The Crusader
Day Two Hundred and Fifty-One
North of Equestria, far beyond the borders of the once great nation and at the end of the it’s northern rail line, was a land once covered in snow. The vast fields had, once upon a time, been coated in thick blankets of white powder that were sustained and added to by raging natural storms that swept down from the mountains. There was no snow on the ground now, it had all been melted by The Event. Now only vast rocky fields sprawled out in every direction.
Once upon a time ponykind had roamed these vast swathes of nothing. Towns and castles and whole kingdoms occupied the region. The ground had once been fertile and green. But the wars had come. The strife had taken ponykind’s birthright away and caused an eternal winter to take hold of it. Equines had stopped ruling over it and windigos had taken reign for so very long.
Until now.
If Equestria was not in the middle of rebuilding, this would be a treasure trove for researchers and historians. Old ruins were now visible and on one of the distant mountain tops the crumbling edifice of an old castle was visible even from a distance. Unicornia. The secrets such places must hold were untold and so tempting.
That temptation was the reason an airship hovered above the desolate place. Its sleek wooden hull was marred by sharp metal protrusions that jutted from the bow and keel. It was held aloft by a massive purple balloon that had black metal running along its ridge. Two glowing blue lightning bolts decorated the front, made to look like the eyes of the angry metal slug that laid atop the balloon.
Exotic creatures of all kinds flitted about the deck doing various menial tasks. They all wore the black armor of the Storm King, his dual blue lightning bolt insignia decorated the garments. Some wore the traditional armor while others had ramshackle fits thrown together with nontraditional materials.
There was one creature that stood out though. The sole equine aboard the ship had on the black armor but she kept it hidden by a cloak of white and gold, a sun emblazoned on the back and pointed towards the sky. Her blood red coat and golden mane only made her stand out more amongst the muted colors of the griffons, yetis, and bipedal felines that hurried about the place.
“How’s the sun shining today, Sergeant Rose?” A male griffon whose vibrancy matched her own, not that you could see it right now beneath the black uniform her wore, came up beside her. His feathers and fur were bright blue, only split by the cream color stripe that went from the bottom of his beak all the way down his stomach and the yellow tips of the feathers atop his head. One of his claws had been replaced by a metal facsimile.
“Brighter by the day, Gallus.” Rose responded with a pleased sigh as she looked up at the sky and the burning ball of gas and smiled. “I’m sure we’re near something good. I can feel it in my bones. Unicornia has to hold something good.”
“It better.” Gallus responded with a furrowed brow as he reared up onto his paws and rested his claws on the railing. “I overheard your talk with His Majesty last night. Seems like he’s getting more and more antsy about this ‘wonder weapon’ you promised him.”
None of this had gone to plan. After Rose’s escape from Canterlot she had expected to be launched to the top of the Storm King’s hierarchy, right by his side just like his previous right hand mare. That wasn’t how it went though. She was an outsider and she was not trusted. It had taken her months of laboring aboard a ‘recruitment vessel’ to even have an opportunity to speak to the Storm King. Then she learned about the big problem: the staff that he had, the one that was the crux of this whole plan, was now defunct. The Event had robbed it of whatever magical properties it had before and left the Storm King and his armies high and dry.
Rose had pleaded with the tyrant for a chance to find him something new. He relented thankfully and sent her off with the absolute dregs of his forces and one singular airship into the great blue yonder. He had given her a year to find a replacement, something to steal the power of the alicorns so he could use it for his own goals.
“He will have the heads of the princesses.” Rose stood up straight and her only wing twitched beneath her cape. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure of it…”
“I still can’t believe how much you hate them.” Gallus grinned slyly and nudged Rose’s side. “I thought you ponies were supposed to be all love and friendship.” He was just like this. The young griffon liked to needle her about everything, but not in a mean way. Not like the ponies back home. He never prodded her religious tendencies or talked down to her about him, in fact Gallus was the only creature who ever seemed genuinely interested in her faith.
He was a good friend.
“Yeah, well…I thought that too.”
The two stood in silence for a few minutes as they stared out across the barren landscape as it slowly passed beneath them. Rose looked up at the sun again. Its warmth beat down on her back and she could feel it even through her cloak. It wasn’t as pure as it once had been. It wasn’t as warm or holy as it had been even a year ago. The alicorns had allowed the taint of The Event to reach it, to infect the firmament above. That was the whole reason Rose was here, so she could get rid of the alicorns and allow the sky to heal. The corrupted tethers that existed here on the ground, those royals who now resided in Manehattan, needed to be dispatched.
