Chapter 6
Book Maker’s Island
“Aaaaaah!” In a split-second of blind panic and survival reflexes, Twilight’s horn flared brightly with power, teleporting herself forward and Rainbow Dash three feet to the right and away from the wood chipper’s mouth. However, the spell conserved their momentum, flinging Twilight over the guard rail of the machine’s operation platform to a hard landing at the edge of a giant and rather hot lake of water. Rainbow ended up impacting and then rolling down a pile of wood shavings sitting below the wood chipper’s output pipe, getting more than a few splinters in her muzzle and the parts of her legs not covered by her robe. Grumbling, she picked herself up and spent a few moments pulling the splinters out with her teeth, until she saw Twilight stir and slowly roll onto her hooves.
“You ok over there?” Dash asked.
“I think I’m going to have a few bruises,” Twilight said, wincing as she stood up. She staggered over to Rainbow, looked her over briefly, and then started plucking splinters out of her muzzle with magic. “Sorry,” she said, “That cart was a bad idea.”
“I’ll be ok,” Rainbow said, waving the unicorn off when she tried to help with the leg splinters, “I got off lucky compared to you. Take it easy for a bit; I’ll go take a quick look around and see what we have to work with here.”
“Sounds good,” Twilight said, easing into a seated position and looking around while Rainbow went off to explore.
There wasn’t a whole lot to see; the entire island seemed to be one giant volcanic caldera filled almost entirely by the heated lake, save for the crescent of dry land the ponies were on. The water was murky and several degrees past comfortably hot. The only thing on the shore besides the wood chipper was a large round metal structure which on closer inspection seemed to be a boiler. Out in the middle of the lake, connected to the shore by a metal foot bridge, was a domed post with a lever on top and four narrow pipes leading off from it to the wood chipper, the boiler, and two other points in or beyond the crater walls. Past the boiler and up near the top of the cliff, Rainbow could see a balcony and a catwalk. “Ok,” the pegasus said to herself, “I need to get Twilight up there somehow…”
“How about that ladder in the cliff?” Twilight asked. Rainbow gave a startled yelp and turned around to see her friend standing a short distance behind.
“Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Dash snapped weakly, “I thought you were taking it easy over there.”
“I’m ok,” Twilight said, although the slight wince that crossed her face as she walked past Rainbow toward the ladder rungs driven into the cliff below the balcony gave lie to her words. Stopping at the base of the ladder, she looked up to a see a closed hatch at the top and reached out with her magic to try and lift it, but the most she could manage without straining something was a light push which accomplished nothing. With an irritated sigh, she looked at the metal rings making up the ladder, contemplated the possibility of hanging onto them to get closer to the hatch, and then rejected it as the bruise forming across her belly twinged. “Rainbow,” she said, “Would you mind… flying up there and opening that hatch for me?”
“Would I?” Dash replied excitedly, grinning broadly. She slipped out of the cloak and took off like a rocket, pulling a tight reverse double somersault before coming to rest just below the hatch. She took a few moments to clear her throat and casually flex her front legs, which Twilight rolled her eyes at, and pushed up lightly on the hatch with one hoof. It didn’t budge, so the pegasus pushed harder, and then put both front legs into it, heaving with all the strength her wings could give her and not getting an inch. She dropped down slightly, glaring at the offending metal circle, and then flew up over the railing of the balcony to look at it from above. A pair of large metal doors was set into the face of the cliff, and a small metal latch and a set of hinges were holding the hatch closed. “Oh brother,” Rainbow muttered, face-hoofing. She landed, slid the latch aside, and then gripped the handle in her mouth and lifted the hatch open, resting it against the railing. She nodded and then froze as she heard the doors start to open. She whirled around to see the doors open under the magic influence of a familiar-looking armor-wearing unicorn stallion with a sword strapped to his back.
“Cad e ar fud…” the guard said, bewildered, his eyes sliding from Rainbow’s face down her exposed cyan fur to the wings on her sides.
“Oh, hey there,” Rainbow said coyly, backing up to the railing, spreading her wings a little, “Like what you see?”
“M-m-moiety,” the guard stammered, his irises shrinking slightly.
