Chapter 3
It was finally time. Volksson approached the large central hall that dominated the landscape of the major tribes’ shared settlement. Today would mark the first day of the Clansmeet between the Shadow, Thunder, Eagle, and Lightning tribe. It was meant to serve as a way of establishing firm boundaries between the tribes and parceling out land to all of the tribes who had survived both the Cataclysm and the Exodus. Accompanying Volksson were his six greatest soldiers serving as his honor guard for the clansmeet. Volksson himself was clad in the finest iron armor with the sigil of his clan, a black open eye, emblazoned on the chest plate.
As they approached the central hall they could see milling crowds of citizens from every tribe. When Volksson and his entourage approached them, the crowds quickly parted allowing them to walk in unimpeded. The interior of the building was as exact a replica of the original clansmeet hall from the homeland as could be made with their available resources. Great, spiraling columns rose up to the ceiling framing a central walkway towards a massive oaken table. Unlike the u-shaped table from the original building, the new table was a rough square to represent the four tribes who remained from the original twelve.
Already sitting at the table was Barca with his bodyguards standing just behind him, holding the banner of two crossed thunderbolts up high. He smiled up at Volksson as he walked in.
“Well old friend, the day is finally here. Are you ready?” Volksson thumped him lightly on the shoulder before taking his seat.
“Of course not, but that hasn’t stopped me yet.”
“Well at the very least you’re honest Volksson.” Both leaders turned to see Arnulf entering the room. He was clad in gleaming iron armor, polished to a silvery sheen with his warriors wearing similarly polished armor and holding the clan’s banner of an eagle in flight aloft.
“I’m glad to see you as well Arnulf,” Volksson responded. “Now we just have to wait for Gormensson and we can finally begin.” As time passed the three leaders found themselves growing more and more exasperated. Gormensson had been growing more and more distant from the other leaders since Volksson had overridden him aboard the convoy, but this was probably the most overt insult he had given them so far. Arnulf was feeling the insult far more than the others however.
“Volksson, as much as I support the idea of this meeting if Gormensson fails to show his face I will be forced to return to my own tribe. There is still much to be done before we are comfortably established.”
“I understand completely Arnulf,” Volksson replied hurriedly. “But we must give him some more time. Regardless of our personal feelings about Gormensson’s actions, there are many important issues that must be resolved now.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” The three leaders turned to stare at the new arrival as Gormensson and his retinue walked through the door. He was dressed in fine robes and wore a jeweled crown on his brow. Beside him strode his bodyguards dressed in gleaming brass armor polished to a golden sheen with their clan’s banner being held aloft: A storm cloud disgorging a forked lightning bolt.
“Gormensson,” Arnulf said, practically growling the name. “How good of you to join us at last; we were afraid you had gotten lost on the way here.”
Gormensson drew his head up with a sniff.
“Your concern is . . . touching, but no. I simply had to prepare myself for this meeting properly. Some of us do care about the impressions we make.”
“Enough.” Volksson stood up from his seat as he stared down the two bickering leaders. “This is exactly why this meeting has been called. We have much to do in order to ensure that our race survives this trial and your bickering only makes this that much more difficult. If we must deal with your own personal issues first then so be it; anything to be rid of your bickering.”
----
Celestia and Luna soared over the landscape, their armored forms and extended wings casting shadows over the land. Below them ponies who saw them pass overhead quickly prostrated themselves before their rulers until they had passed by. Further and further they flew, until they were hovering above the clearing where the unicorn and pegasus had been attacked. With little more than a thought the princesses commanded the trees’ canopies to part and the two alicorns descended into the darkness of the forest.
“Do you feel anything Luna?” Her sister shook her head, an expression of confusion marring her features.
“Nothing sister. It’s as if there was never anything here at all.” Celestia cast her senses further outwards, the spell weaving its ways through the trees, caves, and burrows of the forest. But every attempt had the same result: nothing. Every time Celestia detected absolutely nothing. That shouldn't be possible! Even if whatever was here was hiding itself she should be able to feel the small sparks of life within the plants and trees, the animals that called this place home, the energy and life that naturally permeated the forest. So why wasn’t there . . . wait.
“Luna,” she said. “I want you to stretch your senses out to their limit. When that’s done I want you to tell me exactly what you sense.” Luna just gave a nod and closed her eyes in concentration. Celestia could feel the power left in the wake of Luna’s spell and felt the spell as it passed over her. A moment passed . . . then two . . . then three. Finally Luna opened her eyes and the confusion on her face was now tempered with wariness.
