Twilight Over Thanalan

by tom117z

14 - Tempered Zeal

Twilight watched the hills and plains of La Noscea roll by from her place in the back of the chocobo carriage. The sun overhead was pleasantly warm, and the gentle bobbing of the suspended cart helped soothe the disguised alicorn’s trembling nerves. A salty wind blew by every now and then, sending blades of emerald grass and leaves dancing across the meadows.

The morning after their meeting with the Admiral, Twilight and Y’shtola met with Merlwyb again to discuss the forthcoming meeting with the sahagin. Apparently, during the night, a widespread effort had been made to pin down exactly where this small sahagin group was located. How the people under Merlwyb’s command had been able to orchestrate such a broad effort in such a short span of time was beyond her, until Y’shtola reminded her of the capabilities of linkpearls.

It was just such a shame the small magical wonders wouldn’t fit in Twilight’s ear…

After a full night of cooperation between the Yellow Jackets, Maelstrom scouts, and even individuals referred to as the Rogue’s Guild, the clan was successfully located. After that, Twilight and Y’shtola were loaded into the back of an armoured chocobo carriage. Twilight had marvelled over it when she first saw it.

She had seen chocobos before, of course, but the carriage they were lugging along was new. There were no wheels to keep the carriage off the ground. Instead, it drifted a foot or so off the ground, suspended by thick yellow balloons filled with some manner of gas. Y’shtola had referred to it as ‘ceruleum.’ Whatever the case, the carriage’s suspension made it remarkably easy for the chocobos to pull it along, and it made roadside accidents all but impossible.

Twilight had wanted to ask how the carriage didn’t just float away but had to keep her mouth shut in her Carbuncle form, much to her frustration.

The carriage was but one in a small caravan meant to bear them to a fortress on the edge of the Sapsa Spawning Grounds. The fortress apparently served to keep an eye on two walls that kept the spawning grounds walled off from the rest of La Noscea, serving both to define the border and serve as the first line of defence in the event of Sahagin hostilities.

They had set off yesterday, affording Twilight plenty of time to go over what little she knew of the clan they were apparently to meet with. Reports had been fed to the caravan’s leader by linkpearl the whole way, and that info had trickled back to everyone else.

The clan didn’t seem to have a name, and the markings on their weapons and shields were inconsistent. Furthermore, they were few in number. Scouts claimed to have only seen around twenty or so mingling in their home base. They had apparently huddled themselves in an isolated corner of the spawning grounds by the water's edge, largely walled off from everything else by towering walls of barnacled rock and coral growths.

All of that was useful tactical information, to be sure, but Twilight was not here to do battle; they were here to talk. Ideally, tactical information wouldn’t be needed. What she wanted to know was the mindset of the sahagin clan. Who was their leader? Why were they on the offensive? What were their traditions, values, et cetera?

…Were they tempered?

With those troubling thoughts rolling around her presently-canine head, she almost missed them coming up on the very fortress she’d been hearing about. She wasn’t sure whether ‘fortress’ was really the right word to describe it, upon seeing it for herself. It more resembled a small castle: grey stone walls surrounding an inner structure that seemed to be largely boxy and hardly built for aesthetics, with a single tower providing ample space for their garrison’s lookouts. There was also a smaller tower disconnected from the central building, built into the surrounding wall, though she couldn’t spy anyone manning it at the present moment.

As the line of carriages approached the fortification—Camp Skull Valley as it was actually called—the gates opened wide in clear expectancy of their arrival. As they passed into the safety of the walls, Y’shtola looked down at Twilight and quietly addressed her.

“Our stop here shall be brief. Once the Maelstrom have gathered their wits, we shall make for one of the nearby gates into sahagin territory.”

“What’s it like?” Twilight asked in turn. “The Spawning Grounds, I mean. I can’t really see anything with all these walls in the way.”

“That is half the point, at least from the other side,” Y’shtola pointed out. “Alas, the region beyond this point isn’t what you or I would consider homely. The greenery you see around you has long since perished on the other side of those gates.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“Leviathan,” she responded with a glare of steel. “After a previous summoning, he let loose a torrent of water upon the shore. It swept away all in its path, be it man or foliage, leaving nought but barren dirt remaining. The tempered thusly claimed the land as their own, followed by their non-tempered brethren shortly thereafter.”

“But… surely the land recovered?”

