Cutie Mark Crusaders Fantasian City-State Historians, YAY!!!!!!

by Dragonborne Fox

First Day, Afternoon—Irongrey's Origin

Notepads retrieved, and pencils sharpened, the Crusaders giddily grinned as they prepared a full questionnaire for the unwitting sap that Katie was leading them to. Provided, of course, that she could find him first. She started by asking a few other soldiers around for directions, leading the Crusaders through a twisting maze of steel walls with doors and passing some halls made of malleable stone that seemed to add new doors and holes in the floor of its own will. Those halls typically had bioluminescent moss instead of light crystals to act as their means of sight, though some had a little bit of both.

"So how old are ya?" Apple Bloom asked as Katie lead them down another hall with a lift at the end.

Katie turned her head to glance back as they trotted to the lift. "Honestly, managed to forget that and the death date, too. I can tell you how old I was when I turned into a wraith, though," she said with a shrug. "When I was nine."

The Crusaders shuddered, scarcely able to imagine someone joining the ranks of undead so young. They shared uneasy glances, then turned to her again with floppy ears as she boarded the lift and beckoned them on. "Do you remember how it happened?" Sweetie asked as she and her group, along with Applejack, boarded the lift behind her.

Katie nodded. "Some of it, anyway." She gestured to a changeling soldier who was trotting into another hall with the luminescent moss and shapeshifting stone. "See him? Standard changelings like him used to operate in massive hives around here, made of that rock and moss and ruled by Kings and Queens."

The Crusaders nodded, wondering where she was going with this as she reached for the down button and pressed it, her other three legs wobbling dangerously as the lift closed and she retracted her hoof. "Long ago, before any of you were even born, I used to be in a hive like that, except…" She gestured to her prominent ribs and hip bones, "Well, everyling starved until they looked like bigger copies of me and without the hair that I have. Then we got attacked, and whoever attacked was freakishly strong because by the time they got to me, the rest of the hive had been cut down like grass."

Katie shrugged and shook her head as the lift took them down. "Well, like a dumbass, I charge the bastard twice—can't remember what they look like, sadly—and that's how I lost my horn, my ability to smile and frown, and my life all in one go. I saw a blue light, and next thing I know, I can trot again after feeling death's cold embrace squish me in between its hooves," she concluded with a sigh. "Why was I the only one of the hive to turn, well… been trying to find the answers to that one, and so far, no dice."

The Crusaders shared glances, then looked to Katie again. "You know that's a bad word, right?" Apple Bloom asked.

Katie looked to Apple Bloom, a brow raised. "What word?"

"The dumb one," Apple Bloom replied.

Katie sighed and shook her head. "Well, donkeys and mules have been very rare sightings, I believe, in these parts." She shrugged. "I might ask Lance later about what happened to them, because I've only seen one of each and I can't tell you what happened to those two."

The lift opened and she trotted out, ears perked and rotating. "Besides, as young as I was when I got killed, and all I've seen on Fantasia since then? I've earned the right to use bad words as I see fit," she said, the frown she couldn't produce leaking into her voice. A hall of moss and shapeshifting stone stretched before her, and she twitched her nose as unfamiliar pheromones registered in her brain.

"If ya do come back to Ponyville once this barrier business is over, don't say that kinda language around Cranky Doodle," Applejack warned as Katie began to trot through the hall, taking in sights and smells that seemed to muddle her for a bit.

"Why not?" Katie asked, turning to Applejack even as she registered the distant sound of a lot of hissing coming from somewhere to the left.

"Well, he's Ponyville's resident donkey," Applejack replied with a shrug. "And as far as I can tell, he don't like foals swearing the way you do it. Undead or not, he'd probs tell ya his opinion on the whole thing."

"Duly noted," Katie replied, turning to the left wall as a hole opened up to let another changeling soldier through. She didn't even need to tap this one on the fetlock; he just noticed the group and turned right to her. "Hey, do you know where Armin's at?"

