Chapter 17 The Greystone Legacy
Quizzical Greystone And The Basements Of Doom
Chapter 17 The Greystone Legacy
Quiz looked around to find everyone staring at her. This was familiar territory for her, though it was definitely not something she would ever grow used to. “So, you have all heard this riddle before?”
“Yes!” cried everypony.
“Bother.”
“I must remind you all that you have chosen to have Miss Greystone answer the riddle,” said Alexander. “You are not allowed to help her.”
“Oh, great!” snapped Diamond. “Quiz-ik-al is going to blow the easiest riddle in the whole world, and the sphinx is going to eat her!”
“Hrumph!” Alexander snorted. “That is very insulting, young filly. I am not a barbarian, like some common crossroads sphinx. I do not eat failed answerers.”
“Oh, well then, fine…” began Diamond.
“No, I definitely wouldn’t eat her,” continued Alexander. “Under the rules of the riddle I would have to throw her off the nearest cliff.”
There was a moment’s silence as they all digested this. The only sound was from Bareback Falls cascading into the ravine behind them.
“I beg your pardon! You want to do what to her?” Diamond leaned in, pressing her face against the cage. Her mane bristled, and her wide eyes shone red. Alexander actually recoiled from her.
“I did say I didn’t make the rules. I assure you, I wouldn’t enjoy it. But I’d be compelled. Frankly, this is a bit embarrassing. Perhaps I should have done the one about the fire ponies and their red suspenders instead.”
“Oh, they wear those to hold up their protective trousers,” said Quiz. “Everypony knows that.”
“It’s much too late to turn back now,” said Alexander, with a heavy sigh. “You have been tasked with a riddle and you must answer it, Miss Greystone. Now, we really should all be quiet to let the answerer think.”
“I am quite confused,” said Quiz. “The riddle assumes knowledge of the chicken’s motives that I do not have.”
“Oh, Quiz, you are totally overthinking this!” cried Silver.
“Your friend is correct, Miss Greystone,” said Alexander. “Perhaps this will be helpful. I cannot give you the hint you asked for, but I can tell you that you don’t need it. You have all the information you need.”
“You call that being helpful?” snapped Diamond.
“Actually, that helps a great deal,” said Quiz. “It means I need an all-purpose, general answer. The answer must be applicable to all chickens crossing any road.”
“Good, good,” said Alexander, nodding and smiling. “Go on.”
“I must determine the most basic reason a chicken might have for crossing a road.” Quiz closed her eyes to concentrate.
“Yes, good,” said Alexander, encouraging Quiz on. “You have stopped overthinking it, and have begun ‘thinking it through.’ These are very different processes, as I suspect you know.”
“The answer would be all encompassing,” muttered Quiz. “All other reasons for a chicken to cross the road would fit within the set of this one reason…”
“Um...maybe,” said Alexander. “I’m not quite following you. I think we’ve taken a step back into ‘overthinking’ again.”
“Perhaps it would help if I diagramed this.” Quiz summoned a magic blackboard and wrote ‘Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road’ as a header. Then she drew a Venn diagram. One circle fit entirely inside another. Quiz labeled the outer circle ‘The Answer’ and added only one item, a question mark. She then labeled the smaller circle ‘Reasons.’ Quiz began to swiftly fill this in with ‘There was feed on the other side,’ ‘The coop was on the other side,’ ‘The rest of the flock was on the other side,’ and other things in this vein.
Diamond did a face hoof. “She’s actually diagramming this!”
“Diamond, don’t interrupt,” hissed Silver. “If this is her process then leave her to it. Whatever works, right?”
“Fine, but we absolutely have to make sure she remembers this diagram. I want to be there when she shows it to Pinkie Pie.” Diamond made a face. “Assuming we get Quiz out of this alive, that is.”
“Diamond, hush!” Silver blanched. “It’s bad enough, without saying that out loud!”
“Your approach is strangely charming, Miss Greystone,” said Alexander. “But we do not have time for you to record all possible motives for every chicken that ever crossed a road. The moon is setting. Chief Bowser and his customer are on their way.”
“I believe I have enough,” said Quiz. “I am detecting a pattern. I am as ready as I ever shall be to give you my answer.”
“Then please proceed.” Alexander managed another encouraging smile.