That was what Rose was here to do: cut those tethers.
“This place kinda reminds me of home.” Gallus’ metal claw clicked against the rail idly. “Bunch of rocks, tall mountains, nothing to see and a bunch of sad sacks rushing about doing nothing.” He nodded back at the crowds of crew that scurried around behind them.
“Do you ever miss Griffonstone?” Rose asked. It was something that Gallus never talked about. Not since the Storm King forces came across what could only charitably be called a town had she even seen the young griffon show an ounce of sadness about his old home.
“What’s to miss?” Gallus asked nonchalantly. “I didn’t have family there. The only thing I left behind was my claw.” He flexed his mechanical appendage and stared at it. “Cold, miserable and dark…”
That was something they connected on: their love of the sun. It had been innate for Rose, but for Gallus it had been learned. Equestria had been bathed in the light of the harsh sun while the griffon lands had been covered in darkness with only the moon to give them light. With the darkness came the cold and with the cold came the dying of crops. Gallus had been skin and bones when they arrived as had been most of the inhabitants of Griffonstone. The chaos and depravity was worse than what Rose had seen in Canterlot, but that was because there were no monsters. The griffons had done that all to themselves with no help from the disease that plagued the unicorns in Equestria.
Gallus hated the night and he now despised the cold. He sought solace in the warm embrace of the sun and Rose was more than willing to help with that. Both of them could be found on the deck at most times throughout the day and that meant they were often talking, and that meant Rose had a lot of time to impart her wisdom upon the young griffon. He was very receptive of it too. A fine protege.
“Well then we’ll try not to spend too much time here.” The last thing she wanted was to make her favorite crew member uncomfortable. “Do you have my spyglass?” Gallus retrieved the object from beneath his wing and handed it over. Rose took it in her hoof and extended the little device and looked through it.
“Wouldn’t it make sense to start at the castle?” Gallus asked.
“No…when the ponies packed up and left they most likely emptied it of everything important and lugged it to Equestria.” Rose muttered as she looked through her little telescope. She looked at the decrepit ruins of Princess Platinum’s old castle for a few moments but then moved on from it and scanned the other mountains. She had hoped to see other towers or little outposts but time and the elements had done enough to hide those. “We’re looking for something away from the castle, somewhere they would’ve stored dangerous things. Things they wanted to leave behind and forgotten…”
“Why would they leave behind their strongest weapons? Seems pretty stupid to leave a big stick behind.” Rose heard Gallus lean against the rail and begin to tap his metal claws against it again. “I mean they were traveling with their enemies at the time, right?”
“No, the story goes that they all reached Equestria independently of one another. The decision to evacuate the homeland was agreed upon, though.” The history of Hearth’s Warming had been something taught to her much later than most other ponies, but her time in Canterlot had solidified the tale in her mind. “The tribes were at peace, though. They didn’t want to bring the Windigos to their new home, so leaving the big dangerous weapons and plans of last resort behind makes sense.”
‘Makes sense’ didn’t mean it was true. This was still a longshot and Rose was well aware of that fact. This wasn’t the first site she had searched, no that had been on the other side of the continent where Starlight Glimmer’s old village stood. The stories said she had the power to steal cutie marks with a staff of some kind, but they only found a completely dead town and no secrets. This one she had a good feeling about, though. She had followed the sun here from Starlight’s village, east to west. Every day she stayed right under it until they ended up here.
It was meant to be.
Rose swept the spyglass across the barren fields that led up the mountain range in the distance. Only one thing stood out, a very large hill in the midst of the field. It stood about six hundred feet high and was far far away from the base of any other mountain. She lowered the instrument and pointed at the hill with a hoof.
“There.” She collapsed the spyglass and tucked it under her own wing beneath her cloak. “Gallus, head down there and see if you can find anything unusual. Report back, we’ll head that way.”
“You got it, boss.” Gallus gave a crisp salute and threw himself over the edge of the ship. His large blue wings erupted from his sides and carried him towards the hill.
