Stories in Stone
Memories of Twilight
by TDR
“....a ghost in the fog....”
“Seriously, how much further is it? I'm hot, tired, and my hooves are getting dusty!” Rarity whined.
The sun beat down on the group and the two wagons with them, which were being pulled by Jer'rahd and Applejack. Most of the others walked alongside the wagon loads of supplies. Rhede rode under protest due to Velkorn insisting he not strain his leg, and Bleu sat on the zebra's back, resting in case they needed a quick escape.
Rarity, on the other hoof, had sat herself in Applejack's cart and started whining for most of the trip.
Jer'rahd's ears remained flattened to his head as even Twilight looked ready to strangle her friend. At the very least, the high pitched drone the mare produced while complaining would keep any Diamond Dogs away, if any of the dogs even lived in this barren wasteland.
Starfall and Rainbow Dash were in the air, though they were sticking close to the group after a sudden dust storm earlier had nearly smashed them into one of the towering rock spires that jutted up from the brown and white sands.
The train had taken them to the Dodge City and they had traveled the rest of the way on hoof. While Appleloosa was closer to the Macintosh Hills, which acted as a natural wall between the Badlands and the rest of Equestria, one of the few known passes that could be taken from the ground was south of Dodge City. The other pass into the Badlands was on the other side of the mountain range near where Camp Geode had once been. The Shadow of Nox was closer to the northern pass, however.
Only the foolish or the desperate came here. On top of the sudden dust storms and lack of water, there were also tales of the entire land being cursed or haunted. And ponies, for some reason, tended to be a cowardly and rather superstitious lot in this day and age.
To be honest, Jer'rahd was starting to wish it was haunted— then there would be something to see aside from fire-blasted rock and lifeless dirt. The very ground crunched under his hooves with each step as if he was breaking through a thin layer of ice atop of fresh snow. In this case, though, it crunched due to it being glass. Because of this, everyone who was walking had put on at least the hoof coverings of the armor that was provided so as not to cut up their legs and hooves.
The ground was broken in a few places where other creatures had ventured into the place. Most of them soon turned and went the other way, though a number of the tracks ended in dunes of sand.
No one was really up to see what might be under the piles, and the baking heat even kept the more hyperactive members of the group subdued. Only the crunch of hooves, the creak of the wagons, and the whine of the white unicorn filled the air.
Nox was a few lengths ahead of the group, trying to get her bearings. She had been here before and knew the way to the shadow.
They had passed a number of ruins and steep rock formations, and Jer'rahd had eyed every single one of them, expecting some sort of ambush. This place was far too quiet for his liking.
[“So help me mare, if Celestia sent you along because she hoped your whining would make us go faster, I will have some very unpleasant things to say to her,”] Velkorn growled, getting a chuckle from the members of the group who spoke Zebra.
Which amounted to every pony but Rarity, Applejack, and Jer'rahd.
“What was that, dear? Rarity questioned, leaning over the cart AJ was pulling.
“She said put a sock in it before she finds one to put in it for you,” Bleu grumbled from Velkorn's back, fanning her wings to try and keep a breeze blowing over the pair of them.
“How rude,” Rarity pouted.
====================================================
Claymore raised a brow, looking at the others in the small group. Bloodtail appeared to be rather concerned as well.
They both knew about Silver Claw's eye, but to see the battered state of Wind Razor, the one-winged alicorn that was Nocturne, and the near-mummified state of Scarlet was a bit more of a shock, even with them knowing about the injuries. Claymore, however, couldn't help being a dick about it and laugh at the bandaged mare.
Nocturne clearly had not slept, and a broken chunk of dried bone still jutted from the scar where her wing had been. The mare's back spasmed with every shift of her intact wing, though she ignored the pair rather well. Four of the five books rested on a stone table before her, and the fifth, the Purple Pamphlet, against one wall of the room.
The abandoned Guard post was at the edge of White Tail Woods, the forest that had once been home to the Elk. The tower was little more than a crumbling ruin, though its location away from any sort of well traveled route gave them the privacy they needed to prepare for the ritual.
The site had been chosen, the Elements recovered, and everything was prepared for their ascent into godhood.
Bloodtail looked over the rest of the group briefly, considering what he had seen in the Purple Pamphlet while they had been returning. He knew there was a sixth book now, but there was no link or location to it that he could find. When he brought it up, Nocturne had told them that the Jade Scroll was unnecessary, and with its presence, the ritual would likely fail.
There was also mention of something called The Nameless, but only a single line that stated 'its creation could restore the books’
full power'. Considering how rife with riddles and conflicting statements the fat book had been, he was unsure why such a line stood out to him. Still, it was something to worry about later. For now, his goal was in reach.
The sole purpose of his infatuation with Velkorn was her bloodline. The Shadow Walkers had preformed rites of visions and prophecy to find the lines that would most likely produce gods. They had wanted to raise the gods to power and reclaim what was lost to them. Bloodtail had wanted something a bit more ambitious. There was a ritual he once had that could be used to transfer a soul from one body to another. He had intended to sire a god with Velkorn and then take over its body to become a god himself.
Now, however, there was no more need of that.
“I will use the Element of Loyalty,” Silver Claw stated suddenly as if daring anyone else to challenge his statement.
“I do not see how it matters who uses what,” Wind Razor grumbled, picking at the bandage on the end of her tail stump.
“It does not, though if an Element is more suited to you, then it is more likely to work than if it is not suited,” Nocturne said. “Considering your connection to your father, Loyalty does suit you. I will be using Magic.”
“Claymore should be Honesty, simply because he's too crude and ignorant to try subtlety or guile.” Scarlet smirked, throwing a necklace with an apple-shaped gem on it towards Claymore before digging a tiara with a star burst pattern from the box and tossing it to Nocturne.
Silver Claw looked down as he caught the lightning bolt-shaped gem on the end of the chain that Scarlet tossed to him, sniffing it lightly. This item was different than he remembered it being when Jer'rahd wore it, though the mark on it matched the pony who was the current bearer.
“I would like to keep these as well when all this is done. Though tacky, such powerful items might aid in negotiations with other nations while I work to restore the Dragon race to its former glory, or failing that, at least make decent trophies.” Silver Claw stated.
“The books say they cannot be destroyed, so hiding them will have to do,” Nocturne said.
[“Do what you like with them. So long as their chosen bearers do not get them back, I do not care.”] Bloodtail commented as he looked over the necklace with a butterfly on it.
“Jewelry’s not really my thing...” muttered Wind Razor, tilting her head to look at the shaped gem, finding it the most normal-looking one there.
“Laughter?” Nocturne questioned, looking at Scarlet as she put the chain connected to the balloon-shaped gem around her neck.
“Of course. Bloodtail seemed to care something about the dead and that toy of Claymore's, at least a little, and the bird is quite generous dishing out death.” Scarlet grinned, glaring at Claymore. “As for me, well, I always get the last laugh.”
“Ooooh, scary mummy mare with a balloon necklace... I better watch out,” stated Claymore.
=====================================================
Twilight stared at the area before her in awe and horror.
