//------------------------------// // Through the Fire and the Flames [7] // Story: Stories in Stone, Capricorn's Curse // by TDR //------------------------------// Stories in Stone Capricorn's Curse By TDR Through the Fire and the Flames [ New Canterlot Castle Three years after the defeat of Tirek.] “ So have you two gotten your unit placements yet?” Jer'rahd asked tearing into a piece of garlic bread looking over the table at Pip curiously. “Not yet, though there was talk of putting me out on our border with the Diamond Dog nation.” Pip responded after taking a small sip from his glass. “Oh nice. That was my first assignment too. Course that was in the middle of a full blown war, nothing much there now but an occasional rescue operation for some lost travelers or the occasional bandit.” Jer'rahd admits looking down at his plate briefly staring at the mixed vegetables and the small piece of chicken that sat, still untouched, on the plate. He hated the taste of the bird, though he was told by his doctor... aka his eldest daughter Orange who was sitting at the far end of the table from him, that Kirin needed at least some meat based proteins in their diet. Jer'rahd had protested that he was pretty much immortal and he didn't need any set food groups to get by. And Orange had of course responded with the results of a bad diet, starting out with a rather detailed description of constipation that made Jer'rahd relent almost immediately. Orange, Ice Berry and even Brush had shown up for Pip's graduation ceremony and some of them got to meet Scootaloo for the first time. Brush's mare friend Diamond Tiara couldn't miss time from her business classes and Hunter did everything in his power to avoid Jer'rahd, though they sent their well wishes to Pip any way. Berry had liked Scootaloo from when they went to school together and introduced her to Beryl, the little dragon was barely a year old and he was already wearing an expression like he was tired of being shown off to every one by the energetic filly. Scootaloo had seemed a little distraught that the dragonling was one of Bleu and Spike's clutch, but she recovered from the information rather quickly. Brush was the same as his sister and knew Scootaloo from school. He was rather fascinated by the coloration of her wings when they were lit up, likely he had a few paintings in mind for them. Orange watched Scootaloo warily for a while though the pair had had a small discussion before dinner about pegasi medicine and training regimes for full wing movement, after wards Orange seemed to open up to her a little more. Jer'rahd really didn't have any issue with her. She was cute enough and Pip was happy with her so he was fine on that front, plus her training scores were impressive showing she was no slouch. Not that he doubted that she would be, knowing who her parents were. “Might have the same posting myself. There's a Griffon embassy in the northern reaches that tends to rotate a few neutral nation Guards through it every so often when talks between the Harpies and Diamond Dogs happen.” Scootaloo added.” Seems kinda boring to me, but it sounds good for a first post.” “Trust me, boring is far preferable to the alternative. Besides you don't need to worry about that anyway . Sky Shroud Keep has a brawl or three every time the Griffons, Harpies, and Diamond Dogs meet. Things might be a little different now but I doubt it. Expect to practice submission holds quite a bit if you are posted there.” Jer'rahd contemplates glancing over to Dawn who sat next to him in her high chair. The little Kirin was making her usual mess and had mashed her tiny bit of chicken into paste and was scooping it up with the remains of a small chunk of ruby she had been gnawing on. He had tried a gem stone once to see if he could eat them and all he wound up tasting was his own teeth. Scootaloo was blending in rather well. She was eating dinner with every one with very little issue and seemed to fit in, if not perfectly, well enough for her first meeting with the Kaisur family. Well mostly. There was the one section of the table next to Jer'rahd that every one else did their best to try and ignore. Luna sat staring at the orange pegasus with a look that would kill lesser ponies and probably stun a number of stronger ones. Luna was still not happy that Pip had risked his life for the mare in the battle with Tirek, Let alone that said mare was now dating him, her youngest son. If one could glare daggers, Luna's eyes were firing balista bolts. She had bent numerous pieces of silverware in her magic, cut through the ceramic plate with a butter knife.. as well as part of the table, and turned most of her food into unidentifiable mush with out eating any of it. Still to Scootaloo's credit, she seemed unphased by the 'disproving mother' glare directed at her, that or she simply didn't notice it. In either case watching Luna's frustration growing at trying and failing to intimidate the orange pegasus was amusing Jer'rahd to no end. Jer'rahd sighed looking back down at the chicken. Maybe he could hide it.... perfect idea. Time to smother this awful bit of supposed food. “Pass the ketchup please.” Jer'rahd asked. =============================================================== [Crystal Empire, Current day 1300 hours] “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...” Dawn pauses to inhale a breath, clinging to the door frame with two claws while flailing her wings and tail. “.... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dun wanna take a nap!!!” Cadence frowned, her eyes narrowing as she carried the comically flailing Kirin foal into one of the Guest rooms that had been prepared for the Royal Foals to sleep in. Or tried too, the orange Kirin had a death grip on the door frame. Cadence had been a foal sitter to spoiled noble brats, rambunctious Diamond Dog pups of dignitaries, and one very smart and sneaky little purple book worm. She had raised a shape shifter who could be anything he wanted at all, and a daughter with a devious streak a league wide without anything other than a few minor issues. Then there was Dawn. She wasn't spoiled, she wasn't devious, she wasn't even that sneaky. In fact she was just like every other 'normal' six year old Princess Cadence had ever foal sat in the past. The problem was she cranked 'normal six year old' up to eleven, yanked off the knob then fiddled with the exposed wires until it rose to fourteen. This coupled with the fact she never seemed to tire until right up to the moment she passed out made things even worse. Cadence had no idea how to read her, her personality and the subtle hints that most foals gave off about themselves were allover the place with this one. She also acted like she didn't try to hide from, fight, or argue her way out of a nap even single time she came to visit, only to fail every time. While it was true the foals were getting too old for naps and Cadence was certain that Rynthia and Talon had books stashed some where, at least they were quiet, Cadence was the one who really needed the nap. After the group returned from visiting Berry and the hour of their nap approached, Dawn had begun perhaps one of the most rambunctious games of hide and seek/ tag, that she had ever started. Some how she managed to get every one of the foals, but Rynthia and Talon, involved and had also managed to get the entire castle staff and nearly all the Guards involved in one way or another. There were quite a few times where Shining and Cadence had thought they found her hiding some where only to discover it was a maid or a off duty Guard the little filly had managed to convince to join the game without telling them the real stakes. She and Shining had cornered her once only for the little Kirin to yell out' SMOKEBOMB!' and throw something at their hooves . The couple reared back wondering how she got anything like that only for a small rubber frog to bounce against their legs, though the Kirin had taken advantage of the momentary distraction and run off again. Still involving the Guards had turned out to be the foals down fall as every one she and Shining had found, then set out to help look for the hiding foals. After hours they were all finally found in one of Sombra's old storage rooms. One that required four spoken passwords and a interpretive dance to get into, how they managed it still boggled Cadence's mind. Shining had won the coin toss and so he was putting, Shin, Glimmer, and Elusive into bed. Talon and Rynthia had already climbed into their beds and were watching as Cadence struggled to keep a hold of Dawn. The orange Kirin was a slippery one, even trying to hold her with magic wasn't a hundred percent sure to keep hold of her, and Cadence didn't want ANOTHER encounter with the filly’s claws. Dawn wouldn't intentionally try to hurt her, but with how she was flailing about... “Dawn.” Rynthia stated loudly drawing the Kirin's attention away from clinging to the door frame. The little zebra nodded slightly at the Kirin. Dawn grinned and suddenly let go of the doorway, kicking off it with such speed that she slipped free of Cadence's magic and rolled across the floor. Shining moved to intercept her though the Kirin ignored the window he was guarding and lept right into bed. “Turn out the light, sleepy time now.” Dawn stated flatly diving under the covers and making odd little 'honk shoo ' noises like she was already asleep. Rynthia slapped her face with her hoof as Cadence and Shining stared at the hidden Kirin. A slow glance to the others showed most of them already asleep, or at least pretending to be. The pair of adults looked to each other and bolted out of the room before anything changed from the quiet peace that had settled. Shutting the door behind them and warding it just in case, Cadence glowered staring over at Shining Armor. “Remind me to strongly suggest neutering both Luna and Jer'rahd so they don't have any more foals like that.” “How about we just agree they owe us again and get a free vacation and foal sitters out of it.” Shining suggested with a nervous chuckle. “Same as last