Apostle

by EquestrianKnight97

Diary Entry 1.2

Author's Note:

I know it's been a while, but don't worry. The story's not dead yet. I've just been busy with the real world.

DAY 2:Morning

I woke up this morning to clear up my campsite and pack up for the airfield. Luckily, no bad dreams came when I resumed my slumber after last night's discord. I heard voices outside of my tent as I slept, which I assume were Apollo and the deputies that he informed about the criminals he took down. Despite all that chaos that happened after I woke up, I still found it in me to get a good, undisturbed rest.

After a quick breakfast of grits and bread, I took off on the road again. The sky above was blank blue with the sun shining brightly down on the land. After nearly an hour, I had left the woods and entered into the suburb of a town that was a part of the Manehattan metropolitan area. When I went through another hour of traveling, I founded a nice little park to take a lunch break. I rested underneath the cool shadows of a small tree while eating an oat sandwich with carrots, gazing around the park and admiring some of Manehattan's towers in the distance.

An hour later, I'm back on the road again. Two hours later, after moving out of the suburb and into another wooded area, I reached my destination: the Orange Grove Airstrip.

The mile-long airstrip held a vast space that was the temporary refuge of yachts, zeppelins, and various airships of all shapes and sizes. Though I couldn't account for myself, I'm certain that any pony who was a massive fan of aircraft would have been brimming with excitement over the experiences of arriving at the front gate: the orchestral roars of several engines, the diverse mix of ponies moving across the docking bay platforms, and the gentle departures or arrivals of more ships through the sky.

When I got to the front gate and was given access inside the airstrip, I asked the attendant where the Serendipity was docked. She directed me to terminal three, just northwest of the gate, and that the ship was in docking bay #6. I then followed in that direction, traveling underneath the darkness of the docking bay platforms that connected to the decks of the ships. I came across a series of wall-less elevators guarded by operators and entered inside one of them.

After I was elevated to the top of the docking bay, I see the deck of the Serendipity right in front of me. The deck of the ship was bustling with lively activity, as ponies, griffons, and other creatures scrambled around with cargo that was either meant to be packed on the ship or loaded out. Despite all the activity going on, I had an idea of asking one of the laborers where I could find the pony responsible for accepting new members of the Sojourners.

But before I could even get a chance to approach anypony, a crimson red griffon with vanilla-yellow chest fluff and silver talons popped up in front of me spontaneously. The griffon greeted me with a bright white smile that stretched from ear to ear, and his deep purple eyes gazed longingly at me as if I was a foreign creature that nopony had ever encountered before. In the same second that intruder invaded my personal space, he started to lambast me with various questions and statements, some of which I couldn't answer quick enough for him:

"Hello there! How's your day going so far?"

"Did it take you a while to get here? Was it on hoof or by train? Oh, I hope the journey wasn't too hard to bear!"

"I'm guessing you're here to join the Sojourners! We definitely need new members! At least I hope that's what you're here for."

"Oh! You are here to join. That's good to know! Very good to know! I hope you came for a good cause!"

"So what role do you intend to fill? We got adventurers and aid workers with us, though maybe you're interested in staying on the ship as a scientist or carpenter? But even if you're just seeking a maintenance job like kitchen duty or finance, that would still---"

Luckily, a teal, long-legged unicorn stallion with glasses and a short golden mane came by to politely pat the griffon on the shoulder and told him how he was being "too enthusiastic" with his greeting. I know that I would have broken up the conversation eventually, but nonetheless I appreciated the unicorn's help.

The griffon apologized to me, saying that it had been a while since the fleet was greeted by newcomers. He introduced himself as Gideon, an engineer working aboard the Silverclaw, and that he has been flying with the Sojourners for around six years. Though I did not want to start another conversation, I half-heartedly congratulated him on lasting in their services for so long.

The unicorn who saved me was named Newton, and he was a scientist who worked on the Moriarty.

With the confusion from before dying down, I explained to both of them that I was looking for whoever I needed to talk to in order to become a member of the fleet. Newton told me that the maintenance office on the Serendipity would take care of my application, which was located on the seventh level of the ship.

Kindly enough, Gideon offered to take my wagon down to the cargo bay of the ship while Newton directed me to the maintenance office. Despite the attempted theft that happened last night, I had a feeling that nopony here at this supposedly respected guild would try to steal anything from their guests --- especially a bright, giddy griffon in brown overalls and goggles.

