Joseph reviewed the translations around him one at a time. He had read over each thousands of times, both the originals and the eventual descriptions. Even now that he knew the simple code the cult had used, he still shivered at the patterns the letters elicited when written in runes. There was something special about runes, something the books about it described as almost sacred. Runes gave the whole world new instructions. To use them to tear the tapestry apart instead of making it stronger disgusted him.
H-tul-q-kar-ydk-qh-bvlt-tul-p-mak-kar-xb-tu-kar-vp-tul-pcz-kum-jq-kar-nml-pw-tul-mwfg-x-kum-n-kum-tul-dbbqf-lv-tul-x-mak-kum-min-hpfl-min-mes-gmyh-p-tul-vri-hh-min
Triumph in philadelphia, Shadowspeaker directs us to gather in Alexandria. Make haste.
Kum-b-kb-tul-zgzyz-hkm-xqqhqpqr-k-min-pq-yqwqz-hkmmq-drvy-vri-mes-tul-dbbqf-wp-tul-f-kh-tul-tul-k-rh-kum-ndcb-bbqw-tul-tul-tul-dy-mes
My children, the deceived have known these ponies. Gather that we may destroy their mark.
Kar-kar-t-nt-kar-w-bb-tul-bn-bbqm-vmy-min-w-kar-t-vq-p-kar-qhp-mak-g-mes-min-fx-hk-min-n-wbr-vri-nt-mak-b-min-lq-p-kar-qhp-mak-g-vri-cxz-vri-m-kum-tul-jhv-nd-min-hz-m-tul-tul-kb-mes
All that think they see will be blinded. All that know they are blinded will be given truer sight.
Of course, nothing in the messages they had intercepted as radio codes was nearly as disturbing as what they had found written in the house. Joseph hadn’t been able to get himself into the basement, and neither had any of the former members of the cult. Instead, they had Taylor send in a drone and photograph everything. After that came something they could all enjoy: a bonfire.
The gasoline was all bad then, and the early December air practically burned his skin through his fur if he walked outside without heavy clothing. For being rotten, the gas had still burned pretty good. Joe had even imagined to himself he heard screams as the basement burned, along with all its profane runes.
They had salvaged the books, despite the objections of Sight and the other former cult-members. They gave every volume to the HPI, the only people on Earth who couldn’t attempt the magic within. If fiction was any guide, there might be something evil in those pages. If the CPNFG could kill Odium, they figured it could probably kill whatever awfulness had been there. Since their human friends kept calling, Joe had assumed it worked.
Even the upstairs of the house had been written in code, though there was no magic in it. He had read the universal list of members, organized by rank and assignment, and shuddered when he saw not even half were accounted for in Alexandria. Most disturbing of all was the matter of Ryan’s equal, the only name as high up the pyramid. Who was Shadowspeaker? Beneath him were nearly a dozen ponies, all with Equestrian names.
What had the ponies of Odium’s cult been able to tell them? Only that Night Speaker had been the only one to communicate with this pony of a strangely similar name, and Odium had kept information about their mission to the ponies on it. Only one word was written of it on the board, in the writing Joseph had come to recognize as Night Speaker’s. “Charybdis”
Joseph had asked what the word meant, grilled each of them individually (except for the ones who weren’t “there” enough to bother asking). None had told him more than a quick search of Wikipedia could. A giant sea monster that swallowed ships? Obviously that hadn’t come to Earth. He was out of ideas.
What did Joseph do when he was out of ideas? Spend time with Moriah. He did that, though things weren’t as fun as they had been when sex was new and strange and consequence-free. Now he was afraid he might pop her stomach if he was too forceful, and being around her was a reminder of the responsibility ahead. Joe didn’t really mind, so long as he would still have time for his video games. He just— hadn’t expected he would have to be a father for another few years yet. Would he do a good job?
He had been playing The Sims every few days for practice, and practically scratching his eyes out to figure out why anyone enjoyed having families or playing The Sims. At least the real thing wouldn’t come on Origin.