A swath of green grass and a few scattered flowering weeds lay like a narrow fan from a point barely a pony's length to a wall of rock less than an acre from the point. Pinkie briefly remarked how it looked like a big green piece of pie in the middle of the desert though even she realized the joke was weak and returned to silence quickly.
After two days of nothing but sand-blasted wasteland, the sight of such life was a welcome sight, though not what surrounded it. Nox stood at the point of the massive lawn, though she was not looking at the swath of life as the others were.
“The shadow of Nox,” Nox stated, turning her head to look away from the crater, perhaps little more than two leagues away, to Twilight.
Even in the fading light of the day, the crater glowed; the heat rose in waves from it like an open oven on a cold day. Starfall and Rainbow Dash couldn't fly near it for the heat that it put out, and even Bleu was uncomfortable.
“That is the pit that was created when Celestia attacked Discord for the first time. The heat from her attack scorched the entire land, and in that spot, it turned the rock and sand molten. Even after it cooled, it had burned so hot that the impurities of the soil were charred away, leaving a massive perfect bowl of black mirrored glass. The heat from the sun collects in it and alters the weather around the Badlands, pushing away most clouds and causing dust storms. This close to the cauldron, I have no idea how the shadow remains green,” Nox explained. “As far as I know, Celestia is the only one who has been in that inferno and come out unscathed.”
It was neither the bowl nor the green space that unnerved Twilight— it was the space between. Stone markers dotted the landscape, stretching between the grass and the crater, all seemingly randomly arranged. It was among these stones that Jer'rahd walked, scraping off sections of the stones and reading what was inscribed there.
Twilight glanced to Nox before trotting over to the somber unicorn. Jer'rahd glanced back looking down at one of the stones. “Graves. Etched with the names, the birth dates, and the life summaries of those buried here.” Jer'rahd commented. “Surviving family, notable achievements, nicknames. All of it in Old Canterlot and some of it so small that I can't even make them out. These graves have entire ponies’ life stories written on them.”
“There is no pony buried here. The fires did not even leave ash behind of their remains. These monuments are all that is left of the troops that went with her while chasing Discord. Celestia spent years putting them together after Discord was defeated. Each one is for one of those that followed her and that she killed in her anger.” Nox sighed.
“I've never heard of anything like this. I mean, there was little about the Equestrian Civil War, but we knew it happened, even if it was just an old mares’ tale. There is nothing about this in any of the books about the Discordian War, and some of those are very detailed,” Twilight muttered incredulously.
“And do you announce your shames to the world, or do you do your best to hide them?” Jer'rahd pointed out as Nox flinched. “She has the power to hide her mistakes to keep her image.”
“Princess Celestia wouldn't do that...” Twilight started, but she stopped, looking at the graves.
“I am afraid she did, Miss Sparkle, though she has done her best to repent. This act done in anger is likely why she accepted Aviana's request to always find a peaceful approach. She has always been ashamed of what she did to defeat Discord. In her long life, there are likely many things she is ashamed of. There are likely a number that even her sister does not know.” Nox explained.
“She knew we were going to find this out. That might explain some of her anger when we left,” Jer'rahd muttered.
“You are not planning to use this to harass her, are you?” Twilight grumbled, looking at Jer'rahd.
“I have no plans to, unless she has forgotten it.”
“She has not,” stated Nox.
“Then I have no reason to bring it up. I know better than anypony that even our gods make mistakes. So long as they remember them and don't repeat them, there is little more that can be asked. It doesn't matter if anyone else knows about them.”
“Would you have everyone forget your mistakes as well, until only you recall them?” Nox commented, a hint of anger in her voice.
“There are very few things I have done that I consider a mistake, and only two I would do anything to change. Everything else that I did had a purpose, one that lead up to the defeat of many major threats to Equestria. Despite what was done because of our actions, the land achieved peace for a thousand years.”
Twilight and Nox glanced to each other.
“Then what's with all the grief you have been giving the Princess about the guard getting weak?” Twilight questioned.
“Despite my complaints, Sparkle, I am greatly impressed that there has been peace long enough for the Guards to have gone soft.
There are foals out there who think wars are little more than old stories or games. How many generations came about that had no need to worry about an invasion, or even an attack?”
Both Twilight and the masked pony stared at Jer'rahd. The gray unicorn sighed and trotted towards the swath of green.
“Sorry, I’m getting melodramatic in my age...” Jer muttered.
Nox snorted. “Please, you're not even thirty yet. The thousand years does not count.”
“That was dangerously close to a compliment directed at Celestia as well. I can't wait to tell her,” Twilight chuckled.
“Make that three mistakes I would change...” Jer groaned.
“So about that, what are the mistakes you would change, anyway?” Twilight wondered aloud, ignoring Jer'rahd's snort of annoyance.
Jer'rahd stopped mid-step, as if debating telling the purple unicorn; a brief glance at Nox seemed to cement his resolve. “I wouldn’t have left Platinum alone on the stage, for starters, and I would not have let Princess Luna use the books. Those are the only two things I still regret.”
Nox's ears flattened as she stared after the unicorn while he continued back to the group along with Twilight.
“It never seems to be about what you would like personally, does it, Kaisur?” she muttered before following after the pair.
=====================================================
The cloaked figure looked down into the well, ignoring the stares and mutterings of the townsponies milling around her. Considering the state of things, she was somewhat surprised none of them had tried to do anything, or even called the guard. Granted, the reason for that was standing behind her.
“See anything yet?” Big Mac asked, peering over her shoulder at the well.
“No, but it is not always obvious why I am brought somewhere,” Sunshine replied.
“Still don't get this power of yers. What's tha point if yah can't figure it out what it means?”
“My abilities only tell me that I am needed somewhere when I can be of some sort of aid. If I cannot help or I cannot make it somewhere in time to do anything, I do not get any sort of warning.”
“Errrr.”
“Look, every god of every race is born with some innate power. Mine is one that places me in the right place at the right time to do something. It does not tell me what the problem is or how to react to the issue most of the time. All I get is an odd feeling and a feeling that I should be somewhere. Like right now, something is wrong with this well, but I do not know what.”
“If something’s wrong with this one, then it's wrong with all of ‘em. There's an underground aquifer that feeds all the wells from tha river. The reservoir's under a big chunk of Ponyville and a number of the taps in ponies houses are fed from it, too,” Big Mac explained watching as Sunshine hauled up a bucket of water, her cloak shifting and flashing the red stripes over white.
Mac was tired. He and Granny had come to town to report to the Guard post about what happened, and he personally had come to keep an eye on this strange zebra. Granny was at the post office writing a letter for a pegasus to deliver to Major Rose. Even if Mac went to bed now, it would be a day or so before he would be in any shape to start the harvest, let alone fix the kitchen. Given the situation, Granny was more than willing to take advantage of the offer Jer'rahd left to recruit the guards for the harvest. He was in no shape to protest and AJ wasn't here.
Sunshine filled a few bottles produced from under her cloak with well water, careful not to spill any of it on herself before tucking a few away and offering three to Big Mac.
“Do you know of a potion maker or alchemist in Ponyville that can examine these?” Sunshine questioned.
Mac pondered a moment, remembering how often Apple Bloom spoke of what her friend was making. “Only one ah ken think of is Zecora. She's out in the forest. Shouldn't be too hard to get ta her so long as yah avoid tha blue flowers along the path. Though I might luck out and find her in town.”
