Sights and Sounds
Canterlot was considered by many to be the crown jewel of Equestria, and not just because it was the seat of political power in the country, or that the Solar Order’s headquarters was located there.
The mountain city was actually the result of the first efforts of the three pony tribes following the Unification and the defeat of the Windigos. Pegasi had carried the materials to the side of the mountain, earth ponies had constructed the first structures on it, and unicorns had magically fastened the base to the side of the cliff, so that it would only fall if the mountain itself were to topple over. On top of that, everypony, from the richest of nobles to the poorest of serfs, had worked in shaping the city as it grew, placing their own designs and flourishes into the city as it sprawled out.
Of course, over a thousand years can cause a lot of things to change.
The city was still one of the most well-off cities in all of Equestria, even with the general unrest and crime that would plague any kingdom until the end of time. And there were still a decent number of earth ponies and pegasi who called the city home. But, as was their wont, most of the earth ponies had left for the plains and most of the pegasi had taken to the clouds. The Canterlot of today was very predominantly a unicorn city, making an earth pony a rare sight.
Not that Bonbon particularly cared as she hurried through the streets. Her armor clanked and jangled as she jogged through the crowded streets, ponies parting before her as they saw one of Celestia's chosen in a hurry. Her father had been furious to learn that Lyra was missing, and only Bonbon's own rage had prevented him from getting the Order to declare her a 'kill on sight' target. However, he had still been required to report her missing, and to get things in motion for the next course of action.
A scarf, only a shade off from her own coat in color, wildly flapped around her mouth as she hurried along. She'd given it to Lyra as a Hearth's Warming present a few years back, and she'd worn it every winter since. It probably wasn't the best choice, but she'd been in a hurry, and had never been one to save bits of hair or hoof clippings out of paranoia.
Maybe I should start being paranoid, she bitterly thought. I probably wouldn't have left her alone if I was.
She slid around a corner, finally reaching the street that led to the grand cathedral.
Built in the years following the end of the Nightmare War, the building had been intended as a sort of mausoleum to the princess of the sun, honoring the sacrifice she made to finally end the war and bring light back to Equestria. Massive archways, flanked by stone statues of the princess's long dead commanders, were carved from solid granite, stretching high enough that those with wings could simply fly in and out. The statues themselves were so large that their hooves alone were each larger than the ponies trotting in and out beside them.
Beyond that, the building opened into a courtyard that housed some of the most diverse gardens in Equestria, boasting plants so rare that many were said to be the only specimens left in the world, and home to a wide menagerie of animals just as uncommon. Several of those rare animals scattered and scurried about as Bonbon dashed through the gardens, heedless of several ponies shouting less than pleasant words after her. All she cared about was getting to the other side, where the main offices of the paladins were housed, and slid to a stop right in front of an unassuming chunk of wall.
After an attack on the city several years ago had left a large portion of the cathedral and the offices heavily damaged (the garden only salvaged thanks to the help of a dryad), the Order had decided to up security as much as possible. While they couldn't really do much beyond repair and reinforce the cathedral without barring ponies from a place of worship, their own offices were a different matter entirely.
Bonbon reached up to her neck and pulled her sun amulet out from inside her armor, before pressing it against the wall.
“Paladin Sweetie Drops,” she managed to get out around the scarf. “In the name of Celestia, open this door.” Her amulet glowed for several moments, before finally returning to normal. An audible click sounded a moment later, and the wall reshaped itself into the door she was demanding. Pushing it open, she rushed inside and dashed through the halls, forcing everypony else to get out of her way once again.
Finally, after what felt like enough running to last more than a lifetime, Bonbon approached a room with a stylized eye painted on the door. Said door was already opening as she approached it, and she didn't think to question it as she burst in. “I need–”
“I know, Paladin Drops.”
A pink pegasus with hair that was a chaotic mix of white, orange, pink, and purple closed the door behind Bonbon, before turning to face her. It took a bit more effort than Bonbon liked to admit to not recoil slightly to see the pink garnets that sat in place of the other mare's eyes. They had been carved to resemble the organs, of course, but their glassy sheen and unchanging gaze left Bonbon feeling more than a little disquieted.
