The Legendary Blade
"The Starblade is here, in the Crystal Empire."
The entity known now as Summer suppressed a shudder, remembering the short sentence that Winter had whispered in her ear just a short time before. While there were few things in this world that could cause a being like her to feel fear, that weapon was most definitely one of them.
She and Winter were feasting in the pantry of Scarlet Wake's manor. As Winter had expected, they were undisturbed. Whatever plans that Scarlet Wake had set in motion earlier, they most likely were well underway. Well, it wasn't as though she really cared: Whoever and whatever was in the mansion when they were done would be converted to ashes when she was done eating.
While she devoured a feast fit for three dozen ponies (and Winter roasted apples over the flames that were now the alicorn's mane and tail), she considered what information she had on the legendary weapon. Given that she had access to the combined knowledge of both Celestia and Luna at her disposal, having been inside of both of their heads recently, that gave her a lot of information to review.
When this world was formed, certain rules were put into place, regarding each sphere of power, each race of beings, and the like. Those rules were supposedly inviolate: They were the laws that formed the foundation of this world. Laws likes gravity, conservation of mass, the laws of thermodynamics, these were rules that could not be broken by mere mortals, so far as she (and the princesses) knew. But while that was usually a good thing, the fact that these laws could not be broken was sometimes a problem.
Take the Deathless One, for example.
In ancient times, there was a dark lord named Koschei, who had, through various supernatural bargains, had made it impossible for him to die (Hence the name, obviously). The fact that he was already an immortal would have made this seem redundant, except that the bargains he made were set in such a way that the few weaknesses he'd had as the bearer of the sphere of evil were now completely covered. Where it had once been possible (Through means of a long quest to find the object that was his one true weakness) to kill him, the absolute ruler of the power of all things evil had achieved true invulnerability. Now confident in his ability to make everyone, everywhere forever his nag, he went on a campaign of terror, intent upon world conquest...
...And he came very close to succeeding.
With the power granted by his sphere, Koschei was a truly terrible sight to behold. His sphere of power being that of evil, he understood something that very few immortals did: His sphere was not limited to simply literal evil, but also metaphorical evils as well... and almost anything can be a metaphorical evil, with enough imagination. This gave him dominion over practically everything in the world, once all of his weaknesses were removed.
It was in the Griffin Kingdoms that the Dark Lord finally met his demise. A young griffin named Arthur, whose village was captured and dominated by the dread tyrant's army, made a wish upon a star, that there might be something, anything, that might put an end to this nightmare. It was then that a miracle happened.
The star that he wished upon fell from the sky.
When the youth went to see the fallen star, he found a perfect sphere of glowing white metal... that sang to him. It sang to Arthur all the secrets of the starry cosmos, including how that sphere might be worked into a weapon that could end Koschei's tyranny forever. After a long and difficult quest, Arthur reached the great sage Merlin, who would later be renamed the Starsmith, the one being who could work the otherwise invulnerable metal into a blade. Once the forging was complete, with blade in claw, Arthur marched back to his homeland and challenged Koschei to a duel. Koschei responded by calling up his entire army, and leading them out to crush the single griffin foolish enough to challenge him, intent upon claiming the obviously powerful blade he carried.
The battle that ensued would change history, and geography. Arthur soon discovered that the one who carried the Starblade held the absolute power of the infinite cosmos, a power beyond good and evil, beyond all things that mortals could comprehend. As such, Koschei's control of all evil was useless against it. With a single swing of the blade, mountains crumbled, armies were vanquished, and the skies themselves trembled in fear. For three long days, the two mighty warriors fought, neither one able to gain ground. At the climax of the battle, Arthur raised the sword up high... and pierced the heavens.
It was then that Arthur, and the world at large, discovered the true power of the Starblade: As a star, something that was not part of this world, the weapon, and its wielder, were exempt from the rules that governed the world as we know it. The one who carried the Starblade could do the impossible, see the invisible, touch the untouchable... and break the unbreakable. It gave the extended middle talon to every force that opposed it: It was the exception to end all exceptions. The bearer of the blade could do anything he willed, regardless of whatever rules were in place to contradict that desire...
...Even unleash the limitless power of the cosmos upon a single being in a beam of coherent energy hotter than a thousand suns.
The limitless power of the universe beyond this world struck down Koschei, the Deathless One. The dark lord was annihilated so utterly that it damaged the sphere of evil itself, so that the power of evil could never perfectly infuse a single being with its power as it had with the Deathless One. With the dark lord vanquished, the armies that had followed Koschei fled in fear of the golden griffin with the blade of limitless power.
