Mountain of Shadows
Scootaloo
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom tended to Spike while Scootaloo cleaned up Eros. He'd suffered a contusion above his eye and a cut, but that was it. Spike was a bit more rattled, but seemed to be holding up fine once they managed to wake him up. The dusty road they traveled upon suddenly seemed a bit more dangerous after their encounter. Every abandoned cart and piece of debris now came eyed with suspicion. Diamond Dogs or worse could be lurking around every corner.
"Looks like you got a nice shiner," Scootaloo said, dabbing a cloth soaked in herbal ointments across his brow. He winced, the cloth burning against his face.
"Yeah, I was just about to give them the business end of Titan before they got me."
Scootaloo smiled. "If you say so."
"You're not hurt, are you?" he asked.
"Na, not a scratch on me."
Eros leaned over to look past her. "And Spike?"
"He's probably got a headache, but I'm sure he'll be fine," she said, glancing over her shoulder at her two friends hunched over the seated dragon.
Scootaloo helped him to his feet as he gathered himself and his sword. They joined the others around Spike as he sat still, letting Sweetie Belle wrap a bandage around his head with her magic.
"Someone want to tell me what happened?" Spike asked hoarsely.
"Well, some Diamond Dogs got th' drop on ya. They were comin' after us and our supplies when Sweetie Belle said something in some kinda crazy language and poof!" Apple Bloom said, flourishing her hooves. "There was nothin' left of them but scorched dirt!"
Spike glanced towards her. "Really?"
"I guess so..." she blushed, kicking the dirt.
He nodded and got to his feet. The sun had been bearing down on them all day as they continued down the road. Thankfully, the forest reappeared on the horizon. As the shade of the trees beckoned, the mountain they traveled towards grew larger on the horizon. Before the collapse, Foal Mountain had been a lovely camping spot for ponies feeling the need to get away from it all. Scootaloo had never been much for camping, though if the company was right, she could be persuaded. It wasn't as though she had much choice in the matter anymore. In fact, night's beneath the stars imparted upon her a rare sense of normalcy. If only for a few brief moments before she fell asleep, she could pretend she was simply camping with her friends.
The sun began casting its long shadows across the ground as they reached the edge of the forest. Thick, white clouds obscured the mountain's peak, though they only had to go around it, not over it. Once upon a time, Scootaloo had gone with her mother and father on a family camping trip to this very mountain. Though she mainly remembered being nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes, she also recalled star-gazing with her father. He had brought his telescope with them and set it up on a ridge with a clear view of the southern portion of the night sky. The stars were a million brilliant points of light on the blanket of darkness that was the evening heavens. She swore she could even spot individual craters on the moon as she examined the celestial bodies. One thing she remembered her father telling her, was that Foal Mountain was known for its clear skies. Something about the winds near a mountain keeping the southern slope clear of clouds. As they approached, however, the cloud obscuring the peak seemed more and more out of place.
They made camp near the base of the mountain, lighting a campfire and unrolling their sleeping bags. Spike rationed out the food, and watched as his wary companions ate their dinner. In the dim twilight, Scootaloo noticed him staring into the fire beside her. A bit away from the campsite, the rush of air around a whirling blade accompanied the crickets as they began their evening song. Eros seemed laser-focused on his swordplay as Scootaloo turned her attention back to Spike.
"Do you think Eros is okay?" she asked in a hushed tone.
Spike broke his stare at the fire, glancing at her, then over his shoulder to the young griffon tirelessly swinging his sword in combat with an invisible enemy. "He seems fine, but looks can be deceiving," he replied, turning back to her. "I don't know what it's like to lose a father, but I know what it's like to lose someone you love. It's best to talk it out, but we can't force it. He'll come to grips with it when he's ready."
Scootaloo nodded, joining him in staring into the dancing flames. She remembered the day she came to the castle during the outbreak. Ms. Cheerilee had decided to escort what remained of her class to Canterlot Castle, by order of the crown. Had she known that would have been the last time she would see her parents, she would have told them how much she loved them, and how great they were, and how she was sorry for all the times she yelled at them when she didn't get her way. They worked their tails off to give her everything she needed, and even though she had told them on many occasions that she loved them, the final goodbye is often the one that means the most, and even more often, the one that's left unsaid.
