The Stone Chisel Way

by King Genesis

Viscera

Arc II - Chapter V - Viscera

Hey Stonie!

What you doin', filly? It's me, Stolen Bag, writing to you from Las Pegasus. Do you like that small apartment I gave to you in Manehattan? I could have given a more luxurious place to you, you know, but you told me so many times you've never got on with luxury and wealth so I didn't know what to give you, boy.

About that... I simply don't understand, my filly. Sometimes you tell me you don't want to talk to anybody in this group and showbiz ever again, and the next day you try to help your parents to increase sales with this idea of the gems, which I've got to admit it's not bad, although the one who came up with it, your father, has a very punchable face. I had to say it. What I'm trying to say is that I think you've got to define your spot, Stone Chisel. Remember that time I told you the story about those fillies I saw a while ago on Ponyville? The Cutie Mark Crusaders, I mean? I told you they reminded me of you, not because they didn't have a cutie mark, which you have, but because they were still looking for their spot, for something to identify themselves with. That's why I consider you that, Stone Chisel. One day you told me you like robbing, and the next day you shout at me because you don't like robbing people. I wanted to talk to you in private about this, but you never wanted to tell me your story. I want you to think, Stonie, to talk to me so we can define your spot. I'm not doing this as a partner, but as a stallion who wants to help you, boy.

Anyways, I was writing this card for you as a partner, only to tell you that we'll get together for a meeting at Suri's next Saturday. We've got to talk to Suri and Prim about our next robbery on the Crystal Faire. Maybe, if we are lucky, maybe we can get a chance to rob the Crystal Heart, but, as I said, MAYBE. Get prepared for it, it's gonna be a big one. Use that mist you told me before, and remember, if everything comes out good, we will stay at Manehattan's apartment. If someone sees something of us, even one hoof... we will hide in the little house at the end of the river....

Remember this letter won't have any one of our names. It will be written by Mr Paper (me), and a postman may arrive this week and will call out for Mr Pen (you). Remember we can't write our names on the envelope, because that can be risky.

I hope you answer, especially about the spot. If you talk to me in private about that, things will change, Stonie. ;)

- Stolen Bag.

...

...things will change, Stonie. ;)

---

The sun touches her magenta eyes in the middle of the forest. Rainbow Dash, with a broken wing and hurt, opens them, almost letting them come out of their orbits. She feels something next to her, something cold... and when she turns around, getting a branch that was over her off, she looks at her friend, Starlight Glimmer, with such a pale colour it makes her shiver. She dares to move, to get up, something which really hurts... only to find out there is a big hole on Starlight's body, where she can see the other side, the ground through it. Trying to find out who did this, she does remember familiar faces... Tirek, Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, Stone Chisel and Discord tied to him... she remembers the name of the robber, being listened to by her while being moved by something... but the only thing she can't identify is that ram. Who was that ram?... He only remembers a name... Tenebris. It was his name... right? Tenebris was his name? Was it that? Who was he? Why is it suddenly here? Where did he come from?...

Why is he so evil?

---

"Why would they take so l---?" Twilight was saying something but gets interrupted when Celestia, Luna, Spike and all of the Royal Guards that were with her come out from a portal, only to look at the massive carnage around them. "Wh... wh-what? What? What? What the...?"

"FLASH!" shouts the winged dragon, looking at the Royal Guards' leader's body with a spear stabbed right into his heart. "NO! NO! RAINBOW DASH!"

And at that moment everypony starts realizing what may have happened here. Something not so nice. "RAINBOW!" shouts Twilight, while the Princesses are still in silence. "RAINBOW! STARLIGHT! RAINBOW! OH, CELESTIA!" she shouts, having tears in her eyes. "OH, MY! PLEASE!"

At the same time, two other portals open, where some Royal Guards get out, along with the remaining Mane 6. All of them listen to the shouts of Twilight, followed by looking at Spike, crying over their leader's corpse. Clearly, something happened here... and they don't even know what.

"LEADER!" shouts Big Stomp, the guard who replaced Sentry as the south's leader. "SIR SENTRY, SIR SENTRY!!!"

"TWIIIIILIGHT!"

"I HEARD IT!" shouts Rarity, trembling with shock and fear. "IT'S RAINBOW! COMING FROM INSIDE THE FOREST!"

