Chapter 18. In Pursuit of Knowledge and Change.
A methodic tapping noise accompanied the ticking seconds of the clock that hung in the Purity Flame's office. The second hand passed by the minute hand with a loud click, signaling the hour’s end as the clock chimed. It was a strained noise, gears grinding against each other in the most unnerving way possible to create a high-pitched screech that would allow the alchemists to work well into the night.
Lord Skeletor sat on his seat with his legs crossed on an orange colored cushion and his hand resting on a small table that stood between him and a pink colored mare with a bright blue mane. The painful chime of the clock caused Lord Skeletor to momentarily stop his tapping as the noise assaulted his ears, or at least whatever the equivalent of ears were for a skull. The mare, the head of the Alchemist Guild and the most well-versed alchemist on hoof, Purity Flame, winced at the noise going off in her office.
On other days, the terrible noise managed to bring the ghost of a smile to her muzzle, letting her recall all the nights she spent in her old master’s office working. Once upon a time, the screaming gears were a reminder to her to wrap up any experiments quickly before her master came to the office and saw her using his equipment. But now it was all hers. Her office, her comfortable chair, her beakers, her books, and her annoyingly obnoxious clock.
But, due to the early arrival of Lord Skeletor, that noise now brought forth a deep sense of dread from within her. He had arrived a few minutes earlier than she was expecting, catching her at an inopportune time and causing her to rush to make her lord a cup of fresh dandelion tea. In her great haste, she failed to properly warn her lord of the noisy clock in the office, and she feared that such an assault on his senses would be seen as an act against him.
When the terrible noise finally stopped, Lord Skeletor rubbed the side of his skull for a few moments before he turned his attention back to his cup of tea. Two steaming cups of dandelion tea sat on small ceramic purple plates that had the emblem of the Crystal Empire painted on the surface. The rich scent of dandelions wafted from the two warm beverages as Purity patiently waited for him to take the first sip.
“So, what did you say this was again?” Lord Skeletor asked.
“Dandelion tea. I was able to brew some earlier thanks to a friend who was working in the flower fields in the green caves.”
“So, it’s made of actual flowers?”
“Yes, they’re absolutely delicious,” Purity replied with a happy nod of her head.
Lord Skeletor hummed to himself as he looked at the golden colored tea. He leaned forward slightly to reach for his cup of tea, gingerly picking it up by lifting the plate towards himself.
“When in Rome,” he said to himself before taking a tentative sip of his tea. “Hmmm. Not bad. Anyway, Purity, what was it that you wanted to talk about today? Are there any issues with the steel production or our paper project?”
“Well… Yes, there is an issue, Lord Skeletor,” Purity replied. “You’ll be happy to know that the other alchemists and I, along with the blacksmiths, have finished filling the new vault with steel like you requested, and most of the alchemists have now shifted their focus towards making paper.”
“Excellent! I’m glad to know that you’ve been making strides in progress. How is the paper task coming along in comparison?”
“It’s… A process. My lord, the reason why I asked for your audience today is because some of the alchemists believe we could have more success if they went out for materials.”
“Oh, do you need more plant fiber from the farms?”
“No, my lord, we’re doing fine with physical materials. What we’re lacking is references. You see, the Alchemist Tower used to mainly be comprised of ruvas who would hire other races as their apprentices. As such, most of their work was conducted in the Ruva Kingdom with only a hoofful of ruvas working in the Crystal Castle.
“Ruvas rarely shared any of their knowledge with the other kingdoms, and may have seceded from the Empire all together if it weren’t for the Crystal Heart keeping all the kingdoms safe. So, with this knowledge in mind, many of the alchemists were hoping for your permission to travel to the abandoned Ruva Kingdom in search of more texts involving the production of paper. Out of the three races in the Crystal Empire, the ruvas were always the most literate and well read, so we believe that they may have devised a way to produce more books than the other kingdoms.”
“And they didn’t share this method with the rest of the Empire?”
“The ruvas and unicorns were never one to eagerly share their wealth of knowledge freely. Knowledge and magic were power, and they wanted to horde as much of it as possible. Not that all magic users are like that! You’re not like those grubby dagger heads, you’re a wonderful magic user. Not like them, with their cloud pointers.”
“Um… Yeah, screw… uh… those guys,” Lord Skeletor said as he took a sip of his tea. “I’ll… I’ll bring this up with the council later. I’d like a group of guards to escort the alchemists to help in the expedition into the Ruva Kingdom. If the rest of the council approves, then I want you to take everything that could benefit us. Especially any books that have magical spells in them, or books on magical theory.”
“Of course, Lord Skeletor. We’ll give you any of those four-legged narwhals wrote.”
“Erm... Yeah, good. Anyway, unless there’s anything else we need to discuss, I think I’ll be heading out now,” Lord Skeletor excused himself, standing up from his seat and quickly making his way to the door. “Thank you for seeking an audience with me, Purity, I’ll tell you what the council’s final decision will be a while later, perhaps a few days or so. Goodbye!” Lord Skeletor waved off as he left the room and closed the door behind him.
Skeletor quickly strode down the halls of the Crystal Castle, putting as much distance between himself and the Alchemist Tower as he could.
“Racist ponies… Fuck me, why am I not surprised?” Skeletor muttered under his breath as he dragged a hand down his skull. “Slaves, homophobia, racism… Fucking rape, and child torture? What else ya got for me world?!” Skeletor suddenly shouted to the air, before quickly covering his mouth with both hands.
His hollow eyes darted around the empty hallway, searching for any wandering ponies that may have overhead him. Skeletor released a silent sigh of relief once he confirmed that he was alone, once again allowing his powerful facade drop as he slowed down his pace. His gaze wandered the walls of the castle, eventually settling on one of the new portraits of Princess Amore that someone painted.
“… Brush Past… Nye-Heh... Fucking pony names,” he said to himself as he read the signature of the artist at the bottom corner of the painting. The look of surprise on his council’s face when he asked where the signature was on the first portrait brought a light smile to Skeletor’s face. “Can’t believe they never signed their own paintings before this.”
