//------------------------------// // “Can there be beauty in life? “ // Story: Stories in Stone, Memories of Twilight // by TDR //------------------------------// Stories in Stone Memories of Twilight By TDR “Can there be beauty in life? “ The faint click of hooves echoing in the cavern ceases as a large golden eye opens and turns down to stare at the trespasser. A cloaked figure covered out in various pouches and strange little symbols and fetishes stares back up at the eye, pulling its hood back to show the red painted face of the zebra Bloodtail. The owner of the eye snarls at the sight of the creature before it before the large red dragon lifts its head from the pile of gems it was resting on. “Claymore, I thought I told you I did not wish to be disturbed!” Silver Claw growls. “Yeah, like anything I coulda said would stop that one,” Claymore responds from somewhere else in the cave. “If he tried anything aside from just walking up nice and calm, I woulda taken him out, though. Got no love for stripes.” [“And I have no love for your pathetically mewed threats, pony; you could barely kill a gnat hiding be-... GAH!”] Bloodtail winces as he leaps back, a massive blade suddenly burying itself into the ground before him. The blade quivers a bit as dust and rock rain down on it, thrown up from the force of the impact into the rock. [“First off, stripes, I speak your language fluently. Second, me and Silver Claw here might not like each other, but we like the rest of you a lot less,”] Claymore curses “If you blunt that blade, Claymore, I will not make you a new one,” Silver Claw growls, shifting on his bedding of gems as the earth pony trots out of the shadows. “Shouldn't be a problem; this is a well made weapon,” Claymore responds. He grips the swords handle in his mouth and yanks it and a large chunk of the cavern floor free. “Not star metal like I wanted, but we have yet to find enough of that crap to make anything.” The earth pony curses around the grip, looking at the rock on the end of his blade that was bigger than him before tossing his head from side to side, shaking the boulder loose. Bloodtail stares in mute shock at the weapon that seemed to him like little more than a hunk of metal vaguely sword-shaped, though he rapidly composes himself. [“It seems that I am not the only one hiding things,”] the zebra observes. “I ain't been hiding anything, stripes. I was the highest-ranking non-noble officer at the great wall. Some might have been placed there simply from knowing the proper ponies, but us commoners had to work for it. I fought shit out there that would make you soil yourself, stripes,” Claymore snaps after smashing the boulder against the cave wall, freeing his blade. “What do you want, Bloodtail? We were told to wait here until Nocturne returned from the north lands,” Silver Claw growls, “Were you not supposed to go with her?” [“While waiting on your stolen horde might be fine for you, Nocturne has been busy. She finished up the history book that was acquired while waiting on Scarlet to return, though it seems Razor Wing brought some interesting information that Nocturne felt necessary to pass onto you two. The three of them went north and sent me to speak with you.”] “And what information might that be, zebra?” [“General Kaisur, General Silvertail, and General Scale have all been spotted in Ponyville.”] Claymore curses and Sliver Claw tilts his head, looking at the zebra. “This is troublesome news, particularly with what we witnessed Kaisur do,” mutters Silver Claw. “I do not care how reluctant he may be to use it; the fact he has it and we have no counter yet bothers me.” “Least it means I will get a chance to pay back that damned dragonling for what she did to me,” growls Claymore, running a hoof over his scarred face. [“Do not get too ahead of yourselves. We shall not be attacking them until we are ready,”] states Bloodtail. [“However, she wishes us to share what we know about them. Scarlet has brought some information on the current Element Bearers as well as acquiring the Elements themselves. Nocturne also wishes for what information you have on the previous bearers”] “So the spy bitch does what she is supposed to be good at finally; big surprise,” growls Claymore. “Good, that means one more step in the alicorn's plan is done and we are that much closer to what she promised,” smirks Silver Claw. “What makes you think I know anything about the previous bearers?” [“Do not play coy, dragon. You lived among them for years. I doubt any one knows more about the princesses and the five generals than you do.”] ========================================================= Twilight sighs, looking over her library. She had wanted all of them to meet at the same time, though is seems that the former Element Bearers had mostly already met the current ones. Bleu was passed out still, draped over Jer'rahd's back as the unicorn glares at Pinkie, seemingly blaming the pink pony for his friend’s current state. The little dragon had been nothing but dead weight the whole trip back to the library and her snores were enough to rattle the windows of the tree. Jer'rahd had arrived with Fluttershy and Applejack and simply flipped Bleu onto her back to stop the snoring. Pinkie was, of course, completely ignoring the glares of Jer'rahd and was bouncing around happily, introducing herself to everyone and nosing in their business and, well... simply being Pinkie Pie. Rhede and Rarity were hitting it off fairly well, it seemed, though Rarity did seem to be watching Velkorn carefully as she was discussing current events and the modern world with Rhede. Rhede, interestingly enough, had not been staring at Rarity's flank like Twilight thought he would have been. Twilight was quite curious about what the pair had talked about while she had been trying to find the others, but if it was important, she trusted her friend to let her know. Rhede was trying to avoid Pinkie the best he could, though his eyes did linger as she bounced past, so he was clearly not ill or anything. His gaze was also constantly running over Rainbow Dash and Applejack, though he had not so much dared to look at Fluttershy. Fluttershy sat in a corner half-hidden in a hastily constructed book fort. She was talking calmly with Velkorn about something in zebra. Twilight had not known her friend spoke the language, though Fluttershy tended to be full of surprises. Velkorn, for the most part, seemed to be doing her best not to look at Rhede. She had borrowed a blank book, ink, and a quill from Twilight and was writing something down, rapidly filling the pages of the book as she talked. Rainbow Dash and Starfall had not shut up yet about the double Rainboom they had done. The cyan and gray pegasi were doing little but talking about maneuvers and tricks, both of them seemingly eager to get back into the air and do something else. Only Jer'rahd and Applejack were silent. The pair of them seemed content to just listen to the goings-on around them. While a small smile touched AJ's face at everypony’s antics, Jer'rahd was stoic. Twilight sighs, looking back as Spike finishes setting up the desk to start writing. Twilight wanted to start the first meeting of every pony with an information exchange and introduction, then move on to getting to know each other better. Well, at least she could cross the last part off the list, particularly with how well some of them were getting along. Time to get this started, anyway. “Alright, every pony simmer down... hey now... Hey...” Twilight stammers, “Hey… quiet... stop. If I could just...” “AH-TENN -SHUN!!!!!” Jer bellows suddenly. Starfall and Rhede suddenly snap to attention instinctively. Oddly, so does Pinkie Pie. Bleu yelps, waking up and falling off Jer'rahd's back. AJ glares at him and Fluttershy whimpers and sinks deeper into the book fort, which gets Velkorn to glare at him as well. The ones at attention finally settle back down, glaring at Jer'rahd as well. Everyone else at least quiets down to stare at Jer'rahd, who points a hoof at Twilight “Floor's yours, Sparkle,” he states. “Wow, that was loud. Okay, I have a feeling some of you are already getting to know one another, but I figure we could at least start with the introductions and then move on from there,” Twilight begins. “Twilight, darling, since you know who every pony is, it may be faster to simply have you say who we are rather than let us do it. Not that Pinkie Pie isn't a darling, but I would rather not get her started, and we are pressed for time as it is,” states Rarity. “Actually, that is a good idea,” Twilight responds pointing at Jer'rahd. “We'll start with the newcomers here. Alright, this is General Jer'rahd Kaisur, former Bearer of the Element of Loyalty.” “You can drop the rank, Sparkle. I doubt any of us hold it anymore except with each other,” Jer states. “Okay then,” she points a hoof at Starfall. “This is Starfall Silvertail, former Bearer of Element of Honesty.” Twilight points to Rhede. “This is Rhederic Pelt, former Bearer of the Element of Generosity.” “Just Rhede will do, Miss Sparkle,” he comments. That is Velkorn, first Queen of the Zebra lands and the former Bearer of the Element of Kindness,” Twilight states, pointing to the zebra in the back of the room. “As with all of our rank and file, you can drop the title of queen. It has been a good while,” Velkorn mutters. “And lastly, Bleu Scale, former