Quiz took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The chicken crossed the road because it decided it was on the wrong side.”
There was a long pause.
Alexander sighed. “Close enough. I’ll allow it.”
“Yay!” cried Pipsqueak. “I knew you’d get it, Miss Quizzical!”
There was a ragged cheer, but only Pip showed any real enthusiasm. The rest mostly sighed with relief, or shook their heads in amazement that this whole thing had even happened.
“So, this is meant to be funny?” asked Quiz. “I do not get it.”
“It’s the way you told it, Quizzie,” said Shadow.
“Moving on,” Alexander said, quite pointedly, “Now with that surprisingly difficult and
absurd business over, I assume you are interested in what Chief Bowser has been up to. The short answer is he and his pack have been poaching.”
“Of course!” exclaimed Shadow. “I should have guessed. You could feel something was wrong. The whole forest was stirred up.”
“I don’t understand,” said Silver. “Isn’t the Everfree wild land?”
Alexander shook his head. “No, technically the Forest is a Royal preserve. That goes back to when it was just the woods surrounding the city, but the Princesses never rescinded the decree protecting the Forest.”
“My dad had to fill out a mountain of paperwork before we could work out here,” said Shadow. “And there’s strict restrictions on the samples we can collect.”
“And that is as it should be,” stated Alexander. “The Everfree may be wild and dangerous, but it is also home to flora and fauna that exist nowhere else in all the world. This was not a problem until recently. Most of us are quite capable of protecting ourselves. Hunting in the Everfree was too dangerous to justify the risk. That changed when Bowser’s pack arrived. Few creatures here can fight off the entire pack of diamond dogs. I couldn’t.”
“And Bowser makes money from this?” demanded Diamond Tiara.
“You doubt that there’s any profit in digging up forest weeds and capturing monsters, girl?” Alexander smirked at her. “I apparently don’t look that valuable to you, but I assure you I’m worth a fortune. There are menageries all around the world that would pay handsomely for a sphinx. The really big money is right here in Equestria. Monsters have become all the rage among status conscious ponies with more bits than scruples. It used to be hidden galleries of stolen art, but I understand that’s become passe. Wouldn’t you like a secret zoo of your own, to show off to your friends, little filly?”
“Hmmm?” Diamond pondered the notion.
“Di!” exclaimed Shadow, shocked that Diamond was giving the idea a little too much thought.
“I’d never!” cried Diamond, suddenly aware that ponies were beginning to stare at her. “That would be against the anti-slavery laws.”
“Yes, yes, the Princesses have forbidden the unjust confinement of any being capable of asking nicely to please not be unjustly confined.” Alexander snorted derisively. “I’m paraphrasing, of course. But this does not offend the sensibilities of some ponies. We’re just monsters, after all. And so, many of us are fated to a lifetime caged in some rich idiot’s cellar. Those are the lucky ones.”
There was a long, uncomfortable pause, as that sank in.
“Wh-what happens to the unlucky ones?” stammered Dinky.
“From your tone, young one, you have correctly guessed that you don’t really want to hear the answer.” Alexander spoke as gently as possible. “I’ll do my best to answer in a way that won’t terrify you, but that won’t be easy. As a young unicorn, you may know that many spells are more powerful if ‘special ingredients’ are used in the casting. Similar ingredients go into the crafting of amulets and other enchanted items. The biggest market of all would be alchemists. Not all potions are brewed from flowers and herbs, some have more sinister parts. There are dark magicians who dream they could become the next King Sombra if they could just create a powerful enough elixir. My fellow captives and myself might provide all these unpleasant ingredients. We wouldn’t do so willingly, of course. Said ingredients are things we are still using, and that we need very badly.”
“I don’t understand what he’s talking about,” complained Pipsqueak.
“That is probably for the best, little colt,” answered Alexander. “I refuse to go into greater detail. It would give you nightmares.”
“I’ve heard about a potion that makes you smarter,” said Diamond. “You need a sphinx’s brain for it.”
Everypony cried “Ewww!!!” and cringed, except Pip.
“I still don’t understand!” he wailed. “That means you’d have to drink… oh. Oh!!!”
“Diamond, how could you?” sobbed Silver.
“What? What did I say?” Diamond backed away from all their judgemental glares.