Joe wasn’t like Moriah, he didn’t really have a place to go and relieve stress. She had told him he was welcome to use her forest if he wanted to, but he hadn’t seen the point. How were trees supposed to help him feel better, exactly? Even his video games could only get him so far, and in the end even the most exciting games would get boring. Unless he or other ponies with computer knowledge made them, there weren’t going to be more video games. Certainly no AAA titles ever again. When he thought about the awful travesty that was being taken into a society of scavengers, it made him want to break something. Exactly why couldn’t he have come back several thousand years, after computers had been re-invented and life could be normal again?
Exactly what was he supposed to do with his life now? Father pony babies and play the same old games over and over?
Joseph was the sort of person who ate the same meals for weeks at a time, but the prospect of living the rest of his life the same way disgusted him. He had become a software developer because he liked making things. He wanted to see people using them, feel like he had given those people something by making the system they depended on work. Even a database or an internal memo system or something would still be helping people, despite the fact that its users would never know his name.
What would make Joseph feel like he was useful again? He needed to make something, something more than making himself better at pony magic or making there be more ponies in the world.
It took him days to figure out what he wanted to do, days he spent doing absolutely nothing he was supposed to do. What did he care; Alex couldn’t pester him when she was unconscious. Who was going to call him out of not digitizing books fast enough, Cloudy Skies? The idea of her confronting anyone was laughable, tall tales the cultists told about her summoning up a whole thunderstorm notwithstanding.
Eventually the idea came to him fully formed, like Athena in the mind of Zeus. He knew his purpose as clearly as if some god had given it to him. Something challenging enough to be worth the attempt, but also possible given their resources and rewarding enough he could keep doing it for the rest of his life and not get bored. If Alex ever woke up, even she couldn’t be upset about this course. She would probably compliment him on the idea.
Alexandria had a library, but it lacked a school. The real Library of Alexandria hadn’t just been in the scrolls locked up in some musty room, it had been about gathering together the best scholars in the world. His world needed something a little different now: they had one civilization’s powers to preserve and another civilization’s powers to discover. They had a never-ending supply of new students traveling through time. How much faster would society evolve if they had a place to come and learn their new powers quickly?
They had the books, but they also had the scholars. Real Equestrian ponies who could be their teachers. Former cultists? Maybe! But what good were they going to be to the colony doing other things, anyway? Why waste them pulling ploughs or laying pipe when there were former humans for that? If the last few months were any guide, pilgrims to the library would continue arriving by the week, and at least some of them would want to stay.
They voted on it later that day. For the first time since his satellite phone idea, one of Joseph’s ideas was met with both support and enthusiasm from everypony. Moriah seemed thrilled, since it gave her something she could keep working on even when her body lost the ability to be very physical for six months or so. Odium’s ponies from Equestria were excited too, since without Earth skills they would basically have been relegated to menial labor. As Sight put it, “if we can make up for burning your books by giving you our knowledge more directly, we’re excited to help.”
There was no university in town, not even a modest community college. They would use the high school instead, with more pony-sized desks and supplies scavenged from the elementary school. Besides, it had a library they could expand using the collection of the now-unsafe Paris Public Library, plus all the digital versions of Equestrian books. Might as well make knowledge available all in one place.
He set up the entire system using computers, mapping out the classes and assigning every student peers they could practice with together. The school would have discrete areas for each of the Equestrian races, since each one seemed to have fairly unique powers that were not compatible. The only exception was flight, which seemed fairly similar between each of the races that could fly.
It was halfway through December by then anyway; too cold to do any planting, and too cold to work outside comfortably. Alex probably would’ve had them out in it anyways, expanding the solar capacity or digging a bigger sewer or something else miserable. Instead everypony in town started to spend at least some of the day in the high school. Joseph became the university’s supervising director, and under his care the school quickly surpassed the trailer park as Alexandria’s civic center.
Studying the books had been wonderful for everyone, including himself. Having ponies actually demonstrate how to do the things the books talked about was even better. Joseph was as much a student as anypony else, though the single unicorn from the cult’s ponies with an intact mind was so impressed with his magic she took him on as an assistant to help with basic levitation.
