14 The Invisible Fortress, Day One
My Little Exalt
THE INVISIBLE FORTRESS, DAY ONE
by: Lithl
special thanks:
Rhanite
LordofRansei
Dear Spike,
We've finally arrived at the Invisible Fortress. You should see this place! At first we thought that Kal Bax had used magic to actually turn the entire manse invisible, but it was actually just some ingenious optical illusions hiding the edifice in a cliff face.
Despite the Fortress's impressive design, though, the first thing we found when we got inside was less than pleasant.
"Oh, Celestia, what's that smell?!" Rainbow Dash covered her nose, and several of the others followed suit.
The floor just inside the entrance was composed of gray flagstone, the walls of white marble banded with silver-gray stone. Two pillars rested along the left and right walls, with three bas-relief carvings on each of the four pillars depicting natural creatures with unnaturally elongated proportions. Between each pair of pillars was a large gilded mirror, creating the illusion of an infinite hallway as the mirrors reflected each other.
"It is the scent of death," said Zecora as she pointed towards the corner on the left. Sure enough, on the floor wrapping around the corner, a pool of blood was drying. Zecora began walking towards the blood, and the rest of the party followed (some more reluctantly than others).
On the floor just on the opposite side of the corner, a human lay in a pool of his own blood. Something had torn the large man's throat out, and left him to rot.
We found another human in the manse, but she had some problems of her own.
Before anypony could come up with a suitable reaction to the sight, they heard a noise drifting from further down the hallway: singing.
Nightingale in lilac tree,
Guide me to my lover.
Two hearts meet at eventide,
In the lilac bower.
"Oh, I know this song!" Pinkie bounced forward to find the source of the voice. The other ponies carefully stepped around the congealing blood to try and keep up with their pink companion.
In just a few short steps, the hallway opened up into a grand dining room, with Pinkie and a human woman dancing on one of five round marble tables. The pair sang in unison:
Nightingale, why do you sing,
Calling to your lover?
Golden bars confine your wings,
Two hearts meeting never.
Faithful to the bonds of life,
Trill away, O divine lover!
O first nightingale to appear
Under your lilac cover!
The song apparently finished, Pinkie Pie and the human both stepped off their impromptu stage. The human leaned down to wrap Pinkie in a hug, which Pinkie returned with enthusiasm. "Oh, Talura, I never expected to see you here! It was nice to see you again. And sing with you!" The human laughed, then turned and finally seemed to notice the other ponies in the room. "Ah! Raja, Nohana, Webi, my friends! What are you doing here? No, don't answer that. Please, join me for tea. I would suggest taking the tea in the garden, but it's a bit too chilly out today for that."
Confused looks bounced between the ponies. Why was she speaking to them as though they were familiar faces? Who were Talura, Raja, Nohana, and Webi? Ever the eloquent one, Rainbow Dash said, "Uh, what?"
The human woman ignored Rainbow's question, and despite her offer for tea, she turned and wandered away.
"Perhaps I can answer that," a voice came from one of the many mirrors set into the dining room's walls. When the ponies turned to see the source of the voice, they found a figure in the mirror, not reflected by the others in the room. The figure wore a golden mask and a hooded black cloak, threaded with silver and gold, and severely tattered.
The spirit of the manse, "the Guardian," introduced himself and told us what he could. At first we assumed the Guardian was like Servant, but apparently that's not the case. Servant is an interface to an artificial intelligence within The Spark. The Guardian, on the other hoof is an actual spirit created to be a part of the manse.
"Her name is V'neef Mahina. She came here with six friends, but... the others seem to have fallen victim to the traps or the demons." The Guardian's voice expressed empathy towards the woman who had lost so much. "I think the loss of her friends has broken her."
"So when she called us those names..." Applejack let her sentence trail off.
"... She believed you to be those that she's lost," the Guardian finished.
Fluttershy's lips quivered. "Oh, that poor woman!" She began trotting off in the direction Mahina had left.
"Fluttershy, wait!" Rainbow called after her, but the yellow pegasus didn't stop. Rainbow Dash ran after her friend, ensuring nopony would wander the strange manse alone. Rainbow had first-hoof experience with 'traps' in manses, and the Guardian's mention of more of the same was not reassuring in the least.
Twilight turned back to the mirror containing the Guardian. "So when you say these men were killed by traps and demons, what exactly do you mean?"
"Well, I'm certain you encountered some demons outside before arriving here, yes?" Twilight nodded the affirmative before the Guardian continued, "Over the years the demons have tried many times to take the fortress. I used to have a full complement of demonbane lights through the halls, but these days the fortress's essence is wild and erratic, meaning the demonbane lights only occasionally function."
"Are there any demons inside right now?"
"Oh no," the Guardian's mask swayed side to side, in a gesture that could be taken for shaking its head. "At least, I don't think so."
"Can you tell us about the traps, so that we'll at least be forewarned?"