Rose hurried to the helm and relayed her instructions. Soon the bulky and slow airship was turning towards the hill and trudging towards it at a sluggish pace. Her lone wing twitched and fluttered beneath her cloak. She wanted to follow Gallus and fly out to the spot but her crippled body would not allow her to do even that. She would have to wait here with everyone else until they landed.
As the airship began its approach to settle on top of the hill, Gallus landed back on the deck. Rose hurried over to the griffon as fast as she could. Her front left shoulder clicked and yelled at her to slow down as she trotted over to him, but she ignored it and pushed herself a bit more than usual.
“There’s something in there…” Gallus reported breathlessly when Rose finally got close enough. A crowd gathered around him as the words carried in the air. “There’s a crack on the south side, barely big enough for me to get into. There are these big stone doors that are already open and some old looking stuff inside. I didn’t look around, I came right back here.”
“Good job, Gallus.” Rose beamed and patted her young friend on the back. “When we land, you’re with me. Grab a weapon and go get my spear, please. Just to be safe.” He nodded in response and bolted off with youthful energy. When he returned he had a sword strapped to his side, a spear on his back and a lantern in one wing.
“It’s really dark in there and I know you ponies can’t see very well like I can.” He held up the lantern to punctuate the sentiment. “So yeah, whenever we land.” Rose could see his feathers and fur bristle and his hind legs twitched nervously. Gallus was just as excited as she was to get in there. Good.
“Excellent. Thank you.” Rose shrugged off her cloak to reveal the black armor underneath. She then grabbed her spear from Gallus’ back with her wing and pulled it close to her body.
Without her cloak and the sun emblem on her back, she felt so vulnerable. The black body armor that the Storm King provided was sturdy, no doubt. It could stop a few swipes of a sword or a graze from a bladed weapon, but it did not offer any protection for her soul. That was what she truly needed, especially venturing where the sun itself could not reach her. She swallowed that fear and steadied herself though. Back in Canterlot she had spent a lot of time underground, this would be no different.
“I can do this…” She whispered to herself as she made her way below deck and to the spot in the hull that would open up when they landed. Gallus was beside her, as were a few others. “Okay.” She addressed everyone now. “Make camp here for the night. Make sure the ship is anchored properly and unload some supplies. If this is something big, then we might be here for a while.” A big yeti grunted and nodded affirmatively and gave a shout to some of his other kin in a language Rose would never learn.
Finally the airship settled on the ground with a thud and groan. The door in front of her opened and swung down, making a ramp. Some dust was kicked up from their landing but it quickly dissipated. Rose was the first one out and her hooves were the first ones to touch the plain rocky ground of the hill beneath them. They were probably the first hooves to touch the actual ground and not snow in over a thousand years.
If this was indeed Unicornia, then to have a pegasus be the first pony to trod upon their homeland after all that time felt poetic. It was not a unicorn scholar to finally see their place of origin again, but a pegasus soldier. Rose was following in the hoofsteps of her ancestors: plundering unicorn lands for their valuables. She was sure the ancient pegasi were looking down on her approvingly in these moments.
Rose and Gallus immediately set off with the latter taking the lead. He stayed on the ground and kept to a brisk walk to let the battered and gimped pegasus keep pace. Every step made Rose’s shoulder twinge in pain and click over and over again, but she ignored it as always. It was annoying, but at least it was not as crippling as it had once been. She could even fight now if she absolutely needed to, unlike when it was fresh.
Those days of vulnerability were behind her now.
The unlikely duo made their way to the entrance Gallus had mentioned. It did look like a tight fit and it was unlikely that any of the yetis or fully grown griffons could get in. Rose and Gallus could though, they were about the right size.
The pegasus squeezed into the crack in the mountain. The armor made it tighter than previously thought and she could hear the rock scrape against the black metal on her sides. More than that she could feel her feathers catch on pointed stones as she pushed into the darkness. It was like she was back in Canterlot in the early days of The Event, squeezing through those old smuggler tunnels to get around the overrun city. Her chest tightened as she remembered those days, but the flame in her heart eased that tension and fought off the darkness that closed in around her. It was only a few feet until the space opened up, but it felt like miles. Once she was on the other side she took a few deep breaths and solidified her resolve.
Gallus wasn’t far behind her but the young bird came out of the tight crack much worse for wear. He was hyperventilating and he fell to the ground almost instantly, holding the lantern close to his chest. He was not sobbing, but he was close to doing so.
Rose frowned and her eye twitched.