Bearer of the Element of Laughter.” “Hey...” Bleu mutters, still not entirely certain how she got where she was after Jer'rahd woke her up. “Alright, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I am the current Bearer of the Element of Magic, Next to Rhede is Rarity, current Bearer of the Element of Generosity. The pink pony bouncing about is Pinkie Pie, current Bearer of the Element of Laughter. The pegasus next to Starfall is Rainbow Dash, current Bearer of the Element of Loyalty. The pegasus hiding in the book fort is Fluttershy, current Bearer of the Element of Kindness. And lastly, in the hat, is Applejack, current Bearer of the Element of Honesty.” “Ahem...” Spike coughs. “Oh yes, and this is my assistant, Spike” Bleu perks up noticeably, staring at the purple dragon curiously as if rather surprised he’s there. “Wait, your assistant? I know Boss said you were Celestia's student, but you’re a student of her actual school? You hatched the little one here?” Bleu questions. “Hey, who you calling little!?” snaps Spike. “You, what are you, eight at best?” Bleu quips. “I'm thirteen,” Spike growls. “Oooh, big numbers. Lemmi know when you get a fourth digit in that age.” “Don't even; you can't even count that thousand years, and for being nineteen, you act more like you're three.” “Bleu, knock it off. Sparkle, control your pet,” Jer'rahd snaps. “HEY! I'm not a pet!!” “Spike, stop... yes, Bleu, I did. Spike was one of the last dragon eggs to be hatched,” responds Twilight. “Anyway, the introductions are in order. I suppose we should move to exactly who and what we are up against. Unfortunately, aside from the little bit of information I found in my studies, we don't have any information on the ones who are loose aside from the names: Bloodtail, Silver Claw, Nocturne, Razor Wing, Scarlet, and Claymore. I was hoping that you might be able to fill in a few blanks as to what they might be able to do or even want.” “Rhede, go ahead and tell her what you know about them,” Jer states. “Anything I should leave out, Jer?” questions Rhede. “There's no reason to do so. Anything we leave out, they may know already from their spying on us,” Jer'rahd grumbles. “It was not spying,” Twilight snaps, “It was more watching history unfold.” “Really, Sparkle? You watched us without our permission, in your own words, for every major event of our lives and many that were not. Now picture someone was doing that to you, seeing everything you did for the majority of your life, silently judging, or stars know what else with the information they get from it. I think we might have been lucky just to have some story written about us,” Jer'rahd rants. Twilight looks sheepish and the rest of the main six look uncomfortable, save Pinkie, who looks at you and holds a hoof to her mouth as if to tell you to shush. “Hey now, there's no need tah be hostile here. We got permission from both princesses tah do that. If the princesses allowed it, do yah really think their permission wouldn’t supersede the want of some pony who was a rock at the time?” AJ fusses. “How many copies of this book do you still have, Sparkle?” Jer snaps, ignoring Applejack. “I still have three copies of it,” Twilight mutters. "I want to read this over, and I want Rhede to pour over it as well. Then I want them burned,” Jer growls. Twilight's eyes narrow at that. “Like Tartarus I will. do you know how hard Spike and I worked on those? I am not burning ANY books, let alone those. That you would even suggest burning a book is beyond comprehension,” she rants. “I don't care what you think of my order. It is bad enough you six know my history and the enemy has access to it. I see no reason to give anyone else a chance to find out more about me!” Jer'rahd shouts, his eye starting to glow. “You're an angry jackass with delusions of grandeur and a ‘woe is me’ complex that you can't get over. If it wasn’t for Celestia, there wouldn't be a single pony who would even give a crap about you,” yells Twilight. Her mane and tail start flickering with flames. “BOTH OF YOU SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE BUCK UP BEFORE I KICK BOTH YOUR FLANKS,” Starfall hollers. The two unicorns turn to stare at the pegasus. “Seriously, you two are already set to kill each other, and it hasn't been a full day yet. Another perfect idea, Twi,” Dash mutters sarcastically. “Maybe we should go ahead and overthrow Celestia ourselves to make it even easier for these guys to do what they want.” “Seriously, Boss; sit the buck down, already. I was teasing the whelp, but you're going past that right now,” Bleu mutters. Jer'rahd and Twilight both let out a held breath and turn, moving back to where they were initially. “Well then, I suppose now that the yelling is over, I can start,” Rhede smirks as he stands up, “You planning to write this down, little dragon?” “It's Spike, Rhederic, and yes.” “It's Rhede... ahh, I see. Alright Spike, let me know if you need something repeated. I tend talk quickly.” ============================================================== The cold wind whips across the plains, sending eddies of snow and tossing it high into the air to fall back down on the figures below. A large bundle of furs shudders as the wind cuts through the layers of cloth. “I despise this,” Scarlet snarls, “What fool hides things in places like this ice cube?” “One who wishes for them to never be found,” states Nocturne, her hooves crunching through the snow, barely seeming to notice the cold, though her horn glows softly, indicating some spell or another was active. A shrill cry draws their attention skyward to the third member of their party, a griffon who seemed to be having far too much fun in this frigid place. Wind Razor lands, kicking up a great deal of snow that showers over Scarlet. “Area's clear of any life, save a couple of wide patrols of pegasi. Easy to take out, but you told me this is covert, so they are still there. Only land mark is a cleft in the ice about is about a league ahead. There's some strange crystals growing around the edges of it. Odd, but otherwise nothing of note,” Wind Razor reports. “Seriously, are you two cold? Wusses; the weather’s finally decent.” The bundled earth pony and the alicorn glare at the griffon as she ruffles her feathers a bit, a smirk crossing her beak. “When all is said and done, bird, you can have these damned lands,” Scarlet snarls. “Awwww, is the poor wittle pony cold? Want me to start a fire for you?” Wind Razor coos. “I figure you had enough fire in your life.” Scarlet snarls and the chink of metal is heard under the piled furs. “ENOUGH,” Nocturne bellows, “I did not bring you two along for you to drive me mad with your whining and taunts. Now that you have returned, Scarlet can inform us of what she found out. That chasm you spoke of with the crystals may be what we were looking for.” The pair winces at the yell, though neither seems to be willing to back down for a moment. “Let's at least keep walking. I want to get out of this wind,” Scarlet grumbles. “So be it,” snaps Nocturne as she starts to walk towards the chasm. ====================================================== Rhede cracks his neck, looking at the eleven pairs of eyes staring up at him. He grins and strikes a few poses like a model before a couch cushion is flung at him. “Get on with it!” shouts Bleu. “Well now, tough crowd. Alright, alright, let’s start with the hard one, shall we?” mutters Rhede. “First up is Colonel Claymore. His rank was stripped from him after he betrayed Equestria to the dragons, but that's probably how you might know him from the book.” Applejack nods as most of the others shift to get comfortable. “Claymore is an earth pony from a newer noble house called the Blades. On his name alone, it rose from nothing to the standing it had before his fall. He was placed at the Great Wall; that's the wall Luna and Celestia raised between the Discorded Darklands and the rest of Equestria. I don't think it exists now after Nightmare Night, but I digress. Claymore rose through the ranks at the wall to achieve command of Duallahan Keep. His whole goal seemed rapid acquisition of power, and when the enemies he made while climbing the ranks of nobility stalled his advance, he went to the dragons.” Rhede pauses as Spike catches up. “Okay, let me back up to history. Claymore was a known misogynist and had a few rape charges that were never brought to light. He is reported once to have claimed that he preferred stronger mares, as they were more fun to break to his will. No female that came under his command was ever promoted or praised and more often than not, they were demoted for slights or for made up reasons. More than a few fought this and were kicked out of the service by him along with rather long lists of why. This was brought up after his betrayal and resulted in the reinstatement of at least seven former Guard mares. Married five times, sired a good dozen or so foals, it was rumored, but never proven that he abandoned the wives who only bore him fillies and cut them off completely from any support. Again, not truly relevant, but worth note.” Rhede glances to Fluttershy, who sinks further back into the book fort, only the tip of her pink tail still visible. “Before the events of Dullahan Keep, he made a deal with the leader of the Flame Party, Silver Claw, to turn over Dullahan to the dragon forces in exchange for a small section