The Guardian's mask dipped low. "I'm sorry, I wish I could. Unfortunately, I'm incapable of knowing any specifics about the traps beyond the fact that they exist. Even if one of the traps were to trigger right in front of me, the event would not be retained in my memory."
Twilight sighed. "All right, well... could you tell us where the Final Retreat is, then?"
The Guardian's mask rotated slightly, as though it had cocked its head. "The final what, now?"
"Well he's about as useful as a sack o' orange seeds on an apple farm," Applejack muttered out of the side of her mouth. Louder, Applejack said, "Well if he can't flat out tell us where the Final Retreat is, what do y'all say to splittin' up for the search? We can cover more ground that way."
"Good idea, Applejack. Why don't you and Rarity take this floor, while Zecora and I go upstairs for the second floor? Pinkie, you can handle yourself, right? It seems like there's at least a third floor on this place, so why don't you explore up there?" Twilight began backtracking to the stairs they'd passed on the way to the dining hall. "Oh, and if anypony sees Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, tell them the plan."
I explored the second floor of the Fortress with Zecora. Although we didn't find an entrance to the Final Retreat, there was a multitude of other wonders throughout.
Twilight, Zecora, and Pinkie Pie ascended the stairway together. On the outside wall of each turn, an orb was secured in a sconce – the demonbane lights, presumably. One of the lights the trio passed was dimly light, while another flickered as they passed before dying out completely. The Guardian wasn't lying when he said that his compliment of demonbane lights was functioning erratically.
On the second floor, the stairwell opened into a parlor, almost as large as the entrance hall below it. Three chairs and two couches once had cushions and upholstery, but they were ruined by the ravages of time. On the opposite side of the room was another stairwell, along with six portraits along the far wall; Twilight twisted her head around the corner to see another six portraits along the near wall – presumably, these were the twelve residents of the manse. To the right was a wall covered with more mirrors, and eight short pillars topped with melon-sized white orbs.
"What's with this carpet?" Twilight asked, poking the oddly-textured floor covering.
Pinkie stepped away from the stairs to feel the carpet's texture. "Rock-yarn," she said simply. At Twilight's confused expression, Pinkie asked, "What do you think my parents and sisters make at their rock farm? I mean sure, they grow gems, but there are a lot of uses for rocks that most ponies don't think about."
"Yarn."
"Yeah..."
"Made of rock."
"Uh-huh."
"And your parents produce this material at their rock farm." It was more of a statement than a question.
In one of the mirrors on the far wall, the Guardian appeared. "I'm surprised to hear of rock-yarn being used elsewhere, to tell the truth. Iatrixian the Weaver invented the rock spindle, which she used to create many of the decorations around the manse. Before Iatrixian passed, she lamented the fact that her invention could not be spread across the world. It is good to hear that she was wrong."
Pinkie opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight cut her off. "It's far from widespread. I hadn't even heard of it until just now."
"Well, if you're interested, the rock spindle is on the ground floor, across from the dining hall." The Guardian made a sound that approximated a sigh. "Unfortunately, the loom that Lady Iatrixian used has been broken. I'm fairly certain the spindle is still functional, though."
Twilight nudged Pinkie back towards the stairwell. "Go on, we need to find the Final Retreat as soon as possible."
"Sir Guardian," Zecora said while rubbing her chin, "What are these orbs?"
"These control one of the Fortress's external defenses. You can use these to drain away the magical power of someone trying to assault the manse, leaving them little stronger than a mortal by the time they reach the exterior walls. Excuse me." With that, the Guardian disappeared from the mirror.
Twilight and Zecora shared a look. "Well, which way do you want to start?" Twilight asked.
"Hmm... I like left!" The zebra smiled warmly.
Pinkie Pie wandered among rows upon rows of tables covered in dry soil and papery plants. The skylights did a poor job of lighting the rooms, and she couldn't see any demonbane lights on the walls, functional or otherwise.
Hold on, Pinkie thought, Skylights? Isn't the whole manse embedded into the mountain?
"Applejack would hate it up here. She'd probably try to make the dead plants into living plants again. I should think of some way to make her leave this floor alone..." Pinkie stopped in her tracks for a moment, then suppressed a fit of giggles with a hoof over her mouth. "Oh, Pinkie, everypony knows that talking to yourself is the first sign of ca-razy!" She swirled her eyes around in circles to emphasize her point.
"Well then it's a good thing I'm not talking to myself. I'm just vocalizing my thoughts as a means to more closely analyze them."
"But if I answer the vocalizations of my thoughts with rationalizations, doesn't that mean I'm talking to myself?"
"Well it certainly does if I keep talking back. I'd better stop or ponies will really think I'm insane."
Rarity and Applejack walked down a hallway behind the dining hall, which eventually opened into a garden. Clear skies and green grass were surrounded by hedges and trees. To the left was a series of cascading pools filled with colorful fish. To the right was a deep lilac grove with several varieties of shade-loving flowers decorating the ground. Straight ahead was a long, winding path leading to a small house in the distance.