With his passion finally channeled into something that mattered to him, time took on a different meaning. He worked very hard; the university’s director was also its administrator, secretary, web developer, and discipline officer. Often that meant giving up free time, or class time, in service to the growing little college. That was okay, since he had been the one to choose to sacrifice himself for the school. It hadn’t been an assignment, even the sensible kind like Alex had used to give. It was his idea, and it was a good one.
It was snowing, though not very much. He sat in the administrator's office with Moriah resting at his hooves on a warm carpet as he worked, levitating several different markers into the air and drawing on the glass. He monitored performance by the day, drawing out each class and making little marks for each student. He could do that when the college was so small.
Moriah nudged his legs with her head, groaning. “You’ve done enough, Joseph. Come down here. I picked something nice.” He glanced down and saw she had brought a bottle of something (more of the crappy non-alcoholic stuff she was drinking these days), along with a portable DVD player.
“Not if it’s boring. I hate boring movies.”
“Not even!” She tugged on his leg, a little more forceful. “You know I hate ‘em too. It’s a classic. Remember the Matrix? I thought computer people loved that movie.”
“Nineties computers, hurrah.” He did like that movie, but he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. So he made a show of shutting down the computer, grumbling as he pushed in his chair and levitated the light switch off. Still, he sat down beside her in what was a comfortable resting position for a pony, pulling the edge of a blanket over the two of them. He poured as she fiddled with the DVD player. Moriah seemed more eager just to spend time with him these days, given he was often too busy with work and too tired after to do anything as strenuous as their old pastimes had been on most days.
That was okay. He didn’t mind spending time with her, either. It’s not like he had anywhere else to be. The movie started, they cuddled, and snow blew outside.
It seemed a shame their leader wasn’t around to see what Alexandria was becoming.
That was okay, though. As Joseph the unicorn fell asleep beside his mare and his movie, he imagined this was exactly what Alex would’ve wanted for them.
Very cute chapter. I also like that Joe is generally being more productive
Archmage Joe of the Alexandria High School. Certainly has a ring to it. Not a professional or dignified ring, maybe, but still.
Also, those two are adorable.
Also, Alex is out for at least a few months?
Man, it's good to have this wind down. Too bad Alex is out of it.
Edit: 10k words!?! Dang. Two stories with daily updates and you still have more in you? Kudos.
Alex would probably be doing better if her friends had her sleeping directly on dirt/grass/etc, but too bad they have no reason to think of such a thing.
I'm so glad everything is working out for Joe and Moriah! They seemed like such an odd couple at first but they are really good for each other aren't they?
Also glad to see Joe doing something useful, even if he still comes across as a total prick.
6392409 That's generally what happens when you let people work on things that truly inspire them.
That picture really touched me somehow. These are two characters that should not work at all but somehow they managed to do so anyway. Good job, Starscribe, good job.
So Alexandria rises from the ashes, a better and brighter place that promises a real future for all its inhabitants and those that will find their way there. That's actually rather touching as well. Pilgrimages... *smiles a little* I imagine a network of pilgrims' roads stretching out from Alexandria in all directions. Even when all the old tech finally dies, things like these can lay the groundwork for a new civilization.
Didn't Alex always describe herself as expendable? Maybe she's finally succeeded at making it so and is now free to go. Archive though...? We'll see, I guess.
Interesting that the HPI ended up with the cult books. Information they get from that might be really useful some day, and they shouldn't really be at risk of the kind of stuff that might happen to anyone else.
Running the school really just works well for Joe. Today's picture is pretty adorable too.
That's a pretty happy ending now for everyone but Oliver and Alex. So.. I guess the next chapter is the big one. It's not often I get to the end of a story and find myself really believing that which way the author is going to finish the story is still in doubt. It's a hard middle ground to tread, but well done, because I genuinely am not sure whether Alex is going to get a happy ending or not.
"just one for every living founder + the epilogue." I hope this does not mean that Alex is actually brain dead. I guess we will find out on Tuesday. I am really waiting to find out why Alex is not healing from her battle. I'm thinking maybe she has physical protection from what the princesses did to her, but her mind was still vulnerable even with the backing of Archive. That is another question as well, is Archive part of Alex, or a separate entity living in her mind.