However, she had months to deal with the probability that her parents weren't her Mom and Dad anymore. They were nameless, faceless beasts roaming the tall grass. Eros had his father taken from him a scant day ago.
She glanced up at the mountain, now that the sun had left the darkness of the night in its place. The strange clouds still obscured the peak, though something caught her eye. Something that shouldn't be in a cloud at all. She squinted, and saw what appeared to be a steady, shimmering light, almost like a...
"Candle!" Scootaloo gasped suddenly.
"What?" Spike asked, confused.
"Look, up there! In the cloud! It looks like a candle, maybe a light on the mountain shining through the clouds!"
Spike followed her hoof as the rest of the group gathered around her to see. Sure enough, a light made hazy by the clouds flickered in the distance near the peak of the mountain. He turned to his satchel, rustling around inside it for something that might paint a clearer picture of this mysterious glow.
Finding his binoculars, he looked to the mountain and began to focus. After a few tense moments, he took a short, quick breath. He slowly lowered the optics from his eyes in disbelief.
"That's not just any cloud... that's Cloudsdale."
Fluttershy
She awoke with a start, a rapid movement from her right nearly scaring her onto the ceiling.
"Goodness! Twilight, are you okay?"
Twilight looked around the carriage, sunlight streaking in through a few slits in the curtains in the early morning hours. The gentle sway of the carriage had done much to lull Fluttershy to sleep, even in this most stressful of times.
"It..." Twilight began, pausing as if to ensure she was awake and not still dreaming. "I felt a huge magical fluctuation, like somepony invoked a powerful spell, but... that can't be."
Fluttershy was a light sleeper by necessity. Her nocturnal animal friends would occasionally get into a bit of trouble during their escapades, and she was always quick to hear their cries for help, any time of night. Just as often as it was an argument between the raccoons and opossums, sometimes her sleeping wards would have nightmares that frightened them. Something she suspected was happening right now.
"Maybe it was just a dream?"
Twilight threw her blankets off of her legs as she sat up in bed and sighed. "It's the only logical explanation. The only beings strong enough to create a fluctuation like that were the princesses."
Across the room, Rainbow stirred from her sleep. "C'mon, Twilight... we don't need to be up this early."
Twilight rubbed her eyes as an unusual bird called outside the vehicle. She shuffled over to her headboard and opened the curtains above it. The sunlight blasted inside as the two pegasi shielded their eyes with their wings.
"Geez Twilight, how about a little warning next time?" Rainbow complained.
Twilight squinted at the bright, beautiful day outside before realizing where they were. Or better yet, where they should have been. From the distance and direction they had been traveleing, there should have been a vast lowland prairie here, where the trains to Phillydelphia and Manehattan run from the capitol. Instead, there was nothing but water, as though the ocean had invaded farther west.
Dash joined her at the window. "Wow... you read reports about what the weather patterns would do if we didn't manage them, but there's nothing like seeing it for yourself."
The carriage lurched to a halt, jarring Twilight as she steadied herself on her nightstand.
"Looks like we stopped," Twilight said, walking toward the door. She stepped out to see the army setting up camp.
"Ah, Princess, good to see you awake," the marshall greeted, a steaming mug of coffee in his talon. "I'm afraid the climates have changed since the fall of your kingdom. From here, we're going by ship to the capital."
Fluttershy stretched her wings, following Twilight out of their quarters.
"If you'd accompany me, the emperor has sent me an itinerary of events for you and your entourage once we reach the capital."
Twilight nodded. "I'm coming too!" Dash insisted, turning to Fluttershy. "You coming?"
"Actually, I think I'm going to rest here for a bit."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "But, we just woke up."
"Ms. Fluttershy, feel free to take a walk around the camp," Carrion said, sipping his coffee. "Once we board the ships, it will be a three day journey."
"Thank you, I think I will."
The Grand Marshall, Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked, leaving her alone in the clearing where the griffon soldiers went about their work. She had only ever met Gilda, and only knew of a few griffons from flight school. The military was somewhat of a foreign concept to most ponies. They had the Royal Guards, but their roles were mostly ceremonial. The griffons actually had a standing army, yet the treaties and threat of mutually assured destruction kept both countries at peace.