Applejack looked around the garden – impossible, given that it was deep in the heart of a mountain. "What in tarnation...?"
Rarity sighed. "It's fake, dear."
"Eh?"
"The grass is silk. The path is a painting. So on and such forth, et cetera, and so on."
"... Oh." Changing the subject, Applejack pointed towards the flowing fountain in the center of the 'real' area of the fake garden. "Look, it's Fluttershy and Rainbow!"
Mahina had collapsed at the edge of the fountain – judging by her still-damp clothes, she'd partially fallen in. Fluttershy was worrying over the woman's unconscious body while Rainbow Dash stood guard. When Rainbow saw Applejack and Rarity enter the garden, she relaxed her stance a bit.
"Howdy, Rainbow!"
"Hey, AJ! Sorry for running off. I didn't want Fluttershy to be alone what with traps and such."
Rarity waved off the apology. "Don't worry, Rainbow, completely understandable. A good idea, even." Rarity stepped closer to Fluttershy and Mahina. "How is she?"
Fluttershy's ears flattened against her head. "Physically? She's pretty much fine. She got a few bruises when she fainted against the fountain, but those will heal up pretty quickly. I don't think I'm qualified – or able – to do anything about her mind, though..."
"Oh, Fluttershy..." Rarity wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy's neck and pulled her into a light hug.
"So... where's everypony else?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, right. Twi' and Zecora are searchin' the second floor. Twilight says there should be a third floor, and sent Pinkie up there on her own. Me and Rarity are lookin' around this floor. We passed by some stairs that went both up and down, so Ah guess there's a basement, too. Do ya think you could convince Fluttershy to go down there with ya and search for an entrance to the Final Retreat?"
Rainbow glanced over to the other pegasus and raised an eyebrow. "Well, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy looked up to Rainbow and Applejack, then back to the human under her care. "I don't think I can do anything helpful for Mahina right now... if we can find some place to let her rest, maybe... maybe I could go to the basement with Rainbow Dash..."
"That's the spirit!" Applejack hooted.
Rarity released Fluttershy from her consoling hug and looked around. "I think she's already lying on the softest surface I've seen so far. All of the chairs and things are just stone, with their cushions absolutely destroyed by who knows what?"
"Well, I suppose it is kind of nice here..."
Rainbow wrapped both forelegs around Fluttershy's midsection and lifted her bodily away from Mahina, eliciting a soft squeak. "C'mon, then! Let's go find the stairs down to the basement!"
"Ugh, another maze? The other two rooms with the mask on the door were just plain old normal bedrooms. Why do these rooms need a three-dimensional maze just to reach the bed?" Twilight's neck ached from holding it low enough to avoid scraping her horn on the top of the crawlspace.
"Maybe it was built for or by that one that was standing on his single digit in the portrait at the top of the stairs. His body was folded in ways I can't imagine being comfortable for the human body."
Twilight sighed. "'Kotor Varos the Contortionist,' yes? But even if that's the case, surely only one of the bedrooms would be a cramped maze like this. This is the third maze we've found so far, and none have even had a hint at an entrance to the Final Retreat."
"According to what you told me about what you learned from The Lover, the people living here did not all die at once. Perhaps this Kotor Varos simply expanded his room as his neighbors' rooms became available?" There was no room in the crawlspace for Twilight to turn her head to look at Zecora behind her. Speaking to somepony without looking at them was usually considered rude (although Twilight had to admit to herself that she had done so on a number of occasions while immersed in her studies), and being forced into this position was frustrating.
Occasionally, it was also embarrassing. Specifically, while climbing upwards in the vertical sections of the maze, there had been a few instances where Twilight had slipped, landing her bottom directly on Zecora's face.
"So, Zecora, Pinkie said you'd become a Lunar exalt, but she didn't really explain what that meant. I've been meaning to ask you..."
"Some other Lunars whisked me away to get these tattoos. Apparently, without the tattoos I would eventually turn into some sort of monster."
"What? Why?!"
"Lunars are shapeshifters. Like a hippowolf, but more versatile. Without the tattoos, the power gradually causes mutations; one of the Lunars that picked me up was missing half of her face!"
Twilight gasped, "That's horrible! At least you got the tattoos, though, right?"
Zecora started to nod, before realizing that Twilight couldn't see her. "They also cured the side effect of a potion I needed to heal myself as a filly – you've noticed my lack of rhyming."
"So you can shapeshift now? That's really interesting! How exactly does that work?"
"Well, I can turn into a form that looks more like a 'normal' zebra for this world. It's slightly bigger than me, but less dexterous. Picking up new animal forms... I'd rather not talk about it."
"Oh, okay then..." Twilight tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. "Well, is there anything else you can do other than turning into animals?"
"I've been trying to teach myself how to alter my body without taking on new forms. I can... um..." Zecora coughed.
"What was that?"
"I can turn into a stallion."