The other soldier gestured to the hole he just left. "Through there, farther up, and to the right. You should find the hatchery from there; he's taking notes on which grubs are about to become nymphs," he said.

Katie's orbs grew wide. "You have a hatchery here? Like the hives of old?" she asked.

The changeling nodded with a smile. "Yep. We still use pheromones to tell whose grubs are whose, even if we don't follow Kings and Queens anymore," he said. He turned to the Crusaders and added, "Oh, and a word of caution: the grubs will bite if you grab them in a way they don't like, and they hurt. So don't just go hassling any you see, even if you do think they are cute." He nudged Katie with a hoof and turned to her even though he was still speaking to the trio. "Same goes for our nooblet here, too. I don't think the grubs like frost wraiths that much."

"Understandable," Katie answered. "Thanks." The soldier nodded in turn and trotted off, and she followed his instructions to the letter, trotting at a sedate pace just to make sure her group followed her and wouldn't get lost in the maze. The unfamiliar pheromones grew stronger the closer she came to them, and she couldn't for the unlife of her figure out the signatures they presented all that well. But then again, it had been an awfully long time since she smelled such chemicals, so maybe the part of her brain responsible for the management of that function was just in need of a new awakening.

And hey, she got a learning experience of her own out of this, too. Maybe that was why Lance chose her as the Crusaders' chaperone: to help her prepare for a more adult life of soldiering, give her some structure she went so long without, she reflected.

It took some moments, but they came upon a hole on the right lined with bioluminescent moss all around, strung up to look like a warm and welcoming gate. "Looks like this is it," Katie said, glancing behind herself to do a quick headcount. Yep, everypony was accounted for, and three had pencil and paper already prepared to take the first notes of the day. She nodded and took a quick peek beyond the moss gate to make sure the floor was clear and that this was where she needed to be.

Clear it was, for there were sturdy ridges built into the rock like shelves, housing untold numbers of little grublings who hissed and purred as they got fed solidified mush radiating wisps of healthy pink miasma, various soldiers tending to them rationing them out so every grub got their share. Some of the larger ones, about twice as big as Pumpkin and Pound Cake put together, were eating so much that Katie half-wondered if they were going to explode from all the food being shoveled into their gobs.

Nonetheless, she searched for a particular changeling soldier among those who was feeding the grublings. She bade her charges to enter, and she followed them inside, beady orbs still searching for her quarry. Fortunately, she didn't have to look far; he was on a lower shelf that she could just trot to, having just finished feeding the grubs on that shelf. His cyan shell and eyes marked him out from the other changelings, as did the distinct jingle of dog tags hanging around his neck.

Katie went right over with her group and chirped, "Hey, Armin, I got some questions," she said, orbs twinking as some of the grubs turned to her and hissed, their cute little forked tongues waving about as they made the motion.

Armin turned as well, smiling as he patted a grubling on the head, earning a soft coo. "Ask away, nooblet. I'm allowed a ten-minute break before I have to head for my next shift," he said.

"Okay, first question: how was the Aerie formed?" Katie began.

Armin winced. "Starting with the tough ones, are we?"

His question was met with a shrug and a roll of the orbs. "Well, I'm new, and I was sealed for Godcat knows how long, so I don't have much knowledge here," she countered.

Armin sighed, unable to counter that point even as he wondered how and why the wraithling managed to get herself sealed. And he was curious as to what went down, the where in which the sealing happened, the when as the date could have been useful, and of course, who was involved in that whole fiasco. But in the end, he could just ask those uncomfortable questions of his own later, and proceeded to usher the group out of the hatchery with his horn aglow.

"None of the little ones need to see this," he said as he led them to a hall adjacent to the hatchery. He sought Applejack's eyes as he asked, "You think I can tell the kids this?"

Applejack shrugged. "Just as long as ya don't scar them fer life," she said.

Armin nodded and turned to the Crusaders with a sigh. "Do you three know about war?"