"TWIIIIIIIILIGHT!"

And with that, all of the ponies get inside the forest to get her out, while Big Stomp is looking at his dead leader. "I TOLD HIM!" he shouts. "I told him... he was alone... I should have gone instead of him... I should have..." Then, he looks at the princesses and literally surrenders to them. "Expel me... expel me, princesses! I deserve it!"

But the princesses are in another mood now. "BIG STOMP!" shouts Luna, grabbing his face with her hooves. "PLEASE... we need to know what happened here... WE CAN'T, WON'T AND ALSO DON'T WANT TO EXPEL YOU... did you understand? Please, I need all of you to look around the forest! PLEASE! The monster who did this... must be out there..."

Big Stomp, who doesn't even hesitate, nods his head and calls for his partners... however, one of them comes out of the forest and tells everypony the terrible news:

"Starlight Glimmer is dead."

No. It can't be... but it is. Princesses don't believe it at first, but once they get into the forest and look at her body lying in a ditch with a hole on it... they know they've made a big mistake. "We..." whispers Celestia, letting a tear roll down her eye, looking at her pupil Twilight and her friends crying in silence while the Royal Guards are walking with long, concerned faces around the forest. "We should have stayed, sister."

"If only we knew..."

"If only we were here... oh..." she says, shivering. "Oh... no... I feel so guilty about this..."

Celestia lets another tear roll down her eyes again, while Luna hugs him. However, what they don't know is that they are not alone there... no pony there is alone. Just some metres away, hiding behind some trees, an invisible ram with his allies is looking at everything. Stone Chisel and Discord, however, can't see anything due to they are behind the ram and on the ground, and they also don't have any mouths. They can't talk. "You haven't changed anything," whispers Tenebris looking at the Princesses. "Just like the last day I was here as a young ram with dreams."

"Will you...?" says Tirek.

"Wait," interrupts Tenebris, looking at the stallion. "Didn't you tell me she was dead, you?" he asks, angrily, but calms down a second later, only to smile and chuckle. "Uh... well, you can't talk... nor walk. I think that's enough to compensate for what you've done. Besides... it's not bad to have a witness sometimes... what were you saying, centaur?"

Stone Chisel only looks at the ram with pure fury while Tirek, angrily, takes a breath. "Will you..."

"Talk lower, they may hear us, and no... I'm not going to kill them now... first, they need to feel what I felt, and how I feel now... lonely."

"Golly," whispers Cozy Glow, behind Tirek. "I've never seen Celestia or Twilight crying... this is... wow."

And the ram hears her. "I think the same, so shocking..." whispers Tenebris, only to turn his head back, looking at the centaur. "Don't you think the same, Tirek?"

The only thing the centaur can do right now is snort, and not even at the ram's face. He hates being dominated, but what he hates more is being taunted just like this. This stupid, foolish ram is playing with the centaur who almost consumed all of the magic of Equestria... he's treating him like a stupid toy, only because he defended Cozy... "I think the same..." he says, just to finish with a lower voice, grinding his teeth. "... Night Ram."

However, while talking, they find out the Princesses turn around and leave while one of the ponies there starts sobbing, almost shouting, while hugging Starlight. A white mare with a purple mane. "WHY? WHY?"

"DASH! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED?" shouts Pinkie, so shocked she has smooth hair. "PLEASE! PLEASE! HOW MANY HOOVES YOU SEE?"

The pegasus, however, can't even talk because of how tired and hurt she is. She can only whisper... "T... T... Te..."

"Te?" says Fluttershy, scared, hiding behind a shocked Applejack. "Te?"

"Tenebris."

The night ram smiles and even can't hide his laugh when the princesses turn around, once they hear that name. Rainbow Dash would never lie to them... she must be saying the truth. Celestia now gets in the middle, looking at Rainbow Dash lying next to Starlight. "What..." she says. "What did you say?"

"I love it when they say my name..." the ram whispers from behind.

"Tenebris," says Twilight, cleaning her face with tears. "But... it can't be... he was..."

"Tirek, Cozy Glow, Stone Chisel," says Luna, looking at her sister. "No... no..." she says, looking to the ground. "They must..."

Her sister now turns around. "You think..."

