Skeletons of the Past

by Sturrn

They Shall Regret Facing us

Chapter Eight
They Shall Regret Facing us

This Chapter is pending a re-write.

It had taken a few minutes, a few stares from passing guards thanks to my weapons, and then asking those guards for directions but I eventually arrived at the library doors. After heaving open the surprisingly heavy door I found Celestia waiting for me next to a stack of books, she wasn’t too happy though. I walked over to her and leaned my axe up against a nearby bookcase as she spoke. “I’m sorry for not telling you how to get here. You didn’t have too much trouble did you?”

“No, I wandered aimlessly for a few minutes before asking a few guards. So what are we doing?” I replied.

“Something has come up I’m afraid. We will be unable to proceed through in my project. I must be going but you’re welcome to use the library to your heart’s content, the Star Swirl the Bearded section is off limits though.”

“What came up?” It seemed a little conspicuous that all of a sudden she has to leave, and right when I get there.

“It seems one of my guests to the Gala has shown up earlier than expected.” She walked over and leaned close to my face. “Rorke, I know that you know her, but I want you to promise me that you won’t talk about, talk to, or even be around her. Can you do that for me? You may not be the original Rorke that I knew all those years but you’re still Rorke and I need you to do this for me.” She looked distressed to no end.

“Of course I can do that, but would your early guest be Queen Chrysalis?” Her eyes bugged out for a moment in actual surprise that I knew who she was talking about. “I was talking to Shining Armor, remember? Well as you can guess, he REALLY doesn’t like her or another changeling named Knightmare. Apparently you’ve taken a liking to Knightmare.”

Her eyes shifted ever so slightly, almost nonexistent but I was looking for that and it gave me all the info I needed to solidify a hypothesis. “Yes well, he’s a traveling minstrel and I hired him on as entertainment for the Gala. Speaking of which, I should be going.” She walked much faster than she needed to but then again, I hadn’t seen her nervous about anything. Ever.

A plan was put into effect at that moment. “Wait Tia, how will I get into the Starswirl the Bearded section?” She turned around and brought a sun medallion into existence and shot it over into my possession.

She shouted back to me as she left. “Just show that to the guard and he’ll unlock the room for you.” With that done she left the room. ‘I didn’t think that would actually work. She’s hiding something big and my guess says Chrysalis isn’t the half of it.’ I looked up toward a clock by the door she ran out, and saw it was only six forty two. It was around that time that life set in for me.

I was in the biggest archive of knowledge in probably the whole world, and I had unlimited access to it all. “This definitely makes up for being dead.” I threw myself into the repository of equestrian knowledge with a fervor and had grabbed five books on various subjects. It was going to be a long night. Though I usually avoided it, when I studied talking to myself was an excellent way to hold a conversation. “First up is uhhh.” I threw my stack of textbook sized literature on to a conveniently placed table. “Ahh, first up is ‘The roving lands of the world’ this should be full of geography.”

I continued muttering to myself as I listed off the titles. “Second is ‘Great advances of the millenia’. This one is only a year old, pretty recent.” I placed it next to the first. “Next is ‘The tragedy of an Alicorn’ I’m guessing that is about Princess Luna. I wonder if she would be willing to talk to me about her exile?”

A smooth voice came from behind me. “That depends how nicely you ask. Who knows, maybe we’ll tell you.”

I spun around quickly in my seat and standing behind me in full regalia was the Princess of the night. “Princess Luna! I didn’t realize you were there, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, you being human like Griffin means you know about Nightmare Moon. Would that be correct to assume?” I nodded as she circled to my front and took a seat on the other side of the table. “Well then, let us tell you about the moon. Contrary to some rather foalish claims, we weren't sent TO the moon. The Elements of Harmony sealed us IN the moon with a magical stasis.”

Her demeanor changed from the smooth entrance she had made into a slight downcast temperament, it was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it. “Princess-”

She interrupted me. “We may not have known you in life and you're technically not Rorke but we think you can forgo the formalities. Luna would be fine.”

“I see, then Luna, why do you insist on using the royal ‘we’ if you wish to do away with formalities?”

My comment caught her off guard and she stumbled for words before taking a breath and continuing. “We- I use it because court life can be quite dreary as you may well know, correct?” I gave my approval. “When I’m holding court, I like to use the ‘we’ and if a situation calls for it ‘The Royal Canterlot Voice’. They lighten things up, even if it does wake Celestia up sometimes.” She had a knowing smile on.