All the old rules were out the window now. Fluttershy decided to take Carrion's advice and take a walk. Though the water was near, this place was no beach. The soil squished beneath her hooves, and the water was far from the azure blue of the ocean. It was brackish, brown and filled with debris from the lands it covered. As she walked, the birds and fauna put her mind at ease. At least, it did until she bumped right into a griffon, spilling his armload of scrolls and nearly knocking him over.
Fluttershy braced for a Gilda-like scathing, but instead received a shaky 'oh no!'
The griffon before her was far from the buff, burly warriors that made up most of the camp. This fellow was certainly... different. He was much thinner than his comrades, almost spindly. He wore robes instead of armor, and a set of somewhat thick glasses sat crooked on his beak from the impact.
"Oh, goodness, I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going," Fluttershy said handing him one of the scrolls he dropped as he gathered the rest.
"Yes, well, these scrolls are very important, Highmaster Tarus will have you plucked if he..." the soldier looked up from the ground, realizing he wasn't talking to some armored oaf. "You're... you're a pegasus! The one that came with the Princess, right?"
Fluttershy nodded, smiling. "Yes, Twilight and Rainbow Dash and I are on our way to meet the emperor."
"Wow, you're the first pony I've ever met!" He said excitedly, adjusting his glasses. "I honestly never thought I'd get the chance to meet one before they all... er, nevermind."
Her smile faded.
"Oh, uhm, I didn't mean to upset you, it's just—"
"It's okay," Fluttershy replied. "You dropped this."
He took the last scroll and tucked it under his arm. "Well, it's very nice to meet you miss..."
"Fluttershy."
"Fluttershy! Yes, as I said, the pleasure is all mine. I am the assistant to Highmaster Tarus, our chief intelligence officer in the field. The name is Gart. I'd love to stay and chat, but I must get these scrolls to him." He shifted his weight to continue on, but stopped. "Say, after I'm done, if you'd like, I could show you where we're going. I have a photo album of the capital in my trunk. I don't suppose you've been?"
"Oh, no. But it sounds lovely."
He smiled. "Very good then! Hopefully I'll be done before the boats arrive!"
Eros
"It's worth a look, but the rest of us won't be able to join you," Spike said, tightening the straps on Scootaloo's backpack. "Eros, are you sure you're up to this?"
He had his sword, what else would he need? He'd never been to Cloudsdale before, and Griffons didn't spend much time in the clouds. He nodded.
"Alright just have a quick look around. Keep a sharp eye out for traps, and scavenge what you can. Meet back here in one hour."
"Got it." Scootaloo climbed onto Eros' back, and they took off into the sunrise toward the fragment of the cloud city.
"You've been here before, right?" Eros asked over the breeze.
"Once or twice with my parents. It's been a while, though," she replied. Her tone wasn't all that reassuring. After all, from what it looked like, this only appeared to be a portion of the once famous pegasi city. Eros fluttered to a hover above the edge of a cloud that seemed to be leaking rivers of every vibrant color over the streets and down onto the mountain below. It was a city like out of Eros' wildest dreams. Buildings made of both clouds and solid material, incredible architecture the likes of which he had only seen in textbooks. Even in its ramshackle state, it was impressive. Once proud skyscrapers leaned dangerously, while some buildings seemed to have evaporated part way up, leaving only the skeleton of raw, non-cloudy materials used to build them. As with every city Eros had encountered so far, an eerie silence enveloped the dead metropolis.
Eros softly let his paws touch the cloudy street. It had some give, but it appeared to be stable enough to walk on. He settled onto all fours and let Scootaloo off his back.
"Do you remember where you saw the light?" Eros asked, adjusting the gear on his back.
She scanned the surrounding buildings. It seemed they may had lost sight of it on the way up. "It was in one of these taller buildings, but I can't remember which one."
Eros sighed. "That's okay, let's just search some of these buildings and head back."
The pair walked down the deteriorating streets, the winds at altitude blowing the unstable buildings with the wind. Some leaned at dangerously extreme angles, as though a single gust would send them toppling to the mountain below. The leaning buildings added a surreal element to Eros' already dreamlike experience. A cloud city was unheard of back in the empire.
"Do the buildings normally do this?" he asked.