“Since you seem to know of her, take these to her and tell her that I suspect there is something wrong with them. I will have my own contacts have a look as well.”
Mac took the bottles, tucking them into a large saddlebag he wore. He was without his yoke for once, and that might be cause for some of the looks the pair were getting.
“I would suggest that the wells be closed until I can figure out what is going on.”
“That's not likely gonna happen. Lot of folks pull water from the wells. Lot of folks already drawn water before you got yer weird twitch and there's no sign any of ‘em were poisoned or anything,” Big Mac stated, holding a bottle in his hoof and looking over the clear fluid. “Ah don't see nothing wrong, either.”
“Poison is not the only way to taint a water supply, though you are correct: there may not be anything with the water itself. My abilities are being rather vague.” Sunshine glanced up at Big Mac, her face being flashed to him briefly. He blinked, getting a feeling of familiarity at the sight of her, though he couldn't say from where. “I am surprised you believe me when I say I have this strange sense.”
“Ah know Pinkie Pie. Least you ken sorta explain yer ability.”
============================================================
The ten ponies, zebra, and the dragonling looked up at the four story stone door in the front of the ruins.
Half of the six-pony-length-wide door was crystallized— blasted with unimaginable heat that had turned its surface partially to glass.
The other half of the door was simply cool, damp stone, which was odd, given the dry air of the Badlands should have sucked the moisture from it. The monolithic walls surrounding the door rose easily four stories and jutted out from the main body of the ruins, likely opening to a grand hall that led to the main part of the structure.
“So what now?” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“Nox, Twilight, do either of you see any sort of enchantment on the door?” Rhede questioned, looking over the half-charred stone..
“Nothing as far as I can tell,” Twilight replied.
“I do not sense anything, either,” Nox added.
“Alright Jer, yank this bad boy open,” Rhede said with a smirk.
Jer'rahd glared at him. “While I appreciate that you think highly of my abilities, this door has to be several tons of rock. I can't levitate that much. Maybe if it was half this size, I could push it down...”
“Oh.”
“Bleu, grab a corner of the door. Sparkle, you and Nox pull on it as well. Maybe the four of us can...” Jer'rahd started.
“Not to stop the show of masochism and magical prowess here, but shouldn't we be able to just walk through the hole in the side of the building rather than fiddle with the door?” Rarity asked, drawing a few confused glances to the white unicorn who stood at the corner of the building pointing to something.
The small group moved over to see what she was pointing to, spotting a hole broken into the wall along the scorched side of the ruins.
“Well, that makes things easier,” Nox mutterd.
“Guess it's my turn then,” grumbled Rhede. “Give me a few moments.” He moved into the hole, checking out the surroundings.
“What the hay is he doing?” questioned Applejack.
“OOH, OOOH, I know! It's a fart!” Pinkie shouted, getting glares and a number of face hooves. Rhede could be heard falling over and cursing before ducking his head back out of the hole to glower at Pinkie.
“I am not farting...” Rhede growled, being drown out by Pinkie.
“I know how to do that! I can help fart too!” Pinkie bounced closer.
“Pinkie, I don't think...” Twilight began.
“How in the heck can she help someone fart? Add more beans to their diet?” Starfall griped.
“What beans? No, beans wouldn't help. Well, maybe a full can would, but only if you have to throw it at something to trigger it...” Pinkie replied, getting more strange looks.
“Pinkie what the hay are you talking about?” Applejack asked.
“What you need to properly Fart. Well, maybe some lock picks, too...” Pinkie responded.
“Lock picks?” Nox questioned, getting really confused.
“How else are you going to deal with the difficult ones?” Pinkie stateed surprised.
“Wait, wait, wait, what the hay do you think a fart is?” Rhede questioned, glancing back as Velkorn, Bleu, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash tried their best not to crack up laughing at all the talk of farts. Rarity simply looked ill.
“F.A.R.T. Find And Remove Traps, of course. Why, what did you think fart meant?” Pinkie said innocently as Dash finally lost it and fell over laughing.
“Pinkie, think about what you said.” Bleu sniggered.
Pinkie Pie tilted her head a moment, mulling it over before her ears perked up and her eyes widened.
“Oh, oooooh, OOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOHHHHH. That explains why the Mayor rejected my idea of renaming the town emergency group to the Fast Action Response Team.”
“What? That was yer idea?!” AJ sputtered, having been responsible for that particular veto.
“Just... just get in here and help me see if the place is trapped,” growled Rhede, ducking back inside.
“Okie doki!” Pinkie chirped as she bounced into the hole in the wall.
==========================================================
Philomena hissed at the two foals while doing her best to hide behind Celestia's head. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle pretend not to notice the bird as the Princess of the Sun finished casting the spell to make the two fillies fireproof, at least for a while. They had managed not to destroy the palace further yesterday, and thankfully, except for her attempts to fly, Scootaloo was less destructive as well.
Two rather battered guards stood on either side of the fillies. Lion Heart would likely be fine if Scootaloo lost control, though she made sure to cast the fire resistance spell on him anyway and double up the spell on Peach Blossom... just in case.
The girls were rather excited to be seeing their friend again, even though it had only been three days and were bouncing about. Philomena was there so that Celestia could compare the bird to the foal’s new cutie mark. The phoenix was not thrilled about being near the crusaders again, however. The guards were there because the harsh negotiations the two had put forth to her had been awarded in a raise, though it also meant more work for them, including continued foal sitting duties.
To be honest, Celestia was still one more destroyed wall away from shipping the trio off to the Crystal Empire and letting Cadence deal with them. She had also decided that she would trace back their family lines to ensure they were not related to Discord somehow.
The pair had rushed into the room before the door had fully been opened, somehow managing to smack Celestia on the nose with the door even though it swung inward. The Princess of the Sun whipped her head, reaching a hoof up to rub her nose as the two fillies nearly tackled their orange friend.
“Scootaloo, you got your cutie mark!” shouted Apple Bloom.
“How did that happen? Did you go crusading without us?” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
“Yep and nope. I dunno how I got it, or even what it means, but check this out!” Scootaloo grinned, jumping up into the air and spreading her tiny wings. The feathers burst into green fire and spread wider as she madly flapped, taking off into the air. The other two fillies “ooooh”-ed as their friend took to the air.
Celestia regarded Scootaloo's wings. The green fire composed most of their makeup and actually made them larger than her own alicorn wings. If not for the fact they were on fire and only appeared when Scootaloo wanted, they would greatly dwarf the tiny pegasus. Twilight would likely call it some sort of body mass to wing length ratio or something like that.
The Princess’s observations stopped when Scootaloo collided with the ceiling and spiraled back to the ground with a crash, setting the carpet, Sweetie Belle's tail, and Apple Bloom's bow on fire.
The pair screamed and started running around in a panic even though the fire was not really burning them. However, the green flame was more than happy to set anything the panicking pair touched ablaze.
A sharp shove against her flank sent Celestia stumbling into the room. She glared back as Peach Blossom waved and Lion Heart closed the door.
“We'll wait out here, Princess, to ummm.. stand guard…” Lion Heart muttered softly with Phillomena sitting on his head and nodding in agreement.