to rule as he saw fit. It is thought this was how he planned to get around the limit on his climb to power. We expect that the dragons were going to betray him, but due to the Demon of Dullahan and Bleu, he was stopped. Rather than fight, he gave up, expecting some sort of leniency for being a noble, which he was not given. He was sealed in stone after all information could be extracted from him.” Rhede notes the wince that Twilight gave, making a note that she had probably seen that event from Jer's perspective. “Unlike most nobles, Claymore actually fought for his position and earned a reputation for being particularly strong and tough. His weapon of choice was... is a great sword that was easily the same length as he was. It was described more as a flat hunk of metal with a handle attached than an actual sword. He was said to be quite a skilled swords pony with it as well. Other than that, no other special powers or abilities of note,” Rhede concludes. ===================================================== [“The current bearer of the Element of Generosity is a white unicorn mare by the name of Rarity,”] begins Bloodtail, looking at the paper before him, [“She resides in Ponyville and is known to own a shop there called the Carousel Boutique. She has a mother and a father living in town, as well as a younger sister.”] Claymore spits off to the side, waiting for something useful as Silver Claw simply stares at the zebra. [“She has limited magic and no known attack spells and is somewhat of a self-proclaimed fashionita or fashioner... … damnable pony words... she makes clothes. She also has investments and contacts in Canterlot and across Equestria as a whole to various nobles and semi-powerful figures.”] “Not really useful. No combat data?” grumbles Claymore. [“Some; it seems she has had some training in fencing and in at least two schools of hoof-to-hoof fighting, though there is no note here on how far her training went. Notable conflicts include aiding in the defeat of both Nightmare Moon and Discord, as well as negotiations with a dragon god of smoke and fending off a changeling swarm. Granted, all of them have those accomplishments.”] “Who else?” rumbles Silver Claw ======================================================== “Scarlet, a.k.a. Lady Jayn, aka Snake Eyes, aka Zartana the zebra... oh buck this, she could be anypony. Highly trained assassin for The Order. A master infiltrator, a master spy, a master of disguise... and a serious bitch.” Jer'rahd sighs. “Look, she trained me, Jer, and that's a sore spot still. She has a penchant to do everything she can to be the very best, like no pony ever was. To catch her would be a real test, particularly if she has a cause.” Pinkie and Bleu start humming something and Rhede ignores them. “Her preferred methods of assassination involve rare poisons and seduction. Her signature poison is made from the venom of a rare breed of flying snake called a cloud serpent. I don't suppose I need to elaborate on that any?” Rainbow Dash growls and Applejack shakes her head a little. “I don't know who she was before the order found her, but in little under a year, she had managed to teach me everything I ever needed to know about what I do. I was not the only one she trained; I was just one of the three that survived her training. All the others were killed by either Luna on her rampage or me when I went on the purge.” Rhede glances to Spike, who nods. “Anyway, with the Order gone, there's no telling what her motivations might be. She was not the sort who would bother to seek revenge on someone who slighted them, though with Luna turning her to stone while she burned alive, that may not be the case anymore. There is also the fact that while she taught me nearly everything I know, I seriously doubt it was everything she knows.” =========================================================== “The next one is named Applejack, bearer of the Element of Honesty. Her family runs an apple farm at the edge of Ponyville. She is somewhat the town hero, having single hoofedly rescued or come to the aid of the place several times. The stallion I poisoned was her brother,” lists off Scarlet as she trudges through the snow next to the others. “Her parents are deceased, with the only relatives remaining in the town being her grandmother, older brother, and younger sister. Her primary skill set involves farming and orchard tending, though she has been to a number of shows to show off her skills and placed first, or at least high enough for a ribbon.” “So she is a show pony, big deal,” grumbles Wind Razor. “I would not simply dismiss these sorts of shows, bird. I witnessed one, and the primary objective seems to be pushing one’s physical attributes to the limit. She is also shown to be quite adept at using rope as a weapon, as well as a level of stamina far exceeding the norm of most earth ponies,” Scarlet states. “Okay, a tough show pony then,” mutters Wind Razor, “You also seemed to miss the part where she's a filly fooler with my prey.” “Rainbow Dash?” questions Nocturne. “That's the one. Young pegasus, lives in Ponyville in a cloud home at the edge of town. She was turned over to an orphanage when she was born, grew up in Cloudsdale. First pegasus in over a thousand years to perform the Sonic Rainboom, Bears the Element of Loyalty. Fairly tough, very headstrong, though with good reason, won Best Young Flier competition last year, runs the Ponyville branch of the weather pegasi. Has a serious fanfilly crush on the Wonderbolts,” rattles off Wind Razor. “Was planning to kill the lot of them before going after her, but there’s too many and they’re too high-profile. It would be too much of a pain in the ass to take them all out just for one target. Besides, now that I know the best part, she’s a secondary target. The best part, ooooh, the best part is, she’s related to Starfall. I can take out either one just to see the expression on the other’s face before I collect my trophy.” Wind Razor giggles and bounces around in the snow like a happy cat, making both the alicorn and earth pony rather uncomfortable. “She's psychotic,” mutters Scarlet. “But useful,” responds Nocturne, “Continue.” ================================================ “Bloodtail the zebra,” Rhede begins, watching both Rarity and Velkorn flinch. “First appeared in the zebra lands with the Warlord Zal' Torack, Velkorn's brother.” Rhede takes a sip from a cup before continuing. “Zal'Torack ruled over a large section of the zebra lands as it was. With Bloodtail's urging, he expanded his influence and either destroyed or absorbed every other tribe, forming a massive army and ruled the land entirely. The Order stepped in to try to influence the new ruler and gain rights to some of the natural resources of the region in return for aid in dealing with the warlord’s foes. This worked for a time, until Bloodtail convinced him to bite the hand that was feeding him and attack several border towns and military outposts,” Rhede rattles off. “I was sent in to kill him at the end of my training as my first assassination mission. It worked out well in my favor, as Jer was there to take all the credit for the operation.” Jer'rahd harrumphs and Rhede simply smirks. “Oh you loved it, don't lie. Anyway, Bloodtail was captured and turned to stone not long after that.” Rhede glances to Velkorn, who does not meet his eyes. The earth pony sighs and continues as chipper as before. “He openly admitted to being trained by a race of creatures called the Shadow Walkers. Not much to describe there, aside for the fact they were already rare and we might have made them extinct,” rants Rhede. “Bloodtail is a rare creature in that he is the zebra equivalent to a unicorn. Most foals like that were killed when born as it was one of the signs that the foal might be a zebra god. We know he is extremely skilled in potion brewing, some sort of black magic, and a spiritual corruption magic the zebras call voodoo.” “OOO OOO he's an evil enchanter? Does he do evil dances? WhemmmmPPFFFFH!!” Pinkie Pie starts before being tackled by Rainbow Dash. “Thank you. As I said, he has a great deal of supposed power, but no one has ever seen him use very much of it, as he seems to prefer to use others to do his work for him. He seems to have two main weaknesses. First, he seems unwilling or too lazy to use what magic he has access to, if any,” Rhede continues, “The other is that he seems to have a fixation on Velkorn. He has attempted to coerce or claim her on several occasions. It is one of the reasons Velkorn left the castle in the first place to be able to meet Jer.” Jer'rahd glances back at the shivering zebra, his eyes narrowing a bit as he sees her fear. “He also has a bit of a pride issue. He understands nearly as many languages as I do, perhaps more, and I will tell you that number’s in the scores. He will, however, only speak Zebra or ancient Zebra. He feels that speaking a lesser tongue is beneath him. Due to his notes, we expect he is attempting to find a zebra in order to give birth to a new zebra god. With his fixation, it is possible that he believes Velkorn will be the one who would have the highest probability of that. What he planned to do after fathering a god is unknown, but it's a safe bet that he was not content to be a good role model.” ========================================================== [“Fluttershy, pegasus, and the bearer