16 The Invisible Fortress, Night Terrors
This chapter has not been edited yet
My Little Exalt
THE INVISIBLE FORTRESS, NIGHT TERRORS
by: Lithl
special thanks:
Rhanite
Saekwaka
Rays of sunlight streamed into the room, dulled by the drawn curtains. Rarity's eyes fluttered open, and she sat up in her luscious bed to stretch and yawn. Ever the modest one, she covered her yawn with a hand... hand?
The unicorn took stock of her room, finding it fully furnished; the bed had padding above the stone, and the chair before the unbroken vanity was no longer missing its upholstery. The floor was tastefully strewn with brightly colored rock-yarn rugs, rather than the dull crimes against fabulosity that had been present the night before... no, the rugs had always been there, ever since she had woven them herself.
Rarity tried to climb out of the bed, but found walking difficult. She paused, stood up, and glanced at her hands and feet. Why was she trying to walk on all fours like some common animal, again? She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. Meherrin was planning to host the Calibration feast today! Oh, it wouldn't be nearly as elaborate as the feasts prepared in the Capital, "But I suppose a feast in the Capital will not be possible until those usurpers have been eliminated," Rarity heard herself sigh.
Meherrin? The Capital?
Rarity sat in front of her vanity and began to brush out her long blond hair. She had plenty of time before the feast – it wouldn't start until after nightfall – and she considered how much progress she could make on her tapestry before she truly had to prepare for the social event...
Iatrixian – no, Rarity – happily sat before her spindle, spinning stone to thread, to refill her supplies of the material. She had finished a tapestry for each of the Solars, save Vaznia, and she had nearly completed the work on Vaznia's portrait-tapestry, too. The tapestries were all hanging in the upstairs parlor, and the blank spot bothered her every time she wandered by.
Rarity shrieked and leapt into the air as a pair of hands grabbed her by the hips. She twisted around to see the auburn-haired athletic woman responsible.
"Ahaha! That was priceless, Iatrixian!" It's Rarity, isn't it? "You're too much fun," the woman smiled. Name... name... what was her name? Out of the corner of her eye, Rarity spotted the tapestry she had been working on – a perfect match for the woman before her. Vaznia!
"Vaznia, what are you doing here?" Rarity blushed at being subjected to the practical joke.
Vaznia cocked an eyebrow. "You asked me to come down here today, remember? You wanted to make sure you had everything right for my portrait." Something about Vaznia's voice... the way she moved... that... tight leather vest... Iatrixian bit her lip.
"Yes, well... right!" Rarity fumbled around for something to say, and her face burned hotter.
Vaznia cast a critical eye over the portrait, nearly complete. "Y'know... it looks to me like the tapestry is all done except for a couple finishing touches. I'm thinking you didn't call me down here today to talk about my portrait." Vaznia began to stalk around Rarity slowly, a predatory gleam in her eye. "I'm thinking you just wanted some time alone with me..."
Vaznia's arm shot out four times in quick succession towards each of the four open doorways, and she released four barely-visible needles. The needles each ricocheted off a stone wall and into the back of a door, where they stuck. The force of the needle hitting the doors pushed them closed, and the vibration of the doors' latches engaging dislodged the needles from their resting places. The needles all spun as they fell to the floor, flipping the lock on each door into place on their way down. A shiver ran up Rarity's spine as she began to suspect Vaznia's intent... and she realized that she had no objections.
"I noticed you staring at me at the feasts last week," Vaznia said. "It's not proper for a lady of your station to stare," she chided Iatrixian as she brushed a finger along the weaver's jawline. Vaznia continued to circle Rarity, drawing closer and closer. "Now me, on the other hoof," Rarity didn't even register the equine phrasing, "nopony expects high class from a... 'Maiden of Endings for hire.' I can stare right back at you, and nobody bats an eye." Vaznia's breath was hot on Rarity's neck; Rarity's heart beat faster, threatening to jump out of her chest. "I've heard the rumors, you know."
Vaznia drew back a bit, and Rarity felt a weight settle into her stomach when she did. "Rumors?" she asked.
"I've heard some others say that I'm Thrice-Damned Gorol, reborn. What do you think, Rarity? Am I one of the damned?" Vaznia looked up, eyes glossy with tears.
Iatrixian couldn't stand the pressure in her chest any longer. She stepped forward and wrapped her fellow in a tight embrace. "It doesn't matter who you were, Rainbow, only who you are," she whispered into the assassin's ear.
Did she just call Vaznia "Rainbow?"
The pair of solars fell to the floor of the spinning room, and Rarity moaned with delight.