"But... how did he escape? And how did he get on with Tirek, Cozy Glow and especially Stone Chisel? I can't... I can't understand."

The Princess of the Sun shakes her head. "It's impossible," says Celestia, turning around. "Tenebris was jailed inside the stone and trapped in the cliff... it was impossible for him to get out of there..."

"Maybe..." says Twilight. "Maybe he got helped and freed by them."

"It sounds possible, but it can't be," whispers Celestia. "Tenebris was on the cliff of Tartarus, lying in the darkness. How could they go there, also with Cerberus behind them?"

"Tenebris," whispers Rainbow Dash, again, something that calls everybody's attention. "He... He..."

"He?" says Twilight, hugging Rainbow. "Please..."

The pegasus cries while talking: "He killed... Wonder...bolts... they... were here... and faded away..."

Everypony's eyes get wet again. "He did it?" asks Twilight. "Was there someone else, Rainbow...? Who was..." she says, with a lump on her throat. "Who was... the one who... who... killed Starlight?"

"T...Tenebris... and was with... Tirek, Cozy... Cozy Glow... Chrysalis..."

"Chrysalis?" says Applejack, shocked, cleaning her face with tears.

"And... Discord..."

Every pony around shouts in the unison. "DISCORD!? But..."

"Discord... is kidnapped..."

"What?" says Luna. "But... how could they kidnap Discord?"

He was carried by... S-S... S... Stone Chisel."

On the other side, the ram keeps laughing, while the allies have already turned around. "Clearly, you are the star here, pony," says Tenebris, looking at a Stone Chisel with no mouth and hooves, looking at the ram with his eyes full of hatred. "Such a pity you can't make any commentaries."

Celestia and Luna look at each other... in the first place, how did Tenebris get free? "Did the ram tell you how did he get free?" says the Princess of the Moon, but Rainbow Dash only shakes her head, which eventually makes Luna cry. "I shouldn't..." she says. "Sentry... Starlight... the Wonderbolts... the Guards... I shouldn't have told Sentry to remain silent... now we have to tell every creature, everybody what's been happening... and warn them about the ram, sister... I feel so guilty..."

"Don't feel like that," whispers Celestia, while grabbing a big, purple leaf from one of the trees of the forest. "We never thought that ram would be out of its prison... if it wasn't for him, this could have been something that could be solved with just Twilight.. but this..."

"This?" says Twilight. "You mean... Tenebris..."

While Celestia turns around and starts writing something on the leaf through her magic, Luna realizes there is a shard of something under one of her hooves. Once she touches and grabs it with her magic, her eyes shrink. "This..." she whispers. "This is postcrystalline."

"Postcrystalline?" says Rarity, still shocked. "But... isn't that material used for---?"

"Magical necklaces and chains," replies Celestia, still writing on the leaf. "And with that, we can confirm Tenebris was here. No other creature had postcrystalline over his body."

Everyone gets silent until a scared Twilight asks: "And how can we start solving this? If you say we need more than me and the girls..." And then, Celestia sends the leaf somewhere, something which calls Twilight's attention. "Princess..." she says.

The Sun Mare turns around with a serious gesture only to look at Starlight's body. She shakes her head and sighs, looking for a way to stop this. "Yes, Twilight?"

"Where did you send that leaf?"

Luna also thinks the same and looks at her sister with concern. "I ask the same thing, sister... who did you write to?"

The Princess while looking at the clear sky covered by big dark, purple trees.

"I sent it to Blister."

---

Meanwhile, inside a cozy apartment in Manehattan, a brown baby dragon with shiny orange eyes is looking through the window, observing all of the ponies trotting and trotting around the main streets of the town. "How curious..." he says. "I would say yesterday was a bit noisier than before... don't you think that, Ink?"

A black stallion comes out of a room filled with books and newspapers. He's in a rush. "Yes, Blister. I've got to admit it, although that's not my main problem right now... where's Tabloid?"

"In his room."

"Where? You know that room's anything but a room."

Blister, the baby dragon, turns around and looks at Ink Pot, raising his shoulders. "No idea, but he may be inside that mess of papers where he rests."