Leaving my wagon behind on the deck, I followed Newton inside the cockpit area of the ship and reached an elevator. On the way down to the seventh level, Newton told me that there were nine floors on the Serendipity, while the Moriarty and the Silverclaw had just five.

The elevator trip was quite quick, and both of us found ourselves in a well-lit, clean yellow corridor covered by detailed paintings. After some quick turns in the hallways, we entered an area named "Maintenance", where a receptionist, an older earth pony mare named Olive Joy, greeted the both of us. Newton greeted her back and asked if a pony named Titan's Eye was busy in his office, to which Olive replied that he should be free for the next hour.

Olive directed us to a third room on the left side of the receptionist desk titled "Quartermaster", and after Newton knocked on the door, a stallion appeared out from the other side. He was a light yellow unicorn with dark pink, purple, and orange hair wearing a dark pink shirt underneath a light blue blazer. Titan's Eye smiled at the both of us and asked he could help.

Newton was kind enough to allow me to introduce myself and explain my reasoning for being here: which was to join the Charity division of the fleet. Understanding the situation, Titan's Eye excused Newton from the office and advised me to sit down as he collected some paperwork for me to fill out. Most of it was the standard stuff that a prospective employee had to deal with: personal info, educational background, possible criminal history, financial account, etcetera.

After nearly half an hour of filling out forms, Titan's Eye put the papers aside and shook my hoof --- welcoming me into the Sojourners with a bright smile. He then levitated out a dark purple armband and gave it to me, advising me to place it as high as possible on one of my forelegs. The unicorn told me that each division is distinguished by the color of an armband, and that purple was the color of the Charity Sojourners. When he mentioned that, I remembered that Gideon had on a pink one while Newton's was light blue.

With my application filled out, I am now an official member of the Sojourners of Fleet #3.

Titan's Eye told me that members of the Charity division were stationed aboard the Silverclaw and gave me a key for cabin #9. Thanks to his help, I was able to go down to the cargo bay of the Serendipity and find Gideon with my wagon. I informed the griffon about where I would be living, and he was kind enough to direct me to the Silverclaw and then help me load up my belongings to the third floor of the ship where the cabins were.

Though his help made things quicker, having Gideon around me wasn't exactly pleasant. The griffon wouldn't stop asking me personal questions, such as where I'm from, what I did before, why I joined the Sojourners, and so on. Even when I was mumbling half-assed responses to him, he didn't get the hint that I wasn't trying to be talkative. And when he wasn't asking questions, he would drone on about how good of a job the Sojourners were doing in the Known World and how it would be best if everypony in Equestria would perform the same charitable acts.

To my relief, by the time that we had packed all of my belongings into my cabin, the griffon had no more subjects to talk about. Seeing that everything was in order, Gideon wished me luck with my new career. Since the Engineering division was on the Silverclaw, he told me that I could always see him if in need of advice or help. Despite his cheerful optimism, it was when he left the room that I found a true sense of peace.

Being to myself, I looked around cabin that I am now to reside in for some time until my journey is over. There are two bunk beds embedded in the wall, a pair of drawers, a pair of closets, two desks, and one singular, small window in the shape of a circle that exposed the room to the world outside. The bottom bed, one of the drawers, and one of the closets had signs that they were already used by somepony else, so I knew that I would be meeting my roommate sometime soon.

At that moment, though, I decided to just stay in the cabin. I now rest upon the top bed, writing down about the night before and the events of today leading up to my arrival here. Now that I'm nearly done writing for the moment, perhaps I'll take a quick nap or read something before dinner begins.

---

DAY 2: Night

Tonight was

My head hurts and my heart is racing. I'm shaking like craz

I should start off by saying that for tonight I think I'll stay in Groveluck's guest room. I'm not well enough to make it outside the mansion to take a cab back to the airfield. Groveluck told me that the effects should wear off within the next three hours, but I'm not going to take any chances of collapsing in the middle of the street --- even after three hours.

Despite being tired, I at least want to write about how this evening turned out.

After I moved into my cabin on the Silverclaw, I rested inside for a while until it was time for dinner on the fourth floor of the ship, as announced on the intercom. I left the cabin and made my way up to the dining room, which held more than a dozen tables and was fitted with an orderly food line. Once I got my food from the kitchen workers, I took myself to the far end of an occupied table --- with it being the only spot in the room isolated enough for me to be to myself.

