"I have no intention of continuing my studying with you once the crisis in Equestria has been averted," Twilight said to the mass of tendrils and eyes in front of her. "Not after what I have learned."
It had only been a short time since Twilight began her studying with Hermaeus Mora within Apocrypha, but just that was enough for her to get a brief inkling of what could be found here, and it was incredible. There were secrets and knowledge here that would give one a new way to see all of existence in a whole new light. The possibilities were endless.
Until Twilight came across her first history book, a book on the Daedric Prince's.
"Your influence in Equestria may be weak, but that is not true for all realms," Twilight continued, the eye in front of her saying nothing, in fact, if she did not know any better, she would say he was interested in what she had to say. "This other realm, this Nirn, you and your brethren have done unspeakable acts there, throughout its history."
She had thought Discord had been cruel when she and her friends faced him, but the deeds of the Daedric Prince's made him look like a playground bully. The very truth of what she was dealing with gave her a new outlook on her situation, and it terrified her. She was just grateful to have learned that Hermaeus Mora was one of the more reasonable Daedric Prince's compared with the rest of his kin, but he still had done horrible acts to get his way.
And as for his champions...
"It cannot be said that the information I have already attained from you will be invaluable for the conflict with the Changelings," continued Twilight, not talking her eyes of Hermaeus. " But you have not been above turning on your subordinates in the past. Miraak..."
"Do you honestly see yourself ever attempting what Miraak tried?" Hermaeus Mora asked in his usual cold voice.
"Well...no," replied Twilight honestly, having read that Hermaeus Mora had Miraak eliminated not only for rebellion, but also because he planned to use what had been taught to him for his own gain, despite what Hermaeus Mora had already done for him.
"I would never betray my teacher."
"Which makes you a more worthy successor to him already," said Hermaeus Mora."It is true...I punish disloyalty very harshly, but I also richly reward my faithful servant's."
Twilight had to admit he was right, even though his 'punishments' were some of the most appalling acts she had ever heard of.
"But I would still just be your pawn," said Twilight, pointing her hoof forward.
"A situation... you are content with," said Hermaeus Mora, his tone taking a slight dark and mischievous tone. "Under your Princess Celestia's guidance."
Twilight's jaw dropped at what she had just heard.
"What are you saying?"Twilight asked, a look of total shock on her face. "Princess Celestia has done so much for me. She has tutored me since I was just a little filly, and has..."
"And has pitted you and your friends against mighty foes," Hermaeus Mora said bluntly. "Putting all of you in grave danger in the process."
"That was different," Twilight snapped back. "She knew me and my friends were destined to wield the Elements of Harmony against Equestria's most powerful villans, so she had..."
"Her options have never been limited, child," said the turning mass of tentacles. "She may not have had...access to these 'Elements of Harmony' you speak of anymore, but sending you and your companions into those situations...unprepared...was never her only choice."
"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, great puffs of irritated steam billowing from her nostrils. "The Princess had no choice but to send us into those situations. Nightmare Moon and Discord were too grave a danger for her to..."
"Celestia is a millennium old matriarch, with a plentiful store of knowledge," said Hermaeus Mora. "Knowledge that could have been a great asset to you and your friends, if she had not but...accompanied you through those dire situations."
"What are you even getting at?" Twilight asked, irritated at all the slander being directed at her mentor. "What do you have against our beloved Princess?"
"I hold no ire against her," explained Hermaeus Mora calmly. "However...none can hide the truth from me...even if they are hiding it...from themselves."
Twilight sat on her hunches, her mouth open in shock.
"The affection between the two of you is genuine,"stated Hermaeus Mora simply, somehow knowing what Twilight was about to rebuttal with. "But there's a truth she has been hiding from for so many long years she is not even aware she hides from it anymore."
"Princess Celestia isn't scared of anything," snapped Twilight.
"Except herself," stated Hermaeus Mora. "She has been riddled with guilt since she had to...banish her younger sibling...guilt...that has crushed her will to fight."
"She did not have a choice," argued Twilight. "Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, who was about to bring about eternal night..."
"And Celestia has let that deed cripple her," explained Hermaeus Mora, his cold voice echoing in Apocrypha, despite his low tone. "For a millennium worth of days...she has blamed herself for what happened...on that day...so long ago."
"Luna was jealous," said Twilight irritability. "All the ponies back then ignored her night and..."
"And Celestia believes that if she had not just admired her sisters night more often herself, rather then focusing solely on her duties as Princess, it may not have happened. She believes that if she could not protect her sister, she cannot protect anything."