time.” “That works too.” Cadence grumbled. ============================================================ Inside the nap room the six foals sat up suddenly looking to the door as Shin darted up to it and put a oversized bunny ear to the door before hopping back towards the others. “Okay sounds like they left.” “I think you might have over done it this time Dawn.” Elusive pointed out.” Auntie Cadence looked really mad.” “It'll be fine.... did you do it?” Dawn stage whispers with a grin as she sits up in the bed. “Yes. We managed to get all the materials back here. With your over the top drama no one noticed Shin, Elusive and I hiding the packets of materials we needed.” Glimmer sighed. “We have the spell prepared and with a little work with the material components we will be ready to go. “ Talon commented as he and Rynthia hop out of bed to gather the small bits of materials to grind them together. The mixture would make a soft blue paint that would be put on the head boards of the beds. According to the book Rynthia borrowed, this would allow any one with the mark on their bed to meet others with the mark in the dream world. The foals were not sure if it would work , though now that they had a face to go with their nightmares they didn't want to have to deal with it again on their own. =================================================== [ White Tail Woods, early morning ] “ …. So over here's where the new orchard is gonna go. We cleared a buncha tha dead trees from around where tha fight took place a while back and tha lands been sitting here unused. There's a small plot of wild Zap Apples were already cultivating on tha far end, but I wanna get a regular orchard set up here too.” Applebloom explained gesturing to the clearing with a hoof to her sister, brother and their respective mates. “Looks like it's be a nice sized orchard. Prolly bout a hundred or so trees. “ Applejack comments. “ What do yah think Mac?” “Hundred and thirty six.” Big Mac states after staring at the field for a while, though most of his attention was on his three year old son, Zap, running around with the disaster trio of Apple Blossom, Dandelion , and Butterscotch who half played with their little cousin half plotted how they could get him his cutiemark while visiting their aunt. Rainbow Dash kept glancing back as well as she flitted around Mac like a drunk bumble bee already showing she was rather far along with their second foal, and none too thrilled about it this time either. At least with as much as she complained to every one about it. The part that worried him most however was the sheer number of Elk around who were keeping a closer eye on the foals than even he was. Applebloom must have said something.... either that or they all still recalled the last visit and what happened with the maticore. Applejack paused a moment looking over at Fluttershy, who was highly distracted by the little creatures that helped the Elk shoot their bows. AppleJack couldn't remember what they were called , but evidently they had some what of a bad time of it after the Wedding of Cadence and Shining Armor as Chrysalis had landed in their village. It was interesting story and many of them wound up here after that. Still her mare friend seemed happy chatting with the little things, so she wasn't gonna interrupt. “ So I got a question. Why are you guys setting up a village so far away from the crater. Don't you need to keep an eye on that Tirek tree or something?” Rainbow Dash asked suddenly. “We are. Couple Patrols over there too. We already shut down some crazy minotaur who wanted to drop an amusement park in the crater. But thing is any one like me who can hear tha spirits can hear Tirek in his prison. And lemmi tell yah, he don't shut up, ever.” Applebloom grumbled rolling her eyes. “Well that splains that, but not tha sudden need to increase yer food production. I see a lot more than just some apple orchards being cleared. I see some rows of pecan, walnut , pear and a lotta other trees filling all tha space around here. Plus them shelters you got don't look like their made tah be permanent housing.” Applejack points out. “They're not. That big clearing over there's where the actual Lololog village is gonna be. There are going to be a great number of Elk coming to live here considering this place is being thought of as the new capitol after all I’ve been doing to get all tha Elk in Equss back together. We're waiting right now though.” Applebloom stated. “Waiting on what?” Dash questioned. “Turns out there's a ton more Elk on other continents than there are here in Equestria. Aside from the Subterranean Watipi, we've got some flying Avarial's and a couple different seagoing tribes. The Mer knew about a few other races over seas and talked some of them into coming here. They are bringing with them a few tree shapers that can rework and reshape the trees themselves into homes and buildings. Gonna see if they ken make my house an apple tree.” Applebloom chuckled. “Speaking of the Watipi....” Big Mac grinned with Dash and AJ showing