Episode 141: What Once Was
Episode 141: What Once Was
The infiltration of Aqualania had begun. Each group had spent a brief time preparing and consulting on ideas, including contingency plans in the event things went wrong.
“Because things always go wrong,” Tempest had said plainly, as if stating the most obvious fact of life, “No matter how skilled some of us are or how lucky we get, at some point things are going to go sideways in there, so we’d best have a plan of action for what each team does when the hay hits the fan.”
Twilight would have liked to have been more optimistic about their chances of succeeding at both of their objectives without raising the alarm, but realistically she knew they’d be fortunate just to reach their respective targets before the advent of violence. That being the case she’d agreed to a few simple contingencies. Simple, because in Twilight’s growing experience the more complex a plan was the more components it had to trip over.
In short, Aria’s and Sonata’s safety was placed as the highest priority, and a series of magical flare signals were agreed upon for the unicorns to use in the right circumstance. If a team was discovered, and hadn’t yet accomplished it’s objective, a purple flare would be sent up. That would mean the Treasury Team would abort it’s go at the treasury and try to link up with the Rescue Team to extract the sirens and escape. Wavecrest didn’t like this idea, but agreed that it’d be better to fall back and try to figure out another way to get to the treasury. However if either team had accomplished it’s objective before being discovered, a green flare would go up instead. In that case things depended on which team had managed their goal. If it was the Treasury Team, they’d grab whatever they could and try to lure as many sahuagin away from the city as possible to make it easier for the Rescue Team to still get to the sirens. And if it was the Rescue team that had succeeded first, they were to book it out of the city ASAP and try to get back to the surface, and hopefully the sahuagin would be too busy with that to notice the Treasury Team, which could finish it’s own objective.
Of course if escape proved unlikely, then either team’s job then was to link up with the other. Starlight and Twilight would use white flares to mark their locations to each other in that case. Yes, that’d run the risk of the sahuagin knowing where the teams were, but they’d stand a better chance collectively escaping at that point, with Twilight and Starlight both figuring that as an emergency measure they could try a group teleport spell once both teams linked up.
Fortunately the aquatic adaptation spell that Wavecrest had used on them accounted for things like rapid decompression, and would keep their bodies from... well, exploding if they ended up having to use the teleport option.
From there it was a matter of deciding infiltration routes, and it was agreed upon that each team would try to enter the city from opposite sides. The palace was at the center point of the city, so for the Treasury Team the angle of approach didn’t matter, they had the same amount of ground to cover either way. As for the Rescue Team, Starlight ventured the idea that it’d be better to enter through the most densely packed area with the most buildings, both for extra cover, and because if she was going to hold prisoners anywhere it’d be the place with the most options to do so. Assuming they weren’t in the palace, of course, but once they caught a sahuagin that would get clarified, hopefully.
In the unlikely event that everything went off without a hitch and both teams secured their objectives with no issues, it was agreed up to meet at the same ridge they’d observed the city over and escape back out through the kelp forest, using the eel illusion as necessary.
So, with the basic plan in place, both groups had wished one another luck and moved off, the Treasury Team along the northwest ridge of the valley, and the Rescue Team directly east, where the thickest portion of residential buildings was located.
Twilight did her best to keep her nerves in check and focus on her surroundings while her group slinked along the valley’s outer ridge. Wavecrest was taking care of keeping up her spell to disrupt heat vision and sonar, but as they’d already learned, that wouldn’t work so well up close, or if the sahuagin kept any more of those eels on patrol in the city.
“Don’t ferget ‘bout the sharks,” Applejack reminded them, “Bet the city is lousy wit them buggers.”
“A likely thing, yes,” said Wavecrest, “We must spot them before they spot us, so we can avoid getting close.”
“I say, what’s that spot over there with those unusual domes?” asked Seaspray, making a vague gesture towards an area partway into the city’s northern sector. Twilight could just make out what he meant, a cluster of about twenty or so bulbous domes that were arranged in two circles around one another. What was odd about them was that instead of being made of solid stone or coral, like much of the rest of the city, these domes looked more translucent, like large portions of them were made of glass or crystal, with a framework of coral worked through it like wire on a chain-link fence.
“Ah, that would be the zoo,” Wavecrest said, to which Rarity balked slightly and gave the seapony a look.
“A zoo?”
Wavecrest stared back at her, “Do you not have zoos on land?”
“We do, I just... never imagined seaponies would have them, for some reason,” Rarity admitted, then with a curious look asked, “What did they keep in an underwater zoo?”
“The same as you surface races would, I suspect. Rare animals and unusual species, things a common citizen of Aqualania might not be able to see in their normal lives.”
At Wavecrest’s words, Applejack gave the distant buildings an ominous frown, “Yer sayin’, like, same as we might put a tiger in a zoo, them Aqualanians had their own version of a tiger... but an underwater tiger?”
“Seabeasts of all varieties and sizes,” Wavecrest said, “The legends even speak of the zoo’s greatest attraction, a magnificent Kraken, caught and tamed by Princess Scylla herself. It was supposedly kept in the largest dome, there, in the middle.”
“You, uh, mean the one with a great big ol’ hole in the roof?” said Applejack, and Wavecrest nodded. At this, Applejack gave a hefty sigh, “Aw horseapples.”
“Oh don’t worry so much, Applejack,” said Rarity, “I’m sure if something as large as this ‘Kraken’ were still around we’d see it coming miles off. A beast that large couldn’t hide in the city...” she glanced at Wavecrest, “Correct?”
“Probably,” Wavecrest said, which didn’t appear to assuage concerns, but by then she’d halted the group in front of a broken portion of the valley slope. Here, the terrain turned into a more broken, rocky set of outcrops and uneven fissures, which caught Twilight’s eye as she examined the odd terrain. She spotted several openings in the valley wall.
“Are these caves?”
“Not quite. From the maps my mentor left behind, these are old mine entrances. Unfortunately none of the mine tunnels lead into the city, otherwise I’d recommend we use them, but the weaker valley walls on this side have collapsed over time and give us some cover we can use to approach the city from,” Wavecrest explained.
“Smart move,” said Flash, his eyes fixed on the edge of the city, a few hundred yards away, “But the north side of the city looks pretty sparse compared to the south. Once we’re there, there’s not a lot of cover, but a lot of big buildings separated by open space. What’s up with that?”
“This is the noble quarter,” Wavecrest said, “Those are villas and mansions, or were long ago. The open space won’t be a problem as long as we keep distance from any patrols, and with fewer streets to navigate, we can make our way to the palace all the faster.”
“And gotta go by that zoo, too, I’m noticin’,” said Applejack, “Them nobles must’ve liked vistin’ there ta set up their homes right around it.”
“Chances are anything that was kept in the zoo is long since gone,” Rarity said, but Twilight held up a hoof.
“Actually, there’s a strong chance any species kept there wouldn’t be able to return to their natural habitats if they already adapted to living conditions here, and in the subsequent years may well have established their own stable populations.”
“Well, crush a mare’s dreams of avoiding any exotic predatory species, why don’t you?” Rarity said, and Flash gave her a reassuring look.
“Don’t worry, my spiritual senses might not be perfect, but I should be able to sense anything that gets too close.”
“No offense, Flash, but ya didn’t sense the eel, or the sahuagin before,” Applejack pointed out, to which Flash’s expression grew self-conscious.
“I know. I’m still sorting out some of the ways magic interferes with my senses, but I think I’m learning to adjust. I’m still a bit weirded out by some of the things I’m not sensing, but the more I get used to the place, the sharper I get. I think I should be able to provide us with a bit of warning, now.”
“We’ll be counting on you, then,” Twilight said, giving him an encouraging smile, to which he returned a grateful nod. She hadn’t forgotten what he’d said earlier, either, and added, “Do you still sense anything off like you did at the battlefield?”
Flash’s face stilled, his eyes flickering briefly towards the city before he closed them in a look of concentration. His voice was steady, but she had gotten good enough at reading him to hear the current of unease he was hiding beneath it, “I don’t know what to tell you, Twilight. I can tell at a glance this whole city is bad news. A lot of death happened here. Back home, this place would be lousy with Hollows, and a serious negative spiritual aura. I’m still not getting any of that.”
He didn’t really want to speak further on it, not because the topic disturbed him, but because he just didn’t have any answers. Ever since he’d come to Equestria he’d realized he’d not seen a single indication of a departed soul, neither Hollow nor Whole. He knew the living beings of this world had souls. He could sense the spirit energy inside those beside him, and certainly knew Sunset Shimmer had a soul as well, so there was no doubting the existence of Equestrian souls. But where they went upon death was a total blank slate as far as Flash could tell. It was unnerving, for a Soul Reaper, but there was little he could do about it except wonder.