Skeletor stared into the golden eyes of a light pink pony whose coat color could easily be confused with a light tan. If Skeletor looked closely enough, he could count the brush strokes the artist used to make the texture of Princess Amore’s pink coat. The color of her fur blended perfectly with the two massive wings on either side of her barrel, the transition between fur and feathers were subtly with a strip of fur that gradually disappeared along on the humorous of the wings.
A dark pink flowing mane was draped over her withers with sapphires woven into the braids of her mane. The princess’ crown comfortably sat between her foot-long horn and her luxurious mane, it was a platinum crown with amber colored jewels that accentuated her bright golden colored eyes. Her loving gaze stared back at Skeletor as she wore a gentle smile on her muzzle.
His eye sockets slightly narrowed at her perfect smile. Memories of the frightened faces of the two gay mares he met filled his mind as he stared at her portrait. Out of the corner of his eye socket, Skeletor caught the faint reflection of his skull in the bismuth frame of Princess Amore’s portrait. As he stared into his reflection, becoming momentarily lost in the eyeless monster’s gaze, he found himself unconsciously comparing the hideous creature to the literal goddess that was in front of him.
“Fuckin’ bitch…” Skeletor grumbled as he took his attention away from the portrait and continued his trek down the hall.
While walking down the empty hall of the castle, Skeletor reached over his shoulder and pulled the Havoc Staff off of his back. As he continued walking down the hall, with little regard for his surroundings, he looked at the ram’s skull on his scepter and briefly debated the futility of opening another portal back to Earth. Any hope of heading home slowly started to decay with time. Each failure had attacked his resolve with an impressive fury, nearly destroying any yearning for success that he carried inside himself.
His desperate desire to see his family, his friends, and to see Evelyn once more, all of it became background noise in his mind. A dull numbness washed over Skeletor as he resided himself to his fate, slowly accepting that there was no chance of ever going home. Skeletor resisted the shrinking urge to open a portal back to Earth, he knew that any attempts would only bring him pain and misery after his inevitable failure. After putting the Havoc Staff back on his back, Skeletor began to banish any lingering hope in his mind as he walked alone, and he started to accept that he was the only human on the entire planet.
I'll be alone... Forever.
“No… No, fuck that,” Skeletor muttered before he abruptly stopped walking to look out one of the nearby windows. Skeletor stared at the horizon of the Empire, looking at where the barrier met the snow. His invisible eyes scanned the area for any hint or indication of where the Ruva Kingdom could be.
“The Ruva Kingdom has everything I need. I’ll get out of here. You hear me Sombra?!” Skeletor shouted as he turned back to the empty hallway. “I’M GETTING OUT OF HERE! AND WHEN I DO, I’LL MAKE SURE TO SEND YOU TO HELL BEFORE I GO!” Skeletor threatened as he screamed to the air.
The faint sound of galloping hoofbeats immediately answered his shout as two guards name bursting through the doors on the far end of the hallway. Skeletor froze when he saw the gladius being carried in one of their mouths by the handle while the other held a spear in his right forehoof. A brief moment of fear broke Skeletor out of his rage as he suddenly became very fearful for what the guards would do to him.
His fight or flight instincts flared in his mind as he imagined how easily one of those weapons would pierce his exposed skin. Skeletor took a hesitant step back as the guard holding a spear trotted towards him.
“My lord, we thought we heard shouting. Is everything alright?” The guard asked as the other guard surveyed the hallway for possible threats.
After getting over the initial surprise of seeing two ponies run into the hallway, Skeletor shook his head to bring himself back to the present. “Yes I… I stubbed my toe, but I’m alright. Since you’re here, I’d like someone to escort me to the council’s meeting room.”
“Yes, Lord Skeletor,” the guards both replied before they led Skeletor down the hall.
Copper Plate shuffled through the many papers on her side of the table, scanning each paper for the tenth time that day to see if there were any laws that Lord Skeletor would disapprove of. She found several questionable laws that gave a great deal of leniency to nobles, several easily exploitable laws, and one odd law on marriage that allowed for a marriage to be declared void if one of the ponies was impotent.
After reading that law, she cross-referenced any surviving records of divorces to see if that law was ever used. Surprisingly, it had been used in a majority of ruva divorces but hadn’t appeared in any other court matters that took place in the capital of the Crystal Empire. Aside from that specific odd law, there weren’t many others that stuck out to Copper Plate. Then again, even the previous law regarding gay ponies never caused her to raise an eyebrow, so to be safe she decided to bring every law involving sex, marriage, and family structures.
It sickened Copper Plate to know that Sombra had been manipulating their princess for years, disguising himself as one of Faust’s apostles so he could feed her sweet lies. Were it not for Lord Skeletor, the crystal ponies may have remained completely oblivious to Sombra’s nefarious and cowardly acts against their princess. It was no wonder to the Master of the Royal Archives as to why she couldn't find any references to Princess Amore's, or rather Sombra's, claims about gay love being harmful to the barrier. Unless those texts were in the Ruva Kingdom, then there was little to no reason to doubt Lord Skeletor's claims about Princess Amore being manipulated by the monster that called itself a pony.
Copper Plate felt a pang of pain in her chest as she remembered seeing her princess smile upon her subjects while she carried her own torture. The agony of being persuaded by what she must have believed to have been one of Faust’s chosen messengers, carrying his abhorrent orders out without question. Or maybe she did question them, at least at some point. If Princess Amore would have carried out any of his orders, then there was no reason to kill her unless she had refused at least one of them. Perhaps she had caught on to Sombra’s ruse and was murdered by the bastard as a result.
She would have to ask Lord Skeletor what else he knew since Emerald had told them all that, in a fit of justified rage, Lord Skeletor had burned Sombra’s personal journal and destroyed the only record of his cruel deeds against the princess. While Copper Plate was upset by the destruction of something precious like a book, knowing that it was the personal memoir of Sombra helped to lessen her anger towards the act of damaging a work of literature. If she were in Lord Skeletor’s position, she may have acted irrationally as well and ripped it to shreds with her own hooves.