“He’s just a kid…” Rose had to remind herself quietly.
That was a lot easier to say than accept though. Gallus was young but he had all the makings of a scion of the sun just like herself. The weakness inside of him was holding him back though, and it was a weakness that was letting the darkness in. If he let it consume him, taint him, then he would be of no use to Rose. He would just be another thing, another soulless husk that let the evils of the world triumph over his spirit.
Just like Tempest.
Just like Parade.
Just like Picket.
Just like them, it would then be up to her to deal with him. Invariably when her so-called friends failed and succumbed to the evil forces that were omnipresent in the world, it fell on her to deal with them. Rose didn’t want to hurt Gallus, but she would if he left her no other choice.
“Get up.” Rose demanded of the young soldier before her. He complied and stood up. In the dim light put out by the lantern in his claw she could see tears running down his cheeks and the slight tremble that ran through his body. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you crying?”
“S-sorry Sarge…” Gallus sniffled and wiped his eyes with a wing. “Just…coming through here…” His beak clicked a few times, a nervous habit she had seen before. “...reminds me a lot of Griffonstone. Tight spaces. Cold and dark. Rocky. It just…got to me.”
“You’re better than that, Gallus.” She chided him. “The darkness can be scary, but remember that you are not bound by that anymore. You have a light inside of you, a fire that will only go out if you let it. As long as you believe, as long as you have faith in the light even when you can’t see it, you will never be in the dark.” She placed a hoof on his covered chest, right on the breastplate that featured the Storm King’s insignia. “It’s in here, always. Do not forget it. In your darkest moments when you feel those memories creeping in, find the fire in your heart and stoke it. Feed it whatever it needs to thrive, because if you let it go out then you’ll be in the dark forever.” She looked at him with her piercing golden eyes and let her gaze burrow into his soul. “Is that what you want?”
“N-no!” Gallus blurted out in a panic. He then caught himself and answered again a bit more calmly. “No. No ma’am.”
“Good.” Rose nodded and looked him over. “Come on, let’s see what’s in here. Get your sword out and be ready.”
The pair walked through the dark tunnel, which was about twenty feet wide and eight feet high. How long it was remained a mystery as the dim light of Gallus’ lantern did not penetrate deep enough into the cave to reveal the doors he had seen. As they walked the path became narrower and seemed to slope as it carried them downwards, as if into the pits of Tartarus itself. It was around five minutes before they finally came to the end of the road: a pair of ten foot high stone doors.
The doors were opened already, just as Gallus had said. Several sconces had old enchanted crystals in them that gave off enough light to illuminate the space but not quite enough to look around without straining one’s eyes. Beyond the doors was what looked to be a bedroom one might’ve found in Canterlot. It had the trademark white marble floors, massive bed, and rows upon rows bookshelves. She thought she spotted some kind of desk or workbench against one of the walls too. Though there were a few things that stood out far more than the decor.
Two bodies lay on the floor, far too decomposed to tell any specific features but intact enough to see that they were two ponies. One had wings, or at least one wing, that was for certain. That one also had a metal leg and a metal wing. Their dried blood was strewn around the room, decorating the nearby massive bed and covering a few bookshelves. There was also, curiously, an extra equine skull just laying on the ground. Rose reached down and picked it up, but saw nothing of note beyond the fact that it was a unicorn. The question of where the rest of the skeleton was intrigued her, but it wasn’t important for now.
The pair swept through the space, on the lookout for whatever killed the two ponies by the bed. They found no monsters here, though. They both guessed that the two dead ponies had a third, a unicorn unrelated to the errant skull on the floor, that slaughtered them and then fled when it turned. It made the most sense.
“Look around for anything that might be important or powerful, okay? Yell if you find something.” Rose rested her spear against a bookshelf and began to look around herself. She wandered over to the desk she had seen.
The desk was not of the same quality as the rest of the room. It was where work was done, it was not built for comfort. Its edges were rough and Rose could imagine many splinters were received from rubbing a hoof against it at the wrong angle. Quills and ink pots, the contents of which had long ago dried up, littered the space as did several pieces of paper with what looked to be incantations or spells. Tucked against the wall was a book, a little green journal from the look of it. Rose grabbed the journal whose cover simply said ‘Observations’ in intricate cursive and flipped it open to its first page.
‘Foreword:
If you have found this book, then I urge you to return it to where you have found it.
