Chapter 37
Sitting at the table, Sumac watched as Trixie and Lemon Hearts chopped up vegetables and tossed them into a salad. It had been a long day, but he wasn’t tired. He felt rather anxious—though not unsettled; it was more of a need to be active after sitting around for so long and doing nothing. Being in the cemetery had allowed him to clear his head and he was feeling better about everything.
Boomer lay sprawled out in the fruit bowl, napping after gorging herself on bugs. Trixie was cutting cucumbers while Lemon Hearts was chopping some red cabbage. Wanting to be helpful, he began shucking peas, which earned him a smile of appreciation from Trixie.
“Sumac,” Lemon Hearts began, sounding hesitant, “Sumac, Twilight will be by later so that she might talk with you. You’re not in trouble, but it is going to be a very serious and grown up sort of talk. So please, be on your best behaviour.”
One eyebrow arched. Sumac, an observant little foal, couldn’t help but notice that Lemon Hearts was speaking to him like… well, like she was his mother. At least, he thought so. He glanced at Trixie, then at Lemon Hearts. There was something weird going on, but he couldn’t put his hoof on what it was. Something weird had been going on for a while.
There was a snort from Boomer, who rolled over and curled up around an orange.
While some foals didn’t like eating their vegetables, Sumac wasn’t one of them. Fresh veggies, good fresh veggies, were a treat. Salads were a rare treat when he and Trixie were on the road, but they seemed a little more common now. Everything was better now. They had nice beds, and a house to live in, and they were fixing a salad for dinner. Life was just about perfect.
All activity ceased when there was a knock on the front door. Sumac watched as Lemon Hearts went to answer. Trixie put down the knife she was chopping with and wiped her face with her foreleg. She then tossed back her head to get her mane out of her eyes.
“Or, Twilight might get here early,” Trixie said as she tried to straighten herself out.
When Lemon Hearts pulled the door open, a pegasus was revealed. He stood grinning, his eyes wide, and he held a piece of paper in his wing. Blinking, Lemon Hearts conjured up a bit, gave it to the pegasus, and accepted the piece of paper.
“Thank you,” Lemon Hearts said as she closed the door. She looked at the paper, then looked up at Trixie. “It’s for you, Trixie.”
“Huh?” Trixie moved through the kitchen, her bad leg stiff and a bit creaky. She took the paper from Lemon Hearts, unfolded it, and began reading. Her eyes went wide and after a moment, she lifted her head from the paper, looking panicked. “Oh no…”
“What’s wrong, Trixie?” Lemon Hearts asked.
There was no reply from Trixie, who stood there, looking stunned and panicked. After a full minute or so of saying nothing, she dropped the paper and hurried off to the bathroom, tears streaming down her cheeks. The bathroom door shut with a slam and a few seconds later, the sounds of sobbing could be heard.
“Did somepony die?” Lemon Hearts looked over at Sumac, her expression one of worry. She then looked at the piece of paper. She walked over to where it lay and stared down at it, biting her lip, as if she wasn’t sure if she should pick it up and look.
“Trixie?” Lemon Hearts looked over at the bathroom door.
Snorting, Boomer wiggled around, then snuggled up with a banana.
Lifting the paper, Lemon Hearts did not look at it. She folded it back up and placed it upon the table. She looked at it, wanting to know what it said that had upset Trixie so, but resisted the urge. She walked over to where the bathroom door was, and stood there, ears drooping, not sure what to do.
Sumac did not share Lemon Hearts’ sense of respect for Trixie’s privacy. He picked up the paper, unfolded it, and began to read it. It was a telegram, and he could see the dashes and dots. Below it, he saw the translation message.
Trixie, you finally settled down long enough in one place for me to find you. I’ll be coming for a visit. We need to talk. Dandelia Lion Lulamoon.
He didn’t know who that was, but they had the last name Lulamoon. He squirmed in his seat, feeling a growing sense of worry. He folded up the paper and put it back down upon the table. He glanced over at the bathroom door and saw that Lemon Hearts looked as though she was hurt.