"How would you even know?" Twilight asked, glaring. "You don't even know her..."
"My influence in Equestria is weak...yes, " said Hermaeus Mora, shocking Twilight that he would say that himself. "But Celestia and her sibling are so unique, even with my limited perspective...I have still gleaned much of their past. And if you need proof of her fears, let her face Chrysalis...when you go to confront her. "
"I have every belief she will fight along with me," said Twilight confidently.
"And if Chrysalis were to best her?"
"Then it would mean Chrysalis has grown to strong, and I will face her myself," Twilight said without fear.
Suddenly, a tendril passed through Twilight. Not simply passing under or over her head, but through her, passing through her face from one cheek to the next. Her eyes dilated as something strange washed over her.
It was an indescribable sensation, but from what she could comprehend, she was feeling through another's body. It was faint and hazy, the best way to describe it was looking at something through dirty reading glasses, but it was distinct. She felt a great power surging through her, warm and welcoming, but also burning and intense.
She did not know how, but Twilight knew she was feeling Princess Celestia's strength.
Then the sensation vanished and another took its place. This one was strong too, but it felt vile and repulsive, Twilight’s stomach rolling in revolution as it was as assaulted with this horrible sensation. She felt like she had swallowed a gallon of pond scum.
This had to be the power of Queen Chrysalis.
The sensations passed in less than a blink, and Twilight felt her body return to its normal sensations without change.
"Wa...was that...? Twilight stammered to Hermaeus Mora's writhing mass.
"Princess Celestia and Queen Chrysalis," Hermaeus Mora said, answering Twilight's broken question "Their strength."
Twilight felt a whole new perspective of her mentor emerging in her heart. She knew Celestia was strong, but she made a normal unicorn look pathetic. Queen Chrysalis was not weak either, but she would be hard pressed to out do Celestia's. The two were almost evenly matched, with Celestia being slightly more than Chrysalis.
"When I am done here, we will face her together," said Twilight, her resolve spiking.
"And if Celestia were to challenge first and fail...? said Hermaeus Mora.
"That will not happen," said Twilight. "Even if she did lose the first strike, it would take more than one lucky hit for something like Chrysalis to beat the Princess."
"Unless she were to throw the fight,"
"That will not happen," said Twilight sternly.
"Believe what you will, child," said Hermaeus Mora. "But truth is still truth."
"This conversation does not effect my decision," Twilight suddenly said. "Once Equestria is safe, we are done."
"If you wish to pursue knowledge through your own way, it is your choice, young Twilight," said Hermaeus Mora, calmly. "However, you may find that it is not so easy to turn your back on Apocrypha."
---
"Twilight," gasped Rarity, her mouth open in shock, same as the rest. "How can you say that?"
"Because I know she had more fight in her than that," said Twilight. "I knew it would have taken more than what was thrown at her to just breach her defence so easily."
"That's not true Twilight," moaned the injured Princess, Twilight's friends looking at her with a open mouthed gaze. "I gave it my best..."
"And I know that is what you believe," interrupted Twilight, tears still streaming from her angry eyes. "You have been weighed down by your guilt for so long you do not even realize it anymore. Of how unworthy you feel to protect what you care about."
Twilight's friends all gasped at what she said.
"Well I won't do it anymore," said Twilight. " I won't be your weapon, I won't be your escape from..."
"Did you forget about me?" Chrysalis asked, grabbing Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and the downed Princess in her magic, great green goop suddenly gluing their hooves to the floor.
"What the...?" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings in an attempt to escape, but the substance held firm.
"MY SHOES!" yelled Rarity, staring in horror as the glop stained the surface of her fancy slippers.
"What in tarnation?" Applejack tried to rip her hooves free, but even her earth pony strength was no match for the goop.
"EEEEWWW," said Pinkie Pie as she examined the stuff that rooted her hooves in place.
Fluttershy, Spike, and Princess Celestia remained silent, Spike and Fluttershy whimpering in fear. Celestia was too shocked by what Twilight had said to her for her to even comprehend what was happening anymore. But then everypony was drawn to Twilight, who had just teleported out of the goo that held her, now standing about twenty feet from Queen Chrysalis.
"Forgot you?" Twilight asked, her face taking a stern, dedicated look. "You have been my main focus for so long, I will never forget you. And I will stop you."
"And how do you plan to do that, little pony?" sneered the Changeling Queen, smug confidence in her voice. "Whether you believe it or not, I still defeated your precious Princess, and even now my legions chip away at Canterlot's shield."
"And you're the head honcho, right?" Twilight asked, her tears finally drying up, replaced by a mean smile. "The one with all the smarts, who makes all the decisions."