Twilight gauged he was eager to shift topics, and given circumstances she didn’t mind that at all, although her own curiosity was burning. She wished she had Celestia around to ask about this. Chances were her ancient alicorn mentor knew far more on the subject. Oh well, she’d just have to survive this adventure and bring it up when she and her friends got home.
“Alright, let’s go,” she said, and following Wavecrest, the group started their descent.
----------
Starlight was breathing heavily by the time her team finished their sprinting swim across the open space between the bottom of the valley ridge edge and the first of the densely packed buildings of Aqualania’s residential district. Sporadic clumps of seaweed and the worn husks of outlying houses provided some cover, which is what they’d used to dash from spot to spot while Starlight and Trixie kept up a pair of invisibility spells. She knew they wouldn’t be nearly as useful as what Wavecrest could do, but it was better than nothing, she figured.
So far nopony had spotted any sahuagin in the city outskirts, but Starlight didn’t doubt the fish people were in there, probably clustered further in near the palace. But just like the canyon entrance to the city valley, she imagined scouts and patrols had to be present. She just had to hope her team could spot them before they themselves got spotted.
At least things were going smoothly so far. Fluttershy was remarkably good at stealth, Starlight was noticing, the pegasus gliding through the water low to the seafloor like a slinking, yellow shadow. Pinkie Pie was thankfully taking the situation seriously, despite standing out like a bright torch with her hot pink fur. Pinkie compensated for this by gathering up some seaweed and wrapping it around herself until she looked like a floating clump of the stuff, to which Starlight felt briefly embarrassed she hadn’t thought of that, and in short order the rest of the team was wearing gathered up seaweed. Not only would it provide extra camouflage, but the cold seaweed would help mask their body heat a little.
The first cluster of residential houses were a mess. Most of them were eroded by centuries of disuse, half buried in sediment. Many of the houses were built up into reef-like clusters, and the streets between them were rubble strewn and curved together in loops, making the place a three dimensional labyrinth that was by no means easy to navigate. Tempest took the lead, pausing at each cross section of broken buildings and using the rubble as cover. She’d carefully look about with her sharp eyes while the rest of the group huddled a few yards back. Once Tempest was certain there was no sign of danger, she’d motion the group forward and they’d swim fast to the next point of cover.
Progress was agonizingly slow this way, but caution was the order of the day. That said, Starlight felt an increasing internal chill that had little to do with her own nerves. The uneven, broken walls of the buildings around them carried unusual noises and twisted the water currents in strange ways. The heat vision of their aquatic adaptation spell seemed to bend just a bit around the edges, as if the dead homes around them repelled even residual heat. Worse, it was impossible at times not to notice the remnants of the vast seapony metropolis’ former occupants. A pair of barely intact skeletons hung halfway out of one dwelling's door as if the couple hadn’t managed to flee outside before something had gotten them. What Starlight assumed to be a storefront was half collapsed with shattered bone fragments laying before it... along with what looked like an age-worn doll made out of carved coral. An entire street end, blocked by a fallen spire’s corpse, was littered by piles of bones so tightly packed Starlight could only wonder how many seaponies died there.
And every now and then she thought she could hear a faint, echoing noise like distant screams, as if the city itself somehow still carried the noises of terror from the day Aqualania fell.
“I-is anypony else starting to really not like being here?” asked Trixie in a faint whisper. The magician mare’s eyes had stayed wide as dinner plates since they’d entered the city, and she kept turning her head about as if expecting something to come rushing out of the shadows at them at any second.
“Nopony forced you to come,” Tempest muttered, “Now keep quiet.”
“I am keeping quiet,” Trixie whispered again, “Hear how quiet I am? This is top notch whispering- AH-!”
They’d rounded a corner, and before them was a flash of monstrously huge teeth, shining pearl white in the darkness. Trixie got out the first note of a high pitched scream before a pink hoof clamped over her mouth. Pinkie Pie had moved faster than a flash, gripping Trixie from behind and muffling the other mare’s startled cry. Trixie flailed about a bit, but Pinkie held firm and said in a hushed tone, “Shhhshhy, we’re in ‘sneak mode’. No alerting the bad guys otherwise we’d have to hide and wait for their search mode to cool down. I didn’t bring any cardboard boxes with me.”
Trixie pointed in front of them, but by then everypony else had seen what had spooked her and had breathed a sigh of relief... partially.
It was the skeletal remains of a shark’s mouth, one about the size of a city bus. It lay propped up by the two halves of the fallen buildings on either side of it, pinning the mouth and its rows of sword-sized teeth up so that in the darkness it looked like the open maw of a living shark. Tempest gave Trixie a hard look, “This is why civilians shouldn’t be part of military operations. Come on, we need to move, in case someone heard her.”
“Uh, guys? I think someone most definitely heard us,” said Rainbow Dash, floating a bit higher than the others as she looked up and to the right, pointing with a finned wing. In that direction Starlight could see distant movement, little dots of heat, perhaps four or five of them. The dots approached fast, and soon enough Starlight could make out the forms of about four sahuagin, one of which rod on the back of a sleek shark, one perhaps twenty feet long.
“Move,” Tempest said in a sharp, commanding whisper, and then shot off at a sprinting swim. The others followed her, with Starlight and Trixie ensuring their invisibility spells were up.
They swam through the remains of one house whose entire top was torn open, and then Tempest turned a sharp left and took them across a spiraling archway between two larger buildings. Starlight could tell Tempest was trying to put the archway between them and the sahuagin patrol, while angling towards the front of one of the nearby spires. This spire was a bit different from the others, with more sharply angled walls, and with windows that struck Starlight as odd but she couldn’t put her hoof on why. They were just swimming too fast for her to get a good look as Tempest led them past a jutting platform that led towards two towering stone doors. The doors were partially open, which was good because they looked so large and heavy Starlight doubted she and her team could open them on their own. The stone had carvings in it as well, but she couldn’t get a good look as the team rushed inside.
As soon as they were inside, Tempest posted up next to the door and focused her eyes outside, watching for if they’d been spotted. This left Starlight and the others to take a quick breather and take stock of their new surroundings.
“Whoaaaa, get a load of this place,” Rainbow Dash whispered. Starlight could only mutely share the sentiment.
The interior of the spire was six sided, with each wall given over to precise angles. Overall Starlight estimated the area was easily a few hundred feet wide and gave the space a cavernous feel. In the three-dimensional thinking of seaponies, the floor was well below the entry door, and the ceiling many hundreds of feet up, leaving the mares floating in a mostly empty space in the center. Countless rows of stone seats lined the walls, enough to fit hundreds of seaponies. The rows were ordered around a single pillar of coral that hung down from above like a spear. Offshoots of coral that grew from this pillar encased what Starlight could only think of as altars, all grown around what appeared to be stone murals and statues. The windows she’d seen from the outside separated the rows of seats by tiers, and she realized what had seemed odd about them was that they were made from what looked like colored crystal, not unlike the stained glass she’d seen in Canterlot’s Palace.
“It’s... pretty,” Fluttershy whispered, floating closer to one of the altars. A number of trinkets lay arranged at the foot of a stone mural, carved with lettering in a language Starlight couldn’t read, but was accompanied by pictures of a surprising level of detail.
She saw what looked like seaponies tending to a field of seaweed, overlooked by a magnificent looking creature who had equine and aquatic features, but was certainly no seapony. This being was much larger, had a longer tail, bigger fins, and...
Was that a gem in the center of it’s chest?
Wait... what am I looking at? Starlight wondered. It couldn’t be a siren, could it?
Fluttershy seemed to be thinking the same thing as she looked back at the others, “Doesn’t this look like Aria or Sonata?”
“No way,” Rainbow Dash said, “Why would a siren be carved on a stone table thing in some seapony... uh, whatever this building is?”
“I don’t think it’s a siren, exactly,” Starlight said, “This one is far too large, compared to the seaponies in the mural. Also the fins are larger, and shaped differently, with longer points. The face is a bit different, too. Even the gem isn’t quite the same. This one is perfectly round, not six sided.”
