private Magic and Tombs: Star Crossed Lovers

[HigurSan 195]

Link to OOC Topic: http://mlpforums.com/topic/39510-tombs-and-magic-star-crossed-lovers-mature/

"A glimpse of the past, a shard of what was once a dream but is now a nightmare."

 

 

History Intro: Batlle's Beginning

 

“Their banners will be visible over the ridgeline within the minute Madam,” a gentle prodding voice reminded her, pulling her from her daydreams. Azure Dawn raised her muzzle just far enough so that she could see above the windowsill. As far as she could see, a wind-swept snowy plain dominated the landscape all the way to the cliffs she now resided in. Looking over to her right, she saw Malcolm, her ever-faithful companion. Whatever species he had once been, he was now unlike any other being in the world. Maybe he had once been a stallion; he certainly had the stature and well mannered tone of voice. But his face was that of a wolf’s, all fangs and soft fur. Where there should have been hooves there were gryphon feet. He even sprouted a tail like a lizard and sported bat-wings to boot.

 

 

Perhaps alone amongst all the people she had met, Malcolm was her only friend. Even her beloved Shining Noon could never be her friend, as she always wanted him to be so much more than that. She knew Malcolm loved her and desired her, as did all the others. However, amongst them all he held a virtue that she felt was more important than bravery or kindness: Modesty. He had stood by her through thick and thin, always thinking of her well being rather than his own ambitions to have her affection. They both knew that Azure Dawn could never be with an abomination like Malcolm but they did not care in the least. They were both perfectly happy to eternally play their roles as Princess and Butler.

 

 

A gentle nudge from one of his talons directed her attention back to the plain. Malcolm’s presence might have been the greatest comfort she could obtain, but still the hordes amassing before her made her stomach weak. To the west, a solid sea of all sentient beings the planet could muster began its dreadful and inevitable progress forward. Ranging from buffalo to even the griffons Malcolm resembled, the only thing holding them together was a mutual hatred of the other suitors. From the east she could see the marching phalanxes of earth ponies grind the snow beneath their hooves like a terrible machine. Even compared to these two fearsome sights, the one that came from the south was truly horrific.

 

 

They had once been ponies, earth, pegasi, and unicorn. Now they were that only in name, a relentless wall of mindless husks in service to the sun. Their illuminated eyes brightened the landscape, nearly blinding Azure Dawn when she looked directly at them. The pegasi flocks were already beginning to descend from their patrol patterns, preparing for the final onslaught. She knew that the Moon’s forces would be out there, somewhere. How the primal forces had come about their agreement was unknown, but the two combined could easily outmatch the other two armies combined.

 

 

A small trickle of dust alerted her to movement on the defenses erected above her. She could not see through the ceiling of rock, but she knew what was happening. Above her, right in the middle of the defensive lines, would be standing the only pony she could ever love: Shining Noon. His army of noble pegasi had been the first to arrive by far, not being limited by the restrictions of land. They had unicorns with them, only enough to provide medical aid, trusted allies that would stand by Shining Noon to the very last. They all knew that chances of success were hanging around none. The best most of them hoped was that they would be able to stop this war once and for all, for good or bad. A faint rumble in the distance announced the end’s beginning, and she turned to face her destiny.

 

 

Roleplay Start

 

Location: Expidition Camp Outside Main Ruins

 

 

Sand ruffled his wings so that his cloak settled further up on his neck. The night was cold and just as lonely as he had thought it would be. A desire to be outside had seemed perfectly alright when he was still inside his sizable and well lit tent. Now the blasting winds and chilly ice made him wish he had gone back to sleep. It never seemed to be day-time here. The closest he had seen it get was a bright kind of twilight. Hopefully the sun would rise further during summertime. That was, if the expedition continued to stay all spring. The journey had started out well enough, with pleasent weather and agreeable temperatures. But as they had climbed higher up the slopes, it gradually became colder.