"Flattery will get you nothing," said Chrysalis, her face split with a grin. "But yes, I am the one they...."
"So if I kill you, they won't know what to do next," Twilight said, levitating herself up above all in the room in her own magic. "Without you, this invasion of yours falls apart."
Pony, dragon, and changeling alike dropped their jaws at the claim and how easily it flew from her lips. Twilight's friends had never heard her say something like that before, and their brains were having difficulty registering that they had even heard it. Princess Celestia was even more shaken upon hearing it.
Chrysalis was the first to snap out of her surprised state.
"You dare challenge me?" She growled, rising up to the same hight as Twilight with a buzz of her wings. "Unicorn whelp!"
"Hit me with your best shot," said Twilight bravely, her eyes narrowing above her smirking mouth.
"Twilight, no," Fluttershy said in a distraught voice.
"She'll hurt you, partner," said Applejack, struggling to get free. "Don't do this."
"Twilight, please no," moaned Spike, tears forming in his eyes as he watched the pony he had known his whole life face off against this monster.
"NO," Rainbow yelled, her wings beating like a hummingbirds, trying to get loose.
Chrysalis sneered, her horn lighting up with her green magic. Twilight stood firm, levitating in her own purple aura. Then the changeling reared up in the air, flailing her front legs in aggression.
"TWILIGHT," screamed Rarity, tears streaming her mascara. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, DARLING."
The Queen fired a magical blast even larger than what she took down Celestia with.
"TWILIGHT!" All her friends screamed as the beam of green death tore towards their friend.
'FUS RO DAH'
Queen Chrysalis gasped as her target suddenly opened her mouth and spoke those words, which echoed throughout the room. She watched in shock as a luminous blew mist flew from Twilight's mouth, her beam not even slowing it down, being torn to ribbons as it travelled closer. She had no time to get out of the way, the bizarre cloud closing in on her no matter how much effort she put in her own spell.
The windows and walls in the back of the room exploded, showering the streets of Canterlot in debris, Queen Chrysalis among it.
Well, shit
(sigh) Fine, I'll do it.
In her tongue, she's Dovahkiin: Twilightborn!
oh come on
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/248/875/e9a.png
I wish Unrelenting Force was that devastating.
Okay, at first I questioned whether I wanted Twilight to do that shout. But it was suitably used.
(Still, I hope there's a little more to the fight.)
Eh, not too happy about the use of shouts, but at least he spellchecked his writing.
The first lesson any mage should undertake to learn is discernment. One should be able to comprehend what one is looking at, yes? Ego, fear, rage, complacency, foolishness, these are the enemies of discernment.
And they will get you killed.
ok now am curious how long twilight was in there because it takes a long time for a non dragon born to learn a shout and if so i wonder what other neat tricks he taught her, cause theres some broken magic in ES and seeing a shehai to cut though magic might be cool. also man this is why i love mora, he usually just flat out says what he wants and to be honest its kinda hard to categorize him as evil. let be honest if we dident stop miraak he would have gone on to terrorize all of tamerial, also he does tend to reward people who work for him pretty well.
yeah, I always wondered just how weak the old high king mush have been if he had been killed by Fus Ro Dah, it never seems to do that sort of thing in the game.
wait can spike learn the thuum, cause he is a dragon and as weve all learned they can natural learn the language so i could easly see him pick things up from twilight even if she doesn't personal teach him. a thuum empowered spike dont know if thats awesome of terrifying.
9440553
eh blame game limitation, talos was said to have a thuum that created a constant storm around him.
well she hasnt been squashed yet
9440530
In the Elder Scrolls lore, it's way stronger.
9440548
my ipad is a little old, I did not notice it was auto correcting wrong
9440551
The new dragonborn could come and go in Apocrypha at will, there must have been a reason Miraak was not let out
Let's eat them to gain the power they possess twilight. Eat the flesh and bone to grow stronger!!
and the
had
9440623
ow yeah he would have been a nightmare if he got out.
inkling, not incline.
Also, you should try writing in Google Docs, as the chapter editor has a way to import from GDocs. Not to mention because it's all online, you can work on your chapters from any device you log into.
~Crystalline Electrostatic~
Definitely lived up to the UNRELENTING FORCE and blew Chrysalis right on her ass.