“You have an item for me, Paladin Drops?” The mare’s question snapped Bonbon out of her musings about the gemstones, and brought the situation at hoof back to the forefront of her mind once more.
“Yes,” she wrapped part of the scarf around her leg and held it out to the pegasus. “I trust you know who you're supposed to look for, Locket.”
“I usually do,” Locket responded, taking the scarf in hoof and fluttering over to a table with a waiting map. “Now then... let’s see what I can See.” Bonbon joined Locket as the pegasus closed her eyes and started running her hoof along the scarf, her gem eyes starting to flash faintly as they opened once more.
The Order always employed the odd seer or two, specifically for when they needed to have a heads up to protect a certain area, or to know in advance if there were any events that could potentially spell the end of Equestria looming. They were also useful for tracking ponies that went missing under mysterious circumstances, provided you had something for the seer to track them with.
“Okay…” Locket said, eyes still glowing. “She's still alive, I can tell you that much right away.”
“I had faith that she would be,” Bonbon said. “What else?”
“Don't be impatient, I'm working on it.” Locket fell silent once more, her eyes closing as she concentrated. “Okay... I see a dungeon, so she's a prisoner; don't interrupt, I'm getting there. She's... talking to some... pony? I think? I can't quite make out a face, or what they're saying. Nothing good though; Lyra's definitely not liking what she's hearing.”
“Still not telling me anything more than I could have guessed,” Bonbon replied, growing impatient. “I thought you were supposed to be a seer.”
“Give me some credit, Paladin Drops,” Locket snapped. “You're asking me to look at a place and event across time and space that I have no knowledge of save for one of the ponies involved.” Her brow furrowed as she frowned, seemingly at nothing in particular. “Not to mention, something's getting in the way.”
“What do you mean 'in the way'?”
Locket shook her head. “It's... hard to explain. I...” She paused, tilting her head. “Wait, what is... huh? What!” Her eyelids snapped open. “You can–” Her words were cut off as an unseen wave of force slammed into the Seer, blasting her away from the table. Locket flew wildly through the air, only to slam into the wall with enough force that one of the gems popped out of her eye socket before she fell to the floor and lay still.
Bonbon was on her hooves in an instant, rushing toward Locket just as the other pony started to stir. However, as she reached Locket, the Seer cried out and tossed away the scarf still held in her hooves. Bonbon watched with wide eyes as the garment combusted before her eyes, blood red flames of hellfire turning it to ash in less than a second. Still shocked, she turned back to Locket.
“Nothing a bit of hard cider won't fix later,” she answered before the question could be asked. “Bastard,” she swore. “I still don't know who has Lyra, but they're damned powerful; not everyday you meet someone who can look back at you through a Scry. Or hit you through it, for that matter.” Locket raised a hoof to her jaw, rubbing it back and forth a few times. “I'm going to be feeling that one for a while,” she muttered, wiping away a bit of blood from her lips. “Make sure you get that bastard good for me when you meet him.”
“'When'?” Bonbon repeated.
“Yeah, 'when'.” Locket pulled herself up with a groan, her hoof reached over to grab the loose gem and pop it back into her eye socket. “Bastard didn't want me to see where he was keeping Lyra, but I could still get a general idea of the area before he shut me out.” Trotting back over to the table, Locket let her hoof roam across the map's surface, muttering under her breath as she closed her eyes. “You're gonna want to go... here.” Her hoof stomped down on the map, marking a spot on it with some of her blood.
Bonbon eyed the bloody mark with a scowling face. “The Breaking Back mountain range,” she deadpanned. “They can never make it easy, can they?”
“Making it easy kinda defeats the purpose of having a secret, evil lair, Paladin Drops.” Locket rubbed at her jaw again, still wincing. “Seriously, go for the head if you get the chance. Mine should stop ringing by the time you do.”
Bonbon frowned, but picked up the two halves of the now ruined scarf from the floor. Tucking them both away for safe keeping, she turned back to Locket. “I don't suppose you can give me any specific advice about the future before I go, could you?”