As Copper Plate organized her papers into a pile of laws that were organized by date of approval, the other council members were busying themselves with their own tasks. Cannon Fodder went over his proposal for reopening enlistment into the guard and his proposal to have the alchemists give their surplus of steel to the blacksmiths to forge armor for some units of the royal guard. As he quietly went over the financial costs of armor and weapons with Avid Value, Crumb Catcher sat in his seat with his eyes closed and his ears perked at attention, seemingly content staying inside his own head instead of speaking with any of the other council members.
Finally, Emerald Secret was busy looking over Lord Skeletor’s schedule for the next few days. Due to his spontaneous actions and orders, Lord Skeletor’s schedule was left fairly open to allow Emerald to reschedule anything should he decide to suddenly pass a new law or make another holiday. While the council members were finishing up their own tasks in preparation for Lord Skeletor’s meeting with Purity Flame to wrap up, Copper Plate finished her own task and gently laid the last paper on top of her pile.
It had taken the better part of two days to find any questionable laws for Lord Skeletor to review, but she had accomplished it nevertheless. It brought her a small amount of pride to know that she would be helping to undo some of Sombra’s evil, working with her lord to purge his influence from the Empire and bring the crystal ponies into a new era of peace and love. Copper Plate envisioned a prosperous Empire under the leadership of Lord Skeletor, one where books and literacy would be a massive part of the Empire’s infrastructure. She could hardly contain her joy at the prospect of having more accessible possibilities for literature. And to think, an old mare like herself would help Lord Skeletor in his quest to bring knowledge to the Empire, it was like a fantasy she would have dreamed up as a filly.
As Copper Plate became lost in a fantasy of having enough books to fill an entire town, the doors to the council room were opened by a pair of guards who wore blank expressions on their faces. Behind them, Lord Skeletor was wearing a small smile on his jaw, or perhaps that was just his resting face.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting,” Lord Skeletor apologized as he entered the room.
“You’re actually earlier than scheduled, Lord Skeletor,” Emerald corrected as she checked off something on her list.
Copper Plate glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, which was one of the few remaining functional clocks in the entire Empire. Just like Emerald had said, Lord Skeletor had actually arrived ten minutes earlier than the council planned for, likely a result of him attending his meeting with Purity Flame early after he skipped breakfast in the dining hall.
“Excellent. Then if we’re all ready, I would like to bring up the first point of order for our meeting,” Lord Skeletor stated as he sat in his seat. After a pregnant pause to wait for his council members to speak up to agree or refuse his request, he looked over to Emerald. “Um, I can do that, right?”
“Of course, my lord. You’re free to do as you wish,” Emerald answered.
“Excellent. My first order of business is the abandoned Ruva Kingdom. Purity has told me that a few alchemists have expressed a desire to travel to the abandoned Ruva Kingdom. General Cannon Fodder, I would like to request for you to assign some guards as escorts for this mission. Are there any objections or questions?”
“Yeah, I have one,” Cannon Fodder stated as he placed his hoof on the table. “I don’t think this is a good idea. The Ruva Kingdom is a three-day trot away from the Crystal Castle, and searching all of the libraries and alchemy towers there will take a few weeks at best.”
“Really? It would take that long?” Lord Skeletor asked with surprise evident in his voice.
“Yes, my lord,” Emerald answered. “The Crystal Castle is at the center of the three kingdoms. The edge of the Crystal Pony Kingdom is a few hours south from the castle, the Ruva Kingdom in the Northwest is a three-day trot, and the Thestral Kingdom in the Northeast is a five-day trot to get to. Before Sombra, we heavily relied on carriages pulled by thestrals to go to the castles of the other kingdoms.”
“There’s more than one castle in the Empire?”
“Technically, they're palaces though I honestly don't know the difference between the two," Emerald explained. "Each of the kingdoms had a prince or princess who would rule over their kingdom and report to Princess Amore. The center of the Crystal Empire was designed for all three races, while the kingdoms themselves were designed specifically for each race.”
“I see… How much of the Crystal Pony Kingdom has been searched so far?”
“Most of it since many of the crystal ponies lived there before Sombra’s reign. The palace in the Crystal Pony Kingdom was commandeered by the guard of the Crystal Pony Kingdom to prevent any of the ponies from stealing anything, not that there’s much left after Sombra anyway. Most of the maids and guards in the Crystal Castle right now were actually servants and guards from the crystal pony palace.”
“Really? Interesting. Has anyone tried to go to the other two kingdoms since Sombra died?”
“There’s no reason to,” Crumb Catcher stated. “The other kingdoms in the Crystal Empire are completely abandoned, and the Crystal Pony Kingdom had the largest agriculture out of the three kingdoms. There’s nothing the other two kingdoms could offer us.”
“So, we have no idea what’s in there?” Lord Skeletor inquired.
“Nothing’s there though,” Avid Value pointed out. “Sombra already robbed those kingdoms of their finances and valuables, so there’s no treasure to help the Empire’s economy or art worth recovering.”
Lord Skeletor mulled over the points offered by his council members, humming to himself as he rubbed a finger against his jaw. “So, you all believe it would be unproductive and impractical to attempt to search the other kingdoms,” Lord Skeletor surmised.
“… Not in so many words, but yes,” Emerald hesitantly answered.
“I see… What if I were to allow some of the alchemists to go unaccompanied?”
“That would be unwise,” Emerald stated. “The other two kingdoms of the Crystal Empire are too unsafe for anypony to go. The Ruva Kingdom’s buildings are unstable and are bound to collapse at any given point, and the Thestral Kingdom caved into the underground cities in the caverns below it. Even if the alchemists are willing to go, entering either of the other kingdoms would be too dangerous.”
“Alright then. In that case, I’ll need to tell Purity that the alchemists won’t be allowed to enter the Ruva or Thestral Kingdom. It’s unlikely that any methods the ruvas used to make paper would help us,” Lord Skeletor reasoned after hearing the other council members' opinions.
Copper Plate’s eyes widened slightly as she realized what Lord Skeletor’s intent was. If the expedition to the Ruva Kingdom wasn’t carried out, then their hopes for learning a method to mass produce paper would be pushed back indefinitely.