Scootaloo chuckled. "Nah, they used to—" In the blink of an eye, Scootaloo disappeared beneath the street. Eros' talons reacted before he could even think about it. He found himself with a talon-full of purple tail.
She swung from her tail like a pendulum before the shock wore off. "Are you okay?" Eros asked.
"Pull me up! Pull me up!"
With a lunge, he pulled her through the hole and sat beside her as they both caught their breath.
"You... you really saved my flank right there," she panted.
"Nah... you could've just flown back, right?"
She shot a quick glare at him, but softened. "I mean... yeah, but, I'm... it's a long story. Thanks, though."
Eros was new to the way ladies of any species operated, but he knew something wasn't right. Wisely, he decided to leave the issue alone.
"Think nothing of it," he replied. "So, what's with this place?"
"Well, I remember learning about Cloudsdale in school. It took a bunch of pegasus ponies to keep it together, but without them..." her voice began to trail off.
"Looks like it broke apart," Eros completed. According to Scootaloo, it seemed this city was once quite big, but the section they found themselves in appeared to be only about five or six city blocks.
"So, you want to try and scavenge a bit? We might be able to find something useful up here," Eros asked as they continued carefully down the street, keeping an eye out for thinning cloud layers in the road.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I don't think we'll need to worry about any diamond dogs way up here," she joked, earning a chuckle from him. With a bit of luck, they found the building they were searching for. A tall, leaning tower of what used to be offices of some sort, judging by the papers littering the ground outside it. From their vantage point, they spotted the light that had drawn them there to begin with.
"Well, who wants to go into the creepy abandoned building first?" Eros asked, his sword already drawn, doing his best to hide his apprehension. Beside him, Scootaloo was doing the exact same.
"Let's go in together," she suggested.
Eros nodded, as they stepped into the dimly lit hallway. The sunlight did well enough to illuminate the building, streaming through the windows and missing chunks of the walls. It eliminated all but a few shadowy corners, ones that Eros made sure to check for whatever his imagination could conjure up that may be lurking there.
Each office they passed still contained the memories of a life wiped clean by the blades. Pictures, trinkets, drawings of themselves made by their son or daughter, coffee mugs with '#1 Dad' or 'Supersalespony' all scattered about the desks now collecting dust or partially sinking through the floor. A more off-putting scene, Eros couldn't imagine. The most haunting element by far, was the constant moaning of the wind as it blew through the city, the oddly shaped holes creating an eerie soundtrack to their exploration.
After a long climb and a few more encounters with weak floors, they arrived at the top floor. At the end of the broken hallway, a light shone from beneath the CEO's office door. Eros and Scootaloo looked at each other nervously. He put his sword at the ready, and stepped ahead, his heart pounding. All sorts of thoughts flew through his head. What if he had to use Titan against whatever waited behind that door? He was the only one with a weapon, what if he faltered? What if he wasn't ready to take a life, and watch it die at the end of his sword?
He only had seconds to ponder as he and Scootaloo reached the door. He held the tip of the sword to the door, and opened it slowly, ready to stab should something sinister be behind it.
With a flick of the wrist, he pushed the door open, and braced himself for... nothing. The room was empty, save for a large lantern set on the windowsill. Judging by the size, the lantern had probably been burning for a week or more. Eros sighed, sheathing his sword and entering the rather spacious office.
"Somepony was here," Scootaloo said, noticing the empty cans of food and water canteens piled in the corner. "I guess they didn't make it." She pointed to the unopened food in the opposite corner. As he approached the window, Eros noticed an envelope beneath the lantern. It had no markings on it, but he could tell there was a letter inside.
"Find something?" Scootaloo asked, joining him.
"Yeah, it was underneath the lantern." He looked to the unopened food, shirking the backpack off his shoulders. "I'll start on the food."
While he was loading up the cans, Scootaloo sat in the fancy chair behind the rather large desk of the CEO. On it, she noticed a picture of a handsome stallion and his very proper looking wife, as well as a teenage colt who looked as though he didn't want to be in the picture at all.
As she opened the drawers, she found lots of old business papers, but nothing of use. She spun around once in the chair lazily before stopping herself with a hoof. Unable to think of anything better to do, she opened the envelope Eros had found. Inside there was a single letter, about a full page, written in very fine cursive.