Starscribe, is the sequel going to continue from here or is it going to be set five years in the future like you previously said? Also, don't rush on the sequel, take a break if you need to; you have been updating almost everyday for what almost four months now?
Their foal's gonna have an interesting time.
Alex is in for a pleasant surprise when she wakes up, wonder what she'll want to be called when she comes out of it.
6392277
I felt that he was a bad villain, poorly executed, who detracted from the story. What little story FFVI had, at any rate.
Well, let's see. We lost: Most of our population (to be returned over the space of an eon or so), the Internet as we know it, easily-used fuel, the majority of our cities, a fair amount of our culture, potentially thousands of lives that couldn't make the adjustment or ran afoul of some doomsday cult or another.
We also lost Origin.
...kind of a wash, I suppose.
Also: Holy crap, Joe done grow'd up some.
6392645
... Do you actually know who Kefka was? His backstory, his purpose, and his motivations?
... He was one of the stronger Final Fantasy Villains, as a character and his motivations...
... certainly above Sephi and Ulti.
As for story... I'm not sure what game you were playing if you claim FF6 had no story...
A Cliche story, yes... but then again,
still a better story than CoD,
at better romance than Twilight,
a better villain than the Starchild.
I'm just excited that the story will have a sequel, whether it updates 3 times a week, or even 1 time a week. I mean the important thing is we are getting more story!! <3
6392526 just imagine. From above, it would look like a gigantic spider web, but that's just main street for them.
Saving those books seems like a terrible idea. I guess none of the HPI ever played Call of Cthulhu. Reading the book is a fast track to getting eaten.
And it seems that there may yet be an umbrum on Earth. Or just an enormous creature that creates whirlpools. Or a metaphor. Something along those lines.
I suppose torturing simulated people loses its luster when humanity is all but extinct and you're trying to teach yourself how to be a good father.
In any case, it's nice to see Joe discover something that pulled him out of his electronic shell. And it's serving the community as well. Good for him.
Oh dear...
6392743
I...don't even know what Starchild is, but if Kefka was a better villain, then I don't want to know.
Near as I can recall, Kefka was a general in Emperor Gestaht's army who was on the receiving end of a poorly thought out magitech experiment that infused him with so much shit he went completely raving nutters. He started dressing as a crazy clown, began screaming about how much he wanted everything dead or enjoyed murdering people, and everyone ignored this for some reason and continued to trust him. He won at everything and got whatever he wanted without any subterfuge or trickery, due to his magical macguffin powers, and plot holes making sure he was conveniently out of reach. I dunno much about him before the magitech incident.
He was kind of like Sephiroth except you know... jumping up and down screaming about hate like an 80's comic book villain, dressing up in a clown suit, and controlled by his own petty delusions, rather than a hungry alien overmind.
Dammit. On some level, I knew taking down Odium had been too easy, but I still wanted to hope.
Anyone else got a chill
-Equinox_
Now that I think about it, with Equestrian ponies and ex-humans living together, I wonder if some small scale equivalent of Harry Potter's "pure blood" movement would create over time.
6392454 yes frozen -20F dirt.
Huh, that's the most development we've gotten from Joseph this whole time.
So, either Odium is still alive because he's also connected to this Shadowspeaker or there's at least a second Umbrum out there... sigh... whatever, we'll deal with it as it comes.
6393016 There aren't enough for the so called pureblood.
Also...pureblood is a very bad idea and Equestrian commoners got rid of it a long time ago.
Genetic and shit.
6393199
Not likely. Heck, it'll only get below +20F rarely (the average January night in Missouri is around 30F)
Flipping YES! I knew there'd be a school at some point! It's exactly what I asked for.
Glad to see Joe found something of value that he liked. And it looks like he's matured in his relationship with Moriah. I hope they will be good influences on each other.
6393366 I think he means equestrians verse transformed humans. Not pure race.
6394227 humans got rid of the pureblood shit long before the equestrian...