“I would have imagined both you and your sister to be such pranksters. Doesn’t really fit with the persona of the alicorn sisters.” We both nodded before she began again. “Life was as simple as that. I could feel the years pass but I was numb to the actual change they brought. I was constantly shifting between the waking world and the realm of dreams with the only constant being my sister’s voice calling out to me.” She had a sad smile this time. “She told me how she would fly up to the tallest mountain nearby, just to be closer to the moon and speak to me every night.”

I was getting depressed at that point and Luna looked ready to start crying. “Luna, maybe we should talk about something else.”

She sighed audibly. “That might be best. What would you like to talk about? I was like you when I came back, having to learn almost everything from scratch.” ‘This is going to be good.’

A few hours had been passed with me being lectured on all the aspects of Equestria and life in it. All of that knowledge had been combined to give me an incredible picture of the land with its history and culture. Although as we reached one subject I was beyond consoling. “What do you mean, you don’t know anything beyond the southern hemisphere!?” I shouted angrily as I flew up out of my chair. “You obviously know about the Dominion, The Changeling Wastes, and just about everywhere else, including the fact that there is a land mass in the southern hemisphere.”

Luna was not pleased at being shouted at. “Sit down. Now.” She said in the coldest voice possible. I quickly took my seat once again, mainly in an effort to forestall her wrath. “This is a library Rorke, not a place for you to be raising your voice especially not to me. Now will you let me continue?” I accepted dumbly a with just a little bit of shame. “Good, now, you know that isn’t exactly what I said. What I did say is the southern hemisphere isn’t well documented. Even Saddle Arabia is poorly documented as to the outlying structure of the land nearby.”

“Why is it poorly documented if Celestia visited so often?” I said.

She put a hoof to her chin and gathered her thoughts for a moment before continuing. “You must realize this, when my sister and I first took the throne, we were still a very small nation and thus had a lot of spare time. We spent this time perfecting different arts and one of them was diplomacy. Do you follow what I am saying?”

“You wanted interaction with other countries and civilisations” She nodded sagely.

“That would be correct, I was tasked with reaching out into the areas nearby Equestria and to the north. My sister was tasked with exploring the Zebrican island chain and the land mass to our south. She spent a lot of time in the southern sands, namely spending it with your bodily predecessor.”

“What happened then? Why are you two acting like you barely know what's going on outside of Equestria?”

She sighed. “The simplest answer I can give you is we grew.” I looked at her with what I hope was confusion, it’s hard to know without facial muscles. “Equestria grew at a phenomenal rate. We were secure in peace for the longest time and everypony just got used to it. We never had to fight with others, even when we discovered new nations. Since Equestria grew so much we couldn’t leave and journey the world like we used to.”

She looked at me face to face. “Rorke, we were so wrapped up ruling Equestria that entire civilisations had collapsed around us, and we didn’t lift a hoof to help them.” Her eyes left my gaze as she looked down sadly. “When my exile started, the griffons began to rouse for a war with us. For a hundred years, my ponies lived under almost unilateral fear. Fear that we could be invaded immediately and without warning, that no pony would be taken prisoner and everything they held dear would be destroyed.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Since Celestia was ruling by herself at the time she couldn’t deal with fighting a war and managing Equestria at the same time. Not only that but the loss of life on both sides would have been enormous. So she took the matter into her own hooves and dissolved the Dominion government. What she couldn’t have known was that with no central entity to protect the griffins, the diamond dogs and dragons moved in and established the system you hear of today.” She put her forehooves on the table and leaned across it toward me. “That was HUNDREDS of years ago. It took Griffin coming here and starting his revolution just over a year ago to get us to open our eyes.

“So you’ve been so hold up by your own country, you couldn’t see past its borders?”

She accepted the criticism before continuing. “Rorke, you want to know what lies beyond the Equestrian border correct?”

‘I always did hypothesise what was beyond the show’s scope of view.’ “Yes, I do. That has always drawn me, to see what was beyond reach.”

She leaned back into her chair. “Then would you accept a mission on my word but on behalf of my sister? We need your help and you’re the perfect candidate.”

I was a little skeptical when she said I was the perfect candidate. ‘How can a walking bone pile with a silly looking axe and sword be perfect for anything? Maybe the Egyptian cosplay scene.’ I forged ahead anyway. “What did you have in mind?”