To whomever finds this letter, let me begin by saying you are welcome to anything you find in this office. I can only hope that by the time I turn, there will be some food left to help somepony else along for however long they have left. I'm writing this to preserve what little legacy I have left. You may use this letter as kindling, if you like, but please, just read it first. Let my life, and the lives of my children live on briefly in your mind, if only for a moment. My name is Capital Gains. I am, or, was, the CEO of the Weatherdyne corporation. My wife Juniper and I have been married twenty years, and on our fifth year of marriage, our son Willow was born. I love them both more than I can express. Unfortunately, once the blades began to spread, everypony thought Cloudsdale would be a safe haven. Thousands began to arrive, and the city simply couldn't handle them all. Riots broke out, and soon, I found myself trapped up here. As an earth pony in Cloudsdale, I was looked at as a foreigner, always with suspicion by the bigots of the city. Without a set of wings, I have no way out. My plan was to wait, to allow the authorities to restore order so I could ensure my family was safe. But, then the ponies of Cloudsdale began to fall to the blades. Chaos reigned. Every pony was for themselves. Stores and homes were looted, fights over food broke out in the streets, and then... nothing.
Silence.
Even as I compose this message, I don't know how long I have left. But, I want you to know one thing, whoever you are. Know that My wife, Juniper was the most beautiful mare I'd ever seen, and will always have my heart. And know that I was proud of my son until the day the blades came for me. I hope you find yourself in a better state than I am.
Scootaloo wiped the tears from her eyes quickly, hoping to avoid explaining them to Eros. She folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope.
"There, that's all of them," Eros said, hoisting his now much heavier pack onto his back.
"Good, what time is it?" Scootaloo asked.
Eros retrieved his pocket watch and opened it, but he didn't see the time. He saw the picture of his mother and father opposite the clock. All the emotions he'd since repressed came flooding back all at once. He chocked on his breath as his father's soft eyes stared back at him. Tears began to swell as he closed the watch.
"Eros, are you oka—" A clap of thunder drowned her out as they both ran to the window. A storm was racing towards the mountain, and it had already reached the opposite side of the city. From their vantage point, they could see the storm ripping the city to shreds. The winds uprooted the once proud skyscrapers and hurled them around like toys.
Eros swallowed his feelings once more.
"Get on!" he shouted to Scootaloo. She clambered onto his back as he put a talon on the window ledge. As he looked up to clear his flight path, the color drained from his face. A four-story building was hurtling toward them. With almost no time to react, he sprinted out of the office and down the hall, nearly making it before he felt everything around him shudder violently. Instantly, he and Scootaloo were simply along for the ride as the building they were in hurtled toward the earth.
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Aw, Fluttershy's made a friend... or something.
Picking through the ruins makes the scope of this disaster hit all the harder.
Damn...helluva time for a storm to breeze through...
Not even Cloudsdale was safe, though? Geez.
Methinks Gart, and perhaps more griffins, know more than he's let on....
For some reason I think that Spike & company are safer than Twi & co.
And I believe I'm not the only one thinking it.
Ruined city. Even a section of a sprawling metropolis, completely devoid of life. Not many things more disturbing than that.
Well, Eros and Scoots are in for a ride. Let's hope they won't get banged up too much.
That's depressing. Maybe the griffons are in for it next? Of course, being so warlike, maybe they're just closer to their baser instincts. It'll be truly scary if their empire fell apart while they were gone... I'm still hoping for an ending with a little less doom and gloom. Otherwise it's a just a train ride of despair capped off with a disastrous derailment.
6306811 There is light at the end of the tunnel. We're just not there yet.
I wonder what happened to the pegasi who were in Cloudsdale when they lost their magic, but I can imagine.
Thank you for giving Scootaloo parents. In this setting, pretty much every pony is an orphan, but it's nice to know that Scootaloo wasn't prior to the Incident.
The deterioration of land, sea, and air continues. So very creepy... though not quite as creepy as seeing the regressed ponies. (shudder) One sweet note of hope still rings in the silence, though. Not that Twilight knows it.
Definitely looking forward to more, especially given the cliffhanger. (Cloudhanger?)