Really the more she looked at the stone mural’s ancient, worn depiction, the more this “siren” seemed like a more primal ancestor of the race rather than an actual siren. There were enough similarities one could make the comparison, but only in the same way one might draw the same comparison between a house cat and a manticore. Pinkie Pie had swam up higher, looking at more of the murals erected around the altars, her voice still kept low but somehow managing to exclaim with interest, “Oh wowie, all of these are really well made! I always appreciate a good rock carving. Marble practices all the time back home, I bet she’d make a good artist-”
“Will you all keep it down?” Tempest hissed back at them, “Or did you forget about the part where we’re trying to hide?”
Starlight looked to the others, holding up a hoof, “Hold off on the exploring, let’s wait until we know the patrol has passed.”
Having said that, she swam back down to where Tempest was as the others gathered a bit further back. Tempest nodded to her and looked back out the open crack of the door, Starlight joining her as she whispered, “Did they follow us?”
“I don’t see them,” Tempest replied, equally quiet as her eyes searched through the veiled depths. “But they might be taking their time to search building by building. It’s what I’d do in their position.”
“Got a lot of experience with this sort of thing, do you?” Starlight asked, and Tempest cracked a small smirk.
“The Storm King’s army held Abyssinia for a while before we moved on to Mt. Aris. I ran counter insurgence for months against local rebels. I know a thing or two about it, yeah. If these sahuagin are smart, they’ll search this area thoroughly.”
“Then shouldn’t we keep moving?”
Tempest shot her a glance, “We want to capture one of them, don’t we?”
“Ah, good point,” Starlight admitted, chewing her lip in thought. Four sahuagin, plus a decent sized shark seemed like a tough fight for the six of them, at least if they did it out in the open. But with the element of surprise? “As long as we catch them off guard, I think we can take them without causing too much of a stir.”
Tempest smiled her approval, “Got some guts in there, and smarts. Good. Was thinking the same thing; set up an ambush to a spot we lure them too. Hmm... and there they are.”
Starlight concentrated, staring out through the ramshackle collection of crumbling ruins. She saw what Tempest saw, a quartet of heat sources, like blobs of poorly defined white mist. They were swimming in a slow, deliberate pattern through the buildings along the pathway Starlight and the others had fled down, taking their time to look through each empty husk of a house. The closer they got, the more Starlight could make out the details of them, the indistinct fog of their heat resolving into sharper focus to reveal the sahuagin’s scaled limbs, bulbous heads, and wide open mouths of needle teeth. The shark one rode became clearer as well, its triangular head turning left and right almost like a dog sniffing for a trail.
“Do you think they’ll check here?” Starlight asked.
“I can’t think of why they wouldn’t,” Tempest said, turning her gaze back towards the rest of the group, “Alright, there’s plenty of areas to hide in here. We’ll take cover and wait for them to come in. Starlight, Trixie, can you two immobilize them with telekinesis once they’re in?”
Trixie gulped, “I might be able to hold one, but telekinesis is not my forte.”
“I can get the rest,” Starlight said with confidence, “Even the shark.”
“Can you do that and pull off your mind control spell?” asked Tempest, to which Starlight had to take a longer moment to think on that one. Doing multiple spells at the same time was, of course, possible, but generally more difficult the more spells you tried to maintain at once. Telekinesis by itself was easy, but holding multiple targets, one of them a twenty foot shark, then trying a thorough mind control spell on at least one of them?
“...I think so. Might give me a bit of a headache, but I believe I can pull it off.”
Tempest searched Starlight’s eyes, as if seeking some confirmation of Starlight’s level of confidence. Apparently finding whatever it was she was looking for, Tempest nodded to herself, “Then that’s what you’ll do. Once you hold them, I’ll swim in and knock out three of them, keeping one conscious for you to mind zap.”
“Uh, what about the rest of us?” Rainbow Dash asked, and Tempest looked at her with a flat glare.
“Stay out of the way. If you see one of the fish heads get free, I suppose you can try to use that flashy sword you decided to take down here, but do you have what it takes to kill one of those creatures?”
Rainbow Dash visibly gulped, glancing at the cutlass she carried in one hoof, mostly ignored until then. “I...”
Tempest shook her head, “Never mind, then. Just stay hidden. We don’t want any of these sahuagin dead here, anyway, because this patrol going missing would raise alarm. Starlight said she can fix up their memories, which is what we’re counting on here. But we can’t afford any of them to escape, either, so if one does break free... just leave the messy, bloody part to me. No point in you peace loving Equestrians getting your precious hooves dirty.”
“H-hey,” said Fluttershy, “I know you don’t really like us, but we can help, and we’ve all fought dangerous monsters before.”
“Yeah, seriously, we’ve taken down everything from dragons to changelings, so we can handle this,” said Rainbow Dash, “We’re just not big on body counts. One of those tuna breaths try to bolt, I’m more than fast enough to catch them, faster than you at any rate. I can conk them unconscious and we can stuff them in a closet or something.”
Tempest sighed, turning to look back out the door, her eyes becoming narrowed slivers, “We don’t have time to argue, anyway. They’re coming this way. Everypony, hide, and... let’s just hope this works.”
Starlight and the others swiftly swam to find hiding spots. Fortunately the central pillar with its numerous, odd altars and murals provided plenty of cover. Starlight ended up behind an altar bearing a sternly carved statue of a barrel chested, male seapony. Or at least Starlight assumed he was a seapony. His features, both face and body, were excessive in their exaggerated details. Overly toned layers of muscles were expertly carved into the stone, and his literally chiseled features seemed almost comically exaggerated with an overly broad chin and shoulders, and next to no neck. He also had a magnificently long, curly beard, with swirls that almost made it look as if it were made of water. Did seapony’s even get facial hair?
Starlight set aside the questions that ran across the curious corridors of her mind and focused upon the doors into the building. Tempest had taken cover too, in the inset lip of the windows just above the doors. They waited in silence, Starlight readying her horn with magic, while others tensed, Rainbow Dash clutching her cutlass between her hooves so tightly she shook.
A few minutes passed, and nothing happened.
Tempest frowned, and Starlight poked her head out enough to give the other unicorn a questioning look. Tempest shrugged, motioned for the other ponies to stay put, then she very carefully swam down a bit so she could peek out from the upper portion of the doors.
Tense seconds stretched by as Starlight felt her blood pounding in her ears, then Tempest’s frown only deepened as she turned and swam up to the group.
“I don’t get it,” she whispered, “They’re out there, they’re even looking at this spire, but they’re not coming closer than the buildings across the way.”
“M-maybe they know we’re in here and they’re waiting for us to come out?” said Fluttershy, but Tempest shook her head.
“If they know we’re in here, they’d have sent one of the others to go fetch another patrol to deal with us. No it’s like they’re... scared.”
“Scared?” Starlight tilted her head, and despite an objecting look from Tempest she swam up to the door and managed a quick peek outside. She could see the sahuagin patrol, floating just above the remains of the residential spire directly across from where the ponies were hiding. The fish people weren’t even looking at the doors, but instead up at the spire itself, at the whole building. And Tempest was right, the way the sahuagin were shrinking back slightly and not looking right at the building made it seem like they were scared of something.
Even as Starlight watched, she saw the creatures exchange a few gurgling words, the one on the shark making a few sharp gestures and pointing northward, and with what to her looked like a collective look of relief the patrol relaxed and started to swim off north, apparently ending their search.
Starlight floated back, shaking her head, “They just... left.”
“Huh? Why’d they do that?” Rainbow Dash said, “And I was just working myself up for some action, too.”
“Who cares?” said Trixie, “Isn’t it better they just leave so we can keep going without risking our necks?”
“We still need to capture one, remember?” Tempest said, “Although it’ll be easier to do that if we can find one alone, or at least find a smaller group to ambush. But I don’t get it, why didn’t they come in here?”
“Do you think there’s some kind of spooky monster hiding in here?” suggested Pinkie Pie, and Starlight shook her head.
“If something was living in here it’d have already attacked us. I don’t know why they were scared of this place, but...” she glanced back at all the murals and statues, extending up the tall length of the central pillar. Her mind started churning, trying to sort it all out, “I think we shouldn’t stay here long, either.”
In short order the group gathered itself and quietly slipped out of the spire’s main doors, careful and cautious now that they knew what to expect from the sahuagin patrols. As they did so, none of them saw the way the water currents inside the building they just left started to stir, as if by the passage of unseen forces.
----------
Flash Sentry shivered. Nearby, hiding behind a cracked ceramic pot twice as tall as she was, Twilight looked back at him with that cute, worried scrunch of her muzzle. “What is it, Flash?”
