//------------------------------// // 07 - A Lunar Request // Story: Game of Fate // by ZekeDraco //------------------------------// 07 - A Lunar Request As the sun set Elise, Ditzy, and reluctantly Dash, pooled some bits to rent a room for Chrysalis, or rather "Cascade" at the Silent Horseshoe Inn. Elise returned to Sweet Apple Acres to await a contact. -------------------- ----[ Sweet Apple Acres ----- The moon was full as it loomed over the farm. Elise noticed the lack of any creatures on this night as a cold breeze blew through the orchard. The clubhouse was void of any little fillies since it was decided they would stay in the warm farmhouse. Luna landed near her and smiled, "I hope you're ready for what I have for you." Elise looked at her and grinned, "That depends on what you have." Luna snickered, "You told me last night that you were good at stealth, and I would like to see this in action." "What do you need?" "Recently a cult that worships the corrupt mind of Nightmare Moon, The Nightmare in the Moon has come into possession of certain tomes." "Tomes?" "The Tomes of Chaos, they hold magic that alters the minds of whomever they are used upon. My contact in this group alerted me to the presence of these cursed tomes." "If it's a cult it should be somewhat unorganized, correct?" Luna shook her head, "No, this cult is the most prominent and the most active." "How so?" "They have been performing rituals to try and bind her to a new body through sacrifices. These rites have failed considerably and have been costing ponies their very lives." Elise sighed, "That seems to be a common thing with the cults I've seen." "You must realize that with these tomes, they could reawaken her power, like they did over a thousand years ago." "What would you have me do?" "You tell me." Elise thought for a moment, "There are two easily identifiable choices. One is to locate the tomes and take them before the ceremony, or its completion. The other is to find a means of disabling their ability to cause future problems: elimination." Luna looked at her, "As much as elimination seems like the better idea, I'd prefer it if I didn't have a hoof in the death of ponies." "Then I will retrieve the tomes and bring them to you." "Better, but still not what I would want." "How so?" "I have a history with those tomes that I don't want to risk being near them." Elise paused, "Of course, what should I do with them?" "Tia has been searching for them since they first aided the creation of Nightmare Moon, but nopony could ever locate them, not even Starswirl the Bearded. I suppose if they could suddenly turn up for her to do what she will, it would give her something to do to take her mind off of things." Elise nodded, "I can arrange that. Just one question though." "Yes?" "What do these tomes do?" Luna paused, "They imbalance the emotions of anything you cast it on. With the right combination they were able to make it so that I was easily irratable about everypony sleeping through the stellar events I set up for them in the sky. Even to this day it feels like there is this rage slowly eating away at me." Elise nodded, "I see. I will do this job." Luna grinned, "I'll lead you to where they are, and with luck your partner will be there too." "Partner?" "Yes, now, let's go. We'll remain on the ground so they don't see us.", she started walking. Elise shrugged, "Alright.", and followed. -------------------- ----[ Everfree forest ----- Lusce had both of the firearms in his paws, as a shadow creature turned to smoke and drifted away. He grinned, "Whatever that was, it's gone now." He took the attachments off and examined them, Silencer's got around four fifths of its life left., he looked closer, Yeah that's heat damage. The sound of things moving through the grass caught his attention, quickly he moved behind a tree and pressed the barrel of one of the guns into the back of the other. Slowly the parts shifted and locked into each other, until a quiet click signalled that the weapons had been combined into a rifle. Lusce gazed around the tree and noticed two figures, Elise has a friend, eh. I'll just watch then. Luna walked alongside Elise, "Now I will admit it has been a while since I last traversed this path to the old castle." Elise looked at her, "Old castle?" "Yes, before Canterlot became the capital of all the pony populated regions we used the old castle in this forest." "Must have been hard for loyal subjects to work their way there." Luna shook her head, "Of course not, back then this forest was tame and beautiful." "What happened?" Luna thought for a moment, "I'm not that good at explaining it, perhaps you could ask Twilight Sparkle about the phenomenon called Dissonant Equilibrium." "I suppose I will." Lusce quietly