Antediluvixen
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Inb4 Eldritch.
Hey guys I posted a thing.
Get hype.
Get hype.
Alice’s head whipped around towards the sound, and by extension the girl connected to it. “The hell?” she asked incredulously, stepping from the wall and looking over at the girl. “... who are you?” she asked, guard up – if not visibly.
Celica blinked and looked at the girl. She looked young, maybe family from another student, come to visit, or perhaps one of the incoming Shifters who had been brought in this year. Fresh out of high school seemed likely. She frowned briefly at the coloration of her hair. There was a certain stigma to dyeing one’s hair that color, for good reason.
“Hey,” she called, getting up and approaching the girl. “Are you alright?”
Suddenly hearing the voices of the two girls made Mana surprised. She didn’t think she made that much noise falling down. Moving to stand up, she dusted herself a bit “I’m fine, thanks for asking. And people call me Mana. Or well, people would call me Mana if I knew more people around.” She said and then realised that she was talking to the two people she was previously following.
“Sorry if I interrupted your conversation or something, but I couldn’t help overhearing what you said about the different types of bullets for regular guns. Being a techno geek, I found it interesting. How can you make different types of bullets, if I can be rude and just plainly ask?” Mana said, hoping that they won’t decide she is too rude and then just leave her.
“Well, if you were to ask me I’d mainly have an answer for non-magical bullets, because apparently nobody thinks I’m smart enough to understand magic or any of the arcane. Celica might know a bit more,” Alice responded, motioning towards Celica, “and could I ask what you mean by ‘techno geek’? Either you’re a geek about techno music or you obsess over technology which appears to be well on its way to be supplanted by magic that nobody bothers explaining to me.”
“Probably the second,” she quipped, before turning to the girl with a half-smile. “Don’t mind Alice too much, she’s just sour.”
Alice glared at her, “I am the sapient equivalent of those sour candies that make you incapable of tasting anything for a week. I am lemons on steroids and LSD. I am the walking epitome of sour, mortal.” she shrugged, “Which does nothing to improve my standing with people, I suppose.”
Celica blinked, then nodded slowly. “That was a joke.”
“I did mean the second. And I’m not just interested in technologies that are supplanted by magic, but in general. Show me a piece of technology, and I’ll be curious.” Mana said to both girls before moving her sights between the two “So it’s Alice and Celica. Nice to meet the two of you.” She said and then turned to look at Celica “So you can make Magical bullets, huh?” She asked in a curious tone.
“Uh…” Celica hesitated at Mana’s expectant look. “Well, yes.” She looked around, frowning at their surroundings, the fingers of one hand idly drumming against the side of one of the holsters at her belt. “I’d rather not make a demonstration here, though.”
“Shockingly, people tend not to like it if you put a bunch of holes in the walls and basically freeze everything moving until they can get somebody who knows magic to undo it in a way that doesn’t involve the other extreme or waiting for several hours.” Alice interjected with a mock scholarly tone.
At first Mana didn’t quite understand what Celica meant, but when she heard what Alice said “Ah. I’m sorry if I hadn’t been a bit clearer, but I didn’t expect a demonstration here. Of course that wouldn’t make any sense to do. But I was hoping for an explanation on how its possible, or how, in theory, do you do it. But if its hard for you to explain I’ll understand too.” She said and then felt a vibration in her bag.
Taking out her phone, she saw there was only a couple of minutes before her train arrives “Uhm… Which train are you two taking? Because I’m headed to the dorms, and I’d like to keep talking to you two.” Mana asked.
“Dorms.” Alice responded, “Waiting for the train.”
Celica gave a pained smile. “I guess I don’t have an excuse not to explain, do I?” She shook her head, shifting her weight. “It is hard to explain, though. I don’t think I could teach someone else how to do it unless we had the same compatibility. Shifter magic rarely works the same for all of us.”
“I see. I didn’t expect that I could do the same thing exactly or something, but I had another thought, though with what you just said, I guess that thought is also pointless now.” Mana said and let out a small sigh while looking in the direction of where the train was supposed to come from.
“I’m sorry. Magic comes almost instinctually at times, you know? It’s partly why Alice is so sour,” she teased. She followed Mana’s gaze, noticing a shape starting to move closer. Realizing the tram was nearly there, She tilted her head towards the tracks, motioning for them walk with her. “I suppose – if I were to give the most barebones explanation I can think of – is that I can give an object an… an intention, let’s say, and the magic it needs to carry it out.” Celica shook her head, clearly unsatisfied with what little she could get across, but quickly turned to smile at Mana. “What year are you? Most of the new students don’t really care about conventional firearms when they can be shooting lightning out of their fingers and torching things on their own.”
Alice interjected again, mumbling this time, “Because most people can’t comprehend the magnificence of a finely crafted revolver.”
“Now I know what to get you on your birthday.”
“I have several guns at home, I just can’t get permission to ship any out here yet.” Alice grumbled in reply, pulling a phone that looked more akin to ballistic plating from one of the many pockets on her jacket, checking something before sliding it back into the pocket.
Hearing Celica’s explanation, Mana nodded, and was about to say something when she heard her question. So she thought she was a first year just because of her appearance, just like most people “I’m in my third year here…” She said and her expression changed in a more depressed one as she walked besides Celica and Alice “I’m 21 years old, despite what I look like.” She said in a more depressed tone. She really disliked when people jumped to conclusions like that.
“Oh.” Touchy subject. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sa—I mean, I…” She trailed off, giving Alice a pleading look. ‘Help me,’ she mouthed.
“You didn’t mean to judge by appearance. It’s what most people do, due to how young I look.” Mana said and rose her sight a bit to look at Celica “I should’ve gotten used to it, but I guess I haven’t. But it’s fine.” She said and slightly shook her head at her own reaction.