When I began writing this journal I thought this information valuable and even as I progressed I thought it necessary for the survival of my tribe. It wasn't until much later that I understood that what I have learned is priceless.
These secrets are not mine to share and they are not yours to learn.
Inside of these pages you will find the musings of a young fool and the language and history of two truly unique ponies. It is not history that I wish to be forgotten, but it must be hidden.
Again, I urge you, return this to its place.
-Starswirl The Bearded’
Rose’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates and she flipped through the pages as the words sank in. This was something written by Starswirl the Bearded that he didn’t want anypony to find! This book had to have something in it, some powerful secret that could doom Equestria.
It was perfect.
If this was Starswirl’s book, then this might have been a study or personal library of his at some point. Everything in here was valuable and there was no doubt there had to be something in one of these books to help their quest. There had to be something that would be capable of taking down Celesti and Luna.
“Gallus!” Rose called out. “We’re taking everything in here!”
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Oh
Oh no
Another artifact of old. Well, here we go again...
Oh fuck I know this cave
Oh, brilliant, MORE ancient sealed away artifacts, hopefully this one doesn't make yet another freaking apocalypse at least before it's dealt with...
Rose still a prick, huh. Journal about the sisters?
whats the cave?
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This cave
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oh....
fuck.
Guess who's back-back-back?
Back again-gain-gain?
Rose Wreath's back-back-back.
Tell your friends.
No, seriously, tell your friends. She has to be stopped.
Not only is Crazy McCrazypants still set on her "crusade", she's also uncovered the very source of this whole mess.
From And Hell Followed:
This chapter:
They're in the same room Twilight stumbled across. But besides Rose Wreath finding Starswirl's journal, I have another, more pressing concern.
Up until now, I always figured that the other archeologists who were with Twilight when she got infected had pulled her to safety and gone back with her, only to be killed later on when The Event happened proper. Them being dead here has me incredibly worried.
Twilight didn't mutate until she returned to Ponyville.
But how did these two wind up dead?
Going back to Twilight's breakdown last chapter, I'm beginning to wonder if that "change" isn't entirely gone from her, and is in fact merely dormant...
Add Rose Wreath to this mix, and things are about to get a whole hell of a lot more complicated.
I once read in another fanfiction the phrase, "There is no worse enemy than someone smart and powerful......except someone stupid and powerful", I think that phrase describes Rose perfectly.
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She might be ignorant but I think Rose is anything but stupid. A stupid pony doesn’t survive Canterlot like she did.
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Well she did have help, even if it was scorned.
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I'm sorry, I don't think I knew how to explain the phrase, what I wanted to say is: A smart and powerful person who knows the limits and danger of his powers or the resources he has can be dangerous, but a stupid person (or ignorant, as you prefer) and powerful who does not know all the dangers of her powers or the risks that using certain resources can entail (such as a "book" that literally says that it is better to return it where it came from) can be much more dangerous, because that person does not know when "Murphy" will appear and could destroy all his work. In this case, Rose with that book could open "Pandora's box" and unleash anything on her and Equestria.
Whenever I read your stories, there is a moment when I think "Things are very bad, nothing can get worse...and boom you surprise me with greater misfortunes for the characters than I could imagine", that's why I respect you as author and I get excited with each new chapter
Starswirl "Imma just hide this dangerous information/superweapon instead of destroying it" the Bearded.
What a visionary. 🤦
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Thats worse actually smart people can be stupid in a way even more devastating than just flat out stupid people.
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Oh, sorry just meant the stables part is all
No my boy
Oh, fuck welp everyone look like it’s hell that followed electrical Boogaloo part 2
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Oh sweet mother of Luna, this is going to be an even worse isn’t it.
I think this chapter has given me the worst feeling of utter dread I have ever gotten from any fanfiction.
Amazing work, honestly.
Oh well, here we go again. A new "end of the world" event in sight. Now in the hooves of a crazy mare.
Hope Twilight and the pillars will stop it this time....
Can you kill an Alicorn? Yes. Everything can die.
Should you? that's an entirely different question.
Because what you do is ignore the very obvious warning from one of the most powerful ponies that ever lived. Right.
I am curious what happened to Tempest, considering that Rose is still alive.
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She's alive and around.
GALLUS!!!!? YOU JOINED THE STORM KING!!!?