“Wait, shouldn’t we think about the benefits of searching the Ruva Kingdom?” Copper Plate asked. “It’s dangerous, sure, but it could help the Empire greatly! Think of all the magical tomes and history books they have in the Ruva Kingdom.”
“It’s not worth it,” Cannon Fodder told her. “I won’t be sending ponies there just so we can find out a better way to make paper. There’s more important things to worry about.”
“Actually, Copper Plate may be onto something,” Crumb Catcher added on. “The Ruva Kingdom was renowned for their spells and their medicine. As wonderful as your remedy is, Lord Skeletor, you yourself have told us that it is only limited to mental health issues. I’ve heard rumors from when I was younger that ruvas had medicine that could regrow detached limbs and extend lifespans.”
“If that were true, then we’d have those medical books in the Crystal Castle,” Avid Value pointed out.
“You clearly don’t know much about magic users then,” Crumb Catcher simply stated.
“What the heck is that supposed to mean,” Avid Value asked with a glare.
“It means that they’re greedy. Ruvas and unicorns don’t openly share their knowledge with, ‘inferior’ races as they call us. Their greed for holding knowledge is only outmatched by a dragon’s greed for gems.”
“Hey! Not all ruvas are like that," Avid Value argued.
“Then you’re either incredibly lucky or stupidly naive. Knowing you though, I’d lean more towards the latter.”
“You take that back, you arrogant ass!”
“You—"
“ENOUGH!” Lord Skeletor shouted as he banged his fist against the table, causing cracks to spread out from under his hand. A terrified silence engulfed the entire council as they stared at their lord, watching him silently fume in rage at the actions of the two newer council members. “I won’t pretend to know anything of the other races, but I know enough to understand when someone’s being racist. Crumb Catcher, you’d do well to watch your tongue. I've already had to deal with one racist pony today, and I'd rather not deal with another,” Lord Skeletor advised as he took his fist off of the table.
Once Lord Skeletor noticed the damage he caused to the table, briefly wincing at the sight of the many spider cracks that stretched from the point of impact. After rubbing the side of his hand for a few moments, Lord Skeletor turned his attention to Emerald.
“How are the patients in the medical wing of the castle doing, Emerald?”
“Better than usual… Though, I cannot lie, my lord, having more proficient medicine on hoof would be a great boon to the doctors. The Ruva Kingdom may have more advanced medicine then what we have on hoof.”
“Allegedly,” Cannon Fodder stated firmly. “I’ve worked with ruva guards before, and they never had their ears regrown or their horns reattached if they lost them.”
“Of course, you wouldn’t,” Crumb Catcher retorted. “Only the higher classes in the Ruva Kingdom were able to afford that treatment. How else do you explain Lord Caster’s great age?”
“I… He just got lucky to live so long.”
“Yes, and I suppose it’s lucky that he managed to outlive his grandfoals,” Crumb Catcher sarcastically agreed.
“Really?” Lord Skeletor asked as he began tapping his fingers against the table. “Well, that certainly changes things. Even if their medicinal knowledge isn’t as grandiose as Crumb Catcher has made it out to be, I’d like to think that there is something valuable there worth retrieving… I think we should put the expedition to the Ruva Kingdom to a vote. All in favor of the mission, raise your… hooves.”
Crumb Catcher and Copper Plate raised their hooves first, followed by Avid Value who hesitantly raised his own hoof after mulling it over. Lastly, Emerald raised her hoof as well, leaving Cannon Fodder as the only one who didn’t vote against it, much to his shock.
“Emerald? You just said how dangerous it was, and yet you’re willing to send ponies in there?” Cannon Fodder asked.
“I’m thinking about the ponies in the medical wing, they need help and the doctors we have on hoof aren’t able to give them what they need. You know as well as I do that most of them are just nurses and assistants, all of the actual doctors were ruvas with the exception of two or three crystal ponies and a thestral.”
Before Cannon Fodder could retort, Lord Skeletor offered a compromise. “It seems that the rest of the council has come to an agreement. Cannon Fodder, if it would make you feel better, the guards can call off the endeavor and return to the Crystal Castle if any of them get injured. If it’s serious enough, we will never bring up the idea of searching the other kingdoms,” he suggested.
“But—”
“Calm down, General Fodder,” Crumb Catcher interrupted. “Our lord has been generous enough to offer this deal when he could simply order us. Surly, you can see to reason, can’t you?” He asked with a harsh glare directed at Cannon Fodder.
Cannon Fodder held his ground for a few moments, before submitting to the rest of the council and dropping his argument. “Fine. I’ll find a few guards to escort them.”
“Thank you, Cannon Fodder,” Lord Skeletor thanked him. “So, what else shall we discuss today?”
“I brought you a list of laws that could be considered questionable, along with any of the papers necessary to abolish a law or change it,” Copper Plate said as she gestured to the stack of papers that sat near her.
“Excellent, Copper Plate. We can get that started after the meeting. What else do we have for today?” Lord Skeletor asked them all.
The rest of the meeting was carried out over the course of an hour and a half as Lord Skeletor worked with his council to help the Empire. Avid Value took the reins of the meeting for the first hour, eating away the minutes with concerns regarding the Empire’s finances. The rest of the meeting was taken up by Cannon Fodder’s request to have the blacksmiths start working on steel armor and weapons. Lord Skeletor postponed Cannon Fodder's request, stating that he would like more time to think about the issue to discuss how the increased production of steel would affect the value of the amount they already had in the vault.
Once the meeting was called to a close, the other council members left Lord Skeletor and Copper Plate alone in the meeting room. The two of them spent a great deal of time going over laws and making the necessary changes to keep some and entirely abolish others.
Copper Plate was surprised by Lord Skeletor’s signatures, each one was a squiggly mess of letters that barely blended together, almost as if Lord Skeletor had never written his own name before. Copper Plate wondered if there was a reason for his ugly handwriting, such as him using his non-dominant limb or something along those lines. Nevertheless, even with a sloppy signature, Lord Skeletor was able to abolish several laws and made changes to the wording of some of them, allowing for a wider range of interpretation and use in the Empire.