It occurred to Sumac that Lemon Hearts had to be very close to Trixie as a friend for her to look so hurt and upset. Close friends. Best friends. They had put the issues of their foalhoods behind them, forgiven one another, and were now the very bestest of friends. Something about this resonated in his mind and he thought about his private lesson with Twilight about forgiveness.
“Trixie, please don’t cry!” Lemon Hearts begged. “Come out and talk to me. Maybe I can help you? Let me hug you and make you feel better!”
The bathroom door did not open. Lemon Hearts stood with her cheek and ear pressed up against the door, looking miserable, and her barrel was hitching. Sumac knew by looking at her that she would be crying soon. Mares were silly creatures, if one started crying, then most of the time, they all started crying. At some point, he was going to have to write a survival guide for living in the house with two of them. The little colt let heave a sigh and wondered how Big Mac might fix this situation.
He dropped down out of his chair, winced as pain shot through his front legs and shoulders, then went over to be with Lemon Hearts. He walked over, head-bumped her, and then sat down. She snatched him up almost right away, sitting down, and circling a foreleg around him. As Sumac was being squeezed, he suffered the most peculiar and worrisome thought; was he stinky? He shoved the unwelcomed worry from his mind and allowed Lemon Hearts to hold him as she sniffled.
Turning his head, he tried opening the bathroom door, but it was locked. Trixie had locked herself in. Squinting, Sumac’s tongue popped out of his mouth as he concentrated. He reached inside of the lock with his mind, feeling around, and getting an idea of how the locking mechanism worked. In no time at all, he understood the basic mechanics of it, and he sprung the lock. As he did so, he realised that he could have just flipped the latch from the inside. He pulled the door open.
Trixie, looking both surprised and a bit miffed, was sitting on the toilet, tears streaming down her cheeks, and staring through the now open door. She wiped her snotty nose with her foreleg. Her lower lip quivered as she looked at Sumac and Lemon Hearts.
“I’m so proud of you, Sumac,” Trixie murmured in a voice that was a whine of pain. “You picked your first lock…” Her barrel began to hitch harder and a soggy smile spread over Trixie’s muzzle. She slid off of the toilet, her hooves clicked on the cold tile floor, and she came over to where Lemon Hearts and Sumac were sitting. She sat down with them, and felt herself snatched by Lemon Hearts.
Poor Sumac found himself sandwiched between the two of them, but he dared not complain. Big Mac wouldn’t complain in this situation, he didn’t think. No, Big Mac would remain silent and bear it. Sumac wasn’t sure if he would remain silent, but he would bear it.
“Trix, I don’t know if you should be proud of him for picking the lock,” Lemon Hearts said to Trixie in a shuddering voice.
“Nonsense,” Trixie replied as she leaned against Sumac and Lemon Hearts. “A mother… a mother should be proud of her foal’s accomplishments and celebrate them—”
“Yeah, but lock picking,” Lemon Hearts said, butting in with an insistent tone.
“But he brought us together,” Trixie argued as a few more tears spilled down her cheeks.
Silly creatures. Sumac squirmed and tried to ignore the fact that it felt like it was raining indoors. He had no intention of picking a lock and doing something bad, but he didn’t say anything. Now didn’t seem like the time. Besides, he was smooshed, and saying something would involve somehow getting his head unsmooshed from between Lemon Hearts and Trixie, something easier said than done.
“Who’s the telegram from, Trixie?” Lemon Hearts asked.
After a long silence, Trixie replied, “My mother.”
With his ear pressed against Trixie’s chest, he could hear her heart thumping. So, he had a grandmother too, it seemed. He wiggled, trying to free himself just enough so that he might hear better, and maybe breath a little air that wasn’t all perfumed and floral scented.
“Is this why you are proud of Sumac picking the lock?” Lemon Hearts pulled away just a little bit so she could look Trixie in the eyes. “You and your mother, you had a falling out, didn’t you?”