Ink Pot dares to open the door of Tabloid's room. The old journalist is sleeping on a pile of newspapers, while a couple of pens, papers and even a broken typewriter are lying next to him. All the room is filled with copies and copies of newspapers, tabloids and gazettes. "Tabloid!" he shouts. "You sleeping again on that pile? Don't you dare complain at me when your back hurts, huh?"

"Hmmm..." groans the unicorn. "Don't begin with... your shouts... Ink Pot. I was sleeping."

"Are you crazy?" shouts his secretary. "Tomorrow we have to go to the Crystal Empire for my exclusive interview with the princes! And I've been looking for the sheet of paper which has questions 7 to 12 since we arrived from the Station!"

"Ok," says Tabloid, getting off the pile, with the help of his secretary.

"Ok?" he shouts. "It's everything you have to say, Tabloid? Gosh! Remember you told me you were going to help me with this?"

"I know, I know," says Tabloid, putting his glasses on with his own magic. "But I prefer interviews to be impromptu, Ink Pot. I go there with just one or two questions..." he interrupts his sentence to yawn. "...and then I grab some wires to keep talking, like a normal conversation. You'd better do that."

"But I'm not you," he replies. "I don't have the tongue you have, Mr Tabloid."

"And that's your problem... I told Paper Pile, our boss, to put you as my secretary because of that, Ink Pot. You need to learn so many things about journalism... and I'm now your master."

"More like a crazy old man instead of a master..."

"Whatever..." says Tabloid, walking around and also caressing Blister. "Just one more thing and then go. Let me sleep after publishing those two articles from this afternoon."

"What?"

"Do you have any news?"

Ink Pot rolls his eyes. "About what?"

"Brave Position."

No one says anything because of how mysterious was BP's letter until Blister enters and dares to speak: "I haven't burped up anything since 4 PM."

"If the rumours he said were true... then..."

"Wait," says Ink Pot. "We don't know if there was an escape, at first... it's just a rumour, or it may be a joke because Brave and I are friends since school..."

"You can't play with this like if it was a joke, Ink Pot," says the journalist. "And less if you are a Royal Guard, who takes this very seriously."

And at that same moment, Blister burps up something which calls the journalists' attention: the orange fire rises but instead of turning into a letter, it gives everybody a big purple leaf filled with holes. Blister grabs it. "What... is that?" asks Ink Pot, confused. "A leaf?"

"I can't... understand anything, Blister..." says Tabloid. "Can you?"

"No... I don't even have an idea about why I just burp up a leaf..." says the dragon, until he puts the leaf on a table, trying to understand what is written on it, only to turn around, in silence, to look at the journalists.

"What?" asks Tabloid. "What is that?"

"This... this was written by Princess Celestia."

Now, the two journalists look at each other. "A leaf?" asks Ink Pot. "And you, knowing Celestia personally? This must be some kind of joke."

"No," replies Blister. "You see... a time ago I was an assistant of one of her pupils... a mare called Sunset Shimmer, which I never got on with, and a couple of months ago I wrote to her and Luna and told her..."

"What?" says Ink Pot, shocked. "Don't you dare to say you told them we had BP as our hidden source for news. If you did I will fire---"

"Of course not, Ink!" he shouts. "I wrote to them how I was feeling, and also that I was working with you as an assistant... maybe she sent that to me..."

"Because something happened," says the journalist Tabloid. "Read it, then."

"Sure... sure..."

Blister focuses on the letter and finally reads aloud:

---

Blister:

This is Celestia talking to you.

I don't have much time and I can't go back to the castle to write to you in a scroll, so I'll be fast.

Tell Tabloid and Ink Pot that Tenebris has returned. Beg them to write an article warning all of the inhabitants of Equestria to be safe, cautious and quiet.

I'll do my best to talk with other communities to stop him. Tell them that Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Stone Chisel are his allies.

Do it for me and Luna. This is a favour I could have only given to you.

- Celestia.

---

Tabloid is the only one who fully understood that, so much he starts sweating. Blister, on the other hand, is confused. "Who is Tenebris?" he says. "Sounds... scary."

The veteran journalist looks at him for a second and immediately jumps over him, freezing. "THE NIGHT RAM! THE NIGHT RAM IS BACK! THE NIGHT RAM IS BACK!"