The quill and ink danced on the many forums and legal documents that Copper Plate passed to her lord, signing new laws and abolishing old ones left and right. There were a few instances where Lord Skeletor needed clarification on a law and the exact phrasing used. A majority of laws that were once punishable by death or exile from the Empire were changed into less severe crimes that would be punished by varying amounts of time in the dungeons.
While Copper Plate easily agreed with most of the changes, one major point of contention was his disapproval of trial by combat. Copper Plate’s fur bristled when Lord Skeletor claimed that it was a, “barbaric” act, and she quickly informed Lord Skeletor that it was a time-honored tradition that dated back to the ages before Equestria was colonized by the ponies.
Though he was reluctant, Lord Skeletor did allow his subjects to continue practicing trial by combat with the condition that all trials by combat would be non-lethal and that a non-partial medical professional would need to be in attendance to help either of the injured ponies. After Copper Plate wrote up the necessary additions to trials by combat, Lord Skeletor signed his name to seal the law and officially pass it.
Copper Plate’s eyes began to grow weary after nearly three hours of uninterrupted work. Her struggle to keep herself from dozing off after the combined efforts of sleep deprivation and work came together to send her to Luna’s domain in the Dream Realm. Unfortunately for her, her efforts weren’t enough to escape the watchful eye sockets of Lord Skeletor.
“Are you alright, Copper Plate?”
“I… I’m fine, Lord Skeletor,” Copper Plate replied as she stifled a yawn.
Lord Skeletor raised a brow ridge at her before he took a moment to observe the clock that hung in the council room. “Wow, I didn’t think we were in here that long, it’s almost lunch time by now. How about we get something to eat and then you can take the rest of the day off.”
“N-no, I couldn’t,” she tried got say as a yawn sabotaged her statement.
“Yes you could, it’s easy really. All you’ll need to do is it eat a bit and then lay down on your bed. It's so easy that a foal can do it, I’m sure you could too,” Lord Skeletor teased.
Copper Plate suppressed a light chuckle at Lord Skeletor’s wit, or rather lack thereof. “But court—"
“Will still go on without a hitch,” Lord Skeletor interrupted as he stood up from his seat and cracked his back. Copper Plate cringed at the sound of bones popping into place along Lord Skeletor’s spine, feeling the phantom pain of her own bones cracking with each loud pop. “You wouldn’t be much help if you fell asleep during court. Besides, it’s only a day. You’ve worked yourself down to the bone and you deserve some rest.”
“I… Thank you, Lord Skeletor,” Copper Plate said in earnest as she stood up from her seat and delicately placed all of their papers into her saddlebags.
“And thank you for your help today. It means a lot to me,” Lord Skeletor graciously said as he walked alongside Copper Plate at a steady pace down the hall. A welcoming silence fell over the two as the went to the dining hall, allowing them to internally bask in their accomplishments and relax.
A warm smile wormed its way onto Copper Plate's muzzle as she trotted next to Lord Skeletor. Any fantasies about an Empire full of literature and knowledge became possible thanks to her lord, something that she wondered if Princess Amore could or would ever do. The old princess was more concerned with the loving embraces of ponies than the comforting touch that words offered the soul. But Lord Skeletor, he understood the importance of literature, the value of knowledge, and the elegant beauty of written language. With him ruling over the Crystal Empire, Copper Plate's dreams to have an Empire full of literate ponies grew closer to becoming a reality with each passing each day.
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So many arrows pointing in so many directions wonder where they will hit if not careful one could hit a hornets nest or worse an unknown person. Being truthful, I have no idea how a certain ball of fire/control freak hasn't notice the crystal ball has returned yet.
Or maybe you're a little uneducated shit who would be shocked that most of revered greek scientists and philosophers owned slaves, or that Lenin (in his words, "monster's" predecessor) was much more progressive than any American at time time (who were racist to the point of categorising some humans as lesser species).
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It is odd how a lot of people forget that slavery was a thing that existed before the colonization of America, and that many famous figures who are held as the pinnacles of science, math, and philosophy are also people who may have been involved with, or possibly even supported, slavery. It makes you really think about the nature of a person and how we, as a species, tend to idolize or overlook certain aspects of that person. Even in fiction, where characters regularly commit heinous acts like child murder, such as Darth Vader, people will gloss over things like that and still praise them.
well skeletor is slowly wining over the loyalties of his council, Copper Plate being the next to truly accept skeletor rule,
it be interesting to see what happens with the expedition, i can see some equestrian town just going about it business and shocked when a group of ponies just show up with guards in unknown Armour, proberly think they being invaded, and crystal ponies are in for a rude awaking
I get pumped every time there is a new chapter!
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people become legends by forgetting the flaws that made them human
10248153
Nothing is wrong with accepting that those people were a "product of their time". The problems start when we: whitewash them and rewrite history to be politically correct; or blindly idolize and then denounce a person after "shocking" news that they weren't ahead of their time by several tens of centuries.
10248169
10248164
True. By today's standards surrounding morality and acceptance, the people of the past are terrible villains, but that's only through the lens of modern times. Back then, their practices and beliefs were morally acceptable. In fact, it was more acceptable to own a slave than argue that the world was round. I do wish that history books gave more accurate depictions of historical figures so that people could better understand that history wasn't just filled with idols and scientists who did no wrong and never had a morally grey or dark thought in their perfect heads. Every history book I've seen depicts slavery as either being something that the Aztecs, Egyptians, or American colonizers practiced, when in reality almost every country and government had some form of slavery that subjugated a race or class of people to benefit those in power. But, history books tend to conveniently forget that for some reason, so we can only vilify the first American settlers and maybe one or two other clearly labeled "bad guys" in history.
another chapter down, yay! wonder what hies in the Ruva kingdom, also I wanna see more of the super loyal devout pony! (forgot his name) don't wanna sound weird or anything but i ...