Twilight cursed her inability to turn around and look Zecora in the eyes. At least then she'd have a chance to read the mare's lips. This conversation was turning almost as painful as Fluttershy trying to introduce herself to a stranger. "Please speak up, Zecora!"
"I can turn into a stallion!" Zecora shouted before covering her mouth with a hoof. Somehow, her words managed to echo through the stone maze despite the confined spaces.
...
"This is going to make the rest of this maze really awkward, isn't it?"
"Yes, Zecora. Yes it is."
"Oh, my stars!" Rarity exclaimed. Applejack could see why. Nearly every surface of the room was gilded with some sort of precious metal or set with some precious stone.
A niche on one wall contained a relief of a four-armed man sitting on a throne. Applejack squinted at the carving – it felt familiar, somehow. His eyes were set with crystal and gold foil and – as Applejack walked around the room – the carving seemed to always look away from the observer.
On both sides of the enthroned figure stood more carvings. To his right stood an androgynous figure painted and gilded with silver, followed by five women painted yellow, blue, red, green, and purple, in order. To his left was a motherly figure in green, followed by five dragons similar in shape if not in proportion to Spike's new body. The dragons were colored blue, white, red, black, and green.
In front of the carving of the four-armed man was a low marble altar. At one time it had been capped with gold plating, but most of that had been torn away. In the center of the altar was a small depression that still held the ashes of some kind of offering.
The shallow-domed ceiling was painted sky-blue, with a stylized sun in the center. In the center of the sun was a grey orb similar in appearance to the demonbane lights, though the orb in the center of the sun was several times larger. The wall across from the relief sculptures held a now-familiar mirror, used for the Guardian to interact with the residents of the Fortress.
"Well, let's get to it. Rarity, try not to get distracted by the pretty... whatever this room is."
"Please, Applejack. I know that we've got a job to do here."
Before the pair could begin their search for any trap doors or secret switches, they heard a noise coming from a small tube jutting from the wall by the door. Most of the rooms seemed to have similar tubes, but playing with the levers next to the tube hadn't accomplished anything. The fact that they were present in most of the rooms suggested they were important somehow, but neither Applejack nor Rarity had determined their purpose, and they hadn't seen the Guardian to try and ask.
"Applejack should leave me alone."
"Hey, that's Pinkie's voice!"
"Hush, Applejack, I'm trying to listen!"
Pinkie's voice continued to pour from the tube in the wall. "I hate her. Everypony knows she'd better stop living or... I know!" Pinkie's voice grew quiet and the sound of clopping hooves suggested she was moving away from whatever she was speaking into – intentionally or accidentally.
"I'm not crazy. She is so dead. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah!"
Applejack looked to Rarity with an audible gulp. Rarity's eye was beginning to twitch. "Applejack? What... did we just listen to?"
"Ah... Ah reckon that was Pinkie plotting to kill me."
"Oh, good. I thought I was losing it for a second." Rarity relaxed for a moment. Then she exploded, "Why in Equestria would Pinkie want to kill you?!"
"Ah dunno," Applejack lifted her Stetson off her head and used it to wipe her brow. "Maybe... maybe she wants to bake some cupcakes!"
Rarity's jaw dropped and she turned to stare Applejack in the eye. The poor apple farmer's eyes were slightly crossed and Applejack's mouth seemed to be in a rictus.
A swift hoof across Applejack's cheek seemed to bring her back to her senses.
"Right, right... We can worry about Pinkie later. Right now, let's get back to searchin' this room. And... uh... Rarity?"
"What is it, dear?"
"Ah think Ah should stick to a buddy system or somethin'. Make sure Ah don't get left alone."
With that, the room returned to silence as Rarity began searching the floor and prodding the ceiling with her magic while Applejack hunted around the walls, starting with the carvings and altar.
Rarity turned up little in her search, but eventually Applejack worked her way around the room next to the Guardian's mirror. She tapped the wall with a hoof, and the echo was different from the rest of the wall. "Hey, Ah think Ah found somethin'!"
Rarity walked over to Applejack to check out her find, while Applejack hunted for a switch or pressure plate or something to access the hidden space behind the wall. She brushed a hoof along a line of golden filigree and a door swung out, revealing a ladder leading downward.
Applejack leaned her head down the shaft, and she could clearly see the bottom. "Looks like it's just a couple dozen spans, and there's another door at the bottom." She looked back to Rarity. "Ah'm gonna check it out, you stay right here. There's no space for two at the bottom."
Applejack climbed onto the ladder and began her descent. She reached the bottom of the shaft without difficulty, and tried the door. "It's locked!"
"Well, can't you just buck it down?" Rarity called from the secret entrance.
"Ah can't turn around very well down here, and Ah definitely don't have the leverage for a proper buck. Don't you have a manepin or somethin' on ya?"
"... Applejack? Since when does the Element of Honesty know how to pick a lock?"
Applejack growled. "Just give me the bucking manepin, Rarity!"
"Not until you tell me how you learned to pick locks!" Rarity sang back playfully.