“We sure did.” No other words seemed forthcoming after these.
“She didn’t approve of you picking locks?”
“Don’t be a tease, Lemon.”
“I’m sorry, I was just trying to make ya laugh.”
Sumac poked out his head and said, “We should finish dinner. We can talk while we’re eating.”
Trixie was rinsing out the sink and Lemon Hearts was putting the dishes back in the cupboard when there was a knock upon the door. Seeing that they were busy, it was Sumac who got up to answer. He crossed the room, limping a bit, but managing to walk well enough.
Standing near the door, he pulled it open. He saw Twilight and Starlight standing outside. Before Twilight had a chance to say anything, Starlight scooted past her, scooped up Sumac with her telekinesis, and began to twirl him around in the air, giving him a pegasus pony ride with her magic.
“Hi!” Starlight said in an overly-excited voice.
Reeling from the exuberant greeting, Sumac nodded and did his best to hold down his dinner. As his head arced past Twilight, he saw her smiling. If Starlight kept shaking him and whirling him around, he was going to burp… or worse. He was feeling a whole lot of pressure in his other end.
As suddenly as it started, the pegasus pony ride was over and Sumac found himself on the floor, dizzy, and looking up at Twilight. He blinked a few times, then waved, as he wasn’t sure if it was safe to say hello when one was holding back a lurking dragon belch.
“Hi,” Twilight said as she shut the door behind her. “I came by so we could all have a talk. There is something very important and very serious that I need to talk to you about, Sumac Apple.”
Sumac nodded, still feeling the lurking dragon belch.
“Good… let’s all get started right away. There’s a lot to discuss!” Twilight grinned as she spoke and her wings fluttered against her sides. She lifted her head, looked around, and asked, “Where’s Boomer?”
“Sleeping in the fruitbowl,” Lemon Hearts replied.
“Oh.” Twilight blinked. “They sleep a lot, don’t they?”
Sumac, Trixie, and Lemon Hearts all nodded together.
“Well, like I said, let’s get started…”
Looking up at Twilight Sparkle, Sumac nibbled on the edge of a pecan sandie. Starlight had brought cookies, and even though he was full from dinner, he ate one. Starlight had made them with Spike, and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Plus, the cookie was delicious, and who would turn down free cookies?
“Sumac, I have to say right up front, I want to ask you to do something dangerous,” Twilight said as her smile vanished. “Trixie and I have done a lot of talking. You’ve been in some dangerous situations before and you handled yourself well.”
“And while the situation might be dangerous, Twilight has a plan to keep you safe,” Starlight said around a mouthful of cookie. As she spoke, she sprayed cookie crumbs everywhere. She ignored the look that Twilight gave her, raised eyebrow and all.
“Sumac, I need your amplification magic.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Zecora has given me a tincture made from zap apples. It’s concentrated, but not as strong as the jam. I think it will make things a bit easier to control.”
“Why do you need my magic?” Sumac asked.
Twilight did not reply, but gnawed her lip instead. She squirmed where she was sitting, shifting from one side to another. After some time spent in thought, she said, “Sumac, you can’t talk about this… to anypony. Even Pebble.”
“Okay.” Sumac nodded. “Honest Apple.”
“Sumac, there is a place called Midnight Castle, and I have a plan to return to it.” Twilight squirmed some more, then settled down. She drew in a deep breath, glanced at Starlight, then returned her attention to Sumac. “About a year or so ago, I discovered the lost ruin of Midnight Castle. I’d been doing some scrying, trying to discern the location of a powerful artifact. A couple of powerful artifacts, actually.”
Twilight looked away and her eyes fell upon the window, where the last bit of daylight shone through. “It is a place that doesn’t want to be found. It has powerful guardians. It took all of my magic to even pierce the magical veils that protect it. It exists within a haunted wood so terrible that all but the very bravest will run away.”