“Well?” Asked Celestia, her face grim.
“Nothing sister. I couldn’t feel anything at all.”
“Exactly Luna. Where are the animals? We haven’t heard much of anything since we arrived and we have sensed absolutely nothing.” Luna’s face took on the same grim set as her sister.
“Whatever attacked our subjects must be behind it then.” Celestia swept her gaze around the clearing, every muscle alert and ready for whatever might come after them.
“It would appear that way Luna. But if that’s true, then we should be extremely careful. Whatever could cause something like this is something to be wary of.”
Following this revelation the two alicorns began to carefully and thoroughly search the forest, doing their best to suppress any worry at the tomb-like stillness that pervaded the very air around them. The two immortals searched and searched, their eyes scanning their surroundings with laser-like precision, muscles sculpted in the fires of war tensed in readiness for an attack that never came.
For hours the two searched, combing every inch of the forest until the time to raise the moon to make way for night had come. And finally, the two of them facing each other with exhaustion evident on their faces, they had to face facts. They had found absolutely nothing.
“Celestia,” Luna began. “Perhaps we should return to the castle. We can return tomorrow, fully rested and with a full contingent of royal guard to assist us in our search.” Celestia wanted to argue, but she knew that Luna was right. They hadn’t found anything in all this time, and it wasn’t likely that they would find anything should they keep searching especially in their current state. She gave Luna a tired nod, before the two of them unfurled their wings and took flight. . . Only to fall on their royal flanks a moment later.
“What in the hay was that?!” When they looked up they saw for the first time what the victims of this unknown force had described. The branches of the trees all around them had stretched and distended until they were inextricably intertwined with one another, forming a thick wall of wood above Celestia and Luna. More disturbingly, these branches were not fixed and even intertwined with others continued to write, twist, distend, and change themselves, never stopping for even a second.
“So you choose now to reveal yourself coward?! When we are tired and worn? Show yourself!” Celestia’s declaration rang throughout the darkened woods, but soon echoed back at her with certain words echoing louder than others.
“Coward . . . Tired . . . Worn . . .” And as each word was thrown back at her she felt fear and exhaustion seeping through her, the weakness overcoming her natural discipline and mental fortitude. Glancing over at Luna, Celestia knew that she was feeling the same way. But why shouldn’t they feel this way? They had been searching fruitlessly for so long and now their best efforts were being mocked and thrown back into their faces. It would probably be easier to just lie down and rest. She could feel her eyes drooping as she grew more and more tired. If she just rested . . . then . . . she could . . .
As her eyelids drooped and the feelings of bone-tired weariness threatened to overtake her, she felt an explosion of pain that shot adrenaline through her system and woke her instantly. Looking around wildly she saw Luna with a grim set to her face standing right in front of her. Celestia had just recovered from her ordeal so it took a moment for her to put the pieces together, but when she did her mouth dropped open in shock.
“Luna, you . . . you . . . hit me.” Luna just nodded as she swept her eyes from side to side.
“Indeed I did sister, but it was for the greater good. We can’t allow this thing to get into our heads. Now come one! We have to get out of here . . . now.”
----
The map was laid out before the human leaders, detailing the lands they had already explored and with tribal markings where the various tribes and clans had settled upon their arrival. Doling out territory wasn’t too difficult right now. Their tribes were much reduced from what they were in the homeland and the minor clans would live with the major tribes. The real problem with dealing out territory was simple: the future. As the tribes expanded they would require more and more land for farming, keeping their animals, living, etc. In the past, the tribes had simply expanded and, in many cases, went to war over land. But here and now war was unacceptable. It would ruin any chances of human recovery and they all knew it, which was what had motivated them to solve the issue diplomatically. . . Not that the necessity stopped them from wanting to kill each other a thousand times over.
“The northern mountains belong to the Eagle tribe!”
“Ridiculous! The mountains have an abundance of resources on and around them that the Lighting Tribe could make far better use of than you barbaric fools.”
Volksson sighed. As he and Barca had both suspected from the beginning the personal bickering between Arnulf and Gormensson had proven to be the major obstruction to the clansmeet. He had been able to remove himself from the territorial talks relatively early on. He had requested the coastlines, a set number of miles inland, and claims to the lands to the east. His claims were readily accepted as the Eagle and Lightning tribes had both identified rich veins of ores and natural resources along with fertile land to the north. Naturally both wanted to stake a claim on what could be extremely valuable land within a few years.