Applejack snorted in frustration. "Look, I was a curious filly, and Big Mac had a drawer of stuff he didn't want me or Granny to find. Ya happy?"
"Ooh hoo hoo! So the big stallion has a stash, does he?" Rarity's grin would do Opalescence proud.
"Consarnit, Rarity! Toss me a manepin!"
"Fine, fine, here!"
Applejack deftly caught the falling pin and bent it out of shape so that she could use it to manipulate the lock. Rarity called down, "You'd better give it back in pristine condition!"
A bit late for that, Applejack thought to herself. How does she think picking a lock works, anyway?
It took her a few moments, but eventually Applejack heard a soft click and turned the lock. She eagerly pulled the door open a crack, but her face dropped when she saw a sheer wall behind it. Before she could pull her thoughts together to figure out what was going on, the door slipped out of her hoof and snapped closed. Another click and the door locked itself. Applejack looked up to find the ceiling of the shaft much closer than it ought to have been.
"Oh, ponyf—"
CRUNCH
After a bit of wandering, Fluttershy and Rainbow found a staircase leading down. The path was a grand affair, with several landings on the way down. The steps themselves were a beautifully polished stone, and the landings each had a stylized sunburst inlaid on the floor. More demonbane lights were installed in the walls at each of the landings.
Fluttershy took a half step backward and arched her neck, hiding behind her mane. Rainbow took notice and turned to her.
"Hey, we can't turn back now. We haven't even gone down the stairs yet!"
"Oh, it's just that I think I heard Mahina calling for me!"
Rainbow deadpanned, "Mahina doesn't know your name, Fluttershy."
"Oh."
"Look, 'Shy, if you're afraid of anything, you've got nothing to worry about. You've got the coolest, fastest pegasus in Equestria by your side!" Rainbow deflated a bit. "Besides, you're the exalt, here. I'm just a normal pony."
Fluttershy looked on while Rainbow Dash scuffed a hoof on the stone floor of the manse. Rainbow's sudden insecurity brought out something in Fluttershy, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. Fluttershy fluffed her feathers aggressively and stepped forward onto the stairwell.
Her confidence quickly fled when all of her weight was resting on the stairs and they suddenly snapped downwards turning into a smooth slide. The soapy liquid that sprayed onto the stairs from the base of the walls on each side made traction impossible. Fluttershy's wings pulled closed as tightly as they could and she let out a high-pitched squeal as she began to slide downwards uncontrollably.
The squeal broke Rainbow Dash out of her funk instantly. "Fluttershy!"
The downward slope of the stairs-turned-slide worked to Rainbow's advantage, as she could glide towards her friend and hope to catch up, despite losing her ability to fly. Unfortunately, the Invisible Fortress had other plans.
The first landing did little to slow Fluttershy's momentum. However, as soon as she reached the landing dozens of holes opened in the walls of the staircase above her – the section of the stairs that Rainbow was currently gliding through. From each hole a long spear launched, turning the area above the staircase surface into a lattice that would perforate anyone standing, flying, or gliding through the space at the time.
Such as Rainbow Dash.
"Gah!" She exclaimed. The rainbow-maned athlete was no stranger to dodging obstacles while in the air, however, and she snapped her wings closed as she rolled away from the point of one of the spears. She stretched out her hind legs to launch off the haft of another spear whose point had already passed by.
Rainbow spread her wings again, hoping to make up the distance she'd lost dodging the first few spears, but the assault wasn't complete. Rainbow's muscles tightened as she felt a new spear pass through her right wing, though her muscle memory allowed her to instantly roll to the left. Halfway through the roll she flexed her wing, and it seemed fine. She was still flightworthy – or rather, glideworthy.
She spread her wings again when she completed the roll. She kept them close this time, still allowing for some measure of gliding, but slimming her profile in case any spears had yet to launch. Directly ahead of her, four spears formed a tiny square which was her final obstacle to the first landing of the stairwell.
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. I just wish Spitfire could be watching this. An instant before colliding with the spears, she pulled in her wings as tight as Fluttershy's fear response had done. Rainbow also lowered her head and raised all four legs, turning her into a spear of her own as she threaded the needle before spreading their wings to their full extent.
The Best Young Flier angled her wings to try and catch up to the still-sliding (and still-screaming) Fluttershy. The timid pegasus had lost some of her initial speed, but the addition of the slick liquid made it difficult to slow down by any appreciable amount. From her vantage point, Rainbow could see the very base of the stairs. A portion of the landing there dropped open to become a pit; despite her height, she could not see the bottom. Talk about a multi-layered trap! No wonder Mahina's companions got killed!
Fluttershy reached the second landing, and holes once again appeared in the walls beside Rainbow. You have got to be kidding me!
Fluttershy finally managed to stop screaming, and she regained enough motor control to cover her eyes, unwilling to view her doom. In her fear, she barely registered the sound of sliding metal coming from the walls behind her, nor the sound of flapping wings and grunts coming from the pegasus in the air.