“Diamond Tiara, that was well and truly inappropriate,” said Quiz, using an uncharacteristically sharp tone. She put a hoof on Pipsqueak’s shoulder to steady him. and continued, much more gently, “Pip, please just do not listen to her.”
“Alexander, I apologize for our friend…” began Shadow.
“Oh, I’m aware of this potion she’s talking about. It doesn’t work,” said Alexander, grinning slyly. Then his grin faded. “I dearly hope whomever buys me is aware the potion doesn’t work. Oh, dear, your littlest friend has found yet another example of how tragic what the diamond dogs are doing is. You might want to comfort her.”
They all looked where Alexander was pointing. There was Angel, standing before a transplanted bush covered with silver-gray flowers. She was weeping.
“These are moonrise roses.” Angel cried, softly. “You can’t see it in all the torchlight, but they glow. They were Princess Luna’s favorites, and they only grew in the old castle gardens. When she left the castle after banishing Nightmare Moon, Princess Celestia left them behind. She didn’t want any more reminders of her sister. Aunt Celestia has since said she regretted this. We thought they had gone extinct!”
“Oh, Angel!” Dinky ran to give Angel a hug, with most of the other ponies close behind.
“They just ripped them up and wrapped some burlap around their roots!” wailed Angel.
“Yes, it is true,” said Alexander. “The diamond dogs are skilled hunters and trappers, but they are abysmal gardeners. If the rose bushes are not purchased by extremely well skilled gardeners they will not survive. No, no, I should not have said that. Dry your tears, little one. If a buyer can afford the contraband roses they can afford the greatest care for them.”
Only Quiz and Diamond remained at Alexander’s cage door. Quiz whispered to him, “You are being disingenuous. A gardener with the skill to save the roses would also be among the first ponies to report the poaching.”
Alexander sighed. “Yes. An herbalist, such as your friend the zebra, pledges to plant three seeds for everything they harvest. Poachers take no such pledge. In a way, the fate of the plants is the greatest tragedy of all. One less sphinx free in the world is a tragedy mainly to that sphinx. But the extinction of a species…” Alexander sobbed, and could not finish.
While the other ponies were busy comforting Angel, Shadow heard the word ‘extinction,’ the most obscene word in a naturalist’s vocabulary, and returned to the conversation. He whispered to Alexander, “We discovered Clover’s flowering fern growing wild in the Forest. Then, a fortnight ago, all we could find were holes.”
Quiz’s ears stood up, though there was little sign of excitement in her voice. “Clover’s flowering fern? That is an important intermediate species, it is the first known flowering plant. It is only known from fossils.”
“Fossils?” Alexander laughed, but it was without mirth. “No, the flowering fern grows here. Or, at least, it once did. Like you, my naturalist friend, during the week before I was captured I could find the plant nowhere in the city. There were only holes. Do you know what happens to a plant that has had so long to adapt to one environment when you transplant it? Withering death. The last of Clover’s flowering ferns are over there in that crate next to the zap apple saplings. The zap apples are also doomed. Most of them are much too young for transplanting. And so it goes for all the plants stolen from the Forest. They will go to gardeners with more enthusiasm than skill, and they will not survive. Instead of the experts who could save them they will get dilettantes who just want a pretty potted carnivorous flower sitting on their safes, guarding their valuables. To say the diamond dogs might wipe out whole species without even trying is an understatement. ‘Without even trying’ would be exactly how they’d do it.”
The Ambush Raiders had been consoling Angel, then quietly chatting together, when there was a sudden outburst from Pip. “Mr. Daggett and the other dogs fibbed They said they were only moving a ‘product.’ They never said that product was people!”
“Speaking of the diamond dogs, where are our prisoners?” asked Valory. The Raiders began fruitlessly spinning in circles looking for them.
“Darn it, they ran away!” cried Dinky. “Who’s turn was it to hold their leashes, anyway?”
“It was your turn!” they all cried in unison, each pointing at a different one of the others.
Alexander chuckled. “Never mind children. They probably ran away to avoid confronting me. I can understand that. Bringing me my dinner was considered a punishment detail in Bowser’s pack, and I think I’m the monster the dogs will miss the least. I haven’t been very cooperative.”
