Sometimes what the world really needs is for someone to save it from the "Heroes".
What would have happened if Nightmare Moon had actually been the betrayed sister? What would have happened if Nightmare Moon had come across a homeless filly in an alley way just after she escaped from the moon? If she had looked harder and found her sister's rule truely wanting? What if the only thing holding Equestria's peace and harmony together was Celestia's image of Invencible Perfection as the One True Goddess. And what happens when that image is finally shattered?
Note: Mature, Dark, Sex, and Gore tags are there for a reason, it just won't seem like it at first. The Anthro tag is because I prefer hands when writing while keeping the destinctive looks of the characters. Comedy has been added after looking at the inter-play between two charactors and seeing how hilariously they play off each other and how natural it feels to write them like this.
World Notes: Celestia has Imprisoned most of the other Gods of this Equus and is hell bent on being the one true Goddess. Cadance has taken the role as one of Celestia's Archangels. Shining Armor has is also an Alicorn Archangel and is known as Celestia's Blessed Shield and bears Gladius sol ira and Clypeum ex Divino Sole, a sword and shield forged in the fires of the sun. Twilight is being groomed to become an Alicorn Archangel and all Alicorn Archangels are mortal to keep them from usurping Celestia's power. Queen Chrysalis is one of the few free Gods left and sworn blood sister to Luna/Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon is not a possessing entity but is an honorific bestowed upon Luna in her role of Bellum magistra or War Mistress (think Octavius Caesar and how he was give the name Augustus which means most honored). And yes, I went there and had Luna Accended Scootaloo into a child Goddess, but Luna could only do it because there were God shaped holes that needed to be fill thanks to Celestia. A few other Gods are hiding in the wood works and may or may not be some familiar faces. Finally Celestia and Luna are Princesses, only marriage to another God can make one of them queen and given Celestia's attitude and Luna's wedding to Sombra on a very long postponement with the groom missing, this might take a while.
This is always the problem with building heroes. To keep them pure, we must build them stupid. The world is built on compromise and uncertainty, and such a place is too complex for heroes to flourish. BERNARD BECKETT, Genesis
Nightmare Moon was furious as she marched towards the townhall where the Summer Sun Celebration was being held. Behind her was an odd group indeed who only fueled her rage at her sister even more. The five thestral flanked her in ragged home made armor and clutching poorly made weapons. She seethed at how a people 30,000 strong had been reduced to a mere 315 pleading for their princess's aid and comfort. She had been appaled at the horrid condition they lived in, how malnourished they all had been, and seeing first hand what could only be discribed as a policy of systematic erradication of a people. She would not have even taken these five brave souls if she had not seen it in their eyes that they needed to be there with her and stand true like the warriors of old. She saw in them the precious embers of a dying fire and had wept with pride that even broken they had never yielded. By all the stars in the sky she swore to turn those embers into an inferno that would cleanse away the injustices done to them and so many others. Even if she had to tear down the entire worldand start from scratch, she would do it just to build a better world for them and all those like them. If need be she would build a world where a child could grow up without fear, hunger, or pain ever again and may the stars help anyone that got in her way.
With that, her thoughts drifted to the sleeping child floating in her magic, her whimpering in her sleep in the alley way she callled home had torn at her heart and had ignited a spark that was now burning hotter than any star had ever dared to burn. The childs night terror had only fueled her anger as she had gazed upon the failures that dared call themselves parents. How she now hungered to hunt down the father and castrate him and force him eat the very thing he hurt the poor girl with. How she longed to find the whore who called herself 'Mommy' and beat her until her wings were just as broken and useless as the girl's, before letting her feel that hot iron on her own back and broken glass shoved into her wings and left to heal wrong. How she wanted to luagh at them when they learned how simple it had been for a Goddess like her to heal the physical damage they had wrought and how easily they were replaced now that she had a Dark Princess as a real mother.
Turning, she smiled as a small horn poked out of the fillies head and as her ruined wings lost their feather as new bat wings replaced her old ones. She had thought of replacing the girl's memories and name, but no, what didn't kill her would become her strength. Instead the girl heard and dreamed of her new mother and her now longer name, Scootaloo Stellam Luna daughter of Regis Filia, Ferox Stellam Luna of the House of Noctis, Gaurdian of the Somnia Imperii, et Luna in Pastorem, Praeesset Nocti, and Bellum magistra of Imperium Equestrian. As she turn back to her march she hummed the same bellum carmina she sang to Scootaloo in her sleep.
As she marched she thought of the Changeling Parti Rhyfel that followed behind her and her thestrals. It had been just plain dumb luck she had happened upon her hen gyfaill annwyl , cydymaith frwydr, and chwaer gwaed lw Queen Chrysalis or as she prefered Brenhines Chrysalis. She had wanted to come and settle the dyled gwaed Celestia owed her after aiding Equestria in the last Griffon Wars, but a new princess, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza owed her a dyled marwolaeth after murdering her daughter and her whole hive, and she had been on her way to be paid in tristwch poen a gwaed. Nightmare Moon felt sorry for this Princess Mi Amore Cadenza because she knew that Chrysalis would wait deng mil o flynyddoedd for vengeance on any who wronged her. But she had cut off a Parti Rhyfel of 100 to aid her against her sister.
Behind the changelings was proof that for all her pretty words, her sister had spent the last thousand years making plenty of enemies who had held onto hope knowing she would return. There were Kirin Shinobe, Qilin Shaolin, buffalo Naabaahii, Griffon Ritter, Reindeer Berserkers, and Diamond Dog tappelupukari. All of them had an axe to grind and had answered her when she had called them in their dreams a week before she had been freed. But the worst was the blind, crippled, and the mentally damaged that followed them. If they needed any other proof of her sister's mercy then one look at ailments easily healed by a God or Goddess in a single night told them how much of a lie her peace and harmony really was. After her and dear sister had a little talk there were going to a lot less statues in the garden and a lot more Gods to fix her mistakes. She might even free Him if he behaved enough... But problely not.
As she saw the doors of town hall come into veiw and heard the music inside start up, she couldn't help but smile as she reached out and dragged the moon in front of the sun while her sister was distracted with the sun. She couldn't wait to see her face as she saw how dark it still was. This was going to be so much better than locking her up in the sun. This was her moment to yank the blinders from her ponies eyes and destroying her perfect image in front of them. Luna Ovantem indeed.
Ignis et Ice eduxisti deosque et praeessent diei ac nocti et filias
Ignis et Ice eduxisti deosque et praeessent diei ac nocti et filias
“There can be no progress without head-on confrontation.” ― Christopher Hitchens, Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays
Nightmare Moon couldn't help but giggle as the 2 dozen guards in front of the doors fumbled with their weapons and shields as she started running straight at them, forming a war hammer with her magic and noting the dozen or so pegasi dropping from the roof to join them. " Pro honore ! Gloria ! Noctis !" She screamed as she slammed several of them out of her way and grabbed a tan pegasus with blue hair by the thoat and bull rushed the doors with him as her shield and smashing all mortals that dared to face the Bellum Magistra. Behind her she heard her warriors calling out " Noctis !" All the while her threstrals fighting like mad stallions to protect her Scootaloo. In her hands the pegasus fought and kicked every step of the way to the door "Daemon Witch, may you suffer the sun's wrath, you vile creature, you..." He growled out at her. "The word your looking for is Bitch, as in Evil Bitch Goddess who is pissed, hasn't had a drink in a 1,000 years, and if I wasn't about to kick my sister's ass would drag you off so you can fuck the living shit out of me as hard as possible for several week. But since we're at the door's..." She hissed before kicking the doors open and knocking back another dozen or so guards inside "After you!" she sang out as she threw him across the room into a wall. "Everyone but the threstrals stay out here. There will be more guards coming soon, but they won't dare to attack just yet with so many citizens inside inclueding my sister." she shouted out her orders before leaping over the guards and scattered the people inside before looked up at her sister's glaring face and yelled out in the Vox Divina Te, "DEAR LOVING SISTER! GUESS WHOSE BACK!" She could help but laugh as the two unicorn guards flanking her sister fell to their knees, clutching their ears in agony. In a more regular voice She said out loud, "You never could resist surrounding yourself with wimpy pretty boys." before letting her voice become sultry and wonton as she looked a tall red stallion with blonde hair, "Unlike me that prefers to share my bed with big, strong, rugged, real men."
"Ferox Stellam Luna!" Princess Celestia screamed at her, "Watch your language, there are foals here!"
"Your right Dear Sister." She hissed out at her with pure venom. "We wouldn't want the little ponies to hear anything bad." Turning she smiled wickedly at the cowering citizens. "We wouldn't want them to know how simple it is for Goddesses like us to help the blind see, the lame to walk, or even bring the terminally ill back from deaths door. We wouldn't want them to know that their crops are less than they use to be a thousand years ago because you are a prude who turned a fertility ritual and a festival of unbridled fornication into a celebration of your vanity. And above all we wouldn't want them to know about all of your dyledion gwaed and how many of those statues in the garden are those who tried to collect. How many Gods fell for that trick, only to have their people conquered or out right eradicated? What do they call you in other lands? Oh yes, The Tyrant Sun! And me, The Blessed Moon!"
"Let me go AJ! I'm going to shut her mouth because no one talks like that to the Princess." a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow colored mane yelled as she struggled with an orange mare with a blonde mane who was trying to hold her back.
"Do you even know who I am? Didn't any of you pay attention to the prophesy?"Nightmare Moon demanded before looking at her sister, "Does my crown mean nothing to these foolish sheep you have turned our people into?"
"I do." a voice rang out, causing her to turn to a young lavander unicorn mare with a pink streaked indigo mane. "Your the Daemon Queen Nightmare Moon, who was imprisoned in the moon after you murdered Princess Celestia's younger sister, twisted pegasi into the daemonic threstrals, and tried to plunge the world into eternal night. And why are you laughing?" the young mare demanded as Nightmare Moon fell to her knees laughing. She then started to pound the floor as she laughed, causing the whole building to shake.
After a few seconds she stopped and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you, I haven't laughed that hard in centuries. The very notion of eternal night is hilarious. You do realize that it is impossible to do on a sphere like the world. It would only work if the world was flat and the threstrals have been around for several hundred thousand years. The only way I could change a pegasus into a threstral is if they had threstral blood in them like that one over there." She said as she pointed to a butter colored pegasus mare with a pink mane trying to hide behind a white unicorn mare with an eligant purple mane. "And I would love to hear how I'm supposed to have killed myself since the only thing I really did was grow up and got banished to the moon for falling in love." She then turned to glare at her sister. "One little 'I do' and I would have been queen. You couldn't stand the fact that I would have been above you for once. I bet it burned you up that Sombra chose me over you and I would have loved to seen your face when he used his go to tartarus plan to phase shift the Crystal Empire into suspened animation and away from you after you ambushed me with the Alicorn Amulet. Tell me sister have you figured out the secret to bring the Crystal Empire back? No, how about the secret location to Atlantis, the home of the seaponies who hate you with a burning passion? How about Flutter Valley or have the Flutter Ponies and the Bumbles still not forgiven you for..."
"SILENCE!" Celestia roared in full Vox Divina Te, "HOW DARE YOU QUESTION THE ONE TRUE GODDESS! I HAVE LED MY LOYAL SUBJECTS INTO A GOLDEN AGE OF PEACE AND HARMONY! I HAVE IMPRISONED THE FALSE GODS THRU CUNNING AND WISDOM AND MY LOYAL SUBJECTS HAVE BROUGHT MY HOLY WORDS AND CIVILIZATION TO THE UNBELIEVERS. I ALONE AM FIT TO RULE OVER THIS WORLD AND YOU ARE NOT MY SISTER, BUT THE DAEMON QUEEN WHO WEARS HER BODY AS IF IT WAS YOUR OWN. THE ONLY REASON I DO NOT SLAY YOU IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE BOUND HER SOUL AND LIFEFORCE TO YOU AND HOLD HER HOSTAGE."
"A FALSE PEACE FORCED UPON OTHERS IS JUST SLAVERY AND HARMONY IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR TYRANNY WHEN IT COMES AT THE END OF A SWORD, DEAR SISTER!" Nightmare Moon roared back. "IT IS ALL FINE AND WELL TO SPEAK OF GOLDEN AGES AND CIVILIZATION, BUT A STARVING MAN IN A DESERT WILL STILL STARVE NO MATTER HOW MUCH GOLD HE HAS AND A HOMELESS CHILD WILL STILL FREEZE IN AN ALLEY WAY AS YOUR LOYAL CIVILIZED SUBJECT WALK PAST BLINDED BY YOUR SUN'S GLORY." She snarled as Scootaloo floated behind her, her threstrals srronding her and protecting her as they hid her from view. Her power flowed around them and protected them from how powerful her sister's voice was.
"IF HE IS OF FAITH AND BELIEVES WHOLE HEARTEDLY IN ME HE SHALL NEED NO FOOD OR WATER FOR MY LIGHT ALONE WILL NURISH HIM. IF A CHILD FREEZES TO DEATH IN AN ALLEY WAY IT IS BECAUSE THEY TURNED THEIR BACK UPON THEIR FAMILY BONDS AND OBLIGATION AND SO TO WILL I WITH HOLD MY LIGHT'S WARMTH FROM THEM. BLESSED ARE THE FAITHFUL AND ACCURSED ARE THE SHUNNED" Celestia proclaimed to the cheering of her faithful subjects, but Nightmare Moon was already noticing those who were quiet and tended to be bit apart from the crowd. Time seemed to slow down as she took note of them as fast as she could.
There was an obvious family starting with a light brown stallion with a dark brown mane next to a grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane and hat that hid her eyes. With them were three children. The teenage unicorn filly was pink with violet mane was holding back a brave little piebald colt wearing a red bandana on his head and waving a wooden sword around and crying about saving Scootaloo from the Brigands. If he stayed that brave when he got older he would be the thing legends were made of. The last one was trying to hide behind the stallion and was a pale purple unicorn filly with a blonde mane. The stallion's eyes met her's and he gave her a nod and quick wink as he pulled an odd rod with a green gem at the end out of his brown jacket pocket.
