Equis Machina Arcana

by white1498

the investigation

September 25, 1825, C.E.
Ponyville, canter county, Equestria

There have been strange signals coming from the southern ice caps its probably nothing too serious but I have already started to assemble an expeditionary crew with myself as the ground teams lead. My own investigations into some... interesting activity from the townsfolk has left me confused, ponies who are close personal friends with Caramel (last name unknown), Filthy Rich, Junebug, Mayor Mare, Nurse Redheart, Octavia melody, Silver Spoon, and Thunderlane. These ponies are the only ones to have been with them last. Now for the real question: where are the missing ponies and are they still alive? I have gathered the equipment that I’ll need to watch them tonight hopefully I’ll get some answers as to what happened to those ponies and if not then at least I can cross them off my list of suspects.

September 26, 1825, C.E.
Ponyville, canter county, Equestria

Time is short, but I found the reason for why ponies have been going missing. There appears to be a sort of dark cult starting to strangle the life out of the town. Even my own friends appear to have fallen to the cult I plan to head up to Canterlot to finish the investigation and to lobby the crown for funds, personnel, and equipment to help speed up the expedition. I pray to the goddess Faust that those who will serve under me that their souls find deliverance from the encroaching darkness-
I thought I heard something and it turned out to be an owl with a paper. I made a sketch of the symbol on the paper below before I burned the paper. Everything I need is packed: my research note, my spellbook, a change of clothes, etcetera, but most importantly this very journal. I will leave the town come morning... I can only hope the crown will listen to what I have to say about the recent increase in the madness that is spreading from the southern lands.

September 30, 1825, C.E.
Canterlot, canter county, Equestria

I finally had successfully gained a private audience with the crown. What I revealed to the crown from just her face alone confirmed what my investigation has been pointing at for apparently the last two years alone. The crown has given me her full support and with that everything, I’ll need to launch my expedition into the southern ice lands before the year is out. I just hope that it will give me and my expedition enough time to end this madness where it began.
The crown has provided me with an airship the: Mistbloom, an interesting name, but she’s one of the rarest types of airships. As to what the class is I don’t have any idea, but what I do know is that it's fast and it has a massive cargo bay for an airship of its size. The departure will be within a day of the construction's completion of the airship. As for the journey should take just three weeks to get to the southern ice lands and to the heart of this accursed corrupting madness.

I saw them do it tonight, I saw those monsters just murder a newborn colt... I ran to tell the crown and she already had the cultists publicly executed. And now the entire royal treasury is being poured into the expedition. The crown has even started to use propaganda to make the public aware of what this expedition is meant to be... I don’t even know what to think or write as this will mean the madness will try everything it can to make the expedition go up in smoke. I just hope the preparations don’t take to long because the longer they take the more the madness will get to spread and corrupt more innocent ponies to its dark and twisted ways.

October 1, 1825, C.E.
Canterlot, canter county, Equestria

The drydock caught fire this morning, a cultist that must have apparently been working at the drydocks set it ablaze to delay the expedition. However, thankfully the royal guard arrived just as the fire was starting to spread from its point of origin which was the drydocks timberyard. Though it is fortunate that the royal guard unit that was sent had five pegasuses who used the local clouds to extinguish the fire long before it could reach the facility for the expeditions airship. With the fire, the airship and all of its construction material are now under guard along with the supplies in the warehouses.

There is just so much that must be done before the airship's construction is complete. Even I myself have started to build new tools to further prepare the expedition for the hardship of the journey to stop these horrors and the horrors themselves. I pray that the great goddess Faust that the expedition succeeds in breaking this tide of dark madness that has begun to cast itself over the land.

october 10, 1825, C.E.
Canterlot, canter county, Equestria

several dozen cultists attacked the airship drydocks today. in fact, the fighting got so bad that several civilians came out to aid the guard with weapons and equipment of their own design and build or with whatever they could get their hooves on such short notice. thankfully only the cultists lost any person in the fighting, though with this attack a state of closed martial law has been issued to all none career military, drydock workers and expedition personnel. I can’t help feel sorry for the ponies who between sunrise and sun fall must be inside else they will be attacked on sight with fully charged stun spells. a fully charged stun spell will burn the fur off of where ever it hits and I should know I was mistaken for a civilian but after the captain of the guard chewed out the guard who hit me with that stun spell he let me out with a formal apology on that guards behalf, but I can’t say that I can him blame my attire doesn’t exactly say that I’m part of the expedition. perhaps I should ask the crown for a tailor and armorer who can provide me with what I need...maybe.

October 31, 1825, C.E.
Canterlot, canter county, Equestria

Finally, after a whole month of construction, the expedition can get underway to journey to the southern ice lands and begin to drive back the darkness that has been spreading over the land. However, I must hurry because I am the only one who can lead the expeditions ground forces to fight the encroaching darkness and with any luck, the thing that is responsible will be slain during this expedition... I still got another two hours before I’m needed I think I’ll probably stop by that bookstore near the airship drydocks.