Barca had done something similar to Volksson. He had requested a portion of the western coastlines, a set number of miles inland, and claims on lands to the west. With the somewhat less desirable land out of the way, much of the central territory was up for grabs by the Eagle and Lightning tribes. Thankfully Barca had the good nature to interject this time so that Volksson could rest his raw throat. He had never yelled more than he had today.
“This is getting ridiculous. There is more than enough land for both of your tribes and dependent clans. Just split it down the middle so we can move on from this. We all have a lot on our plates.” Both Arnulf and Gormensson stared at each other and the others before sighing and nodding their assent.
“Very well,” sighed Arnulf. “I will take the east and Gormensson can have the west.”
“That’s all very well and good,” said Gormensson. “But that still leaves the matters of the resources the mountains contain. Who will get a claim on them? Unlike the territory it will be far more difficult to split those down the middle.”
“Will it?” asked Volksson. “I say establish a mining settlement between your lands with representatives from both tribes present. You will then split the amount of materials collected so that each tribe receives half. I will also send some of my troops there to ensure that the arrangement is kept.” Arnulf nodded in acceptance, but Gormensson’s face quickly took on a suspicious cast.
“And what is to keep your troops from seizing a share of our resources Shadow?” Volksson felt another wave of irritation stab through him at Gormensson’s stubbornness.
“The troops I assume you will send for a start. And secondly I hope that you will open trade with us for those resources so I will have no need to steal them.”
“And what makes you think we will trade with you?
“You would deny your fellow man the means to defend ourselves?!” Barca roared, surging to his feet rage contorting his features.
“Peace, Barca,” said Volksson. “It is of course his right to decide how he distributes these resources. . .”
“Thank you Shadow. Maybe I was wrong about you. You might very well have some sophistication after all.”
“Though of course he will most likely starve if he doesn’t trade with me, but it is still his right.”
“What?!” Volksson looked over to him, an expression of complete innocence on his face.
“Well I’m sure you noticed that the mountains are mineral rich, but not quite fertile. Growing or foraging would be very difficult there, as opposed to the coasts which have the opposite problem. It’s likely that without us giving you some of our food, your tribe may very well begin starving within a few years.”
“I . . . you . . . I mean . . .” Gormensson sputtered and stammered as Volksson simply stared at him, an innocent smirk on his face. After a moment, Gormensson gave one last sigh before turning to look at Volksson with a look that was equal measures utter loathing and resigned defeat.
“Very well. Since it appears we have no choice but to acquiesce to your . . . request . . . we will accept. Your surplus food for our surplus resources.”
“The amount of surplus, based on what you need, to be determined after your first haul of resources are brought in of course.” Gormensson flinched before nodding in agreement.
“Excellent!” Exclaimed Arnulf. “Now that all of this is out of the way we can begin moving on to the most important issue before us.”
“Agreed,” said Barca. “As there are only four tribes remaining, all of which are severely depleted, we cannot afford to war amongst ourselves or to be divided when unknown threats rear their heads. I suggest we all sign an alliance to ensure that we fight together against our enemies and keep the peace amongst ourselves.” There were murmurings of agreement, but there was one voice conspicuously absent from the deliberations.
“Volksson?” asked Barca. “Do you agree to the alliance?” Volksson swept his eyes around the table, meeting the gaze of each leader in turn before answering.
“Barca is correct in that we need to ensure we remain unified in these dark times. But what good are words and pieces of paper in this new land? No longer are there other powerful tribes to counterbalance our own and only the four of us remain to lead our people. An alliance is something that can and has been broken before when the fortunes of our tribes have changed. It cannot be relied upon, not anymore.”
“If not an alliance, then what can we do to ensure the unity of our peoples?” It was here that Volksson hesitated. He had been planning for this moment for some time, but now that the time was here he was unsure of his plan. In the past humanity had been bound by ties of blood, kinship, and a shared cultural heritage that had allowed at least some measure of unity. But even then the tribes had never made lasting agreements of unity. No tribe was willing to trust another tribe so thoroughly and in doing so risk their own livelihood. So it only made what he wanted to do that much more difficult.