He paused before answering, taking a second to focus with his spiritual senses, stretching them out as far as he could. Captain Celestia had always taught him that his senses were as much a factor of intuition as it was exact technique. A Soul Reaper could sometimes feel things at the edge of their senses without needing a direct flare of spiritual pressure. And he had sensed something, if only for a brief moment, at the very limit of his sensory range. He wasn’t sure what it was, and he couldn’t feel it now... but it had been there.
“I don’t know,” he admitted with a boyish shrug, “It might be nothing. This place is making me jumpy.”
“Ya ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie,” Applejack said, looking askance at what had once probably been a dining table made out of carved stone. The remains of ancient plates and cutlery still remained on the table, as if a dinner had been laid out before the residents of the mansion the group was currently swimming through had needed to leave in a hurry. “Ain’t nothin’ ‘bout this city feels right.”
“It does have something of a haunted air about it, but that’s hardly surprising, considering the history of what happened,” Rarity said, careful to avoid the sharper edges of a coral growth that blocked half of the opening that had been torn out of one of the mansion’s walls.
They group had been moving from mansion to mansion to use as cover, but this was the last one between them and the large cluster of domes that was the Aqualania Royal Zoo. Wavecrest had said that according to her mentor’s notes and maps, once they were past the zoo, they’d be in a small administration district that’d lead right to the north side of the palace. It was the fastest way to their overall destination. They just had to keep an eye out for any patrols, sentries... and any wild underwater fauna that had once called the zoo home.
“I can only imagine the horror of the fighting that took place in the city itself,” said Admiral Seaspray, who’d taken up a watch position near a hole in the roof, the ragged edges of which gave Twilight the spine tingling impression that the hole had been made by teeth. Seaspray’s avian features maintained a sharply vigilant gaze outward even as he spoke gravely, “Especially in underwater combat, where one can’t even have proper wall defenses, what with enemies being able to swim right over them. A city under the sea can’t withstand a conventional siege, and is open to a foe charging straight in.”
“It is why you see so many spires here,” said Wavecrest, who floated near Twilight, “The top floors of many served as barracks, allowing the city’s defenders to deploy a protective screen in all directions.”
“If I may ask, why haven’t seaponies ever built another city like this?” inquired Rarity, “It must have been wondrous in it’s day, and misfortunes of war aside, I’m not sure why you don’t build anew elsewhere.”
Rarity flinched slightly as Wavecrest looked at her with a moment of darkened eyes and thunderous visage, but the seapony took control of herself with a deep breath and answered, “You don’t understand. We were broken by Aqualania’s loss. Much of the seapony population resided here, and was decimated by the final battle of the war. What remains... we’ve become scattered tribes, focused on survival.”
Her voice grew hard, “We no longer dream of better things, of building wonders or living in great cities. For many, the tribe and our hunting grounds are all that matter, and the deep mistrust created by Charybdis and Scylla’s war has kept few tribes from working together for more than single instances of necessity. We lack the unifying power that keeps you land ponies together.”
“You mean harmony?” asked Twilight.
“If that is how you see it,” Wavecrest said, “Be it by ‘harmony’ or some other means, Equestrians see themselves as a single whole. A power keeps that unity intact. What you name that power, how you perceive it, is a personal matter. Not unlike my relationship with the spirits of the ocean, what one might simply call ‘magic’, I view as spiritual a connection to something greater than myself. A remembrance and reverence for what once was.”
“Come again?” said Applejack, scratching at her head. Wavecrest nodded to something behind the farmer, and Applejack turned around. On the wall behind Applejack was something Twilight had noticed when they’d first entered the ruined mansion, but hadn’t really looked at. It was a short fresco carved into the wall, with a pair of coral carvings designed to hold small crystals that may at one time glowed with light, but were long since dead and dark. Between the crystal holders the back of the carved space held a worn but still life-like chiseling of an unusual looking being. It looked a bit like a seapony, but had physical characteristics that reminded Twilight more of a whale than a fish, with horizontal oriented fins on a large tail. The carving depicted a female, or at least Twilight thought the individual’s features were feminine, with a head of actual hair rather than a head fine, with the hair falling in a fan around her head that gave an impression of radiance. Strangely, in this being's forehooves, she held a spherical object, perhaps some kind of crystal orb?
“Huh, she’s kinda pretty, whoever she is,” said Applejack, “Ain’t shabby at all on the carvin’ detail, neither.”
“She is Domare, Lady Sea. Once worshiped as the mother of all seaponies,” Wavecrest said with equal traces of respect, longing, and sadness staining her voice, “What you’re looking at is a shrine to her, which tells me this mansion was probably owned by a noble who still held some genuine belief. Not all of them did, in the last days of Aqualania.”
This only seemed to confuse the ponies in the gathering more as Twilight floated forward to examine the shrine, while Rarity and Applejack looked at Wavecrest oddly.
“Worshiped? As in the seaponies treated this Domare individual like some kind of royalty?” Rarity asked, but Wavecrest just let out a bitter chuckle at this.
“Royalty... no, you don’t grasp what I mean. To the seaponies, Domare was a goddess. A higher being. One whom they prayed to, among several other deities that they believed in.”
“Wait, hold up a sec, ya tryin’ ta say that treated this big ol’ whalemare like somethin’ that weren’t even... mortal?” Applejack looked utterly baffled, and by now Flash had taken note of how strange the ponies were taking this and he raised a hoof.
“Am I missing something here? Is it that surprising that a culture would have a pantheon of gods to pray to? I mean, that happened a lot back home.”
“Yes, Flash, but it’s entirely uncommon in Equestria,” said Twilight, carefully examining the wall carving of Domare, and noting some of the similarities between the distinct radiance of the seapony ‘goddess’ and some of the characteristics she’d seen in, well, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Similar exaggerated features of beauty, giant flowing mane, emphasis on being tall and regal. She wondered if there was a connection or if such features were considered deific in general. She looked back at Flash, who still wore a questioning look on his face.
“You see, when the Princesses were first asked to rule us by the council formed by the royal families of the three pony tribes, there was a propensity at first for ponies to worship Celestia and Luna as... well, goddesses. But they put a stop to that very quickly, and have done nothing but discourage any kind of such worship ever since. In the modern day, Equestria lacks any central religious belief system, although I’ve studied other cultures and know that deity worship is still practiced in other cultures, at least a little.”
“Huh,” Flash thoughtfully crossed his arms, “Did your Celestia and Luna just not like the attention or something?”
“Personally I don’t see how it matters,” said Rarity, “Our Princesses have always been there for us, and we do tend to treat them with a fair bit of reverence.”
“But you don’t literally pray to them, or build shrines to them,” Flash pointed out, and Rarity laughed lightly.
“Not openly, but I don’t doubt a few very robust admirers of the Princesses have their own version of ‘shrines’. You’d be surprised how much a good photo of Celestia or Luna goes for in the right circles.”
Wavecrest let out an explosive sigh, “Typical of ponies. You have goddesses walking among you and you treat them like celebrities instead of divine beings.”
“Hey now, I’m all for given’ the Princesses proper respect, but they ain’t ever had heads big enough ta act like they’re above us,'' Applejack said, then nodding towards Twilight, “An’ what ‘bout Twilight here? She’s an’ alicorn, but she’s still got a humble heart, an’ best friend aside I wouldn’t exactly call her a ‘divine being’.”
“Thanks Applejack... I think,” said Twilight before focusing on Wavecrest, “Are you trying to suggest that deities are real, and that the Princesses of Equestria are connected to them?”
“I am not suggesting anything,” Wavecrest said, “The truth is often a matter of perspective. To one such as I, Domare may well be real, and I can feel traces of her will in the ocean around me, and the very act of using my magic is, in part, a prayer to her. But from your perspective, perhaps I’m just another magic user, who paints her magic in the colors of belief. Perhaps belief itself is a form of power. Regardless, we’ve spent enough time on this. We must move on.”
“Ain’t no argument from me on that,” said Applejack, “Seaspray, the coast look clear ta you?”
“It is,” said Seaspray, “And yes, if you ladies are done with your theological discussion, we still have a lot of ground to cover.”
Despite the lack of cover between the mansions, overgrowths of seaweed and offshoots of the kelp forest still made for something to help obscure their movements. Twilight had been trying to study the particulars of what Wavecrest was doing to create her spell that dampened sound and heat, and thought she might be able to try replicating it if she was in a more calm and controlled environment. Probably not best to try spells for the first time in a life or death situation, although it had occurred to her she might not have a choice in regards to some spells.
One factor of the underwater city was that gates and fences were essentially non-existent, so even something like the zoo was devoid of any obvious warding barrier around it. The domes themselves were the barrier for what had once lay within, and the arrangement of them was such that no matter what approach one made to the area one would pass by a small, squat tower that Twilight guessed must have been some sort of admittance building.