Just as I assumed that I was at peace with eating, a familiar voice called me from behind. I turned around to find Gideon floating across the room with his own tray of food, and without consulting me decided to take a seat at my side. He asked me again how I was taking in everything as a new Sojourner, and whether I felt up to the task of contributing to the fleet and society. His voice was all hopeful and optimistic about my role on the fleet, and while I'm certain he meant well in some way, I just couldn't match his energy.

In slight annoyance, which I'm not certain the griffon even noticed, I answered rather quickly that I was still getting used to being a Sojourner, and that I hope that I would be able to pull my weight when the time comes. With those questions answered, I went back to eating, hoping that would be it, but, of course, Gideon had to add in one more comment:

"To you see that table over there?" he asked with a smile, pointing his finger over to a table far away to my right. At that table, which was circular and much smaller than the longer, rectangular ones, were three individuals. One was a light blue earth pony stallion, the other was a pink pegasus mare, and the last was some anthropomorphic tan cat creature with green overalls.

"Those are the 'big three' of the ship," the griffon continued. "Every ship in the fleet has one captain, one navigator, and one quartermaster. Though that's not all that they do."

That last detail got my attention, despite not wanting to interact with him. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Gideon had to finish a huge portion of his food with a noisy gulp before answering. "Well, the blue pony over there is Captain Springbeat, but he's also the Head Doctor of the Medicine Division. Navigator Finlock, the abyssinian, is the Head Engineer of my division --- making him my go-to boss. And finally, there's the quartermaster, Scarlet Sunset, who serves as your boss as the Head Philantropher."

Confused, I asked, "Why did I go to Titan's Eye on the Serendipity if there's already a quartermaster here?"

And Gideon replied, "Well, Titan's Eye is also the Head Custodian, making him the head of the Maintenance Division. Maintenance is responsible for accepting new members of the fleet, keeping track of our pay, and keeping records on us all. So that's why you had to go to him first."

With that last sentence, it seemed that Gideon was done trying to converse with me, as he went back to eating his food. Other than some side-glances at my direction, there were not many interactions between him and I. Though I wanted him to leave me alone at the table like I originally hoped, I was still content with the current lack of talking.

As I was nearly done with my own dinner, I felt a slight tap on my tap. Turning around, with the hope that I would not be pulled yet again into another long-winded conversation, I found a pegasus stallion staring at me. He wore a brown armband and had a messenger bag around his torso. Pulling out an envelope from the bag, the stallion informed me that he had been sent by Titan's Eye to give me some additional paperwork that he neglected to hand out beforehand. The messenger also told me that I was instructed to complete the forms once I returned to my room and that I must be alone due to privacy concerns.

Taking the envelope away from the stallion, I returned to finishing the rest of my meal. Once I handed my tray to the cafeteria staff, and received a goodbye from Gideon, I headed back to the cabins with a floating envelope beside me. When I reached my cabin room, I knocked on the door to see if my unknown neighbor was inside. Hearing no response, I unlocked the door with a key and headed towards my desk near the window. With the night sky soon arriving, I turned on a lamp and ripped open the envelope. Inside was a small note:

Go to 104 Downing Avenue in the town of Avon,

northwest of Manehatten and the airstrip.

Ask for a stallion named Groveluck and ask

for strong olive trees for the summer heat.

It must be done tonight. NO LATER.

Destroy this when you can.

May the true gods be with you.

I remember a lump forming in my throat, along with my stomach churning a bit, when I read those words. I had no idea that they would expect me to leave so soon, considering I just joined the fleet. I guess either Bishop or Titan's Eye were very impatient. Nonetheless, I had a job to do.

Grabbing my messenger bag, I left my cabin and made my way out of the Silverclaw. Taking the elevator down to the ground, I trotting over to the terminal three building and found a taxi cab parked right outside. Approaching the cab, I asked the male driver if it would not be of too much trouble for him to take me to the town of Avon, and once he looked through his map, he gave me a nod told me to hop in.

Giving him the address, I was told that the journey would take around forty minutes with average traffic. Once I paid him the amount that was due, I got inside the cab and braced myself for the trip ahead. As we left the airstrip and entered through the suburb streets, a feeling of dreaded suspense loomed over my head like a nest of annoyed yet inactive hornets. Throughout the calm ride, I barely moved around in my seat, as the tensions in my shoulders and neck held my head down in a vice grip.

