"This place is unbelievable," said Rainbow Dash, looking to the huge chamber they had entered. "I thought Twilight liked books, but Hermaeus Mora takes the cake."
The group had found themselves in a large circular chamber after entering the building, expansive, and with walls made entirely of books circling up to the distant roof. There were no doors in the chamber, but there was a ramp-like platform to their right, trailing the wall as it spiraled upward and out of sight. The most distinctive feature was to the left of them.
Other than the strip of land they stood on, the ramp was the only standable ground. The rest of the room was dominated by a lake of the same black liquid they had seen outside, great spires of black books lifting up from its depths and extending out of sight. A great vortex of paper spun rapidly in the dead middle of the room, twirling over the liquid without interruption.
"How creepy," said Rarity, approaching the arch of the door to the room and running a hoof across the books that composed the wall. "How could anything be comfortable living in such a dreary place?"
"Hermaeus told us that Daedric Princes are not easy to understand," said Princess Luna, turning around to take in all the room. "Something like this is probably normal to him."
"Then I would hate to see what he would consider abnormal," said Applejack, shaking slightly at her surroundings.
"Hey, look at this," said Spike, clenching one of the books open in his claws. "I've never seen anything like it!"
"Come on, Fluttershy," said Rarity, holding the timid pegasus in her hooves. "Pull yourself together, for Twilight."
Fluttershy had relapsed back into her terrified state upon seeing the inside of this room, and how much closer the foreboding black liquid was in here. She could feel her heartbeat getting faster with every second she had gone through after experiencing the sight of Apocrypha for the first time. She really wanted a bed to hide under right now.
Rarity's words punctured her fear like a hot knife through butter.
It made her remember what Twilight had done to protect all of them from the changeling queen, and how close she was to being the first of her victims, until Twilight came in when all hope seemed lost and saved them just in time. She remembered that in order to attain the powers Twilight had used to defend them all, she made a deal with something as foreboding as Hermaeus Mora, something she admitted, scared her worse than a dragon. She had spent what would be fifteen years to her, before returning to Equestria to save them all.
Mustering up all of her will, and with the memory of Twilight in her mind, Fluttershy forced her face into a glare and joined the group in looking at the book Spike had found.
The book lay open and both of the visible pages were both incomprehensible to the ponies.
The left page was covered in what appeared to be writing in a language none of them had seen before.
The page on the right showed some sort of bipedal creature as well as a hammer, a knife, and a heart.
"What kind of chicken scratch is that?" asked Rainbow, arching an eye ridge at the bizarre etching.
"And that creature, I've never seen anything like it," said Rarity, looking to the strange drawing.
"Is it some kind of diagram for a bizarre greeting card?" asked Pinkie, looking over Spike's shoulder. "If so, I can't tell it's for a birthday or Hearts and Hooves day."
"It is strange," said Princess Luna, looking to her older sister, "I have never seen letters like these."
"Neither have I," admitted Celestia, looking to the book warily. "I would say it further proves that what Hermaeus Mora said is correct."
"What is that?" asked Applejack, trying to remember everything that was said when Hermaeus Mora appeared.
"He must indeed hail from a world alien to our own," said Celestia, everyone looking at her in confusion.
"Did you not believe him when he told us?" asked Fluttershy, giving a confused look.
"Not fully until now," replied Celestia, "Throughout my life I have seen strange things, but all of them were native to our reality."
"Even Discord?" inquired Rarity, slightly surprised.
"Yes," answered Celestia. "Despite his odd mannerisms and appearance, Discord is no alien."
She cast a wary glance at the book Spike held, "I have lived a long time and have had many years to study the strange corners of my realm. This language has nothing in common with any tongue, Equestrian or otherwise."
"But what does it mean?" asked Rainbow Dash, just as confused as the rest. "It sounds important, but how does that affect us?"
"It means we are truly in uncharted territory now," said Shining Armour, a serious look on his face. "It means we must proceed with extreme caution."
"Shining is right," said Cadence, next to her fiance. "We have to be careful."
"This means that you all had the right idea," said Luna, give Twilight’s friends a look of gratitude. "Defying Hermaeus Mora would have been a mistake."
"Well, what did you expect, your majesty?" said Rainbow Dash, a little of her ego resurfacing for the first time since Twilight had disappeared. "We're awesome."
"We can't afford to wait around for too long in this place," said Shining, looking to the ramp platform that led up. "We need to find Twilight."
They all voiced their agreement and began to make their way up the ramp, the black lake below becoming smaller and smaller as they climbed. After a while the light that had illuminated the room before faded to darkness, but all those who had horns lit them to guide the way, the different colored auras combining to make it look like they were surrounded by an aurora borealis. Eventually, they exited into another room.