“Is that a yes?” Rainbow asked, titling her head to the side in confusion. The guard blinked, and then began to levitate the sword out of its sheath. “I guess not,” Dash said, and then whirled around and bucked the guard in the face. She vaulted over him as he recoiled and tackled him from behind, driving him forward into the railing of the balcony, knocking the wind out of him. The sword slid free of its sheath and fell over the edge, landing next to a startled Twilight, who looked between it and the struggle on the balcony and then ran for the ladder. Just as she reached it, however, the guard, in his panicked attempt to get away from Rainbow and get air into his lungs, reared back, lost his balance, and fell over the railing. “Head’s up Twi!” Rainbow shouted, and Twilight looked up again in time to see the guard falling and conjured up a bubble of magic to cushion the impact. “Is he ok?” Rainbow asked, flying down to join Twilight in checking on him, “I didn’t want to hurt him too bad.” The stallion gasped painfully as he finally managed to take a breath and sat up, casting about for his sword.
“I’d say he’s fine,” Twilight said dryly as she hit him with a sleep spell. She picked the sword up in her magic and sent it flying far out into the lake, and then pulled off the guard’s helmet and boots and did the same with them.
“What are you doing?” Rainbow asked.
“Making him less of a threat,” Twilight answered, levitating Star Swirl’s journal out of her bag and opening it, “I think it’s high time we got some solid facts about what’s going on in this world.”
“How?” Dash asked, “We don’t speak his language.”
“Star Swirl included a spell in here to fix that,” Twilight said, waggling the book a little as she studied its contents, “Get your cloak back on and get close.”
“I think I’ll keep it off, thank you very much,” Rainbow replied. Twilight gave her a look and she heaved a sigh. “He’s already seen my wings,” she said, “and keeping them visible might keep him off-balance enough to let more slip than he would otherwise.”
Twilight looked dubious, but she didn’t press the issue, turning her attention fully to the language spell. She read the spell formula until she had committed it to memory, and then put the journal away. After pausing for a second of thought, she brought out the dagger and floated it over to Rainbow. “Don’t actually use it,” she warned, “but we should try to convince him not to try anything.”
“Gotcha,” Rainbow said with a look of satisfaction in her eyes before gripping the dagger in her mouth and holding the point near the guard’s face. Meanwhile, Twilight began to gather magic into her horn and channeled it into a spell. Ribbons of glowing light spread out and wrapped around her head, Rainbow Dash’s, and finally the guard’s. As the directions had warned her, Twilight felt some resistance as the magic tried to enter the unconscious stallion’s mind and she gradually increased the pressure until it finally gave way. A sudden wave of pain rushed through her head, and from the look on Dash’s face she felt it as well, but just as quickly as it came the pain faded and the spell wound down to completion. “Did it work?” the pegasus asked around the dagger, rubbing her temple with one hoof.
“I hope so,” Twilight said, frowning slightly, “I don’t feel any different…” The guard began to stir out of the magically-induced sleep, to Twilight’s surprise. “That was quick,” she said, “Well, time to test it then.” She sat down in full view of the guard, with Rainbow on his other side holding the dagger at the ready, and waited as his eyes opened and cleared and he froze at the sight a sharp blade inches from his nose. “Hi there,” Twilight said in a neutral tone, “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and my friend and I have a few questions for you.”
“What could I possibly have to say that would be of use to you, Moiety?” the stallion asked suspiciously.
“What they hay is a moiety?” Dash asked testily. Twilight shot her a look and then gave the guard a smile that she hoped would come across as appealing.
“There’s a lot we don’t know,” she said, “We’re strangers to this world.”
“I don’t believe it,” the guard said darkly, “You may have had me fooled on that before, pretending not to speak my language and hiding your demon servant’s wings.”
“Hey, I’m nopony’s servant,” Dash said, pressing the point of the dagger threateningly into the stallion’s nose, “and I’m not a demon either for that matter.
“Look, we don’t mean any harm,” Twilight said, “We’re just looking for a couple of lost ponies and a book that was stolen from us.”
“Ah, I knew it,” the guard said smugly, “The Deceiver sent you to rescue his mare from the great Aldro. Well, don’t bother. She is being held on the smallest island, and the only way to reach it without becoming food for the wharks is through the great Aldro.”
“And where is Aldro?” Twilight asked.
“He is beyond the Domes,” the guard said, “preparing a new world for us to dwell in. Only those who know the secrets of the Domes can reach him now, and he does not like to be disturbed.”
“Oh really?” Rainbow said sarcastically, “Well, tough for him. Take us to him, now.”
“Easy Rainbow,” Twilight said, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Now, Mr. Guard, as I said before, we had a rather important book with us when we arrived, but it was taken away by a pony wearing a strange costume and mask.”