“It’s spooky,” Starlight said, eyes wide and gleaming, while nodding her head.
“I assembled a group of very powerful adventurers,” Twilight continued. “Tarnish joined me, but not Maud. She was involved with something else. Cranberry was found and recruited, she was fighting ice trolls in the frozen north. Hachikō the diamond dog was found, he was in the far south, with Daring Do, fighting with the minions of Doctor Caballeron. We helped clear that up so he was free to join us. A changeling named Stinkbug and his companion, Celaeno the Harpy, they were found in Manehattan, hunting down monsters that lived deep within the sewer.”
“Yuck!” Sumac snatched up another pecan sandie.
“Oh, Stinkbug smells worse than anything in the sewer… but… he’s nice.” Starlight’s eyes narrowed. “I wonder how he’s doing? It’s been awhile since we’ve seen him, Twilight.”
“Yes it has,” Twilight replied, nodding her head. She sighed, then continued, “We were a seasoned party of skilled adventurers. We handled the woods rather well… Stinkbug managed to outstink a couple of undead shamblers—”
“You know you smell bad when you can make a zombie puke,” Starlight said in an absentminded whisper. “Never thought I’d see the day when some undead rotters ran away while clutching their noses and moaning about something smelling bad.”
Hearing this, Sumac wasn’t sure if he should laugh or not.
“We had to fight a whole bunch of slimes and jellies.” Twilight turned her head to look at Sumac. “When we finally reached the gates of Castle Midnight, we thought the worst was over. But it wasn’t. The woods were just a warm up. We hardly made it through the gate before the real fighting began. We made it past the first of the guardians, defeating it, but then we had to retreat. My magic just wasn’t strong enough.”
“And so that’s why you need me,” Sumac said, understanding all too well. “You need me to make your magic stronger.”
“Not just me,” Twilight said to Sumac. “I plan to take Starlight and Trixie when I go back as well.”
Sumac looked over at Trixie, then back at Twilight. “Why take Trixie?”
“For the same reason I’m taking Starlight,” Twilight replied. “Trixie and Starlight have experience with using magic for combat. Fighting magic. They’ve both been in situations that the average unicorn hasn’t. And with you along, both of them will be a whole lot stronger… hopefully, together, we’ll be strong enough to face the guardians, get past them, and get the artifacts I need.”
“Why do you need them? What are they?” Sumac gave Twilight a look of wide-eyed wonder.
“Sumac, I don’t know if I should tell you—”
“Twilight, if he is responsible enough to help you, then he is responsible enough to know. He has a right to know what he is getting into, and what is at stake.” Starlight gave Twilight a flinty stare, then looked over at Trixie, as if hoping for some support.
There was a sigh from Twilight, who slumped over. She looked weary now, as if she was very, very tired and hadn’t slept in a while. Twilight rubbed her neck with her hoof, then nodded, and looked Sumac in the eye. “Sumac, a long time ago, there was a necromancer named Grogar. He was very powerful. He was such a terrible being that almost everything that was known about him was destroyed, just because he was so awful.”
“That sounds stupid,” Sumac said. He saw Twilight nod in agreement.
“Some very foolish ponies tried to be rid of his very memory. It’s hampering our efforts now. Grogar has revived himself as a shade. His harpy minions gather and gain strength. He’s trying to recover some ancient artifacts to aid him. Tarnish destroyed his crown, the Gravekeeper’s Circlet. Made the sorcerous old goat really angry. Grogar has threatened to personally obliterate Tarnish.”
“Who hasn’t threatened to personally obliterate Tarnished Teapot? It’s practically become a pastime for evil beings. I mean, he’s made so many enemies, even more enemies than I have, and I have a lot… of… enemies…” Starlight fell silent as Twilight glared at her with one raised eyebrow. She made a zipping motion across her muzzle with her hoof.