Arthur would carry that blade for centuries, creating the first United Griffin Kingdom and ruling it as well as he could, given that he had no real experience in politics, being the son of a farmer and nothing more. However, that reign came to an end when his illegitimate son Mordred tricked the king into trying to use the Starblade to destroy itself. Arthur had been certain that the Starblade, being an exception to all rules, was invincible and could not be destroyed, even by itself. Mordred, on the other hoof, had reasoned that, if the blade could do anything, then even if the blade was indestructible and could not destroy itself, that as an exception to all rules, it could still create an exception to that rule if the wielder wished it, and destroy itself anyways. Mordred had turned out to be right. With the blade broken, Arthur was a mere mortal, and was soon slain by Mordred.
But if the blade had been shattered into pieces, and was never reforged by the Starsmith... then how could it be here now?
----------------------------------
Ruggiero was having the time of his life. The offspring of Lord and Lady Scorpion loved to fly. It was the griffin in him, he supposed: You put any bird in a cage, and naturally it will want nothing more than to spread its wings. He hated being locked up in that room, forced to hide from the world for reasons he could not understand. So what if his father was a pony, and his mother a griffin? Why should that matter to anyone?
Regardless, he'd been as happy as he'd ever been when he'd found that the lock on his door was easily picked this time, when it had proven intractable all the times before. While he'd be forced to head home when his wings started to get sore, for now, he was exulting in the feeling of the wind beneath his wings. There was only one thing that could possibly make this better...
Hearing a commotion below, Ruggiero smiled to himself. There was a fight down there, somewhere. The way things were going, he'd need to figure out a way to kill tomorrow, so the best night ever would never end...
---------------------------------
Things were not going well for Golden Grace and the rest of their party...
The escaping ponies had managed to finally make their way to the end of the tunnel, and came out in an abandoned warehouse, not far from the palace. According to Ironwood, this next stretch would be the most dangerous: The Circle was certain to have the palace watched tonight, just in case somepony tried to escape from Scarlet Wake's mansion and inform the emperor of the Circle's misdeeds. It was Ironwood's hope that there were only watchers, and not assassins, that were in position, since with so many non-combatants present, odds were that if they were attacked, somepony could get hurt. Thus, speed was their best defense...
But their hopes of reaching the palace unmolested had been dashed when a dozen griffin wights had dropped down from the ceiling of the warehouse, all of them armed, armored, and ready for battle. It seemed that Scarlet's secret tunnel was not, in fact, all that secret anymore.
The party had managed to escape the warehouse, more by luck than anything else, without anypony getting hurt. However, once outside, the party had found that two dozen more wights were waiting for them. Golden Grace was no warrior, nor was Nopony. Ironwood, while certainly big and strong, was only an earth pony, so he'd only be able to deal with one or two before the rest overwhelmed him... and the rest of the ponies here would likely be torn apart shortly afterwards...
--------------------------------
Ruggiero was delighted to see the fight about to unfold below. He loved fighting: His parents had pressed a sword into his claws literally the moment he was old enough to hold one, and he'd been made to train every single day with it until it was practically a part of his body. Looking down at the little party below, gravely outnumbered, he'd decided he'd join on their side: After all, that meant that he'd have so many more enemies to kill.
Besides, there were mares his age down there, and Ruggiero was just reaching the age where females were starting to look much more interesting than before...
Grinning like a maniac, he reached for the blade strapped to his back, and prepared to swoop down and join the fray...
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NEW CHAPTER UP!!! NEXT CHAPTER SHALL BE EPIC!!!
..........you do understand that an earth pony would be able to hold off such enemies fairly long, right? if they can shatter stone and uproot tree they can stand their ground.
Quite the interesting chapter. I hope that the next chapter comes soon if it's as epic as you say.
Row row.
4795674
But they're not swordproof. An earth pony can only engage them in melee combat, and even without their blades, wights (as mentioned in a previous chapter) have greatly increased strength and a life-draining touch, so you definitely don't want to touch, or be touched, if you can help it. That's why he'd only be good for one or two before they overwhelmed him.
Obligatory:
A blade that can kill immortals.......
Infinite blade?
4795711 FIGHT THE POWER!
Do the impossible! See the invisible!
4795718 tell that to the legion of changeligns applejack hospitalized during the canterlot invasion. swarm tactics fail to function when the enemy has the force to ragdoll ya.
still even if they are stronger does not make them more durable. if we are talking about zombie rules, a zombie's body is no more durable than a human's. they simply lost the limiters that prevent them using far too much strength. even if they could use more force than the earth pony itself, theri bodies are not built for that. on the other hand the earth pony's body is mystically enhanced and also build to withstand its typical level of force to begin with.
even if he can't last he is gonna take down a lot more than just two i would say.