Scootaloo nodded. "We were taught about the War of the Three Tribes, and how bloody that got before the Tribe Migration and the Founding of Equestria," she said. "We had to do a book report on it."

Applejack sagged her shoulders. "Yeah, Equestria ain't got the brightest history either…" she muttered. "Was surprised the Windigos didn't come sooner in that whole mess."

Armin nodded. "No country or city-state hardly does. The Aerie's no different," he agreed. His horn's aura expanded into a screen-like projection of sickly green, and within it formed an image of a shadowed pony with wings fully expanded, with legions of gryphons bowing down before them. The silhouette looked familiar to the Crusaders, but they could not pin a name to the pony. "Seven years ago, before the changelings and gryphons united, there was a hopelessly insane stallion who wanted to take over all of Fantasia."

The Crusaders began to take notes as Armin relayed the sordid tale. "He first sought control of the gryphons, then consisting of a myriad of tribes and clans. Using a strange magic that hadn't been seen since the Sealing of Godcat and Faust, he swayed them to his control with force and fear, the magic stronghoofing all into compliance."

"At first, many fought, and lost their lives trying to regain their freedom. But the stallion defeated the resistance, having them drawn and quartered for daring to defy him. With his victory secured, he sought about arming his new army for the gruesome crusade to follow." The image changed, to a fearsome tank with drills and a main cannon accompanied by miniguns. "Using magitek to quash all resistance, he started his conquests."

A map of Fantasia formed, a central large continent flanked by intercardinal continents and some islands off to the far side. Pieces fell onto the map like daggers of damnation, at first spreading from the center outwards and moving to cover the far south of the central continent. "The changelings, once made of individual hives, were backed into a corner as the gryphons dominated the land. They fought mightily, but love was depleted through the war, and so the last ten hives congregated together to think of a strategy in the face of extinction."

The image changed again, to a large hive even bigger than the Aerie, surrounded by blaster-wielding gryphons with glazed eyes baying for blood. "All attempts for ceasefire proved fruitless, for the gryphons wanted one thing and one thing alone: damnation of all who stood in their way. Alas, they had already succeeded with slaying the last few Kings and Queens that remained, and now sought the remnants of the fallen kingdoms to finish the gruesome job."

The Crusaders shuddered even as pencils scratched against paper, wondering how the changelings were able to survive their darkest hour. But then the image changed, to three silhouetted figures—one carrying a massive blade, one carrying a staff, and the smallest one carrying a sword and shield despite the evident lack of legs. "But then, as if to pierce through the darkness of death and destruction, our saviors came: a stallion clad in shadows, a mare with magical might of her own, and a legless cat with fire in his eyes."

"The gryphons scoffed at them as they moved to the top of the hive to challenge the flock. 'What do two ponies and a cat have to stop us with?' the flock cried foolishly, aware that the eyes of the surviving changelings were watching with rapt attention. The ponies didn't answer with words; their magic did the talking."

The Crusaders shuddered, gaping and wide-eyed as the image shifted to an animated piece showing off a rain of swords and other weapons bigger than even Canterlot and the mountain it stood on, piercing the earth deeply enough to cause magma to spill out. Each weapon was clad in shadow and crimson light strong enough to tint the piece, as fire rained from the skies to incinerate the gryphons that dodged the first volley.

It didn't show anything particularly gruesome, largely thanks to the size of the weapons—but the massive weapons kept coming, and coming, and coming in waves that kicked up clouds of ash and smoke as they impacted the earth again and again. The apocalypse blanketed everything outside of the hive, uprooting sparse vegetation and setting it ablaze in one cursed breath. Applejack silently gasped, the sound dying in her throat as her eyes were transfixed on the blades. Within the projection, the Crusaders could feel the terrified gazes of the changelings, all wondering what in Tartarus was going on.