Twilight took another deep breath and returned her attention to Sumac. “Grogar’s shadow grows long and dangerous. He has much influence and if he revives himself fully, he will be the single greatest threat that the world could possibly face. There are things at Castle Midnight that might help him. I’m afraid that I’m not the only one who has powerful adventurers working for me and helping me. We can’t let the treasures of Castle Midnight be taken by the enemy.”
“I’ll do it.” As Sumac spoke, he heard Trixie make a sharp inhale. He avoided looking at her, worried what he might see. He focused on Twilight. “When do we go? How do we get there?”
“Well, the sooner the better,” Twilight replied. “I created a portal gem to Castle Midnight, but I can’t power it alone… I need something to boost my magical strength. It will take us to the front gates. We can avoid the horrible spooky undead infested woods.”
“Then what?” Sumac asked.
“Well, we go further into the castle and I’ll battle the guardians,” Twilight replied. “I’ve done some scrying, so I have an idea of what to expect. If things go wrong, I can activate the portal gem and get all of us out of there in a jiffy.”
“Twilight, when did you plan to go?” Trixie, who had a worried expression on her face, looked at Twilight.
“Well, I dunno.” Twilight shrugged. “I mean, you’ve been helping me plan this, so I don’t know if you have more plans. Trixie, I couldn’t have done this without you and Starlight. Ponies will probably never know it, but you two might’ve helped to save us all.”
“And now we have Sumac getting involved,” Trixie said.
“Hey, nopony could have known that his magic talent would be so useful. When we got started, his talent hadn’t even manifested yet.” Starlight lowered her voice. “It’s good that his talent is what it is, because Twilight was going to try and use the alicorn amulet, and I don’t like that idea.”
“Nopony liked that idea,” Trixie said to Starlight. “But sometimes, we have to resort to desperate measures to get things done.”
“Magic is growing weaker, just as Sumac’s hypothesis shows.” Starlight let out a low cough and cleared her throat. “Grogar is poisoning magic again, just like he did last time. If he corrupts enough of it, it will leave all of us weakened and give him the magical boost he needs to revive himself.” Starlight turned to look at Sumac. “Sumac, you don’t know it yet, but you provided a very important piece to a very big puzzle that has been plaguing us for a long, long time.”
“I suspected that Grogar is corrupting magic,” Twilight said, offering an explanation. “Sumac, your hypothesis shows that the enormous number of unicorns spreads the available magic and leaves it a bit thin, like too little butter on too much toast. Grogar is corrupting the magic though, redirecting it, making it difficult, if not impossible for unicorns to use it. All of the unicorns are growing weaker while he grows stronger. At some point, the scales will tip, unicorn magic will be almost non-existent, and, no doubt, Grogar will have enough magic to revive himself. We won’t be able to fight back at that point.”
Sumac’s mind reeled as he struggled to understand what Twilight was saying.
“Princess Celestia has given some thought to your hypothesis, Sumac. She thinks that Grogar has planned for this. If he would have started corrupting magic again a thousand years ago, when unicorn magic was strong, they would have noticed when their magic got weak. So, Princess Celestia thinks that Grogar has been biding his time, waiting for the population to grow, and for the available magic to thin out and grow weak, as there are too many unicorns tapping into it. Since what little magic that is available is so weak, it is far more difficult to notice that the magic is being corrupted and siphoned off.”
Blinking, Sumac had a hard time keeping up, but he did his best.
“Unicorns can’t draw upon the tainted magic without their magic getting all wonky,” Starlight said, “well, not unless you are Tarnish. It’s another reason why Grogar hates him. Tarnish and his poison joke filters out Grogar’s terrible taint, leaving magic clean and unicorn friendly again.”
“And Grogar needs tainted magic to revive himself,” Twilight added. “Poison joke is his bane… his anathema. Grogar is the poison and Tarnish is the antidote.” Twilight paused, blinked, and shook her head. “We’re dealing with a very large puzzle here, and we can only see a few pieces at a time. Your hypothesis made a number of things a whole lot clearer.”