The domes themselves were more intact than much of the rest of the city, with the obvious exception of the truly monumental central dome, the roof of which was smashed open like a petrified egg. To Twilight it looked as if it had been broken open from the outside, rather than inside. Wavecrest had said the zoo had kept a Kraken in there, of all things, which just tantalized her curiosity. Kraken were creatures spoken of in the legends of Equestrian sailors as far back as ponies had fared across the seas, and to her knowledge there’d never been a confirmed sighting, just stories. She didn’t doubt huge underwater animals existed, after all she’d seen countless diverse creatures of fantastical nature and stature, but Kraken were a thing of myth even by Equestrian standards.
Her eyes were so locked on the enormous central dome she barely noticed it when Flash abruptly swam in front of her, drawing his Zanpaktou with a tad awkwardly with a forehoof. He’d gotten used to using the surprisingly dexterous hooves of a pony to wield his sword, but the added friction of water was adding a whole new element to make things more difficult. Twilight blinked in surprise, not sure what had caused him to act, but then she noticed that there was movement coming from either side of the group.
The team had swam between two of the smaller domes of the zoo’s outer ring, domes which had suffered their own damage during Aqualania’s fall. While mostly intact, several portions of wall had been broken open or gouged apart, with bits of debris laying in shards along the swimming path between the domes. The interior of the domes could not clearly be seen, but something moved within, and the ponies circled up in a defensive posture as something started to emerge.
Chitinous, broad bodies were carried on thick, pointed legs. Black eyes atop waving stalks swayed towards the ponies, while strong arms ending in sharp, curved pincers raised with hostile intent. Each beast outsized a pony by three or four times over, and crawling out of the does that rose to either side of the party, Twilight counted at least ten of them that were scuttling out to surround her and her allies.
“Crabs,” Rarity muttered, “I am not a fan of crabs.”
----------
His eyes were bulging white orbs, able to take even the tiniest scrap of light and use it to see even what was mostly a realm of undiluted darkness. It was eyes like this that made his race, the sahuagin, naturally flinch from brighter sources of light, but Morgawr had long torn such weakness out of his heart. One could not serve the Deep Mistress for long if one was afraid of a little pain. So it was that the bright flares of magical light, the sacred ruby light of the Mistress’ holy magic, performed by her ordained shamans, didn’t bother Morgawr as he observed the ritual.
The palace square was bathed in the bright crimson of sacrifice, the shamans cavorting about the ritual orb with arms cut open to let their blood weep into the waters. They had wanted a sacrifice or two for the ritual fueling, but Morgawr had squashed the notion flat. The shaman’s blood would suffice, and he’d not waste time sending a hunting party to seek any of the soft kin to fuel the shaman’s spells. Wasteful fools, in Morgawr’s opinion. The soft kin made better workers, and meat in times of salvation, than as simple fuel. Only the Mistress had the right to feed her divine might in such a manner, although he supposed the shamans would tell him their spells were no less divine, echoes of the Mistress’ miracles.
No matter, as long as they did the job. The orb, a thing of dull gray that was suspended from a stone arch across the palace square by a length of treated chain, pulsed with another flash of red. It absorbed the shamans’ blood sacrifice and spun in place, harshly carved sigils on it’s length slowly filling with ever brighter emanations.
But still too slowly.
“You take too long,” Morgawr gurgled deeply, the hands of his thickly muscled arm gripping his massive trident tightly.
One shaman turned a heavily tattooed face, his bulbous nose pierced by a ring of bone, and waving his curved sacrificial knife, groused back, “Great Morgawr, the Eye of the Abyss is not so easily opened by blood not from the heart of the recently sacrificed. If you’d but let us take from the soft kin-”
“There is less time for that than there is for you fools to do this,” he replied curtly, “Perhaps one of you should offer themselves to the cause of our Deep Mistress? A fresh heart can come from anywhere, even a shaman...”
The shaman shuddered, but did not break Morgawr’s gaze, “Unnecessary. Allow this humble priest to inquire, what haste quickens your temper? We have our prize, we are in the heart of our Mistress’ conquest. Aside from embracing the dark depths of our home all the sooner, why do we rush the ritual so?”
“Hmph, our Mistress’ conquest? You shaman do not understand,” Morgawr spat, “We should not spend longer in this place than is needed. Even if that were not the case, I have no intention of waiting here, in case those surfacers have chosen the path of pursuit.”
“You fear them?” the shaman asked incredulously, and was left gurgling in fear as Morgawr shot forward with the languid speed of a lifelong ocean predator. A clawed, webbed hand gripped the shaman’s throat and pinned him to the orb, which was itself twice the shaman’s size. Blood seeped out of the sides of the shaman’s neck as Morgawr’s claws pierced into it, and the orb glowed brighter for the taste of blood.
“I fear nothing, save our Deep Mistress’ displeasure,” he stated firmly, “But only a fool treats a foe of any ilk as if they are no threat. The surfacers may be weak, but even the weak can grasp power, and they may have sought aid from the soft kin. Soft kin who, despite our best efforts, remain in control of the brighter oceans. And do not treat this grave of the soft kin’s old city lightly. It was once our Deep Mistress’ home as well, and for all your shamantic cavorting, you have not mastered the spirits of this place.”
He released the shaman, and with a growl commanded both him and his cohorts to resume their ritual. They did so without complaint, even the one Morgawr had just nearly choked to death. As he swam back he saw one of his warband leaders swimming swiftly across the square from the line of tunnels that led to the palace’s front gates. This sahuagin, a younger male of some promising talent named Tragmiv, stopped short in front of Morgawr.
“What is it?” Morgawr asked, immediately picking up on Tragmiv’s tension, which could be seen all the way in the stiffness of spine fins.
“It is the sentries at the old canyon road,” Tragmiv said, “They reported the strangest thing. A great eel, lacking a rider, passed their way not long ago.”
“Is that so? Perhaps one of our scouts met his end to a hungry predator, and his eel avenged him?” Morgawr said, “Why is this concerning?”
“Because the sentries said the eel lacked any of our markings as well.”
“A wild one...?” Morgawr said, then scratched the bridge of his flat nose, “We hunted them until they migrated out of the mountains, save the ones we kept as mounts. It’d be strange for a wild one to appear now, although not impossible.”
“Not impossible, Great Morgawr, but I thought it strange enough to report,” Tragmiv said, “And there is more. My patrols on the south of the city keep reporting disturbances.”
This caused Morgawr to go still. This was not his first time leading warbands through Aqualania. He knew what ‘disturbances’ meant. “Then I pray to the Deep Mistress that our shamans hurry their work. I’d rather not spend more than another day here if the city’s shadows are already stirring. Pulls our patrols back to the palace, and recall our sentries and scouts to the spires just encircling the palace. I want us ready to leave the moment the ritual is complete.”
“It shall be done. What of our prisoners?”
“They are safe where they are for now, but double their guard. I don’t want them causing any trouble when it comes time to move them.”
----------
The patrol had returned to the top of one of the spires that lay deeper inside the city. Starlight and Tempest surveyed it from the remains of another spire, broken in half with it’s upper portion laying halfway speared through a cluster of residential buildings. By their count the top of the spire the patrol had moved into contained somewhere around twenty sahuagin, along with half a dozen more of their pet sharks. When one patrol returned, another would be sent out, and it appeared as if at least two patrols ran at a time, one moving clockwise around the south end of the city, and another counter-clockwise to the north.
Rainbow Dash came swimming up from the gutted innards of the destroyed spire, joining Starlight and Tempest to whisper, “Just finished checking the bottom floor. We’re clear on our end, but that spire has guards floating around out front, but only two of them.”
“They must be short hooved, or handed in their case,” Tempest said, “Trying to patrol a place this big, plus the scouts further out, with the numbers I saw back at Mt. Aris, these guys have stretched themselves thin.”
“Still enough here to cause a problem for us,” Starlight commented, “We can’t swim fast enough to get ahead of a patrol. We need to know their route ahead of time to have a good shot at ambushing them.”
“On the other hoof, if they’re only watching the ground floor of that spire with a few guards...” Tempest said, and Starlight nodded.
“That’s our best shot. What do you think, Dash? You’ve gotten used to the water to pull off that speed you’re known for?”
Dash puffed out her chest a bit, “Might not be Sonic Rainbooming anything down here, but I can still pull off some moves. What are you thinking, Starlight?”