“Okay, I get that Bowser’s mutts are tearing up the Forest,” snarled Diamond. “But where are all these buyers coming from? Bowser couldn’t come up with his own customers, he’s too big a doofus. He’s also a total scuzzball and nopony wants to talk to him. How’s he going to sell you guys?”
“As you have probably guessed, Bowser has a connection,” answered Alexander. “That would be Bowser’s mysterious ‘customer.’ Actually, while Bowser acts as if he is a full partner, really Bowser is little more than an employee. Bowser’s customer recruited the Chief and his pack to hunt for him. I do not know who he is, but I have overheard this much. He is a very powerful pony with many criminal connections, and a hoof in every illegal pie. He has many low friends in high places and many high friends in low places. Selling us is a simple matter of delivering us to the final buyer, after picking us up from Bowser that is.”
“Sort of a crime lord, then?” asked Diamond.
“More of a criminal emperor, I think,” said Alexander. “That is based on how very much he’s able to sell. What you see here is only half what Bowser has gathered for him.”
Shadow looked around at the huge collection all around the clearing, and let out a low whistle. “No wonder he needed help hauling it.”
Alexander chuckled. “According to Bowser and his dogs it’s all you and your father’s fault the rest of the load isn’t here.”
“Our fault? What did we do?”
“You were everywhere, recording everything. Bowser had to give up the best hunting ground to avoid you, and set up a second staging area to hold what he caught. Working around you put him further and further behind, until finally Bowser had run out of time. He would have loved to simply make the two of you disappear, but he couldn’t. The Princesses were too interested in your survey. Royal messengers kept arriving to deliver and pick up dispatches.”
Now Shadow chuckled. “A lot of those dispatches were just Dad asking for more help and money, and the Princesses saying no.”
While everypony was talking Quiz had fallen silent as she pondered something. Finally, she asked, “Mr. Alexander, do you know which way Chief Bowser’s convoy will come from?”
“I do, with certainty.” The sphinx nodded, then pointed to something at the edge of the clearing. “He will have to come up through that great hole there. That is the only wagon ramp from the underground up to the park that has not collapsed.”
“Hmmmm…”
Diamond looked at Quiz, and a sly grin spread across her face. “I know that thoughtful look, Quiz-ik-al. You’re doing that ‘deep in thought’ thing you do. You have an idea.”
“I might,” answered Quiz. She pointed to Diamond’s face. “And I know that sneaky look. You have an idea as well. Could it be that you are thinking what I am thinking?”
“I bet our ideas are pretty close. The first thing we need to do is get the big guy here loose so he can show us which cages are safe to open.” Diamond began picking the lock on Alexander’s cage with her tiara.
“We will also need him to speak to the other monsters, and explain what we need them to do,” said Quiz.
“All the keys are in a shed over there with the diamond dog’s tools.” Alexander waved towards a rough wood plank structure in the middle of the clearing.
“Good,” said Diamond. Like most earth ponies she was skilled at speaking clearly while holding a tool in her mouth. “Hey, you little brats, go find the keys! I bet I get this open before you get back.”
#
The Raiders scurried off to the tool shed, but they became distracted before they could find the keys.
“What’s this?” Pip asked, gesturing at something piled in a corner.
“I think they’re nets,” said Dinky. She tugged on one corner to test the material. “These are really strong.”
“And they’re big, too,” said Valory, dragging one out of the shed to find it’s full length.
“Wow, you could stuff a whole pack of diamond dogs into that!” exclaimed Pip.
“There’s a lot of them,” noted Angel, examining the pile. “At least five, maybe six.”
“This could be good,” said Valory. “There’s a lot you can accomplish with a good, well placed net.”
#
“Well, it didn’t take the Ambush Raiders long to find the nets,” said Daggett, as the diamond dogs watched from the tree line. Daggett sighed. “And no time at all for them to begin playing with them. This could be bad. There’s a lot of trouble you could get into with a badly placed net.”
“What are we going to do, Daggett?” asked Alpha. “You don’t want to just go home, do you?”
“No, we have to help them,” answered Daggett, his shoulders sagging with resignation. “You heard what Pipsqueak shouted at us. We lied to the children, and we lied to ourselves. We claimed we were hunting monsters, but really we were taking slaves. We have to make up for that, somehow.”