There was also the elegent looking grey mare with a black mane holding a cello that looked like it had been re-enforced with a bit of metal. Next to her was a white unicorn mare with a messy blue mane and wearing purple sunglasses while leaning on an odd box on wheels. Next there was a light blue mare in a ridiculous purple magician's hat and cape, who was glaring at the lavander unicorn that had known who she was. Next to her was light green unicorn mare wearing a hoodie and a cream color mare with a two tone pink and purple mane wearing sunglasses and carrying a silver case. After that was yellow mare with orange hair glaring at the blonde maned mare holding back the rainbow maned one. Her was a purple mare with a pink mane and a lavander mare with a purple mane, both of whom were sneaking drinks froma flask they were sharing. Both of them were glaring at the big red stallion she had flirted with earlier and the butter colored pegasus mare she had called out on her threstral lineage.
Now that she had seen it she saw that her sister's peace was a powder keg and just needed a spark to set it off, and she knew just the spark she needed. "THEN PROVE TO YOUR FAITHFUL SUBJECTS THAT YOU ARE TRUELY THE ONE TRUE GODDESS AND MOVE MY MOON FROM IN FRONT OF YOUR SUN AND VANQUISH ME WITH THY HOLY LIGHT. FOR IF I AM TRUELY A DAEMON QUEEN, THEN I SHOULD BE NO MATCH FOR YOUR DIVINITY. OR PERHAPS YOU WISH TO FACE ME IN ONE ON ONE COMBAT AND HAVE THEM SING YOUR PRAISES THE WAY THEY USE TO SING OF HEROES OF OLD WHEN THEY WITNESS YOUR TRUE MIGHT." she called out with a smirk as she floated her threstrals to the side and released the still sleeping Scootaloo into one of their arms with a sleep spell to keep her out for a while.
She watched a brief nervous look pass over Celestia's face before she lept off the balcony and slammed her feet into the floor, cracking and shattering the stone tile under her feet. "I see your sweet tooth has caused you to put on a few hundred more pounds in the thousand years I've been gone." She luaghed as Celestia shook her feet to vainly try and get rid of broken tiles and seeing the heels were completely destroyed. "Here's a hint, open toed sandals with high heels may look impressive but make lousy footware for battle." she stage whispered which got several luaghs from the citizens around them.
"Shut it Luna." Celestia growled before swing at her. The next thing most of them knew Nightmare Moon was holding the fist in one hand and punching Celestia in the face several times before Celestia grabbed her around the waist with her free arm and went backwards, slamming Nightmare Moon face first into the floor. As they laid there for a moment Celestia said, "I think I remember why we hardly ever fought." With that she sat up and wiped blood from her nose and wiped it off on her white dress.
"Really," Nightmare Moon said before spitting out a tooth. "Might it have something to do with, barring ancient artifacts like the Elements or that Alicorn amulet you use to wear, nothing can hurt a God but another God?"
"Yeah, I haven't felt any pain in two or three centuries since I kicked Blitzschlag ass after he grabbed my... How did mom put it? feminine Endowments." Celestia said as she felt Luna sit up and lean back to back with her.
"I knew that Griffon God was sweet on you, but I didn't think he was suicidal enough to cop a feel." Nightmare Moon said before asking, "How's the nose?"
"Broken. How's the teeth?" Celestia asked before wrenching it back into place.
Nightmare Moon spat out a few more teeth. "Missing 4 or 5, but they're almost done growing back."
"Good because I think I just realize what you did."
"Besides getting reintroduced to how good you are at grappling. What was that move anyways?"
"Some people would call it a suplex. And you just made me bleed in a room full of people angry at each other, but held in check by their fear of a Wrathful Perfect Godess, in the middle of a counrty held in check by me and the perfect image that has held back a civil war for centuries. The only reason they haven't started fighting yet..."
"Is the shock of the moment hasn't really sunk in." Nightmare Moon finished for her as she looked around. "Think we can escape out the back door and find someplace to get drunk before it kicks in?"
"Too late." Celestia winced as the local carrot farmer tackled the local apple farmer and began welling on her before being thrown off. At that point everything went to tartarus as brawls broke out everywhere. Celestia started to raise her hand to warn Twilight Sparkle, but just dropped it as a show mare just walked up and punched her in the mouth. Then both of them fell to the floor in pain, the show mare with a busted hand and Twilight with a bloody mouth. "Well at least Pinkie hasn't escaped the gaurds with her party cannon yet... Never mind." Celestia said as she watched the pink party pony and DJ Pon3 finally saw each other across the room . "Taste my Base Canon!!!" "It's Party Time!" Celestia watched in awe as the sound waves were canceled out by the high velocity cake and confetti. "Sister, is that pink mare using my design for a magic rail gun to launch bake goods as a weapon against that other mare armed with your design for the magical sonic partical beam cannon."
"Yes, a former student of mine memorized and copied a bunch of files from the archives several years ago and these things and worse have been popping up everywhere." Celestia said with a sigh. "Last month it was a well digging company accidently creating a new volcano when they tried to drill a new water well with one of your Helborer designs from one of the first Diamond Dogs Wars. No one died, but we lost the town of Appleoosa. It took us 150 years to hunt down every last weapon and plans for weapons from the Chaos War and lock them up and Sunset Shimmer undid all that work in a single night. The worst part is I don't even know how she got in, where she is now, or how much she got with that photograghic memory spell of her's. Hand her a book, a book's worth of blank pages, give her enough time just to barely glance at each page, and you have a perfect copy of that book. Then add in her Uncles Flim and Flam use to own a printing company that burned down a few days later and that heavily enchanted book bag they gave her one year and you have a recipe for disaster. I mean, I know they loved spoiling her rotten, but who gives a little girl a book bag that can carry 130 tons and still weigh as light as a feather on her first day of school. We can't even ask them about it since they died in the fire trying to drag a safe out of the fire."
"How much was in the safe?" Nightmare Moon ask as she watched the cello player smack the white unicorn with the eligent purple mane in the head with the cello.
"Not a single bit or gem, but a lot of stocks, bonds, and property titles worth about 45 million bits as well as the of blue prints for some of their inventions." Celestia told her as she watched the local school teacher and her sister the local bar tender tag team the big red member of the Apple family, problely over the bar tender's daughter, if the rumors were true about who the father. She looked around for the other supposed member of that little love triangle and saw the local animal caretaker trying to hide in a curtain next to the threstrals Luna had brought with her. "Nothing ground breaking except for the Super Cider Squeezy 4000, 4500, 5000, and 5500 deluxe that could only be powered with Alicorn magic. Prince Shinning Armor powered that one for the proof of concept and said it was good apple cider, but nothing as great as the Apple family cider. Last I heard they had been close to perfecting one powered by two unicorns, but the plans seemed to burn up in the fire along with what ever else they had been tinkering on at the time." She watched as the local post master, Ditzy Doo, and the local weather manager, Rainbow Dash, rolled past her on the floor biting, kicking, and hair pulling all the way into one of the refreshment tables. She caught a plate full of cupcakes and the punch bowl in her magic and brought them over to her and Luna. Luna caught a flask of something that had been dropped on the floor that turned out to be zap apple moonshine and they quickly spiked the punch as Celestia contiued. "Those two were always tinkering with something and had so many new inventions or improvement on something that I finally approved the patent office's request for a revolving door, which they reinvented. I never did have the heart to tell them how many of their invention were actual just lost technologies they were finally just rediscovering. Between us hiding the dangerous invention, the Windigos, Tirek, Grogar, Lavan, that first swarm of parasprites Star Swirl accidently created, and above all else Discord, I'm amazed how much of a civilization is left. And here we are eating cupcakes and drinking spiked punch as this brawl spills out into the street. By evening word will spread, riots will break out, and by morning a civil war." Getting up she looked at Luna and took the punch bowl laddle in hand scooped out some of the spiked punch for her self and let Luna have the rest. "Diem ac noctem ad bellum et pax et omnia bona quae sunt ad finem ."
"Sorores , et in acie simus inimicis , amicis licet maneat in cordibus nostris ." Nightmare Moon said before they both drank, then smashed the laddle and punch bowl on the ground, with a brief hug they turned and walked towards opposite doors, but Nightmare Moon puased at the front door and called out over her shoulder, 'Hey Tyrant Sun, first one in Tartarus buys the drinks."
"Just remember I like the top shelf stuff... Nightmare Moon." Celestia yelled back, using that absurd Title for her baby sister as the honorific it was meant to be. With that the Nightmare and the Tyrant to all enemies left, knowing soon their war would rock Tartarus to it's foundations and shake the very pillars of Elysian itself.
It doesn't take a majority to make a rebellion; it takes only a few determined leaders and a sound cause. H. L. Mencken.
Prince Blueblood hobbled alone the stone and crystal filled passage way. He clutched his cane while cursing the metal mechanical leg he wore today, the pain in both his shoulder and wings from old wounds, his 'auntie' and her lies, whoever sent that damn treasonous letter, and finally himself for actually coming and being sobber. At least he wasn't at the Summer Sun Celebration and even if that fanatical brat Twilight Sparkle was right about Nightmare Moon's return, being a well known drunk with two flasks full of bourbon on him at all times meant no one would question where he had been too much.
At least whoever sent the letter chosen one of his personal favorite places to wake up after a night of drunken wanderings. He remembered all the times he had woken up here in the old crystal mines with his friends when they had all been younger, Him, Infinity, Beyond, Raven, Flim and Flam. Of course thing were different now. Flim and Flam were dead, Infinity and Beyond had disappeared, Raven was now always busy working for Celestia as an aid, and he was now testing the very limits of how much alcohol it would take to kill an Alicorn Archangel like him.
Reaching the meeting place he looked around before, flipping a bucket upside down, before sitting down and waited.... and waited..... and waited some more before pulling out a flask and taking a swig. "10 minutes brother, you owe me 10 bits." Blueblood was aready up, all pretence that the leg was hindering him gone and had the sword hidden in his cane out, pointed at Beyond. "Make it 20 bits, he came armed as well."
"I wish you wouldn't do that Beyond." Blueblood said as he sheathed the sword before giving her a quick hug and nodding towards Infinity who was floating in several chairs with his magic. He pretended to wipe off dust from the black jacket and pants he wore before asking "How much is he up to now?"
"75,347,270 bits and to sing at my wedding, your wedding, and Ravens wedding if any of us ever get married. Personally I think he's just hopeless addicted to long odds." Beyond said before pulling a picnic basket from under her grey cloak, revealing the rose colored dress she wore.
"So this was your ideal?" Blueblood asked as he unfolded a chair for her.
"No, but like you and your bourbon, we are not just going to walk into what might be a trap without something pleasent to eat before going." Infinity said, as he sat down next to his twin sister, wearing khaki pants and black henley shirt. "Besides, we're most likely surrounded by whoever was shadowing us while we were following you. Armor is not the best thing to wear when trying to be stealthy."
"Were shadowing, but it was just a random patrol, but they went back up to help keep an eye on the celebration after I told them this was Blue's favorite drinking spots." Raven said as she came in wearing her usual dark grey governess dress and with a large ceramic urn with a spigot on the side and wicker suitcase picnic basket with folded up legs in her magic. She quickly set the urn down on the upside down bucket and unfolded the legs on the wicker basket and opened it to reveal tea cups, suacers, a tin of cookies, sealed surger and cream containers, "Tea anyone?"
"Raven, I thought you went to Ponyville with Princess Celestia." Blueblood said as he unfolded a chair for her.
"Nope, took a couple of personal days from her Imperial Royal Highness to enjoy the Summer Sun Celebration." Raven said before smiling at the twins while fixing herself a cup of tea. "Last I heard, Celestia's agents lost track of you somewhere in Manehattan and all credible sightings ended in Los Pegasus a few months later."
"Which is what we wanted." Beyond said as she fixed herself a cup of tea as well. "You would think with all the fuss she made, that Celestia had lost both her best theoretical statistician and her expert in theoretical high energy magic."
"Perhaps it's because of what she did after you ran the numbers on my finding and she seized everything. Claiming it would needlessly panic the public and that it would be taken care of descreetly." Infinity growled, as he fixid himself a cup of tea. "Yet we haven't seen hide nor hair of her sending anyone into the Badlands, Everfree, or the Frozen North."
"She hasn't as far as the deeper parts of the Everfree Forrest go." Blueblood said, stealing the cup of tea from one of his oldest friends with a smirk as Beyond platfully slapped him on the shoulder for it. "We've lost patrols in there and she keeps putting off any campaign in the Badlands to clear out the bandits, criminal, lunar cultist, heritic, etc. that are hiding in that maze of a rats nest of canyons tunnals, old mines, and extremely deep caverns. There's even rumors of underground cities, fungal forrests home to highly intellegent monsters, and ancient secrets so dangerous they had to be buried under there forever. As for the north, there is one small oupost sitting out in the middle of nowhere that's used for a punishment assignment that even the windigos won't bother or go near for some reason."
"I see your still pretending to be a floppish, drunken, crippled, prick while hiding how much of a cunning strategist you really are. How many nobles suspect your act?" Beyond ask.
"None, though Prime Minister Fancy Pants has come very close upon occasion. Luckily Fancy Pants' new trophie wife keeps him too occupied to follow up on the occasional slip here and there." Raven told her. Before looking at Blueblood and saying, "though you might want to avoid an up and comer from Ponyville named Rarity Belle. She hides a rather sharp mind and an eye for details behind a reputation for as horrible gossip and a terrible flirt with dreams of marrying into the nobility. I would say she would make an excellent 'trophy wife' in the publics eyes for you, but she is definately Celestia's creature after spending time with your sister Cadence. We've all seen how fanatically devoted Twilight Sparkle is after Cadence did just a little tweaking to her hero worship of Celestia. So she goes into the same group as one the heir of the secrets of the fulgur mala's grand children, the Desindents of Commander Hurrican and Chancellor Pudding Head, and that filly who cuased that panic in Cloudsdale several years ago. I don't know what they are up to, but Celestia has something planned with those 6. There are even rumors that Rarity is of the blood of Queen Platinum." With that they all touched their horns with two fingers before using them to lightly tap the place on their chests over their hearts.
"So your the one to call us here." Blueblood stated since to call Platinum Queen was considered heresy and treason.