Locket paused, then scowled. “The hard part is, anything more than a minute or so from now isn't specific when you look at it.” She closed her eyes, concentrating for a moment longer. “Best I can say is to expect some wisdom from an unlikely source. Sorry, I'm not getting anything more than that.”
Bonbon sighed, shaking her head as she trotted out the door. “Thanks anyway, Locket, at least I know where I'm going now.”
“Yeah,” Locket muttered as she looked elsewhere. “You and everypony else.”
“Out of my way!”
Righteous Fury galloped through the streets of Canterlot, barely even giving the ponies she ordered to clear the road time to move aside. There was still a noticeable limp to her movements keeping her from going at a full sprint, but that was just as well. Vinyl and Octavia had enough problems without trying to run through the streets after her.
While the assassin was in better shape than the paladin at the moment, she kept lagging behind to let Vinyl catch up. Being in the seat of Celestia's power was doing the demon no favors; and, while she was able to keep the two of them in sight, Vinyl was starting to lag behind.
“Righteous,” Octavia called. “We need to slow–”
“If your ward can't keep up, that is none of my concern!” Righteous snapped back, nearly tripping at a particularly painful step as she ran. “I'm in worse shape and doing just fine!”
“Damn it all!” Octavia swore, pausing to help Vinyl as she staggered a bit herself. “This is helping no one!”
Vinyl gave her a pained look, but nodded all the same, taking off after Righteous as soon as she was steady. She hated coming to Canterlot, only doing it when Octavia was required to file reports on her progress as a ward. But, unfortunately, this was where all the high-risk prisoners were kept; remote dungeons were simply too much of a drain on resources to be considered practical, and trying to execute them was generally a bad idea. Some of them wouldn't die, and a good number of the ones that would were the same ones likely to make infernal pacts with other demons to return. She'd made a few herself before being taken in by the Order; it was just what demons did after all, but all those had been canceled as a part of her sentencing.
At least, all the ones she could remember.
“If they're asking about Harpsichord, we need to know what they could be looking for,” Righteous had finally stopped shouting as they reached the palace proper. “I'm not going to spend weeks digging through the royal archives trying to figure out what they'd be most interested in from his work. Assuming we could find it at all. No, as much as I hate the idea, we have to skip the middlemare here.”
Octavia scowled a bit as Righteous walked away to present her pendent to the guardsponies, but couldn't find it in her to disagree with the point. As much as she hated to admit it, it probably would be quicker to just ask Harpsichord what he had been researching and go from there. It was still a shot in the dark, and a long one at that, but it was better than digging through mountains of paperwork.
Sighing through her nose, she too produced something for the guards as she approached them, her warden's badge. Really, just a small shield modeled after Captain Armor's, but it was just as official as the pendant.
The guard glared at her, then shifted his gaze to Vinyl as she caught up once more.
“She's with me,” Octavia said, drawing his attention back to her. “Invoking my right as Warden to bring her in here.”
The guard continued to glare for a moment longer, but he still moved aside.
Righteous was already pushing past him before he had finished moving, with Octavia feeling the twinge of headache building up within her. Things didn't improve as Righteous hobbled down the corridor as fast as she could, still calling for anypony in her way to move. Vinyl was lagging more than ever, several runes carved into the wall glowing ominously as she passed them. Several guards looked at each other, as well as the runes, unsure how to react.
Finally, Octavia just grabbed the demon mare and draped her over her back. Yes, that just drew even more confused looks as she galloped along, but it was the only way to keep up with Righteous at the moment. However, after trips down several stairwells and along another corridor, Righteous Fury finally slowed, her ears twitching. Octavia caught up a moment later, momentarily confused, until sounds that normally had no place this deep in the dungeons reached her ears.
“–owes me more than–”
“–ther was taken by–”
“–my orders–”
“What is going on here?” Righteous shouted as she rounded the last corner to solitary confinement. The guard on duty was in the middle of arguing with two other ponies that Righteous barely paid any attention to as she stomped toward them.
The guard on duty snapped to attention. “Paladin Fury, I–”
“Oh, I am so not in the mood to deal with this bitch!”
