Chapter 17: Somepony's Watching Me
ONE OF THESE DAYS
Chapter 17: Somepony's Watching Me
~21 Aevum Illuminationis~
Quiet in the library wasn't unusual; in fact, it was the norm. Today however, the quiet carried a subtle undercurrent of uneasy anticipation mixed with grief. A feeling of disquiet not unlike waiting for a coming storm to open up while attending a funeral.
The source of the grief was easy to ascertain, of course. Barely a week ago, Twilight, Alicorn of Magic and close friend to Nyx had went off to battle the menace terrorizing the world known as Nightmare. Nyx could have told her how it would go, had she asked. She could even have given her details of the battle so vivid, that one would think that the sphinx was there herself. She wouldn't have given such details out to just anyone, naturally. She still maintained that being surprised was one of the greatest gifts she had ever given up to sate her curiosity, and envied other beings that ability. Of course, she would have told Twilight had she pressed her for details; their relationship was different like that, not that the alicorn knew. Yes, the source of Nyx's grief and lassitude were readily apparent to anyone who knew the two of them with anything beyond a passing familiarity. Not that anyone other than Onyx and Kat were aware of Nyx's suffering; she had closed the library indefinitely the day Twilight left on her suicidal quest.
The foreboding apprehension was another matter entirely. It was radiating from the sphinx so that even her baby dragon assistant had taken to finding any excuse to not be around his caretaker, often just hiding in his room searching for something to do. The town that had grown up around the library also seemed to be affected by the feeling. Perhaps it was just the fact that the library was closed for the first time in anyone's memory, or maybe it was Nyx's growing irritation in the days preceding the closure. Whatever the case, everyone in the small, diverse population steered clear of the massive building except to return books, and even then, only used the slot next to the door, almost never going inside. The streets were also clear for the most part, over half the population deciding that this was a good time to visit relatives or take that vacation they had been promising themselves.
The weather seemed to disagree with the general feel, insisting on being sunny, crisp autumn day. Hardly a cloud marred the sky, and the sun shone down, melting the frost that had gathered overnight. Nyx looked at the clock next to the window where she sunned herself and sighed. May as well go outside. There'll be less destruction that way, at least. She walked past the shelves of precious books, past the front desk where Onyx sat, sorting through a pile of returns collected from the drop box earlier. He looked up at her with fearful, expectant eyes, dreading that she would reprimand him for something he did, or didn't do, but the expected words did not come. Instead, she said something wholly unanticipated. “I'm stepping outside for a moment, Onyx. Whatever happens, no matter what you hear out there, you are not to leave this desk, understand?”
Unsure of what else to do, the baby dragon silently nodded. And watched as the huge sphinx silently padded out the door. Outside, Nyx drew in a deep breath, smiling at the scents and tastes carried to her by the gentle breeze. The sun beat down on her face, warming her cheeks against the slight nip in the air. She walked down to the bottom step of the library, looking at the stone lion guardians that flanked the stairs. She silently willed them inside and the disappeared. No sense getting them destroyed when they couldn't do anything other than get in the way anyway. Let's see. She should be here in three, two-
Nyx's inner monologue was interrupted as Celestia slammed into the ground before her in her unrestrained immortal form. Her hooves scorched and cracked the thick stone pavers lining the road up to the library. For a moment, Nyx was overjoyed that her countdown was off by even a second. Usually, minor things like that indicated that things might go differently than she knew they would, but one look at the mare's eyes dispelled any hope of that.
”WHAT HAST THOU DONE, THOU CATTE? WHAT HAST THOU DONE TO MINE SISTER?” Celestia demanded.
Repressing a sigh, Nyx replied, “I gave her the means to destroy her foe like she asked. Admittedly, I had hoped that it would turn out better, but my fears were justified.”
“HOW COULDST THEE? THOU KNEWEST THE DANGERS BUT DIDST NOT DISSUADE HER! THOU SURELY KILLED AS MUCH AS THAT FOUL WYRM DID!”