> - >
< - <
kinda have a thing for seeing devotion to a person in stories
> - <
10248144
yeah, I am kinda getting miffed at skeleton being like this, I can't describe it too well because I suck at describing my feelings but suffice to say I don't emphasize much with him. he is in a radically different culture and see people as scum or evil for being part of said culture when just 100 years or so ago he would have felt at home thinking of Africans as lesser human beings, or gays as people that need to be shocked until they are 'fixed'
he seemed to have a bit of tunnel vision, but I like to think of this in a positive light, we example, he may be losing himself to power slowly but surely and seeing his world view as the only correct one, we already see him changing a clearly magical alien world to did his idea of the world despite the possible ramifications, he has no idea if gay love could taint the shield but doesn't seem to care much because it goes against his narrative. so it would be interesting go in a downward spiral of tyrannical powertrip
10248181
you see the issue is if they did make it obvious you'd get people tearing up everything related to history, you already see people denouncing Columbus and destroying monuments of him because people disliked something he did in the distant past. so it makes total sense that if say people learned Weinstein had a slave or two, all studies related to him and art and such would be attacked by radicals. that is sadly the day we live in
10248214
That is very true. People are almost hell-bent on destroying the negative and dark parts of history, either by taking down statues and burning flags of groups that held on to older views, or by putting on a fresh coat of paint that covers up the nasty bits of a person's history or beliefs. It's amazing to me that I never realized that history couldn't just be physically destroyed by tearing down statues and throwing away relics of the past, but also by rewriting history itself to support modern day beliefs.
Also, I absolutely love that we can have conversations like this on a fan fiction website for an animated cartoon series about friendship. Never thought I'd get into philosophical conversations about the morality of people and how history can be reshaped by society.
Are you referring to Track Record? Well, I do have plans for him to appear in a chapter soon, so don't worry. Your favorite devout baker will return soon.
10248181
First professions that came to be when the first vestiges of civilization that we would recognize developed were
hunter
gatherer
slaver
slave
prostitute
I just realized something. Amore wasn't wrong. Gay love was weakening the barrier. Remember, Amore would have been the Crystal Princess during the pre-unification era up until she was assassinated just off the cusp of The Great Freeze. The entirety of Ponykind was in danger of extinction during her reign, and mortality rates were no doubt at a high that hasn't been seen before or since. So yes, gay love was weakening the barrier, it just wasn't the direct cause. It was weakening the barrier by being barren love, a union that wouldn't bolster the population.
This also ties into the law that would legally void a marriage involving an infertile partner. Given the dire risk of extinction, it's natural that the government would have taken all possible measures to raise birth rates. Removing barren loves from the equation is one of those ways, and given what was at stake, it's not unreasonable for the practicing of barren loves during that time to be seen as a crime against their fellow ponies, or perhaps even treason.
These laws were a product of their time, a time long since past due to the temporal displacement, and the language was kept simple for the uneducated populace. By the time of the empire's displacement those laws had just come to be obsolete. There just hadn't been a chance to take them off the books yet.
Boy, Skeletor is gonna feel like a total tool when he finds out the history. Princess Amore; not a homophobic tool, but a stressed leader of a people who desperately needed her to be an unshakable pillar. She did the best with what she had, and she probably intended to abolish those laws when the need for more births was recognized as being past.
nice story
10248109
Celly is too busy trolling her student to notice, but oh boy when she does it gonna get crazy. Though maybe not too crazy since A. the crystal heart shield will be up so they should consider that and maybe not go in with FRIENDSHIP CANNON A BLAZING! B. the crystal ponies are running around happy and best of all mind control free. C. No CRYYYYSSSTTTTAALLLLSSS hissing going on in the winds from an insane wraith unicorn.
Still when they spot the new leader oh boy...I really hope that the moment the Equestrian squad gets wound up that the Crystal ponies will get out right pissed at them trying to harm their new leader. Though...I have a bad feeling Cannon Fodder would make that moment a hell of a lot worse if he still in his LETS COMMIT REGICIDE! mindset.
F**k the great peoples of the past, they are the ones commanding the literal rivers of blood and misery. Though considering the people populating this chat, we matter as well absolve them of sin and pretend that one plantation owner who likes to whip his field slaves was a morally upstanding fellow and not a piece of work because he was a "product of his time".
There's nothing wrong with despising terrible people.
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/36eaefaf-7188-4d68-bd92-c59c6dab9dac/d9rsddt-a5bdbd77-5edf-4001-b8ab-0d573564e4cc.jpg/v1/fill/w_1024,h_1262,q_75,strp/papyrus_as_skeletor__undertale_by_loulouloulou5_d9rsddt-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD0xMjYyIiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMzZlYWVmYWYtNzE4OC00ZDY4LWJkOTItYzU5YzZkYWI5ZGFjXC9kOXJzZGR0LWE1YmRiZDc3LTVlZGYtNDAwMS1iOGFiLTBkNTczNTY0ZTRjYy5qcGciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTAyNCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.U3MdhfHHtKIPD1YjMRZNoxSUjUq7_0Cy9hBNFYkFb8M
Real touching moment at the end there with copper plate.
10248308
Yeah not really, even if what you wrote is true she still mind-controlled, rewrote her subjects' minds
In addition, these laws still existed and were enforced when everything was somewhat stabilized
How and from what we can know that?
Because Celestia and Luna had a working country, an army to spare to free Empire and when they attacked Sombra, both their kingdom rulers were there with an army away from their country
That means the situation was stabilized if not then their own country would have been left at great risk
To the chopping block or guillotine, Amore goes (if she was still alive)
(I couldn't find a better fitting image but it still should work)
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/11/25/480985.png
An expedition to the Ruva Kingdom is a no brainer. Aside from getting hoarded Ruva knowledge, there's the possibility of other supplies and maybe even information as to what happened after the big battle. I'm surprised Cannon Fodder isn't at least in favor of a 100% guard expedition just to gain intel on the current state of it.
Searching everything would take weeks? You don't do it in one shot.
3 day trot to get there. 3-5 Days of searching. 3 days to get back.
Then either another team heads out or the Expedition Team gets a week home before heading out again.
1.
Well Skeletor It's time to invent snow bikes or snowmobiles
2.