Righteous's eyes snapped to the pink unicorn that had just spoken up. “You... I know you, lich-child!”
“Find somepony who cares!” Sparkler shouted right back. “I have more important things to worry about than you!” Her horn started to grow as light played around Righteous's hooves.”Now back off!”
Octavia started to move as well, a blade seeming to just appear in her hoof as she did, before she was cut off by a stallion's voice. “Enough!”
A brown stallion suddenly shot between the two, one of his hooves hooking around Sparkler's forehooves to off-balance her just before either of them could react. Righteous moved, but the stallion was still in motion and swept one of his other hooves out, Octavia's trained eye managing to spot a pocket watch on a long chain just before it tangled in Righteous's own hooves and caused her to trip.
He rounded on Octavia next, a black eye and a bloody lip that she wasn't sure she remembered seeing before marring his face. “Stay put!” he snapped, his bloodied teeth bared. “None of us have any time for this!”
Octavia shifted a bit, angling her body to let Vinyl slide off as gently as possible. “...what do you mean by that?”
“I mean that every moment we're out here trying to kill each other is another moment we're not talking to Harpsichord. And you're going to let us see him!” He rounded on the dumbstruck guard, who hadn't moved from his post. “I don't care if you're too young to remember it, I'm still calling in the favor the crown owes to me for what happened in Yakyakistan two hundred years ago! Take it up with the king if you've got a problem with it!”
“I... I...” The guard was visibly starting to sweat under the stallion's glare, his eyes darting around as he found no sympathy in anypony's gaze.
“Do not let that stallion in,” Righteous snarled as she struggled to free her hooves from the tangled watch chain. “Favors are not how the Solar Order works!”
“Spare us the horse apples, dammit,” Sparkler shouted right back. “I could have–”
The stallion angrily stamped his hooves, drawing attention back to him. “No, you couldn't have, now both of you shut up!”
“If I may.” Octavia calmly walked forward and produced her warden's badge to the guard. “By my right as Warden, I vouch for all these ponies.”
The guard visibly relaxed at having an out for his actions, and stepped aside with a salute. “Thank you,” he said.
“Octavia,” Righteous called as she managed to free herself at last. The paladin stood up and glared at the slayer, a fire in her eyes. “What are you doing?”
“The stallion–”
“Time Turner,” he interrupted.
“–is right,” she continued without missing a beat. “The longer we stand out here arguing, the longer we're going to be delayed in our mission. So, to use a rather crass turn of phrase, suck it up!”
Righteous actually took a half-step back as Octavia shouted at her, blinking a bit at the sudden venom in the other mare's voice. Her own mouth worked up and down, but she couldn't actually find words to come out of it.
“Huh,” Sparkler said with a raised eyebrow and even a bit of a smirk. “I didn't think anypony could actually shut her up.”
“Do you want to gloat or do you want to find out what we came here for?” Time Turner asked with a glare, deflating the young mare rather quickly. “That's what I thought.”
“If you're all done with this nonsense,” Octavia spoke up once more, her badge glowing a bit as the cell door unlocked. “I believe we have somepony we need to discuss things with.”
The inside of the cell was... surprisingly roomy, all things considered; a large room, devoid of any furniture, or amenities of any kind, with various runes etched and marked into the walls. A spell circle was inlaid into the floor with gold, complex sigils surrounding it; and, in the center of that circle, a statue of a unicorn, his face contorted in rage and chains wrapped around it tightly; a cutie mark of a harp could just barely be seen through the links.
“The circle has a spell worked into it,” Sparkler said out of the blue, her eyes narrowed at the markings on the ground. “Some type of temporary animation.”
“How else do you expect to talk to a statue, lich-child?” Righteous growled as she pushed her way into the room, matching Sparkler glare for glare. “Harpsichord was too dangerous to let live, and even more dangerous to let die, so we had to make sure he couldn't do either.”
Sparkler held her glaring contest with the paladin for several moments longer, but eventually turned away without a word.
“Enough delays,” Time Turner snapped, stomping one of his hooves. “Activate it and let’s talk to the bastard.”