“You think I didn't try?” the sphinx snapped back. “I argued with her over it for months straight! I told her the dangers, but she seemed to think that 'protecting her ponies' was worth the risk! Light knows they won't appreciate it later, once the shock of regaining their freedom wears off, and it's back to business as usual! I certainly didn't want her to go, but unlike some beings, I know that what she was doing was something she wanted more than anything, even mortal life!” tears were streaming down her face now, even as her body took on the texture of old, worn out papyrus and inky black runes bleed through. “SHE MEANS MORE TO ME THAN MY OWN LIFE, BUT I WOULD NEVER DARE DEIGN TRY TO HOLD HER BACK FROM SOMETHING SHE TRULY WANTED, EVEN IF IT MEANT GIVING HER UP!”
Celestia could stand no more and charged the papery sphinx, her own fiery form singing her, but not setting her aflame. A flaming hoof struck Nyx across a cheek, drawing a line of inky blood and sending her reeling backwards. Not really a combatant, not like Celestia. Nyx knew that she was overmatched, but she also knew that this moment had to play itself out. This was a moment that both of them would later come to regret, indeed, she already had been regretting it since first seeing it happen in one of her visions.
With that simple act of violence, a line had been crossed. Out of her league she might be, but Nyx was no pushover. She was not one of the oldest immortals for nothing. She stood proud and flared out her wings, her entire body radiating a white light. “FOOL! THE SUN YOU MAY BE, BUT I AM KNOWLEDGE ITSELF! AS LONG AS THERE IS A THINKING BEING ALIVE, I CANNOT DIE! YOU LOVE YOUR SISTER, BUT SO DO I! SHE IS ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL OF BEINGS I CONSIDER MY PEER, AND A GREATER FRIEND ONE CANNOT EVER HAVE! I ACHE IN HER ABSENCE IN A WAY YOU CANNOT EVER FATHOM!”
Their combined shouting voices were beginning to have a detrimental effect on the nearby buildings, causing many to crack and mortar to crumble under the sonic assault. Beyond reasoning, Celestia rose into the sky and called out, “THOU HAST FIVE MINUTES TO ABSCOND FROM THIS DOOMED CITY AFORE I RAIN DOWN FIERY DEATH UPON IT. THIS SHALT BE THY ONLY WARNING!” With that, she flew up into the sky, joining with the daystar far above.
Creatures of all kinds heard the pronouncement and decided that taking her at her word would be for the best. A mass exodus of ponies, minotaurs, griffons, and many others besides made haste for the lands surrounding the town, not bothering to even pause long enough to gather their belongings.
Nyx however, stared into the sun, tears streaming down her face. She returned to her normal mortal form, but did not budge from the stairs. With her keen vision, she was able to see Celestia within the sun, whom was curled into a fetal ball, weeping over the loss of her sister. She saw the angry mare uncurl and begin her rocketing trip back to the ground, and could stand no more. She turned around and calmly walked inside, carefully pulling apart the connections that tied the library to the material plane, trying to remember and preserves the locations as best she could despite knowing it would do no good.
By the time Celestia's meteoric body struck the ground with enough force to level every building, the library had already been cast adrift in the planes, with no ties of its own.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
~2015 Aevum Illuminationis~
Silver Belle gently stroked Paladin's head as it lay against her side. The chambermaid was using her own body as a makeshift cushion for the pony she loved above all others, feeling that she deserved that and much more besides, but this would have to do until she could properly reward her efforts to keep them all alive. The guard had rapidly teleported them a total of three times, each time putting them in a place far removed from their last location. After the third time, she collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from her nose.
Awesomeshine had examined her and proclaimed that she would be fine with a little rest and some TLC. So, rest they had, after finding cover from any passing dragons or griffons. They needed to wait for the night anyway so that Silver Script could determine their location. Silver Belle looked over to her, who was now looking through her sextant at the ashy clouds, which were unbroken, and wondered how she was going to see anything.
The scholar mumbled something, which Awesomeshine wrote down, barely able to see anything in the dim glow of her horn, which was all Ricochet and Knightengale allowed to avoid being spotted. She carefully put the tool away in her saddlebag and joined the unicorn on the ground determining their position based on her calculations. They quietly put their heads together, whispering to each other, and Silver Belle was sure that she saw a slight blush overtake the earth pony's cheeks for a moment.