“Cowards,” Celestia muttered, feeling her own mane start to catch fire as Apple Bloom crashed into her.
======================================================================
“...and in the master's chamber, they gathered for the feast... they stabbed it with their steely knives, but they just can't...” Bleu and Pinkie Pie sang together.
“Bleu, Miss Pie, that's enough,” Jer'rahd snapped.
It had been hours, and none of them had found anything— no traps, no book, nothing but empty rooms and dust. The group had returned to the main hall that led to what might have once been a throne room to try and plan the next course of action. Bleu and
Pinkie had gotten bored and started singing, which was fine at first, though their current song had been a bit unnerving, particularly since Jer'rahd actually knew it.
“Geez, boss, I didn't know you hated the Griffons that much,” Bleu grumbled.
“You two are singing loud enough to wake the dead. On top of that, the song is creepy,” Jer grumbled.
“And supposedly cursed. A lot of ponies say bad things happen when that song is played,” Twilight pointed, out flipping through the book she had been reading on the train. The other current Bearers flinched at the word “curse”, particularly since Twilight had said it.
“Cursed? Pffft, a song can't be cursed. It's not like I called Boss a clever pony or something... Bleu rambled, suddenly slamming her claws over her muzzle at what she said.
The other members of the five beasts, as well as Nox, were on their hooves and looking around in a panic at the words.
After a moment of nothing happening, Jer glared at Bleu.
“I didn't mean to say anything...” Bleu went silent again at a loud crack and the sound of shifting stone.
Jer'rahd winced as everyone else got to their hooves at the sound.
“Bleu, if we live through this, two weeks light rations, no dessert,” Jer snarled, bringing a wince from Bleu.
Bleu opened her mouth to respond when the stone floor they were all standing on fell away, dumping all of them into blackness.
=============================================================
The constant droning and buzzing of wings was driving him mad. Even, so he knew he could not leave. He could not bear to be more than a tail's length from his queen since he had rescued her.
Chrysalis, it seemed, felt the same way, and unless she was addressing her troops, she had remained as close to him as she could get.
Rebuilding the hive had been surprisingly easy. The changelings that were captured or destroyed in the raid on the hive in the volcano were simply the ones who had not yet been sent on assignment or had just returned from one. The majority of her forces were scattered across the world, infiltrating societies of all nations and farming what love they could. It had only taken one order from their Queen, and they had all returned to help rebuild the hive higher in the mountains in an old griffon aerie.
He had not been idle either; the drones had been sent out to collect a number of things for him, and now an army of black crystal golems and living shadows had joined the changeling forces.
Their combined forces were now twice what they had been in Hayseed Swamp. They were also much better prepared for combat than they had been. The love-cursed pair had an army ready to give their lives, or unlives, for their rulers, just as it had been centuries ago when their foe had been Aviana.
Sombra sighed as he considered the name. Pity that mare was dead, though revenge could still be taken on her protégée. Perhaps they could even free Forgescale somehow and recruit him to their cause. The dragon had more than enough hatred for that mare to go around.
The only issue that remained was where to direct the attack. It was the one argument he and his love had, though neither could bring themselves to put much effort into going against the other’s plans.
“I still say we should strike the Crystal Empire while it is weak, love. With that heart, we will not need large supply lines and we can use the Empire as the staging point to invade the rest of Equestria,” Sombra rambled off once again, starting the fires of the discussion.
“Canterlot must fall first. That is the source of far too many of our troubles. Removing the two princesses is something that must be done before we can proceed. I already have an agent there ready to free the captured drones to aid us in the fight,” Chrysalis replied.
“Canterlot falling will prevent them from aiding the Empire when we take it. And then I can take my time disposing of Cadence.”
Sombra frowned, not entirely thrilled with that story and how his love had nearly managed to marry another pony, despite what she could have gained from the marriage. He had a few plans for this “Shining Armor” as well when they met.
“It seems we cannot agree on a target,” Chrysalis noted with a grin as green flame suddenly ran over her form, “so how about we settle arguments the way we used to...”
Sombra narrowed his eyes, though a smile crossed his fanged maw at the light green mare now standing before him. Her teal mane spilled down her nearly perfect form. The only thing remaining of her changeling form was her green eyes and the cutie mark of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon on her flank.
“That is cheating... You know quite well I never win any of those 'contests'.” Sombra pointed out.
“I also know you never refused any of them, either,” Chrysalis stated from the form of Princess Crystal.
Sombra solidified from smoke fully, tossing his cloak aside and moving closer to kiss her lightly.
“Things have changed a little bit now, my love. I may finally be able to outlast you this time.”
“Really? Care to try and prove that?” The green pony trotted off, her flank shifting in a way that had Sombra's gaze tracking it until she entered her quarters.
Sombra grinned wider, glancing over to the changeling guards standing nearby who were pretending they had seen nothing.
“Inform the troops that we will be attacking Canterlot. I want all the information that can be gathered about the city and its defenses. Inform the contact there as well.” He grinned wide again, trotting towards the bedroom. “Oh, I know I will still lose, love, but I can assure you it will be a hard-won battle this time.”
==================================================
“Is every one alright down there?” Bleu shouted, flapping madly in the darkness as she looked around at Dash, Starfall, and Nox, who hovered somewhere in the middle of the pit, looking down into the darkness.
“Wheeee, that was fun! Can we do it again?” Pinkie Pie shouted from below.
“Three weeks, Bleu!” Jer'rahd shouted.
“Gahhh, what is that? Pelt, so help me if that is what I think it is poking my flank, I will geld you!” Rarity yelled.
“Seriously? I'm near the bottom of the pile. If I can reach all the way up there to poke you in the flank, I am waaaay more endowed than I thought,” Rhede snarled.
“Then what is... YEEEEEE!!” Rarity shrieked, lashing out with a hoof as she was prodded again.
“GAH! Ow, Rarity, that's my horn!” Twilight winced.
“Ooops, sorry, Twilight,” Rarity muttered.
“Twilight, git yer hoof outta my face!” Applejack grumbled.
“Ohh, um, I think that's my hoof, Applejack. Sorry...” Fluttershy muttered.
“Fergot yah ken fly again, didn't yah, sugar?” AJ sighed.
“Sorry,” whispered Fluttershy.
“Whoever is jumping upon my head had best stop now, or I will make you wish you were dead!” Velkorn grumbled.
“Oops! Sorry, Velky” Pinkie Pie giggled.
“Will all of you get the buck offa me already?!” shouted Jer'rahd from the bottom of the pile.
“Well at least they all seem fine,” Nox sighed.
“Fine as in no bodily injury, though I think they all need their heads checked,” Starfall added.
“Three weeks light rations....” Bleu whimpered.
===================================================
Cadence flipped though the book Rhede had found once again, her ears flat to her head as she reread it for the third time perhaps.
A light buzzing filled the room, causing her to look up as a small blue crystalline dragonfly fluttered into the room, landing lightly on the table before her, its compound eyes sparkling as it tilted his head regarding her.