the same sly smile. “Ah crap ya'll were waiting fer me to mention them wern't yah?” Applebloom frowns her ears flattening to her head. “Well given last we heard one of tha leaders of that tribe was courting yah. I spect we would be interested in what our little sis was up to.” Applejack chuckled. “ Ugh.... Drakast is back home with some business, an Flowing Stream'll be back here later he's on patrol around tha crater today.” Applebloom sighed. “ Ahh so yah picked tha Elk here? Seemed a impressive feller, little on tha thin side , but most Elk's seem that way tah me.” Applejack nods sagely. “No ah didn't pick Flowing Stream.” Applebloom sighed hiding her face with her hoof. “Awesome you went with tall dark and mysterious. Nice, gotta love the exotic ones.” Rainbow Dash laughs. “Hmmph.” Big Mac snorted glaring at his wife. “Oh don't even give me that Macky, or need I remind you that this is the second foal I let you put in me....” Dash snorted back, patting her belly as she glared at the larger earth pony. “Err nah … didn't choose him either........” Applebloom grumbled. “Oh? So back tah being single then. Nothing wrong with that, you got a lot to do....” Applejack nods.” “Ain't single either.....” “Found some one else?” Dash asked as Applebloom shrugged “Errr... yah running out of options here Bloom.” Applejack commented her eyes narrowing. “Ah didn't chose either of them, ah chose um both as mai consorts.” Applebloom blurted out slapping her hooves to her face as she turns red and the three stare at her. Dash of course broke the silence first. “Holy crap, you bagged both of um, damn girl, you go!” The other two Apples glared at the cyan pegasus before Applejack glared up at her sister. “Two of um... that don't really sit right......” “Look shush and listen... and it ain't just them two, there's three others as well from differing tribes. Seems ah'm a heck of a lot bigger of a deal than ah thought ah was and any Elk any where that's heard of me is doing their damnedest to link their tribes tah mine in some way or another. Some of them are even willing tah kill each other over the chance. Now ah ain't much fer building mah own harem like I’m a Saddle Arabian, but ah like all these bucks, and tha one Doe, in some shape or another and this is all adding up to what Twilight called political marriages. From what ah ken tell some Elk do this sorta thing any way, but it's usually one Buck and a buncha Does in a herd. Mai situation's just the other way around. Ah got a buncha bucks, and one Doe, rather than a buncha Does and one Buck. It feels weird but ah got a couple of friends and family saying go for it.” “Go for it!” Dash cackles. “See” Applebloom grinned. “What other family is gonna tell yah tah be dating a buncha Stallions!?” Applejack ranted. “ It's Braeburn ain't it.. that womanizer.......” “Well a bit but lately it's been Granny Smith.” Applebloom stated. “What? Applebloom, Granny's been dead fer two years now, she sure didn't tell yah that when ah was here with her last.” AppleJack snorted. “Yah act like yer not talking tah some one who talks with tha dead half tha time, how tha heck you think ah knew about that pot ah recipes she hid in the back hidden panel of tha cabinet at tha house. Or tha bit's she saved up in tha floor boards. She told me about all that. And she told me tah do what ah wanted an jus have fun with all these Bucks. They're all okay with the others and there all interesting tah me in their own ways....” “But....” Applejack begins before big Mac raised a hoof cutting her off. “S'fine . We gotta accept her choices sis . She ain't a filly any more. Big Mac stated calmly before turning to his little sister. ”So what are their names?” “Flowing Stream and Drakast you know. There's MapleBerry from tha Ice Crystal Tribe, Clam Shell from tha Mer Tribe, that's one of tha coastal ones. Harlequin, she's from a far southern tribe, dun know much about them yet, and Aensland from the one tha tree shapers are coming from.” Applebloom recalled. “Thanks sis, that's all ah needed.” Big Mac grinned and ruffled his little sisters mane before turning and walking off. “Where's he going?” Applejack questions watching her large brother head off. “Where do you think?” Dash chuckled.” He's the big brother and all these Elk wanna be with his little sister. So he's going to have a 'talk' with them.” “Oh.” Applejack smirked. “ Maybe ah should help out....” “Ah crap!..... BIG MAC! YOU GET YER FLANK BACK HERE RIGHT NAO! AH BARELY GOT UM ALL CALMED DOWN AFTER UNCLE JER'RAHD CAME THROUGH!!” Applebloom shouted galloping after her brother. ============================================================ [ Isle of Tamberlane 1500 hours] The air smelled stale and a unseasonably cold wind blew across the large black sand beach that was the only clear spot on the island not covered by the sickly yellow dome. The Dragons had landed on the shore line and despite Bleu's protests taken off not long after, leaving the white alicorn Princess and the gray and orange scaled Kirin alone on the shore, something