"Whoa," Applejack said, as they were all taking in the room around them.
It was large and intricate, multiple floating lights illuminated the room. Books flapped around like large birds, coming to rest on a random shelf, or section of wall, only to take off again. At the far end of the room was an ornate book stand atop a small platform, small circular pools of black liquid sat on both sides.
"What do we do now?" asked Fluttershy, looking around the room. "There doesn't seem to be anywhere to go from here."
"That book up ahead looks like the one we used to get here," said Cadance, a thoughtful look on her face. "It is bigger, though."
"Oh! oh! I know," said Pinkie excitedly, bouncing up the platform to the book.
"Pinkie!" gasped Rarity, her and the others watching as their bubbly companion disappeared in a flash of white light.
"We have got to try harder to stop her from doing that," said Luna exasperated, Celestia glaring and nodding her approval. "She is going to get us into trouble."
Pinkie reappeared the same way she disappeared.
"Just as I thought," said Pinkie excitedly. "The book zapped me to some other part of the castle, were another staircases led up and up and up and..."
"PINKIE!" Snapped Fluttershy, speaking before anypony else could and pressing her muzzle to her friends. "We are here for Twilight, if you keep taking chances like that, you could get us all killed."
The others all agreed.
"Please, just be more careful," said Celestia.
"Okie dokie lokie."
With the path clear to them, they started towards the large book. Rainbow stopped to examine one of the pools of black liquid as they progressed.
"What even is that stuff?" She asked, pointing to the pool with a hoof.
Celestia, who was closest to it, dipped her head down a little to examine it.
She inhaled deeply through her nostrils, "I think its ink... AAHHH!"
'SPLASH'
Everyone turned to the source of the splash to see Princess Celestia submerged halfway into the pool of liquid. She had sunk in up to her hips, her hind legs flailing up and down as if struggling to break the hold of something. And to say, the situation got quite the reaction from the rest of the group.
"PRINCESS!"
"SISTER!"
Luna was the first to reach the flailing back end of her sibling, taking to the air and grabbing her prismatic tail in her mouth and pulling hard. But whatever was pulling her in was very strong, Luna unable to gain any ground as she flapped her wings harder. But at this rate, she would be pulled in too.
Pinkie Pie and Applejack, being earth ponies and therefore the strongest of the group, each took hold of one of the Princesses flailing hind legs, pulling with all the strength that they could muster. Slowly, the Princess backed out of the pool, albeit slowly. The rest of the group each grabbed the back of the other, forming two living chains, and pulled with all their might.
Princess Celestia came free with a mighty splash, taking a great gasp of air as she and the rest of the group fell backwards in a pony pile up, poor Spike being squashed at the bottom. They all gasped in terror as a shiny black tendril unwrapped from Celestia's neck, extending a good nine feet in the air. It whipped in a few random directions before plunging back into the pool with a splash.
"Sister!" gasped Luna, crawling out of the pony pile and helping Celestia up. "Are you alright?"
"I think so," said Celestia, ink running down her neck as she tried to catch her breath. "Thank you, all of you."
"What was that thing?" asked a terrified Fluttershy, the last to climb off of Spike.
"Whatever it was," said Applejack, casting a look at the other pool. "I think it's safe to assume it's not alone.
Casting a wary glance to the pools of ink, they all scrambled to the book, vanishing one after the other as they touched it. Cadance hoisted Spike onto her back and touched the book, both vanishing. The book Spike had shown them before lying on the floor were the pony pile had been, the young drake never even noticing he had not ever dropped it.
"Now what?" said Pinkie, the stairs the book had lead them to a three way split.
"Maybe we should split up?" suggested Applejack.
"Not a good idea," said Celestia, her coat still dark in places. "It took all of you to get me out of the grasp of that thing, if someone encounters another one and we aren't all present, they would be done for."
They all agreed that the last thing any of them wanted was to be dragged into a pool of ink to who knows where.
"But whatever shall we do?" said Rarity, a slight flash of drama in her voice. "It'll take forever to find Twilight at this rate."
"If that is what it takes then so be it," said Shining Armour with conviction.
"We heard her here," said Cadance, her resolve unaffected. "So we will search here, and together we can..."
'DUR NEH VIIR'
The loud noise reverberated to the left, drawing all their attention, a flash of slightky purple light being seen at the dstant top of the left staircase.
"Way to go Twilight," said Spike, punching the air as the group headed up the left staircase.
Rainbow Dash fluttered above the ascending group, a determined smile on her face, "If I didn't know better, I would say she was deliberately leading us..."
A ferocious roar ripped through the air, making all of them gasp. It sounded big, it sounded close to were the shouts they were flowing originated from. It did not sound friendly.
"TWILIGHT!" They all shouted, galloping up the stairs, Spike still bouncing on Cadence's back.