Finally, Fluttershy felt the floor drop out from under her. I'm so sorry, everypony! I wasn't strong enough...
And then... she wasn't falling. Instead, she was sitting on something soft and warm. Fluttershy risked a peek out from under her hooves to be greeted by a familiar shock of rainbow-streaked hair. "Rainbow!" She gasped.
"Heya, Fluttershy. How ya doin'?"
With the immediate danger of falling to her supposed doom gone, Fluttershy looked around. She and Rainbow were, in fact, suspended over a deep pit. At the bottom of the pit were a number of wicked-looking spikes, as well as a pair of human skeletons. Fluttershy was sitting perfectly on Rainbow's back, while Rainbow was stretching her legs to their limits pressing against two opposite sides of the pit in order to prevent their doom. And Rainbow Dash was glowing.
"You're glowing!"
"Yeah, I know. I'm awesome." Rainbow Dash grinned, her smile threatening to split her head. Fluttershy gasped again and hugged Rainbow around the neck. "Gak! Still sitting above death spikes! Need to breathe!" Fluttershy released her grip with a quiet apology.
"You ready?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy squeaked and wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow's neck again – this time without choking her ride half to death.
Rainbow flapped her wings, hard. At the same time, she pushed down with her forelegs and managed to launch the pair of pegasi onto the top edge of the pit – the final landing. Slowly, she twisted around and carefully placed all four hooves on the still-slippery floor. Without the forward momentum granted by the slide, though, she didn't slip back into the pit.
"Well that's pretty annoying."
"Wh-what?"
Rainbow pointed across the pit trap, still taking care to avoid slipping around. Although the staircase led to the pit trap, there was nothing beyond it; the opposite edge of the pit was a blank wall. Despite the dangers and troubles they went through, they still hadn't found the basement.
Fluttershy looked to the slide-née-stairs which were still slick and still folded down. The spears had retracted back into the walls, but it was still impossible for two flightless ponies to ascend. "How are we going to get back up, then?"
With Fluttershy still on her back, Rainbow turned to the stairs and bent into a crouch. "Hold on tight, Fluttershy!"
With a single great leap, Rainbow Dash moved towards the wall... then she rolled onto her side so that her hooves could make contact with the vertical surface. Rather than falling to the slippery floor or attempting to jump back and forth between the opposite vertical surfaces like some of the characters in Scootaloo's Neighponese comics, Rainbow began simply running along the wall as though it were no different than running along the floor. As she passed by each landing, the holes opened in the wall and the spears tried to skewer the pair, but by the time the spears could launch from their recesses, Rainbow was already at the next landing.
In short order, Rainbow had reached the ground floor again, and Fluttershy gratefully dropped off Rainbow's back to stand on her own.
"Rainbow! You're bleeding!"
"Huh?" Rainbow turned to look at her barrel under her right wing. "Oh, yeah. One of the spears winged me on the way down. It must have hit a blood feather."
"Rainbow! You need to take care of yourself better! Broken blood feathers can bleed a lot – more than one or two could require a blood transfusion!"
"I was a little preoccupied with avoiding being skewered at the time, 'Shy."
"Fluttershy!" Rainbow and Fluttershy turned to see Rarity running up to them, frantic. "Applejack needs your help!"
At the end of the day, Zecora and I decided to call it quits and we'll continue tomorrow. My stomach was rumbling, so I figured we should gather everypony together for dinner. The Guardian instructed me on how to operate the speaking tubes that connected all the rooms, so I told everypony to meet in the dining hall for dinner.
I heard back from Rarity that Applejack had been badly injured by a trap, and Fluttershy was working on it. The Guardian said that he'd seen Pinkie going downstairs, so Zecora and I didn't bother to wait for her. We met with Rarity and Rainbow in the dining hall, and Rarity took some food for Fluttershy and Applejack.
... Applejack wasn't our only problem tonight, either.
"Where's Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.
The Guardian appeared in one of the mirrors near the table that Twilight, Zecora, and Rainbow were sitting at. "She's gone to the garden, I assume to check on V'neef Mahina."
Twilight grabbed the last of the travel rations to give to Pinkie and Mahina, and the trio walked towards the back of the dining hall and the garden beyond.
In the false garden, Mahina was still lying exactly where she'd been left by Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow. Pinkie Pie laid collapsed on the turf next to the human. One thing had changed about Mahina since anypony had seen her last – she was covered in blood. Her chest and face had been lethally caved in, and her body was covered in layers of hoof-shaped bruises.
Pinkie seemed perfectly fine, if unconscious. With her hooves covered in blood.
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>> Lithl
The Scroll of Errata reduced the prerequisites for Compassionate Mirror Nature to be Perception 4, Essence 3, with the requirement of knowing Prey's Skin Disguise first. Courtessan's Possession was also reduced to Wits 4, Essence 4, but is somewhat of a moot point because you're probably going to have trouble using that knack without already having a human form first, unless you want to go full out with the social charms, or the mark thinks you're some kind of god or elemental. Or unless you're trying to seduce a Cynis.