“It was just a guess—”
“Sumac, everything happens for a reason,” Starlight said. “You listened to a gut feeling and because of that, we have a better chance of fighting back.”
“So, uh, when do we leave?” Sumac asked.
“Well, I don’t know, but hopefully soon—”
“Why not tonight?” Sumac, blinking, sat waiting for an answer or an excuse.
“Could we do it tonight?” Twilight asked.
Starlight shrugged and looked over at Trixie. Trixie looked at Sumac, then at Twilight, then at Starlight, and then glanced at Lemon Hearts, who was silent. Trixie gave a slow, reluctant nod. With Trixie’s approval, Starlight nodded, and a grin of anticipation spread over her muzzle.
Looking worried, Twilight nodded. “Well then, I guess we should be ready to leave in an hour or two…”
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A Slime appears!
Command?
Hot DAMN, that's a twist! Might they be able to reverse Grogar's corruption, to make Unicorn magic stronger? That would be totally sweet!
Also, Trixie gets to postpone her reunion with her mother for a bit longer, so that's a plus for her!
7480719
Stronger by a smidge, until more unicorns are born and further weaken available magic.
I kinda wish the kiss goodbye was between Pebble and Sumac. Also, while they need magic I can't help but feel if they took AJ or Big Mac it would be a big help as they would become Titan's of unparalleled physical strength in Sumac's Presence.
Also, I guess this particular ruin is where Trixie's magic got FUBAR'd before?
Also, Boomer is very fruity.
7480739
Nope. Different ruin.
There will be a kiss goodbye the next chapter. Sumac will be the smoocher.
The earth pony issue will actually be a major problem.
7480737
Well, might there perhaps be a way for Twilight & her contemporaries to bolster magic itself? Granted, that'd likely be the work of decades or centuries, but it may be possible to expand the world's magic reserves, perhaps by using a Mirror Portal to harvest the fallow magic from a dead world (so as to not hurt anyone else), or via some method that is wholly non-harmful.
7480755
Magic is in no danger of running out, it's just that the world only produces so much of it. Think of it as a field of grain. The more ponies you have eating the grain, the less there is overall. In time, the grain grows back so more of it can be harvested.
Calling it now, the adults get taken out by the guardians and Sumac's the only one who makes it home. He then mustters his classmates and they retrieve/destroy the artifacts.
7480758
Oh, I never thought there was any serious danger of it running out, just of an even worse dearth of potent Unicorns a la Trixie, Starlight Glimmer, Sunset Shimmer, or Twilight Sparkle (or Moondancer, for that matter). Hell, even Shining Armor is rather potent, for all that his power is a tad narrowly focused. A greater incidence of potent, flexible unicorns would be invaluable to Equestria as a whole, even if it isn't strictly a dire necessity.
To use your grain field analogy yet further, I'd hoped that it might be possible to plant more grain & expand the field, as it were. Not that it's necessary, but because it'd be rather nice to have, so that each Unicorn's "ration" of magic was bigger.
Let's see... Midnight Castle, Grogar, Artifacts of power IN Midnight Castle.... The Bell of Tambelon and the remains of the Rainbow of Darkness come to mind.
Granted any number of things could be hiding in ancient castle from G1.
7480758
And the non-equine races? how would they feel if they discover ponies have been leeching the world magic for themselves?
7480773
Some unicorns are transitioning. Tarnish doesn't draw from the usual source of magic, though he can tap into that too. Without saying too much, Tarnish can tap into the magic that animates the land and the plants and gives them life. Unicorns can't tap into this magic. At least, not yet.
Sumac draws power from... woah, I almost spoiled something interesting. Whoops!
7480781
Eh, not a concern, seeing as how some of the other races draw from different sources of magic.
7480779
Considering the kind of power the Bell has against Grogar it would be stupid to destroy it.
7480786
You incorrigible tease! 
I very much look forward to seeing just where Sumac's power comes from. Should be fun! 