“If you consider seaweed and coral growths recovering, then perhaps. It serves the sahagin just fine. The land closest to the wall has various sea plants placed there by the sahagin themselves, harmless by all accounts, even if those of the land wouldn’t find much comfort in it. The farther out you get, however, the primal’s influence becomes more pronounced. The landscape is increasingly warped in a way befitting the Lord of the Whorl, caused by his feasting upon the land’s aether.”

Y’shtola paused as the carriage finally came to a stop, steadily clambering out of it and only speaking again as she moved to help her ‘carbuncle’ do the same.

“But with Leviathan presently absent, the land yet lives, despite its warped state. It is a home for the Sahagin now and has been for many a year. But if the tempered have their way, eventually Leviathan will consume it all, and leave nothing in his wake. The warped landscape that exists now wouldn’t even exist. It would be truly barren, and truly dead.”

“The others, the ones who escaped him, they know that, right? It’s in everyone’s interest to help stop that from happening!”

“That is the hope today. Alas, we must find this clan first and ascertain their nature. If their minds are yet their own, hope does remain.”

Twilight nodded, acting the dutiful familiar as she followed Y’shtola into the fort while she undertook whatever formalities were required to get them across the border. The miqo’te spoke to various uniformed individuals, signed a parchment or two, and before long permission was granted and the Sapsa Spawning Grounds was theirs for the exploring.

If its residents were to allow it, that is…

Before long, the group had assembled in front of the southern tide gate, an imposing structure of blackened iron set into yet another wall of white stone. It was smeared in places with old dirt, mud, and decaying bits of plant matter that had been lashed against it by powerful island winds. A small camp was set up to the sides of the gate, where yet more Maelstrom soldiers were going about their work.

The Commander, a well-built hyur man with slicked-back black hair and a pointed moustache and beard, turned to face the rest of them. Twilight took note of the imposing halberd strapped to his back. “Alright, as per the admiral’s orders, this is a peace mission. The fine folk at the fort sent an envoy ahead of our arrival to arrange a meeting near the tide gate, on the sahagin’s side. We aren’t here to kickstart another bloody war, so I had best see all of your weapons in their sheathes.”

He pointed at Y’shtola. “Further, given that this was your idea, the Admiral’s seen fit to put you in the forefront of the coming negotiation. I’ll be speakin’ with you to make sure you don’t overstep any of Limsa’s boundaries.”

Y’shtola frowned. “Understood.”

The commander nodded before going on to deliver instructions to the remainder of his troops. Most of the military jargon flew over Twilight’s head, so she took the opportunity to look up at Y’shtola. “What do you want me to do?”

Y’shtola glanced down at her. “It will be a tense discussion, of that there can be no question. While the commander and I are handling negotiations, I would have you keep your eyes on our surroundings. Disguised as a carbuncle as you are, I suspect few will pay your wandering eyes any mind. Should you spy signs of trouble, alert me immediately.”

Twilight frowned. She wanted to protest being made to keep quiet but bit her tongue before she could say anything. This was uncharted territory for her in more than one way, she remembered.

“It’s best to let her take the lead,” she told herself, taking a deep breath. “It’ll be a learning experience… so long as everything goes well.”

“Alright! We’re moving out! Open the gates!” the commander bellowed up to the wall. A moment passed before the great wall of iron began to rise. The air practically vibrated with the scraping of steel, the clattering of massive gears and chains, and the grinding of stone. As the gate lifted, Twilight’s eyes were met by a sight that took her breath away.

It was just as Y’shtola had said. For miles beyond the gate, the muddy, stone-speckled ground was waterlogged and played host to a stunted forest of growths that wouldn’t look out of place in a coral reef off of one of Equestria’s tropical coastlines. Many of the growths emitted gentle light, and she could see fireflies darting from one to the next, their bodies alight with golds and greens. The growths became increasingly dense the father from the gates she looked until they piled up along a natural cliff of stone that walled in this entire region. Off to the right, Twilight could see the southern shore and the glistening oceans beyond. From here, she could spy places along the coast where the land jutted further out and spotted even more of these growths—far larger ones, at that—rising like the Manehattan skyline.

“Bah… I always hated this place,” one of the troops idly muttered to himself.

The commander didn’t say a word. He simply stepped forward and through the gate, the rest of the troupe falling in behind him.

The soil squelched under Twilight’s hooves, and the already-powerful smell of saltwater grew almost unbearable. Her ears folded back out of reflex, and as they began to descend the slope into the spawning grounds, her eyes began to sting from briny fumes that seemed to rise from the soil itself.