When Skeletor will think about creating his own all-seeing crystal ball/Palantíri?
3.
Ruvas probably have traps in their vaults, secret storages
Another brilliant chapter.
10248308
Except she worded it as a direct cause, not an indirect one. Things like how it's "a sickness of the mind that could spread to other ponies who are near them" and that it would "pollute the love that powers the barrier over the Empire" and so on.
That last bit is actually significant. She specifically said "Pollute", not "Diminish" or some other word that would imply what you've concluded. As though it were some unclean contamination of the energy itself, rather than merely lessening the total amount of ponies contributing.
And before you quote yourself at me, it's not really "keeping it simple for the uneducated populace" when she could've just as easily said "fewer ponies are being born as a result, and fewer ponies means less love to power the heart".
So, yes. Until some evidence to the contrary is provided within the story itself, I must assume that the law was made because of typical medieval homophobia, rather than as a practical response to declining birthrates. The alternative is a world where it's confirmed by a magical artifact that love born from homosexuality is literally tainted, and considering that some of the most heartwarming relationships I've ever seen, fictional or IRL have been of that variety...
10248823
Oh, okay. My bad for not going back to check the wording of the law in its specific mention. I was only using the paraphrasing that popped up in later chapters when I made that comment.
Another great chapter, as usual.:D
I truly wonder if princess Amore is dead? The more I read this story the more i question the possibilities.
10248244
it's great isn't it? philosophical debates are the best when everyone remains civil
10248308
wasn't there mention that she set up this law because of Faust? but you do have a great point either which way
10248408
sure, but there is also something wrong with ignoring every other thing they ever did simply for the sake of calling these people servants of evil, let's say if in the future it is part of the culture to cut off men's testicles and grow all children in vats because every child needs to be raised outside of a home, and let's just say this happens for any number of reason,s that would make you and your parents evil for having practiced anything but this. are all the good things your mother and father, your possible samplings and yourself have ever done simply void now? do they not matter? or are you claiming that any 'evil' overweights any amount of good?
10248590
you make a solid point, brainwashing is never acceptable in my opinion, no matter how just the cause, it is quite literally your opinion mattering more than others so you make them share it against their will
also yay for more track record!
10248823
The actual evidence from the fic so far, the word of the only "expert" on the subject so far, disagrees with your assumption of "just usual medieval homophobia" but I understand that nowadays people will reason with their emotions instead of actual evidence even when it is shoved in front of them (which is not the case here at the moment).
Also you are forgetting that a politician needs to politic and that Amore may had to come up with an explanation that would convince the ignorant population while not allowing dissent, which is realistic and support the idea that the law was because of the need of higher birth rates.
10248590
Except they didn't. Something a lot of people forget is that Equestria did not had any army untill after Nightmare Moon.
If we take the least bit of cannon, as it was being taken when diacussing Amore's story before, then the "army" mentioned in the fic were likely volunteer that wanted to help free the crystal ponies from Sombra instead of an actual army or pegasi as pegasi society was inherently militaristic in nature.
Also we don't know how long after the Great Freeze and fundation of Equestria Sombra raising to power was but given what was said on how he had time to kill all the Ruvas and all the other evil things it is resonable to conclude that Equestria just intervined after they had stabilized their country instead of short after, eapecially when reminded that Discord happened before they fought Sombra. For all we know it could have take years and in that time it doesn't matter what laws were valid since everyone was being controlled by Sombra.
10248308
Maybe, still too little information to get to any conclusion but interessing hypotesis.
10248164
No, people become legends as the reverence for their "impressive" acts grow.
Genghis Khan is an example o this. He is not good and he is a legend because what he did, while "evil" and "despicable", was impressive.
With all this talk on the subject down at the comments reminds me the time Whoopei Goldberg talked about the looney tunes within the golden collection.
where people tried to censor looney tunes as if that didn’t exist.
OOO! oOO! I also remember the movie a monster calls. The first story where things aren’t always what they appear to be.
10249552
10249539
10249531
10249512
not to be a bother but could you mimic what I do like this and reply to all the comments at once rather than posting comment after comment in a line? not trying to be a dick or trying to order you around, just saying it is rather messy and some people can get pissy about that
I like how main character really acts like Skeletor . More then i innitialy realized as at first it seemed he was just a Skeletor in looks.. Also interesting to think how much this new "form" to call it, actually affects/changed him.. It's awesome :D
10249672
no all the empire territory' are to the crystal ponies current belief empty ruins ransacked by sombra, equestria territory is too far to travel on hoof and since they believe the princess are dead they dont know what dangers would await them so it too dangerous at the present time to risk
10249505
Absolutely! I love it!
I’d like to thank you all for being civilized in our discussions. I’ve read the comments and seen the conversations that some chapter updates have provoked, and I’m thankful that no one has said anything disgustingly terrible to another user. So far, the worst insult I’ve seen is one commenter calling another “illiterate” which is a lot tamer than I thought some people would go.
I’m grateful to know that this is a healthy community of people who can discuss opinions and just say, “I respectfully disagree with your opinion, but I won’t attack you personally for it. Instead, I’ll lay out what I disagree with and you can do the same.” I know how heated some debates can get on this site, since I've gotten into a few of them myself with on other stories, and I'm grateful to all of you for keeping these conversations civilized and explaining your own points of view.
10249512
What evidence? Quote to me the exact sentences from the fic that actually support that hypothesis, rather than easily refutable conjecture.
You're forgetting that this whole thing was only introduced two chapters ago in-story. No solid proof has actually been shown either way, so until it is in fact "shoved in front of me" as you put it, we're all basing our assumptions on what little has actually been shown, which at the moment amounts to the public stance of a long dead monarch from a medieval society.
10249901
I actually addressed this issue in one of my blog updates. If you'd like the actual answer as to why I initially had the Princess of Love make same-sex (and also interspecies) marriage illegal, then the answer is that her reasoning was based on a flawed understanding of magic. Because the Crystal Empire was banished 3,000 years ago before the start of MLP (at least in my canon) then it would make sense that their understanding of magic wouldn't be as great as modern magic. Take humans for example, 3,000 years ago telling a doctor to wash their hands before surgery would be considered weird.