Edit: Also I just realized I got ninja'd on the Errata.
2186274
In Exalted, you play what is basically a superhero given powers by the Unconquered Sun, God of Awesomeness and King of Heaven. You get said powers by doing something so awesome that he looks away from his horribly crippling addiction to the Cosmic X-Box for ten seconds to say, "Whoa, that was totally awesome, here, take this shard of my divine essence and go forth and do more awesome things in my name". And then you find out that your previous incarnation was basically magical Hitler near the end, before everyone banded together to overthrow you. And your ex is a two thousand year old man eating monster, and she wants to take you out on a hot date next tuesday. And everyone thinks you're a demon given human form, and wants to kill you. And Magical America is trying to kill you because you're going to upset the balance that has them as the big boys on the playground, and they have giant robots, benders, and an alliance with Fate Ninjas. And the Fate Ninja's want to kill you before you reach your full power and take control of the world again, like the last 1500 years didn't even happen. Except the ones who just want to manipulate you from behind the throne. And your best friend from your previous life is trying to cover all of Creation in darkness. And the Primordials, the creators of the universe, the threat you were created to fight in ages long past, in a war so horrible that it essentially destroyed all recollection of itself from the weapons unleashed during its course, managed to brew up their own magical superheros, and they want to use them to break out of Hell by making Creation indistinguishable from their prison. And Heaven is hopelessly corrupt and mired in bureaucracy, so there's not going to be any help there.
But its okay, because you can learn to, among other things, punch someone so hard they turn into a duck.
I could go on but I could easily fill ten pages with the barebones info on the setting.
2185845
Compassionate Mirror Nature is rooted in Prey's Skin Disguise (and requires three other knacks besides PSD, not to mention essence 5). Normal form acquisition is bad enough (consuming the heart's blood of an animal). Prey's Skin Disguise requires doing the same thing to a sapient being. It's also worth noting that part of the Sacred Hunt for a human involves getting to know them as well as they know themselves. So not only is human form acquisition killing a person, it's killing a person you know really well. How would you feel about knocking on your neighbor's door and blasting them in the face with a shotgun? And then eating them? In my opinion, the mindscape of a Lunar that uses Prey's Skin Disguise is, frankly, feral. (And that makes sense, considering how many Lunars have a predator as a totem. Zecora has a Zebra as a totem.)
Also, even if you've gotten up to Compassionate Mirror Nature, it still requires drinking the target's blood. Courtesan's Possession doesn't require drinking any blood (you have sex with the target instead), but that's an Essence 6 charm, and it's impossible to reach essence 6 before you've been an exalt for 100 years. Laurels-and-Ivy Technique is the only form acquisition knack that doesn't require killing/drawing blood (it uses meditation instead) and doesn't require a prerequisite of a knack that does. The fact that it allows form acquisition of plants rather than animals doesn't hurt, either.
As far as custom knacks suitable to Zecora, part of what I'm doing to differentiate Zecora and Gilda is the powers they acquire. Zecora is shying away from her own shapeshifting powers thanks to what she considers a traumatic experience (her first Sacred Hunt). She does realize her powers are an important part of her, though, which is why she's delved into the refinement knacks like Twin-Faced Hero. Gilda, on the other hand, has freely embraced her shapeshifting powers, and will be quickly building a large library of forms. By my current estimate, Gilda and Trixie should pop up again in three chapters, and you can see what Gilda's been up to.
Interesting story twist, though never having played the setting in question. Its more what little I know of the world, it tends to be, unique, in how it works, and well. I guess to ask more on it for you later when I can to learn more of the world from someone whom seems quite knowledgeable on this.
2186158
Actually the 2.5 Errata lowers the Essence requirements of Compassionate Mirror Nature and Courtesans Possession.
The latter is now a Essence 4, Wits 4 charm, whereas the former is now Essence 3, Perception 4. It also only requires Prey Skins Disguise, but no other Knacks, so its actually somewhat reasonably possibly to acquire it without ever killing a sentient being.
Of course, which charms and knacks the characters learn should be dependent on how well it fits into the story.
Oh, and i love this story so much that i registered just to make this comment :D
Its times like this when I wish my Exalted game was more like this story, and not the insane, over-the-top, everything we do seems to make things worse game it has become
Anyone know when Exalted 3rd ed. comes out?
2186158
The Scroll of Errata reduced the prerequisites for Compassionate Mirror Nature to be Perception 4, Essence 3, with the requirement of knowing Prey's Skin Disguise first. Courtessan's Possession was also reduced to Wits 4, Essence 4, but is somewhat of a moot point because you're probably going to have trouble using that knack without already having a human form first, unless you want to go full out with the social charms, or the mark thinks you're some kind of god or elemental. Or unless you're trying to seduce a Cynis.
Edit: Also I just realized I got ninja'd on the Errata.