"Yes, because Cadence slipped up and I over heard enough of her and Celestia's conversation while Celestia was signing paperwork. It turns out that Rarity has a much younger sister and when Cadence asked if she should arrange to meet with this 'Sweetie Belle'. Celestia laught and said not to bother since Rarity was the important one and if it bothered her just have her be one of the flower girls at the her's and Shining Armor's wedding and meet with her then." Raven told them.
"So we have a half a year to a year to make contact with a child. get her to wear the Crown and Jeweled Heart of Queen Platinum, and have her say the ancient incantation while holding the Scepter and Sword of Unicornia, while in the presense of an Alicorn and four unicorns. All while avoiding this smart, detail oriented, and loyal to Celestia, sister of her's. Finding another unicorn who shares our dream of resurrecting the Kingdom of Unicornia. And see no problem with handing a small child all of Queen Platinum's power and knowledge. Have I missed any details?" Blueblood asked.
"Actually there are three minor details you missed." Raven said with a mischievous smile. "1) she doesn't have her cutie mark."
"Making getting her to do it easier as a way to earn her cutie mark." Infinity said. "Celestia knows what we all did as kids trying to get one."
"2) her class will be having a field trip to the palace gardens and tour of the castle in three months" Raven continued.
"Which is the perfect time to meet her away from that sister of her's and statistically there is always the one or two children who manage to get lost every time they have one of those tours." Beyond said with a smile.
"3) It will be on the same day as the take you child to work day and Celestia has given me permission to bring my sister to work that day." with that she turned and motioned to someone in the shadows, Blueblood relaxed when he saw a black unicorn filly with a white mane come out of the shadows wearing a white dress with a black sash tied into the bow in back.
She stopped when she got to the circle and nervously touched her horn with two fingers before tapping her chest over her heart with them, before flinching as her horn gave out a few sparks. "Hello sirs and madame, I am Dove Song of the house of Clover and I wish to join and aid you in the restoration of the Kingdom of Unicornia, like my sister Raven Quil, and our parents before us." She said nervously with a soft, melodic voice like a dove's coo.
"Hello Dove." Blueblood said before turning to Raven and the others before saying, "Alright, I'm in, but if we get caught we told Dove it was a game, she had absolutely nothing to do with this, and we all agree to take her part in this to the grave." His eyes then hardened, "Swear upon your very lives or I'll turn us in myself and beg leniency for her and you can all hang in Tartarus for all I care."
"Trust me, Celestia won't take us alive, but if she does, she won't hear anything implicating Dove." Infinity promised before opening a ring with a pill inside.
Beyond showed him a simular ring and said. "magically enhanced chemically induced brain death. Even if she is desperate enough to resort to necromancy all she will get is a mindless, cannibalistic goul pre-programed to go into a blood lust fueled beserker rage when it comes within 20 feet of an Alicorn."
"And you know Dove and I can't betray each other because of the geas placed upon our blood line makes it impossible for us to betray family, the new Queen of Unicornia once she is crowned, or Queen Platinum's last order to Clover the Clever to find her heir and to restore the Kingdom after Discord's betrayal." Raven said as Dove nodded next to her. "Dove has to get away to continue to try and finish the Queen's last orders and serve the new queen."
"Then we need to work out the details or Discord will play havoc with them... " Blueblood said as Dove sat down in a chair and they began planning.
A/N Warning: even the author is not happy with this chapter. There will be non-descriptive nudity and no sex in this chapter (perverts). This chapter only exists for the one faction that blissfully doesn't realize they are a faction. - ChAoS pOnY.
Bellum tyranni sol et luna Benedictus
By: ChAoS pOnY
Proditors 2
“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creeds into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.” —Robert A. Heinlein
Moondancer was led into the study of the Rich Mansion, nervous about whatever had happened at the town hall earlier before her train had arrived. She had tried to ask a guard about it, but shied away when she heard him talking about thestrals and lunar cultists with another guard. She stopped herself from touching the charms hidden under her turtle neck shirt and waited quietly, eyes cast down, for the butler to leave. When the door finally closed she heard Filthy Rich speak, "Is this how you present yourself before your High Priest and Priestess?"
"I...I... I'm sorry Y...Your Grace." Moondancer studdered, "B...b... but your butler..."
"Is well paid and wouldn't dare breath a word of what he has seen under this roof, but I forgive your ignorance in these matters." He told her as if it was nothing, "In fact every person in this house is either dedicated or has commited an act so vile, that we are the only safe place left open to them. Now down to business, I have read your credentials and do believe you will be well suited for the task of tutoring for regular school work as well as teaching our daughters and our neighbors daughter the things Celestia has forbidden. Your former High Piest, Hoity Toity, and High Priestess, Photo Finish, have spoken highly of you, but failed to mention where your dedication lies. So present yourself to your new High Priest and Priestess and declair your dedication and personal patronage."
She tried not to blushed as she pulled her shirt off, remembering Photo's warning about this. A High Priest usually could look but not touch, but there were exceptions if the words were tiny, like hers. She quickly shimmed out of her cargo pants before removing her bra and panties. Last she removed the neckless with her heavily enchanted charms revealing all of her tatoos and piercings, her marks of dedication was , inclueding the marks branded across her cutie marks. "So you are a bride with the complete book," She finally heard Spoiled Rich speak, "May I ask who you are promised to?"
Moondancer knelt down before the desk, reminding herself that this was the tradition that had kept them safe for over 2,000 years as she felt the rug grip her in it's enchantment. There wouldn't even be a stain if things went wrong. Then she breathed deep before answering, "I am promised as a virgin sacrifice to Eris, the Pleasure Bringer, whose very breath reminds us of how precious life is to see us through the darkest of times and daughter of Discord, King of the Gods." She said as she tried not to shiver at the thought of them looking at her. "I have kept myself pure and no stallion or Mare has tasted that which has been promised to my Goddess."
She could hear them walking around her, "But you have only named two, not that we are not grateful to finally have the book of Eris, but what of the other Gods?"
"Set, the Storm King of War, who walks with all warriors into battle. Erebus, the inescapable Deadly Shadow who comes for us when our time has come to guide us to the path that will lead us to our rebirth in time. Nergal, Nature's Champion who enforces the law of nature upon us all, not out of cruelity, but with love to make us stronger. Hebe, the spirit of youth, the eternal guardian of children and those suffering from intellectual developmental disability causing them to have an adult body and a childs mind, guiding and protecting them as long as they need her. Celestia the sun bringer and the betrayer, she who poisoned his wine that drove him to madness on the night they were to be betrothed to each other." Moondancer hissed out in rage as she thought of all those years at Her school. "She who lied and tricked her sister into a war with our Gods. She who betrayed her own flesh and blood for power and glory." She felt the her markings heating up as they reacted to her emotions and forced herself to calm down. "Luna the moon's shepard, the guardian of dreams and of the night. She who blinded by lies defeated Set in single combat. She who was victorious when she faced Erebus in the realm between world. She who proved herself fittest against Nergal in the wilds. Finaly Sombra, the lord of shadows, sorcery, and secrets, who is said to hear even the faintest whisper spoken and knows even the secrets that the stones themselves have forgotten. He is also the one who hid Hebe in the Crystal Empire from Celestia's wraith."
"Well?" Filthy Rich ask.
"The stone says she is truely of the faith and holds no love for Celestia" Spoiled answered him.
With a snap of his fingers the rug released her. "You may get dressed and we welcome you to our home." He said with his back turned to her as she stood up and began putting on her clothes. "Though I can't wait to go over every inch of the book of... " Spoiled Rich then smacked him in the back of the head. "OW!! I was just kidding. You would think a high priestess in a religion with a Trickster God as it's king would know when someone was just playing."
"I know dear, it's just funnier when a wife smacks her husband for being a pervert instead of making him sleep in his study." Spoiled Rich said with a smile before turning to Moondancer and saying, "We told you to come wearing casual clothing for the test, but we need to keep up our appearance. I do hope you have something more appropriate for the look of a professional tutor. In a few months the school will be going on a field trip to Canterlot and one of your duties will be to help out the teacher, Cheerilee, as a chaperone. Then there is our daughters, Diamond Tiara will try to get you to do her homework but please be firm. We had to fire the last one for taking bribes and don't wish to repeat that again. As for Screw Ball, named after my sister Screw Loose and Filthy's brother Eight Ball (and no, he is not unlucky, he has done very well with that silly magic eight ball toy he invented), she is in her last year of school, but well she is what is still called a child of Hebe. A childhood illness caused it, but we have worked hard to minimize the effect through tutoring and therapy. So she shouldn't have too much trouble, Just a little help and a calm voice from time to time. As for the neighbor's daughter, Silver Spoon is in the same class as Diamone Tiara and her family is a generational Discordian family so you don't have to hide anything around her... Am I forgeting anything?" Spoiled stop and thought about it for a second, "Oh yes, you can use the servants quarters if you like, but I wouldn't suggest it except as a temporary solution if you are likely a bibliophile as all tutors seem to be. The rooms are small and most tutors move out within a few days. Especially with how cheap a house is around here, it's one of the perks of being so close to the Everfree Forrest. We can even set you up since the mayor's office will just send you back to us or Sterling Silver, our neighbor. It will only take a few days to furnish it really."
As Spoiled Rich contiued on about the town and asked Filthy which houses were ready, Moondancer couldn't help but think this was for the best. Who knows, if she had stayed she might have become a recluse or something.
Looking into the pieces of a broken mirror you will find the images are never quite the same. Each one is just a glimpse of the world from a different point of veiw.
King Sombra floated yet another crystal mirror next to the crystal heart and sifted through the history of that world for what he needed like fighting styles, weapons knowledge, weapons manufacturing, tactics, scenes from important small unit actions to huge military campaign. The crystal heart then sent the information to relevant crystal ponies for them to learn as they slept away the centuries. It had been one of these mirrors that had shown him a country that had lost a war and been completely disarmed as part of a peace agreement. The fool who had later come to power in that country might of lost the war he started, but he had rearmed a defenceless nation with better trained soldiers in a relatively short period of time with better weapons and vehicles than any of their neighbors. It might have taken two Gods a thousand years, but in a few months the Crystal Empire would be ready for Celestia and her army. How did one of those Humans in the crystal mirror put it, the best defence is a good offence. One good strike in Canterlot would be all he and Hebe needed to free at least a dozen or more Gods and force a temporary cease fire on her. The only sticking points were who to free (Hebe insisted on freeing Discord first while he favored bring him back to the Empire and using the crystal heart to cure his madness before freeing a powerhouse that was able to warp reality to his whim), what to do if they captured Celestia herself (Hebe was in favor of banishing her to the sun, but he was in favor of sending her to the very prison ment to hold powerful beings like her, Tartarus), and whether to fully retreat to the Crystal Empire or hold onto some territory in equestria (Hebe favored full retreat to consolidate power with a home turf advantage for defence, while he favored holding some territory to use as a buffer between him and Celestia so his army could exicute a fighting retreat, filled with ambushes and boobytraps every step of the way to bleed her army of troops before finishing her much weaker army just barely still inside of Equestria, then recapture all of the territory she just fought for.)
He checked the Heart and saw it would be several days for the information from this world was one of the most violent worlds out there, it would have been a month if he hadn't removed the parts involving their xenophobia, technophobia, magosophobia and strict theocracy. He couldn't help but laugh at the thought of how they would react to knowing an alien god that could use magic to grow cystaline golmes with complex thaumatech minds that were smart and self aware was watching them in order to learn from them. Of course they would also freak out if they saw his army of 10,000 crystal golem warriors or the 20,000 crystal golems working on building Armor, helmets, and weapons for the Cystal Guards when he woke them up before bringing the rest of the Empire out of the dark place between worlds.
As he walked towards the palace's enterance he quickly tapped into the gigantic thaumatech computer that was Crystal Empire itself, seeing every aspect of it. From it's might sheilds and towering walls to the smallest foal, frozen in time, sleeping in one of the orphanages, he saw it all. Around him floated a swarm of smaller crystal mirrors, giving him multiple veiws of Equestria and how far behind they had truely fallen. But there were glimmers of what was possible and he couldn't count Celestia out. Who knew what toys she had squirled away after the Chaos Wars just in case she needed it. Thinking of Celestia brought up a mirror showing her and six mares from above that got a luagh out of him when he relized that a cystal chandelier in her throne room was providing him with a perfect birds eye veiw...
"Guards, clear the throne room, with the exception of these six mares, and send me several dozen guards inclueding Flash Sentry and a nurse if he needs one. Any stallion willing to keep fighting Nightmare Moon while being used as a shield by her has earned himself a chance to prove himself worthy to become an Archangel Alicorn." Celestia said before looking around the throne room at the nobles milling around. "DID I STUTTER YOU USELESS WASTE OF AIR! GET OUT NOW!" Celestia bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice as her mane, tail, and clothing burst into flames with her rage. The nobles fell over themselves trying to flee the flamming Tyrant Goddess of the Sun as her bare fur blacked with other parts glowing as if there was molten metal barely contained under the skin.
"I'LL DAMN ALL OF YOU TO TARTARUS IF YOU DON'T MOVE YOU FAT, WORTHLESS, WIMPERING, WHINING, VAIN ASS BY THE COUNT OF 3....1...2...3!!!" She threatened and gave a vicious smile as she watched Prime Minister Fancy Pants herd the last one out before taking off his top hat and bowing to her from the hall as the guards closed the doors. He had been trying to get her to bring the hammer down and rein in the nobles for years. To bad it had taken the return of her sister to do it.
Turning, she marched up the steps to the throne and threw it through the stain glass windows behind it before kicking the burning red carpet out of her way. she then stomped in the right spot, shattering several tons of stone in the center of the dais that hid the enterance to one of her caches. As she bent down to see if she had used a stasis or a petrification spell to protect this cache, she heard someone coming up behind her. It problely was her student because the Wonder Bolt fan girl and the fashionista (trying to pretend to be a proper lady and hide the fact that she was looking) would be too busy watching her ass, the farmer would just cover her eyes with her hat and try to ignore the naked, bent over Goddess in the room and the fact that she was hand cuffed to the crazy pink party planner, and the animal care taker had fainted as soon as she used the Royal Canterlot Voice and was blissfully unaware of what was going on, heir to the mighty Hurrican indeed. Not that she should be so harsh about it, Fluttershy just mistook the incressed heart beat and quickening of breath for the physical signs of fear and the increased awareness and time dialation sometimes looked like anxiety. None of them really had a clue about their bloodlines, well with the exception of Twilight Sparkle, she was Celestia's faithful student for a reason, and maybe Pinkamena Diane Pie who's mind is so random she would problely say the truth and not realize it.