And when it was all over, the swords and other large weapons dissipated into embers that didn't harm the world anymore than it had, but by then the land was pitted with scars and scorch marks and the blackened bones of the aggressors. Silence held for several seconds, and Armin spoke in a quiet voice, "None of the attacking flock remained, not one soul could flee to speak to the enemy of what had happened. When asked what they just did, the stallion answered: 'I have brought Ragnarok to your aggressors.' 'I turned flesh to ash with the flames of Hell itself,' said the mare. 'We have come to seek aid from you, for we cannot stop the army of gryphons and magitek alone. Will you help?'"

"It wasn't a question; the changelings joined their saviors, and the long, brutal Trials of Attrition began, each side struggling to overcome the other. This lasted for a year, with neither side gaining an advantage. Territories were gained, lost, then gained again, all at the expense of innumerable lives and an altered landscape. But as all hope seemed lost, there came a turning point."

The animated image shifted to a still piece, showing five silhouettes standing before three pieces of magitek that looked as though they could have been piloted. "Five gryphons, four of them wingless, came to the saviors and asked to join. With some hesitation, they were admitted. And they offered intel on the gryphons from which they had defected. They broke free of the magic that the rest of the gryphons were under, and asked only this: 'free them from that wicked spell.'"

"The intel was immensely helpful, and soon enough the changelings formed strategies to take back land and strike at the heart of the war: the insane stallion himself. Magitek was stolen, given to the changelings to increase the odds of success, and the four wingless gryphons proved invaluable with their pilotable magitek and the skills with which they decimated the enemy. At an abandoned facility, they had found the trump card: the Incineration Orbital Neutralization Cannon, or ION for short. The pilots hacked the controls and installed its commands into their magitek without delay."

"Several more battles were waged in which the ION Cannon being fired decided the tides of war. The enemy sent more and more advanced magitek to fight, but each one was felled with decisive strikes and precise firing of the Cannon. Some of the larger mechs required Ragnarok to be summoned, but progress was steadily gained. Soon enough, our forces reached the heart of the enemy's empire, where they mounted their last defense," Armin said, shuddering as he willed his magic to work on the projection once again.

The image shifted again, to a smouldering mountain surrounded on all sides by fighting changelings and gryphons, in the heart of which sat the tank and the silhouette of the insane stallion. At first he was alone, before he was then confronted by the changelings' saviors, all of whom had their weapons ready. "A long, vicious battle was waged on the Last Eve of Attrition, between the hopelessly insane stallion and the determined saviors. The tide barely turned in our favor when his tank was destroyed by the ION blast." The image showed the decimation of the tank from an angle, showing off another hail of mana-beams that came from the sky itself, and behind them a wicked gleam that seemed to have glowed all the way from space.

"Even then, the insane stallion fought to the last. His main weapons destroyed and stolen, he tried to cast his foul magic to turn the saviors against us. Alas, it proved futile, for the mare had counterspells already prepared for that eventuality. He was soundly defeated, subdued, and brought to heel. But even as the wicked spells he casted were reversed, the saviors found something odd: he, himself, was under that same magic."

"When pressed for why, he failed to answer, instead pleading for death. It didn't come, and instead he was rehabilitated. The changelings and gryphons joined forces to rebuild, grieving for those who were lost in the senseless bloodshed. It was decided that they would combine the might of hives and magitek into one, and through an agonizing two years, they were able to build the Aerie. Rehabilitation of the insane stallion was successful, and he was cautiously reintegrated into society, our saviors continuing to monitor him closely so he doesn't relapse back into his previous insanity," Armin concluded, frowning somberly as the image he conjured winked out and he let his horn stop glowing.

The Crusaders finished taking their notes, each sharing uneasy glances with each other. Several questions danced in their minds, before Scootaloo turned to Armin and voiced one of them, "So… who was the insane stallion?"

Armin sighed. "Well, kids…" He sat down and shook his head, "You're not gonna like this answer…" His wings buzzed, the noise slightly grating and uncomfortable before he made them stop. "It's Lance Boltwing himself."