7480781
Most other races don't seem to use Magic, except Zebra's and Changelings, and Zebra magic is different and Changelings power their magic with love.
Must. Not. Make. The Witcher. References.
Maybe it is unfortunate now, but there and then, I understand that they wanted any record of him gone. What if someone promised themselves something from aiding in his resurrection? Power? Riches maybe?
Stink bug!
7480802
Griffons draw upon the same source of magic as ponies. They only need a tiny trickle of power, just like pegasi. As for the others... spoilers.
Oh so that's what's going on. Nice. I like how you fit grogar into this.
7480797
I notice no mention of destroying the artifacts in question. Just retrieving them. IF Twilight knows what the Bell does then there is reason to get it before Grogar because you know he'll want it to keep it safe. Heck if all Twilight knows is that Grogar wants it that would be enough for her to want to get it first anyway.
I know you've been worried that we might get upset by what's coming...
And I gotta say, I am upset by this. Just a little.
Because the reveal as to what the tainted magic is would have been a great reveal... in Venenum Iocus. But instead it's delivered as a flat expodump here.
And, while some of the things revealed are things that you could conceivably skip in VI... this doesn't seem like one of them.
7480866
In VI, Twilight hasn't fully figured it out yet, so how on earth could I reveal it there? Do tell.
7480878
If it's just Twilight figuring it out and no adventuring, or discovery, or anything leading up to it, nor any dramatic revelations that change everything for Tarnished, and she was always just going to figure it out in the background and tell them later, then this is as good as anything.
7480893
In VI, other things happen. Namely, Tarnish makes a mortal enemy of the Dark Lord
SauronGrogar.Woo! Stinkbug!
Dont know why, but with Sumac's affinity with machines, I am half-expecting him to go full iron/mecha-pony any day now
7480904
Not sure if I can tone down the confrontationalness of what follows... but I think it's alright? I hope.
As soon as I know it's Grogar I'll know I'll know Tarnished makes him a personal enemy, I'll know that Grogar will be eventually revealed to be the source of the stuff that poison joke clears (and, of course, now it answers a bunch of context questions to Tarnished's spirit mentor too, which makes that less of a surprise), and I'll know that they won't be able to do anything about it until at least Tarnished's daughter is born and a little older.
I'll just be waiting for all of it to happen.
Yeah, new things will happen, and there will be new interactions and I'm not sure exactly what will happen, so it's not like the story has no purpose or anything, but I would have much preferred to learn this rather big secret when Tarnished does, because his story deals with it much more seriously than this one does, and it would be a much better impact.
This also applies to the other anecdotes from this story... but less seriously.
7480700 MUD: Multi User Dungeon. A text-based rpg system that basically was how i leraned how to use the keyboard REALLY fast.
Also: things scalated quickly...and they should wait a couple of days ´till Sumac is full recovered.
7480904 god damnit, I was gonna make that Sauron joke!
This is a perfect mix of characters for a classic 1930's super-group flavoured pulp-fiction adventure story!
Think of it: Action! Adventure! Mystery! Chaos! Evil Villains hell bend on taking over the world! Airships! Dark hideouts in remote places! Evil minions with dark, curved daggers! Bizarre future tech with vacuum tubes! Secret Cults! Ray guns! Magic! Spies! Decept! Double-crosses! Last Second escapes! Explosions! Cliff-Hanger Endings!
IT'S PERFECT!!!
PLEASE WRITE SOMETHING WITH THIS BUNCH OF PONIES!!!!!!
OH, PLEASE WRITE A PONY PULP ADVENTURE!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw10242-428818.gif
(and, yes, I know you've got a what looks to be a Hammett/Chandler flavoured mystery story going, but it's just not the same!!!!!)
I'll... just go calm down now.
7481319
Maaaaaaybe?
7481319
Actually, there is something far more important involving this paragraph.
Twilight is aware that there are powerful adventurers and she keeps track of them.
That is all.