moved between trees, 'Dissonant Equilibrium', huh. I'll have to listen in on that. Luna looked around, "Now, what you need to get should be locked away someplace safe until they start the incantation. After that you will need to steal the tomes before they start to draw from them in order to prevent a magical feedback which has the potential to kill them." Elise nodded, "Understood." "Once you've retrieved the tomes, I trust that you and your partner can deliver them to Celestia." "It can be done. Who is my partner?" A Griffin landed next to her, "Sorry I'm late." Elise looked at the Griffin, "Gilda?" Gilda grinned, "That's the name." Luna looked at Elise, "You two have met?" She looked over the half-breed, "Nope, haven't seen you before." "I've heard rumors of a short-fused Griffin with the name Gilda." Gilda grinned smuggly at her, "Keep that up and you'll see how short the fuse really is." Luna rolled her eyes, "Ladies. We have work to do." "Yeah, let's get this over with." Luna held back a sigh, "Yes, Elise will sneak in and get the tomes. In the meantime Gilda, you will act as a distraction." "Why me?" "Some griffins have been known to join into these events, mainly ones that are displeased that Ponykind is such a majority of the population on Equestria." "You want me to act like one?" "Yes, you can keep some of them busy with chatter about some ponies that you aren't fond of." Gilda rolled her eyes, "That'll be hard." Luna looked at Elise, "Can you do your part quick enough?" She nodded, "Yes." The group stopped with Luna, "Good. Now when you're ready let me know." Elise thought for a moment, There's no equipment for me to check, so no need to do that., she nodded at Luna, "I'm ready." Gilda shrugged, "Same here." Luna looked around for a moment, "Then continue on ahead and when you're done meet me here again." Elise and Gilda both nodded as Luna made herself invisible with a spell. -------------------- ----[ Cave of the Shadow ----- A unicorn stood guard outside of the cave entrance, her enchanted eyesight letting her see most of what wandered by. Within these untamed woods she had seen numerous small creatures slither, flutter, crawl and creep by. Gilda walked up to the guard and she stepped in her way, "What do you desire?" Gilda kept her cool, "To see a few mares get what's coming to them." The guard stepped to the side, "Then enter." Gilda walked by with a small distortion following her. The walls of the passage inside the entrance had carved pillars that featured the fearsome visage of Nightmare Moon and lanterns with blue flames hung overhead. Elise stayed close to Gilda who was oblivious to her presence as the crystals coating her body redirected light just right to render her invisible. Deeper inside a large chamber was perfectly crafted into a beautiful shrine to the cult's dark figure. A unicorn stallion approached the Griffin and his eyes examined her from underneath the hood of his robe, "This one isn't one of our guests, what is she doing here?" Gilda looked at him, "I've got a little something you might be interested in." "And that is?" "There's something sneaking around looking for some sort of books you guys have. If she hasn't grabbed them already then she'll be here to get them." "And what is this something?" "Some sorta overgrown fox." The unicorn paused, "I see, we'll keep our guard up until the time comes for us to perform the ritual." Elise slunk by with her invisibility maintained, Some distraction... "As for your service, I suppose you could be one of the Griffin guests to observe the return of Nightmare Moon." Gilda rolled her eyes once more, "Gee... thanks." In a hallway that extended from the back of main chamber there were other Unicorns and some Pegasi on patrol. Elise pressed against a wall and reduced her build as the strain of the invisibility ability became too much for her to sustain. A Pegasus near her looked up the hall to the main chamber for a moment, and Elise made her move down the hall and into a dark recess in the wall. The Pegasus turned around and she slowly walked by, Elise stayed perfectly still. Once the guard moved far enough past her, she stepped out and matched her pace with the Pegasus. With a pause Elise moved out of sight as the guard turned around and stared down the hall, "Hm." The Pegasus wandered back up the hall and Elise quickly moved through a doorway into a storeroom. Inside there were two Unicorns that were guarding a chest, fortunately for Elise they were looking down at it. She closed the door quietly and slowly crept forward as her build returned to normal. One of them, a Stallion, looked to the other and started talking, "Tonight is the night our wish will be granted. The return of the Eternal Night." A mare