Sanctaphrax, the city of knowledge. Wherever there's a question, there you can find the answer.
For the right price.
Unlike most of the citizens of The Ivory Island, the Admiral doesn't concern herself with economics. Her wealth comes in knowledge and the never-ending struggle to pull the future into the present. As long as she has the bits to keep Algol's Shadow running and its crew fed, she dives, and Sanctaphrax pay is more than enough.
When a routine salvage job leads to a discovery that could change the way the world sees the sunken ruins of Equestria forever, she can't help but get a little excited. She can hear the future knocking, just another dive away. The very stars themselves might as well be in her grasp.
This story takes place in the world of Goldenwing's story Empty Horizons, but it can be read without context.
Me reading this.
Looks good, but I still need to read the original first. I'm excited!
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It should be readable without context, but whatever you want!
Midnight over Sanctaphrax?
Youre chasing lightning in the bottle, son.
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Same honestly. Mangoes are freaking delicious
And this story has my attention
Given that the Horizonverse takes place in the future, and S9's ending:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/8/28/1818592.png
(In case image doesn't show, pic isn't spoiler; it's Cozy thinking from a season 8 episode)
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Ah, but remember, Horizons interrupts the sequence of the show in S2. Twilight never gets her wings, for one. Who knows how else everything went?
Honestly, what most surprises me is that they still have the supplies needed for milkshakes. The production and preservation of ice cream says a lot about the current state of civilization.
In any case, I'm certainly intrigued. Still not planning on reading about the Mane Six slamming facefirst into a drowned dystopia and breaking themselves in the process, but you have my interest. Looking forward to more.
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It's not a post-apocalypse so much as a post-post-apocalypse. Society's already rebuilt into it's new form, and after booze, ice cream is the next thing on the list.
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Thanks for the Word-of-God feedback. No offense meant in my earlier comment. You've clearly crafted a fascinating world, but the plot just isn't what I look for in ponyfic.
I certainly can't argue with those priorities!
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No worries. Not everyone likes seeing beloved cartoon characters getting body parts and mental faculties crippled beyond repair.
Only now do I realize that you're going for a theme with the chapter titles.
To be fair, I know of at least one world where that's the case.
I wonder how the Algol's Shadow produces its oxygen. Not like it has air hoses.
Depending on how Sparkler's spell defines "looking," the leviathans could be assessing her through a number of different means.
Hmm...
Hmm...
HMMM...
Oh crapbaskets. Not the horrible fate I was expecting. Still, at least the crew's on guard, and body language can only do so much when it comes to swaying others to your will. We'll see where this goes from here.
Ah yes, just the pony I was waiting for.
Well, theyre screwed.
Who got the book on who gets eaten first?
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I didn't figure it out until I was like six chapters in, but I think it's a really cool and subtle nod to the main story!
Bruh we spent so long talking about this point. The nature of the setting means that a simple snorkel won't work, and we spitballed like a dozen different zany ideas until we finally figured it out. The answer in coming chapters, soon!
I was waiting for the plot to kick off in earnest, and what a plot it is! You had my curiousity, but now you have my full investment.
Oh hi I remember you
Now what r u up
A looong way up, because theres some reeealy big Deepfish?
Does Rook have any manipulable digits apart from mouth and tail so she can write? She didnt recognise the Sirens Hearts, or will only the academics know, or discover the legends behind them?
Is the anchor point of the Sanctaphrax chain of any actual importance currently or in the past, like the summit or other more appropiate location on Mount Everhoof, or high magical, leyline node, or just somewhere they could find given the time constraints?
Will there ever be aeven an approximate equivalent map of the current world relative to origional known?
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There's some low-laying islands, Sanctaphrax just happens to be really high up.
Traction hooves are assumed: she can still hold stuff. She just doesn't know how to write. Keep in mind the events of Empty Horizons interrupted things from season 2. Cozy would have been REALLY young when everything went to crap.
No geographical importance.
Talk to Goldenwing about that, this story's not all that concerned with the past map.
Speaking frankly, at this point, I'd declare her too dangerous too live. What's worse than a mindless sea monster? A mindful one. Of course, I'm working with knowledge of her primary analogue, so some bias is inevitable. All told, the Admiral's probably taking the wisest approach.
... Gills still need water to flow over them, and that water usually enters through the mouth. Heck, how much oxygen is in that tank, anyway?
Aw, come on, just one little biopsy? She won't even notice!
... Huh. Sorry, not sure why, but that prodded my inner mad biologist.
Harvesting unicorn horns. This got awfully End of Ponies. To say nothing of the siren heartstones. I can only imagine what happened to preexisting sea monsters in this world...
Yeah, that bubbly sigh concerns me. Cozy may be more amphibious than she's letting on... though I doubt she'll try something before she has the crew where she wants them. We'll find out soon enough.
I'm really curious what would "Rook" do now in the future. Would you keep the show interpretation of Cozy (ie. s9 finale personality and motivation), the "Cozy is innocent" route (Cozy in name only, acts like CMC) , or "movie adaptations" part like how Marvel Cinematic Universe reinterprets their comic characters (still villainous, but different motivations/backstory/powers)?
This is a good start to a story that sounds like it's going to be a real Adventure.
Good hook, really. And no dialog, except internal, nothing but action.
So Sanctaphrax floated off to another planet is seems.
I wonder if the islands are falling because something is eating their lift in order to try to escape this world?
They test the cure on some random seapone, and out pops a hippogriff and everyone becomes confused.
I take it the hamster has gone extinct, then. This sounds like a case of Habitrail for insanity.
Well... yes. And the School of Tautology is the School of Tautology.
Oh. Oh dear. That's not going to end well
"We are not crossing over with the original story. So help me, I will turn this entire city around and go back home if I have to."