The Starblade huh? I guess I shouldn't get it confused with another star-themed weapon...
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/151/6/4/the_star_saber_by_spartan_wolf-d67clio.jpg
4795660
I'll take your word for it and psych myself up!
Found something you may want to edit.
That should be "tyranny".
4795820
Corrected, thank you much
A Griffin-pony. Huh.
ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWER!
This is gonna be one helluva fight.
I'm pretty sure CrunchyRoll or Anime4Fun has Gurren Lagann.
Deploy. After that watch Kill la Kill. For no other reason that because they're both fun!
There can be an easy way to Awesome Town, and I have just pointed to it!
"JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM"
4795779
Stop trying to force your headcanon into other people's stories. Even if you did have a valid point the author's not going to listen to you if you keep being so condescending.
Wait a minute, didn't we have this exact same conversation before?
4795856 Hippogrif
4795898 was not condenscending, it was mostly a joke.
and that is kinda how zombies work though. no pain lmiiters. a human is capable of enough bite force to sever theri own fingers yet they keep themselves from doing so because of the pain. if we used too much strength our muscles you tear.
and this is a concept true for all species on earth too.
I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but this part of the Starblade's description reminded me of Ea from Fate/Stay Night. Especially since Ea is also one of those absurdly overpowered world-breaking swords.
4795942 so that was the name, it was at the tip of my tongue.
ROW ROW, FIGHT THE POWAH!
Is he gonna Tengen Toppa?
Hah Koschei The Deathless one. Russian folklore eh?
Koschei? Did he prefer to be known as The Master? And did he have an enemy known as The Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, last of his race, otherwise known as The Doctor? Also, did Arthur do a Giga Drill Break?
A truly magnificent anime
, but I implore you for love of all that is Luna's firm flanks, don't watch the second season.
just don't do it!!!
Hm... So the Starblade is the griffon equivalent of Excalibur, eh? Very interesting...
4795982
Your assertion that the wights simply use mundane means to enhance their strength to the point of breaking their body, while the earth ponies has "mystically" enhanced strength and the durability to stand the forces is silly. Even if you assume the earth ponies do have magic enhancing their strength and toughness... the wights are animated by magic. There's far more mysticism involved in how a wight's body moves and takes damage than any living pony. Not to mention the various advantages they have if you even come into contact with them.
In a setting with more scientific zombies (Walking Dead style walkers, for example), you might have a point. But everything that's been established in this story so far puts wights far above an earth pony in combat.
4796390 .......... what is with the whole 'assume' bullcrap people keep on saying? its canon! mccarthy herself said it, and tirek couldn't have possibly stolen their strenght unless it manifested mystically.
sorry if i sounded aggressive but how can the idea of them having supernatural strength be my headcanon or my opinion when it is fact? it would be like saying that luna would be socially awkward is my head canon when much fo the media features her as being socially awkward.
though i will not deny the hwole enhanced strength thing with the wraith things is kinda how i comprehen it. since gryphons have similar powers to pegasi, then that must mean they do not have a magic that allows them greater strength like an earth pony does. so that enhanced strength likely would come from limits being removed. that i will admit is more or less a headcanon, or at least how i comprehend the situation.
the earth ponies have magic strength is not.
4795779
Using Applejack as an example of earth pony strength is like using Twilight (pre-wings) as an example of unicorn magic. She's exceptional, and feats done by her or by other exceptional ponies like Maud should not be considered representative of earth pony strength in general.
So, most of the chapter is about a very special sword once wielded by a gryphon, and it ends with a half gryphon reaching for his sword. I dunno if we're about to find out that Ruggiero has the Starblade (can we just cut to the chase and call it Excalibur?), but I'm highly suspicious we're going to see him wielding it by the end of the three day war.
Awesome chapter; love the worldbuilding. Ruggiero has the Starblade, doesn't he? Except no one knows that's what it is ... that when Mordred sundered it, the power went into another sword somehow. Or does someone know? Has the blade been reforged in secret, with the shards being replaced by replicas?
4796471 That's a bit of headcanon in itself, we've never actually been told or shown in the show that AJ is an extra special earth pony on the level of Twilight being a really special unicorn or Dash being a fairly special pegasus. The most I can think of that we have been told is that she used to win blue ribbons in the rodeo but not any more, and that is nowhere near her being some sort of super pony.
The post digested materia is about to hit the quickly rotating wind blades.
4796471 cheerilee tore down a wall without much effort. not to mention pinkie was obviously trying to break the rock that trapped her, and i would presume brekaing rocks would be part of rock farming. if these two can break rocks and destroy structures, then i would say that they are generally strong.