As they climbed Apocrypha's yellow sky became visible through an arch up ahead, as well as several towers in the distance.
hey man whatever you feel is best
I say go for it
I have absolutely no objections to the author's note, and also recommend Pinkie.
meh up to you no AJ or PP for me
Personally feel like shipping adds nothing here, but do what you want.
9526771
Could add more mushy emotions.
So long as you can make it seem natural. No romance is better than one shoehorned in.
This story never seemed like the type to include romance, throwing it in would mess up the feel this story has. But that’s my opinion, you probably could weave it in but it would be a risk.
Eh, I'm not much for shipping her with her friends, plus it doesn't feel like romance would suit this story. Anyhow, I bet Twilight is gonna tear them a new one for coming to her, after she warned and BEGGED them, not to come to Apocrypha.
It would be out of place, and then again rises the question of "why?"
I'm fine with shipping but this isn't really a romance story so I don't really see a point beyond unexplored doe eyes. Like if it ties to the main themes of the story an adventure story can swing a romance subplot. But at this point of the story all the parts I could see hinting that subplot have mostly happened. So you can't really pull a romance out of the blue unless it's some unrequited crush that just now starts or something. Unless you want to rewrite some past scenes to add in hints of feelings.
For example one story I've read was an adventure story but it never exlored romance. In the background though you had Dash calling Twilight, the group's "sparkle" or "her" egghead. "Let go get our sparkle back girls" etc. It very much hinted throughout that there was something more to Twilight for Rainbow. On this story though none on the five have really gotten more notice than the others (a downside of such a large cast that need to react to situations you have ten characters alone in the sisters, shining, cadence, the five, and Spike.
No matter what you decide I'd suggest working out a vague end goal for this ship ahead of time. Do you want it to be a brief mention that gets a call back later, A subplot that effects the story, or an involved theme.
It's too late for an involved thematic romance, it would require massive rewrites so if that's what you want I'd suggest waiting for another story.
It's a little, but not too late for a subplot, those would require hints for the reader like the example. The only one you are prepared for as the story is already written would be Cadence dumping her brother for her or something (only because you can piggyback off of her natural reaction to what Shining did to Twilight and twist it as either a familial or romantic love), which I highly advise against, it would derail the entire story. You could feasibly rewrite and change the shipped character's interactions slightly throughout the story (if Twilight was the one with the feelings she'd have to show hints of that). Or you could have the romance spark here and now for some reason which has to address how inconvenient the time is after the five messed up so bad.
Or it could be a footnote, a brief mention or thread that gets explored in the epilogue or rides off into the sunset in the epilogue.
Just my thoughts on it.
Why not have Twilight seduce Hermaus Mora?
9526899
So... You want to ship Twilight with Mora? I really don't see that one taking off.
*Edit*, whoops, wrong discussion. Ignore me.
I don't see shipping as even necessary to the story. It can go without it.
i'm along for the long haul so go for it. my only question is how organic will you make it feel. 0.o guess i'll find that out when i read it now wont i. :3
Again, it’s DUR
With all that happened during the Wedding? I would have her go for Luna. I just can't see any relations with any of the Mane Six working out after they left her to her fate, she may have forgiven them but I don't think she has or will forget and I don't think she Trusts them that much either. that would make ANY relationships with ANY of the Mane Six rocky at best.
9526904
... ew.
9526826
dramatic experiences can cause a shift in someones emotions
9526904
Can Daedric Princes even feel love?
Like how others have previously stated, it is a little late in the story to introduce a ship. Your only option if you want to include more than a platonic love relationship would be to rewrite previous chapters. Personally I think you should keep Twilight x other mane six ships out of this story. But that's just my two bits.
9527256
I'd say it depends on the Prince.
Hermaeus Mora? No, absolutely not. He was sort of inspired by the eldritch creatures from H.P. Lovecraft, but H.M. has a purpose that is knowable. Love probably isn't something that even occurs to it. Love to H.M. is a word, a subject to study, not something to feel.
9527256
Uh... realistically speaking? No. Daedra, all Daedra, have very different emotions and world views. Dremora and other summoned Daedra don't just hate mortals for summoning them, they hate them on principle. Since they're immortal (all Daedra, when they die, return to their native plane of Oblivion and reform) they see mortals as insects. They hate mortals on principal, and, if let free onto Nirn, will kill as many as they can just because.
There are some Daedra that might kick this trend (those in service to Meridia, Azura, and Sanguine for example) but for the most part, yeah.
Note: Hermeaus Mora's are different, see most Daedra are species of their own, Dremora, Ogrim, Winged Twilight, and they can, to a degree, choose who to serve. The Seekers, Lurkers (and a lesser known Daedra from ESO called Watchers) are all created from Mora directly. So they have less autonomy, but as a result of Mora being more... Chaotic Neutral, most of them don't cause issues.