9440649
you are right on that 3rd mistake
9440623
errors found - look carefully
error 1
Pony, dragon, and changeling alike dropped their jaws at th claim and how easily it flew from her lips. Twilight's friends hsd never heard her say something like that before, and their brains were having difficulty registering that they had even heard it. Princess Celestia was even more shaken upon hearing it.
error 2 - i dont know what you ment by this and is total gibberish
'FUS RO DAH'
9440671
Type those words in a search engine
9440671
Its from the extremely popular game, Skyrim, which is part of the universe where a lot of the characters such as Miraak and Hermaeus Mora come from. Fus Ro Dah is the first 'Words of Power' you learn in Skyrim, which is the magic of Thu'um, or shouts. This is the iconic shout of the game, the one featured in Skyrim's trailers.
9440671
that's from skyrim...
So we have confirmation. Celestia is crippled by guilt and has become a coward/pacifist. She has power but no will to use it against those that would threaten those she has to protect.
That single blast shouldn't have been enough to take her down. Even if Chrysalis was stronger the fight should have lasted longer.
Though I understand why Twilight is disappointed in Celestia, I find it hard to believe that she became murderous so easely.
9440787
Remember the trials? She already has killed before. Twilight ins't a murderer but with Chrysalis being a clear threat to her friends and Equestria she has trained for an uncountable amount of time to end that threat permanently.
The first bit of his dialogue osn't bolded here.
And the second one here.
Nice chapter. The denouncement of celestia was well delivered, but I feel like she would at least give her mentor a chance to change and some help doing it, hopefully that will happen in the next chapters when they all have a chance to calm down.
Some random guard dialogue for the future if you can fit it in somewhere. (Maybe changeling dialogue.)
"They say Twilight Sparkle murdered the High Queen. . . With her voice. Shouted her apart."
And to those who haven't played skyrim or dawnguard, hermamora does give the player an option to upgrade unrelenting force that does actually shout them to pieces/disintegrates them.
To use a page form Mr.popo's book *clears throat*
SHE'S DEAD
9440548
Hey if Ulfric Stormcloak can learn the Thu'um, why not Twilight? Especially since Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of knowledge and memory, would likely be able to use his not inconsiderable abilities to ease the amount of time and difficultly that it would take for Twilight to learn the Thu'um without his help.
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Thu%27um#Learning
- Thunder
9440623
Miraak could freely travel between Solstheim and Apocrypha, but he could not leave the island of Solstheim due to his battle with his fellow Dragon Preist Vahlok resulting in him being magically bound to Solstheim.
It's all there on the wiki:
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Miraak#History
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/Vahlok_the_Jailor#History
- Thunder
9440852
Interesting point, but it took Ulfric years to master the shouts he'd learned, and as it's said in the story, Twilight wanted to get back to Equestria as soon as possible (she wanted to take as little time for herself in Apocrypha). Personally, I think that giving Twilight shouts just makes the story less interesting to me. What would really be cool is if Hermaeus gave Twilight a power a bit closer to her natural element. After all, just, like the Dragonborn, Twilight wanted a power that she was more familiar with to defeat her enemy, and I think that Hermaeus could have granted her Queen Chrysalis' power to defeat her, just as the Dragonborn used the bend will shout against Miraak (a shout previously only known by him). But still, I like the way you think.
How long was she in there to have mastered a Shout? Took the greybeards a lifetime of study, and while she is something of a prodigy, she isn't Dovahkiin.
Fus Ro Dah. The solution to every problem in Skyrim.
Does this mean you don't want anymore correction posted?
Because there are STILL a lot of errors, and at least half of those are not something the autocorrect will catch.
9440986
Keep in mind Mirak was in Appocryfa for thousands of years and didn't age so I'm sure Hermeas Mora could bullshit it somehow
Twilight is so cool. :)
matriarch
We regret to inform you that your invasion has been canceled due to an impending storm of butt whooping courtesy of Twilight Dragonborn
9466063
Pfft...snerk...HA HA HA HA HA HA!
9441201
Yeet those bitches off a cliff with only 3 handy words!
I was waiting for Twilight to do that.
Wow, Twilight... you got to teach me that.
9599383
Somewhere a hundred miles away a mountain explodes and a dragon T-poses
I think you mean Nirn.
9626520
my damn spellcheck really does not like Elder scrolls lore
9604427
This got me to laugh more than it should
Logically speaking, removing the queen's influence over a swarm of starved animals right over a food source is a really bad idea. The instinct drivin drones would rip and tear through every living thing in seight to obtain the nourishment they so desperately desire. It would turn a planned assault into a feeding frenzy of which no one would survive.
10541208
Sorry for the necro, but since changelings also have food inside of them. Wouldn't it be easier to steal the harvested food?
Instead of picking the fruit from the trees the changelings would be stealing each other's baskets in a rage.