“One of the Moiety,” the guard said, “He probably didn’t know you’d been sent by the one his band of rebellious traitors worship. Heh. You’ll never find that book now, I think; the Moiety can disappear without a trace, even those without horns. The Deceiver must truly be a fool to send such poorly prepared champions like you to save his mare.”
“Watch it buddy,” Rainbow growled, “you’re not the one with the knife here.”
“You don’t scare me,” the guard retorted, “as disturbing and unnatural as you may be, you don’t have the face of a killer.”
“By ‘Deceiver’ you mean Star Swirl the Bearded, don’t you?” Twilight asked, trying to defuse the situation.
“Our stories tell of how the great Aldro and a horned pony with a great beard and robes fought for control of Sohndar,” the guard said, “The pony had deceived Aldro, pretending to be an ally as he lured ponies away from the truth. The Deceiver taught the magic of controlling worlds to the mare he drew away first, and together they called down giant blades and axes from the sky while destroying Aldro’s other world-books. The war ended when the great Aldro tore open a rift in the earth and cast the Deceiver into it, but the pony had still managed to complete his goal and took Aldro’s power of creation with him. Ever since then, Aldro has held the ponies of Sohndar together while trying to reclaim his old power.”
“And he’s succeeded recently?” Twilight asked.
“So I’m told,” the guard said with a shrug, “The Book Maker’s guild would know better.” He paused in thought for a few seconds, and then smiled wickedly and slowly got to his feet. “Tell you what,” he said, pointing to the balcony far overhead, “I don’t see any harm in letting you continue to blunder around. You’ll either get yourselves killed by some misstep or you’ll actually manage to get to Aldro and he’ll deal with you. There’s a building up there that he used as his workshop before creating the new world. Let me go unlock it for you.” He started to walk away toward the ladder, but Rainbow and Twilight quickly pulled up on either side of him, staying in step to the base of the cliff. “Don’t trust me?” he asked, “Smart of you.”
“Just get up there,” Rainbow said, pointing up the ladder with the dagger. The guard started to climb, and Rainbow tossed the dagger to Twilight before taking flight to reach the balcony first. Twilight climbed up after the guard, giving him enough space to get to the top and out of her way before she reached it. The guard then indicated the open door in the cliff, which led into a cave with a metal walkway that curved to the left over a rapidly deepening crevasse. Rainbow and Twilight held a silent discussion of glances and eyebrows before walking in, the cyan pegasus putting a brave face over her claustrophobia so as not to show weakness in front of the enemy. The guard followed after them, and then turned around and closed the doors. The cave was just a bit too narrow for Twilight and Rainbow to turn around quickly, but by the time they managed it the guard was holding up a hoof calmly.
“The doors block the exit when they’re open,” he explained, indicating a gap in the wall to his left. He started to turn in to, then thought again and turned to his right, where there was another gap. “May as well show you one of the Domes before we move on,” he said, “Come.” He led the cautious mares down a curving flight of stone steps that ended in a metal door, which he pushed open and walked through. Twilight and Rainbow followed him closely and emerged into an artificial cavern dominated by a large, spinning metal done ringed by a metal walkway. Taking a closer look, Twilight saw that a full ring of circular symbols had been engraved into the dome at eye-level, but the dome rotated too quickly for her to make out any details. “Each of the five islands has one of these domes,” the guard explained, “inside them is a copy of the book leading to Aldro’s new world.”
“How do we get inside?” Rainbow asked.
“Figure it out for yourself,” the guard replied, “Of course, even if you get that far you’ll have to get past another lock, and if the domes aren’t properly powered it will all be for naught.” He gave the pegasus a smug smile as he brushed past her to head back up the stairs.
“Jerk,” Dash muttered.
“At least he’s giving us information,” Twilight pointed out, following the guard. After they reached the top of the stairs, he led the mares through the other passage, which quickly let out onto a catwalk along the wall of the crater. “May I ask what your name is?” Twilight asked as they walked along.
The guard thought for a while in silence as the catwalk took them onto a shelf of rock, hidden from the lake shore by a wall of natural rock spires, filled with small pools of water and mineral sediments. A small building with frosted glass windows making up most of the front wall and a peaked and gilded roof was nestled into the ridgeline of the crater, and the guard applied his magic to the handle in the center of the door, which unlocked with a click and then turned to allow the door to swing open. “Arcem,” he said, standing aside and gesturing for Twilight and Rainbow to head inside.