There are 2-3 wild Lurkers roaming around Solsthiem in the game, so... idk, grain of salt
Meh too late to add it, and it does not enhance but takes away from the story as a whole
I have no objections to late game romance, but I’d think we would have seen signs of its existence if either side of the pair had thoughts like that before this point, so if there were something of that nature it would have to be cultivated from scratch, or by having a time skip of some form or another where Twi and somepony else would have to be alone together for an extended period, like if one of them stayed with her in apocrypha. Only one I could picture doing that would be Dash out of a sense of extreme loyalty.
No need of mushy stuff here and it would be late to add now, it would feel like an unnecesary filler.
Dur Neh Viir??? the undead dragon from dawnguard? Why she would be calling him?/spoiler]
Spike will get an stroke
I do not think romance would add much, but if you want you could add non canon chapters that explore it?
I would be down for a crack chapter where twilight and Mora get all lovely hahaha
9527535
Testing a shout perhaps? Or the limits of the shouts?
9527679
in her typical careless fashion? i can see it
Very nice chapter. I like how you put in the stuff for the dwarven tools of kagrenac and the Heart of Lorkhan. The book was probably on how the dwarves dissapeared, that's probably quite an expensive piece of knowledge if it holds that secret.
I don't think that shipping twilight would be a good idea here, especially since its been more than 15 years since she has really spent time with them. And unless she's just finishing up her end of the bargain, they're just gonna make her take longer in apocrypha.
What if they helped pay her price? Though I don't think H.M. would go for that.
I don't object, but if you are gonna ship, please let it with anypony other than Rainbow Dash. I feel we have enough TwiDash ships already, more than enough.
I'd personally choose Rarity, but that's just me, and while I'm against the TwiDash ship, ultimately it's your story so do what you will. I won't stop reading solely based on if you do decide on TwiDash so no worries about that.
9527770
There's already enough shipping at all! I would prefer if there was no pairing.
ship twilight with fluttershy or applejack would be my vote
So honestly why not Twi X Mora? I mean out of all of the characters so far they are the two that have had the most chemistry and interaction in this fanfic. Celestia, Luna and the "Main 5". would both be a no, due to how they responded at first. As well as how little developmental interactions they have had so far with Twilight. Also twilight "loves" knowledge. And Hermaeus Mora is quite literally the personification of it. However I think it should come possibly from Hermaeus Mora first since it would make it interesting and awkward. And seeing Twilights reaction to it would be interesting as well.
9526826
9528937
This could work. If the Daedric prince could create the Lurkers than with a romance either real or false he could do that and maybe combine it with MLP magic and then use them to gain more knowledge. Leave them with “mom” to gain more and, since EQG is a thing the mirror world and maybe more as the portal was created by Starswirl, he could go to other worlds more easily. Might be easier than the truth as that in Moras mind could lead to the ponies interfering and having more death and destruction than necessary.
9528937
Hermaeus Mora does not even have a solitary form.
9529263
Just like in the canon, where she spills the beans in front of Starlight, after Twilight told her not too
I object
Tried the first chapter, finally. I was pretty excited for this story.
It's illegible. This story is filled with typos and mistaken words (weld/welled, families/family's, etc), invalid sentence construction ("Had not a month ago did her friend's promise to..."), and run-on sentences. There are a lot of run-ons.
I can't even comment on the narrative because the writing is so technically flawed. I respect that you're turning out a chapter a day, that's admirable, but get an editor, or proofread your own writing. Focus on punctuation and forming valid clauses.
9529190
I mean we have all read lovecraft. And "hen--- you know what I mean. Not having a form really is no obstacle to "love". Both physical and physiological...
9529634
It is harder for me to get a proof reader than most people. My equipment is really out dated and every proof reader I have talked to uses Google docs, a program un compatible with my equipment.
9526779
I say go for it.
Yeah, I gotta object on any shipping of Twilight with the mane six. I came for the MLP universe reacting to an eldritch horror, not any romance. Just my opinion.
Shipping... seems a bit out of place here? And if there was a ship, I was never really fond of any ponies on the Mane 6 being shipped with another of the Mane 6. Any of them picking favorites amongst themselves isn’t harmonic, kinda a throw-off from the show’s core message and Twilight’s main motive. If you want to ship her with a non-M6 character, though, maybe that’d be fine as long as it’s done well.
9600648
Of course there will be shipping friendshipping
Oh shit. Twilight's learning Sould Tear.
Twipie would be nice
Just finished chapter 24 and looking at the authors notes I have no objections.
9530506
The two images in this chapter are gone.
11596335
Fixed