of the Element of Kindness. Also seemingly the current target of our scarred companion here,”] mutters Bloodtail having stopped for a sneeze. “What!? That flighty bitch is an Element Bearer?” snaps Claymore. “I knew there was more to her. Shoulda ignored the damn critters and made off with her.” [“Orphan, also from Cloudsdale. Moved to Ponyville as soon as she was able and started an animal rescue at the outskirts of town. Her family was well off before they died, and when she came of age, she inherited quite a large sum of money. Seems their deaths have created a rather prevalent phobia of dragons, however.”] “Hmmph. A thousand years, and I finally meet a pony afraid of dragons,” growls Silver Claw. [“She is shown to have a rather low wing power, whatever that is; likely a pegasus thing. However, she seems to have an ability that I have not heard of before. Something that the document refers to as 'The Stare',”] reads Bloodtail. “The stare? What the buck is that supposed to be?” questions Claymore. [“According to the document, it is some sort of gaze attack. There is an unconfirmed case of her staring down a cockatrice and forcing it to reverse its stoning of a number of subjects. There is also a confirmed report of its use against a dragon god, forcing him to depart Equestria. There are a number of rumored uses of this ability, though only one report from a subject affected by it. The description simply calls it 'like a disapproving stare from your mother, only much, much worse.'”] “What the buck kinda lame ass power is that? She didn't show any sort of shit like that when I was there,” Claymore ponders briefly before grinning wide. “Bitch had an ability and didn't use it to try and stop me. I get it now. She didn't use it ‘cause she wanted it. Typical mare; all of them are sluts when you get down to it. At least I know what I am dealing with fully next time. A thousand years and not a bucking one of them has changed their nature.” Bloodtail and Silver Claw both stare at the earth pony as he starts to laugh, somewhat embarrassed that they know him. ============================================================ “To be honest, this one kinda scares me. The folder for her was massive. There was, like, thirty pages of nothing but the word 'cupcakes' written in red ink,” begins Scarlet. “Pinkamena Diane Pie, Bearer of the Element of Laughter.” “From my understanding, the bearers of laughter are always somewhat unhinged. Discord supposedly held that Element at one point as well,” responds Nocturne. The group had stopped outside of the cleft in the ice; the alicorn was currently studying a snow covered crystal while listening to Scarlet. The earth pony took note of the interest Wind Razor was displaying on this pony and decided not to even ask. “Earth pony, lives and works at a bakery in Ponyville. Also the town greeter, and the town odd jobs pony, and the town party pony... and that list goes on for another four or five pages with nothing important save the pyrotechnic pony,” grumbles Scarlet. “Skills list includes improv, singing... nothing really combat oriented save the ability to produce some sort of spell cannon from nowhere, though the only ammunition type listed is 'party'. There is also an evident ability to pop up anywhere despite the laws of reality... something called a Pinkie Sense that alerts her of danger... Honestly, what the buck is this pony?” “A problem. Wind Razor, I understand this one was part of your hunt. Do you have anything to add?” nocturne asks. “Nah, fire hazard there's got the right of it. Damn pony is the most random thing I have ever seen. She doesn't even stay still while asleep, most times. Eats more than her body weight in food almost hourly, acts more like some sort of taffy sometimes, and I swear I have seen her in more than one place and actually standing beside herself at least twice,” lists Wind Razor. “Damndest thing is, she seems to know when I am about to strike, ‘cause she gets all jittery then looks in the direction I was gonna come from until I opt not to attack. Got some weird alligator thing as a pet, too; calls the blasted thing Gummy, as its got no teeth. Buncha weird shit in her room, too. Only got one look, but it’s like a tornado blew though with a bunch of party crap, statues, and half eaten food. Only thing of any real note is the owners of the place have a couple of foals she seems to be willing to do anything for. I was gonna grab one of them to lure her out to make the kill, then the owners left.” “It is something we will deal with later. Her abilities should be little more than a annoyance unless she is affected by the books. We can deal with her well enough when the time comes,” Nocturne states. “We are going in. I sense it down there. Continue with the next one, Scarlet.” The others nod as the trio moves into the darkness of the split in the ice. ====================== “Starfall, I think you should take this one. You probably know more about her than I do, considering,” states Rhede. “You mean Wind Razor?” curses Starfall, rising to her hooves. The gray pegasus sighs, ruffling her wings as everyone turns to look at her. “Wind Razor, a griffon soldier of the Cloudscraper Aerie. It was one of the aeries that was destroyed during the events of Nightmare Night..... errr, you do know what that is, right?” questions Starfall. “Yeah, Twilight's study was pretty clear on that. Doubt ah'm ever gonna look at tha holiday tha same way anymore,” responds AJ. “Alright, anyway, she is one of the daughters of the griffon god Storm Ripper. Using his power, he made sure she had the best training and covered up her more perverse tactics. Griffons claim, well, claimed, to be a highly honorable race with a strict set of codes they were set to follow in life. It was a requirement of a warrior to follow these codes of honor to even be considered a warrior. Failure to follow the code could result in anything from exile, forced grounding by wing removal, or death,” grumbles Starfall, “Wind Razor got out of having to follow these rules by having her father cover it up or blame someone else.” The pegasus sighs, her ears flattening to her head. “She has the best military and survival training that the griffon nation could provide and was decorated in the War of the North as one of the best soldiers that they had. The only problem is during that war, she developed a taste for killing and collecting trophies of fallen foes,” mutters Starfall. “She soon got bored with hunting warriors and started making up her own rules in the intervening years. She would kill someone, then find out everything she could from them from unsent letters, visiting family, stolen documents. The last hunt she was on started with my brother Wisp and my husband Loc. From the letters both of them had on them unsent, she found out about me, my sister, and my parents. Loc's parents had all but disowned him for joining the Guard, so he never spoke of them.” Starfall pauses, exhaling deeply as the others simply wait for her to continue. “She found out both of her kills had a connection to me, and I suppose that’s when she made me the main target. Thankfully, Loc did not mention Cloud Dancer in his letter. Unfortunately, when my parents came to collect the bodies, she killed both of them as well. Revenge on her was why I entered the Guard to begin with. When I performed the Rainboom for the first time and became famous for it, I knew she would have seen that and would come for me, so I worked to become as widely known as possible while on duty and all but invisible while off so no one would find out about my family,” finishes Starfall. “I had a few contacts searching for her and found out she was still after Starfall and the remaining family. When the war ended, she and a number of other griffons left the military and became mercenaries. It was still easy to tell she was obsessed with Starfall, but before someone could deal with her, the entire mercenary unit she was with vanished. We expect that was the point when her group made contact with Silver Claw,” Rhede interjects. “Next time anyone saw her, she was part of the attack on Canterlot and had already killed my sister and her lover. Considering who Silver Claw was posing as, it was easy to put together how she found my home. Thankfully, Cloud Dancer was at the gala. Unfortunately, Wind Razor found out she was my daughter,” continues Starfall. “She is a highly skilled aerial combatant who prefers to use her race’s own natural weapons along with clawed gauntlets that add extra lethality to her attacks. She carries another blade that she uses to claim trophies with, though she is not known to use it in combat. She's proven she's more agile in the air than I am and is adept at traps and ambushes. All in all, she's one of the more dangerous of the ones who got free, as her sole purpose seems to just be to hunt and kill.” Everyone blinks, staring as Starfall exhales and settles back into her seat. “That everything, Starfall?” questions Rhede “There is one more thing,” Starfall states, “When the time comes, the bitch is MINE!” ================================================= [“Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of the Element of Magic, Princess Celestia's favorite student. Top marks from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, known as one of the most powerful unicorn spell casters of the modern