Righteous narrowed her eyes at him, then turned to Octavia. “The door.”
“Already on it,” she answered, letting Vinyl into the room before shutting the cell door. She touched her badge to it once more, and an audible 'click' sounded. “He shouldn't be able to get out now.”
Sparkler's eyes widened, and she glanced around rapidly. “Wait, you're locking us in the same room as a pony you decided was dangerous enough to turn into a statue?”
“No one made you enter this room, lich-child,” Righteous scoffed. “You wanted to speak with Harpsichord, this is what needs to be done so he doesn't escape his confinement.” Before Sparkler could voice any more complaint, Righteous reared up, then stomped down on the spell circle, channeling holy magic into the inlaid gold.
Like water flowing through a stream, light raced along the lines of the runes. It wasn't long before every one of them felt a change in the very air of the room, and the statue in the center started to move. It was slow, at first, with only the occasional rattling of the chains giving away what was happening, but as more and more of the runes lit up, the statue's movements got more and more pronounced. It wasn't long before it was thrashing about in the bindings, falling to the floor with an incredible crash.
Then, the final rune lit itself up, and all hell broke loose.
“Kreischen!”
At the animated statue's word, a high-pitched keening exploded within the room, causing everypony within it to recoil in pain.
“Schneiden!”
The chains screamed in agony as an invisible force cut gouges in their links; they still held, but the statue struggled all the same.
“Schn–”
“Tace!” Righteous's shout cut off the statue's spell as her hoof slammed into one of the runes on the wall, and all the sound around her simply died. The chains around the statue still shook violently, and its mouth moved trying to form words, but not a single noise could be heard. “That's better.”
Righteous took a step forward, her hooves echoing unnaturally off the stone in the magically-induced silence around her. She paused in front of the thrashing statue. “I can maintain this spell for quite some time, Harpsichord, and even as a statue you will tire.”
Harpsichord's mouth opened in a silent roar as he strained at the bindings, but he still couldn't break free. Finally, after several more moments of flailing about, he grew still, silently scowling at Righteous.
“Good; now, you're going to be answering some questions for us.” When this failed to produce a reaction, Righteous narrowed her eyes. “And, in return, we won't mention your little episode just now and revoke your right to dream.”
Harpsichord visibly flinched at the threat, and slowly nodded his compliance.
“Thank you,” Righteous said simply, turning and walking back to the same rune she had touched earlier. “Finis!”
Sound flooded back into the room, with both Sparkler and Time Turner shaking their heads in a bit of a daze; Octavia staggered, while Vinyl looked like she was fighting back physical illness.
“You know how much I hate that spell, Righteous,” the cellist said at last, panting and visibly sweating with Vinyl nodding vigorously in agreement.
“I do,” Righteous admitted. “It's also the only way I know to shut down his spell casting in here.” She paused for a moment, then looked at Octavia out of the corner of her eye. “...I'm sorry.”
“...wait, so you don't burst into flame from – OW!” Sparkler's insult was cut off as Time Turner jabbed a hoof into her midsection.
“Stop trying to start a fight,” he told her, before narrowing his eyes at Harpsichord. “And you... your name has come up a lot recently, and not in a history lesson.” He took a step closer, glaring down even with his black eye. “What do you know?”
“I know quite a lot, Chronomancer.” Even without his screaming and shouting, Harpsichord's voice was still as hard as he was at the moment. “You're going to have to be a lot more specific about that.”
“Books,” Righteous interrupted, making both Time Turner and Sparkler look at her in confusion. “Why would somepony be asking about books written by you?”
Harpsichord's stone face twisted into a smirk. “Intellectual curiosity.” He started laughing as Righteous ground her teeth. “Really, Paladin, I think you already know the answer to your own question.”
“Your journals were seized with your capture, Harpsichord. All of them; we were very thorough in making sure anything written by your hoof was located.”
“I'm sure you were,” he admitted, still smirking. “I'm quite sure you managed to get everything written by my hoof.”
“There was nopony else who helped you,” Righteous snapped, stomping her hoof. “You even admitted it when captured.”