 

 

It wasn't like you could freeze to death out here unless you did something drastically stupid. But the wind never stopped blowing outside, ceaselessly howling. That, the darkness, and the thousands of broken statues made the whole place unbearably creepy at late night. The statues themselves seemed to have no order or coherency. Every once in a while a pocket of similar figures would stand together, generally headed to the same direction. But the vast majority was a confusing mass of stone sculptures ravaged by time. Just yesterday he had finished excavating a buffalo. How the creature had got up here was uncertain, but Sand had no doubt that there were many more.

 

 

What was disturbing is that all the statues were seemingly paused midaction. In some places it appeared that statues in the semblance of pegasi had simply dropped out of the sky to be dashed on the rocks and other statues below. Dotted around the landscape, great scars that even the ice could not fill were gouged out at random, looking for all the world like the sites of giant explosions. But certainly this could not have been a battlefeild. Nothing in recorded history even hinted at such a large scale thing taking place. The ruins in the midde of the plain dominated the entire scene. As of yet, the expiditon had been unable to find a large enough entrance to explore, but it was only a matter of time.

[NinjaCPU 270]

Chaos, chaos is everywhere in this expedition. There is no cognitive reason in why to see all of this. It make everything turn into...a mystery. One that I thought wouldn't happen between the depth inside here. Why I thought otherwise is something foolish of me. I, Carrick Murphy would be curious into what unfolds on these....statues. Statues of different ponies, each and every one of them in different facial expressions, stances, motions, actions, everything about most of them had some difference in a way. Now-

 

Carrick thought was interrupted by the cold wind chills. The wind rattled the blue tent that rattled the tent, as it fluttered around. The blue tint of the tent, didn't covered most of the area, as he could still see the stars that Princess Luna had bought out, just like every other day. The weather has been rather uncomfortable if you don't have the right equipment. With only a trench coat and a hat to covered him. He was cold most nights. Today was no better, as the wind was malevolent against him. 

 

However, the cold helped him stay awake. The time needed to read over his notes. The notes he had wrote down recently since they continued to find statues of various ponies, buffalo and other sentient creatures here. There weren't as many notes as before, just a few details here and there about the expression, and condition of each statue. Carrick had several numbers written down. The number system was simplistic. To not confuse himself when he needed to inspect them. He had finished reading his notes and placed them in his trench coat's pocket. He wrapped the coat around him, to warm himself of the chills.

 

This isn't like any type of investigation I do. I'm a detective, not a scholar. Carrick looked up to see the glare of the moonlight into his brown eyes, Still, all of this mishap has been rather intriguing to say the least. Hopefully, something will come out of this soon. Carrick glanced back at his notes, There wasn't any recorded history of something like this. From the expression of their faces, this was some type of conflict. A battle, history...

 

Carrick echoed that word in his mind, even with the magnitude amount of statues, none of this conflict was recorded. History can't always be right. Who knows what happen...Carrick placed his fedora under his eyes. Some shut-eye would relax his mind and maybe find a connection. After all, he is Carrick Murphy, Detective. 

[The-Master 1,176]

Where was that blasted tome? Star Keeper had spent most of the cold afternoon searching for it and had turned up fruitless. The shelves pf his study were littered with old books and scrolls that seemed to have no apparent categorization. In truth it was organised chaos, and that was how he operated. But now he was becoming irritated, still searching across the rows for that blasted book. The search was abruptly interrupted by the clanking of metal and the appearance of a castle guard."Come to check to see if I'm still working?""Actually it's a bit more serious than that. You must come with us."

 

Star Keeper woke to the unexpected chill of the wind, recoiling from it's bitterness. The canvas overhead did little to shield him from the elements. Normally Star Keeper would have been contempt to simply face the weather with naught but his old scarf, but this weather was relentless. He was not ashamed to say he had wrapped himself in multiple blankets to stave of freezing to death. His mind always seemed to fall back to that day, nearly a month ago, when he had been called to undertake this expedition  No small feat, especially for the least adventurous pony in all Equestria. But he had been swayed, and here he was, out of his comfort zone and miles from home. What use did they have for a historian, yes the topic fascinated him, but field work was another level entirely. He pulled in the covers tightly and thought of home, his little house in Ponyville, the one Dash  seemed to always collide with. He chuckled at the memory.