age, though how much of that is her and how much is what she was given by the Element of Magic remains to be seen,”] Bloodtail starts, [“She is the de facto leader of the current Bearers, as well. Currently, she is head librarian in Ponyville, along with a dragonling companion she hatched during an entrance exam to the Princess's school.”] “So the blasted ponies are still using our young as slaves to their gifted,” snarls Silver Claw, “I have seen the others who shared that fate in the past. Some of them actually thought they loved their captors; disgusting. Ponies are meals or underlings; they are not our masters...” “Oh buck, not this again,” grumbles Claymore, “Yer not in a position to push those views right now. I may have agreed to work for you, but I am damn sure not your underling.” “You would rather be a meal?” snaps Silver Claw, glaring at the earth pony. [“If you two wish to fight, allow me to get out of the way so I do not get any blood on my robes,”] rattles off Bloodtail. [“While I would enjoy having two less headaches to deal with, it would disrupt Nocturne's plans too much and I may never get what wish. I would suggest you two calm yourselves and allow me to continue.”] The dragon and the earth pony turn from glaring at each other to glaring at the zebra, who barely seems to register their disapproval. [“It was found that this unicorn was the one you encountered in the forest, the one who possessed the Waning Moon.”] Silver Claw's eyes narrow. “Are you sure?” [“According to the documents, quite a number of Guard were saved by this pony. There was quite a ruckus caused in Canterlot as she brought them all to the royal throne room.”] “Impossible; that distance with two star metal blades, three score of ponies, and a tree? How did she bypass the castles wards? Even Nocturne had great difficulty getting us out of the garden,” stammers Silver Claw not knowing whether to be awe struck or horrified. [“I do not know, but I have no doubt what is in this report is true. If it is any consolation, she was out for some time due to magic burnout. It clearly took its toll on her.”] “A toll? The mare should be dead without even succeeding in half of what she did. Celestia herself would have a hernia trying to do that,” growls Silver Claw. “Heh, you really have no idea about ponies, do you?” chuckles Claymore. “The more you tell us we can't, the easier it is for us to do. I don't do magic myself, but I’ve seen unicorns do shit that doesn't follow any sort of logic I can fathom. Also, you of all creatures should know that Celestia sure as buck doesn't show half of what she can really do. She's got some damn code she follows. So long as she follows that, we are safe, ‘cause if she ever decides to break it before we end her, we are royally bucked.” Bloodtail looks at the earth pony as he focuses on his blade, wondering how much of that might be truth and how much simply bluster. [“You seem somewhat knowledgeable on this, Claymore,”] Bloodtail observes, [“How is it you figure that?”] “Most powerful mare to exist, was one point in my life I was trying to figure out a way to break her and make her mine. Never cared for her sister, though; something about her bothered me, probably how dangerous she was,” rambles Claymore, “The pair of them beat Discord and tore a path through the Darklands to do it, and after that, they had the power to raise a gods-damned wall from the very earth itself to seal off the Darklands from the rest of the world. I've seen things on the other side of the wall that nearly made me shit myself, and this is centuries after Discord's gone. They walked through that in its heyday and came back unscathed.” “You forget the dragons did the same, Claymore,” snarls Silver Claw. “Yeah, ‘cause I gave you a few dozen of those damned maps to the towers. How many of those things did you actually manage to find?” “We acquired six of them,” snaps Silver Claw. “SIX? You only got SIX? Those maps should have lead you to two or three score of those damned things. How many did you lose trying to get just those six?” Claymore snaps, watching as Silver Claw looks away as if ashamed to admit the amount. “Now keep in mind that Nocturne came from one of those towers, and clearly not one the dragons had. That shit alone is enough for me to actually listen to her when she talks.” [“Enough already. The past is past and the Darklands are no more, anyway,”] states Bloodtail. [“Silver Claw, I wish to know what you learned about Luna's generals so I might pass that on to the others. I have information on Pelt from Scarlet and more information than I ever wanted from that obsessed Griffon on Starfall. What of the others?] ============================================= “Nocturne... that one’s a problem,” sighs Rhede. “Care to explain why, darling?”coos Rarity. “Wish I could. No one knows a damn thing about her aside from what Jer and Luna heard that crazy machine of Discord's say. And all that is was that she was a fused mix of Jer and Luna. She seemed to have little trouble beating the snot out of those two, though she couldn't multi target when the rest of us got involved,” Rhede states. “We know she's an alicorn made by a machine that was powered by the Red Tome and the Gray Grimoire. The Book of Blue said nothing about the machine or the books aside from to curse them, quite often. She showed the ability to mimic Jer's shield and Luna's fighting style and magic. She also seemed to sport the same durability Jer has shown. She called the pair of them mother and father and seems set on destroying them.” “So what you’re saying is: she’s acting like angsty teen with way too much power,” considers Rarity. “Yeah, that seems about the size of it, unless Jer wants to add anything else,” Rhede states, looking to his friend. “No, that about covers it. She made an attempt on Princess Luna's life recently, though that is to be expected. What I did not expect is that she seems to be the one who freed the others,” Jer responds. “From what Sparkle said, she made sure the ones were are dealing with now remained free specifically. I am rather curious as to why.” “She did say she was after the books,” responds Twilight. “Though they are in Tartarus, so I have no idea how she would get them.” “Not knowing what her goals really are is going to be a pain, particularly since she is probably calling the shots for the others if they are all together still,” agrees Rhede. =============================== “Starfall Silvertail,” coos Wind Razor her voice echoing in the cavern as the group walks. “First pegasus known to perform a move called the Sonic Rainboom. The move starts when enough speed is obtained to form a cone vortex around her. This vortex starts to disrupt the air as well as bending light around the one performing it, resulting in the boom as the barrier breaks and the sudden expansion of light. This rainbow has been shown to bolster any ponies witness to it and even increase the magic power of unicorns and alicorns in its effect. The noise also tends to cause excessive pain in Diamond Dogs due to what they call a whine that proceeds the light. Due to this, the Dogs nick named her 'The Light of Death'. A secondary effect of this is the Rain Nuke. This is when the barrier is not broken but pushed along until it impacts something solid and then detonates with all the force that usually breaks in the air,” Wind Razor grins laughing. “The effects of this are delightfully devastating and because the one performing the move is behind the shock wave, they suffer no ill effects from the impact as they are cushioned by the force involved.” Scarlet leans over to Nocturne whispering, “Why are we letting her talk again?” Nocturne ignores the pony, trotting further into the cave. “Starfall is a highly trained flier and was the first pegasus to fly above the frost line and border the stars. She’s a skilled fighter, nothing on me though, she's easily riled by talking about her husband or daughter, or buck, anyone I’ve killed,” Wind Razor chuckles. “Like most pegasi, she’s great in a straight shot of flight, but sucks at lateral movement at high speeds. She exceptional with the twin blades she has and can wield them with her mouth, wings or hooves. She’s also the only one known to repeatedly beat Kaisur in spars, though the ass could be holding back ‘cause she’s a mare. Suffice to say, she didn't make second in command of the Guard forces by being a pushover.” Wind Razor shudders with a soft moan, her wings stiffening as she speaks. “She's the perfect prey.” Scarlet inches away from the griffon, getting even more freaked out by the bird. ===================================================== “Bleu Scale. Former Bearer of the Element of Laughter, known as the Laughing Traitor by the dragons after she sided with the ponies,” growls Silver Claw stretching out on his rock. “She was hatched from her egg by a unicorn after the ponies stole it from a great warrior of the first war, one I was proud to call a kin despite her being an inferior blue. Her honor got her killed and her children taken as slaves to the ponies. When her former master was killed in Dullahan, she chose to serve Kaisur rather than be free.” [“There is a term for that, I have heard. Stockholm, where the captive come to love its captor,”] mutters Bloodtail. “She is dangerous, as the ponies taught her several abilities, including the ability to change her coloration, to