So great chapter and I'm getting pumped. Although I have a question. Why are they going so soon and with Sumac still recovering from his injury?
Also I know I'm missing something here but, Why can't Twilight and her friends just blast Gogar with their Rainbow of friendship and be done with him?
7481384
Because the Elements of Harmony are now back on the tree.
7481390 While that's all and good Twilight has her Castile. What about the power they used to beat Tirek? They surly can use that against him can't they? Or are you going with that they can't do that anymore?
7481397
Stop and think for a moment. That attack means using magic, right?
What is it that Grogar is doing?
Now... think about it.
7481411 Poisoning magic?
Damn...
As if Grogar was not bad enough, Equestria and the planet at large is facing a looming Malthusianesque Magic Crisis what with the magic usage outstripping its creation.
The scary thing (to my mind at least) is that defeating the immediate threat Grogar poses will only provide a temporary reprieve; the root problem has no central evil mastermind, or necromancer, or conspiracy to unmask and attack. It is "just" a simple matter of too many ponies using too little resources...
Hmmm. I just thought of something. Why doesn't Twilight try recruiting the Siren's? They are evil, could probably be reformed and be useful to her endeavors and have THOUSANDS of years of Experience in what she is trying to combat. And they would probably be more open with ancient information than anyone else with it. I mean, just look at Celestia. She doesn't tell Twilight about any ancient evils she swept under the rug until they become an actual danger. Hell, Daring Do would probably be interested in them as well for maybe finding various ancient artifacts they may know of before any of her Rogues Gallery does. Tarnish as well considering he seems to now have a fixation on finding himself useful, non-evil magic artifacts.
7481426
Nature itself is already beginning to take care of that by causing ponies to be born who are tapping into different sources of magic than the main one that, while leaving them weaker in some aspects than the average unicorn, is making them much more power in their specialized roles.
7481342
I kinda assumed that was a given. There's a civil war going on, or at least brewing, between those that support the Princesses and those that do not (see Romance of Swans, etc.) and after what Tarnished has gone through and done, Twilight and the other Princesses would be smart to keep tabs on those who have strong magic. (We already know that Celestia has her eye on Summac.) In fact, it really wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Princesses were all somehow at the core of the Stiff Upper Lip club.
How Twilight knows about Hachikō and Stinkbug, I dunno. But I'm just writing that off as we'll find more out about that in their respective home stories as those stories progress.
And my previous concern seems to becoming more justified, as I have no clue about half of the things referenced in this chapter, and I suspect the only way I could is if I read the other stories...so yeah, it looks like this is going to be another one of those stories that requires reading other parallel stories to contextualize.
7481499
Quite a few of the things mentioned in this chapter haven't happened in other stories either. They take place in between.
Was Sumac's talent amplifying magic? Well, that's sort of disappointing.
That's like when the CMC got their cutie marks, since we ALL know that Applebloom should have had a building cutie mark, Scootaloo should have had a stunts cutie mark, and Sweetie Belle should have had a music cutie mark.
Damnit kudzuhaiku I bet you're on the MLP:FiM team, and you were the one behind that episode! DAMN YOU KUDZUHAIKU
just kidding I love you really
7481319
I'd read it.
7481342
I noticed that...
I wonder if (heaven forbid) Grogar could "trace" that connection, or simply draw out the information...
That would be bad.
7481440
1. The Sirens are currently powerless.
2. Reformating these three would(will?) be a lengthy process; unlike in videogames, the main quests (retrieval of the artifacts and eventual fight boss against the evil goat-lich ) are not going to wait while the heroes go sidequesting. Not to mention the possibility of Grogar himself offering them a better deal for selling Twilight´s team out.
3. What sane person will consider letting the Dazzlings getting close to epic evil aligned magical artifacts?
oh look, another fic mentioning Grogar. ALL HAIL THE OVERGOAT!
7481508 Have you by chance ever read the two books "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow"? They're parallel stories, but provide good examples of not feeling like parallel stories while you read them.