It looked like they were wrapping up whatever they were doing, so the chambermaid quickly looked down at Paladin's sleeping face and smiled gently. She looks so peaceful. It's really a shame to wake her. She was about to gently tap her shoulder, when Ricochet stopped her.
“Let the poor lass sleep. We're nae going anywhere tonight,” she whispered.
Silver Belle smiled up at her and nodded, gratefully putting her own head down on her forelegs and closed her eyes.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
She awoke the next morning, somewhat refreshed. Looking around, she saw Paladin, Knightengale, Ricochet, and Silver Script standing over a map, quietly discussing their plans. Awesomeshine and Kitten waved her over to the cooking pot, where gruel was being doled out for her. “Morning,” she yawned at them. “What's the plan for today?”
Awesomeshine smiled and nodded at the greeting. “Morning. We're heading to some caves that Sil knows about. They're dangerous, but less so than wandering about on the surface where those griffons or dragons could spot us with no cover.”
Silver Belle noted the way Awesomeshine's face lit up whenever she talked about her friend. It was different from the way she talked about anypony else, and she thought it was adorable. She often thought that the way a pony acted when they were in love, but had yet to confess their feelings was often when they were at their most adorable. “How dangerous, and how far away are they? Will it take long to get to the other Elements using them?”
The healer pushed her treasured glasses up on her nose. “Dangerous enough to seriously debate using them, not far, and less time than dodging patrols on the surface.”
Digging into her bland breakfast, Silver Belle contemplated the response. She took a spoonful into her mouth and had to struggle to get it down. While she wasn't averse to gruel, she avoided it whenever possible. “Bad enough to have to deal with the sun hiding behind those horrid clouds, but now we have to go underground and face whatever abominations await us below the surface.” She pushed the gruel around with her spoon, then without looking up, she asked, “Do you think what she said is true? That the princesses were captured?”
It took her companions a moment to realize what she meant. Kitten paused in breaking down her cooking utensils to answer her. “Not exactly a pleasant thing to consider, is it?” Grim silence answered her. “No, it's not pleasant. But there is something else to consider, something that Brimfrost neglected to bring up.” The other two ponies looked to her questioningly, waiting for her to finish her thought. “This is the princesses were talking about! The two most powerful, benevolent, and protective creatures on the planet! Do you really think that some paltry dragon could take them down?”
“Then where are they? Why haven't they taken Nightmare down?” Silver Belle asked, desperate to believe the little pegasus.
The little inventor placed a calming hoof on her shoulder. “Don't you remember what they told Paladin when they sent her away? They need the Elements in order to beat back the dragons. They're waiting on us.”
“Which is why the sooner we get moving, the sooner we can get this over with,” Paladin gruffly said as she walked over and nuzzled Silver Belle. “Let's get this show on the road. I have a feeling we're on the final leg of this journey, and I don't know about you, but I'm ready to take a nice, long, hot bath.”
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
If ever an inanimate object seemed alive, it was this one. Not only was the cave lined with stalagmites and stalactites dripping with moisture, but the wind rushing through the cavernous space sounded so much like breathing that the ponies would not be surprised to find that they had wandered into the gigantic mouth of some creature. Silver Script had promised them that any such creature would never be found this close to the surface had done little to settle their jittery nerves. Of course, her assurances that being swallowed alive by such a creature would be infinitely preferable to the many dangers they now faced did even less.
When they rounded the corner and lost sight of the muted daylight, their nerves ratcheted up another notch. The unicorns lit their horns and Silver Script set her orbiting gemstone torch in place, granting them a measure of peace of mind as they continued down the path. The scholar perched a pair of glasses on her nose which began mapping their progress and displaying it in a corner.
They walked mostly in silence, their hooves on stone the only real cadence for measuring time spent. They squeezed past many narrow openings, held close to the wall as they inched their way along a narrow ledge, and once, swam through an ice-cold stream of water so heavily laden with minerals that they dared not let a drop get in their mouths.