Edited November 28, 2012 by The-Master

[Bari 7,023]

The trip up the mountain had been rather uneventful. Lapis Lazuli had remained silent, while Asteria resisted the urge to ask every single question that happened to come to her mind. Eventually, the filly had tired herself out, and Lapis was forced to carry her the last leg of the journey. It wasn't that bad a thing, since they'd kept each other warm when things had gotten cold.

 

---

 

In the tent he shared with his assistant, Lapis thought back to how the pair had ended up on this expedition. They'd just returned from the royal library after locating another set of ruins. It was a different one from the one they were currently located at of course. But, on the way back to their hotel, they had been approached directly with an offer to investigate Mt. Highhorn. Mysterious things were said to be found atop its lofty peak. Lapis couldn't say no to something like that. Without further to do, Lapis made the preparations and joined up with the others at the base of the mountain weeks later.

 

On her side of the tent, Asteria shifted uncomfortably in her sleeping bag. The cold was reaching her despite the fact that the entrance flap was secured in place. Lapis frown slightly, but chose to sleep instead of worry further. Tomorrow was another day, and that meant more excavations. Hopefully, they'd find something other than curious statues.

[HigurSan 195]

"This shard would glimmer in the light, ready to dance. But soon it would take to flight, a fleeting hope without a chance."

 

History Continuation: Battle's Peak

 

Whatever organization once might have existed between the wild tribes of buffalo, griffin, and other species had long since disentigrated. The sky was darkened with descending feaths, blood, and bodies as anything that had wings sought its own supremacy. On the churned ground it was no different, rampaging monstrosities lumbered through the chaos like boulders rolling down a hill. Thus far, the Earth Empire's Phalanx's had held, but they were taking hits from all sides due to their lack of air power. Right in the middle of the melee, the unending lines of shining eyes ground forward, crushing anything in their way under their unfeeling hooves. Where one of those ponies fell, two would rise to take their place. Those that fell against them were turned... into abominations. As the ranks passed by, their bodies would be reanimated by the light, forcing them to fight their own friends long after they had expired.

 

Azure Dawn could no longer watch the battle with her own sight. The outside defenses had long since crumbled into scattered boulders, forcing her and hey bodyguard to withdraw into the depths of Mt. Highhorn. Fleeting glimpses were given to her whenever her pair of attendant unicorns could spare the magic, being deeply involved in securing the area around her. What she saw made her gut clench until it was a small ball of tension. Many pegasi had fallen of her brave Noon'sown forces, brought down beneath the press of bodies in earth and sky. Shining Noon himself had himself taken a variety of lesser wounds, not fatal, but they slowed him down. To them, it seemed inevitable that they would fail. The Sun and Moon had not even taken the feild yet and it already looked hopeless.

 

Then, in a flash of twilight, they were there. Towering above their own underlings like a bear next to a fox, they eyes seemed to peirce through the darkness like beacons. One flick of the Sun's horn broke the chaos in front of her, pushing bodies out of the way with waves of magic. As the path opened up, unliving ponies rushed forward, seeking only to claim the prize for their masters. Throughout the battle, shades seeming to be made of only darkness leapt from the snow, consuming anything they touched. If their had been chaos before, anarchy ensued. The skies were cleared around them, sending a ran of bodyparts flying in all directions. As the Celestial Bodies began to move forward, the ground quaked with their passing, splitting great gouges in the face of the mountain.

 

The view refocused to Shining Noon, joined now by  suprising companions. Great Bighorn of the Buffalo clans, Skylaura of the Gryphon Wings, Morlabin of the Zebra tribes, and Emperor Earth Moulder of the Earth Empire. In the face of imminent doom, it appeared differences had been set aside. Better to die together than waste blood fighting a war they could never hope to win. Though their forces were now joined, it was far to late. More and more death rained from the sky, cratering the entire landscape. From the heavens appeared a mighty comet, blanketing the area in the first light it had ever seen. This was no longer a battle, this was a slaughter. The leaders looked to Shining Noon, hoping against hope he had something he could do.