“Okay,” Starlight said, gesturing for Tempest and Rainbow Dash to lean in, “Here’s the plan-”
----------
Ulgriv was bored and uneasy at the same time. Among the youngest of his warband, this was his first time to the bones of Aqualania, the Deep Mistress’ birthplace. In some ways, it was considered sacred ground, since it was where the sahuagin’s savior originated from. Yet it was also rumored to be a cursed and haunted place, where the souls of the deranged soft kin who sided with the Betrayer had made their final stand, and died screaming against the Deep Mistress’ mighty magic. He’d heard numerous tales of warriors who got separated from their patrols and were never seen again, or were enticed away from their posts by strange visions that drew them to their deaths amid the darkened ruins of this once great city.
He was certainly intimidated by it. Even in its ancient shambles and decayed remains, the city of Aqualania dwarfed any settlement of the Abyss, even Rift Mouth itself. It seemed to confirm all the stories passed down about the hubris and selfishly greedy nature of the soft kin, the “seaponies”. How could they have had so much, yet let it crumble into such a vast and dead thing, like the bloated corpse of a whale? While Ulgriv’s people had no choice but to struggle to survive the Abyss, the soft kin had reaped the bounty of the upper oceans, yet they still lost it.
That was why it was only right that the sahuagin would soon take their place in these gentler, more bountiful waters. Just as soon as the Deep Mistress’ great designs were complete... whatever they were. Truly as nothing more than a young warrior just old enough to go on his first mission, Ulgriv didn’t exactly know what the Deep Mistress’ plans were, only that she was wise and powerful, a worker of miracles who had chosen the sahuagin over her own kin after they had rejected her grace. Even thinking that he felt a compulsion to touch the small token around his neck, a small piece of octopus tentacle wrapped around a stone carving of an eye as he whispered a prayer to the Deep Mistress.
“Alert, youngling,” said Ulgriv’s fellow warrior, Rigash, “Something’s out there!”
Ulgriv nearly jumped out of his scales at the other young warrior’s shout and gripped his trident, looking about at the multitude of empty ruins that surrounded the base of the guard spire he and Rigash were guarding. He saw nothing and heard Rigash’s laughing gurgle. Ulgriv’s gills puffed in embarrassment as he turned to glare at his companions, who was only a year older than Ulgriv was.
“Your joke is as humorous as the excrement of a dead squid, Rigash. And do not call me youngling. You’re not that much older than I.”
“Bah, you’re practically fresh from the egg, the way you gawk at everything and touch your prayer amulet every time your mind wanders. As if the Deep Mistress is going to listen to prayers from the likes of us. She has shamans for that.”
Ulgriv felt heat in his chest, “The Deep Mistress cares for all of us and hears every prayer. She shall save the souls of the faithful, and punish those who lack belief.”
“You see, that is why I call you youngling. You still listen to the chants the hatchery crones filled your head with. Oh, the Mistress is powerful, yes, I don’t doubt that. I have faith in what she does for our race. But I’ve never seen her power save any other than her shamans and chosen champions. No name warriors like us do not factor into her thinking, prayer or not.”
Rigash’s words irritated Ulgriv, but he didn’t waste time arguing the point further. True, the Deep Mistress only granted her power to the shamans and a few select warriors who became her ‘champions’. The leader of this very collection of warbands, Morgawr, was such a ‘champion’. Ulgriv had seen the mighty, muscular warrior rip one of the most deadly sea predators, the killer whales, apart with his bare claws when fueled by the Deep Mistress’ potent gifts. Even a doubter such as Rigash couldn’t deny the real power the Deep Mistress granted. But Ulgriv found Rigash’s lack of faith disturbing.
“Huh, what’s that?” Rigash said, and Ulgriv growled this time.
“I will not fall for your trickery again.”
“No, I’m serious this time you fool, I just saw something move out there. Something glowing.”
Glowing? Light sources weren’t precisely common underwater, so Ulgriv found himself glancing where Rigash was pointing with his trident. There was a stretch of sand covered roadway and rubble in front of the entrance to the spire they were guarding, and beyond that a height of piled stone rubble from the ruins of a housing block that had been destroyed by the falling of a neighboring spire. Inside that mass of tangled building, Ulgriv could see a faint, flickering light. His large, pale eyes hurt at even that tiny bit of light, having so rarely seen it. His blood chilled at the sight. The rumors of the city’s long dead spirits spoke of such lights dancing in the darkness to lure warriors to their doom.
“W-we should go report this,” Ulgriv said, but Rigash gave him a scornful look.
“Report what, fool? That we saw ghost lights? We’d be laughed at as cowards jumping at nothing. No, we must see what that is first. Come on.”
“What? But, we shouldn’t abandon our post!” Ulgriv said as Rigash began to swim towards the light. Was he mad!? What if it was an angry spirit!?
“Hmph, we’re not abandoning our post, we’re investigating something right next to it. Now are you coming, or are you going to float there like a lump of fish droppings and stroke your prayer amulet, hmm?”
Ulgriv’s throat quivered with rage, but he kept his calm and swam after Rigash. He thought it irresponsible to leave their post by the spire’s gate, but it’d be even more irresponsible to let Rigash go swimming off by himself. What would Ulgriv tell their warband leader if Rigash went missing? Ulgriv would never be able to bear the shame, and he might never be allowed to leave the Abyss on another expedition again!
The light had vanished by the time he and Rigash reached the ruins of the residential block, but as they pair of sahuagin glanced about, Ulgriv spotted it again, flickering deeper inside the skeletal ruins in front of them. Gathering his courage, he swam after it, holding his spear in tight, webbed fists.
He heard Rigash behind him, “It might be a jellyfish. They glow, sometimes, and wander into the city every now and again. Or it might be-”
“...Might be what?” Ulgriv asked, and when Rigash didn’t answer he paused and turned around. Behind him Rigash was nowhere to be seen. There was just the empty interior of the ruin they’d entered.
“Rigash? R-Rigash!?”
Ulgriv instinctively swam up against a nearby wall, trident lowered before him as he looked around. Suddenly the ruin interior felt even more claustrophobic, with every broken pillar or archway looking ominous as he slowly started to make his way back towards the front. He really needed to get back to the spire to report this, shame be damned!
He barely saw it coming. A streak of blinding blue.
He was hit in the side, the trident he carried knocked clean from his hands as he was carried by something moving with tremendous speed and force. He tried to gather his wits but he could only flail with his claws at whatever was holding him. He thought maybe he hit something soft and warm before he was slammed into a wall so hard his head went blank for a second.
By the time Ulgriv gathered his wits, he found he couldn’t move. Something was holding him in place. He tried to call for help, but even his mouth was clamped shut by this mysterious force. Once his vision cleared he saw he’d been carried into some sort of central chamber, perhaps the communal center of the residential block. Rigash was next to him, unconscious, but held in place by a field of strange blue light. Magic?
Teal light was holding Ulgriv in place, pinning him to the wall of a pillar in the center of the communal area. He looked at his captors and was flabbergasted to see a collection of bright, colorful soft kin! Seaponies!? Only... they looked a tad odd even for soft kin, as if their fins and scales weren’t quite right.
A pink one, so painfully pink that her brightness near hurt Ulgriv’s eyes, was swimming in a circle around him, chattering excitedly in a language he didn’t understand. It certainly wasn’t the seapony tongue. He knew that. Whatever this pink menace was spouting sounded like utter gibberish.
Another, soft yellow seapony floated in concern near a pale blue one with fins of dizzying prismatic colors. The blue one had a small wound on her arm, and Ulgriv realized that must have come from him as he’d struggled. So it was the blue one that had caught him and Rigash so quickly!? Such speed! He doubted even the swiftest shark could match it. The yellow one was checking the blue one’s injury. Meanwhile three others clustered nearby, watching Ulgriv and Rigash.
Now he knew these couldn’t be seaponies. The soft kin didn’t have horns, let alone horns that glowed! One was light blue, like the fast one, but wore a very silly looking hat. Another, a very light pink or purple, it was hard to tell, was the source of the magic holding Ulgriv in place. The third one, a much darker purple with a broken horn and a frightening expression, left Ulgriv feeling nervous as she loomed over him.
That one spoke to the one holding him in a commanding tone, like that of a warband leader. She kept a harpoon pointed at his chest and looked quite willing to use it. He didn’t understand her words, but they sounded like orders, and the lighter colored unicorn gave a nod before her horn lit up with even more magical aura. Suddenly Ulgriv found a strange sensation come over his head, like a tickling behind his skull. The moment this occurred, he heard the seapony who’d cast the spell speak, but he found himself abruptly able to understand her words!