The group walked on for several minutes, following the shoreline. The gentle breathing of the ocean waves helped take some of Twilight’s anxiety away, but the way the gravel growled as the waters receded only brought it back tenfold. She felt like they were being watched, and she couldn’t help but anxiously cast her eyes about in search of prying eyes.

Eventually, the party rounded a small spire of stone and rubble and came to a stop. Up ahead, a small band of five Sahagin could be seen, one of which was far taller than the others. Twilight swallowed as she got her first good look at the so-called ‘fishbacks.’

They stood on two legs, as the amalj’aa had, but where the worshipers of Ifrit were tall, burly lizardmen, the sahagin were slender and lithe, with lanky builds. Their scaly blue bodies glistened in the sunlight, slick and slippery with salt water. Fins lined their shoulders, the backs of their heads, ran down their spines, and even fanned out from their jawline. They wore little in the way of clothing, but their natural hides seemed suited to provide plenty of protection. In their hands were wielded relatively primitive weapons in the form of long poles tipped with seashells shaped into spearheads.

The Commander lifted a hand, bringing the group to a halt. He turned back to address his troops. “Two of you and the Scion are to come with me. The rest of you are to keep a respectful distance. Close enough to lend aid should aught go amiss, but far enough to not make our hosts feel threatened. Again, unless struck first, I want you to keep your weapons on your belts… though do keep your hands close to your hilts. Just in case.”

A series of quiet nods answered him as the troops took up their positions. Satisfied, the commander nodded to Y’shtola. “Alright, come on.”

Y’shtola said nothing, and the group began their advance. Twilight kept close to Y’shtola’s side, her eyes locked on to the sahagin. One of them stood far larger than the others, and was the only one wearing any notable attire. Worn on its head like a hat was an enormous purple clam. This one stepped forward to meet the approaching Lominsans.

The sahagin raised a hand, and those that stood behind it tensed. The signal was clear, and the Commander came to a stop, Y’shtola and Twilight stopping beside him.

Twilight couldn’t see the sahagin’s eyes under that giant clam, but she could feel its gaze piercing all of them.

“Fssshhh… The shorewalkers deign to honour their agreement. Surprising.”

When the sahagin spoke, its voice was a slur of guttural, wet-sounding growls, as if hissed through a mouthful of water and clenched teeth. She saw gills vibrating along the chieftain’s neck as they spoke, making her shudder slightly.

The commander took a step forward. “I am Commander Kedrin of the Maelstrom, and this is Y’shtola Rhul. We are here at the request of the Admiral of Limsa Lominsa, Merlwyb Bloefiswyn, to negotiate an end to the recent hostilities between your clan and our people.”

Y’shtola took a step forward as well. “What might we call you?”

The sahagin growled quietly before speaking up. “Psshh. Voth. You may call me Voth, shore walker.”

Y’shtola put on a friendly smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Voth.”

Voth shook his head. “Bah. Spare me the pleasantries and get to the point. I’ve not the time to waste.”

Twilight frowned, glancing at Y’shtola. The miqo’te’s expression had hardened considerably.

“Very well…”

Kedrin nodded his head. “If you wish to cut to the chase, then so be it. In recent weeks, your clan has been sighted and reported committing numerous acts of piracy against ships—Lominsan and otherwise—when they had taken no prior action against your clan. Ere we begin negotiating, I would know why.”

Voth was quiet for a few seconds before turning to glare out at the ocean. “...We starve, Shorewalker.”

Y’shtola’s eyes narrowed. “Starve?”

Voth nodded. “Yes. The faithful of Leviathan take and take, and leave nought for us but gnashing fangs and promising lies. The shorewalkers take and take, and leave nought for us but cries of revulsion and shining steel. If we are to survive, we must take back. And so we have.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. “The faithful of Leviathan? Then, does that mean…”

Y’shtola seemed to have the same idea. “Are you yourselves not loyal to Leviathan?”

Voth hesitated. “...Loyal to Leviathan, yes. But not to that lie. That ravenous monstrosity. It pollutes the minds of our people, turning wise shamans and mighty warriors into zealots and butchers.”

Kedrin and Y’shtola shared a glance, and Twilight felt a swelling of hope in her breast. These Sahagin weren’t tempered! Then this might actually work! Despite herself, she couldn’t help but grin.

Voth continued. “I recall that you shorewalkers go by a saying… what was it? Till sea swallows all? Psshhh…” he snarled and turned back to them. “If the lie has its way, then it shall swallow the sea ere the sea swallows you.”