breathe a green flame that allows messages... and in one case, a pony, to be sent akin to a teleport,” reminisces Silver Claw. “She also has a rare ability to change size at will, allowing her to become much larger than a dragon of her years should be able to. At her age, she should be unable to alter her size more than that of a large pony, yet she attacks as a nearly full-grown dragon at times in both size and ferocity. She has clearly trained with both Pelt and Kaisur, as her style of combat seems a mix of the two, ambush and brute force, respectively. But she is no stronger or more resilient than a normal dragon of her age, though the armor given to her by her Element changes that considerably.” “You got a plan for her?” snarls Claymore, rubbing one of the scars on his face. “No, she is of no use to me. Despite her linage, she is little more than a traitor.” “Good, then I want a crack at her when the chance comes... think I’ll just slowly cut her apart...” Claymore continues on, muttering to himself for the most part, tracing the wounds covering his face as if remembering. ======================================================== “Rhede Pelt, hehehe,” laughs Scarlet. “Ahhh, that one’s an idiot. Stallion’s got some skill, for sure, but he also has this noble streak that pops up from time to time that makes him suck as a spy or a killer. The Order wanted him trained to be the mole in Celestia's garden. He was new enough that we could put him in without any issue and he was already a member of the Guard, so it would not have even been strange. He performed his first information-gathering mission on Luna's whereabouts with no problem, and even the assassination mission he was sent on. Always had a bad feeling about him; I would have killed him in training, but, ehh, orders were orders.” “Why did they want him alive?” questions Nocturne. “At first, it was just because he was unknown, and he wasn't bad with what he was trained in, took to it rather well. He learned how to craft the disguise bracelets much easier than a non-unicorn should have been able to pull off, and he was adept as concealment and verbal sparring. Then the Rainboom happened. The Order had supplied some Diamond Dogs with weapons and information in hopes of making the princesses look bad so they could take over the kingdom. Even had a rather nice plan to kill off the pair of them and make it look like someone else’s fault. Luna was supposed to be the first to go, being the warrior of the pair. Kaisur and Silvertail managed to not only save her, but turn the tide of the battle so it was no longer possible to supply the Bone Hounds discreetly; The Order scrubbed the whole operation at that point. Despite the failure, Pelt did his job and the Order recognized he was worth the effort to keep around due to his knowing both Kaisur and Silvertail and the ease with which he got close to Celestia. Granted. at the time. the idiots didn't realize he was a double agent and I wasn't paid enough to tell them otherwise.” “You killed others for money?” scoffs Wind Razor. “How pathetic.” “At least I had a reason beyond whatever took my fancy like you do, bird,” snarls Scarlet. “He was sent to the zebra lands to deal with a rogue zebra that was in our employ that broke contract. Killing him netted an unexpected bonus that Pelt managed to pull out of his ass. The full blame for the assassination was placed on Kaisur, and he was made a hero. That put him higher on The Order's list of ponies that might recover the Elements. It also placed Pelt in the right place to have the new queen’s ear. Bloodtail bucked that all to hell when he showed up and they pulled Pelt back to Equestria. The zebra came along with him and somehow, the lot of them managed to end up as Luna's personal Guard. He still dropped intel to us, but it was getting less and less useful. When Celestia selected Kaisur over The Order's primary choice to recover the Elements, the plans were laid to have him killed, but held off when he failed. Of course, after Kaisur pissed off one of the higher-ups, I got the order to take him out. Pelt kept Kaisur from dying and got me trapped in stone while on fire, thanks to that damn bitch princess.” “Sounds like someone else has a vengeance issue,” chuckles Wind Razor. “Honestly, I don't give a damn about any of them. If the opportunity presents itself, I would kill any of them. It was just a job to me. Besides, Pelt is not an issue. I taught the little snot everything he knows. Despite what he might have picked up in the meantime, I still know a hell of a lot more, and I know his weaknesses. Out of the mess of them, he's gonna fall the easiest.” ================================================== “Silver Claw, red dragon, son of the dragon god Forge Scale, one of the leaders of the dragon group called the Flame Party. Lots of background on this one,” Rhede begins, “The Flame Party was the predominant force of military might in the Dragon Empire. It was lead by two dragon gods, primarily: Onyx Wing and Snowbeard. Silver Claw also held a rather high standing in the group due to his being one of the few remaining children of Forge Scale. However, despite his power, he was not a god.” Twilight tilts her head, listening. Quite a bit of this was not in the story. “The oldest of Forge Scale’s children, his exploits in the first dragon war were overshadowed by some of the other terrors of that time. Krisis, Bleached Bone, Star Scream, and so on. He was thought dead like most of the others at the time of Forge Scale's defeat, but it seemed he had instead gone into hiding, somehow managing to take the place of one of the heroes of that war, a young officer named Mustang. He managed to somehow convince both Mustang's children and wife that he was Mustang, though over time he managed to outlive or have them all killed save his youngest, who he used as a way to keep another of the Generals, Meteor Shower, in line through relation. He duplicated Mustang's ability to resist magic by wearing chains made of star metal. This also served to deaden his own powers to further aid his disguise.” Twilight flinches, then looks to Bleu. She had forgotten about that. She would need to keep Jer from reading the books until she could ask Bleu how he would react to finding out about what his grandfather was. “Through his skill, he managed to get the information he needed about where his father was and set up a rather elaborate plan to destroy Equestria. He kept in contact with the other members of the Flame Party and somehow even managed to slip away to make sure he was well known to be alive in Cindervale, though that was most likely a body double. Onyx Scale, however, was not patient and began the attack after acquiring Discord's towers, thinking he had the upper claw, as it were. We found out later the dragons found the towers by following the same sort of enchanted maps we did, most likely provided by Claymore. The castle that Nocturne came from was not among the ones the dragons had acquired, which was a pity, as we did not have a chance to study the machine that made her. Also, that alone was proof that there were far more than six towers... Well, until the Darklands sunk into the sea, at any rate. “ “Rather curious as tah what those things were anyway… why tha heck did Discord make so many moving castles?” questions Applejack. “That I can actually answer,” beams Rhede. “Discord didn't build them, he grew them. The castles were alive- a giant creature of some sort, kinda like a massive snail or something. What everyone assumed was the rock under them was actually a giant foot. Buttercup had a field day with that information... honestly, I am not sure if they were wiped out or are still just trudging around at the bottom of that bay the Darklands became.” “Not our problem, Rhede. Get on with the report of Silver Claw,” grumbles Jer. “Right, right. Anyway, like his father, he can wield his fire like Jer wields a sword. He’s in the prime of his life, so his strength, power, and scales are the strongest they will ever be. Seems he has a fairly high resistance to spells as well, though the limits of it have not been tested. He is also a skilled infiltrator and is familiar with both armed and unarmed combat, both dragon and pony varieties. He is also a master tactician, having planned for much of the first dragon war’s battles, many successes as Mustang, and the entire invasion of Canterlot. His primary goal is the release of his father. After that, his goals seem little more than kill all the ponies, just as his father wanted.” Rhede pauses, allowing Spike to catch up. A thumbs up from the purple dragon starts Rhede talking again. “Now the good news: He's got a rather sizable problem with chaos. The few times something unexpected comes up or his plans are altered, he freezes or rages until he comes up with a alternative. Basically, his long game is impressive, but his short game sucks, and that’s all the good news I have... Alright, everypony take five, grab a drink, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, and come back for questions. I gotta hit the little colts room soon as I figure out where that is.” Spike points him in a direction as Twilight moves over to Bleu, pulling the dragonling away from Pinkie. “Yeah? Whats up. Sparkle?” Bleu questions. “Bleu, did you ever tell Jer'rahd about who his grandfather was?” Twilight asks. “Who told