replied, "Yes, the summons we call to take the night from daywalkers will go unchallenged by the light of the sun." "It will be a sight for eyes that can only see through the night." Elise moved towards them and waited for any further conversation. Without anthing else to say the Stallion looked around the room. Elise quickly got hold of the mare and held her muzzle. There was no real struggle from the mare as she fell unconscious, the Stallion turned to see Elise before she pinned him down and stared deep into his eyes, "Tomes, are they here?" He focused on a spell and launched a blast of energy, she quickly rolled to the side to dodge it. It hit the ceiling and dispersed as he got ready to send a second one. She focused and made crystals form around his horn. Oblivious to the crystals he released the spell and it backfired knocking him backwards and into a wall, "What?!" Elise moved forward and pinned him down with one paw, "No magic will help you. Now, where are the tomes?" "Why not just open every chest you find?" "After finding chests trapped with spells, you tend to get paranoid about stealing from arcanists. Now, where are the tomes?" He sneered, "You really think I'd just tell you that." She placed her other paw under his jawline and unsheathed her claws, "You can feel those, can't you?" His eyes widened, "They're with Acious." "Acious?" "He's delivering them here for the ritual, this chest is reserved for the Tomes." "Where is he right now? Incoming?" She heard a voice say, "Right behind you." Something hit her in the back of the head hard and twice. -------------------- ----[ ??? ----- Elise opened her eyes and looked around the room, "Ugh... Who hired the Psiakkin..." "Well, look who's awake." She looked ahead at Gilda who was chained to a stone wall by her forelegs, "Where are we?" "Yeah about that, welcome to the old castle." She tried to move and found out she was also chained up, "How'd we get here?" A robed Stallion entered the room, "The chest you were near was a passageway to the dungeon here." Gilda growled, "Great, it's the Savage Winds..." He barely acknowledged her remark and turned to Elise, "So you are the one that Fate is toying with, how delightful that you should be used as a different tool." She looked at him, "What do you mean?" "The Tomes need the blood of a dragon, and you seem to meet that requirement just enough we won't have to go and steal the one from the library." "Considering the alternative, take as much as you need." The stallion smiled, "Good, we'll return shortly.", he left the room. Gilda grinned, "I knew they'd find a use for you. Maybe you aren't completely useless." Elise rolled her eyes, "Regardless of that little comment, there is still a mission in progress and I don't leave behind allies." "And how do you expect us to get out of here." Elise crystalized the chains holding her up and broke free, "Like that. Come on.", she ran forward and broke her partner free. Gilda landed on all fours and fought to stand up, "I don't know about you but a little payback sounds like fun." "What did he do you?" "Does it matter..." Elise just shook her head, "Come on, we're stopping this thing." -------------------- ----[ Castle Exterior | Meanwhile ----- Luna watched as the moon slowly drifted through the night sky, her mind stuck on the mission she gave. Lusce was in a tree with the sights of a detached scope fixed on a window on the lower level of the castle. Luna started pacing around and grumbled to herself quietly. His ears twitched, "Not one to hold back and let others do things for you?" Luna looked up at him, "No, this is something I should be doing." "Then why send Elise?" "Should I be discussing that with you?" Lusce adjusted the scope some, "I like to know what's going on with my friends." Luna eyed him, "Really, she's a friend of yours?" "Yeah, we've known each other for the last eight months." "And what do you two do as friends?" "Well, she saved my tail a few times and I've given her a place to live and a job. Sure, she's my assistant but she's also family to me and my siblings." "Might I ask your family's name?" "Argus, my name's Lusce." Luna paused for a moment, "Argus? Are you Moira's son?" Lusce nearly dropped the scope, "Moira? Moira Argus is one of my ancestors, about fifteen generations back." Luna facehoofed, "I apologize. A thousand years on the moon toys with your perception of time." He reattached the scope to his combined guns and started to watch the castle, "Don't worry about it, as for Elise, I'll keep her covered." -------------------- ----[ Castle Halls ----- Elise leapt up the stairway that led to the dungeon, she rushed through a doorway and knocked down a Pegasus. Gilda just wandered in, She's got fight. This I've gotta see., she ran