“So, whatever the ponies do, we’ll end up helping them?” asked Digger.
“Yes,” said Daggett. “Or at least we try to keep them out of too much trouble.”
#
“While we wait there is something I need to share with you, Miss Greystone,” said Alexander. “Does the name ‘Darkstone’ mean nothing to you?”
“My grandparents say that might have once been our family name,” answered Quiz. “But nopony knows for sure. There is a gap in the family records. We know nothing of the years following the founding of Canterlot.”
“You are in luck, as I am a witness to those years,” said Alexander. “The city was very much a company town then, and the company was the government of Equestria. Most of the population followed Princess Celestia to Canterlot. I had been watching events closely, as I sense the possibility of finding a new home. I had my eye on the public library. It took many generations, during which I observed as the city slowly closed. Eventually the library was shut down and abandoned, and I moved in. Today little more than the front steps still exist above ground, but it’s home, and I’m eager to get back to it. It’s definitely better than guarding a cross roads…”
“Is this a digression?” spat Diamond Tiara. “This sounds like a digression. Get on with the story, I’m almost done here.”
“Yes, fine,” grumbled Alexander. “The Darkstones. While most of the city depended on the Palace for employment, there were other employers. The largest was Darkstone Quarries. Part of the family moved to Canterlot, to find new rock beds. Princess Celestia found the black stone her castle was made of reminded her too much of her sister. She wanted white marble and bright grey granite for her new palace. The Darkstones found such rock in abundance in the mountains above Canterlot. I guess it was about this time that the Canterlot branch of the family took the name ‘Greystone.’
“But the family home, and the company headquarters remained here. This made sense at first, while the quarry still kept the city partially alive. But the Darkstones remained for many generations, out of inertia and tradition I suppose. Chisel Darkstone XXIII was the last mayor. At that point the city was little more than a village of quarry workers. I myself had already moved into the library, so much of the city was empty. The ponies had taken all the books, of course, but I did my best to fill the library with what printed material I could find. I have an impressive collection of fliers for defunct businesses, and a very well loved copy of The Very Hungry Ladybug I found in a closed pre-school…”
“Get on with it!” snapped Diamond. There was a ‘click’ and she put her tiara back in place. “Or not. I don’t care. Door’s open. You’re welcome.”
“Hmmph!” Alexander did not thank Diamond. “This tale is for Miss Greystone’s benefit, not yours. She knows how to listen politely. Let me see… Oh, yes, Chisel the Twenty-third. It was his daughter, and only child, Curiosity Darkstone who finally moved the company and the family to Canterlot. Demand for the darkstone was low, what with most communities emulating shiny white Canterlot. Also, the Everfree had grown much too dangerous to travel through, let alone to ship goods through. Miss Curiosity led the last caravan out of the city, removing all that was left here. This included all of the Darkstone family and company records. Sadly, the caravan was attacked by monsters. The ponies were able to flee with their lives, but everything else was lost. This happened about six hundred years ago.”
“That would explain the gap in the family history,” said Quiz.
“You needn’t worry about that, Miss Greystone.” Alexander stood, and shoved the cage door open. Diamond jumped back, just as the door flew by her nose. Alexander made an exaggerated show of stretching, as he stepped to the ground. “You remind me of Miss Curiosity, my dear. I only observed her from afar, but I liked her. She was well liked for her quiet competence and bright intellect. She had many more friends and admirers than her modesty would allow her to believe. In her diary she said her dream was to turn control of the family business over to one of her cousins, and retire to academia. I hope she was able to do this. Miss Curiosity would have made an excellent teacher.”
“You have read her diary?” asked Quiz. “Then that was not lost with the rest of the family records?”
“Oh, the records aren’t lost, Miss Greystone.” Alexander laughed. “Monsters don’t eat paper, or at least most of us don’t. The Darkstone archives were just left behind at the side of the road after the attack. I recovered them and took them back to my library. I’ve kept them all this time. When it’s more convenient I’ll be happy to show them to you.”
Quiz was stunned into silence.
Diamond was not. “Oh, come on! You have got to be kidding me!! The only one of us to get any old secrets out of the lost city is Quiz?!!! Not fair!”
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Huh... Cool! Your endings are brilliant! Cliffhangers... but still brilliant!