The Crusaders immediately jotted that down, frowning as they wondered how he came upon the foul magic that controlled him. Sweetie was the one to ask, "Did he ever say anything about the magic?"

Armin shook his head. "Just that one day, he would deal with the source of it himself and slay it, like his insanity had been felled," he said. "But he confirmed it came from elsewhere, cast on him before he even came to the central continent."

Apple Bloom asked, "So is he okay now?"

Armin hesitantly nodded. "Yeah, it took a lot to teach him what he needed to be a proper general so he could do his damn job and all that, but he's fine now. Just… don't ask him about it, he hates talking about it," he replied, frown deepening somewhat. He turned to Applejack and added, "And yes, he will let us know when the source of that magic that was cast on him is… permanently dealt with." Applejack nodded, only a little satisfied with that even as she made a mental note to speak to Lance later for the sake of checking up on him.

"And that kind of magic is illegal, right? The kind that makes you act a certain way?" Sweetie pressed, garnering another nod from Armin.

"Extremely, at least in the Aerie and the areas it controls. In fact, that specific brand of magic carries harsh punishments here. But we haven't come across any practitioners of that magic to carry out those punishments on yet," Armin replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But I can tell you this: if we do find a practitioner of that brand of magic, it's not gonna be pretty for them."

Armin stood up and stretched. "And with that, I'm off to my next shift. Take care, kids," he said, trotting off with a wan smile forming on his face.

Scootaloo turned to Katie, who glanced back with wide orbs. "So… can we find Matt and Natalie and ask them some questions?" Scootaloo asked.

Katie tilted her head before nodding. "I guess we could do that. Though I think they're probably up at the higher floors this time of day… maybe," she said with a shrug. "Looks like we gotta find more directions, then."

"Well, what're we waiting for?" Sweetie asked, starting to grin in spite of the sordid tale she had received. "We got places to be, don't we?"

Katie nodded and turned to where another hole in the wall opened up. "That, we do," she agreed. With that, she led them into the hole-in-the-wall, taking note of the pheromones swirling about the cavernous mass. "So whatever do you need Cowpelt and Creamsicle for?" she asked.

Sweetie grinned. "I was wondering if it was possible for them to take pictures of the Aerie for our report, show that this place really does exist on Fantasia," she said. "We gotta go whole hog on the report; if we only go half-hog, we won't get the best grade."

Katie nodded again, idly turning that about in her head. "Well, that's assuming they do have the means to take pictures, but it's worth a shot," she agreed, wings buzzing a bit at the thought. "And we do need to do some touring of the Aerie at some point, so photographic references would be a good start." Through the hole they went, which stretched on for a good hundred yards or so. "Since I don't know the place that well, which part of the Aerie do you want to tour tomorrow?"

The Crusaders shrugged in unison. "What all do we have here?" Sweetie asked.

Katie shrugged back. "That's what I'm wondering, besides the hatchery," she said. "And the guest rooms, but those aren't mandatory for the report if I don't miss my guess." She lifted her head a bit as a bit of moss brushed up against her snout. "Maybe Cowpelt and Creamsicle have a better idea than I do."

"Y'think Anna might have some idea, too?" Applejack asked, grinning in bemusement.

"I'unno," Katie replied, her orbs almost audibly rolling in her voice. "And besides, where is she at this time of day?"

"Well, she might be able to help, too," Applejack pointed out.

Katie idly nodded. "True, true…" she agreed. "But we'll probably bug her tomorrow. Right now, she'll have a lot on her plate."

"Alrighty then," Applejack said with a snicker.

Comments

[Comickook]

Another wonderfully done chapter. These new chapters took a while, but were definitely worth the wait. Really enjoyed the Crusaders' reaction to how young Katie was when she died AND her recap of HOW she died. And the details of that one big battle (including the opponent being under the influence of the same foul magic he himself was trying to use) were quite appropriately nerve-wracking.

And, on to the next chapter.

[Dragonborne Fox]

10704939 owo I'm glad you like it :D