you? ...oh crap, you saw that too?” “I did, and I wrote it in the book as well. Now Jer'rahd wants to read it.” “Ahhhh buck, I didn't even tell Rhede about that… Okay, okay… I got this.” Bleu starts darting over to where Jer'rahd was sitting. “Yo, Boss.” Jer'rahd looks to the little dragon padding towards him. “What is it?” “You reaaaaaally want to read that massive thing Sparkle wrote? I mean have you seen it? Got to be over five hundred thousand words at least,” “Not particularly, but I need to know what info is in it,” responds Jer. “Why?” Bleu leans in close looking at the others. “Well, to be honest, Boss, I kinda feel like being lazy. Carrying you lot around looking for the bad guys is not really that appealing right now. All that running about this morning didn't help, either. I'd rather kick back a bit ‘til I’m really needed. I mean, you guys are one thing, but some of these pampered modern ponies look a little heavy.” “WHAT DID YOU SAY!?” Rarity shouts, glaring at the dragonling. Bleu grins. “Well, we know who the snoopy one is now.” Rarity flushes and Twilight sighs. “Alright, Bleu. If you want to stay here, go ahead. I expect you to tell me everything that is in those books, though,” Jer says. “No problem, Boss. Leave it to me... and to a lesser extent, sexy tail over there,” states Bleu, gesturing to Rhede as he comes back in. “Stop calling me things, Bleu...” Rhede grumbles. ==================================================== “So what is the deal with you and that zebra mare?” Claymore questions. [“Do not speak of her as if she is one of your base conquests, Claymore. I will have none of that,”] snarls Bloodtail with enough venom in his tone to make even Silver Claw take more notice. “Fine, I don't find your stripy mares all that attractive anyway, but there's got to be a reason you are after her over every other zebra in those lands. Frankly, it's not like I can tell any of you apart anyway,” Claymore grumbles, and even Silver Claw sighs, remembering his problem with that very issue. [“She is from perhaps the only pure line of the gods that remain. All the others became Untouchables or were wiped out. Her brother was, as well, and he gathered enough forces to rule the lands utterly. I managed to make myself useful enough to be his advisor, and when the time was right, to gain control over him,” Bloodtail states, “She is a elegant beauty of a kind unseen in the land for centuries; delicate, gentle, yet still able to utterly crush any who would dare stand against her. Her brother had her trained in several styles of unarmed fighting, and she herself took to being a medic like a duck takes to water. By the time she was ten, she was utilizing medical and martial skills of a zebra three times her age. I sought to court her, and while her brother accepted, she refused and fled. When I sought to pursue her, the invasion started and I was forced to limit my searching.”] Claymore leans a little closer to Silver Claw’s head muttering softly. “Great, a stupid bitch, a crazy bird, the Darklands walker, and now a lovestruck stripe... what next?” The dragon sighs, tuning Claymore out as the zebra continues. [“I had her, as well. Even after the warlord fell, I had her, but then Pelt...”] Bloodtail growls. “That does not explain why she is so important, aside from her bearing the Element of Kindness,” Silver Claw rumbles. [“Ahh, but her blood line does. The spirits foresaw that she would bring a god into the world, and that initially led me to her. The vision of loveliness that she is kept me interested.”] Bloodtail chuckles. [“Even after she bore the god, I likely would have kept her as a pleasurable distraction.”] “What the heck did you want a foal stripe god for, anyway?” Claymore grumbles. [“That matters not now, as it is likely out of my reach, though not as far as it seemed when I was first freed. In any event, it can wait until Nocturne delivers on her promise,”] Bloodtail smirks, then looks up at Silver Claw. [“There is one you know of I wish to hear more about, particularly after what he revealed about himself. Tell us about the one named Kaisur, dragon.”] ===================================================== The crunch of loose ice under hoof and talon was the only sound for a time after Scarlet finished detailing Velkorn. “So pretty much, aside from our zebra going head over hooves for her, the mare’s primary weaknesses are how stuck on Pelt she is and that she won't kill. The only exceptions to this seem to be zebra godlings and fish,” rambles Scarlet. “Both of those can be traced along in zebra history. There's some belief or code that doesn't accept that fish have souls and are therefore already dead and the only safe meat to eat. The gods are a long story that has no real point.” Nocturne nods, pausing and shifting her head a little. “I have read the book you recovered involving my father, and I suppose I have more knowledge on him that you do,” Nocturne states. “Really? Did it say anything in the books about him being a decent lay?” Scarlet grins. “No imagination, but damn did he have some stamina.” “That is not relevant information. What is relevant is that Kaisur is descended from a dragon god and a pony god,” Nocturne responds. The griffon and earth pony pause. “He's what?” snaps Wind Razor. “Jer'rahd Kaisur is the son of Amano Kaisur and Crystal Blueblood. According to the book, the Blueblood line is a direct line of descendants from a pony goddess named Aviana. On his father’s side, the book has revealed that his grandfather was a dragon turned into a pony. That dragon was the son of a dragon god from our time,” explains Nocturne, trotting deeper into the cavern. “Even with it being relevant he has displayed no traits of either parent, by the same token, neither have I. Thus, while interesting, the information is pointless. The only thing of worth is the name Aviana. There is no mention of her anywhere that I have been able to find outside of this history book Scarlet recovered, and that is worth note considering how many have mentioned it with ties to both Discord and the sea pony queen Aqua.” The alicorn pauses, looking at the darkening tunnel before them, her horn beginning to glow softly, illuminating the ice and rock path before the trio. She starts forward again, continuing the information exchange. “Father is very limited in magic; he only can perform two spells. Those two spells, however, he has gotten very good at using. His practice with star metal has given him, as well as myself, a rather potent resistance to its magical deadening effects. Then there is the Waning Moon, a star metal blade enchanted by my mother to never dull or break and forged by the nameless dragon smith who created the dragon blades that could kill his own kind from the first war. His skill with this weapon was not matched by anyone other than Starfall and my mother, according to the book. He is possibly the most dangerous one out of all who stand before us, but he has far too many weaknesses that can easily be exploited.” “Pffft, I could have told you that,” Scarlet grumbles. “He's got some serious trust issues with mares.” “That seems to have changed after you tried to kill him. He and my mother actually became something more than a princess and her subject. When she left Canterlot to become Nightmare Moon, he followed. The book does not go into much further detail of what happened after that point. It seems we have an unfinished copy. No matter; we have what we need.” Nocturne pauses briefly before taking the right path in a branching tunnel. “His anger issues remain, and he is easily controlled by that emotion. His is devoted to his friends to the point that any harm to them will lead to him becoming an even greater threat than he is now, but holding them as leverage will neutralize him completely. While skilled at the spells he knows, he only knows the two. Magical manipulation and shields do have limits, since the latter cannot be used to attack, and I have the same level of power in addition to what my mother knows. He is also at odds with Celestia and quite headstrong. Even the massive creature he can become is a liability, for while it may be nigh invulnerable, he is reluctant to use it as he has no control over it. He also has a crippling fear of deep water and nightmares plague him as well, though how the latter can be used, I do not know. He is fully devoted to my mother, and yet, she wishes nothing to do with him at all in this age, it seems, considering how she left him as a statue for the time she has been back.” Nocturne stops dead, growing silent as she peers into the darkness before them. “We are here.” The others look around as the light cast by the unicorn’s horn brightens, their gaze falling over countless dark ice-covered crystals. A drop-off several pony lengths ahead of them opens to a massive cavern under the ice. The glow from Nocturne’s horn did not show far past the cliff’s edge, though a few streams of light came from above through cracks in the thick ice. It was a city, a sprawling collection of buildings and sweeping arches. A massive tower rested in the center of it, the tip nearly meeting the roof of the ice cavern. A dark mist seems to flow and drift among the city, barely indistinguishable from the darkness of the cavern. “That is our destination. Wind Razor, gather Scarlet and do not drop her. We are going to that tower,” orders