"You're sleeping with him, aren't you?!" Rarity practically screamed.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Vaznia – Rainbow Dash? – was cool, calm, and collected. She was wearing that tight leather bit that Rarity loved, which was extremely distracting.
"Don't you give me that 'I'm too cool to do anything wrong' shit! I heard you talking to Surin yesterday!"
"Oh yeah? And what, exactly, did you hear?" Vaznia was starting to lose her cool, but her emotions weren't running as high as Iatrixian's already were.
Rarity narrowed her eyes and smirked. "I heard you compliment his girth, and you made a comment about how I could reach all your best spots, but sometimes a man is simply 'required.'"
Vaznia threw up her hands in defeat. "Fine, I slept with him."
"How many times?"
Vaznia remained flippant, tapping her chin with one finger as she thought. "Oh, about once a week, on average."
Rarity growled with a primal rage, but rather than directing her anger at her cheating lover, she stomped over to the speaking tubes, and flipped the levers to shout at the entire manse. "SURIN! THE ARENA! TWENTY MINUES!"
Meherrin was out hunting, and Kal Bax held no curiosity for the sudden animosity between Iatrixian the Weaver and Surin of Justice, but all of the other solars and a great many of the mortal servants had found seats around the arena in the manse's basement.
Iatrixian stood on one end of the sandy floor, still fuming. Surin stood at the other end and Vaznia stood in the stands nearby, both trying to defuse the situation without resorting to violence.
"Hey, Trix, it's just sex! Calm down!"
"Shut up, Dash!" Rarity cried. Dash? Rarity blinked, confused, and her ire dipped, but soon enough she refocused and her rage redoubled.
"Hey, uh, maybe we could solve this with a threesome, instead?" Surin looked hopeful at that prospect. Iatrixian's response was less than ideal, from his perspective, as she issued forth a growl that would put any Dragon King to shame and charged.
Rarity lay in Vaznia's bed, naked to the world save for a single thin sheet. Vaznia stood over her, wearing that tight leather piece again. Rarity smiled. "Are you going to take that off, or do I have to take it off for you?" She batted her eyelashes and gave her best "come hither" look, but Vaznia frowned.
"I haven't had a man between my legs in over a year," Vaznia's voice sounded almost like a hound's growl. Iatrixian blinked in confusion. "The guys have given me excuses, up to and including the stupid rumor that I'm Thrice-Damned Gorol. It's all excuses! Not even the servants will lie with me. Do you know why?" Vaznia's eyes were wild, and she was nearly foaming at the mouth. Her anger was palpable.
"Uh—"
"It's because of you, that's why!" Vaznia shouted, inches away from Rarity's face. Rarity desperately wanted to wipe away the spittle, but she was transfixed with Vaznia's wild eyes. "After you pummeled Surin into the arena floor, it took him a month to recuperate, and he was a warstrider pilot in the War. Everyone is afraid of what you'll do to them if you discover them sleeping with me." Vaznia turned away.
"So... you're saying you're not in the mood tonight?" Rarity sat up in the bed, holding the thin bed sheet to her bare chest.
Vaznia growled and clenched her fists. She turned back towards Rarity, one hand raised in violence suddenly gripping a gleaming dagger. For a split second, the auburn-haired woman in the tight leather outfit appeared as a cyan, rainbow-maned pegasus. Their faces, twisted in rage, were the same. Rarity... Iatrixia... Rarity... she did not have a chance to clear her vision, for the shining dagger advanced straight towards her eye and plunged deep into—
Rarity sat up suddenly from her bed, heart racing and covered in sweat. The room was dark, but she could feel the hard stone beneath her, rather than the plush covers she had been sitting on only moments before. She sparked her caste mark, and saw the ruined room she was used to. She looked to her hands, finding her familiar white hooves. It was... only a dream. Right?
Rarity shakily climbed out of the ancient bed and plodded over to the vanity, the light from her forehead her only companion in the dark. The unicorn gazed at her disheveled appearance in the mirror before absently pulling a hair brush out of the vanity's drawer and beginning to return her mane to an approximation of its normally styled state. She softly hummed to herself as she performed the relaxing, mundane ritual. When she finished brushing out her mane, she set the brush back on the vanity, slowly releasing a breath, relaxed once more. Her coat was cold with the evaporating sweat generated by her nightmare; she'd need to take a bath, certainly. Rarity's eyes settled on the brush she'd set aside, and she did a double take: the brush was not her own. Instead of the wooden handle set with a trio of diamonds matching her cutie mark that she was used to, the brush that she had pulled out of the vanity had a golden handle. Upon closer inspection, the brush seemed truly ancient. In a flash of inspiration, Rarity realized that it matched the brush she had used in her dream, when she'd been Iatrixian the Weaver.
