorry kid,” Soul Speaker said. “Don’t worry, it’s not yer fault,” the filly reassured. “Let’s get out of here.” They gathered with the other group in the headquarters where they found out that the other group found the same thing, an underground temple with what looked like a ritual, right under the basement of the library. There, Rich Past and her friend, a red pegasus stallion with a yellow and red mane and a cloud of dust for a Cutie Mark named Dust Digger, revealed what the symbols they read meant. The Logarat’s god was named Zegor the Destructor, and whoever rebuilt these temples were intending to bring him to Equestria. For that, they needed to do three rituals in a certain order, one in each temple, once a certain group of stars reached the right position. Already, two rituals were done. “The third temple is right under the city hall. We must tell the mayor,” Gray Matter said. “Yes!” The Parahunters left the headquarters and went to the city hall. There, they found the mayor of Manehattan, a blue unicorn mare with a gray mane and a golden key for a Cutie Mark. She was known as Mayor Gray Mane. “What do you want?” she asked once they were led into her office. “Madam, we have very bad news. We have uncovered a conspiracy that has the goal to bring into our world an ancient and terrible god. We need to enter the basement of the city hall to find a temple under it and stop a ritual that is or will be taking place there.” “The future of Equestria depends on it,” Gray Matter said. The mayor stared at them. “I see… Then, I guess that I have to act.” Suddenly, several ponies entered the office. Among them, the Parahunters recognized many figures of Manehattan, including the leader of the guards of the city, the CEO of a millionaire company, or even one of the most famous stylists. The Parahunters looked around as they were surrounded. “Oh… Let me guess, you are the guys doing the ritual,” Soul Speaker deadpanned. Mayor Gray Mane laughed. “You are right. So, as you can guess, I can’t let you continue what you are doing. Guys, arrest them for assault on the mayor.” The ponies immediately restrained the Parahunters who struggled to escape. “You won’t get away with it!” Dark Vision shouted. “I would like to see you find a way to stop us before we finish the ritual tonight. Goodbye.” The Parahunters were then knocked out.