6394445 nobel equestrian sometimes seem to have a purity thought going on. but I doubt the equestrians would be able to do the true blood thing because there are just not enough of them they could do that without breeding only inside of their own families.
if hearths warming is an indicator, there is not likely to be any true bloods of any equestrians also. there numbers were to low to only find mates inside of their own tribes.
I know joe used to act like unicorns were superior to everypony but, I don't know how his current views are.
6394482 Well, I meant that pure blood isn't going to work at all...it shouldn't even be in their mind to begin with.
I love everything about this chapter. Joe finding a very productive purpose to dedicate his life to, the useful Equestrian's being put to the exactly correct use for their skills, the start of a school and college that will be the center of a new civilization. Hell yeah.
Well, everything except for the news of this Charybdis, which I can only assume to be a similar sort of threat as Odium, and the fact that Alex is still in a coma. Regarding the former, forewarned is forearmed, they're far better off than if they had no idea there was another half of the cult out there. Regarding the latter, wake up, girl, there's another princess level threat to be addressed! Plus, I bet Oliver is lonely, and it's hard for this ship to sail if one of the passengers is stuck in port.
Okay, favorite ship of the series, not that it was much of a contest.
Maybe it's because it was established and expanded upon, and has a LOT more to it than the respective others, Adrian and Sky? I saw more development from Sky's respective character, Oliver and Alex? Seriously didn't see anything there.
This is a great relationship, not perfect on both sides, but respecting each other and providing each other support on both sides.
Here's to a good life for them! And Joe, the founder of education... what about the other ones? I'm guessing that Sky was the provider of weather control, but that blew out the water with the Equestrian ponies helping, maybe livestock but they are going to turn intelligent soon...
At times it seemed this chapter should have been the moment Joseph should have gotten his cutie mark. It's really changing how he seems to change with the proper motivation.
One thing he may be missing is the rest of the Equestrian textbooks. With Alex in no condition to open her saddlebags and most/all of the books not in there burned by Odium the only Equestrian textbooks available are the HPI backups. At least they have the Equestrians to teach them how to use some of their pony magic.
I just hope the HPI had burned that magic tome of Odium after scanning it.
You put so much emphasis on on John thinking that this would be what Alex wanted, that I have the feeling it's not.
Sequel on route? Ten thousand words for it already?
Jeez, Starscribe. Give Zutcha break, and give yourself a break, too.
I await the next chapters of our little tale.
6392569
At least their foal won't learn from Origin.
These chapter pictures are TOO CUTE.
Hey Joe, you should play Dwarf Fortress to practice your administrative skills. I'm sure it'll help a lot.
:^)
6396638 True enough.
6395953
Now there's a thought... good catch. Maybe Twilight should have built in a backup key of sorts if their chosen one bites the dust. Has she?
I remember now why I stopped reading this for so long.
....... I didn't wanna run out of chapters here to read.
I ran out. I'm all caught up.
6386624
I might! I might... I might... I might... X.x
6386760
The spell is not designed to create "animals" from equestria, even intelligent ones like cows and deer. That said, the spell is immensely complex, and it might fail in this way. Such a human, perhaps the only one of their kind for hundreds or thousands of miles, might be treated like cows are treated (which hopefully won't be that bad since they eventually learn to speak and such). Still, might be an alienating experience for anypony. Any... bovine?
Also, age. Age doesn't change upon return (unless the spell has problems, which can happen). Sunset Shimmer told Alex in the last stories that ponies lived a long time, but Alex didn't believe her. It remains to be seen if they do have longer lifespans, as in some fan theories. Dragons for sure do though. A an elderly human, 90 years old or whatever, would be a 90 year old dragon, barely an adolescent.
6386919
Don't you meta your way to what's going to happen! That's not fair! >.>
6388139
She'd need something pretty crazy miracle at this point. Not saying it's impossible, but I can say for sure it's not likely unless something happens. which it might. Or maybe she'll die. We'll know soon.
6388311
Yep, we've about wrapped things up! Just a few days left now...
6388401
At least there are some happyish endings...