Cadence smirked at the insect. The creatures were a semi-sentient species that lived in the empire long ago. The crystal
dragonflies had nearly been wiped out once by dragons who viewed them as delicacies. The smarter of the insects had come to the
Empire for help and the ruler of the time had given them aid, fearing that the dragons would come after his subjects next.
The conflict was not large enough to be considered a war and the dragons who survived were too ashamed at being beaten by their meals that they likely never spoke of it. Since that time, the crystal dragonflies had been living along with the crystal ponies and acting as messengers and scouts for the normally-earthbound ponies.
“Did you find him Moshi?” Cadence questioned.
The blue insect nodded, its buzzing sounding like a pair of wet crystals scraping together, though the voice produced was musical enough for the soft grinding to be ignored. “Yes, Princess. Your husband was getting his flank kicked again and is happy to be on his way.”
Cadence sighed, wondering what new injuries Shining would have this time. He was quite determined to prove himself to the Empire's Guards, though for the most part, they seemed to be trying to grind him into dust, all on the newly-promoted Major Rose's orders.
None of that was really a worry at this point. What worried her was the book on the crystal heart written by its creator, a former ruler of the empire named King Soloman, or as he was known now, King Sombra.
Their methods of its creation were only hinted at in the book, but the goal of the stone had clearly been to cure, or at least lessen the effects of, a curse that was laid upon him and his love, Queen Chrysalis, or Princess Crystal, as she was referred to in the book. The heart itself was created to both store and amplify love and hope. The problem was that it needed an entire city to give it power.
Sombra had ruled the empire before he was sealed in Tartarus and had started the Crystal Heart project then. When he escaped, he came back to the empire to retrieve what he had created, only to find the ponies of the empire had given up the tradition of the Crystal Fair. There was not enough power in the heart to light a candle, let alone feed an entire hive of changelings.
Sombra then enslaved the empire and subjected the ponies to grueling conditions and horrendous torture for the sole purpose of convincing them that Crystal Heart was their only salvation. He not only started the rumors, but he also did his best to make them think that the heart actually held power over him by hiding it in plain sight at the top of the tower as if he was tormenting the ground bound ponies with something they could never have.
He had one of his agents found the rebellion against him and eventually planned to let the forces against him capture the heart and hold a Crystal Fair to charge the heart, at which point he planned to fake his own destruction so that he could recover the heart after it was fully charged.
However, he had not planned that the rebels he was allowing to exist would seek help from others outside the empire. His plans were all but ruined by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's interference. Rather than lose all he had worked for once more,
Sombra brought the entire empire down with him so that the subjects he had trained to believe in the heart for would not find out otherwise.
Cadence sighed, rubbing her temples with her hooves while Moshi looked on with as worried an expression as a bug could give. If this book was true, then the surge of power that supposedly destroyed Sombra was exactly what the dark unicorn had wanted to happen. The heart's power was not going to keep him at bay. In fact, since it was fully charged, it was likely going to draw him back here sooner rather than later.
==================================================================
[“This has turned out better than I expected,”] Velkorn noted, looking over Rhede's leg.
The cavern they had fallen into was greatly different than the ruins above. While the building was dilapidated, it was still clearly well-built and properly constructed. The tunnel they were in now, however, was haphazardly dug, and judging by the claw marks and the scattered bones lying about, at least half of the group could easily tell what had dug the tunnels.
“Trolls.” Rhede winced as Velkorn prodded his leg. “How can you say it's going good when there's trolls?”
[“We made quite a bit of noise in our falling and not a one showed up. Also, as has been stated by Nox, the skeletons here are all troll. They may all be dead.”] Velkorn remarked.
“Possible; the book did say that the Jade Scroll was brought here by a number of troll servants of the Books of Orbsah.” Rhede glanced over at the alicorn as she studied a battered skull. “Guess they never got out again.”
“Everyone good?” Rainbow Dash questioned, gliding in to land near Twilight and Jer'rahd. “We found a door up ahead. There’s no other paths, just this long twisty tunnel and the door at the end.
“That must be it.” Twilight grinned and headed off down the corridor with the others rushing to keep up.
“Should I fart?” Pinkie Pie yelled after her.
Applejack grumbled at the comment, though Rhede piped in first.
“We didn't find anything topside, and trolls tend not to be smart enough to make traps.”
“What about dragons?” Bleu stated, suddenly bringing the group to a screeching halt as everyone looked at the little dragonling on Jer'rahd's back.
“There's a dragon?” Nox questioned.
“Smells like one. Something's not right with it, though. It smells like a dragon, some kind of precious metal corrosion and...” —Bleu sniffed the air again— “Old books or paper. The smell of the paper is stronger than the dragon scent, though.”
“Ummm, maybe it's gone? Like the trolls?” Fluttershy whimpered.
“Yeah, there's a problem with that theory. The troll bones have been there so long I can't even smell them, and we know they made this tunnel,” Bleu explained. “If the dragon was gone, it should be the same way.”
Jer'rahd shrugged and headed to the door again along with the waiting Starfall, followed by the rest of the group.
The door at the end of the hall was a massive circular disk of iron and stone. There seemed to be no recesses that it could slide into, nor any room in the tunnel to roll it out of the way. It was less like a door and more like a cap to seal what was behind it. The surface of the stone parts of the door were carved with sigils and filled with gold, silver, or a metal Rarity identified as electrum.
Rhede sighed and turned to get a few books out of his saddle bag. “Crap. It's old Draconic. I don't think I brought anything to translate that. I don't suppose you know it, Nox?”
“No, I never bothered to study it. I know a few words of it spoken, though mostly, they are insults,” Nox replied.
“First thing any pony learns in a new language are the dirty words,” Pinkie bubbled.
“You know it, Twilight?” Applejack questioned.
“Don't Dead, open inside,” Twilight muttered, trying to read the ruins.
“What?” questioned Rhede, looking at the purple unicorn.
“You are reading it the wrong way. That symbol doesn't mean ‘open’, and old Draconic doesn’t use conjunctions unless they are possessive. This is a warning. It reads, 'Open not lest you bring doom upon the world and sacrifice your very being. Let the dead remain as they lie,'” Jer'rahd read off loudly as the entire group save Bleu stared at him.
“You can read that?” Rhede shouted.
“Yes. It's not really that hard of a language to learn. I can't speak it, though, because I can't growl in the right way or dislocate my jaw properly, but I can read and likely understand it if it was spoken. I'm not fluent, but I’m not a noviceb eitherb” Jer'rahd explained.
“How...?” Starfall questioned.
“Remember when boss and I were looking up info on his name? Well, most of those books were in old Draconic and we sorta had to teach ourselves to understand them... Boss caught on better than I did. It was very boring...” Bleu explained.
Rhede slapped his face with a hoof. “So you will learn a nearly-forgotten dead language at the drop of a hat, but you won't learn zebra to speak with Velkorn?”
“Why would I need to? Velkorn speaks pony,”Jer'rahd stated matter-of-factly, ignoring that Starfall and Velkorn were doing their best
to keep Rhede from trying to strangle the gray unicorn.
=============================================================
Scarlet flattened her ears to her head, her eyes shutting tight as the light of the circle went from painful to blinding.