Hesitantly, Rarity pushed the long-dead Solar's hair-care product away. Perhaps I should just go and take that bath.
* * *
Knock knock knock.
Fluttershy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes at the sound of a hoof knocking against her door.
Knock knock knock.
"Oh, just a minute," she said, although her voice barely carried through the room, much less through the heavy door.
Knockknockknockknockknockknock!
Fluttershy managed to climb out of bed and reach the door before the impatient pony on the other side could continue. When she pulled the heavy stone slab, it glided open easily, revealing Rainbow Dash hovering lazily in the air on the other side, hoof raised for more knocking.
"Oh, good morning, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy hid a yawn, and smiled. "What are you doing up so early?"
"Heya Fluttershy! AJ asked me to wake you up. She's all healed up and she wants to make a special breakfast for everypony to celebrate. She sent me to get you; said she wanted your help." Rainbow Dash flipped over and stood by Fluttershy's side, patting her fellow pegasus on the back. "She's down in the kitchen, underneath the spinning room."
Fluttershy nodded sleepily and began walking towards the stairs. She looked back to Rainbow Dash; the other pegasus stood in the bedroom doorway waving, her face in a rictus.
Fluttershy carefully picked her way down the stairs to the subterranean kitchen. "Applejack?" She called out.
In a blink, a hatless Applejack was by her side. "Well, howdy, Fluttershy! Thanks so much fer comin' to help!" The cowpony led Fluttershy down the remainder of the stairwell. As they neared the bottom, Applejack asked, "By the way, Fluttershy, have ya met Drahak, yet?"
Fluttershy looked to Applejack, confused, and then looked ahead once again. At the base of the stairs lay a large scaled beast. Its green scales shimmered in the low light all the way along its sinuous body. Great clawed hands could have lifted a pony with ease. The beast's head was encircled by a ridge highly reminiscent of leaves and twigs, and two grown antlers jutted out the back. The creature's maw was large enough to snap up Fluttershy in just two bites. The beast slowly lifted its head to stare the pegasus straight in the eyes.
"D-D-Dragon!" Fluttershy managed to stutter, before her legs stiffened and she fell over onto her side.
Applejack laughed out loud. The laugh wasn't malevolent – far from it. Her laugh was more like Rainbow Dash after a successful prank. "That was perfect, Drahak! Ah couldn't have wished fer a better job o'scarin' her stiff! Now just make sure yer not out o'her sight fer too long, okay?" Applejack grabbed Fluttershy by the tail and began to drag her towards one of the tables in the middle of the kitchen.
Fluttershy sighed, and she was on a large wooden table covered in the nicks of years of use as a cutting board. "You know, Applejack—"
"Ya can talk while yer like this?" Applejack's voice carried a heavy inflection of surprise.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes around, trying to get a better view of her friend. "Of course I can talk. It's just my myotonia acting up."
"My what, now?"
"Myotonia. It's a condition I've had since I was born. Whenever I get particularly scared or excited, most of my muscles lock up." Fluttershy was uncharacteristically calm about the whole ordeal. "You know, if you just wanted me to be still, you could have asked."
"Oh." Applejack stopped to consider the position she was in. "In that case, can Ah ask ya to not scream during this next bit?"
Fluttershy smiled. "Certainly, Applejack."
A short knife appeared in Applejack's mouth, and the mare bent over Fluttershy's immobile body. She cut a shallow line from the base of Fluttershy's jawline all the way down her neck, the center of her barrel, and her stomach. Some blood began to pool in the cut, but the loss was minimal.
In just a few blinks, Fluttershy found herself divested of the majority of her coat, as well as all of the feathers on her wings. The underground kitchen was suddenly very chilly. Applejack spit out the knife and said, "Ah'm mighty proud o'ya, Fluttershy. Not one single peep!"
"They don't call me the world champion of 'Shh!' for nothing!" Fluttershy beamed at the praise. "I suppose the oven comes next?"
Applejack did a double take. "Wha—how did y'all know what I was up to?"
Fluttershy managed to turn her head towards the "chef" and said, "This is a pretty stock nightmare. The setting and players may change, but the story isn't anything innovative."
"Th-This ain't a dream! This is real!"
Fluttershy let out an annoyed huff. "You're not wearing your hat, Applejack." Fluttershy blinked, and Applejack's hat appeared in its proper place on top of her head. "Not to mention Rainbow Dash, who was flying when she knocked at my door." Beads of sweat formed on Applejack's forehead. "Plus, I keep skipping forward through the dream. I must say, this one hasn't been put together very well."