“I lied!” Harpsichord shouted right back, before bursting into laughter. “You paladins overestimate how intimidating you are, and you believe your own hype! You think you can intimidate ponies by invoking Celestia; your goddess has been dead for a thousand years! The only one who fears her anymore is you!”
Righteous's lips curled into a snarl as Vinyl flinched behind her. “You will tell us who else worked with you–”
“Or what, Paladin?” Harpsichord interrupted. “You'll issue another threat? See if I care!” He threw his head back and laughed. “Now that I know what I do, I don't care if I lose a few dreams as a statue! It won't matter, because I'll be free before long!”
“The Order–”
“The Order will fall! Broken and dead, only useful for fresh corpses for the likes of me!” He laughed again, thrashing about in his chains from the force of it.
“I think you're the one overestimating now,” Time Turner cut in softly, somehow making himself heard over the rattling of the chains. “One group, even armed with some of your research, isn't going to be able to take on the entire Solar Order at their very doorstep.”
Harpsichord's laughs fell silent as he glared at Time Turner, before his face broke out into a maniacal grin. “You stupid chronomancer,” he giggled, head rocking side to side as he started to laughed once again. “You have no idea, none at all.” His laughter reached a fever pitch and he resumed thrashing around once more. “The Lord of Tambelon will not be stopped by the agents of a dead goddess!”
Vinyl's eyes were open wide, the irises and pupils within them had shrunk to pinpricks, an expression that Time Turner mirrored almost exactly.
“We have to move,” the chronomancer said, already heading to the door. “Now!”
“What are you– huh?” Octavia looked down at her hoof as Vinyl hooked her own around it and pulled as much as her weakened state would allow, trying to drag her toward the door as well. “Vinyl?”
“What is going on?” Righteous called over Harpsichord's maddened laughter. “All I'm hearing from him is ravings.”
“Never thought I'd be agreeing with this bitch,” Sparkler said. “But she's got a point. What's he said that's so frightening?”
Time Turner rounded on her, visibly sweating. “Picture a city where death itself fears to tread. A city where, when anyone within its borders dies, their corpse rises under the command of a self-proclaimed king. A city where the dead wander through the streets endlessly, and stand rank and file. A city so saturated with dark magic that no magic in Celestia’s name can work and dark magic comes as naturally as breathing. Now, imagine all of this under the iron hoof of a king who has been alive for centuries and was said to be equal in power to Starswirl the Bearded. That is Tambelon, Sparkler.”
Righteous audibly scoffed. “If what you’re saying is true, then why have I never heard of it? The Solar Order would not have allowed such a city to exist within Equestria’s borders. It would be the highest priority to remove it from the map. Even without hallowed magic, the Order’s training is second to none; a highly skilled army without magic is still a highly skilled army.”
“I thought they had,” Time Turner said, starting to pace as Harpsichord chuckled lazily behind the group. “I thought they had managed to finally stop him nearly four hundred years ago when I watched the entire city vanish into darkness. I… everypony thought it was one last shot at the Order from that bastard who ruled it.”
“Been alive for centuries and you still can’t recognize a tactical retreat when you see it,” Harpsichord laughed out. “You’re a damned fool, Chronomancer.”
“Will you turn him back to stone already?” Sparkler snapped at Righteous. “I’m getting sick of hearing his voice.”
“Ooh, you’re a feisty one,” Harpsichord grinned hungrily, actually managing to lick his lips, stone sliding against stone with an audible scrape. “I’ll enjoy feeling the heat fade from your body when I bend it o–”
“Shut up!” Righteous stomped her hoof on the runes once more, canceling the spell animating Harpsichord.
The unicorn chuckled, the hunger never leaving his eyes as his movements slowly growing still and he grew silent once more.
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Wohoo! Loving every update!
I know I'm not the only one who thought of this with this line:
Huh. Two G1 characters in the same chapter. Nice!
Now we just need a red-headed pegasus and her expert bell-ringing skills.
now he needs to sing a song about how awesome he is at planning ahead.
Naturally.
The world building in this is utterly fascinating.
Phew.
OH. That's disturbing.
Someone really doesn't want you finding Lyra.
She has a point.