6390238
I'm not trying to make a political point either way. I have my own feelings on the issue, and they're strong, but I'm writing a story right now and that means my views don't matter. Moriah in particular doesn't seem to have moral reservations about it. I'm not saying it's right, but Moriah doesn't feel that way. I don't let my own feelings get in the way of what my characters do. Lots of them have done horrible things, things I would never ever do. But they're not me. They just see the world differently. Don't take this as me condoning or opposing a particular political belief, just because my characters do. They routinely feel different about things than I do.
I would like it if nobody could guess how I feel from my writing, but I know I fail on that sometimes.
6388407
It's true, things are winding down. Just a few more to go, and then I get a break.
6388483
Hopefully their insanity will cancel each other's out instead of enhancing and increasing.
6388603
Many have suspected this was true, based on Moriah's behavior in the previous story, and all her self-hate in this one. It's also possible she was some kind of transperson before the Event, and didn't end up the way she'd hoped.
6388863
Baby steps in the right direction, anyway!
6388913
Never knowing how close they were to falling off the edge of the world.
6390853
One of those questions will be answered before this story is over. The other two will have to wait for the sequel, I'm afraid, but should be answered then.
6391119
At least she's got humans coming back for the next 10,000 years. After that... well, hard job to have.
6391192
yeah
6391379
Yeah, I think it's because Joseph. I don't think he'd ever been in a relationship prior to Moriah. It's possible he genuinely never thought about it. Not didn't know it, but...
6392409
It's about time!
6392413
And who's to say how much longer it'll take... if she'll wake up at all.
6392446
I like finishing what I start. I still haven't finished the story I set out to tell! I'll admit, I'm closer. Exploring the characters with this story was fun, but I'd like to explore the setting next. I like getting a huge backlog put aside, so that when school slows me down as the homework load increases I can still keep up with updates.
6392526
I actually imagined something similar with the pilgrims and their roads. It'd be hard to find a better place to go when you first show up than the city with former equestrians to teach you how to be a pony. Granted, those teachers won't be around longer than a lifetime, but after that... I'm sure their replacements will be pretty good too.
6392554
You'll know in a few hours! I'm glad it worked. I'd like for there to be a little suspense, even as the story's winding down. I think things are more fun that way.
6392568
The sequel, if things happen as planned, will still start five years ahead. I think we've hit the really exciting parts, at least that soon. More exciting things are going to happen down the line, but... I don't want to write about the ordinary, day-to-day life over, the routine and all that. Not really good meat. The meat's waiting in five years, once the colony has been around for the idealism to wear off and for things to start breaking down. But that's the topic for the next story
Right now, plan is to start a week from Saturday. I'll give myself one full week off... perhaps more if I feel I need it, or if the workload from school gets more intense. I don't yet have enough material to last through the semester, even with weekly updates. Getting there, though.
6392808
Yes, I still do have story left to tell. About the setting, about the future of some of the characters... I won't promise an update more than once a week, but I do promise not to stop until I'm finished!
6392864
I'm sure saving the books will have consequences down the line. But with the HPI as desperate as they are for an out, it's easy to see why they'd do it. They need to find every possible option. Every avenue. Their long-term situation is untenable without some kind of breakthrough. They've got to be open to everything. Even if the option might accidentally summon some dead god from beneath the waves...
6392984
They're very nutritious!
6393863
It's what Joe asked for too! ^^
6394897
Hah! If a ship was strong enough to wake her up, I'm sure she'd have been up months ago!
6395275
We didn't really get to see the other ships, because they're both just starting. Moriah and Joe were in-progress during the story, so that came up a great deal. Only got glimpses of the other ones.
6396638
A week or two anyway. I will have a little break, but I'm afraid if I stop too long I won't want to write it anymore. THERE AIN'T NO BREAKS ON THIS TRAIN!
6396797
How anyone will play dwarf fortress now without the youtube tutorials I will never know.
6398016
This seems like a question that we will see answered by the end of the story.
6398389
You won't be for long! More stuff comin' in just a few hours.
I completely agree and sympathize with the entirety of this statement.
I am really start to worry about Alex if and when she wakes up how much Alex will be left?
I had a random thought: Even if Alex never wakes up, it's still a better deal than we got in Warhammer 40K.