"Yes, my faithful student, can I help you?" Celestia asked as she spread her legs a bit more, pretending to get a better veiw and letting those watching get an eye full.
"Umm...Uh... Well you see.... Uh.... You kind of burned away all of your clothing and... well your kind of naked in a room full of ponies... and well with more guards coming soon..." Twilight tried to explain.
"Did you know the first artical of clothing I ever wore was a strap with a pouch at the end made from the pelts of several small animals that me and my sister ate." Celestia said in a matter of fact type manner, just before hearing Fluttershy fainting again. "I was about 115 years old when I invented the purse and it was another 35 years before I invented the loin cloth and breast strap. It wasn't until I was 356 years old that my sister invented the chiton that you actually see the beginning of real fasion. Before that clothes were very utilitarian, with function dictating form, but then a mortal caught Luna's eye and she invented what could be called the first little black dress, even if it was an off white." Getting down on her knees and stretching into the hole, she tapped the almost invisible barrier of the stasis spell, breaking it and causing the shattered stones from the dais to fall to the floor below. "In a way you could say clothing still follows function dictating form since fashion is ment to make a statement of status or to attract a mate. Personally I think it's silly since I am a Goddess who towers over most mortals by a good three feet and I am concidered the very ideal of feminine perfection personified." She stretched further to try and find the touch pad to turn on the lights while letting her fur return to it's usual white color. "I personally blame myself for allowing it to reach a level of stupidity that has you wear fancy clothing as a status symbol while hunting dangerous monsters at the edge of the Everfree Forrest. The clothes the nobles wear for hunting offer no protection, make you look like a big easy target, and will be blood stained if they actually manage to not drink themselves into a stupor before they find anything. Applejack over there, cuffed to Pinkie, is problely a better hunter because she has to be to protect her farm and her leather long coat looks better on her, protects her better, and hides her better than the giant 'Eat Me' sign the nobles wear." Finally finding the pad, the room below lit up. "With half of what they try to call fashion, I problely look better naked on the throne to begin with, but then I would have to deal with the whole 'Molestia' thing yet again. It took a hundred years after the last time I took a consort for the rumors to die." Standing up she smiled at her student and said, "And Luna wonders why I act like a prude so much, but forgets she started that silly name to begin with on my 4,502nd birthday. Let's just say it might have involved me drinking too much and inviting close to 2,500 royal guards into my bed chambers." With that she stepped off the edge of the hole and dropped through it. "You might want to find a rope to join me down here, because It's a two story drop." She called up as she looked around at the rows upon rows of shelves and racks filled with weapons and armor.
Then she saw it, her personal armor and the armor for 6 ladies in waiting, all on their own individual racks and their individual weapons shelves beside them. Stepping up to it, she ran her hand down the sleak, slim armor, "Hello old friend, it's been a while hasn't it? I guess the peace we fought for together was really fleeting." she said quietly as she picked up the neckless hanging off of one of it's shoulders and put it on. She stepped back and took a long single breath before closing her eyes and pressing the gem and saying the words, "Et miles fracta , est manere iussit, leniter ; Ignis sedit , et locutus noctem flebat vulnera doloris aut tales fieri scapulis suis tenens fusum , et ostendit quomodo sunt proeliis vicit." She heard it teleporting from the inside out before feeling it rematerialize on her body layer by layer, within seconds she stood there clad in blue, gold, and silver armor and smiled as she reached to shelf next to the armor's rack and grasped the hilt of her sword once more. Pulling it out, she allowed herself to slip into the mind set of the warrior Goddess once more. The Tyrant Sun was now ready to go to war.
Something must of happened or was about to happen to cause her to start rearming herself, Sombra thought as he shift through mirrors before remembering that former student of her's. Another mirror came up as he strided down the halls of the palace. It took him a moment to realize that the veiw was shifting from glowing naturally forming crystal to cystal, causing the color to change with each new crystal. Only it wasn't her exactly...
"Brother of mine, I believe we can safely say any date with the Shim Sham Sisters, has the potential to go wrong and in ways we were not expecting." Flam said as they were being carried, tied up in webbing, through a fungus jungles, by giant spiders.
"Indubitably Flam, but it must be love since they are chasing the spiders with our dear niece and her friends." Flim said as he sniffed and then licked the webbing to tried to identify it's chemical composition with out his equipment, but other than it tasted horrible, he was coming up blank, but it did remind him of something simular. "The taste reminds me of the time I taught sunset how to make a stink bomb/all purpose pest repelant. The Princess was not happy when they tried it out during a picnic, dropped the whole bottle, and cleared out the park for several days."
"So once they rescue us, how, pray tell brother of mine, do we get rid of the smell?" Flam asked as a spider ran past with it's back on fire.
"Bees wax, trust me, any soap with bees wax will do the trick." Flim said as a rather large spider went airborn. "Why do you think I insist on using bees wax only for polishing the wood on our self-propeled wagon you made. One drop and no more pests for a week."
"Well that's good, but do we have any in the wagon?" Flam shouted over the sound of his black powder propeled projectile device being fired. Thinking of it he thought General Ultimate Neutalizer might sound better, G.U.N. for short.
"With out a doubt brother of mine, we did raise Sunny after Peachy Pitt passed away and you remember all the things she got into. That's why I always bought Honey Bee's Bees Wax Soap in bulk." Flim answered as two spiders racing beside the one carrying them were frozen solid. "Well that Glimmer girl we rescued from those guards is having fun, but have you seen any sign of the Dusty's little girl."
"I think I saw her pass over head with Maud just a second ago, I think their trying to cut them off up ahead." Flam said before there was a loud crack and a hole appeared in a mushroom ahead. "Next date, we teach them how to shoot the G.U.N." He stated while looking at the hole in the brim of his hat.
"'Gee, You In?' nah the joke is to easy for that one." Flim laught as several more spiders ran off in flames. "How about combining the letters into a word and just call it a gun?"
"Well it's easy to remember as well as short and deceptive, like the gun itself, but it just doesn't seem to be a name that commands respect." Flam thought about it as he flinched as a boulder slammed into a just ahead.
"I don't know, the guards were really respectful after you shot there commander in the leg and threatened to shove it up their collective tail holes if they tried anything." Flim said as he saw a temple of some sort up ahead.
"It was the double barrel. We'd have been in trouble if they had known I only had two shots." Flam pointed out as the spiders began scurrying around to the side were the enterance was.
"Well that new one with the rotating projectile holder with those new brass projectile carteridges should solve that problem once you finish it." Flim pointed out before there was another loud crack and the spider carrying them stumbled as one of it's legs was shot off. Looking up they saw Maud push a boulder off the edge of the temple as their spider barely stumbled through the enterance just as the boulder slammed down and cut off the only way back out. "I give Dr. Pie a 10 for effort and creativity, but a 3 for timing and execution if you ask me."
"Same on the first, but I give her a 4 1/2 on timing and execution because she clipped it's back legs." Flam said as the spider came to a stop in a throne room or sacrificial chamber of some sort.
"Why am I not surpised you two are actually alive and critiquing the way someone was trying to rescue you, while bantering with each other over unrelated stuff, like invention names and how to get the smell from the webbing off." A female voice pointed out as the spiders hung their web next to her's setting both webs swing.
"Bees wax, Dusty, it's close to the same stink as my pest repelant." Flim said with a smile.
"Hello guys, how's my daughter and god daughter doing?" She asked as their webbing stopped swinging and the spiders settled down and waited.
"Not bad, Sunny found documentation on everthing you suspected and tons of other things Celestia has been hidding for years. And your daughter has really come a long way since getting kick out of the Wonderbolt's Academy on those trumped up charges, but we all know it was political because of who her mother is and spitfire's grudge against you." Flam said as he finally wiggled his hand into his pocket and found his pocket knife. Now he just needed to figure out how to unfold it with one hand, maybe something to do with the webbing itself.
"She's been a big help trying to get the truth and our invention designs out there to the public, what with us being legally dead and Sunny's face on wanted posters all over Equestria." Flim said, "It could be easier with a permanant base of operations, but we keep finding either towns in the middle of a fued with the locals, towns being brainwashed and about to be raided by the guards, or with a really high guard presence in the town." Looking around he said, "Somewhere like this would do if you can take care of the small pest control problem."
"Don't get your hopes up, there's one other minor problem with this place." 'Dusty' said.
"Daring Do, I have your two friends who have come to rescue you and..." Ahuizotl declaired as he entered the chamber with his cats.
"Actually we didn't even know she was here or in trouble." Flim stated with a bored look.
"And technically we were out on a date when your spiders captured us and stomped a nice romantic picnic with the Shim Sham Sisters into the ground." Flam pointed out as he finally got the knife open.
"It doesn't matter because Daring Do will tell me the secret to unlocking..." Ahuizotl started to annonce yet again, only to be interupted.
"Whatever ancient artifact of untold power your after this time." Flim said with a wink to Daring before faking a yawn. "Seriously, just get a room you two and leave the rest of us out of your foreplay."
"Wha.. I... How... I'M NOT INTO HER LIKE THAT!!!" Ahuizotl screamed in frustration as Daring tried to hide her giggles.
"So your saying you want her to tie you up for once instead?" Flim asked as Ahuizotl began pulling on his ears in fustration.
"WHAT IN TARTARUS IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU ARE IN MY LAIR, SURROUNDED BY GIANT SPIDERS, AND IN A SACRIFICIAL CHAMBER WHERE YOU'RE GOING MEET A HORRIFIC END IF I DON'T GET WHAT I WANT AND YOU'RE SUGGESTING I'M INTO SOME KIND OF BIZZAR FETISH BDSM ROLEPLAY WITH MY WORSE ENEMY AND THAT I WANT HER TO BE MY DOMINATRIX!" Ahuizotl ranted. "WHAT TYPE OF MESSED UP PERVERT SEES A GIANT DEATH TRAP AND THINKS S&M FOREPLAY AND SPINS SOMEKIND OF STRANGE SISSY DOMINATION SEX FANTASY?"
"A guy who was going to get laid before your spiders stomped that ideal flatter than sissyzotl's chances with Dommie Do." Flim pointed out, getting a laugh out of Daring. "Especially with the trouble you have brought down on yourself this time. You have our dates armed with our invention, our niece who is Princess Celestia's former student, Daring's daughter who broke your jaw last time, an insane former cult leader who is wanted by the guard for brainwashing an entire town in a single night, her coltfriend the former royal libraian in charge of the black archives, and last, but not least, Dr. Pie, you remember her, the mare who put you in a body cast last time you met her." Flim kept it up as he felt the webbing loosening, keeping Ahuizotl's attention on him. "To put it bluntly, your fucked, you over grown blue chimp with dreams of grandeur. The only question is which one will get you first and how badly are they going to fuck you up royally this time. Personally, my money is on Lightning Dust and Dr. Maud Pie."
"AND WHY THEM?" Ahuizotl demanded.
"Because you should really invest in some glass for your skylight." Maud said as Lightning Dust dropped her and her fist colliding with his jaw.
"Mom!!!" Lightning Dust shouted as she flew over to try and free Daring 'Dusty' Do.
"We'll get her." Flam said as he finally freed them from the webs. "Just keep the spiders off Maud so she can focus on Ahuizotl."
"Bombs away!!!" Sunburst yelled as he tossed several smoke bombs down into the largest masses of spiders just before Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer teleported in amongst them, freezing and burning everything in their path. As Maud and Ahuizotl traded blows with each other, Ahuizotl's tiger crouch, preparing to pounce on Maud, there was a loud crack and it's head erupted in a fountain of blood.
"I got one Shimmy!" Sham yelled as she reloaded the single-shot gun.
"Good, just don't hit anyone on our side Shammy." Shim said as she blew the panther head off and turned the small white kitten into a red stain with the double barrel gun.
"Incoming!" Sunburst yelled as he levitated and fired a rocket at the largest spider he could see, noting several of it's missing legs before it was blown into a pile of brown and green goo.
"This is for interupting my field work with Dr. Do." Maud said in her usual monotone as she upper cutted Ahuizotl. "And this is for almost making me late with my doctors thesis." she continued with a body blow that doubled him over. "And this is for making me break a Pinkie Promise to be home in time for Hearths Warming Eve last year and making my baby sister cry." She finally said with a touch of emotion before pulling back and hitting him with a right hook that threw him across the room and through a stone wall. In the distance a cheerful voice could barely be heard over the fighting, "Thank you Maud!!!"
With Ahuizotl down for the count, the remaining spiders and Ahuizotl's last two cats fled for every intact exit from the temple as fast as they could. As the last spider scurred out of the chamber, Flim and Flam finished cutting Daring Do free and she helped her daughter fly the two of them down to the floor. "Just like I told you brother of mine, just clean up a small pest control problem and we have a nice secret base to use." Flim said as Flam raised an eyebrow at him while scraping off some spider guts from his shoe.
"Yes, it has potental but the clean up is going to be killer, and there are two main problems." Flam said before pointing to the knocked out Ahuizotl. "The previous tenant will not be to happy with our eviction notice we just delivered when he wakes up." Then he pointed to Daring Do, "And Dusty will not be to happy with us for stomping all over her dig site or that she can't even use it as a dig site if she wants to keep our location a secret. Plus there is what ever Ahuizotl was after this time. Setting up house over top of a potential bomb is not a very good ideal, remember when Lightning and Sunny tried to get their barbecue cutie marks and blew up our shed. Something tells me this won't be something we can fix with a pile of lumber, a hammer, and some nails."
"Actually Starswirl the Bearded's Clockmen Army was entombed here with a petrification spell by Princess Celestia, sometime between Grogar's defeat and the beginning of King Sombra's and Princess Luna's 200 year long courtship. So the chances of anyone but Princess Celestia knowing how to release them is very extremely slim." Daring interupted, "The university wouldn't fund a dig because of a royal decree against it and I only came here on the off chance he got lucky and woke them up."
"It's 'efn farshiltn ir!'" Sunset said before they all looked at her, "What? She uses the same phrase for releasing petrification everytime. You just need to know the time period to know which language she used and at that time she was still using Goatish because Grogar was a Goat."