6307252
Okay.
Nice breather chapter.
6307252 I can't remember what happened to Pinkie Pie. Has she succumbed in a previous chapter or have you something planned out for her?
6316970 as of now, she's missing in action. Could still be kicking, could be a grazer. In truth, I just havent thought of anything for her to do, so she may show up if I can think of something for her.
6316992 Well, it's pretty strange there hasn't been a passing mention of her this far into the story. If there was I'd remember it, however small that detail is. After all, Pinkie is one of the main 6. That or you'd remind me. Either way, hope you sort this out.
so after everyone in cloudsdale succumed to the blades, I'd imagine that there would be a huge burial mound directly under cloudsdale
well, that was depressing
Oh wow. How did I forget this?
6316992 pinkie pie is an aberration herself. think about it. she can do the most bizaare of things t times. it could be said her energies are not the same as other ponies, least not enough to be affected by this.
kinda seems like the cure here. one idiot has denied them that energy, but more than likely they are far from the only being with it.
And caught up. A good read so far so liked and tracked.
As someone who has actually spent time in abandoned buildings let me just say it's creepy enough when you have a "reason" like the smell of fire/water damage.
When you've got no reason? It doesn't stop being creepy, it just gets easier to ignore.
"The griffons actually had a standing army, yet the treaties and threat of mutually assured destruction kept both countries at peace. "
Mutual assured destruction or MAD, is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender.
Sorry yo. That sentence you put up doesn't make much sense. Unless Gryphons and Ponies developed some incredible weaponry when we weren't looking, "mutually assured destruction" doesn't exist. Yes, in war there are always losses, but in order for the losses to be mutually assured both sides would need to have equal ability to completely annihilate the other. Even though Gryphons, with their much more pronounced military would relatively easily take on Equestria in a traditional warfare setting. Neither side has any kind of weapon to "end" the other side instantly like we do here on Earth.
Just a thought.
6962607 yes it was. Glad you're enjoying it!
So the renewal process seems to require two incredibly powerful unicorns or alicorns, and a dragoneques, grants immortality and causes immense pain. Twilight, Sweetie Bell, and Spike should do the trick, who's to say Discord wasn't originally a dragon mage like Spike?
Accidental post?
Feature trigger with no new chapter.
6316992 Would think taht pinkie pie is such an aberrations that her power never came from the asshole who is letting all sapient life disappear for bullshit reasons. Would imagine the same for the whole pie family. They walk to the beat of their own drums, rather than another's. And they are probably utterly tonedeaf to that drum as well.
I honestly do not like this story. The premise is just..... questionable. Why would their sapience be tied to theri magic? Why would something even take magic away, and HOW would they when the entire world is saturated in it?
Hell we have donkey's walking around, 100% sapient, and 100% no magic to speak of.
Just feels trite and it kinda ruins the experience because every situation that evolves has that connection to it. Especially since soooooo much was going RIGHT in the world that it seems like a dick move to try and end it....... sighs.
Enjoying this. Neat premise!
The Sapience of the Ponies being supported by their magic is a fascinating premise, though one I sincerely hope is non-canon. I personally prefer the interpretation that they generate it naturally, like Spike was saying Dragons do, & they can also channel it from their surroundings.
Anyways, that's apparently not how if works here. The magic of Ponies not being innate & instead 'on loan' from some kind of deity is a fascinating twist. I can see that Celestia has been getting a lot of flak for her decisions & actions in this story, but I wonder if her refusal to renew the Convenant is her saying that the price is too high? Maybe she believes it for that best that Ponies go back to the beginning & evolve a civilisation on their own rather than continue to be propped up by magic, which means that all their achievements aren't actually their own. This does of course mean that Equestria & the lives of her ponies will fall apart, & it may be centuries before some unusually bright pony in the Griffin Hunting Lands (formally Equestria ) has the revolutionary idea of banging 2 rocks together, but she apparently would rather have that than pay the price of renewal.
I can think of only one thing that price could be, & it's a price that she knew the pony in question would pay, but she couldn't bring herself to let her.
7070546 thanks for keeping an open mind about plot points not yet revealed. Some of what you're thinking is correct, and ponies and magic are tied together. How deep the bond is, will be revealed later on.