When Paladin called a halt to their march for a brief respite, Silver Script carefully examined the floor, noting its peculiarities. Awesomeshine noticed this and asked, “What's wrong?” Her voice echoed eerily in the tunnel, causing her to gasp and cover her mouth with a hoof in an almost superstitious manner. “What's wrong?” she repeated in a whisper.
Silver Script scuffed at the dirt on the floor like she was digging for something. “There's something odd about this place,” she replied in a whisper as well. Looking up, she willed her floating gemstone to move, and it flew up to the wall, revealing obvious worked stone with old runes carved on it.
The others gasped, and Knightengale asked, “What language is that?”
“It looks like an ancient form of Equish, actually,” Silver Script replied. “Tenebrious dialect if I'm reading it correctly.”
Knightengale gasped. “But isn't that...”
Silver Script turned to her and nodded. “The dialect of the ancient aganippe, yes. I think we may have stumbled upon one of their antediluvian cities.” Returning her gaze to the markings, she added, “I think we'll have to be extra careful from here on out.”
Ricochet looked at her in confusion, asking, “An why is tha'?”
Silver Script looked at her in a way that caused the larger mare's knees to turn to jelly. “Because it appears that this dialect has evolved from its ancient form in a different way from what is used now. This city may not be as abandoned as we think.”
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
Scandia squeezed past another narrow passage, almost blundering into the two female griffons that had been waiting on him. “Are you absolutely sure they went down here? I'd hate to go through all this trouble only to find that it was for nothing.”
Plubia adjusted the light stone placed within the special headband, making sure it was secure. “Can't you smell them? They've been down this way. Just be glad Polly was able to spot their hoofprints in the sand. Had we lost them entirely, we'd be in for a world of hurt. Besides, look at this.” With a grin, she held up a talon with a bright pink feather. “Only one thing in these lands with feathers this color, you know.”
With a placating nod, Scandia conceded the point. “That's all well and good, but why are we chasing them down here? We're aerial creatures. All this closed-in space feels unnatural; like it's all going to smother us-”
“Enough!” Plubia shouted. “I don't like it any more than you do, but we need to catch them, and we have no idea where or when they'll come out. So unless you got some sort of insight to the way their stupid pony brains work, or know where these tunnels lead, then follow them we will.” She held a claw under his beak threateningly, flexing her razor sharp talons. “I will not have mutiny in the ranks, Scandia, I really will not. If you think you're indispensable, then you are sorely mistaken. I can send you home and seek out another who'll do what I say. Now, quit your bellyaching, and move. Once we have that stone, we can leave them to wander down here forever or drag their lousy carcasses up to the light and see what Nightmare wants with them, but either way, I don't intend to stay down here any longer than absolutely necessary.”
Scandia gulped and followed Plubia and Polly in silence further into the tunnel.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
The ponies moved through the forest of stone columns as big around as a pony home. They ran up to a ceiling so far above them, that their meager lighting failed to reach it. They had encountered this intimidatingly large room on the other side of the portal where they had found the strange, old writing. By some strange effect of the room, every sound they made echoed back on them ten times as loud and distorted. It took several minutes before they realized that they were jumping at the sound of their own hoofsteps. Knowing the source of the sounds did little to alleviate the tension, however.
They crept ever forward, lead by Paladin, who was taking directions from Silver Script, whom did not even need to concentrate very hard to locate the direction of the other Elements. All of them spoke only when they could not avoid it, and kept it as terse as possible. By consensus, it was felt that it was better if Knightengale used her echolocation in case there were anything hostile down here that could detect it. None of them wanted to come right out and say that those hostile beings might be some sort of aganippe.
So intent were they on detecting the slightest out of place sound, that they were able to hear Scandia's wing beats as the trio flew in to attack them. Ricochet whirled around with her bow drawn and arrow nocked, as if she had been expecting an attack of some kind. She let fly, her off the cuff aim passing the arrows harmlessly through the feathers of his wings.