She grinned, not exactly a Celestia brand smile but still convincing. She must have practiced it. “I want you to set out for the Southern Sands and reestablish contact with anyone there. We have a settlement called Saddle Arabia situated there but we only get scattered reports from them at best, and we have nothing on the rest of the area. According to Celestia, some great tragedy befell the anubites but she never told me what happened. I’m convinced that she doesn’t know and if she isn’t sure and there is no evidence to the contrary we must assume that your people are still out there.”

I sat there for a minute and let the conversation up till now sink in. ‘She wants me... ME a newly formed, absolutely no reason to be thoroughly trusted, skeleton to be the equestrian Columbus and rediscover the world. Something doesn’t seem right, I haven't done nearly enough to warrant this kind of responsibility.’ I looked up from my temporary coma and saw her gleaming. “Luna, listen not to sound ungrateful for this opportunity but there is something else behind this. You aren’t telling me something.”

She pulled her hoof up to her chest in such shock only Rarity could match it. “Rorke, I’m shocked you would even think that.”

“You aren’t denying it.” I deadpanned.

She put her hoof down and looked like she was contemplating her options at this point. We sat in silence for a couple moments before she spoke again. “Okay, you win. I haven't told you everything but please promise me that what I say won’t affect your decision too much. This is still very secure information.”

She took a deep breath before continuing. “Approximately three weeks ago a series of attacks were stated in the last report from Saddle Arabia. These attacks left no survivors and the ‘bodies’” She air quoted. “were nothing but empty husks. The local guard unit stationed there performed a magical autopsy. What was discovered was unsettling in both indication, and the memories they dredged up.”

She hedged herself for what I could only guess was a real bombshell. “I’ll be honest with you, my sister and I weren't totally truthful when we said we don’t have any info written about the anubites. We don’t have it in the books, but Celestia still remembers most of the things Rorke told her. One of those things was about an enemy that he fought for over ninety years of his life. Are you familiar with a species of creatures called the Ajax?”

That single sentence set off every alarm in my head. I distinctly remembered in my recount of Rorke’s trip to the market that Solaron had been talking and nearly despairing about the Ajax. “Yes, I’m familiar with the name but not of their appearance or anything else about them.”

“We aren’t either, but the reason I’m talking about them is because my sister thinks that the Ajax are the perpetrators of these murders. You see, the Ajax don’t kill their victims by conventional means, magical or otherwise. They don’t even drain the magic out of them, they literally burn the essence of life that every creature has right out of their body. That’s why the only thing left is a husk that falls apart with even the slightest bit of disturbance.”

“Luna , what does this all mean? I know this has a point, we just need to get to it.” She looked a little perturbed at my insistence but I was getting antsy with all this new info.

“I’ll skip to the important part then. Many years into the fight with the Ajax, Rorke had a meeting with Tia to discuss his war along with the effects abroad.” Her face turned rather stone like and totally stoic. “He said and I quote “Princess, if these creatures, these THINGS get away from me it will mean the end of everything and everyone. They must be stopped, and if that means I have to put my entire empire between them and the rest of the world, it will be done.” since everything you see before you is still here we both know he succeeded, at least partially.”

“What was his plan? How did he defeat the Ajax, and why are they resurfacing now? It's been thousands of year, what changed?” I was enraptured by history once again.

“His plan was consolidation. Giving up every city except the capital of Ironpillar to the Ajax, evacuating the populace of each one and bringing them all within the city’s walls. It was a bold move and one that could have failed easily. Public unrest could have soared with so many people in such a confined space but he made it work. How he defeated the Ajax, I’m not sure. We lost all contact with the anubites a year after that. What changed after all this time that has brought their enemy back, I’m not sure.”

“May I offer my current hypothesis?”

“Of course. I wish to know what you think.” She seemed a little sure that I would agree readily, and unfortunately she was right if what I had gathered thus far was correct.

“So from what I’ve gathered up to this point, you need me to” I began to list off my tasks on my armored hand. “A) find transport to Saddle Arabia and get in contact with the guard unit there, B) find out what has caused the Ajax to return and stop it. How am I doing?”

“That is very good but a third objective we need of you and it’s of the utmost of importance. We need you to chart a map of the entire region, it doesn’t need to be topographic or even that detailed. We just need to know what has changed and what has stayed the same. Names of any settlements, landmarks, you find as well as borders pertaining to the government's down there should you find any with legitimacy behind their claims would be critical.”

“So secure transport down south, stop the killings and the Ajax, make a map. Is that what you’re saying?”