"So your saying the phrase for releasing any petrification spell cast by Princess Celestia is 'Open damn you' in what every language the last big bad spoke?" Daring asked in disbelief. "Do you know how many people have spent years trying to crack the 1,000,000 bit petrified flower challenge in Canterlot and you could of did it in a heartbeat?"
"Actually I didn't know it until I robbed the Archives with Sunburst and Lightning Dust when she threw me out for speaking out against suppressing thaumatechnologies and after Sunburst was fired because of his relationship with Starlight Glimmer and their suspicion that he had been the one to give her the brainwashing spell from the Black Archives." Sunset explained to her god mother. "They couldn't believe she found it in an old spell book from the Chaos wars in a cave and with her on the loose they couldn't find out she had triggered a trap spell on the book that was driving her insane with a variation of the 'Want it, Need it' spell that focused on the ideal of equality and making everything equal inclueding people. A nasty spell, but simple to disspell once we caught her."
"Okay, so how does Maud fit in to all of this? Because I know the Shim Sham Sisters can always track down your uncles, even when their suppose to be dead." Daring asked as she watched Starlight Glimmer teleport their stuff into the temple along with Shim, Sham, and Sunburst before figuring out how to close the doors to the tunnels leading out.
"I was working on studying the crystals that light these caves when they showed up and decided to take a break catch up with Sunset, Sunburst, Glimmer, and Lightning when the spiders grabbed Flim and Flam and dragged them here." Maud said as she studied the stone blocks of the wall, "Interesting, these blocks are from over a thousand miles away and show no sign of smoothing from dragging or rolling. That suggests unicorn or alicorn magic, but that wouldn't have been used in a temple constrution during that time period, for fear of contaminating the holy sight. Unless it was built elsewhere and then moved at a later date, say when Princess Celestia entombed the Clockmen Army. Which would suggest a mass teleportation on a level that would drain a god to almost nothing and explain the slight sorching in the cracks between the blocks. So as a dig site it is already contaminated by the Princess herself around 1,652 years ago during the long day when she was said to be sick and couldn't move the sun for two days which would be 50 years before the beginning of the long courtship of Sombra and Luna." Turning to Daring Do she asked, "Sound about right to you?"
After juggling the dates in her head she said "Yeah, somewhere on the long day, say 8:30 to 9 o'clock in the morning according to artistic renderings of the long day from that time period. It never made it over the noon day hump so Luna couldn't take over and set it. It's also coinsides with the first recorded instance of Luna using an eclipse to simulate night and forced Sombra to end the Crystal Empires isolation after the Chaos Wars while keeping their ban on Celestia visiting that only fueled the rumors that he was hidding the last Chaos God, Hebe from Celestia." As she thought about it she asked out loud, "But if she moved it all here, where is the enterance to the chamber where the Clockmen are said to sleep in the stone's embrace?"
"It depends, does this temple have a throne room?" Sunset asked.
"With this style... No, the sacrifical chamber would be the center peice with all chambers and tunnels radiating from it and the massive stone alter at the very heart of the whole temple, right below the skylight. Why?" Daring asked.
"Because Celestia is over 60,000 years old and very set in her way. It's right under the alter, the same way she keeps a box of sweets under her bed next to a sword and the enterance to the black archives is under the hour glass in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the royal library. If you want to hide something, put it right where they can all see it, but will walk past it a hundred times a day still looking for it. It was the first lesson she taught me when she showed me that the bust on her desk in her study was actually a well hidden cookie jar." Sunset explained.
"Uh... What is Starswirl the Bearded's Clockmen Army?" Asked Sham with her hand raised while her sister shook her head and cleaned her glasses.
"Once upon a time," Sunburst started as he rumaged around in his bag for something, "Queen Tambella united all of the Goat tribes into a kingdom called Tambelon, which she ruled from the isle of Tambelon. They were a peaceful and happy people and overjoyed when the Queen gave birth to a son, Prince Grogar. He grew to be a strong and brave Goat who Slayed many monsters, but also a kind and generous soul who would help any in need. But like all tales like this something happened, a Deer assassin poisoned the Queen with a very slow and very painful poison that would take months to kill her. Yet there was a cure known only to an Undead Donkey named Bray, imprisoned in a tall dead tree deep in the Everfree forrest and guarded by a unspeakable being pulled from her loving father's arms in another world and cursed to hunt and kill all who seek the knowledge of Bray's former master. Only Grogar, was willing to make the journey to find the cure deep in the primeval forrest. As he journeyed he came upon two sphinxes and upon beating their riddles he was gifted with the words that would win him the heart of any female no matter the race and a bottle of containing a single drop of Sleipnir blood that would grant him the speed of the wind for a single day and a single night. Upon thanking them he drank the blood of a god and made the month long journey by morning. Within the forrest he faced a foe flowwed like a shadow between the trees. They faced each other in a long brutal battle from sun rise to sun set with neither yeilding, but in the final rays of the dying sun light he finally saw her fully and fell in love with her tall slender frame, her deep blood red lips, flowwing black smoke like mane, and red eyes that smoldered and flickered like burning coals. From his heart and from his mouth flowwed the words of love that thawwed her icy hate filled heart and for a single night they laid together as lovers. In the morning he told her of his quest to save his mother's life and she took him to the tree and freed Bray, binding him to Grogar as his bond servant. Before leaving the forrest she told him that she was bound there and could not jorney on with him. Upon hearing this Prince Grogar pledged he would return and free her in order to make her his bride and she pledged to wait until the sun burned out for him. With a single kiss they parted and he journyed home, but only found heartache there. The Deer had enslaved his people and their king held his mother prisoner as she wasted away. With a terrible fury and rage in his heart he swore an oath of vengence and to break the heart and soul of the Deers so they would never raise arms against his Goats again. For thirteen days and night he niether ate or slept, but learned the very secrets Bray held. He learned every spell and dark ritual, gleaned every last piece of lore and dark knowledge Bray had to offer. And on the evening of the fourteenth day he sacrficed himself, only to rise as a Lich and went forth to the ancient Deer burial grouds and raised an army of the dead to wage war upon the living. And waged war he did, he tore the cities of the Deers apart and slaughtered every stag, doe, and fawn, only to raise them again to attak the next one. The blood ran like a river in their streets and he impelled their nobles and clergy upon every roof top. He had every virgin sodomized by the undead and forced them to give birth to hideous abominations that feed upon the very souls and life force of their victims. In terror, the King of the Deers, pled for aid from Princesses Celestia and Luna, and they sent forth a mighty army of over 150,000 guards to battle Grogar's army of the dead. Only for 300 to return bringing word of an army now numbering 12,000,000 undead marching to war against Equestria. As town after town and city after city fell all seemed lost... Until a young wizard created a mighty army immune to the dead, as fearless as the iron and steel that made them, as relentless as the fires that birthed them, and as quick and cunning as the father that created them. Starswirl the Bearded's Clockmen were a force of nature on the battle field. They never needed to eat, sleep, or even rest. When damage, they just put themselves back together. Even when it seemed they were out numbered, they waded through the enemy as it they were nothing more than blades of grass before a scythe. Onward and onward still they fought like daemons from Tartarus, 10,000 against 12,000,000, but they fought on for every inch, for every foot, and for every mile until finally they reached the very bridge to the Isle of Tambelon itself and watched as it turned to mist and shadows before disappearing, never to be seen again, but if it ever should reappear or if they are ever needed again to defend the lives, the liberties, and the happiness of ponies everywhere, they will rise from where Starswirl hid them to go forth once more, beholden to none so they may defend all. And in time of need all that you need to do is call them with the very words Starswirl inscribed on the armor over where their hearts would be: Da mihi libertatem dederit mihi mors pauci adhuc manus consererent!"
"Um, Sunburst as great as it is to hear someone recite an abridged version of The Tradgity of Grogar and an abridged version of The Triumph of Steel and Freedom. Did you have to say the words on their chest after Sunset said the words to unpetrify them in the room above where they are at?" Lightning Dust asked, just as everyone started to notice the strange sounds coming from under the alter and started backing away real slow. Then it stopped and seemed quiet before the alter exploded in a shower of dust, mist, and steam. They all watch as the first one emerged from the clouds of steam and mist, just watching them.
"Yes, but look at Nightmare Moon's stats, Bellum magistra or War Mistress of Imperial Equestria for millenniums. She has lead armies in almost every major war in the last 50,000 years and Celestia is better suited to the day to day running of a nation than waging war." Apple Bytes argued with Button Mash as both classes had their lunch together for once. Something about an announcement involving all three classes be at school together instead of the two older classes alternating day. The youngest class would be brought over in the afternoon by Button's mom, Love Taps, who taught them in her foal-starter classes or would round them up from verious private tutors, nannies, apprentiships, and home schooling. "Right Screwball?" she asked turning to her best friend, only to find her wearing button's propeller beanie and looking cross eyed at a Butterfly on her nose and her sister sitting beside her face palming in embarrassment while the others sitting with them giggled.
"But Celestia has territory, resources, and troops as well as Prince Shining Armor and Prince Blueblood to lead her armies, Princess Cadence to handel the morale, Prime Minister Fancy Pants to handle the actual inner workings of the of the governmet, and who ever these mysterious ladies in waiting are suppose to be desindened from Equestrias greatest heroes. They problely been raised in a secret fortress by ninja's and training to be superheroes like the Power Ponies just in case Nightmare Moon returned." Button persisted.
"Well ah know my big sister Applejack had tah go up there cuffed ta Pinkie Pie with tha Princess and their friends. Maybe when they all get back they'll tell us about seeing these suparheroes or somethang." Apple Bloom said between bites of cookie that she had traded Sweetie Belle for.
"Well it's not like their anyone we'd... I mean it is not likely anybody we would know." Sweetie Belle said, correcting herself so she would sound proper like her sister Rarity, before eating her slice of apple pie.
"Yes, but there are still riots going on in Manehattan, Los Pegasus, and Cloudsdale just to name a few and Stalliongrad, Prance, Fillydelphia, and Shetland are in full rebellion. Then there is word of the Changeling Queen herself coming out of hiding and attacking Neigh Orleans when Princess Cadence and Prince Shinning Armor were visiting during the Summer Sun Celebration." Apple Bytes said, trying to get back to the aurgument. "In a straight up fight Princess Celestia would wipe the floor with Nightmare Moon, but with everything else going on she has to divide up her forces and spread them out to deal with so many problems at once, while Nightmare Moon just has to concentrat her forces before she starts attacking key supply lines and disrupting troop movements the way I always beat you when we play strategy games."
"Also the Princes and Princesses can't just fort up and wait for the big atacks or they will lose to much territory and resources they will need to deal with all these riots, rebellion, and anarchy. Having the greatest army on Equus is useless if your troops don't have food, which requiers land to grow it on, weapons and armor, which requiers land for mining the metal needed and facilities to process raw ore into useable metal and then into the weapons and armor. Then you need more people to farm, mine, and build the weapons, armor, and the facilities to begin with, meaning you need more land to feed them. That doesn't even touch on land for housing, fallow fields for crop rotation, water resivorars, train tracks, roads, hospitals for the sick and injured, and schools because even farming requiers math, biology, chemistry, and reading, if only to know which bottle is plant food and which bottle is weed killer or to read an order form, bank loan agreement, or the weather report from the weather patrol in order to plan your crops accordingly or to request special attention for certain crops that need more water, sunlight, or shade clouds to grow properly. All of which requier more people, time, land, and energy." Silver Spooon explained. "Sweet Apple Acres, Carrot Hill Farms, Golden Oats Feilds, Berry Family Vineyards, Pie Family Rock Farm, Sterling Minerals Mining Co., Iron Hoof Forges, Black Iron Smithing Unlimited, Iron Will Founderies, Alloy Family Inc. and Rich Family Management and Holdings would go to the top tier of the list of importance off the top of my head for just those within 100 miles of here and somewhat simplified. This does not count the crafts men and artisans in Canterlot that are too small scale and resticted by physical size limitations, the Diamon Dog community outside of town since they are to intermitant in their tradings and internal pack politics so chaotic that their currently controlled by the three dumbest members for fear of an actual competant leader bring the guard down on them, and small single family farms that are collectively under the Rich Family Management and Holdings banner. And no, I am not counting Dodge Junction, the Pie Family Rock Farms are just barely in the 100 mile range and Dodge Junction is over 125 miles away. After that it breaks down into a bunch of small interconnected businesses on the next tier, that often take the first tiers products and refine, craft, and create with them, this inclueds the Cake Family, Cookie Crumble, the Sweet family, any construction crew, etc. The Rich Family also is heavily involved on this tier through investments, loans, and management. In fact let's just say Diamond Tiara's family is it's own tier since their very good at bridging all tiers since even all government employee's in town get their checks through their bank and they are also the largest realtors in town, so they touch everyone in town's life and have influence in Canterlot and as far away as Neighpon and Chineigh." Looking around she noticed everyone just staring at her. "What? Dad read me Red Sun's Art of War when I was a baby, taught me chess before I was potty trained, has played every strategy game out there with me since I was 3, stayed home from work and read me At-a-boy Shrugged by Fan Ran when I got the chicken pox and the pony pox a week later, and reads me both economic theory and military strategy when he tucks me in at night so I can run the family business someday. Both economics and military strategy share a lot of things in common by the way."
"Okay, so Alliance or Horde in Horsecraft?" Button asked.
"Neither, I prefer the Minotaur in War-horse 40k since their the smallest faction with the biggest potental for growth if you manage them right and dump everything you can into research and development into their steam engines and clockworks. I've conquered Equestria twice that way, but prefer to play more historically by allying myself with equestria instead through military, politics and socio-economics treaties against the griffons, diamond dogs, deer, and dragons."
"Diamond Dogs are better when it comes to steam engines,due to their deep coal and metal resources." Snails said, getting a surprised look from everyone.
"Only if you don't mind loosing half your population due to toxic waste, unsafe working conditions, and tunnel collapses from over pressurized steam engines exploding."