"TABLOID!" shouts Ink Pot, who gets between the two journalists and separates them. Tabloid opens the window and for a second, he comes up to a dangerous conclusion. He decides to stand up and climb the window, only to jump, but Ink Pot gets him out of there with the help of the secretary. "ARE YOU CRAZY?! WERE YOU GOING TO COMMIT SUICIDE?"

"We are doomed, Ink!" shouts the journalist, trying to be contained by his secretary. "The bloodthirst of the night ram who wanted revenge is now hungry again! He will eat us alive! ALIVE! EAT US ALIVE!"

"Would you calm down?" shouts Ink Pot, aloud. "There's no way he would eat us alive. Rams can't eat ponies and besides... we have Twilight Sparkle and the Elements, Celestia, Luna, Thorax, Ember... all of them will defend us and defeat Tenebris."

"NO! NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, INK!" he shouts. "The Night Ram who had Discord and Grogar's powers on his veins... the first Wizard of Chaos... the first living creature which controlled chaos without being a god... He's Tenebris, Madness Incarnate, Ink Pot. He will kill all of us... and suicide it's just to save time... to don't waste the last days of this life waiting for the ram to knock on my door, Ink Pot..."

And in that same moment, Blister burps up another leaf, which has a shorter letter. He puts it again on the table while the colts wait for what he has to say... however, they know something is wrong when Blister starts trembling while reading the letter. "What happened?" says Ink Pot, shocked, approaching the leaf. "WHAT HAPPE---" he shouts... until he reads the letter. "Oh, sweet Celestia. Oh, my Luna. Holy shit."

"What now?" says Tabloid. "Read it aloud."

"But..."

"READ IT ALOUD, INK!"

That's what he does, then. He fights the letter one more time, trying to say what he has just read without struggling or stuttering.

---

Blister:

Again I write to you, only to inform you of this.

Please, this second leaf must be confidential, between you, the journalists and me, only to understand how grave is this situation.

Rainbow Dash is hurt and has a broken wing, Discord (the God of Chaos) has been kidnapped, and Flash Sentry, Starlight Glimmer, the Wonderbolts and more than thirty-five Royal Guards from Canterlot and the Crystal Empire has died on a confrontation which ended minutes ago.

This is serious, Blister, please answer me once Tabloid publishes his article.

- Celestia.

Comments

[Pete100]

Wait a minute, I got so many questions.

[King Genesis]

10508100
Sure, ask them.

[Pete100]

10508231

Sometimes you tell me you don't want to talk to anybody of this group and showbiz ever again, and the next day you try to help your parents to increase sales with this idea of the gems, which I've got to admit it's not bad, although the one who came up with it, your father, has a very punchable face.

So, tabloid was right?

We've got to talk to Suri and Prim about our next robbery on the Crystal Faire.

So, they are in on it?

Remember this letter won't have any one of our names. It will be written by Mr Paper (me), and a postman may arrive this week and will call out for Mr Pen (you). Remember we can't write our names on the envelope, because that can be risky.

Didn’t he use his real name through the entire letter?

She feels something next to her, something cold... and when she turns around, getting a branch that was over her off, she looks at her mare friend, Starlight Glimmer, with such a pale colour it makes her shiver.

Mare friend?

However, while talking, they find out the Princesses turn around and leave while one of the ponies there starts sobbing, almost shouting, while hugging Starlight. A white mare with a blue mane. "WHY? WHY?"

Who’s that?

"Tenebris," says Twilight, cleaning her face with tears. "But... it can't be... he was..."

How does she know about him?

" Postcrystalline? " says Rarity, still shocked. "But... isn't that material used for---?"

"Magical necklaces and chains," replies Celestia, still writing on the leaf. "And with that, we can confirm Tenebris was here. No other creature had postcrystalline over his body."

Is that something every creature knows?

No one says anything because of how mysterious was BP's letter until Blister enters and dares to speak: "I haven't burped up anything since 4 PM."

What did he burp last time?

"Of course not, Ink!" he shouts. "I wrote to them how I was feeling, and also that I was working with you as an assistant... maybe he sent that to me..."

He?

I'll do my best talking with other communities to stop him. Tell them that Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis and Stone Chisel are his allies.

Didn’t rainbow dash tell them chisel helped her, or did she forget that part?

Tabloid is the only one who fully understood that, so much he starts sweating.

How does he know about tenebris?