Now what does that mean?
She's a DEMON in a holy city, kinda, this is very hard for her.
Well played, Doctor.
The Doctor's pissed, let him do his thing.
THANK YOU!
So he was petrified.
Oh. That's not a fun idea.
NOT the time.
You're mad.
Grogar. That's, REALLY bad.
Grogar the Necromancer. I forget, was he a necromancer in G1 too?
Lunatic.
Wow you got off on the wrong foot.
" Canterlot was considered by many to be the crown jewel of Equestria, and not just because it was the seat of political power in the country, or that the Solar Order’s headquarters was located there. "
Usually when you use the phrase "Its not just because blank or blank" you usually follow it up with "Because it was actually blank" Or "Its not just because blank, or blank because noone really liked blank" Or something to that effect. You have a dangling modifier which leaves the entire sentance sounding odd and out of place.
I would advise rethinking that sentance or attaching something to it, so it fits the dangling modifier.
See now this guy here the one that owns a city of the dead now that's someone who's probably got tricks up he's selves cant wait to see how you fight him
Don't mind us, dear. We're just here for the show.
Very nice addition with the in-depth description of Tambelon. Now to see if the heroes have come to understand the threat early enough to actually do something about it.
Say isn't Locket one of those Jewel eyed ponies form gen 1? If so nice call back. Second our hero's really need to pool the info the just got together cause things are coming to a head. And I think I have a theory on what team death needs Lyra for.
So why didn't qnyone mentio that they were torturing Lyra? Does he not care about his daughter at all?
8350840
My thoughts exactly... But then again it could go both ways. She'd in theory be much safer if the Paladin order was wiped out.
I was honestly expecting something along the lines of "help us out or your daughter is in trouble"
8351053
He is also in jail and can't control how those other evil guys threat his daughter. Is still quite bizarre Lyra wasn't name dropped at all.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
8351458
They probably would have brought it up, if they knew it.
Lyra was kidnapped far away from the rest and bonbon barely got to canterlot. No interaction whatsoever with Sparlers or Ocies group.
8351586
They could have still brought it up since she was daddy's little necromancer.
Overall I feel that as it was the scene would have worked without Sparker and Time Turner there since they add nothing and the fact Sparkler mother is a lich is not mentioned by Lyra's father.
8354052 ok that was a few months ago i think and I would like to apologise for that but can u please not bring up old things
It's so nice to see someone finally do that. I know I've only recently defended Righteous' presence in the story on this very page of comments, but that doesn't make her any less unpleasant as a person. It's all fine and dandy to have a character whose job is just to be the jerk, but seeing them regularly get their comeuppance is entirely necessary to not make them wear out their welcome.
Why exactly did you have to make the supremely evil arch-necromancer use German, of all things? There are certainly plenty other languages that would have also fitted just as well; for all I can tell it reaIly doesn't grow in any particular way out of the character's background.
I mean, I usually don't care about this kind of thing, but it is my native language and I see this kind of thing often enough that it's starting to smack a bit of prejudice.
I love the implication that Octavia just beat the crap out of the Doctor several times before he tried to talk her down.
The plot thickens.
8355899
For what it's worth, German was actually my second choice when it came to Harpsichord's spells. I originally wanted to use Russian, but -- as Russian is a language with a lot of symbols I can't realistically expect to be readable to a primarily English speaking reader base -- I eventually settled on German after getting things like ' визг ' and ' вырезать ' for those same spells.
8361336
Yeah, it's fine. I was in a bit of a whimsical mood when I asked that, but it something that sticks out to you after a while if you pay attention. Russion, German, for a lot of western (and especially American) media, those are something like traditional "villain languages. Says something about national sensibilities, I think. It would be nice to see a bad guy sometimes who speaks Italian or Hungarian, just for a change. Doesn't hurt that Magyar is a very lyrical language as well that sounds great in a magic spell.
Anyway, feel free hit me up if you have problems with that kind of thing again. My Cyrillic isn't all that great, but I can refer you to some good transliteration guides online. That's 'vizg' and 'vyrezat' respectively. The 'v' might also be a 'b' or a 'w', depending on region and accent.