Nocturne screamed out what might have been words in a language, or simply gibberish; in either case, it was clearly not meant for mortal ears. Every syllable the alicorn spoke was like a crash of thunder that shook the stone dais they stood on. The mare's eyes and horn glowed white, energy leaping from them to dance over the runes in the circle and the five books floating around her.
The books were all open as they circled her, pages rapidly turning as if in some unseen hurricane. Everyone stood on the far side of the dais from the alicorn, not from any fear of the display, but to avoid getting brained by the massive purple book orbiting Nocturne.
Scarlet took a glance back at the others, wondering if something aside from the light show and the noise was supposed to be happening. Bloodtail seemed unfazed, but Silver Claw was lying down with his fore claws pressed over his ears to try and stifle the racket.
Wind Razor was also sitting down, though both her arms were covering her chest and the griffon’s expression was clearly one of pain. Nocturne had refused to heal the griffon, citing that she had wanted to ensure she had all her power for the ritual and the griffon had to simply suffer until it was done. At least Bloodtail had stopped the bleeding from her severed tail, though her ribs were still piercing her lung. If this didn't finish soon, she might succumb to her injuries.
Claymore, on the other hoof, was grinning like an idiot, evidently completely enjoying the show, though Scarlet did notice his hoof remained pressed against the Element of Honesty hanging from his neck. Scarlet could not help but to smirk at his well hidden fear of something going wrong.
Everything suddenly went quiet and pitch-black. Scarlet froze in place, her eyes searching through the sudden murk trying to see anything. Even the dragon right next to her was swallowed up in the blackness. She shrieked suddenly as a flash of light washed over everything, stinging her eyes and bathing her in a sudden rush of heat.
“Ooh, you are a clever and vicious one. I like you,” a voice cooed out of the light. Scarlet growled, trying to find the source of the voice through the stinging light. “Oh, no need to worry who I am; last you saw me, I was floating around that alicorn of yours. If you need to call me anything, call me the Gray Grimiore,” the voice stated.
Scarlet’s ears flattened to her head, wondering what this book wanted. “To simply ask you a question; rather a formality, really, considering that you willingly stood here to become a god. But one has to follow the rules, even if they are made up.”
Scarlet growled again, urging the voice to simply get on with it.
“Fine, fine, rather impatient of you, but I suppose you waited this long... Will you accept what we offer, Scarlet Masque, and all that this power of godhood entails?” Scarlet grinned and accepted.
“Ahh, delightful. The agreement is made, and I shall speak with the others so your duplicity is not noticed.”
Scarlet's smile widened as everything finally fell into place perfectly.
==================================================
Jer'rahd and Nox froze in place suddenly, both of them whipping around and staring at a point on the wall with their ears flat against their head and teeth gritted.
The others looked at the pair curiously, wondering what was going on.
“Ummm guys, what's...” Twilight started before Pinkie Pie jumped up next to them, staring at the same spot as hard as she could and growling at it.
“Don't worry guys. That mean ole rock won't... surpargh!!” Pinkie Pie yelped as Rainbow dragged her away from the other two.
“We are out of time,” Nox stated. “They have used the books.”
“Shit,” Rhede cursed. “So what do we do now?”
“We keep going, find the last book, and hope it has a way to stop the others. Otherwise, we go to war again,” Jer'rahd snarled.
“Luna, take out that door. we can't waste time finding another way in.”
Nox jerked her head back, glaring at the unicorn. “Thank you so much for blowing what little cover I had left, Kaisur,” Luna cursed, yanking off the mask and hat. “What happened to following the wishes of your superior? It was clear I didn't want to be known.”
“We no longer have time for these games, and I humored you long enough. You are limiting yourself while wearing that to try and hide who you are and you know as well as I do that we can't do that anymore. Besides, in case you forgot, you stripped me of rank and any sort of service in your guard, so I really have no reason to remain quiet on this. Also, I’m sure everyone already knew anyway,” Jer'rahd growled.
“Didn’t have any idea,” Applejack stated.
“News to me,” Dash added.
“I was surprised,” Fluttershy piped in.
“Well, that explains a few things, at least,” Twilight noted.
“While I might have suspected it was you, in truth, I really had no clue,” Velkorn said.
“I was told not to know!” Pinkie beamed.
Bleu simply pretended to be shocked at the revelation.
Jer'rahd ignored the glare from Luna and shook his head.
“Okay, some of them already knew.”
=============================================================
Sombra stood on the balcony of the new hive, staring out into the horizon. Chrysalis stood next to him, hissing lightly.
She had indeed won again in their little competition, though it had taken her far longer than she remembered. However, before she could recover from their 'game' enough to gloat, they both felt the books being used.
“That was them?” Sombra questioned.
“Indeed. It seems that the ones you saw have gathered more of them. This is a very powerful spell. There is no mistaking it.”
“I am still unsure how the Silver Script was in your pet's horde and you never noticed it.”
“It clearly did not want to be noticed, as it knew I would have dropped it in a volcano,” Chrysalis hissed. “I could say the same for your possession of the Teal Text.”
“At the time, it was needed as a lock to hold the empire in stasis. It seems our time table has moved up. We should go now before they attempt to claim what is ours.”
“I could not agree more. These new gods shall join the current ones in destruction if they try to stop us.” Chrysalis smirked, sending the silent command for all the forces to be ready to march on Canterlot.
=============================================================
Two of the dog's three heads had noticed her. The one she referred to as Bitey, however, was asleep.
The Cerberus lumbered over to her, lowering its head to be petted by the skeletal pony, though the Ferrymare had no time for the pup.
She could feel it in the distance: the books had been used again, and a seal was being broken that should not have been removed.
Perhaps she gave the mortals too much credit. She had not expected them to seek something so dangerous given that small message she sent. A light clattering was heard as the skeletal mare shivered.
Perhaps it was because they were backed into a wall, or so they thought; at least two of them would know that the books had been used, and one of them would know the perils of what they were doing. Even Entropy was not reckless enough to allow a try to recover their creator... was he? A better question was: washe strong enough to stop his current host?
[>“dO nOt Do AnY tHiNg FoOlIsH, nOw. I wAnT tO sEe HiM aGaIn.”<]
==============================================================
A small green alligator scuttled across the floor of a disaster of a room. The little beast leaped into the air to pounce on a green balloon, gumming the heck out of it as he tumbled into the base of a statue.
Gummy stopped, looking up at the statue and tilting his head to the side, letting the balloon bounce off. Something was odd. His reptile brain was screaming at him that the statue was dangerous and something was happening to it.
That flash of fear lasted a good two seconds before he turned and leapt at the balloon again, determined to kill his now-mortal enemy.
The statue simply sat there buried under party favors and socks.
=====================================================
Luna was pissed at him— that much was clear, though she hid it rather well. Granted, given how tight that costume was on her, he could not help but admire the way she stormed away from him in a huff.
He really shouldn't stare or somepony might confuse him for Rhede, but it had been a long time since he actually felt this good— three whole days without any nightmares or comments from Entropy. In fact, aside from what they had just felt, the whole trip had been going rather well.
He looked up as the stone door started to crack under Luna's magic. It would not be long before they would be inside and... What was that?
A high-pitched scream tore through his head and dropped him to his knees as the seal was torn from the stone wall. A blast of cold, dry air washed over the group and a number of them flinched at the smell of the stale air. None of them seemed to notice the
scream, unless they were all stricken deaf somehow.