to keep up with her. An apprentice summoner caught sight of Elise as she approached, he focused his magic and summoned forth shadow creatures like the ones at the apple farm, "Stall them!" Elise rammed into one of the creatures and knocked it on its back. She pinned it down and started thrashing it with her claws as Gilda tore into one with her talons. Two of the creatures merged into a bigger one and got ready to attack the Griffin. No sooner had it raised it's dark claws to strike, the creature fell limp and faded away. Elise had rushed the summoner and knocked him out, Gilda smiled, "Maybe you're not as much of a dweeb as I thought." Elise nodded, "Alright, let's keep going." The two continued down the hall encounters with newly summoned shadows were quick as both of them tore through them effortlessly. However, the enjoyed spree of shadow rending and summoner stunning continued for a very short time before the two ladies stopped at a large wooden door. Elise examined it closely, no handles to pull and the hinges suggested her approach as she pushed against it, "Locked from the other side." Gilda looked at her, "And what's the next move?" Elise thought for a moment, she recalled the delay between her ramming a tree and the apples falling, "Wait here." Gilda watched her run back up the hall, "Huh?", after a moment she noticed a glimmer, "Now what." Rapidly the half-breed plowed into the door. It gave way and fell completely to pieces, much to Gilda's surprise. She ran to catch up with Elise, "Not bad." The Unicorn Stallion near the tomes saw the two as the dust cleared, "Impressive, just as sturdy as a dragon." Elise turned to face him, "Of course, now, about those tomes." "With the Lunar Princess within range of our magic's influence we can return her to her true form. Though it seems your initial interference has made Acious curious about why she would bother sending to lesser beings to retrieve them." "What?" "Since the ideal time has passed, we will use the tomes to unleash a different power, one to serve the queen of the night once she returns." Elise slumped down, "Who will you use?" He looked at a Pegasus, "Bring her in.", he looked back at Elise, "Such a sweet little mare, it's almost a shame we must use her." The Pegasus carried in a peacefully sleeping Fluttershy. Elise stepped forward, "You demented little..." Gilda got next to her, "Let go of Dash's friend!" Fluttershy stirred, "...gilda?" The Unicorn smiled, "Fury's wrath as the guide for the relentless attacks! Take this gentle mare and make her more vicious than a thieved dragon!" A spell flowed towards Fluttershy and her eyes opened wide. A brown blur intercepted the spell as Elise dashed forward and slashed at the Unicorn. He levitated up and away from her, "I'll be watching, so will the...", he motioned to four empty pedestals, "...Tomes?! No!" Elise got ready to leap up at him, "Looks like you misplaced them." Gilda rammed Elise, "I'll misplace your jaw!" Fluttershy jumped and hid behind the Pegasus that brought her in. The Unicorn shook his head as he landed on a high ledge, "Too bad, it seems she only got a regular berserk spell. Have fun." Elise got back into her stance as Gilda roared at her. Fluttershy hid behind a stone column once the other Pegasus flew up to join his ally. Swiftly Elise jumped to the side avoiding the Griffin's talons, "Snap out of it!" Gilda rushed at her again, "Get lost!", she swiped at Elise with everything she had. Elise rolled across the floor from the impact, she timed a kick to jump onto all fours again. Fluttershy peeked out from behind her cover and quickly moved to another column. Elise stiffened up and held her ground as Gilda repeatedly attacked her, after a moment Elise launched forward and returned every bit of punishment she recieved. Gilda flew backwards into a wall, and hit it hard enough to shatter the stained glass next to where she hit. The wall toppled over and buried her under stone. Elise moved close carefully, "Gilda?" Fluttershy started to move close, "Elise?" Gilda rocketed out from the pile of rubble, her sight locked on Fluttershy, "Come here!" Elise grabbed Gilda and pinned her down, "Stop this! She's not worth it!" She started kicking and clawing Elise, "Let go of me!" Elise snarled, "Over my dead body!" "That can be--" Elise felt as Gilda's fight suddenly faded away, "Hm?", she looked towards Fluttershy. The gentle mare was giving Gilda a stern stare, "Gilda. I know that this isn't even close to something you would do. You need to calm down and stop trying to hurt us, right now!" The berserker fog on Gilda's mind cleared away, "Yeah... thanks." She smiled, "You can let go now." Elise released her grip on Gilda and all three looked up at the Unicorn on the ledge. He