Eventually, the cab reached its destination. Most of the buildings in Avon seemed to be simple and small --- as expected for a suburban town outside of a major city. The building that the cab stopped in front of appeared to be a large mansion, with several flower beds on the front lawn along with a stone water fountain in the middle of a circular driveway. Exiting the cab, I thanked the driver for his service and walked on the cobblestoned pathway towards the front door.

When I got to the porch, I lift a hoof to press the button next to the door, but a pause came over me before I could bring it down. A whisper, tiny but hard to ignore, spoke to me in the back of my head. It warned me against entering this house, against continuing on this journey. The voice even urged me to turn back to Fillydelphia and go back to the publishing company where Inkwell, Lavender, and the others were at.

This little angel on my shoulder seemed very persuasive. I'm getting into something crazy. The last time I followed somepony's request in a similar manner, things turned out bad. Going home seemed like the most reasonable and comfortable option for me to take.

But then the memories came back.

The smell of smoke and the horrified screams. The loud, zealous rants of a madpony. The violating heat of fire and the slicing of flesh by bladed weapons. And finally the ghastly display of forbidden magic that destroyed many creatures' lives.

Behind those scenes of carnage and terror, I could still envision the faces of those ponies that I have prayed for years to have left this earth. The ponies whose parents should have never been fated to meet, for Equestria ended up worst off because of their offspring.

PISCES

BLADETILLIUS

IGNIS

CREED

Despite the pain I'm in, I don't regret what I've done.

And at that moment at the door, I regained my resolve to find those bastards and make them pay.

A pause was present after I ranged the doorbell. Eventually, an elderly earth pony stallion in an elegant suit opened the door and looked up at me.

"Good evening," he introduced with a calm face. "How may I be of help to you?"

Remembering the letter's instructions, I said the following: "Yes, I'm looking for Groveluck. I was told I could find strong olive trees here. Strong enough to beat the summer heat, actually."

Though his reaction was delayed, the older pony eventually raised up his eyebrow. Looking behind his back, he excused himself and promised to return in just a minute. When he came back, he instructed me to come inside the house and follow him. Doing so, I entered into what appeared to be the parlor room, which was already filled with ponies of all ages crowded around the furniture and in the hallways. Each of them was dressed in bland yet distinct clothes as if attending a holiday party or a school event.

In the center of the guest space were two staircases that curved upstairs until they both merged to form a colonnade-ish hallway at the top. The older stallion took me up one of the stairs and led me to a room at the far end of the hallway. Knocking on the door, the older stallion was told by a muffled, male voice on the other side that he could come in. Inside the room was a well-dressed orange unicorn stallion with a strawberry blonde mane, who was sitting at a desk while looking at some papers.

The unicorn, Groveluck, turned his head over to me and lifted the reading glasses from his nose with a light blue glow. He smile at me and introduced himself. He dismissed the older stallion to return to serving the guests and wished to talk to me alone. When the two of us were at privacy, he asked me if Bishop had told me of my reasoning for being him. All I could tell him at the time is that I was to be given a so-called "gift" that would help in the fight against the Zealots.

Groveluck's smile broadened. "It is indeed a gift," he pronounced. "A gift that will bring us all closer to karmic balance, and thus closer to the gods."

Getting up from his seat, the stallion slowly approached me --- never removing his longing eyes away from me. In an awkward motion that I was unprepared for, he got up on his hindlegs and hugged my neck.

"It is truly a blessing to serve you. A true privilege indeed."

Luckily, the moment was short-lived. Once Groveluck let go, he told me there was a meeting that he was to attend to in a few minutes. Walking past me, he stopped to ask if I was a believer of the gods of the faith. I answered him truthfully and told him that I wasn't (At least anymore). Seeming disappointed initially, Groveluck brushed it aside and told me that I could wait downstairs in the parlor room until the meeting was over.

I spent nearly two hours in that parlor room either sitting on one of the sofas or aimlessly walking around. Luckily, I had the space all to myself, because all of the other guests who were here before me had entered into a room underneath the upstairs hallway and in between the two staircases. It was at that moment that I realized that I was at a religious meeting that Groveluck was hosting.