Where did Diamond Tiara learn about digressions? Or that a gap in my knowledge instead?
I wonder if Diamond Tiara has a point in the end? But, I don't think so, Quiz did do more of the work than anyone else? Maybe?
I really like this idea, and the cooler part is that it makes sense in show canon as well, Celestia even once lived within those forests as well so it would make sense it would be under her protection. To think she'd eventually use it to plant the seeds to regaining her lost sister back, if even unawares that it would be the staging grounds until much later on.
Whoa. This chapter got pretty heavy. And lol Diamond has quite the glare, I wonder if she used to be babysat by Fluttershy and happened to have the stare used on her once or twice before or seen her do it once. Doubt it, it's probably more like The Emperor's Haki and she just asserts her will so much that it overwhelms her opponents. lol :P
See? THIS is why she was made Editor and Chief of the Foal Free Press! She must love or forced to read a lot at home, that and she probably just likes to show off in front of Cheerilee? Who knows. Cute thought though.
Hmm, maybe I should do a story with Di and Cheerilee. In the show DT is always shown to stay pretty close to Cheerilee, and that broken heart/face of disappointment when DT called Granny a cooky old lady could show that Cheerilee probably never expected something like that to ever come out of Diamond Tiara. I wonder if DT somehow see her as a sort of mother figured (as some kids do) towards her teacher...
DIGRESSION!
I do love that regardless of species, even a big powerful beast like a sphinx no less, that Diamond shows as much patience for Alexander's prattling as she does Quiz. Nerds get no respect. But given the situation I'm glad she's this bossy as it sounds like time isn't on their side.
That ending was pretty nice. A whole new page in the Greystone history is not as lost as one thought them to be. Wonderful chapter, you really put a lot in this one. Especially the more darker tone there and the bits of history with Celestia there.
Poaching huh..
And right after that thing with the dentist shooting Cecil. How oddly serendipitous.
Heh, close enough indeed. I like how the sphinx can play a bit loose with the rules here.
I want to be there when she shows it to Pinkie
Is this going to update again soon?
7144104 That is my hope.
Woah. And I was looking through the Quizzical Series for that Maud one just now...
I thought this was complete for some weird reason...
What's going on there, I wonder... Natural pony magic?
Betting Blueblood's the buyer?
Formatting error things.
Also, some of the lines are out of alignment?
Typos:
Should be a compound.
This is my favorite Quizzical story so far. She remains in top form, as always, while the other characters feel immeasurably better than the previous two stories. Shadow is perhaps a smidgen too perfect, but he is also interesting and has teased some potential character flaws. Shady is a wonderful character, you could have comically overdone his incompetence, but instead he is seen as a brilliant, hotshot crocodile hunter, while actually being a brilliant, hotshot crocodile hunter who had trouble with directions. Draco had a great introduction, and while he seems a smidgen too helpful for a dragon, it's believable within the story. I find myself excited to learn the stories behind the other minor characters, particularly the griffon twins and the mustang. The characterization of most of the established ponies is low-key, but that's fine because they fill supporting roles, and works well with your host of ocs. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, on the other hand, have received a great deal of attention, and I find them to be far more engaging and relatable than they are on the show, while still maintaining their core attributes.
On top of all those lovely characters, we get a breathtaking setting. I cannot recall any of the other 1300 stories that I've read having everfree forest portrayed as dangerous, yet peaceful enough to have a long term study and bring children on a field trip. You've managed to make it come to life with the descriptions of all the animals that live there, as well as phenomena such as the magic storm. A great deal of this is also shown instead of told; Sky's encounter with the roc, Shady's friendship with George, and even the throwing star vampire frogs. I do believe that this story is my favorite version of the everfree forest.
There are some small issues, it's never really explained why neither Indy nor any of the other pro-pony diamond dogs noticed the seemingly huge poaching operation, why the ambush raiders didn't just wait for the adults to break out of the vault and then all together follow the prisoners, and the whole daring convention and gaming tournament was a little off putting for me. The lovely little moments far outnumber them though.
You've earned yourself a like and a favorite with this one, and I'll await, eagerly, as long as it takes for the rest of the story to come out. Keep up the good work!
P.S. Chapter 5's title made me smile.