“In laypony’s terms, yes. Don’t think that you’re going in alone though. My lovely sister has already gotten a transport docked and crewed at the port nearby. She even managed to get a ‘Canterlot class’ airship. She isn’t taking a chance on letting these fiends get any farther than they already have.”

I didn’t really know battleship sizes back home and the ones here, i knew even less.
“How big is a ‘Canterlot class’ airship exactly? Can you give me a rough estimate?” I said.

She pondered for a moment. “What is your definition of big? I can tell you how long it is.”

“If we’re going by length, I would say about 300-400 feet.” I’m not very good with measurement but 400 seemed pretty good.

She grinned but not her usual calm smile but a slightly creepy and manic smile. “Rorke” She started. “The ‘Canterlot class’ airship is a warship and measures out at 752’ hooves long.” My jaw hit the floor immediately, apparently I get to hitch a ride on a battleship. “It has a crew of almost 200 ponies and on your journey will be loaded with over 700 guards. This is including pegasi, earth ponies, and unicorns. Whatever the Ajax are, or have won’t bring harm to anypony, “The Liberator” will stand vigil over the city.”

“How long has the ship been at port waiting to set out? Because if you’ve been waiting on me, then you must be really sure I’ll go.”

She picked her head up and stared at me like I just slapped her. “What do you mean, you are going right?”

“Of course I’m going, but I wanted to know if this whole operation was being hung up on me. If that’s the case you should send them a message to set sail, and I’ll make it there soon enough. I don’t want to have someone to get their life burned away because I was holding the guard up.”

She visibly relaxed at my explanation. “No you aren’t holding them up, the ship has been stocking and preparing for almost three weeks now. It will be setting sail either, when you arrive or two days after the gala. Unless otherwise stated by my sister or I, that ship will be docked for plenty of time for you to get there.”

“Then I will do it. I’ll investigate the Ajax attacks and map out the region. Do you have anyway for me to send you the map without having to come back here? I don’t feel like storing a thousand sheets of paper or racking up that many frequent flyer miles.”

“Of course, I’ll have something delivered to you before the end of tomorrow. If you think of anything else” She brought a lunar medallion into existence just like Celestia’s solar one. “Just show that to any guard and ask them to bring a message to me.”

“Thank you, you won’t be disappointed I promise.”

She got up from her seat and started walking to the door. “I’m sure you won’t, now I’ll let you get back to studying. I suggest the Starswirl section, there’s a lot of good things in that aisle.” And with that she walked out the door.

‘So let’s recap. I’ve just been conscripted by the alicorn sister of Equestria, to serve as a pseudo sheriff slash map maker on the other side of the world. I’ll be taking a gigantic warship there, I’ll probably have to fight the Ajax at some point and then I find out what happened to the anubites...’ I looked at the clock above the door Luna had left out of, it said two thirty six am.

“I’m not even going to guess how our conversation lasted that long, but I’m not walking all the way to the barracks. I can’t drool on the books anymore, I’m sure they won’t mind if I use a history book as a pillow.” I grabbed the aforementioned book and placed it just right on the table. Shimmying in my chainmail a bit so it wouldn’t rattle and adjusting my facial cloth to keep a late night wanderer from getting an eyeful of skeleton was what occupied my time for a bit.

Eventually I was settled until I saw my weapons leaning against the bookcase nearby. I just said screw it and got up, grabbed them, and placed them under my chair before taking my place back on it. I sat there for a few minutes, not really tired but sleep sounded nice enough to attempt it. Within a few minutes I was gone to the world.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Author's Note

I've decided to put some author's notes from now on. Mainly as a way to notify you of something that may influence the story. This chapter isn't the dream sequence I promised and for that I'm sorry, but a major back story involving the Ajax was needed. The Ajax are creatures purely of my own design and will be revealed soon after he gets to the desert, if you want a map of the southern sands and the world so far, go to this link it will have a map. You know the plan know for Rorke now, if any of you know a story set in the actual cities of Saddle Arabia I need to be told. I don't have enough time to go through every chess story and find ones that may screw their and my timeline up. I can't wait to get this thing actually started, but if you see any errors or feel that something was done wrong put a comment. -Sturrn

Comments

[PieisGood4U]

t be raising your voice especially not to me.---- To

My brain can not respond in a well thought out manner. It is too hot around here for that.

So: Tally hooooo

[Sturrn]

969719 Thanks for that, I finished the author's note if you didn't see it or if you did.

[xbox432]

I believe the story in the below link is set in Saddle Arabia, not sure if there are any others.

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/34562/Through-Desert-Sand-and-Forest-Storm