Y’shtola nodded slowly. “I see… then it sounds as if we share a common enemy.”

“That does not make us friends!” Voth snapped, throwing his arm wide for emphasis. “Again and again, even before the lie was whispered into our ears, you shorewalkers took and took and took! And when our oceans boiled and our eggs shattered when the sky turned to fire, you tried to kill us when we dared seek new lands for our Indigo Mothers to lay their eggs!”

Kedrin frowned. “While I understand the need to preserve your spawning grounds, it cannot go unsaid that the sahagin made no effort to reach out to the Admiral on that matter. Sahagin forces simply washed up onto land that lay within Lominsa’s territory. Were we simply to sit idly by and allow our lands to be invaded?”

Voth scowled bitterly, a few drops of water falling from his maw.

Y’shtola was quick to cut in. “Regardless of that prior incident, we are here now to discuss an end to the violence!” she chided them both as if they were children, and their snapping remarks died in their throats. Twilight felt a little thrill of fear at the sight.

Y’shtola turned to Voth. “From what you have already said and what we have seen, I gather that you and your clan are small. And given your conflict of interests with the Faithful of Leviathan, would I be correct in assuming that your access to sahagin hunting grounds has been cut off by larger, stronger factions?”

Voth tilted his head, pondering her question. Twilight glanced past him to see his own cadre of guards looking uneasily amongst themselves. And now that she was really looking, they appeared awfully skinny… not that she was an expert on sahagin anatomy, but somehow, she just knew these ones were not getting enough to eat.

Voth nodded a moment later. “You would. You are clever, shorewalker.”

Y’shtola smiled. “I try.”

Kedrin took the opportunity to rejoin the discussion. “So, you are a small clan that is beset on all sides by hostile forces… At least, by your perception. Is that so?”

Voth nodded.

Kedrin crossed his arms, glancing down at the ground. “Well, that makes matters here rather simpler…” he muttered before focusing back on the sahagin. “As Y’shtola said not long ago, we share a common enemy. Leviathan—or the lie, as you call it—and its thralls have been an enemy of Limsa for nearly as long as the city has existed. We do not wish to be in conflict with your people, however, and if you have shunned the worship of that lie, then the Admiral would be willing to discuss a potential alliance with your clan. Failing that, then we would still be open to negotiating a possibility of trade with your clan. Such an arrangement would end your need for aggression against our civilians, and it would solve your food problem.”

Voth pondered this for several seconds, glancing off at the water again. “Pssshhkooh...You speak honeyed words, shorewalker. Yet what assurances do I have that you speak in earnest? What can I take as proof that you will not go back on your word? If such an arrangement is made, full often will my people be vulnerable to yours. What assurances can you give me that we will be safe?”

Kedrin hesitated for a second, glancing at Y’shtola for help when it became clear that he did not have a ready answer. Y’shtola frowned before turning back to Voth.

“That is an unfortunately difficult question to answer at the moment… Such measures would be better discussed with the Admiral herself if you would be amenable to a more formal meeting with her.”

Silence fell over the meeting. Twilight looked between them all as Voth thought over the proposition, a clawed hand rising to his chin.

Still, even with that question in the air, this was good. Voth was proving to be remarkably level-headed so far, and even forthright with information about his people’s difficult position. Maybe he’d be desperate enough to accept the offer even with his clear reluctance and distrust. And from there, work could be done to earn his trust, and make life easier for his clan. Trade could even help mitigate the distrust between Lominsa and the Sahagin as a whole by showing the people in the city that their stupid prejudices were just that—stupid.

Unfortunately, such musings were cut short by a sudden scream piercing the air behind them. Twilight jumped in her skin, a sudden feeling of ice filling her veins, and spun around just in time to watch one of the Maelstrom soldiers falling back into the sea, a spear stabbing through his back and out his chest.

A spear clearly made by sahagin hands.

Kedrin’s eyes flew wide, his hand already flying for his halberd. “Ambush!” he bellowed.

The sahagin before them recoiled back in clear surprise. Twilight turned her head from them to see a newer group of sahagin burst free from the waves and land on the ground with snarls of contempt.

“Pssshhh, kill the shorewalkers! Exterminate the infestation in the name of Lord Leviathan!” one of the new sahagin screeched, hurling another spear straight for Commander Kedrin.

The hyur sidestepped the projectile, pulling his halberd from his back and readying himself for battle.

“Men, defend yourselves!”

“Aye, it was a bloody trap, treacherous fishbacks!” another soldier, a roegadyn, shouted, drawing an axe and bringing it to bear.