sneered, "Something so kind and harmless able to stare down a berserk griffin." Gilda glared at him, "So what. Is this going to ruin your night?" He grinned, "Hardly.", his horn glowed with magic, "Yours on the other hoof, is about to be far worse." There was a gray flash that blinded them for a moment. By the time the trio could see again he had disappeared. Elise looked at Fluttershy, "Are you alright?" She smiled and nodded, "I am, thank you for catching her." "You're welcome.", she looked at Gilda, "Gilda? Are you feeling better?" There was no response, Elise moved closer, "Gilda?" Fluttershy walked over, "...Gilda?" Elise noticed a lack of color on the Griffin, "Huh?" "O-oh my..." She frowned, "Turned to stone." "We need to get her to the hospital!" Elise picked up Gilda and adjusted the strength of her hind legs. She stood up and kept two paws on the griffin, "Princess Luna should be outside the castle walls." "R-right!" Both ran for the front gates. -------------------- ----[ Edge of the Everfree Forest | 20 minutes later ----- Twilight's illumination spell shined bright and showed the path in the forest, AJ and Rarity both kept close to her as they walked along. Twilight looked around, "So according to Ditzy Do, Fluttershy was last seen around here." AJ stifled a yawn, "T'ain't like her to wander inta the forest for no reason." Rarity nodded, "I agree, as far as I could tell there were no missing animals from around her cottage." Twilight looked ahead and stopped, "Did you hear that?" A voice came from ahead, "There is no need to fear, a friend comes near." Twilight smiled, "Zecora?" The Zebra walked forward, "To see you is a delight, what brings you out here tonight?" "We're trying to find Fluttershy, have you seen her?" She nodded, "She is safe at my home, though her evening has been troublesome." AJ stepped forward, "What happened?" "Her story is one to hear, now stay near. The creatures hide from the full moon, as it descends they will come out soon.", she started to lead the three to her home. -------------------- ----[ Zecora's home ----- Fluttershy kept a close eye on Gilda as the stone slowly flaked away and released her. Elise looked around the home, all the masks that hung on the walls confused her for a moment. Gilda looked at Fluttershy, "Hey." Fluttershy looked at her, "Yes?" "I'm...I'm sorry I scared you off a while back. I was jealous that Dash made new friends and spent more time with them instead of me." She smiled, "I understand, sometimes we want something to stay the same and don't like it when it changes." The door to the home opened and Zecora walked in with Twilight, Rarity, and AJ following. Fluttershy walked over to them, "Is something wrong?" Twilight shook her head, "No, we were trying to find you." She shuffled a hoof, "I'm ok. I'm sorry if I worried you." Rarity looked around, "The important thing is you're safe." Fluttershy looked at Gilda, "Someone made sure of it." Gilda stood up and flicked the last of the stone off of her tail, "That's the last of it." AJ looked at her, "When'd you come back ta Ponyville." "Just passin' through.", She walked to the door and flew away. Elise looked at the gathered mares, "Did I miss anything in Ponyville?" Twilight shook her head, "No, but I'd like to know why you're out here in the Everfree Forest." Elise thought carefully, she knew that Luna didn't want anyone else to know about the mission tonight, "To be honest I was chasing a shadow, I thought I heard the voice of someone I knew from Ayis. As it turns out I stumbled into something, and it was something meant to inflict Fluttershy with uncontainable rage." Fluttershy nodded, "Gilda saved me from that spell. Then Elise fought with Gilda to keep her from hurting me." AJ smiled, "Still actin' like a shield, good ta hear." Twilight looked at Fluttershy, "What exactly happened?" Zecora looked outside, "Slowly the moon has vanished into the night, the only way to your homes demands might." Elise looked out the window and a large number of glowing red eyes looked back at her, "Hm." AJ looked among her friends, "Ah'll need ta get back to the farm." "I'll go with you." Twilight looked over, "You might need an illumination spell or two." Rarity nodded, "Yes, it would be nice to see, in general." Fluttershy smiled, "I'll go too." Zecora smiled, "Choose carefully who will lead, the creatures tonight are dangerous indeed." Elise looked at AJ, "What do you think?" AJ smiled, "You lead." "Alright.", she turned to Twilight, "You have strong magic right?" She nodded, "Yes, why?" "Making sure.", Elise looked at Rarity, "You and Twilight can take turns doing the illumination spell." AJ grinned at Fluttershy, "Jus' stay close and we'll keep ya safe." She smiled and nodded, "Ok." Elise