“An alliance isn’t good enough,” he began. “But at the same time there is nothing in either our history or culture that grants a stronger measure of unity than that.”
“Get to the point already,” said Gormensson lazily. Volksson continued forward, undeterred by Gormensson’s comments.
“Since there is nothing that gives us what we need then we must make it ourselves. That is why I propose a new form of government that will tie our tribes and their descendants together in unity for generations to come: The Confederacy.”
----
They had been running for what felt like hours. Celestia and Luna dove through the now tangled underbrush, weaving in and out of trees in the darkness. The living carpet of branches above their heads continue to seethe and twist as it followed them through the night, merging and entwining themselves with others. No matter how fast or how far they ran, the two sisters could not escape what was following them.
“How much farther till we can escape this madness?!” Roared out Luna.
“I don’t know Luna. We should have been out already!” As they continued to run Celestia finally noticed a detail that until now had escaped her. When they had entered the forest they had entered through the canopy into a clearing. As they had landed they had left hoof prints in the ground from the force of their landing. They had just passed that clearing again.
Her mind began to race as she tried to figure out how that could possibly work. They had started out there and had returned there to take their leave. Then they had begun to run in a straight line away from the clearing. There was no way that they could have been turned around in the forest; they had both made sure of that. So the only possible way that they could have passed through here again was . . .
As the realization finally struck her, she ground to a halt with Luna echoing her movement further ahead.
“Tia, what are you doing? We have to go!”
“No Luna,” said Celestia shaking her head. “We couldn’t escape if we wanted to. It all finally makes sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“The strange emptiness of the woods, not being able to find anything that could be the source of this anomaly, and finally us not being to escape even while running full out: It was an illusion.” Luna’s eyes widened at the implications.
“So this was all . . .”
“A trap? Yes indeed my pretty little princess. To be honest I was wondering when you’d figure it out.”
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*Spot update*
By Magnus's long beard (if he has one) he have blessed us with another holy chapter.
now let the reading of the divine writings begin
Me: Thank you for the update! I was wondering when it would come out. Lilith won't stop complaining about the wait.
Lilith: Excuse me my human, but I will do the review.
Me: But you never let me do anything!
Lilith: We'll talk about this later. Duffman18, I am glad the update has finally come out! It was a surprise when I saw my favorites update and low and behold, the ancient histories of Magnus! A few thoughts and questions,
1. Now that Celestia and Luna have met Discord, can we look forward to more humiliating defeats?
2. Will the next few chapters include the humans having to tame the land with dragons and other obstacles?
3. Can we expect more in house bickering to last longer amongst the human tribes? I am eager to see how they develop the weapons they used against the Equestrian troops.
4. And this one is from my human, when can we expect to see Magnus!? I realize that this is a bit early and you are busy, but he won't shut up about it.
Me: I do not blab non stop about it!
Lilith: *sigh* *zaps him with changeling magic* What do you want to do right now?
Me: Obey and love you!
Liltih: dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/lolface_Queen_Chrysalis.png Thanks for the update Duffman18!
So what conection woud Discord have in this story? Did the near extinction of the human race caused this or the war....let me correct it the slaughtering pulled him to exsistance? Or he saw what happend to the humans and decided thet it's time for the maximum trolling? Or he simpely came here to have funy on the suffering of the ponies.
...
Oh oh oh coud Discord be the first part of the punishment of Celesti and Luna and the ponies for there arogance and crimes? Can't waite for more!
2068811
1. Oh my yes. Their embarrassing defeats are necessary to the plot.
2. Yes these encounters will be coming soon.
3. It will take time, but the in-house bickering is an important plot point. It will play a large part in . . .wait. Oh I see what you did there. almost got me to give away plot details. Well played Lilith, well played.
4. Unfortunately, it will be some time before Magnus appears. I have to break humanity down first and there are planned out events that must precede him.
If you have any other questions I will of course do my best to answer them either in the comments or over pm.
2068958
There is a plot reason for Discord's presence that will be revealed later on. Though I will say that there are elements of everything you said in the actual explanation.
2069628 Lilith: Thank you for the reply. My human and I always appreciate the time you take to respond. I don't have much to say other than we are eager to see the next update.
Me: But there were other questions I wanted to ask!
Lilith: Not now my little human!
Me: I'm not little Lilith
Lilith: Not where it counts! Thanks again for the human Duffman18! We are excited to see more Discord and the rise of the humans.
Discord x machina