“Alright Tempest, he should be able to understand us now. The translation spell will work for a couple of hours.”
“Good, can you control his mind at the same time?”
“Should be able to. Multicasting is something I’ve practiced a lot back at Twilight’s castle.”
Overcoming his stupefied state, Ulgriv struggled against the magic holding him in place and sputtered, “Who are you intruders!? What are you going to do with me?”
The dark purple seapony floated a little closer to him, the point of her harpoon raising until it caressed his throat with a dangerous lightness. Her eyes held no trace of warmth, and Ulgriv found himself suddenly wishing that perhaps it had just been a mere ghost or spirit he and Rigash had chased.
“It’s not you who’s going to be asking questions, friend. You’re going to be answering them.”
“I will not,” Ulgriv said, past his fear. If he was to die, he at least would not do so as a coward or betrayer of his people.
“Didn’t say we were giving you a choice,” said the purple one, “Starlight, you’re up.”
The one called Starlight looked at him and gave a strangely apologetic shrug as her horn grew even brighter, “Sorry about this, but if it’s any consolation, you’re not going to remember a thing.”
Before he could respond, a bright teal light shot from her horn and into his eyes, wiping out his vision and his thoughts.
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Well, that was something.
Those kind of chapters definitly aren't my type, so it was kinda confusing (not a reproche, i didn't hated it, simply i prefer the more dynamic tone of usual), i really hope than the next chapter will have some big shonen fights.
Does Tempest still have those magic orbs she used in the movie to turn the princesses into statues ?
In fact, does Soul Reaper Tempest have something similar ?
Have to say, its is my belief that the cycle of souls as soul reapers know it only exists within the EG realm. In Equestria how souls work, what happens to them after they die is completely different.
I mean we can consider the crossover story, "Hunters & Hollows" canon in the continuity and they have their own way when it comes to souls.
Which might explain why Soul Reapers, Hollows, and other soul beings couldn't go into Equestria at first. They can only come in now because of how Equestria's magic has harmonized with them. I mean as far as I know EG-Flash Sentry isn't wearing a gigai; but he is as solid as he would be if he's alive. I wonder if he's been configured in such a way where he technically is alive.
Going off tangent, I think Wendigos (Ice Ponies) and Umbrum (Shadow Ponies) are sister tribes. As the Wendigos could represent an earth pony like tribe. While the Umbrum with their butterfly like wings could represent a pegasus like tribe. Especially since both feed on negative emotions and are repulsed by positive emotions.
I wasn't expecting scenes from the sahuagin's perspective, but it was definitely the right call in both cases.
A very good chapter. I was starting to feel chills while reading thinking about what else could be down there with them besides the sahuagin. I can't wait to see what there might be.
So, does Tempest still have her orbs she used in the original movie ?
Seabeard the Swirly
I might be the only one but It's really bothering me that Trixie isn't speaking in the 3rd person. I don't know, it just doesn't feel like Trixie if she's not doing that. The Great and Stealthy Trixie must prove herself invaluable to the group's success, so that Trixie can stick it to Tempest.
Also Trixie was powerful enough to leave a visible mark on the Ursa Minor with a conjured lightning bolt and handily fought off some of the Nightmare Forces in the comics, holding more than one Sahuagin should be more than doable for her, unless they are much bigger or stronger than the impression I have of them.
I mean she's not a top tier unicorn or anything but I think people forget that was originally portrayed as a pretty powerful magic user, she just wasn't as powerful as she claimed to be. Definitely above average and pretty far from the little to no no talent fraud season 6 onwards chose to portray her as.
10862298
I believe she still has at least one of them.
10863074
so it meant than even against a far superior foe, she isn't exactly defenseless.
Love this!!
if Daring doo was a 19th century or 20th century author when alive while Ditzy is a thousands of years (close age to Celestia and Luna) how can Daring be Ditzy cousin ?
10866460
Not cousins in the direct sense, but because the Do and Doo families are blood relations with the Do's being a branch family of the Doo's, so its "cousin" in a more loose sense of the term.
10866468
so like what ? She had the name when she was alive, no ? how does it work with being a born from a noble soul reaper family ?
In fact, is Ditzy the founder of her house or a born Soul Reaper ?
10866490
So how it works is that the nobility in Soul Society don't always play by the rules they're supposed to, and have some leeway in borking the system a bit. Not every noble family does this, notably Hurricane and Platinum's families tend to stick to the rules, but the Doo family and Blood (Blueblood's) family trend towards doing things their own way. This includes bending the rules when it comes to reincarnation. Normally when a soul "dies" and gets reborn in the human world, that's supposed to sever ties, so that when the person dies as a human and is reborn again in Soul Society they're not treated as the same person. The Doo's don't outright break this rule, but they do bend the crap out of it by keeping tabs on those of their family who are reborn in the human world, then making arrangements to "adopt" them back into the family once their human lives are over. Since this is done multiple times, it creates a faint resistance to the normal memory loss souls go through when being reborn, so members of these noble families will retain a bit more of themselves even while as humans. While "alive", Daring Do lived as A.K Yearling, but had faint recollections of her past life. Not enough to actually think they were real, but more like dreams of past lives, and she used that as inspiration for becoming an adventurer, and even used the name from the dreams of her past lives "Daring Do" as an alias and a character for the book she wrote about her adventures. After dying, she was taken back in by the Do family and brought back up to speed on her past. This isn't really the norm at all, but the noble families can get away with more than most can when it comes to bending Soul Society law.
As for Ditzy, she's not the original house founder, or at least I don't recall ever writing anything down like that.
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For Ditzy, it was due to her close age To Celestia and Luna (who are among the founders).
Speaking of noble houses, are Platinum and Hurricane the founders of their houses ? and if not, what are their first names ?
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If i understand, the idea for the Doo and Do is than they do the same thing to souls than was done to Rukia by the Kushiki, except than it's for having been one of them in a past life instead than for being the sister-in-law of the head of the house right ?
Also, does Ditzy still have siblings who are Soul Reapers ?
Vex, about my question referring to the captains reactions to their counterparts , can you answer it (at the page of chapter 60 if possuble, but i wouldn't be upset if you don't).
Speaking of Captains, does Equestria Tempest real name is the same as for the Soul Reaper Tempest ? And where are equestrian Yin and Yang ?
10867654
Might take me a bit on that one, as I've never seriously considered the idea, but I'll do my best to answer the hypothetical when I can. Might be a day or two.
As for your other questions, neither Platinum or Hurricane are founders of their houses, as these families go back before them. I should also note there's more noble families besides the big ones, and at some point I might need to expand on that. At any rate, characters with the naming conventions of MLP tend not to have easily identifiable "first names". I mean sometimes you get those like Pinkie Pie were you could say Pie is the family name and Pinkie is the first name, but then clearly that doesn't apply to Rainbow Dash who's parents don't have "Dash" anywhere in their name. As such I kind of play fast and loose with names anyway, so yeah, Hurricane is the head of the Storm family, and chances are previous family members had names in a similar vein. Platinum's name being identical to that of her house is likely hereditary, where each head of the house takes that name, which would mean if Pipsqueak had ever become head of the house he would've done the same. As to what Platinum's name might have been before being head of house, to be honest I hadn't thought much on it, although if following the MLP naming style it would've be metal or mineral related, perhaps something like "Pure" Platinum.
And for Ditzy, she would most likely have siblings, and probably at least one who is a Soul Reaper, although probably none who approach her level of talent.
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Hurricane and Platinum were among the first members, no ? And you said Celestia and Luna were among the founders of the organisation and Ditzy and Discord where describe as their childhood or teenage years friends.
Is it one of the cases where it changed, like the relationship between Chrysalis between her childrens and herself but in a larger scale ?
It make me wonder, how many (except obviously Sweet Cider) of the captains are dead people and not either born Soul Reapers or persons who became Soul Reapers, kinda like Scorpan became one and how Tirek and Gaia became hollows , or in a much closer one, how Sunset became one ?Something like they were demigods,mages (like Sunset) and warriors chosen by Scorpan ?
Celestia and Luna are not completely humans originally, hence their dragon and wolf part, and Starswirl is very old even comparate to the veterans of the organisation, so how many of the captains are actually persons who gradually became soul reapers instead of dead peoples or childrens of ones ?
Scorpan, Tirek and Gaia were gods who became respectively soul reaper and hollows, however it also meant than beings like demigods, nymphs, hybrids part humans parts monsters existed, and gods having monstrous childrens happened too in the mythology, and the events of after the soul queen conjoint was killed was describe as a war, so, monsters and demigods clearly fought too.