looked out the door, "Let's go." -------------------- ----[ Everfree Forest Path ----- AJ and Elise stayed slightly ahead of Twilight as they moved along the path with Fluttershy and Rarity close by. Twilight moved a little closer to Elise, "So why did you want to know about my magic?" Elise continued to move, "While it's nice to have brute force, some creatures can be kept completely off balance with a spellcaster throwing spells at them." "Oh, I'm not that good at any offensive spells." "Do you know anything?" Twilight thought for a moment, "Only something my BBBFF taught me." "Who?" Twilight blushed a little, "My big brother." "Look out!", Rarity shouted. Elise entered stance as some shadow creatures took the form of a manticore being ridden by a diamond dog. Twilight looked at the creature duo, "What the?!" Elise entered a defensive stance, "I'll distract it, AJ hit it with everything you've got, Twilight use what spells you have against it." AJ nodded, "Gotcha!" Twilight stepped back, "Alright." Elise snarled at the rider, "Come on!" It turned its attention to the halfbreed as she slouched down. Twilight looked at AJ and hesitated before the rider jumped forward and hit Elise. AJ knocked a couple apples up into the air and bucked them straight into the mount which dazed it momentarily. Twilight focused her magic and released a bolt of magic that pierced through the mount and its rider. Infuriated the manticore roared and started to stab at anything close enough with its tail. AJ jumped back to avoid several stabs while Twilight kept her distance. Elise used quick shuffles to evade most of the stabs, though /one hit her in the leg. She lost her balance for a moment and regained her composure, "Ugh." AJ rushed forward and jumped to the side of the manticore before she planted one hoof into it's side, followed by the other, then both combined, "Go on! Git!" The manticore knocked AJ away with the back of its paw and into a tree. Another magic arrow passed through the manticore and its rider, the rider fell off and faded away. Elise rushed forward and with crystal coated claws slashed it across the face to the side, then embedded its head in the ground with an overheard bash. It pulled back and roared loud, the trees shook vigorously for a moment before a rain of sharp sticks rained down. The three tried their best to evade the swarm of projectiles but several caught up with them. AJ shook some of them off of herself, "That hurt." Elise looked back at Twilight who stumbled and layed down, "Twilight!" Twilight looked at her, "I'll be ok, in a week..." Rarity rushed next to her, "Go stay with Fluttershy, I'll help them." Twilight nodded and limped away as quickly as she could to get out of range. The manticore charged at Rarity, only to get bucked clear sideways by AJ, "AH'VE GOT HALF A MIND TA SKIN YA!" Rarity focused her magic and gemstones erupted from under ground knocking the beast into the air, "Take that!" Elise leapt into the air and with every fiber of her being sent the beast spiraling into the ground. It hit hard enough to bounce back up slightly and get bucked away into a tree by AJ. The manticore got onto its feet again and slowly advanced towards the three, its tail whipped through the air ready to strike with its poison once more. Suddenly the creature stopped and faded away a long sword sticking out of the ground where it once was. Elise's sight became distorted by the poison as the sword disappeared and a black robed figure appeared. AJ looked up at the figure, "Well, ain't you a bit big." Rarity stepped back, "Should I bother asking why you're wearing that robe?" The figure stepped forward and looked at Elise before the area fell dark and the surprised shouts from the group were cut short. -------------------- ----[ Sweet Apple Acres | Farmhouse front porch ----- Big Macintosh was keeping a good lookout for any sign of his sister, his attention on the road ahead left him oblivious to most anything else. Braeburn stepped up next to him, "Any sign of 'er yet?" Big Macintosh shook his head, "Nnnnnope." "We shoulda gone with her." "Eeeeyup." A moment passed as the breeze blew through and Big Macintosh yawned. The area became dark for a moment, Braeburn tried to see anything, "Some kinda fog you get 'round here." Big Macintosh shook his head, "This type's new ta me." The darkness cleared away and Twilight's illumination spell lit the area around the mares. Big Macintosh ran forward, "Applejack? What happened?", he noticed how beat up Twilight was, "Miss Sparkle?!" Fluttershy quickly moved next to her, "Please, don't force yourself to do anything." AJ looked at Braeburn, "Get th' first aid kit!" The figure appeared again, and dropped Elise on the ground, before it disappeared.