Oh. It's just Grogar. And here I thought it might be an actual threat.
I ate Grogar for breakfast. LITERALLY.
8350377
Now, that's hardly appropriate.
"Lunatic" implies that what he believes will happen is completely disconnected from reality.
8351697
Do they know that Lyra got captured yet? I forget.
8361336
More? Please?
Hhhheeey, the next chapter button is missing! :(
Well, it was still a good read as far as it goes.
8361336
Russian necromancer. The only thing I can think of when I hear Russian necromancer - it's this song.
Thou sayest, I am a demon?
And so it is.
With me not to see you good luck!
Forever my job is evil and revenge:
For the demon could not be otherwise.
What I deserve the fate of the wretched outcast?
I was tormented by a question "Who am I?"
The thought that I am a demon, often survive helped,
People are the same everywhere so me and called.
Chorus:
And the only evil moon in my flour loved.
Taking away the souls of peace, what are you doing to me?
Can you give me the answer, why all the white light, got angry at me for what I was born?
The Church and the crowd of peasants wanted to kill me,
After, they ripped me a body,
All rebelled against the young necromancer,
Making me sufferer my talent!
Chorus:
The half - man,
By half - I'm a dead man,
So I will be forever,
I like a wolf among the sheep.
Full of suffering, my life,
But the choice made by destiny,
No, the change can not I!
War with itself.
Chorus:
People my enemies, but when they were brothers...
I'm in the whole district laid his curse,
Die harvests, and around plague and famine
Wind and accidental visitors bring a terrible cold!
Chorus:
Информация: https://textpesni2.ru/textpesni.php?songlyrics=18350153
I don't think their schwami is leveled up enough. She has yet to excrete her own essential oils
I'm removing stories I think won't get finished from my favourites, and I'm asking you this in all candor.
do you think you're gonna finish this?
9569323
To answer in all candor, no. I like the idea, and maybe I'll do something with it in the future, but this story is essentially dead and my waning interest in Ponies as a whole isn't enough to make the effort to revive it. I'm sorry if this was a story you felt strongly about or enjoyed, but it's just not in me to continue it.
9571055
its okay, it was a really cool story and i remember it fondly but not all stories are meant to end.
Thank you for your honesty man, and i hope your future en-devours go well
9571147
I appreciate the sentiment and, again, I'm sorry I couldn't bring myself to finish a story you enjoyed.
Oh... oh wow this was brilliant!! So many fond ad&d memories...
Thank you for righting what is here. I can only hope this revived some day because... wow.
9078208
Well, my mind goes to the fact that the ISO Standard Lich is Koschei with the serial numbers filed off.
9571055
You should probably change the label to Cancelled. Or at least On Hiatus. Depends on exactly how unlikely you are to continue.
Hmmm, Dim here ^-^
This was a reallly great story!
Everypony here says it's not finished... Well I believe it actually is finished. The tag says this wonderful gift is 'incomplete' but that's only due to the writer leaving such masterful story open ended. Now, I dislike open ended stories but at least this one tells you. That's what makes this such a beautifully haunting masterpiece. A story made from someone who expressed their imagination from their time invested in the show.
I just hope they take it easy and what they made inspired a lot of people. Thank you.
Please finish this story!
10392182
They have not written anything since 2017... I don't see them doing anything any time in the near future. Although.... here is to hope!
10681758
I'm just going to quell that hope with something I said to a friend when this story came up in conversation:
There's simply too much wrong with this story, looking at it in hindsight; the badly written villains (and heroes to a lesser degree) and the painfully shoehorned in G3 reference with the druids are two big examples that many comments here point out already. There's the bones of a good story in this mess, but not enough for it to be resurrected.
Sorry for everyone who's reading this; but, if anyone feels up to the task, this is me as the author saying you're more than welcome to take this story and make it your own. Use the concepts and characters as you see fit and make something you're proud to have written.
10682242
whatever is true about this story's quality, I'm glad you wrote it.
Totally stealing Lich Ditzy, and the dynamic between Lyra amd Bon Bon, to use for NPCs
Enjoyed rereading this!