 

The Alicorn, resigned to his fate, raised his horn one last time to the heavens. Though no eyes would live to see what happened, it went thus. Shining Noon put every last fiber of his being into the spell, crystallising his body and scattering it so far that shards flew past Canterlot and far beyond. All present were instantly consumed by the spell, their own souls devoured to power the magic. Outward drove a sphere of sizzling essence, instantly turning every living thing into stone. Those that remained in the sky plummeted to the ground, shattering against the earth and other victims. The comet in the sky vanished, displaced out of time. The Sun and Moon fled with all their might, as did other powerful magic users. Not all of them suceeded. The Sun and Moon were forever scarred, something broken inside. Azure Dawn and Malcom succumbed last, watching in horror as the silence began. There they sat in two stone chairs, deep inside the mountain. Before another breath was drawn, they too were only stone, trapped seemingly for eternity.

 

Roleplay Continuation

 

Sand returned into his own tent, consulting the notes and maps he had drawn. Only a quarter of the ruins visible on the surface had even been plotted out. Most looked like walls, or perhaps towers. All had been toppled over until not one stone remained on top of the other. A bit further in, structures with more integrity arose, hollowed out spaces that might have been enclosed once. But all of these led no further inside. Only a few possible entrances remained to be checked, but the time required to move the debris was unbearable. Sighing, he marked the next possible entrance to be cleared, a small unassuming indent like dozens of others around it. A quick burst of magic wrote identical notes and sent them to everyone in the expidition. This would inform them of where he had gone and what he intended to do: Clear the exit.

 

This time he suited himself up, boots, leggins, a cloak, scarf, and thick hat. Exiting his tent, he began the ponderous trek to the ruins. The camp itself wasn't far away from the ruins proper, but the snow and ice wisps made travel difficult. Thankfully, none of the wisps appeared. Approacching the exit, he settled into meditation, channeling his energy so that he could shift the rocks quickly and quietly. One by one they stacked to the side, forming a small pyramid. When his eyes opened again, he could not believe it. Before him sat a perfect square passage, leading so far inside the darkness denied his vision. Though he was so excited he could have galloped back to camp, he mastered himself and carefully trekked back. Once there, a flurry of notes were written and hasty messages sent to everyone multiple times. A passage had been found, everyone was to assemble in the meeting dugout in two hours, prepared for going inside.

[Bari 7,023]

As Lapis began to lose consciousness, his tent was filled with a flurry of notes. Sitting up stock straight, he looked through the papers. Each one was marked with the exact same message. "A passage had been found, everyone was to assemble in the meeting dugout in two hours, prepared for going inside."

 

Not wasting any time, he shook Asteria gently awake. She murmured something strange, so she was most likely still dreaming. Lapis shook her harder, and this time she groggily sat up. "What is it Lapis? Is it timber wolves?" she asked as she rubbed out the tiredness from her eyes.

 

Lapis chuckled softly. The little filly thought there'd be timber wolves on a mountain. "No my dear assistant, it is time to start exploring. Out friend Sand Ironhoof seems to have found a way into the ruins. In two hours, we need to go to the meeting dugout to prepare ourselves."

 

The purple unicorn nodded sleepily. "Well, if that's the case, why did ya wake me up? Can't I sleep for another hour or two?" Lapis thought it over and replied sagely, "It's best to be ready. I'll gather up our gear. You may sleep if you wish."

 

Asteria drifted back to sleep as Lapis went around their small tent putting notepads and other research equipment into their saddlebags. Lapis sat back onto his sleep bag and started reading.

 

 

Two hours had passed rather uneventfully. During that time, Lapis Lazuli had mostly stared off into space, thinking about what could be found deep down in the mountain ruins. He shifted over to Asteria, gave her a gentle tap, and placed her saddlebag down next to her. She awoke and lifted it up on to her back.

 

The scholarly duo exited the tent they shared and made their way to the meeting dugout in silence.