“Come again?” Twilight asked.
“You can call me Arcem, if you must have a name for me” the guard said, “Now, here we must part ways. Good luck not dying.”
“Hold on,” Rainbow said, moving to block his path, “you think we’re just going to let you walk away and tell your buddies where we are?” Arcem flinched as Rainbow spread her wings, and she smirked as she stepped closer and reached a wing toward him. “Get in there,” she ordered, nodding at the building. Arcem glowered at her and reluctantly walked through the door. “I’m keeping my eye on you,” Rainbow said as she followed him, “so don’t try anything.”
“Fine, but don’t expect me to tell you anything more,” the guard said, taking a seat just inside the door, next to a blue button on a post.
Twilight ignored the battle of wills occurring between her pegasus friend and their prisoner as she entered the workshop and looked around. A potbellied furnace sat in the center of the room and workbenches covered with all sorts of objects were set up along two of the walls. A second door leading outside stood opposite of the entrance, and through the frosted windows Twilight thought she could make out a grav-car station on a plateau far below. She went over to the furnace and peered inside, blanching as she saw the charred remains of thin, wood-bound books. “Why would he be burning books?” she wondered aloud.
“The great Aldro does not take failure well,” Arcem replied in a bored tone.
Twilight backed away from the furnace, trying not to think too hard about the implications of the guard’s phrasing, and turned to get a closer look at one of the workbenches. In the center of the one she approached first was a slim book bound with brass rings between two wooden boards, the top board marked with the symbol of the star with a bisected square – the glyph for 5 – in the center. On reflex, Twilight opened it to the first page and then gasped in surprise. “This is written in Equestrian!”
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I gasped in delight upon seeing this update! I was just thinking about it today!
YAY! Update!
And yay! Interaction with an NPC! Kudos on you, Vulpin!
I'm glad you kept the name of the Moeity the same. And some of the Moeity have wings? Interesting...
973472
No, it's only because (I'm fairly sure) the word "moiety" refers to something akin to dark spirits or demons, so the guard think Rainbow's a literal moiety and Twilight's either one as well or part of the rebel group.
yay! finally an update
973638
I think it was both the name of the rebel group AND the word for spirit. But hey, this is YOUR story
Now THIS is what I'm talking about, THIS is cheating! Capture of a guard, a translation spell, and quick access to the lab are ALL things that couldn't have been done in the actual game, and make the story more interesting (even if the guard's exposition dump was rather dry). I do have a bit of a hard time believing that a lowly guard would know all those things about the domes, but for the sake of encouraging you to do more deviations and cheating, I'll let that slide as part of "suspension of disbelief" and hope you do something later to explain how he's so well-informed. Overall, great job, and I look forward to the next chapter!
i admit i have never played the game that this is based off of but i find this story and the one before it quite amazing i can't wait to see how they turn the guard over to their side if that is whats going to happen that is... oh and btw i truely think that if they had pinkie pie there she would be able to understand what everypony is saying as well as find her own way back to the "real" world.
“The doors block the exit when they’re open,”
And when I played through, I'm embarrassed to say this was the single most effective security system in the entire game.
985426
I think that when I went to replay Riven after getting it on Steam those doors got me stuck for a bit as well.
985426
Yeah, they're definitely one of the stupidest hard puzzles in the game. Funniest part in my experience, though, is that when I was first playing it with my dad and uncle, my uncle figured out the first set of doors, then totally failed to catch the same trick at the bottom of the stairs where the Firemarble Dome and its rotoscope are.
989839
I can at least proudly say I was wise to it when they pulled it a second time downstairs from the first one.
Still though. Figured out the numeric system, the Moiety combination, the frigging fire press...but got stuck for a week because yo dawg I herd you like doors.
985457 Wait a sec...how are you getting Riven to run? Is the Steam version easier to get working than the 10th anniversary edition, did it take a ton of configuration before it became playable, or did you play it on an old computer that wasn't as susceptible to backwards compatibility issues?
997191
The Steam version just seems to work better, although it does occasionally freeze.
Another amazing chapter. I have to say, at first I was skeptical about reading this series. I had never heard of Myst, and thought of the cross-over to be weird and/or stupid. Wow, am I glad I was completely wrong. Thank you for introducing me to the Myst series!
1002265
I love how these fics are having that effect on people
Convenient, not having to crawl through the ventilation to unlock the door.