Applejack looked around the kitchen before fixing her eyes on Fluttershy once more. "Well, d'ya mind if we finish anyway? Ah'm kinda invested in th' role here."
Fluttershy shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm a little uncomfortable right now. I think I'll just wake up, instead."
And so she did.
Knock knock knock.
Fluttershy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes at the sound of a hoof knocking against her door.
Knock knock knock.
"Oh, just a minute," she said, although her voice barely carried through the room, much less through the heavy door.
Knockknockknockknockknockknock!
Fluttershy managed to climb out of bed and reach the door before the impatient pony on the other side could continue. When she pulled the heavy stone slab, it glided open easily, revealing Rainbow Dash on the other side, hoof raised for more knocking.
"Oh, good morning, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy hid a yawn, and smiled. "What are you doing up so early?"
"Fluttershy, come quick! I found a trap door underneath the arena! I think is might be the Final Retreat!"
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I still really want to know if Twilight's okay. It's torture that she or Zecora wasn't even mentioned this chapter.
2559759
Maybe I should swap The Invisible Fortress, Day Six with Meanwhile... just to taunt you.
Also, did you just Ctrl+F through Night Terrors to find out if I brought up either of them?
2559763I pressed /, which works as a quick version of the search feature.
Have you ever considered doing a stat write up for the girls so that a few enterprising GMs might consider putting them in a game of Exalted
2565989
I did create a character sheet for Twilight: Twilight Sparkle the Twilight. I haven't taken the time to do any of the others. (As the blog post says, this is a starting-level character using the 2.5 errata rules without delving into merits and flaws, and is not wholly indicative of Twilight's ability in the story. Stats are also indicative of abilities in an alien world, where some things either don't carry over or are more difficult to reach, such as having Celestia as her mentor.)
I gave her at least one dot in each skill (though only one of the Craft variants -- we don't need Twilight running around with dots in things like Craft[Glamour], Craft[Fate], or Craft[Vitriol]) on the presumption that she'd basically read books on so many subjects, she had the equivalent of minimal experience in many fields. Her performance in the Running of the Leaves is a perfect example of earning a single dot in Athletics by reading a book.
She's learned a few more sorceries so far in the story, but I'm of the opinion that the very first thing a character should ever do after completing a sorcerous initiation is to learn the appropriate level of countermagic. That way, if you f
k up leaning a new spell, you can fix your mistake on your own.
With regard to her three dots in War, I've got each of the girls set up with a different style of combat, and Twilight as the leader directs the others for things such as coordinated attacks rather than necessarily getting her hooves dirty.
Archery goes to Pinkie with her essence cannon (which is actually an Alchemical Exalted weapon, but... well... Pinkie Pie). Fluttershy has Thrown which she showed off against those barbarians trying to kill Rainbow and AJ. Applejack and her sword obviously have Melee. Rainbow has Martial Arts, using Solar Hero Style (in 1e, Solar Hero was the Brawl ability, so I consider it separate from the rest of Martial Arts). Rarity hasn't really demonstrated it yet, but I've given her Dreaming Pearl Courtesan Style Martial Arts.
The style uses whips and ropes as weapons, although specially-prepared sashes, capes, gown trains, sleeves, etc. can work just as well. Using the charms in the style, the martial artists can also treat completely normal sashes, capes, gown trains, sleeves, etc. as weapons.
That's Fluttershy for you. If the incarnation of chaos and disharmony couldn't talk her into betraying herself when she was a mortal, this place doesn't stand a chance.
A shame the same can't be said of some of the others...
In any case, looking forward to more. Especially when next we cut back to Equestria. Octavia's been hanging from that cliff for a while now, and Derpy's best pony.
2566362
I think it says something about Fluttershy's character that more than just recognizing the nightmare for what it is, she criticizes its quality. While being flayed alive.
Being a doormat's gotta come from somewhere, right?
2566056 Perfect thanks for this I showed your story to the people in my group and now all they want is a team up session with the Mane 6. Now you and your story are officially my favorite things on this site.
2566377
There's a fanfic in which a Dalek (from Doctor Who) gets a Red Lantern Ring. It says that Daleks are constantly subject to such extreme rage that other beings would outright explode, so the Red Ring (which normally reduces its wearer to frothing, animalistic rage completely devoid of higher reasoning) has no effect on its ability to think and speak. I think Fluttershy is similar for fear: she's constantly terrified of everything, but it almost never affects her ability to function (incidentally, this is the essence of bravery). So her reaction to this "nightmare" is basically "bitch please, my own shadow is more frightening".