>” YOU MUST RUN, LEAVE THIS PLACE NOW! DO NOT GO FURTHER!”< the voice roared.
Jer'rahd staggered back to his hooves, making it a few steps before crashing to the ground and clutching his head as the voice continued to scream.
The others rushed over to him as he struggled again to try and get back to his hooves, seeing his friends’ and the current Element Bearers’ lips move, but not hearing anything over the screaming.
>”TURN BACK, HOST! DO NOT PROGRESS FURTHER. FLEE WHILE YOU STILL HAVE A SEMBLANCE OF LIFE!”<
Jer'rahd winced, screaming out on his own as he pressed his hooves over his ears.
“SHUT THE BUCK UP, YOU JACK ASS! I CAN'T THINK!” the unicorn bellowed. The group collectively moved back as he opened his eyes, both of them flaring with red and green light. Black shadows flickered around his horn and hooves as Entropy screamed again, trying to gain control over him. Not from anger or rage as he usually did, but fear. The monster inside of him was afraid and that thought made Jer'rahd smile.
“>YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, FOOL! GET US OUT OF HERE NOW! I WILL BLOCK THE NIGHTMARES, STOP TRYING TO TAKE YOU OVER, BUT ONLY IF YOU LEAVE NOW!”<
It was pleading? Now he was interested in what was behind that door. The beast was trying very hard to gain control, though in its panicked state he was having a relatively easy time fighting it off, though the few full nights of rest he had gotten helped as well.
>”YOU WILL DOOM US BOTH, HOST! YOU MUST TURN BACK. HE IS THERE.”<
“Who is there?” Jer'rahd asked, getting a few stares and a couple of readied weapons from his group.
“>THE ONE WHO CAN UNMAKE US.<”
“Really? Something that can destroy you? Now I am even more interested...”
>“YOU ARE A FOOL, HOST, AND I WILL NOT SEE MYSELF DESTROYED JUST TO SATE YOUR DEATH WISH!”<
“Feel free to leave, then,” Jer'rahd snarled. An answering whine was all that echoed in his head.
He could feel the beast try and retreat to pull away from him, though it was stuck with him just as he was stuck with it. This was the first time that worked to his benefit, however. The glow in his eyes faded quickly and the black shadows flickered away into nonexistence as Entropy retreated as far to the back of his mind as it could.
“Kaisur... ...KAISUR!?” Princess Luna shouted, seemingly about to start using the Royal Canterlot voice.
“Please don't yell, Princess. I have enough of that going on in my head.” Jer'rahd winced.
“What is going on? You screamed, then started arguing with yourself...” Luna questioned, still clearly leery of him.
“Seems the beast is scared of what's in here.” Jer'rahd smirked.
“That thing in Boss is afraid?” muttered Bleu. “Now I am worried.”
“Actually, that fits with the book I found,” Rhede commented. “Supposedly, the Jade Scroll is what created the creatures called Entropy and Serenity. You claimed that thing called itself Entropy once before?”
“Yes,” Jer'rahd stated, shaking his head to clear it of the beast’s whimpering in the back of his mind.
“I've read up to that point. If my theory is correct, the Ferrymare is actually Serenity, though as to what the two of them really are, I have no clue,” Twilight stated. “Creatures born of magic itself...”
“That is not much of a concern at the moment. Kaisur, are you fit to continue?” Luna questioned, trying to hide the worry from her tone.
“Of course, Princess. I can't wait to meet whatever it is that has the beast whimpering like a scolded puppy.”
================================================
Silver Claw pushed himself up, whipping his head about to clear the strange voice from his head. It introduced itself as the Teal Text and seemed rather annoyed by having to ask if he wished to become a god.
The answer was obvious, though. After everything was over, he did not feel any different.
His gaze passed over the others, not seeing a change at all in Bloodtail. The zebra looked just as confused as he was, though the two of them were the only ones who seemed unchanged.
Wind Razor was grinning like a fool, watching her tail whip back and forth on the ground behind her. She also was breathing easier, her ribs and lungs evidently repaired. It took Silver Claw a moment before he realized that her tail had grown back, though the fur coloration and tuft were a bright red, her gold and white feathers had also changed to a red and black coloration though the rest of her fur remained the tawny brown it always had been.
Scarlet was unwrapping the bandages around her face and neck, her hoof shaking as she slowly revealed herself. Silver Claw raised a brow at the unblemished mare under the bindings. He knew she’d had some sort of surgery, though he did not think it would have healed that quickly. The mare had drawn one of her daggers to look at the reflection and was currently giggling. The noise was far more disturbing than the griffon's insane laughter.
Claymore had also been healed, though while the wounds left by Bleu were still there, they were faded to the point where they would not be noticed unless one looked for them.
Nocturne, however did not quite seem as happy with her situation. Her wing had grown back just as the griffon’s tail did, but it was not a pegasus wing. A white dragon wing emerged from her back, the scar where the wound had been not even visible.
“Well that was certainly interesting, and it at least seemed to work on you four,” Silver Claw grumbled.
Nocturne turned from her wing to look up at the dragon, her ears perking as she stared up at him.
“The books did what they were supposed to. Have you become so accustomed already to being myopic that you cannot tell you have been healed as well?” Nocturne grumbled.
The dragon reached his hand up gingerly, touching his wounded eye, watching as his claw draws closer to it though noticing an odd light the closer his hand got to his eye.
He reached over and yanked the massive blade off Claymore's back despite the pony’s protests, and held the blade up to his face to look at his reflection. His left eye was the normal green coloration; the right had been healed, but into an orb of pure crimson that softly glowed.
“Gah, I look like that idiot Kaisur,” snarled Silver Claw.
===========================================================
Twilight peeked around the corner into the dark hole that had been ripped into the wall. Her horn started to glows brightly, casting light over the room as the others moved cautiously through the opening. Luna’s and Rarity's horns also start to glow, lighting up the chamber.
The purple unicorn’s eyes widened at the sight before her. A smile started on her lips that seemed to encompass her whole face, much like one of Pinkie Pie's creepier grins. Rarity looked over as she heard something akin to a squee coming from the frozen unicorn.
“Remarkably dust-free for being sealed so long... Oh no… Applejack, a little help here, please,” Rarity called out, her magic grabbing Twilight’s tail before her friend ran off to her targets.
“Ah crap, ah fergot about that,” AJ stated and ran over, tackling Twilight and causing everyone else to stop and stare at the pair of them.
Rainbow Dash grumbled something about Twilight being an egghead as the rest of them looked over the dimly lit room, which was filled from the floor to as high into the air as their lights went with books and scrolls.
“Tia did say she had a serious reading problem...” Luna sighed, glancing at Twilight.
Jer'rahd face hoofed and stomped over to Twilight.
“Come on, Applejack, I just want to browse a little...” Twilight whined.
“We got stuff tah do, an’ ah know how ya get in a normal book store. ‘Sides, ah doubt any of these are good fer yer health,” AJ grumbled.
“Most of them seem to be in old Draconic... and judging by the claw writing, I would say they are all done by the same individual,” Rhede pointed, out flipping through a few of the books.