Or she was just born that way. Never neglect the possibility of garbage data at the outset.
Ooh, rocketry. Though kerosene will only get them so far, and it's not like they have the facilities to liquefy and store oxygen... I assume.
In any case, I definitely get the feeling that Cozy Rook will leave an impression on this place. I just hope there will be some survivors.
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"Finally! I've wanted to go up those stairs for centuries!"
Okay, how has nopony checked to see if Rook can write yet?
I wonder if he is limited in the number of eyes he can handle, and none of the existin ones have been destroyed yet, or the Librarian class event that caused his eyes was a complete one off?
At least one of those statements is false. I'm not sure what standards the Admiral is using for "advanced" or "complex," but Equestria certainly had steam-powered trains. Of course, they can only go by archeological evidence, and seawater isn't exactly the best preservative, even when it isn't full of berserk sea monsters.
The beautiful thing here is that given how little we know about Cozy's upbringing, she could be feigning illiteracy, have forgotten how to write, or simply be lying through her serrated teeth.
Whatever the case, probably best to keep her away from the med students.
I wonder if the Admiral found Tank, or one of his relatives?
You could admit, the Torterra in Detective Pikachu are seriously impressive.
Maybe don't investigate the super-suspicious phenomenon in the ocean full of monsters? Just a thought. Hopefully more will come back from this expedition than won't.
Currently, I got Gummy, Tank, Tambelon and Other.
Thats a Big Not An Island with lots of magic.
Oh. That's what the wyrd does to manticores.
That or it's one of Ahuizotl's pets, which raises the question of what that magic did to him.
Speaking of whom, looks like a chunk of the Forbidden Jungle held together even after the flood. No doubt there's some Daring Do-grade artifact in the temple maintaining the structural integrity. And that leads to the question of how long the place will stay afloat...
Yup, definitely a chunk of the Forbidden Jungle. And Daring may retain some degree of sanity if she's still holding onto her hat... though I'm not certain about that. We'll see in time. And there's still the question of what became of Ahuizotl...
Darings hat is the only thing keeping her sane, because thats whats keeping her soul?
Wyrd cats are not Cabbalerons, depending on if the Guardian of The Forbidden Jungle also survived?
Ah, getting confused with the Dogs Of Pom.
Ooh, Cozy POV. And indeed, the little hellion is able to work with her wyrd in a way that few other Equestrian ponies could.
And hello, Ahuizotl. The years have not been kind.
Gold doesn't tarnish. Well, it doesn't when dark magic isn't involved. Who knows what that can do to the stuff? Though if it's gold leaf, then yeah, it definitely should've worn off.
As for the traps, Ahuizotl is a guardian spirit. It makes sense that he'd maintain the things. Assuming the silver fluid creates a hivemind, he may be doing it through the cats. Though Daring having an eye complicates matters...
Definitely a good thing that hydras didn't adapt to the oceans. The heads presumably all ate each other once infected with the wyrd.
I do like pegasi doing bird things, though this is a rather unusual example.
And Rook performing some brutal psychic surgery. Nopony puts Cozy in a corner. (Glow doesn't count; they're partners.)
Fascinating stuff all around. Looking forward to more.
The title made think that the fic's a Sunless Sea crossover, but I guess not. Still gonna read it though.
Thats a heck of a pyramid of traps, so I wonder if the gold structure is intact because of the silver eye, which might be an artifact triggered or used by Auitzotl to survive the Flood, or maybe even a cause, given the Rings Of Scorchio?
I love The Edge Chronicles.
Well. That simplifies things.
Also, yay for Cozy making friends... more or less. Though I imagine the Admiral will want to rethink her strategy after seeing Ahuizotl.
Admirals going to have problems hitting the brain of something where the head is so long?
Gm uses Deus Ex Daring to open up?
Loving this story so far, can't wait for more
Sanctaphrax. Is that a reference to the city in "The Curse of the Gloamgozer" and it's "Edge" series?
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Yes it, in fact, is! Glad you noticed!
I wonder how many times Eye Eye has lost for it to have that save effect, or was it created by whatever means to behave like that from the very beginning? Just the usual temple treasure? or is the Island the Dragon whose horde this is?
The silver eye petrifies monsters? I see what you did there.
Curious. I have to think this isn't the first time this has happened. How many times have they performed this dance? Or am I just seeing an eternal cycle where there isn't one?
Well, not eternal any more. Though the eye is still incredibly dangerous.
As for the talk back at Sanctaphrax... Well, we'll see what develops there. Could be something revolutionary. At the very least, I hope Leyline gets some good interdepartmental work done. Allies could help preserve his department against the monstrosity that is the Budget.
Oh boy. They have no clue what they just did. How did Rook even know he was there without him having got out to rampage the first time?
Side note, I always figured Tartarus had some sort of stasis spell on it so nothing ever needed food or aged. Otherwise they'd have to send ponies in and out all the time, and at that point you might as well use a regular prison. Having most but not all of its inhabitants be dead is weird to me.
Kind of a shame they didn't think to gather any fruits or seeds. Though the conditions to grow those plants may be hard to come by these days, and they certainly had other priorities at the time.
... That is clearly Tartarus. She wants them to blast open Tartarus.
Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised.
Not sure what the serpent's story is, though I doubt it will enjoy its new accomodations. As for Tirek... Well, in this disenchanted age, he's not as much of a threat as he once was, but I can only imagine what he and the wyrd would do to each other. And Sparkler had best step carefully around him regardless.
Of course, the Admiral is no open-minded Equestrian. Tirek had best hope his silver tongue hasn't tarnished over the centuries. Just because they don't remember him doesn't mean they'll trust him... but on the other hand, he represents a historical primary source that the scholars of Sanctaphrax would probably kill to acquire. We'll see how it goes.