Nocturne. ================================================ Rhede sighs, looking over the group. “That's about it, really. That's everything we have on those six, unless anyone wants to add anything else?” “Actually, I got something else on Claymore dainty hooves,” shouts out Bleu. “Well, least something I suspect.” “Oh, and what’s that?” “He's a jerk.” Pinkie giggles as Rhede rolls his eyes, though Bleu continues on as if not even noticing the reactions. “If he's like his daughter, he's using dragon magic, or it’s in him. You remember the fun you had with Oak Leaf? That was because she's an earth pony that innately used dragon magic. Made her nearly invincible on the ground and buffed her strength insanely, too. That's why when I lifted her off the ground, in the air she wasn't much more than a normal pony.” Rhede blinks. “Alright, that is a good bit of information, but how do you know that?” “Duh, she's a dragon,” Pinkie Pie replies, and Bleu smiles wide. “Alright, you have anything to add, Sparkle?” Jer questions. “Just that Nocturne freed all of them for some specific reason, and she knew about the books... I think she wants to retrieve them. There was also a hint in the last scry that they may have fled somewhere to the north. From what I could gather, somewhere around Neighara Falls,” Twilight responds. “Nocturne getting ahold of those books is a worst case scenario. Where were they hidden after we were sealed?” questions Jer'rahd “From what I saw, Princess Celestia said they were sealed in Tartarus.” “Good place for them, along with the rest of the damned,” Jer growls. “Okay, yah know what? Ah heard this before, an ah'm not sure what Tartarus actually is. Is it some kinda jail house?” questions AJ. Rhede shakes his head. “Sorta, but not quite. It’s like a pocket dimension ruled by vengeance, or something like that. Even I don't know all the details.” “That is really about all anyone knows, Rhede. It is another dimension that seems to have come into existence solely as punishment to those trapped inside it. The gods of the world made an agreement with the gods that exist in Tartarus long ago. We would guard the main door that had somehow linked to our world, and in return, if there was something too vile or evil that we could not deal with, they would imprison it. The current guardian of the gate is a three-headed hound named Cerberus,” Twilight rattles off. “Umm, not that I doubt his skill or anything, he was such a cute puppy, but how is he going to protect the gate by his self?” Fluttershy mutters. “Well, the gate itself is not very well-known, unless you have read the right books. Plus, no one really wants to find it, anyway. Cerberus is there to keep us out, the gods of Tartarus keep everything in... mostly.” “Mostly?” questions Starfall. “Yes, well, the book I read listed a few times when other doors were temporarily opened and somepony got in or something got out. The last one that the book listed happened about fifteen hundred years ago; a rift opened due to a conflict inside Tartarus, though it was sealed before anything got out, according to the book.” “Honestly, with our luck, now that some pony mentioned it, it's going to bite us on the flank,” Rhede mutters. ======================================================= The sound of wing beats and the light click of hooves on stone fills the small chamber, followed quickly by a loud thud of a body hitting stone and a curse and a chuckle from a griffon. Scarlet picks herself up as the griffon lands nearby. A glare from Nocturne stops any argument before it starts before the mare trots around the room curiously, looking over everything. A large dais with a crystalline heart rests in the center of the room. A strange power radiates from the stone, though the dark alicorn ignores it, trotting towards the far wall, where a group of black crystals forms a jagged table. A small teal book rests open on it, the black mist that clung about the city seeming to ooze from its pages. “They were right... The Teal Text is here. With it, we can find the others,” exclaims Nocturne, her magic gripping the book and lifting it from the table, snapping it closed. “Umm not to butt in to your self-praise and excitement, but don't you think it would have been good to let me see if it was trapped?” questions Scarlet. “Pffft, this place was old before we were even turned to stone. I doubt any one would bother...” starts Wind Razor, cutting off as the city starts to rumble. The cavernous ceiling far above them began to crack as the rumbling grows stronger. Scarlet yelps as she’s knocked off her hooves, crashing into Wind Razor and sending them both tumbling across the room. Nocturne barely manages to keep her hooves, but even she loses her balance as the tower they were in jerks upwards, rocketing towards the ice above. =============================== “So what the heck are we looking for again?” questions a pegasus guard. Captain Peach Blossom sighs glancing over at his companion as they glide over the snowy expanse of the delta sectors ice field. “As I said, Breezy, the princess did not tell us. she only said that we were to patrol these sectors and look for signs of something that was unusual,” grumbles Peach Blossom. “Any idea of what that might be? All I see is snow, rock, and ice. That's all I’ve seen for the last few months,” questions Breezy. The blue-tinged pegasus banks a little bit to avoid brushing wing tips with the captain while they were in flight. “No, and we are going to keep patrolling until we are told to do otherwise, just like in the ...” A loud roar and a sound like shattering glass cuts off the rest of what the captain was saying. In the distance, a massive structure stabs upwards through the ice, lifting into the air and flinging debris as it rose. The ice and snow cascades away from the tall structure as a massive city rises from the ground at the base of the tower. The roar slowly subsides as the light of the sun catches the tower glinting off the crystalline structures and reflecting a rainbow of colors onto the snow around the city nearly blinding the Pegasus. Breezy winces, squinting to look at the city. “You think that counts as unusual enough, Captain?” ============================================ Nocturne, Scarlet, and Wind Razor slowly push themselves up from where they had fallen, looking out over the edge down at the city that had risen from the depths. The brilliant glow slowly fades as the dark mist that had surrounded the city burns off and the power that brought it up from the depths fades. Far below, they see the signs of movement as ponies formerly frozen in time by the darkness begin to stir for the first time in centuries. “What the buck just happened?” questions Wind Razor. “The book must have been the lynchpin holding the curse in place over this city,” Nocturne responds. “Troubling, as there was no indication of this happening, let alone that this much power was being sealed on that table...” Nocturne glances back and whirls, her rear hooves at the edge of the drop from the tower. The others look back as well before both move to the defensive. The black crystal table appears to be melting and flowing across the floor like a thick viscous smoke. A pair of green eyes open in the miasma, scarlet pupils turning at odd angles before focusing on the trio before them. Its gaze locks on the book, then shifts to the crystal heart resting in the room’s center before going back to the trio, the eyes flaring brightly. Purple flames erupt from the sides of the eyes as a large fanged mouth opens at the base of the smoke. The form rises, taking a vaguely pony-like shape that towers over the alicorn and her companions. “...Crystal....” “By the stars, he is still alive!?” Nocturne yelps causing the other two to stress further that something had shaken her. Scarlet and Wind Razor do not even manage a response before Nocturne's horn flares and the three of them vanish from the tower in a flash of light from the alicorn's teleport spell. The darkness blinks staring at the spot they were before roaring loudly and launching itself out of the tower flying towards the fading feeling of the teleport’s destination “CRYSTAL!!!!!!! RAAAAAAAH!!” ================================================ Deep in the Hayseed swamps, the constant drone of insects fills the air around a dormant volcano riddled with caves and covered with strange green ichor. Inside, the changeling queen sat in her throne room, surrounded by guards and workers, ignoring them as they mill about and tend the cocoons containing captured prey for their queen to feed on until they were fit to join the swarm. Chrysalis's eyes snap open suddenly, and she rushes from her throne, knocking several drones aside in her gallop to the balcony that overlooked the forest and Canterlot in the far distance. Her attention was not directed to her failure, but past it and the energy that had drawn her from her boredom It had been several millennia since she last felt this... could it be? “Ready the swarm. I want scouts to me at once for a mission. Move,” orders Chrysalis ignoring the scurrying of drones behind her. She stares to the north, hoping for another sign of the power, for anything. “Is it you? Has my Generosity returned to me after all this time?” she questions to no one in particular. “If it is you, there will be nothing to keep us apart again now that she is dead. NOTHING.”