"At the time the Diamond Dogs were extremely over populated, so the war was a win/win for them. Either they captured new territory rights to expand underground, leaving the suffice to the ponies, or suffer massive casualties and reduce their population to a level where the strictly Alpha Dogs controlled population birthrate measures would actually have a chance to work towards something sustainable. That's why they surrendered at the 3rd battle of Deep Howl with only a single token arrow fired with the terms of their surrender attach to it even though they had King Brahman out numbered a thousand to one and completely surrounded. Plus historical documentation shows that they had 6 of those steam engine bombs under Fort Canterlot, ready to blow if their surrender was not excepted. It wouldn't have hurt the Princess since at that time her capital was the castle of the two sisters, in the Everfree forrest or as it was called then Forever Free Forrest, but would have caused such wide spread destruction that even what would one day be Sweet Apple Acres would have been under tons of rocks."
"Wait, if they all could've done that, what's ta stop Nightmare Moon from doin' it?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around that they had steam engines back then." Diamond Tiara said in surprise.
"The sewer system, aquifer tunnels, crystal mines, the vaste network of maintenance tunnels, and train tunnels all designed to collapsed in a controlled way that when combined with a city wide Alicorn Shield spell will allow the city to slide down to the foot of the mountain with minimal loss of life. There is even an area maintained as a royal preserve for it and a series of hills to act as brakes for it when it reaches the bottom. Even the massive support structure is designed to shieve off in sections as it slides down to create a buffering layer to prevent the city from being shook apart along the way." Screwball said as she looked at the propeller beanie, playing with the propeller and not even noticing the looks of surprise. "Had nightmares about being so big the city fell when I bumped the stilts it was on and daddy took me up there and let a really nice mare named Tunnel Rat and a Diamond Dog named Digger put a funny hat with a light on me and show me pretty crystals in caves and explain it all to me. Then I met some funny unicorns at a school who told me about the Shield acting like sliding down stairs on a big fluffy pillow. We even saw the statue garden with a pair of funny mismatch creatures dad said use to be a nice people, but then they got sick like me, only they didn't have Mrs. Steady Pace and Mr. Slow Pace to show them how to think things through slowly. So they played a lot of jokes and games on ponies that weren't very funny or nice. So the Princess played a game of red light/green light with them and they lost so they has to be a statues until they learns to play nice games and funny jokes with ponies. I think the Princess must be really good at red light/green light because there where a lot of statues there. I even met the Princess and asked her if she was the world champion of red light/green light because of all the statues of people who lost. She gave me a hug, called me Hebe's Puella, and told me she invented it with her sister. Then she told me about her sister trying to catch a fish and it smacking her in the face with it's tail so it could go home to it's family. Then we came home and no more nightmares, but dreams about riding down a mountain on a pillow with a fish on it's way home to the pond at the bottom, to be with it's family. Only don't try riding down stairs on a pillow, mom gets mad, especially if it's one of her pretty pillow."
Sweetie Belle finally shook her head and said, "Is it just me or are we talking way to much about what happened in 41,019 Aevus Consensus that effectively ended the Thousand Year War. Not that I mind since I have to do a report on the history of Canterlot. Also, the initial work on stopping anyone from blowing up the top of Mount Canterwas not even completed until 42,328 AC by the Diamond Dogs as part of the peace treaty."
"Well it started because with everything that's going on most adults think we don't know what's going on and Button wanted to know how long I thought it would take before Nightmare Moon was back on the moon. From there we learned that Silver Spoon's bed time stories will either make her a tyranical military dictator or a C.E.O., Snail's is perfectly fine with self-genocide, Applebloom's sister and her friends went to Canterlot with Princess Celestia, Diamond Tiara and Screwball's family is extremely well connected, Screwball is still the oddest hit or miss genius I've ever met and she dreams of riding down a mountain on a pillow with a fish, and you have a report due on Canterlot history." Apple Bytes said before asking, "anything else on Canterlot history?"
"Well Fort Canterlot grew in it's importance due to it's centeralized location on several air and land routes and began it's transformation from a military fortification to an economic trade center in 44,098 AC and was not completed until 52,983 AC. It was then destroyed along with Mount Canter in 53,873 AC when it was turned into lime jello during the Chaos Wars and then turned back into a mountain with the city restored on the side of it in 58,091 by the Elements of Harmony and made the capital of Imperial Equestria in 60,000 AC after the loss of the Castle of the Two Sisters and the Everfree Forrest finally becoming to wild and unsafe for anyone." Sweetie Belle answered.
"What happened to the Elements of Harmony?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"They got left in tha Castle of Tha Two Sisters Because of tha fact that they can only be used by their who ever bonds with them, but can't be moved if'n they go dormant until new users can be found for them." Applebloom said, "Big Mac saw them when he was younger. Sumthing about getting a wild hair and goin to tha Castle to see if'n there was any 'Celestia Gold' apples still growin in tha garden there for tha seeds. Princess Celestia brought him home when he set off a bunch of different ward spells and almost confiscated all of the seeds since it's illegal to have them or grow them without a Royal Decree, but let us keep some to grow a few trees and a Royal Decree to grow them for the Royal Kitchens at 1,000 bits per full basket."
"Mom read me a book about them when I was little," Snips said. "there are suppose to be 6 elements of harmony, but they only know of 5 of them: Honesty, Loyalty Generousity, Laughter, and Kindness. The 6th one will only appear when a spark unites them."
"Umm... Diamond? If they can turn jello into a mountain, Can they make Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon hug and make up like mom makes us do when we fight?" Screwball asked.
"I... Hmm.... I think maybe, but...." Diamond Tiara said trying to come up with an answer, but these were the Elements of Harmony, said to be so powerful that even Gods couldn't stand up to them.
"Then I'm going to go get them and make those two hug and make up." Screwball said as she started to get up just as Ms. Cheerilee began riging the bell. Turning she skipped into the school without a second thought.
As the rest of them grabbed their things and headed inside Diamond Tiara couldn't help but think about it as she grabbed Screwballs bag. "Go get them, from the most dangerous place in Equestria." She shuddered as she walked inside, "But then again Big Mac made it all the way there and back." Still it was the Everfree Forrest, "But that Zebra Shaman lives in there..." And so does the Slendermare, "But Fluttershy says she never seen her." Handing Screwball her bag she started towards her seat, thinking as she past Scootaloo's empty desk, "Besides Nightmare Moon is problely out there in the forrest." Only she had been with thestrals and they're a mountain people according to legend. As she sat down next to Silver Spoon the ideal just wouldn't seem to leave her. Finally she she let it go as Love Taps herded the younger students into the class and Ms. Cheerilee began talking about the field trip to Canterlot.
The Royal Guards moved along the inside edge of the Everfree Forrest towards Fillydelphia while a secondary force marched towards the renegade city. It was a nice simple tactic, draw the defenders attention away from the real attack by having the secondary force attack from the front. Once they were fully engaged and pulling troops from other section, attack from the rear and slightly to the side with real army since nobody was crazy enough to go through the Everfree Forrest to attack. Only Brigadier-General Mustang was crazy, crazy enough to take advantage of what their commen sense told them. Yes, there were monsters and going into the deeper parts would be suicide, but the edge was a some what wider safe-ish buffer zone than most people realized and the monsters tended to avoid large hunting parties. Other than a few smaller prides of manticores that just watched them, a sleeping Ursa Major that only snorted before rolling over and going back to sleep, and very determined pack of timberwolves, they hadn't run into any of the Everfree's usual freak show of horrors.
Commander Mustang smiled to herself, everyone feared the Everfree Forrest, but if you followed it's rules you would be some what safe. Don't pick fights with things best left alone, don't go too deep or you might wake something up, and above all remember even an army is useless against some of the things that called the Everfree home. Sure it had been a huge risk, the Ursa alone could have wiped them out, but she felt it was well worth it and her troops knew her rules for dealing with the forrest. Her only concern was reports of some sort of shadows tracking them from the deeper parts. Not that there was much they could do if She was hunting, but her territory was closer to Manehatten than here. Plus the shadows were too big to be Cerberus chasing another escapee and too subtle to be Plunder Vines looking for easy prey. It couldn't be Changelings because you would never known they were there, maybe something new that the forrest had cooked up. So long as whatever it was decided to just track them and watch, she was going to leave it alone. No use attracting more trouble than it was worth.
"I look around and I don't see conquered people. I see those my sister could never conquer. She could drive you from your homes because you wouldn't yield to her will. She could hunt you because you refused to give up the old ways. And yes, she could slay you, but you, my mighty, my proud, my brave who have never yielded. You may be fewer in numbers than your brothers and sisters that did, but you are also stronger for it. They may point to everything they own, but you are richer for the life you live and for the company you keep. They may claim they are free, but it is you who are truely free because you do not scrape upon bended knees to a Goddess forced upon you, but stand proud in the eyes of the Gods you choose. And that is all I ask, stand proud beside me, make your Gods proud, and make the world better for knowing you"
Pvt. Cashew Cluster, sighed with relief as he undid his fly and started pissing. He had been marching all day through this damn forrest and all he wanted was a piss, a smoke, and for Sgt. Hard March to drop dead. He never heard any sound as he was to busy wistling as he pissed. The knife was jabbed into his throat and yanked hard across, spraying the tree with blood while a dark grey hand clampe over his mouth. The knife went down and jabbed up through his stomach and under his rib cage into his heart. The last thing he felt was a hard yank as he was pulled backwards through the under brush as he heard the last bars of what he was wistling be wistled, Pop Goes the Weasel.
"I have heard your pleas for justice. I have seen the desperation begging for relief in the eyes of both your old and your young. I know of your hopes, your prayers, and your dreams for vengence. For I have felt them to, here in my heart, and I shall not stand for another fortnight allowing my sister to go unchallenged. I promise you they will hear your grievances and my sister will answer for them. I promise you I will bring you justice, I will bring you salvation, and above all I will bring you freedom."
Sgt. Hard March was not a happy Stallion. That slacker, Pvt. Cashew Cluster, had diappeared yet again and when he found him he was going to shove his boot so far up his ass that he could pollish it with his tounge. Only he didn't see him behind the tree some corporal had said he had saw him go behind. He had been about to go back and give her a piece of his mind when he noticed the blood on the tree. He turned about to shout out as his eyes followed the blood into the under brush. Only for an arrow to go through his eye and punch straight through to his brain. He never saw the shadowy figures that dragged his corpse into the Under brush and never saw what came next.
"I ask of you to stand with me. To raise your swords with my own. And to fight, not for me, but for your mothers and fathers, for your brothers and sisters, for your lovers, and for your sons and daughters. To feel the weight of history and all who have come before you. To feel the hand of fate and all who shall come after you. To know that this is the moment when Legends are born. For Justice, for Honor, for Glory!!!" Nightmare Moon called out as those gathered around her began chanting, "Thriamveftikí Nýchta! Thriamveftikí Selíni! Thriamveftikí Nýchta! Thriamveftikí Selíni! Thriamveftikí Nýchta! Thriamveftikí Selíni! Boreí i nýchta diarkeí gia pánta!"
All along the lines of troops taking a break before pushing on no on noticed the scent in the air or that anything was wrong until the first howl was heard. Thinking it was another pack of timberwolves, the sharp shooter and snipers got ready. Only what came out of the forrest wasn't just a pack of timberwolves, several dozen packs of timberwolves came running out on fire and paniced. As they tore into the lines of troops, they were unprepaired for shadowy figures flying above them throwing down burning pots of Thestral Fire unto them and the trees around them. Over 200 Thestrals lead the attack as Griffons and Changelings swoped in behind them, forcing any Pegasi trying to escape back into the hell the Thestrals had turned the forrest into. Back the way the army had come was engulfed in flames and the ground was caving in as Diamond Dog tunnels collapsed dropping huge burning trees behind them.
"Rally on me!" Brigadier-General Mustang bellowed, "We have to push our way through! There's a river ahead, that leads straight out of the forrest and into Fillydelphia! Our only chance is the river!" She shouted to her officers, who rallied the troops. The Royal Guards pushed forward, but only a 1/3 of them made it.
More tunnels began collapsing and many of the Royal Guards were forced to fight Diamond Dog tappelupukari in brutal subterranian hand to hand fighting. Only these were not the simple minded tamed bruts Celestia had turned Diamond Dogs into. Oh no, these were the elite who had been born and breed for the fighting pits, had fought their way up through the ranks, earning the title of Alpha, and all of them desiring to be one of four to claim the titles of Geri, Freki, Skoll, and Hati and free their God Fenris.
Then as those who had escaped falling into the tunnels fled for the river, they heard a sound of a single battle horn and the screaming of dozens up dozens of voices. Then suddenly the Reindeer slammed into their flanks, screaming like wild animals as they all were possessed by the Beserker Rage. Spears, swords, arrows, and even bullets could not stop them. it was as if they had the strength of demons. There was no mind left as they killed with such wild abandon as their bodies burned through their energy like an inferno, before finally collapsing and giving in to their exhaustion. Only to be pulled away to safety by Qilin Shaolin as Kirin Shinobe stalked the edges of the battle for more that needed help, their scales protecting them from the from the inferno the forrest had become.
Finally reaching the river, what remained of Brigadier-General Mustang's army was met by hundreds of Buffalo Naabaahii, a Thestral hoplites phalanx of 30 Thestrals, and Nightmare Moon. Seeing this Brigadier-General Mustang rallied her troops one last time. "One more push and into the river to freedom! One last push to live, because if we stay here we will all die! SO ONE LAST PUSH!!!" She screamed as they attacked. A 1/2 hour later the river flowwing into Fillydelphia began to tunr pink, then blood red and with lots of corpses floating in it and one survivor. Brigadier-General Mustang survived the first battle of the Everfree, but the horror of that day haunted her for the rest of her life. That and the chanting in victory she heard everytime she closed her eyes, "Thriamveftikí Nýchta! Thriamveftikí Selíni! Thriamveftikí Nýchta! Thriamveftikí Selíni! Thriamveftikí Nýchta! Thriamveftikí Selíni! Boreí i nýchta diarkeí gia pánta!"
Occultus civitate Vapor est , anni , et terrorem. (Part 1)
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. - H.P. Lovecraft
Some people fear the future and wish to bury it because they know they a just one cog in the machine away from no longer being needed.
Sunset Shimmer blasted another Clockmen into the the wall and yelled, "Their trying to heard us into the hole!"