"What? There are tiny demons called germs that can cause diseases, which I could easily prevent by using normal water? Not even water blessed by a priest, just normal clean water? Suuuuure," the doctor would incredulously reply before using a saw covered in blood from other victims to amputate a patient's limb without any anesthetic.
A high school student knows more about cells and biology than most medical professionals during the medieval era. The same applies with magic in this universe, so it would only make sense that a pony, say Trixie for example, would know more about magic than even the smartest ruva. In fact, Trixie would likely be able to run circles around some of the ruva mages if they were still alive and came back with the Empire. Basically, Princess Amore's decision to ban same-sex, and interspecies marriage, was influenced by a flawed understanding of how love magic works.
Of course, that was the initial reason. A population issue is an interesting angle to take on the princess' reasoning, but I don't know if I'll take that answer as an in-universe explanation. It's still an interesting theory, nevertheless. Besides, the only pony who could confirm or deny that would be the original Princess of Love, and she's dead. Although, death doesn't mean much when you have a literal entrance to Tartarus, now does it?
10249936
Well, there you go people, debate over. Word of God has officially been handed down on the matter, we can all go home.
Of course that last part would only be applicable if Princess Amore went to Tartarus, which is either a magical supermax prison or a literal Hell-equivalent, depending on your interpretation of the MLP lore. Either way, it's not the kind of place you'd expect a benevolent goddess to end up.
10249640
I get it but I usually read on my cellphone and reply as I see the comment so it is less that I don't want to do it and more that I don't know how I would do it in the cellphone.
Sorry for the disturbance.
10249901
The author already commented on it so the discussion is over but just so you understand (I don't think you will) I will repeat that the "evidence" is "the word of an expert", which is an Appeal to Authority but it is also the only data point we have on the subject.
10249851
To be fair I only called the other "Illiterate" because he was demonstrating his inability to read. So it was less of a affront and more of a statement of fact.
10249505
So you are against a cure for down syndrome, schizophrenia and other mental disease that cause alteration of how the brain works?
Because that would be "brainwashing" just without the magic part.
You know I just realised something has Luna not realised that there is about a whole cities worth of new Dreamers up in the north.
10250189
Considering the relatively small population of the remains of the empire compared to modern Equestria, maybe she hasn't.
10249936
my personal understanding of Tartarus is that it is a physical place on the planet that you can travel too, not a spiritual dimension that a person's soul ends up in. of course, that is using the later seasons as evidence and I abhor using the later seasons as any form of cannon. like Tartarus is actually tiny in cannon and most of it seems to hold mundane equestrian beats in iron cages, showing that celly or whoever else has access to this place simply throws animals into it for the crime of following their nature, for being an animal and wanting to wear you get eternal fiery torment as from my understanding Tartarus stops you from dying of hunger thirst or even old age.
which would make celly or whoever else might have put them in their a level of animal abusing prick that I am not comfortable with. who knows how long those beasts have been in there
anyway in my own head cannon ignoring show cannon is that Tart is a separate dimension, like a plane of existence, equestrian (or sometimes referred to as requests as Equestria is not the entire world) is a kind of life dimension, or something, I dunno. and tart is a fiery dimension, or perhaps the elements have a form of cruelness to them and formed this hell pit to stuff opposition of it's enforced harmony so they can suffer eternally for not bending the knee, because as you may recall every sentence is temporary, luna, even discord although he did have a hand in his own freedom if I recall. but not tart
no worries mate I understand the pain of using a phone
10250186
and no I am not because to me brainwashing is involuntary, if you willingly get 'cured' and know all the risks and exactly what is happening I have nothing against it, but I do have something against people willingly brainwashing themselves while either being tried into it by not fully understanding the gravity of the situation or by them choosing to do such while not in the right state of mind, like someone having a fetish about being brainwashed into a mindless sex doll and going through with it because they are either too horny or uncaring to think of the full impact this will have on them
when I say brainwash I mean nonconsensual altering of the brain and mind to fit what the alterer wants them to be.
this also includes someone that wants something but doesn't fully understand what they are doing, like someone signing a document that allows a person to take their home and kick them out while they are thinking they are signing a paper that doesn't something else
10250927
That this describe the situation for most people with schizophrenia. Also most people with depression or other situation that make then have to take the medication to put their situation under control.
The most common complaint about it is that they "don't feel like themselves" and that they don't want to take the medication while being forced to do so. It is also the basic work of any asylum (hospice), forcing people to take mind altering drugs most of the time against their will and with the use of force if needed. Which is why I said what you said is so generic that makes it seen you are against the things I said since people with mind altering diseases like the ones I mentioned usually do not have the mental capacity to understand what is being explained and can't consent to anything.
10251029
well that's a bit of a sticky area I suppose, but referring to things like magic or brainwashing such as implementing thoughts into their head, that is a strict no-no, medication is something I don't have a fully fleshed-out opinion on yet
One of the few story's that excite me when there is a new update.
10251133
Fair enough. Though putting toughts on other people minds is also something that happens daily, most notorious example being the main stream media manipulating the narrative, but that would be extrapolating too much on the subject I guess.
Well my point is that "brainwashing" is something that happens daily without magic and like everything else is not inherently "evil" it depends on how it is used.
10251214
yes I know, however, note I never claimed to support mass media, as far as I am aware mass corporate media is a less direct form of brainwashing, something you can resist if you are aware or chose to simply not watch, however, it is still a tool used to brainwash
10250186
*checks date* Well, my schedule's still full so I can't cook you a complete meal, but I suppose I can toss you a nice Trollo-Treat™ to tide you over.
This is a fanfiction website, meaning that pretty much the entire library of content is in the form of the written word, also known as literature. Literacy is literally a requirement for its consumption you mononeuronic mastodon. If I were illiterate, I wouldn't be here, and neither would I be able to understand your moronic insults and respond accordingly.
As I said earlier, you're paradoxically insinuating that I'm illiterate via the written word. Now if you'll excuse me, Troll, I'm late for my meeting with the Grammar Nazis.