Only, rather than bringing it down on the new arrivals, he swiftly turned and swung it wildly towards one of the very sahagin they’d just been conversing with. An almighty shout of rage escaped the giant man’s lips as the blade haphazardly careened at its target, the sahagin instinctually flinching back and turning what would have been a dissection into a nasty slash across his chest.

Twilight eyes widened as the sahagin bristled from the strike, her expression shared by the soldier’s commanding officer.

“Hold, men! Strike only the-”

His statement stopped short as one of the hostile sahagin made a lunge for him, a spear shooting forth so fast he barely reacted in time to avoid being skewered by the ravenous tempered. As he moved to defend himself, the other soldiers all took up defensive stances and began to strike at the sahagin with blade and gunshot. All the sahagin, many seemingly losing all distinction between the two groups.

Twilight shrunk back to Y’shtola’s side, her mind racing as she tried to even comprehend just where things went wrong. They’d been doing so well, and in mere moments…

“W-what do we do…?” she asked in a panicked tone, not even trying to pretend to be a mere carbuncle at that moment.

Y'shtola grimaced as she drew her wand, her gaze scanning over the rapidly-devolving battlefield with a mixture of disappointment and sadness in her eyes. Her gaze particularly hardened when she regarded the Maelstrom soldier wielding the axe, fresh sahagin blood still dripping from the blade, before she gave a defeated sigh and glanced down at the faux familiar.

“We should withdraw. What we set out to do is now beyond our reach.”

Her words seemed to draw the attention of Voth, even as he began to retreat back from the fray with his kin in tow.

“Psshhkoh, see! See! Shorewalkers always choose the blade! There is no peace!” he bellowed, pointing an accusing finger at the miqo’te. “We leave! The liars and the shorewalkers can kill each other!”

“I’m sorry, truly,” Y’shtola apologized to the sahagin with the slightest of slumps coming over her posture. “Go then, take your people to safety. But know this was not our intent.”

“We will not hear your hollow words! Begone!” he commanded, hurriedly turning to depart before, just as suddenly, halting in his tracks. “What!?”

The fighting raged on around them. The tempered clashed into a line of Maelstrom regulars, spear and axe spilling blood as the sahagin broke against the greater numbers of the Lominsans with all the fervour their addled minds could muster. On the other side still, the sahagin who they had wished to treat with struggled to flee as several found themselves grappling with some of the panicking soldiers. It was chaos, sides blurred and violence enraptured.

In that moment, Twilight found herself tuning it all out. Rather, her eyes snapped to the focus of Voth’s surprise. There, between the sodden rocks and clusters of coral, a pair of terrified eyes that were far too small peered out at the battle in clear horror.

“Gah! Foolish hatchling! Why did you follow!? Go! Return home!” Voth urged, gesturing wildly towards the wayward child.

BANG.

“Gyah!”

A spurt of blood splattered from Voth’s side, the sahagin staggered to his knees as he clutched the brand new bullet wound in his side. As he did, one of the Maelstrom soldiers came bounding over to the chief, gun smoking as he looked over his prey with wide, fearful eyes.

“Wait, stop! I’m ordering you to cease your attack!” Kedrin shouted, grunting as he struggled over a spear with one of the attacking sahagin.

And yet, be it through the noise of battle or the fog of war descending over the man’s mind, he didn’t seem to hear or acknowledge the command.

“Seven hells…” Y’shtola cursed, moving a step towards the scene before something glinted in the corner of her eye.

She turned in a flash, a barrier of pure energy erupting from her hand and enveloping her body as she intercepted a flaming bolt hurled her way from amongst the tempered. The thaumaturge among their number hissed, charging forward and attempting to use his staff as a cudgel against the woman.

Twilight focused on her magic, taking in a breath as her lessons with Y’shtola came to mind, and she released a simple concussive blast that staggered the sahagin away from her friend.

As the miqo’te remained focused on her attacker, Twilight turned her eyes back to Voth. Her initial instinct was to continue to make use of her lessons and perhaps even salvage an ounce of goodwill by treating his wounds; a physick spell, to take away the pain and seal the wound before it could do him further harm.

That thought faltered with any such magic as she beheld the child, now very much in the open, standing between the stricken elder and the gun-toting man who’d shot him.

“S-stop…!” the child quivered before him, holding out their arms in some desperate attempt to ward him off.