"I noticed, but damn it all to Tartarus if I'm going to let a bunch of over grown take me with out a fight!" Starlight Glimmer yelled back as she tried to freeze the ground under one in to a solid sheet of ice. Only there was a loud chink noise from it's feet and "OH COME ON! WHO BUILDS SPRING LOADED CLETS INTO BOOTS!"
"That would be the same pony who enchanted every last nut, bolt, cog, and spring in them to reassemble them after a minute if you knock them apart and beat them over the head with their own arm." Muad pointed out as the arm in her hands was yanked loose by the magic and flipped her the bird as it flew across the chamber to it's owner who brought up another hand and made it a double bird. "And obviously Starswirl the Bearded made them a bit rude."
"Hands Off!" Sunburst yelled as he launched a rocket at the one about to reach Starlight Glimmer, giving her enough time to throw up a shield . "Get your own girlfriend, she's with me!"
"Brother of mine, I do believe I am starting to miss the spiders" Flam said as he flicked a burning ember from his mustache.
"Without a doubt, but at least these clockwork chaps don't smell bad." Flim pointed out as he smacked the hand of another Clockmen with a broken gun as it tryed to pull itself over the rubble to get to them in the acove they were hidding in with the Shim Sham Sisters. "How's the surprise coming girls?"
"Roam wasn't built in a day." Shim said in a sing song voice.
"Yeah Flimmykins, it took them at least a week to choose what drapes went with the columns." Sham chipped in as she tore a strip off the bottom of her skirt and rolled it in black powder and not even noticing her sister rolling her eyes as she mixed rust and aluminum powder together in her purse before puting a strip of magnesium in it and then dumping her sister's purse out beside her stuff from her purse and pouring the black powder for the guns in it and shoving them both into a half empty box of nails. With her home made fuse half hanging out of the black powder bag, she closed the lid with just enough room for the fuse to be hanging out. Then she grabbed her matches and ran over to the rubble just as another hand came over the edge. Lighting the fuse she shoved it into the hand which grabbed it and yelled, "Happy Birthday!" as they all ducked down as the hand pulled it onto the other side... Then there was a loud 'KABOOM!' as part of the rubble collapesed.
As they all looked over the remains of the pile they saw pieces of at least 30 or 40 clockmen smoldering on the floor. "What exactly was in that thing, dear sister?" Shim asked as she looked on in disbelief at the sheer mechanical carnage.
"Nothing much, just a two stage super thermite bomb with extra shrapinal and the 400 extra nitroglycerin pills from last weeks order for ponyvilles apothecary. She kind of ran out because of the mayor eating them up like candy and that nice Granny Smith who gave me a pie and Mr. Cake who gave me cookies, something about pinkie promising never to let Pinkie Pie throw a Super Mega Quentuplet Ultra Party at Suger Cube Corner ever again." Sham said as she nudged a piece of one of the clockmen. "Shouldn't they be putting themselves back together so we can play with them some more. I'm sure I can whip up something better with those gumdrops from your purse, a match, some asprine, my lipstick, and your panties."
"WHAT? Why my panties? Why not your own?" Shim demanded.
"Because I would need the nylon and polyester from your black satin panties you wore, as well as the black dye in them since I wore a white cottion pair of panties. Besides, we need my panties for the elastic for a sling shot to firer it, and rocks, at them." Sham pointed out as she motioned to the dozen or so Clockmen now surrounding them. Then she noticed and joined Flim and Flam in holding her hands up in surrender. "Parley?" she asked before one put a sword to her throat and shook it's head no. "Didn't think so... So umm... Are you here for the picnic as well? Because the giant spiders already stomped it flat earlier." Several of them looked at each other before shaking their heads no again. "Okay then is it surrender?" Getting a nod she smiled and said, "Then we accept your surrender." At that point 11 Clockmen, Flim, Flam, and Shim all faced palmed as the one holding the sword to her throat just shook his head no. "Oh, you mean our surrender." That got a nod, "I'm sorry, but Shim said I was no longer aloud to negotiate terms of surrendering to others, something about nearly getting married off to a minotaur noble." With that, it took it's sword away from her thoat, walked over to a wall and banged it's head several times against it. After it left a small crater in the wall it walked back over and just picked her up and walked down into the hole. "Well if you insist, but we may need to stop by the little fillies room on the way."
"I swear mother ate poison joke when she was pregant with us." Shim said to the Clockmen who was carrying her. The Clockmen just shrugged as it entered the hole, passing more Clockmen heading up to join the fight. Up ahead it saw the two flyers and the monkey thing that had already been captured, waiting for the rest to be brought down before heading deeper. It knew the more of them they captured the better, but how it wished it had been built with the ability to speak. Unfortunately only ones from the first 100,000 had been stationed at the enterance and it was odd because there was nothing there last time, yet that was definately a Tirekian temple. It would have to be destoryed as soon as the last one was brought down. It ignored the kick to it's leg as it place the female unicorn next to the others.
"... It's only a partual translation, but I'm sure the writing engraved on them is Shadhavaress. So far I've got bits and pieces of each one guarding us has their personal history etched into their metal, but Shadhavaress is more of Muad's specialty than mine." Daring Do told the Shim Sham Sisters. "I got the war against Grogar, Tambelon's disappearance, as well as some referance to a Tirekian cult sacrificing children to their dark god and the Clockmen putting a stop to it, but I'm having trouble with the part about 'The Curse Born Lord and The Dark Lady of Suffering. It seems to refer to them as being alive and dead at the same time and a love that will outlast the Sun, Moon, and Stars or kill the Sun, Moon, and Stars. Like I said, Shadhavaress is not an area I specialize in because I'm not a teenage girl dreaming about a dark immortal lover and there is so few real artifacts left behind by the Shadhavar."
"But I like 'The Fallen Knight' series." Sham pouted before adding, "Shimmy has the whole series as well as the 'Slendermare' novels and 'The Daemon King's Bride' series."
"Only the first Slendermare novel is a romance story based off the ideal that she was the mystery being in 'The Tragedy of Grogar'. The rest are horror and very gory and I told you to stay out of my books." Shim yelled at her sister."If you glued the pages of 'The Princess of Tartarus' with peanut butter, chocolate, or marshmellows before I could read it I'll be an only child soon."
"You can have my copy, but I should warn you, the guest author is a bit hung up on romance and the horrors of Tartarus and the Daemons seem to be a bit flat, Tirek is made to be less harsh and brutal, and Primrose is made to be less of a victim slowly winning the monster's heart and more of a kinky partner playing the role of a victim." Daring told her. "That's why I never let a guest author write my books. Sure, I might be a bit late, but the stories never suffered from having someone who got F's in history class and wanting to have the Clockmen fighting in the Thousand Year War."
"Why did they let a guest author write it then?" Shim asked as Flim and Flam were brought in.
"Marigold's tumor operation was a bit more difficult than they thought and her recovery took longer than they thought it would." Lightning Dust said. "But she has already started writing the next book, which explains everything in 'The Princess of Tartarus' was a dream and her heart was trying to show her the side of Tartarus she has already glimpsed in the other books. The guest author was in on it and even left clues to it in 'The Princess of Tartarus' just like Marigold planned before the operation."
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PONIES?" Ahuizotl Demanded as soon as he got loose from the ropes and pulled the gag out of his mouth. "WE'RE PRISONERS OF A CLOCKWORK ARMY, BEING DRAGGED WHO KNOWS WHERE, AND YOU'RE DISCUSSING ROMANCE NOVELS."
"Would you please raise your hands if you have been held prisoner by some one with a small army and dragged of to certain doom?" Daring Do asked and everyone of them raised their hands, inclueding the Clockmen guarding them. "And please keep them up if it has been more than once?" Every hand stayed up. "And more than a dozen times?" A few of the Clockmen lowered their hands. "And over 25 times?" all of the Clockmen had now lowered their hands. "And over 50 times?" Lightning Dust lowered her hand. "And over 100 times?" Shim and Sham lowered their hands. "And over 150 times?" Flim and Flam lowered their hands only leaving Daring Do with a raised hand, which she lowered before looking at Ahuizotl and saying, "My personal record is 239 times. Trust me, around the 6th or 7th time you learn to stop panicing and just distract yourself while waiting for something to happen. Flim and Flam critic everything happening around them and discuss inventions, their neice, and anything else that pops in their heads. Shim and Sham bicker like the sisters they are, critic the 'villains' lair, which we haven't reached yet, minions, who aren't the usual bunch of primatives who have yet to learn to bathe but an impressive army of mechanical wonders, and discuss books and their own inventions. Then there's my daughter, Lightning Dust, who either will do snide comments or just join in any conversation going on at the time. And then there's me and Maud, who try to work out any ancient language we see or compare either the current 'villain' to others we have dealt with or current books and compareing them to the original source material from legends their loosely based upon or we sometime just nap until we get to where ever we're being taken to. I don't know Starlight Glimmer or Sunburst very well to know what they do and Sunset Shimmer spends most of her time jumping from subject to subject depending on the make up of the group, while soaking up every detail about our surroundings, who has captured us, why, and what forces they have avalible at the time." Thinking about it she also added, "And we sometimes bet on who will be the last to be captured and how long it will take."
Ahuizotl just looked at all of them and shook his head, "You're all completely insane."
"Says the guy fixated with ancient artifacts of power from someone who, more often than not, was defeated. Instead you could just write books and live a nice comfy life by turning in those artifacts to Celestia for the finders fee or use the finders fee to buy legal protection and political power as a noble and rule over your usual band of savages as the lord of what ever armpit of Equus you set up shop in. Trust me, anyone that can tame a small piece of the Badlands will get Celestia's sealof approval." Daring pointed out to him.
"And a week later she has a new lawn ornament. Thanks, but no thanks." Ahuizotl sneered, "Besides, at least I'm not her lap dog. She says fetch and Daring Do is off on another adventure. So how much did she offer you to bring her the Clockmen Army?"
"Not a Tartarus damn thing. I'm here against the crowns wishes because you with a real army means alot of innocent people, not just ponies, will get hurt. You always go for artifacts that cause massive damage and kills alot of innocent people. If you want to take down her 'Imperial' majesty that's fine by me, but leave everyone else out of it." Daring stated, glaring at him. "Your type wants to end her rule, but you never think of all the people that will get hurt in the process. How many mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, friends, lovers, and innocent bystanders will you kill just to remove a tyrant clad in religion and peace? How many will be crippled and scarred by your quest for vengence? Will you feed the starving masses after you destroyed their farm lands? Will you shelter and clothe those who lost everything when 'Gods' clash? Will you care for the children you made orphane for some screwed up sense of justice? Tell me how you plan to fix everything after you destroy everything just to get to her? Do you have a grand plan for the day after you beat her? A week? A month? Years and centuries after you defeated her? Tell me 'Godling', DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO STEP UP TO BECOME A MAJOR GOD? TO WIELD NOT JUST THE POWERS OF A MINOR,LOCAL SPIRIT OF A FEW BACKWATERS SAVAGES, BUT THE VERY POWERS OF THE COSMOS? TO WIELD POWERS THAT DOSEN'T JUST EFFECT A FEW LOCALS, BUT SPELLS THE VERY DEATH AND DESTRUCTION OR LIFE AND SALVATION OF BILLIONS YET TO EVEN BE BORN?" Daring was out of her seat being restrained by several Clockmen, who were trying not to hurt her, as she screamed at him, "ARE YOU READY FOR SUCH A RESPONSIBILITY? OR DO YOU PLAN TO LEAVE THE WORLD IN A STATE OF CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION?" Ahuizotl flinched as she demanded, "TELL ME, OH MIGHTY GOD OF NOTHING, CAN YOU BECOME THE GOD THIS WORLD NEEDS? CAN YOU RAISE THE SUN AND MOON FOR THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF YEARS FAITHFULLY? CAN YOU GUIDE THE COURSE OF HISTORY AND FATE WITH OUT FAIL? CAN YOU HOLD BACK NOT ONLY THE FORCES OF TARTARUS, BUT THOSE THINGS HIDDING IN THE CRACKS OF REALITY, JUST WAITING FOR A CHANCE TO DEVOUR ALL OF US PATHETIC MORTALS SOULS AND LEAVE THIS WORLD A BROKEN WASTELAND OF DEATH? TELL ME AHUIZOTL?" With that she broke free long enough to slam him back into a Clockmen as she pounded on him, "TELL ME? TELL ME? TELL ME?" Finally they pulled her back and held her down, finally not caring if they hurt her.
Ahuizotl looked at her in shock, normally she was just glaring at him as either a disappointed mother or a put upon teenager look, but this time he saw death in her eyes. He saw she would kill him if he wasn't immortal and for once she actually scared him. It was a look that screamed not just death, but hatred for him and every other God out there. It was also the type of hate that only pain could bring, pain so deep it tore at the very heart and soul of the person feeling it. Normally he never thought about what her life was like when she wasn't interupting his, but there was only one type of pain that could do this. "Daring, what happened to Lightning Dust's father?"
The very scream she let out would have sent Tirek himself fleeing. From somewhere deep inside a new strength surged thru her as she dragged the Clockmen with her. She didn't even feel the searing pain as her wings gave way or the blood pouring down her back as her hand clamped around his throat with inhuman strength. "DoN't YoU dARe TaLk Of HiM!!!" she hissed as her eyes flashed with an unholy black light, as if something had crawled inside of her once and left a taint of something unspeakable. "DoN't YoU eVeR sPeAk Of HiM aGaIn Or I'lL teAr OuT yOuR hEaRt! It WaS sUpPoSe To Be YoU wAiTiNg FoR mE! nOt ThAt ThInG! It WaS sUpPoSe To Be YoU i FaCeD iN tHeRe! NoT sOmEtHiNg ThAt UsEd mE lIkE pUpPeT! NoT sOmEtHiNg ThAt RaPeD mY SoUl, mInD, aNd BoDy fOr 300 WhOle YeArS iN a PlAcE wHeRe TiMe WaS bRoKeN! It WaS sUpPoSe To Be YoU! nOt SoMeThInG tHaT bReEd Me LiKe CatTle! FoRcInG mE tO BiRtH hOrRoR aFtEr HoRrOr! It OnLy LeT mE gO wHeN mY lItTlE lIgHtNiNg DuSt CaMe OuT nOrMal! sO nEvEr SpEaK oF hIm AgAiN bEcAuSe YoU wErEn'T ThErE for me the one time I needed you." Sobbing, she let go of his neck and clung to him. "You weren't there to annoy me and banter with me. You weren't there to flirt and make dumb threats before putting me in an easy to escape trap." Ahuizotl wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed, floating her wings over and healing them with his powers. "You were always there before, making it fun to be an adventurer, but this time it wasn't you Celestia sent me to stop. She said it was you, but it wasn't. No tribe of savages. No ancient temple in a jungle. No you. Just desert, a cave leading to a ruin, and him." Sobbing harder she buried her face in his neck. "She gave me to him as the price for not leaving his ruins for another 10,000 years. He broke me in so many ways, but it was the day he let me go that broke the one thing that kept me going, faith that you would be there for me. That you would find out and come for me and hold me like you did when my parents died. You always came, but this time you didn't and it broke me."