Are Celestia and Luna demigods ? Is Starswirl actually someone from this ancient era who recieve the powers of a soul reaper rather than becoming one throught death ?
Since Sunset and Starlight are a thing, it meant than someone can become a Soul Reaper without dying, and since Scorpan was (or is ? It's complicated) a god, he could likely do it in a different way without affecting his powers too badly.
10868224
Hmm, well my mental timeline for events has certainly evolved over the course of the story, so it's possible I started out with the notion of Celestia and Luna being among the founders, but I don't recall where I might have mentioned that. There's definitely some elements of the story I hadn't nailed down in the early days, but the only Soul Reapers I know for sure were part of Soul Society's founding are Scorpan and Starswirl.
I'd say those who became Soul Reapers after death would be Thunderhooves, Daring Do, Amore, Zecora, Starswirl, and Cheese Sandwitch, while the rest were ones who were born as spirit beings; Blueblood, Hurricane, Platinum, Celestia, Luna, and Scorpan.
Demigod doesn't quite fit what they are, but it isn't entirely incorrect either. One of their parents was a Soul Reaper, and one of the others was a member of the Beast Realms, and that's all I can really say on that right now. As for Starswirl, he was a human who lived during that ancient era of gods, and was recruited as a Soul Reaper soon after his death.
10868281
i can't believe than there wasn't any who recieved their powers among the founders like Starlight or Sunset.
10868300
I might be I'm not fully understanding what you mean by your question. At any rate, it's clear at some point I might need to do a side story or segment that actually delves into Soul Society's founding so it's properly laid out.
10868307
what i meant is living persons recieving the powers of developping it due to special powers they already had but without the whole dying thing, like Starlight and Sunset.
10868316
Ah, in that case, Starlight and Sunset would be the only two known ones in the official history, but logically speaking it's entirely possible there were others prior to them, it's just not part of any of Soul Society's accessible historical records.
10868324
it's seem weird than scorpan would had only take dead humans in the first decades/centuries of the organisation.
10868925
you know, i actually wanted to ask if it was a thing of the ones having a grudge against the soul reapers initially.
What do you think would be the reaction of the soul reapers captains and ex captains (so including DItzy, Tempest and Platinum) to meeting their equestrian counterparts ? As i said in a previous part, i think than Blueblood would hate his counterpart to the point of being close to wanting to kill him if not for the trauma of in a sort of way killing himself.
look at my post below who explain my reasonement for it.
10867040
i also wonder what would think Princess Celestia of Soul reaper Blueblood.
In fact Vex, is soul reaper Blueblood the nephew of Soul Reaper Celestia ? Although due to being a far older being, he might be more close in blood.
10868937
Blueblood doesn't seem like the killer type to me. At most he would probably view Prince Blueblood with a mild disdain, and maybe a bit of self loathing as he contemplates if that's how people saw him before his fight with Rarity. I doubt he would dwell on it very much though.
Daring Doo would probably get along fine with her counterpart, I'm sure quite a few of them would. In terms of Soul Reapers, I can't really see anyone getting angry enough to want to kill their counterpart. Except maybe Platinum.
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Since the equestrian one have his defaults in worse without his qualities and strength, he would despise him in my opinion.
I said than i didn't see him wanting to kill his counterpart, i said than he would want if not for the part of him being his counterpart would meant than he would essentially kill himself, which is creepy.
i am reading again the everfree arc, and now than i think of it, does that meant Pony Filthy rich had been cucked as well ? And if yes, was it for a similar reason ?
10872865
Most likely.
Things tend to line up pretty well between dimensions, I doubt Diamond Tiara's true parentage would be any different.
10873116
Because Fullbriing powers are Hollow based and Hollow reiatsu is literally poisonous to Quincy. So the answer is because they literally can't.
That and even if they could the Quincy view them as little better than Hollows themselves and are too damn proud to rely on power from their hated enemies.
10873193
Uh, didn't remember that part about the hollow reishi and quincy.
you know, i really want to see the quincy show more of that around the girls, because due to the fact than they were mostly around soul society and doing their own thing, their problems with the quincy had kinda been forgot, with the shadowbolts being at worsst neutral to them.
I know than it's can seem weird, but i really want to see the shadowbolts show this disdain toward fullbringers just to got their ass destroyed by the rainbooms.
Also Vex, is there chances of seeing Sunset fight her friends for training ? Like going all out ? Usually due to being friends, protagonists even if they fight together wouldn't go all out unless there is some treason thing, but i really want to see them do it, i especially want to see Sci-twi and Sunset fighting.
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Can't make any promises, but I have had some notions to do some training and sparring sessions with the girls, including some between the girls and their mother's once their old powers are restored.
10872865
Hmm, I'm hesitant to say for 100% certain, but hypothetically it could have happened, with possibly a few twists on the full reasons. Much like in the human world, it could have been because Filthy Rich couldn't father a child, so Spoiled Rich looked for another way. However in Equestria Gladmane and Filthy Rich don't appear to know each other, but perhaps hypothetically Spoiled Rich did know Gladmane from somewhere, and arranged a one night stand with him to have Diamond.
Now that said, I don't necessarily think this needs to be the case. There's sufficient differences between characters and their counterparts between Equestria and the human world that their histories don't need to line up that closely, so it's also entirely within reason to think that Diamond Tiara is Filthy's legitimate child in Equestria. Heck, the idea of Silver Spoon being Gladmane's daughter is entirely a human world thing and doesn't seem to line up with Equestria. It's even hypothetically possible that in Equestria it's Silver Spoon who's the illegitimate child instead of Diamond Tiara, a result of Gladmane having a one night stand with a mare from Ponyville, whom he supports financially but otherwise refuses to have any other connection with them.
But I'm not necessarily set on any of these ideas either way, as it wasn't exactly going to come up much in the story.
10872842
All I can really say is that I didn't really spend too much time worrying about the naming conventions, and only really have the characters bring it up as an occasional gag. When I decided I'd have the character normally associated with Derpy/Ditzy that we see in the EGQ movies at the school be the daughter of another character that'd look just like her but be older and fill in the roll of Yoruichi from Bleach, I didn't really worry about the names too much, just figured I'd use "Derpy" for the daughter and "Ditzy" for the mother, even those these names have been used interchangeably for the same pony. Then with characters like Di Roy and Roka, I just felt like keeping their Bleach names rather than try to come up with some kind of Equestria sounding name for simplicity's sake.
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The three siblings are the only one's with a strong enough independent personality to act outside of Chrysalis' wishes and control. Chrysalis has two other types of drones, the ones she makes out of her own blood, which lack any personality and only have enough intelligence to follow orders or the drones born from the eggs she creates, which do have personalities of their own, but ones that are somewhat homogenous and incapable of going against Chrysalis' will. The drones besides Ocellus, Thorax, and Pharynx will give themselves names, and express basic personality traits and desires, but they're almost one and all focused on fulfilling their mother's wishes and commands, and can't actively go against her will. If she gives an order, even one as crazy as killing themselves, they'll do it. But left entirely to their own devices, with no orders from her, they'll act on their own and even express some depth of personality, it just gets subsumed by Chrysalis' will the moment she's around them. This is in stark contrast to the three siblings, who can, if they wish, entirely ignore Chrysalis' will and instructions.
10873732
you see, this is because of how the f*cked up things of the quincy society which made possible then i was finding the idea of equestria Diamond being a child born like this so ludicrous, because there might be some tiny shades in Equestria, and Equestrian Gladmane is still a ass, but i don't see the society of Princess Celestia going so far.
10873743
honestly, i don't mind keeping Roka and D-Roy name, i was simply saying i thought than D-roy name being called out was a pot-kettle situation.
Also, using in a new way bleach characters is cool.
And i am currently playing Bleach mobile 3d, and it made me discover the captains, and i love how you kept some parts yet made it completely different due to them being different characters, and yet it still work.
10875287
I had seen pictures but not wiki pages.
What are his powers in MLP ?
10875922
I'm actually not sure, as I didn't read the specific comic he was in, but I was aware of him and figured due to his relationship to the Storm King he'd be alright to use as a reference. Given his appearance, I'd say he probably has shadow/smoke based powers.
i.pinimg.com/originals/3f/7f/23/3f7f23e79d9532e3ad9045be35416be8.jpg
From the last chapter...
From this chapter...
That, Tempest. Pinkie bring that to the table. Being the utter incarnation of the concept of a 'wild card'.
Their?
Was it to be starvation?