The soldier hesitated, his gun held aloft, his finger on the trigger. His eyes grew wider still, his breaths ragged, his whole body shaking in indecision and fear as he beheld the child of his perceived enemy.

Twilight was already moving forward, instinct coursing through her veins, when the child accidentally kicked a loose rock as he backed away.

She barely paid attention to the man’s startled yelp, his finger pressing down as a horrific crack filled the air.

Would that the bullet had far to go, as a purple form leapt upon the gun and grabbed hold of the outstretched arm. He yelped as he fell, the carbuncle falling upon him in a spray of blood. Firey, white-hot pain blossomed in Twilight’s chest, and her ears were filled with a horrible ringing sound. She gasped involuntarily, and even that tiny gesture sent an inferno of agony screaming through her body. Her vision blurred in shock and pain, her thoughts turning sluggish and soupy.

As the soldier beneath her collapsed, his fear only escalated as the carbuncle’s form shimmered and shattered, leaving plain as the day’s sun a purple alicorn for all to see.

“Twilight!” Y’shtola shouted in alarm.

The Princess collapsed, her breaths shallow, each one inviting a fresh swell of unrelenting pain. She wanted to scream, to cry out, but she couldn’t even find the air to breathe properly. The world around her was growing faint and murky as her consciousness began to slip away. Blood poured from the bullet wound in her chest. She was faintly aware of her friend rushing to her side, the warmth of healing magicks beginning to caress her form. She could scarcely see anymore, however, and sound was ethereal, as if from a long way away…

“By the Twelve, what did you do!?”

“I… I don’t know I… what is that!?”

“Silence! Help me move her out of here for the love of the Gods! We need to get the bullet out!”

Twilight consciousness faded in its entirety, her mind going numb, leaving the horrors of the battle far behind…

---

“Hmph. Perhaps I needn’t try so hard if she is so determined to welcome her demise.”

The black-robed figure crossed his arms, sneering from behind his mask as he stared down at the sight. Scarmiglione sat atop the cliff above the raging conflict between the sahagin and the fools of the Maelstrom, the men pushing through what little was left of the tempered attackers while the sahagin clan they’d attempted parlay with made a quick escape with their wounded chief and the wandering hatchling.

It hadn’t taken much to push Leviathan’s faithful to… ‘interrupt’ the meeting, just the right word in the right ear. And the Paragons had a long and storied relationship with the beast tribes…

Peace was foiled another day, so Lahabrea could stop fretting over his pet primals.

As for Scarmiglione’s own little problem, it almost seemed as if Twilight would get herself killed even without the intervention of his ally in the Empire. Should her wounds prove too severe for their medical aid, of course.

“But would that be for the best…?” he wondered to himself, his hand coming to rest where the Element of Magic lay concealed within his robes. “The Tribunus would be most disappointed, and I find myself curious as to what secrets you could share, little one. We all must serve the One True God, be it in death or… something more.”

He watched as Y’shtola carried the stricken alicorn from the battlefield, the woman scanning around for any further threats as she retreated. She looked all around the area, until her gaze spanned upwards…

Their eyes met. Y’shtola was clearly surprised to see him, before her eyes steeled into something far more determined. The ascian, on his part, didn’t offer her a response. He merely allowed a vortex of shadow to consume his form as he promptly departed the area.

Whether she lived or died, in truth it mattered little in the grand scheme. Whatever her alicorn form could reveal, whatever knowledge her mind could impart, he already held the true prize. With it, his plans proceeded apace, with no one to stand in his way. Not the Scions, not even Lahabrea, no one.

For the salvation of the Thirteenth, and the ardour of his own making, no price was too large. And no method beyond his reach.

Comments

[Skijarama]

Twily got shot.

[zimmerwald1915]

11195072
O frabjous day.

[Teraunce]

Well poopsicles!

[JMP]

Trust. So easily shattered, so difficult to earn. Even if Voth had made it to a meeting with Admiral Merlwyb, words are most of what she'd have to offer. Although...I wonder if Twilight's actions might salvage relations with this tribe. Salvage something, anyway.

[The Voice in the Water]

Well, that went spectacularly sideways.

[-Dreamer-]

I wonder if Twilight will be saved by her alicorn nature or their human medicine.

[Rainbow Sparkle]

Well crud.

Not surprised, given how things went, but still crud.

I actually find myself somewhat curious just how far you plan to take this. There's quite a LOT of ground to cover with FFXIV and it'd be interesting to have Equestria become involved in it over time. Especially given that they do have a mirror that allows travel between theirs and another world.