Silver Belle and Awesomeshine increased the power of their glows, allowing the ponies to see their attackers clearly. Paladin wasted no time in firing her deadly accurate bolts of magical energy, peppering all three griffons with hits that sent them scattering. When they flew beyond the radius of the light, the ponies formed a wheel, a trained warrior between to civilian ponies, all looking out for the approach of their enemies. Kitten whispered, “Should I set up the ballista?”
Paladin shook her head in the negative. “No. We might need to escape very quickly, and breaking it down will take too long. Just stay ready,” she whispered back.
The griffons returned, charging from three different directions at their hasty defenses, having to duck and weave around the ponies' ranged attacks. The griffons clashed with the strongest warriors, seeking to break their line, but every attack was turned aside. Both sides were taking hits from each other, and none of them were left totally untouched. Even Silver Belle managed to get in a lick or two while taking a few herself.
All the combatants were so intent on surviving the battle, that they failed to notice that every strike, every cry out, every yelled taunt echoed through the cavern eerily. None of them noticed the movement on the ceiling, nor the growing susurration of noise as creatures stirred. At first, a few woke from their sleep, wondering at the strange sounds that had not been heard here for centuries, but dozens others joined them every second. A particularly loud bellow from Scandia as he took a stab from an arrow along his shoulder woke many, many more. Sightless eyes turned towards the sounds and huge ears swiveled to locate the source of the odd noises.
The creatures prowled forward, finally catching scent of the fresh meat below them. Though unable to see them, the group below were making more than enough noise for the creatures' echolocation to find them.
Knightengale was the first to notice that they were no longer alone, her sensitive ears picking up their ultrasonic squeaks and clicks. “They're here!” she shouted, alerting friend and enemy alike to their predicament.
Looking around, Paladin finally saw the vague movement in the shadows, and shouted, “You idiots! You brought them right to us!”
Plubia chanced a glance around herself and noticed the movement as well. Uncovering her light stone, it shone directly in the face of a bone white, blind creature. If one were feeling generous, they might call the creature a pony, as it had four legs, a head, and bat-like wings, but the similarities were far outweighed by the differences. Huge, unseeing eyes stared at them uselessly, while oversized ears almost as large as their heads constantly swiveled around, gathering all sounds. Their hooves were cloven, and gripped the ground more like talons than anything a pony might have, and their mouths were filled with fangs more appropriate to a predator and dripping with saliva. Their dirty yellow manes and tails were short, and not a single one of them bore a cutie mark.
The ponies and griffons turned on the new arrivals, forsaking their old enemies. Their new foes seemed to be legion, swarming at them from the darkness without end. For every one that was struck down, three more took its place. The last stand became a running battle as the intruders, desperate to escape certain death, tried to make good their escape from the army of ravenous horde.
Luckily, the creatures were easy to put down; a well placed strike to their nose was especially painful, and their bones seemed peculiarly easy to break. The real problem came from the fact that they relied on overrun tactics rather than actual skill or toughness.
The running battle left the great hall and entered a series of tunnels, forcing the retreating group to work extra hard from being separated. The many side passages of the labyrinthine tunnels made it all to easy to lose someone, which is how they lost Awesomeshine and Polly.
A particularly enterprising aggressor drove a wedge between the two of them and the rest of the party with his own body; an opening quickly exploited by the opportunistic creatures. Four more dived into the open space created, paring them off from the rest. By the time Silver Script (who had always kept one eye on her friend, no matter what she was doing) was able to shout out, “Awesomeshine! Grab my hoof!” she was already too far to be reached. The normally sedate scholar swung a hoof at one of the creatures, hearing a satisfying crunch of shattering bone in his face, but the damage was already done. She could only watch helplessly as her only true friend and ally against the world, as well as a dangerous griffoness whom had only moments before been trying to kill them were pulled down a side passage by a swelling tide of homicidal cannibals.
(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)
Awesomeshine and Polly, thrown together by circumstances well beyond their control, fought back to back, trying unsuccessfully to get back to their friends. The push of the invidious creatures had them on their metaphorical heels, unable to gain any ground, forcing them ever backwards into the unknown.
“We have to block them off!” Polly shrieked.
“We'll lose all hope of reuniting with our friends and escaping if we do!” Awesomeshine replied.