2188344
Originally, the 3e core book was supposed to come out last December. Then IIRC they said February. Now it's "First half of 2013." Which probably means June 31...
For Secora, consider Life of the Humingbird - no prereqs, allows for temporary form aquisition... without a sacred hunt. This also has the plot-benefit of allowing you to say "and then she turned into X for a while, which was really handy" without anyone asking later why she couldn't use that form again at another point in the story where it might have made a difficult challenge too easy...
there's also Somnolent Statuary Method - essence 4 knack, but allows a lunar to turn into non-organic materials... literally merge with dirt, or turn into a rock.
basically she can beat Fluttershy by actually turning into a tree :p
also, did Dash exalt as a night caste because of her acrobatics in dodging the traps and saving Fluttershy? Must admit I didn't see that coming - but at the same time I honestly found it a bit underwhelming as far as reason one exalts. Still, its nice that the whole gang is enlightened now :)
also, totally didn't expect you to have the guardian reveal itself this quickly. I've only tried to run the Invis fortress with a circle of solars once - I tried very much to keep the guardian a secret from the players to better mess with them
2192509
The Guardian is everypony's friend. He'll help you as much as possible, and he'll tell you everything he knows. If you get into trouble with the traps and such, he'll even try to save you. Yup. The Guardian is helpful, and he'll never steer you wrong.
2194025
Well that's one way of using the guardian
Huh. I'm not familiar with this manse, so I'm not sure if Pinkie just suffered one hell of a Limit Break or some manner of psychological trap. Or both.
In any case, absolutely loving this story. A fantastic crossover with an RPG that's vastly more fun to read about than actually play (in my experience, anyway,) a great job at reconciling the conflicts and conundrums that crop up in any crossover (like the whole The Lunas Have Been Doubled thing,) and ponies full of golden awesome. I can't help but wonder if there's some previously unknown Acrobatics Charm that'll replace the Equestrian magic needed for pegasi to fly. And if not, I can't imagine it'll take long for Dash to make it.
Actually, would it be possible to reconfigure a reality engine to generate Equestrian magic? Of course, you'd need to find a reality engine, first. Or build one, but Twilight isn't quite there yet...
Hmm. I wonder how well unicorns could adapt to thaumaturgy...
But I ramble. Loving what you've done thus far, eagerly looking forward to more. Especially the next scene with best pony.
Oh, one last thought: Celestial Exaltation, by necessity, implies the death of another Celestial Exalt. It could've just been the Wyld Hunt doing what they do and Lytek shoving the Exaltations into his outbox as they come, but that many occurring at once, followed by a Night Caste some time later? It seems like something truly terrible took out the majority of a perfect circle, with the stealthy one hiding for as long as s/he could before it tracked him/her down...
Or I'm looking too far into things. I look forward to when you reveal Sweetie Belle is actually a highly experimental (and tiny) Alchemical.
2324229
Eagle-Wing Style. Allows you to fly as long as you hold the Superman pose and you don't stop moving (game balance concerns: can't hover and snipe with a powerbow short of stunting every attack), although you can't fly more than ([Strength+Athletics] x 3) yards from a solid surface (usually the ground, but the wall/roof of a tall building or cliff works, too). It's even in the core book.
Eagle-Wing Style requires essence 4, athletics 5, Spider-Foot Style (which Rainbow has already demonstrated), and Feather-Foot Style. Spider-Foot and Feather-Foot both require Graceful Crane Stance.
While true in the general sense, it's not necessarily true that two people exalting one after another means that two exalts died one after another. For one, Lytek spends some time pruning the exaltations after they return to his cabinet. They're like banzai trees to him. Then there's fate, which is pretty random and arbitrary about a lot of things. Finally, even a free exaltation won't bond with a host until the person does something sufficiently awesome.
While I'd love to write a Alchie Belle story, I already have plans for Sweetie that don't involve being an Alchemical. Chapter 17 will be titled "Meanwhile..." and it will catch up with the CMC/Ponyville citizens, Trixie and Gilda, the events in Equestria, and Yu-Shan!Celestia.
Maybe I'll write an AU bonus chapter with Alchie Belle at some point (perhaps even the Cutie Mark Alchemicals -- Seal of Eight Divinities, watch out!), but for my canon story, Sweetie is not and will not be an robit.
2432138
The Noss Fens is roughly 40-50 miles in diameter, not radius (I'm using Stephenls's maps for distance calculations). The ponies spent most of a day walking roughly 25 miles.
2433699
Sidereal astrology is designed to alter a target's destiny, while Thaumaturgical divination is designed to read a target's destiny (and in fact, the subject of a Sidereal-imposed destiny becomes more difficult to read with divination).
Also, rule of funny:
magic eight ballinfinity orb over star charts is an amusing means to predict somepony's future.img515.imageshack.us/img515/6351/infinityorb.png
Rock-Yarn is probably asbestos. Osha would disapprove. Nice reference to cupcakes.