Through the closed doors, I heard a male voice. It might have been Groveluck's, though another guest could have been preaching. Either way, the stallion was delivering a sermon of some sort to the audience. Due to the doors' thickness or my distance, I could not hear much other than muffles, but if I had to guess from what I did pick up, a sermon was being delivered on being resistant towards following worldly desires or figures.

Eventually, the meeting to an end, with the same number of guests pouring out of the doors like a school of fish seen underneath the waters. At the end of the crowd was Groveluck, who came over and calmly instructed me to follow him into the kitchen on the other side of the mansion. Reaching the area, the unicorn opened up a door leading to a pantry and pressed his hoof against several cinderblock stones on the adjacent wall.

With the click of a gear, the left wall of the pantry suddenly receded backward, revealing a hidden stairwell that spiraled downwards somewhere. Though I gave a hesitant and uneased glance towards the stoic Groveluck, I followed him down the winding stairs, descending into a darkness dimly lit by torches on the wall. When the both of us reached the bottom, we were met by three different tunnels, and Groveluck directed me to either the center one or the left. I honestly can not remember.

Everything else was fuzzy after I entered the tunnel.

I can't remember all the details of what happened, but I ended up in a room lit only by torches. Inside of the room were five robed unicorns, with their hoods sequestering their faces. Each of the five unicorns stood on the edge of some weirdly constructed circle drawn onto the middle of the floor. It was as if I walked into an occult meeting.

Groveluck instructed me to lay down on the middle of the circle on my back and gave me a heavy black crystal the size of a school textbook. As I pressed my naked back against the cold stone floor, with the crystal on my stomach, Groveluck sat on his haunches and looked down on me. He informed me of how the process I'm about to go through would be a bit painful and uncomfortable, but that it would only last for a few seconds, or a minute at most.

When he stepped away from the circle, the other five unicorns began to chant in Old Ponish, their own horns glowing in unison with each other. Then, one by one, each unicorn shot a continuous beam of light at the crystal.

It was the final beam of magic that caused me immense pain --- followed by a dim red glow in the center of the crystal.

It was as if every organ in my body was being violated in some manner.

My blood vessels were being filled with microscopic icicles.

Sand caked my eyes while my mouth was dried of any moisture.

My bones were being pulled from their joints by invisible grips in all directions.

And my stomach churned with the fierceness of an ocean current, while my heart beated mercilessly like a train engine.

But while my body was going through its own turmoil, my mind was subjected to its trials --- ones that I believed were worse than the physical pain.

My vision was filled with images of events from my past --- events that I've tried long to forget about and put behind me. But here they were, in front of my eyes. I can visualize myself standing within those moments as if they were occurring in the present. I could feel the wind and heat against my cheeks, and I can feel the texture of the ground underneath my hooves like a painting canvas.

But those moments weren't without their sound. Without their audio.

I could hear every voice as if that individual was right next to me.

[...]

You'll be doing good work for us, Sonnet. This will help bridge the gap between ponies and other creatures. You'll see.

So you're not used to making friends. Big deal. If you're not as douchey as those jocks and preppy fillies over there, then I say you're somepony worth being with in this school.

It took a while, but I think you've grown on me. At least a bit. Maybe Booksmart was right about you.

I know life has been rough for you. Moving from one place to the next. But this is your home now. I promise you don't need to feel like you don't belong anywhere, Sonnet. Not anymore, at least.

I can't believe you would sully yourself by being with these lowlifes. It's a damn disgrace for our kind. But hey, you did most of the work for us already, so I guess that shows you're at least good for something.

With Equestria safe from these heathens, we'll be able to keep ponykind away from karmic unbalance. IF Celestia and the nobles won't do what is necessary, then I will.

[...]

I passed out after the voices went away, and when I woke up I found myself in the bed that I'm in now, being watched over across the room by Groveluck. He told me that it would be best for me to stay at the mansion until tomorrow morning, since the ritual was likely to have made a drained mess out of me. And since I definitely felt like a used tissue or rag, and still do, in fact, I decided it was best not to agrue with him.

So here I am, writing about my journey amidst a candlelight for nearly an hour or so. I can actually see the airstrip from here. It looks like a Hearthswarming tree from this distance.

I can't turn back now, especially with whatever is inside of me. I just hope that I find what I'm looking for, regardless of what Bishop or the Congregation wants from me.

I think it's time for me to blow out the lights. My head needs it.