Polly grabbed one of the creatures and threw him into his companions, giving her room to breathe, but not much more than that. “If we don't, we'll fall to them anyway! Their numbers are neverending, and we can't keep fighting like this forever!”
Awesomeshine didn't like it, but she raised a very valid point. Looking at the tunnel, she nodded. “Hold them off! I'm going to blast the roof!” she cried out, tears apparent in her voice and on her face.
Drawing a deep breath, Polly let out a huge roar that echoed in the tunnel. The creatures reeled back in pain, hissing at the griffoness, but not daring to come closer to the pair. Awesomeshine peppered the ceiling with as many telekinetic blasts as fast as she could. The numerous weak blasts loosened the already weakened roof, collapsing the tunnel and separating the unicorn and griffon from their attackers.
The rocks fell in a cloud of choking dust, completely blocking the only route they knew led back to their friends. Looking behind them, Awesomeshine shone her horn light down the rest of the passage. “Well, that's that, I guess. We better get going while we still can.”
Polly followed the unicorn down the passage. “For what it's worth, I never really wanted to hurt any of you, and Scandia- the big fellow- wanted us to just abandon the mission and leave dragon lands altogether. We just... we can't leave Plubia like that, and she's too stubborn to realize that Nightmare doesn't really care what happens to us, and will just as likely kill us as reward us for this.”
Awesomeshine stopped to consider this for a moment before resuming their trek. “Do you think she'll leave us alone if you're returned unharmed?”
“Maybe,” Polly answered with a shrug. “It's always a possibility. You'd have to take it up with her. She and I are clutchmates, and we tend to be very loyal to our clutchmates.”
They walked for sometime in silence until they came to a fork in the passage. “Oh, dear. I was afraid of this. What now?” Awesomeshine asked.
Without an ounce of hesitation, Polly pointed down the right side. “That way.”
“What makes you say that?” the healer asked as they started down the indicated path.
Polly grinned at her. “I can feel a fresh breeze coming from that direction.”
Both their moods lightening considerably, they trotted through the tunnel, going around bend after bend, until a blessed sight greeted their eyes. “Daylight!” Awesomeshine cried out, racing for the exit now. They came to a blocked opening to the outside, but after a few minutes of carefully shifting rocks, they climbed outside and took in a lungful of the ash-filled air of the dragon lands. Not even the sulfurous tang in the air was enough to darken their moods.
Turning to the griffoness, Awesomeshine was about to agree to her idea, when she spied an even larger opening with the rest of their friends walking out. They ran to each other, Awesomeshine and Silver Script practically crashing into one another in a great hug. Polly ran up to Plubia , who just gruffly tousled her head feathers. “We heard your roar, telling us to meet you topside. How did you know you'd find a way out?”
Polly just smiled and shrugged. “I didn't, but I knew that you'd stupidly risk everything to come rescue me, so I did what I could to make you go on.”
This earned her a hard, but affectionate knock on the head, to which she objected with a muffled grunt of pain. “Dummy. The Clutchmaiden would have my head if I came back without either of you. Why don't you think of that next time before doing something foolishly heroic?”
Paladin turned to her and asked, “So, where does that leave us? We don't want to fight you, but we aren't giving up what you want from us.”
Plubia considered this for a moment before shrugging. “We already have what we want from you, our clutchmate. As far as we're concerned, you don't exist. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've earned a little vacation time, and it's a long flight to somewhere the dragons can't reach us.”
The three griffons lifted off, circling once before heading south. The ponies watched them leave, Silver Script not daring to let Awesomeshine go. “There go the second most bipolar creatures I've ever seen,” Kitten said.
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4648979
Nice to see someone take an interest in the story. I was beginning to think I was the only audience left for the last 7 chapters.
4680811 Hey, I'm still here! I'm enjoying it, too.
4680811 If we're the only ones thanks for keeping this going anyway! I'm really enjoying this take on the history of Equestria.
Still reading! Still enjoying!
Ugh it's still a crime that this story hasn't gotten the attention it deserves! I adore this backstory into the 'verse you've created, and I'm left wanting more each and every time.