You know, I can't help but literally facepalm at Arthur's stupidity. He ordered a sword, that has no rules guiding it, to destroy itself in the belief that it cannot....Buddy, it's a rule-less sword, of course it's going to break you idiot!
But now...I wonder if Ruggiero is going to become a good guy. It'd be rather ironic and kind of hilarious for the bad guys to be beaten by their son solely for the reason that it seems like a good fight and a way to pick up mares.....That'd make for an epic tale.
4796444
I think the biggest mistake you're making in this situation is simply this: You're confusing wights with zombies. Zombies are brainless shuffling eating machines. They don't use strategy, tactics, or weapons. They don't know how to effectively make use of any armor they wear. Most importantly, they don't know to target the most dangerous individual in the group first. Wights can, and do.
All the strength and toughness in the world will not mean much when you get stabbed in the face with a sword or spear. The reason why Ironwood would have gone down quickly was because, as a big earth pony in guard's armor, he'd be visibly the most dangerous target in the group. The wights would take him down first to minimize their losses, but would use their own weaponry, combined with clever tactics, to kill him with precision and efficiency. The wights, I believe I've mentioned, have intelligence, and all the memories they had from when they're alive... and like the last one, these were all veteran soldiers before they died.
Ironwood would certainly put up a valiant effort in fighting them, and might be able to damage several more than just the two he'd be able to kill outright, but when facing a total of three dozen, well, there's just no way that will end well.
If you'd like more material on wights, you can check a Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition Monster Manuel. The type of wights encountered thus far are classified as Battle Wights, although with a group this large, there may also be a Battle Wight Commander or two in the mix.
Here's a link, wights are page 262
4796545
It is implied that she's going to a national level competition, while the 1st place ribbons were likely in local competitions. Placing consistently 5th-2nd on a national level does make her quite exceptional, on par with whatever the ponified names of big time rodeo celebrities like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane were. It's not implied that she's the absolute best, but she's clearly not average, or even near average.
4796586
Cheerilee was under the effects of both love poison and rule of funny, so again it can't be taken as normal, and with pinkie she was trying and failing to break the rock. Nothing in the show indicates she would be capable of such a feat, and again, she's not normal (in a completely different way, perhaps, but still not a good representation of average).
My point isn't that other earth ponies can't do these things, but that they fall under the same category as a human lifting 200 pounds or running a 5 minute mile. Yes, some can do it, but you can't just take a standard group of people (even guards or the like) and assume any of them would be capable.
4796597 i thought undead generally had degraded intelligence. whether because they are confused, their wills suppressed in order to be controlled, or even something like a vampire where they are prone to violent temptations and their strength makes them arrogant.
only exception i can think of is a lich. then again the preparation for such a thing is very complex and likely slow working.
4796615 In what way was anything about the competitions AJ took place in implied to be either local or national? The fact that one is in Canterlot isn't a particularly good argument, given that a big city in the middle of the country with zero other cities nearby would be the obvious place to host regional competitions in addition to the national ones it would possibly host as the capital.
[youtube=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0V7aUT13qtM]
4796667
It's implied by both the weight they give it and the list of celebrities Pinkie talks about as if she didn't know they were there but expected that they would be.
It's not really important anyway, since getting any ribbon in a rodeo of even moderate size doesn't exactly scream average.
4796647 problem with that is the fact that their strength is mystical in nature. you do not have something like strength rooted in some supernatural nature and only be twenty percent stronger than normal, especially if it is a primary feature. be like making a werewolf whose primary attribute was throwing fireballs rather than physical attributes.
true some ponies are likely more powerful than others. still it just seems unlikely that a normal earht pony strength would be minimal. heck it has become rather clear in the series that unicorns are not, in fact, fully limited to magic related to their talents. they can learn other spells through practice and such.
rarity stated she already had magic rather than her stating she would be incapable of learning other spells after all. either way earht pony strength has to be well above normal even if msot of them cannot uproot trees at will or shatter boulders into pebbles. it would make no sense otherwise, not when it is now proven that they have magic and where it is tied.
not saying that can all throw tanks over their backs, just they have to be something of a singificant force.
mainly i say that because the magic of mlp is not exactly that subtle overall.
4796665
Undead is a very broad category, with lots of subgroups. Imhotep from The Mummy and The Mummy Returns was undead, but he was just as intelligent as he was before his death. Other mummies were less intelligent, but if you remember the royal guard mummies, they were found to be just as strong, agile, and skilled with weapons as they were in life. The fact that they lacked true free will of their own did not prevent them from being extremely dangerous, since they fought as well, or even better, than they did in life. As for the amount of time it takes to make one, it's been fifteen years since the war where these griffins fell, plenty of time to make them, and more like them.
I love it when crazies help the heroes.