the Kirin walked away from rather quickly. Jer'rahd and Celestia's goal was the far end of the beach, where one of the collapsed train trestles was. The thick sea stone pillar had toppled over when the island formed under it. The back end of the crashed train was just on the other side of that fallen trestle. The cars that had been cut off by the forming of the isle lay scattered on both sides of the shield, though the passenger cars that were their goal were on the other side of the yellowy wall. The two moved at a sedate pace as they crossed the black sand, the size of it more like a desert than a simple shoreline. The pair could see old rusted farming equipment and the fallen remains of barns and small sheds on this side of the shield. Clearly this used to have been farm land at one point in the island's past. “So do you expect him to fight?” Celestia asked. “Yes.” Jer'rahd responded glancing down as his hoof crunched on something that looked like a petrified corn stalk, or maybe a femur, he wasn't going to investigate. “And you didn't bring your armor?” Celestia asked watching Jer'rahds tail whip. “It doesn't fit any more, I was planning on giving it to Pip, but he has no way to take it off an on. It's back in New Canterlot with all that other crap Sparkle is studying. Where did she get half that stuff?” “Some of it came from Sombra's collections in the empire. Some of it, like the mirror was recovered from the Blue Blood estates when they were seized. Cadence remembered that her grandmother told her it was supposed to be magic, but she doesn't know what kind.” Celestia sighed looking over the barren landscape. “She wants to make sure everything’s safe before we secure the more dangerous artifacts in Slate's Armory back at the Empire.” “The Element's were moved there already.”Jer'rahd sighed. “ Not happy with that, but it's not as if we could use them now any way.” “True.” Celestia sighed as the pair of them stop at the edge of the dome. “Train cars exactly as reported. Nothing moving that I saw coming up.” Jer'rahd grumbled looking at the now solid yellow dome. The massive shield had been translucent though it had grown more opaque as they approached it and now it was solid yellow. 'That doesn't mean anything.” Celestia snorted. “You don't have to tell me that, Luna's not gonna be taken out by a bucking train wreck after all we've been through.” Jer'rahd smirked. “Neither will Twilight, though I do worry about the other three. “ Celestia nods poking the dome with a hoof noting how it was more springy of a shield than a solid one. “ So what now?” “We knock and see if any ones home.” ============================================================ [ New Canterlot ] The room was silent and pitch black, a hidden vault in the newly rebuilt castle that housed numerous objects of curiosity and study. Here were the remnants of the Royal treasury. Here were items from the WCP classified section. Here were objects of power waiting to be studied , sealed and shipped to be locked away. Dust covered everything in the silent room, A testament to Princess Twilight Sparkle's busy schedule that she couldn't keep up with the amount of items to be studied that she had access to. A faint flicker of light was seen as a steady hum began. The light grew brighter and the sound turned more to like a soft static as the air was filled with the smell of grass and plant life with the lingering sent of popcorn and hotdogs cooking. There was a louder buzz and one of the cloth covered items moved suddenly, a figure emerging into the under side of a tarp. There was a yelp and a series of curses as the figure staggered forward, caught in the tarp as it got hung up on the object, tripping the form up before finally it fell free and sending the hidden form tumbling into the piled objects with a massive crash. The figure froze in the darkness, breath held as it's ears perked up listening to any sounds of alarm or any one coming to investigate. After there was no response to the crash the figure fought to pull free of the tarp finally yanking it's head out and whipping it's head. There was a faint glow around the figures horn and the room lit up showing the piled tons of junk scattered around in chests and boxes, most of them covered with tarps or other things to keep the dust from them. The light fell upon the uncovered object. A ordinary looking standing full length mirror with a horse shoe shaped rim lined with pink gems. It's standing base was also lined with horseshoes and attached to the top was a smaller window with the outline of a pony inside of it. A small sigh emerged from the figure as they approached the mirror one amber hoof lifting to steady the item on it's stand. The unicorn reflected in the mirror had a light amber coat with a brilliant yellow and red striped mane and tail and her cutie mark was of a red and yellow shimmering sun. “Ugh what the heck happened to this place. Did they move the royal treasury? Bah no matter, it shouldn't take me long to find the crown of magic.” Sunset Shimmer smirked.