“Read them after we are done, Sparkle. We need to find the Jade Scroll,” Jer'rahd growled.
A deep chuckle filled the air, seeming to come from everywhere at once, and a voice boomed out, speaking something that sounded more like growls and snarls with a few words of unknown origin thrown into the mix.
“...what the heck does he want with our cheese?” Twilight questioned and was largely ignored.
“Seems the Jade Scroll found us first, and it's... amused...” Jer'rahd cursed and drew the Waning Moon. The weapon glowed bright blue as flames flickered about the blade. “I also doubt it's a book right now, either.”
“Indeed. Be quite glad you cannot see in the dark as I can.” Luna winced, her head tilted back and staring into the darkness above them.
A massive section of the stacked books was thrown aside, forcing the group to dodge about to avoid getting hit with the flying tomes. A massive claw slammed down onto the rock floor where they had been.
The light the two unicorns’ and the alicorn's horns gave showed the claws were cracked and pitted, seeming more like petrified bone. The fingers and the forearm also seemed wasted away, though the leg was tightly draped with vellum, indecipherable words and runes running the length of the paper as it wrapped up the massive claw that was large enough for the body that it belonged to to still be out of the glow of the lights.
“Found the dragon!” shouted Pinkie as Bleu yanked her out of the way of the tumbling books.
“Buck me, that thing’s arm is as big as a tree. How did it fit through that tunnel?” cursed Starfall.
Jer'rahd followed Luna's gaze, spotting two pinpricks of purple light far above them in the darkness. It barely took him a second to recognize them as the thing’s eyes.
“By the stars, it's bigger than Forgescale,” Luna muttered.
“Yes, well, exactly what is it?” shouted Rarity.
“A dracolich,” Luna growled. “An undead dragon. I’ve only heard myths...”
“It's gonna be all the way dead by the time I’m done with it,” snarled Jer'rahd as the creature roared something out again.
“What did it say?” Rhede yelled through a mouthful of daggers.
“Quake with fear?” Twilight responded as a sudden wash of purple light engulfed them all.
=====================================================
“So what is the game plan now?” Scarlet questioned, watching Claymore rather intently for some reason.
“I don't know about you, but I’m looking to get a bit of revenge on a certain little bitch.” Claymore said with a smirk.
“We do not have time for petty revenge. We need to deal with the threats we still have, such as the Princesses and the Beasts,” Nocturne replied, removing the Element of Magic from her head and dropping it to the side next to the stacked books.
“I'm talking about the damn dragon with the beasts, yah half-wing twit,” Claymore snarled, ignoring the alicorn’s glare. “I hear there's a school dedicated to that singer she was with. I trash that, and the damn dragon'll come running, and probably bring a few of the others with her.”
Bloodtail raised an eyebrow. [“I am always surprised when you have a decent plan, despite this not being the first time.”]
“Can it, stripes. Like I keep saying, I didn't make officer because I sucked cock. I'm good at what I do,” Claymore grumbled, pulling off his necklace and tossing it to the floor near the dragon's claw. “Not to mention if the red bitch over there's contact comes through, I’ll have a bit of an army backing me up as well.”
“He will. As soon as I contact him, his part in this will come to pass,” Scarlet stated, still staring at Claymore, though she seemed frustrated. She pulled off the necklace and threw it aside as well.
“Ponyville still needs to fall. With the amount of gods there and how often it has been central to the defeat of those who opposed Celestia's rule, it should be wiped out before anyone rises to stand against us,” Silver Claw growled.
“I'm good with that, though I’ve got a few ponies I need to gut as well as a hunt to finish. That should clear at least one of the Element bearers as well as Starfall.” Wind Razor grinned, looking over the new colorations of her wings. She idly pulled off the necklace, letting it fall to the ground with a clink of metal.
[“We should not have much issue with the populace with what I put into the water supply. I can feel my limits have been pushed far back beyond what they were, so I have a number of things I have always wished to try, not to mention what the books have shown me. Scarlet, tell your contact to keep his forces in Canterlot. I have Ponyville covered.”] Bloodtail muttered, yanking the element from his neck and dropping it to the floor.
“I have a few tasks I need to accomplish. I will bring the books to my cave; you should still be able to speak with them even that far away, and I will hide the Elements there as well before returning to help with Ponyville's destruction,” Silver Claw stated, pulling off his own necklace looking it over.
“Then we have our plan. Tomorrow, we destroy Ponyville while Claymore keeps Canterlot busy. Once the Beasts return, we split them up and destroy them. Though make no mistake about this: Mother is mine,” snapped Nocturne.
==================================================================
“Princess, we have found something.”
Celestia looked up from where she was sitting to the guard as he came in. The past few days of weariness were starting to show. Raising the sun and moon, running the country, and most importantly, trying to keep tabs of what she swore were the new children of Discord. It was all really starting to get to her. It did not help matters that she expected her student to have thousands of questions about the Badlands when she returned. Celestia was not looking forward to that talk.
The unicorn guard saluted again, though it was the small box that floated next to him that drew her attention and a bit of her ire.
“Found something? Found something where?” Celestia questioned, trying to recall where she had assigned the Lieutenant before her.
“In the rubble of the treasury, Princess,” the guard stated. “I brought it here as soon as I could.”
“To be honest, Lieutenant, there was nothing of any real value there that you should concern yourself over. I did give the orders that anything found was to be brought to the lower vaults to be sorted later.” Celestia yawned. “I did mean everything.”
“I am aware of that, Princess, and this item was going to be going to the vault as well, but one of the workers recognize it. She claimed she had seen it in Ponyville.”
Celestia looked at the guard, wondering what he thought was important enough to bring here. And something that had been in Ponyville? Aside from the Elements, the only things that had been in the treasury were piles of junk some nobles considered important, or at least too useless or bulky to store in their own vaults. She was tempted to send him away so she could head to bed a little early, but the look on the stallion’s face made her think he would not leave without her accepting the box.
Her magic floated the small chest from the guard and flipped the clasp open, facing away from her. She’d had too many surprises already. When no explosions happened, she brought the box over to look inside. The tiredness of the last few days vanished as she sat up suddenly, staring at the object in the box.
“Lieutenant... this was found in the rubble?”
“Yes, Princess.”
“I want that place scoured for anything else like this, and I want it done as quickly as possible. Bring in more workers, and gather the servants with shovels if need be. Work through the night. I want it done yesterday.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“Also, the worker who pointed this out to you... did she say where she saw it in Ponyville?”
“Yes, Princess. She claimed she was at the party when Princess Luna returned and saw it with a pony named Applejack.”
“Put her in charge of the searchers, particularly if she has seen all of them. Also, ensure she gains a sizable bonus from this. “
“Yes, Princess.”
“And inform Guard Captain Nicker Fury that he should start the paperwork for your promotion as well for your forsight.”
“Of course, Princess.” He waited a moment more to see if she had anything else to add before saluting and running out the door to follow her orders with a grin on his face.
Celestia gasped softly as she pulled a golden chain from the box, looking over the amulet with the orange stone in the shape of an apple in the center. A wide smile crossed her lips as she admired the Element of Honesty.
“Finally, I get some good news for a change.”