"I never knew, kitten, but I should have." Ahuizotl said in a soft and gentle voice as he cursed himself for forgetting the price of a mortal adventurer's life. For forgetting the darker things out there and preparing her better for them. For being so young for a God and that his mere 500 years was nothing compared to beings who measure their life in eons. He should have taken her as a bride years ago, then even Celestia would have thought twice about sending her. She might not respect much of the old ways, but even Celestia respected the rule about harming mortal lovers.
The rest of them all looked else where, except Lightning Dust who watched them. "I could have been your daughter." Was all she said, already knowing about her father.
"True, but that doesn't mean I can't do the right thing this time around." He stated before kissing the top of Daring's head. "I won't let you down again and Celestia won't send you into harms way ever again." He held her closer as she relaxed into his arms and fell asleep, knowing she was safe.
Occultus civitate Vapor est , anni , et terrorem. (Part 2)
Occultus civitate Vapor est , anni , et terrorem. (Part 2)
"I think she's coming to." a voice said as Maud started to wake up. "What did they hit her with?"
"Mostly themselves and half the temple until one finally was able to choke her out while the rest dog piled her to hold her limbs down." Starlight Glimmer said as muad tried to open her eyes. "After that, the rest of us went down pretty quickly. They dog piled me and grabbed Sunburst when he tried to save me and Sunset just surrendered after they cornered her several times and wore her out by forcing her to teleport so much just to try to stay free. Does anyone know why Muad has a rock in her pocket?"
Maud's eyes finally snapped open as she sat up, reaching into her pocket for Boulder and finding him there. "Told you she would snap out of it if she thought Boulder was in trouble." Sunburst said as he wrote in one of his journals, trying to get down every detail about the train in front of them leading into a darkened gigantic cavern. He could just imagine this thing in a grand train station.
He watched as Flim and Flam started to get up and protest when their self-propelled wagon was carried down and put onto the train by three of the Clockmen, but one of the Clockmen guarding them grabbed them both and forced them to sit back down. After that no one tried to protest when more of their things were brought down, including Maud's, Daring's, and Ahuizotl's camps. "Okay, I have to ask why do you have a Antique Chineighs Rosewood Opium Bed Ahuizotl?" Starlight Glimmer asked as everyone else looked at her in surprise. "What? I happen to like Antique Chineighs Furniture."
"Celestia has made it difficult to keep a house for very long. So anything I collect while looking for a more permanent home has to come with me or stay behind to be sold or destroyed when things don't exactly work out." Ahuizotl said as he snapped his fingers on his tail and the bed burst into blue flames the color of his fur and reappeared next to the Clockmen who had been carrying it. "At least until I learned summoning, which I used the opium bed as a test summons. It's compact, enclosed style it is in made it a good camping bed until I'm ready to try to set up something more permanent."
"Wait, you have God powers, why not just smash your way out of here and take us with you?" Starlight asked.
"Minor or local Gods are often easily vulnerable to and can be overpowered by certain elements like earth, wind, fire, water, metals, stone, wood, magic, certain animal types, lightning, or combination elements." Sunburst explained as he watched the Clockmen pick the bed up again and carry it into the train. "Given that the file on Ahuizotl places him around 500 years old, he's actually very young for a God and hasn't discovered his full power, he is still vulnerable until he does. Then he moves into being a regional God and there he'll be repealed by prayers, singings, chanting, or playing of musical instruments in honor of a more powerful God, like Celestia. It's only when he becomes a major God will he only have to worry about another God, since that will be the only thing that can kill him, like Discord or Celestia herself or a Demi-God empowered by a major God, like the Archangels."
"Okay, how do you know so much?" Ahuizotl asked.
"Former royal librarian in charge of the black archives means unlimited access to it and lots of free time on my hands between visitors." Sunburst told him. "Do you really think I didn't read anything I was responsible for? I might not be as powerful as Sunset and Starlight, but I make up for it with knowledge from some of the darkest tomes you can imagine. Need to know how to raise a love one from the dead or how to lay them to rest? How to build Diamond Dog Steam Bombs that can break mountains or how to disable them? Need to know how to summon daemons from Tartarus or how to send them back?" Sunburst then tapped the side of his head with a finger, "Then I'm your stallion. I can even tell you how to bypass the limits of being a minor God and go straight to being a major God, but the downside is you'll be a magic beacon for every other God out there for several days and that will be long enough for Celestia to find you. Unless you're crazy enough to release every God she has imprisoned at once and hide in the ensuing chaos."
"Yeah right and what good would that do?" Lightning Dust asked.
"Throw a major monkey wrench in her plans, unleash a lot of her enemies at once, put a huge crack in her armor, destroy the public's confidence in her, create so much chaos she won't have time to look for us, and give us a better fighting chance." Sunset said.
Lightning Dust had been about to say something when Maud began reading the Armor of the closest clockmen guarding her out loud, "'And I looked and beheld as the last of their kind clashed in the last battle of a vicious war that had consumed all of the rest of their kind. I wept for the fall of the once mighty cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, fallen not in the rage of a wrathful God or to a powerful enemy, but to love turned to hate as husband fought wife, child fought parent, and brother fought sister. So mighty was the rage that consumed all that none fled the battle until all but two children of the once might Shadhavar remained. I wept for the tiny babes as they cried in the broken cities, but not with tears of sorrow, but of joy, for fate had smiled upon them that day. For so mighty was the sound of the war that the Gods themselves came to bear witness to the destruction. There in the rubble of Sodom the boy was found and named by Pony Goddess Princess Celestia after her long dead friend Starswirl the Bearded. And in the rubble of Gomorrah the girl was found and named by the Griffin Goddess Arden and named after the legendary hero who closed the gates of Tartarus and ended the Daemon Wars, Pandora. The two children never knowing of the other, were taken to be raised by the Goddesses. Starswirl grew to maturity, sharp of mind and wise beyond his years, he was raised in secret and trained in the arts forbidden to all other, crafted into the finest mage and craftsman in Equestria. Pandora also grew to maturity amongst her many Griffon brothers and sisters, cunning of mind and with a brutal practicality, she was forged in the fires of many border skirmishes and weathered by long years of training into the finest warrior of the Griffon Empire.' It then goes on about various things they did or this particular Clockmen has done before picking back up about how they met, fell in love, and combined their talents to build the Clockmen with his knowledge and her military training and fighting style. It also talks of them drinking from the fountain of eternity, making them immortal, and earning the titles of The Curse Born Lord and The Dark Lady of Suffering. It seems this Starswirl the Bearded might have found out what caused Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy themselves and imprisoned it in himself and can use it as a weapon. There is also bit about how her wielding 'The Blade of Suffering Reaper' that grants her the ability to kill anything including Gods, but at the price of suffering unspeakable pain and agony while siphoning their life force into her." Turning back to them she then said, "They're also in a death like slumber in a city of gears and steam hidden in a place where even the Diamond Dogs will not dig. As for why we were captured, they can only be reawakened by a mortal who can translate the riddles inscribed upon their tomb."
"So they just grab the first group of people they find and hope for the best?" Lightning Dust asked.
"They might not be as stupid as you think." Shim said as she watched the last of their stuff be loaded aboard the train. "Consider the fact that we freed them stone and reactivated them means it's safe to assume either Celestia sent us or that we are smart enough to figure it out." She watched as the Clockmen seemed to debate with sign language, pointing towards Ahuizotl several times during the exchange. "And given the makeup of our group, they might not be that far off." Finally they seemed to figure out what to do and joined the ones guarding them and began herding them onto the first car.
"Okay, I'm impressed!" Starlight said as they enter the lavished first floor of the car.
"The space is warped in a way that makes it bigger on the inside. Don't be surprised if there is a whole mansion in the first car." Ahuizotl mentioned as they looked around.
"I would say it was Platinum's Peculiar Castle spell, but there is none of the tell tale signs of our colors fading a little or the shimmering effects often seen when it is used." Sunburst said as he looked around.
"The spell would have faded by now if it was." Sunset said as she ran her fingers along the back of a chair, feeling how plush it was. "This is high level enchantment."
"Well I can't remember how many times you told us how powerful Starswirl was." Flam pointed out as he opened a book and frowned at the strange looping and twisting lines that made up the text.
"Besides, wouldn't the Petrification spell protect the spell." Flim asked as he opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of scotch and gave it a sniff and a drink, just to make sure it was good.
"Warping space like this makes it immune to regular space's rules. Sure the train was covered in stone, but in here was protected by it's own rules. Even time is warped in here, frozen until a room is in use." Sunset told him. "That scotch would have gone bad by now if it wasn't, but we might want to be careful about checking what we eat in here."
"Why? You said it should still be good." Sham asked as she looked through another cabinet and came up with a funny brown strip of something that smell like spices and salt.
"Because you're holding a piece of meat jerky." Daring said as she walked past her and sifted through the snacks in the cabinet and handed her a bag of peanuts in the shell and putting the Jerky back. "Shadhavars might have looked like a strange unicorn, but they were omnivores who leaned heavily towards the carnivore side. That's where the rumors about dark rituals and vampirism came from. That and the fact that many of the Shadhavar nobles believed drinking the blood of their kills they personally hunted down made them stronger, more virile and lustful, and lived longer."
"There is also the fact that Countess Carmilla and Count Dracula were both based off of real Shadhavar nobles who took it even further by hunting their fellow Shadhavars." Maud said as she sat down in one of the chairs. "The real life Countess bathed in the blood of her victims after she tortured them to death and her husband the Count enjoyed drinking his victims blood from an open vain while raping them."
Then they heard a bell ring out before the room gave a little lurch. Looking around, Sunset realized the room they were in didn't have any windows and walked to the nearest doorway to find it lead upwards. Following it she came out onto an observation deck and watched as the huge lights on the sides and front lighted up the cavern they were in as the train picked up speed. Then the ground fell away as they crossed an underground lake as they traveled on a very long and very tall bridge made of stone and steel. Below them she saw shapes moving in the water and gasped when she saw a huge glowing squid attacking something and realized it wasn’t a lake, but an entire sea filled with life that had never even seen the sun. Then she looked up and saw millions of pinpoints of light. For a moment she just stared in wonder as she realized it was those glowing crystals. It was beautiful, an entire underground sea with an eternal starry night sky.
As she watched, an island emerged from the darkness and she saw the fungus jungle on it with a tiny fishing village inhabited by the spiders they had fought. Many were just looking up at them as they passed and she thought she heard something like a cheer coming from them as they passed back into darkness. Then she noticed movement next to the train and watched a flock of large moths with beaks flying next to the train before scattering as a giant bat swooped down and snatched one out of the sky. All around her she now noticed the explosion of life. There were more islands, some with huge pillar like glowing crystals and farms and cities. She watched spiders herding beetles and centipedes. She saw scorpions hunting in packs, chasing a giant molerat through the fungus and finally taking it down. All that and much much more as they speed along.
As they traveled on into the eternal night she saw ancient cities crumbling into the sea and old monuments to ancient creatures alien and long dead pass them by. There was something mournful about the giant statue of a female centaur looking onwards in defiance with her head and spear held high, never yielding. To think that an entire race could fall so far as to be banished to Tartarus. Down to the very last man and woman went, not even the children were spared banishment. She didn’t even know what had caused the 5th and final Daemon war, but the centaurs were banished to Tartarus at the end of it and swearing terrible vengeance for what they saw as a betrayal. She realized what the translation meant that Maud had told them, even after all this time the diamond dogs would never dare to dig in the centaurs territory. In a way it made sense to hide something down here because almost every other creature in equestria knew better than to dig where diamond dogs wouldn’t dig.
As she watched another statue passed them, a large impressive looking statue of Discord upon a throne. It’s eyes seemed to follow her as they passed and she could have sworn the wind of their passage sounded like laughter for a moment. She almost decided to just go back inside, then she saw light ahead and watched as a crack above revealed the sunlight drenched island floating in the air that was covered in real trees and plants as they approach it. Looking up further, she saw that part of the cavern had caved in onto a ledge as thin waterfalls spilled over its side and allowed the shaft of light. She didn’t even hear the others as they walked out onto the observation deck, but smiled at them when Flam placed his hand on her shoulder. They watched as the little piece of the world they knew passed over head and then faded behind them.
No one spoke as the train continued on, just watching as it passed a Volcano inhabited by what looked like beings made of lava and fire. They all watched in wonder at a city whose streets were made of molten lava passed them, a few inhabitants close enough to be seen waving and they all found themselves waving back. Still the train moved onwards through the eternal night of the underground. Then they saw the far shore approaching and there was something a bit sad about the approaching end of their journey. It was as if something magical was coming to an end and they just didn’t want to let it go just yet, but as the train got closer they felt it slowing and soon they were in a city like they had never seen before. But what really got them was the silence, a city like this should be filled with noise, yet all they heard was the train and it’s echos. Finally it was Maud who pointed out what was wrong. “Shouldn’t the petrification spell have been lifted when we woke up the Clockmen?” “Normally yes, but I think this was cast by someone else.” Sunburst said. “Celestia prefers to use marble in her petrification spell and this is all granate.” He added as he looked to Sunset who nodded in agreement. “So who want's to be first to leave the train and enter the creepy city frozen in stone?” Ahuizotl asked. As they all stared out at the city and its felt a chill go up their spines.
. There will be non-descriptive nudity and no sex in this chapter (perverts). This chapter only exists for the one faction that blissfully doesn't realize they are a faction. - ChAoS pOnY.