“To be fair,” Alice piped in, “You wouldn’t believe the number of people who greet me as sir, even when they’ve heard me speak. It leaves one rather disgruntled after the first fifty or so times, after the first fifty people.”
“Well, you do sound a bit like a guy, with how you talk…” Mana mumbled to herself before sending a small smile in Alice’s direction “Well, I guess both of us have something we dislike other people doing.” She said and the realised how silly that sounded. Everyone had something that they disliked about the actions of others, most likely. Slightly blushing, she moved to get on board the train that had just stopped.
“You two are not making me feel like a good person,” Celica sighed, plopping down on an empty seat.
“I am a horrible person, and am well aware of it.” Alice declared, “One becomes well acquainted with their inner horridity when one spends ten years learning how to kill people with everything short of empty air.”
“Don’t worry Alice, I think you’re good on the inside,” Celica said, lazily. “Like how your side of the room looks like a hurricane went through it, but you keep your bathroom supplies so well organized my first drill sergeant would weep tears of joy.”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad!” Mana said with a sad look in her eyes. She sat down next to Celica and looked at her, wanting to make sure that her apology would be accepted. She also wondered to herself if she was trying too hard to be accepted by others or not.
“Now you’re making me feel worse.” Celica chuckled, waving one hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. But, since we already stepped on this mine, what year do you think we are?”
“Uhm…” Mana looked at both of them and hesitated on answering. Both were higher than her, and she wondered if she was supposed to catch a hint that they weren’t as old as they appeared. Deciding to guess it, she took a quick breath “I think both of you are in the third year as well.” She said in a quick sentence.
Celica gave her a half-lidded stare. “Are you saying we’re old?”
“Maybe. I’m saying that you two are at least as old as me.” Mana replied in a more relaxed tone, figuring that either way, no real harm could be done.
“I was hoping that would fluster you. I suppose I am a terrible person when it comes down to it,” Celica admitted, laughing good-naturedly. “Good guess. I’m surprised we haven’t met before. What’s your Shifter Class? Fae?”
“Thats a good guess on your behalf. Thats exactly my class.” Mana spoke with a happy tone “And even if we were in the same class, I doubt you would’ve noticed me. I don’t have an easy time making friends.”
“Really? I never would've guessed.”
“Yup. Most of the people in my class don’t really notice unless I’m answering something or we are training outside.” Mana said and rolled her eyes.
“Can’t say I’ve had that problem.” Alice shrugged. “People tend to notice you when you kick them halfway across a field.”
Celica gave Alice a brief glance shaking her head. “That's strange.” She turned to Mana. “Trust me, I don’t mean to offend, but you do look rather distinctive.”
Bits of lightning begun to come out of her eyes as Mana turned to look at Celica “If you mean my hair, then yeah. It’s different.” She said. She didn’t sound angry or annoyed, but it appeared as if the lightning appeared without her controlling it, or even noticing it.
Another touchy subject. This Mana was turning out to be quite the prickly girl. That was not a reaction one would have expected from commenting on hair dye, however. Celica’s eyes widened slightly, and she looked away, lips pursed in a grimace.
“It’s natural, just so you know. A lot of people think its dyed, but it’s not.” Mana said and rubbed her eyes a bit, making the lightning go away before looking at the nearest window “Both of you look very nice.” She said in a slightly weaker voice.
“Am I supposed to care if your hair is naturally blue, for whatever cause?” Alice asked, “So what if your hair is blue – and I could probably guess the reason – are you charging in here waving a magic rifle and trying to impose a universal government on us all? If not, I see no issue.”
Letting out a sigh, Mana kept her eyes on the window. “That’s pretty much the first time someone said that to me.” She whispered before looking at Alice. “Thanks. That means a lot.” She added.
“See? Good on the inside,” Celica said with a wan smile. She took a deep breath and absentmindedly brushed her hair back with one hand. “I’m sorry,” she said after a short pause. “I don’t usually put my foot in my mouth like this.”
“It’s fine. I just get tired of people making remarks about my hair, of any kind. It’s not like I chose how my hair is, and I also found out that I couldn’t colour my hair, because there is something about it that wouldn’t react well to hair dyes.” She said and rolled her eyes “But I guess natural is the best colour at the end.” Mana added before turning to look at the two of them again.
“So, what kind of shifters are you? Because if I had to guess, I would go with Demon. But that’s just a guess.” Mana asked in a curious tone.
Celica smiled at the change in topic. “Okay, I’m curious. What makes you say Demon?”
“My sulfuric personality, obviously.”
Mana giggled at Alice’s remark “Well, that, and I don’t think Titans can create magical bullets. If you were Fae, then you would’ve asked me how come you didn’t see me in classes before after I’ve confirmed it.”
“Logic, you foil me again,” Celica said dryly.
“That left Demon and Spirits. So I decided to have a guess.” She finished explaining.
“I’m surprised you didn’t pick Spirit. It’s the first thing a lot of people think of when I bring up guns.”
“Some spooky damn guns then,” Alice commented, a small smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. “Why would spirits be the first thing people think of when you say guns? Guns aren’t exactly subtle weapons last I recall.”
“They are also useless up front against most Shifters, unless you have some trick up your sleeve,” Celica pointed out.
“Well, I didn’t quite think about that, but I figure spirits might need guns too, for protection should they suddenly find themselves in a dangerous situation. Like, most of the forces had already went into battle and the enemy troops sent a small undercover unit to try and take out any support our troops left behind.” Mana said, shrugging her shoulders a bit. That was her own assumption, she didn’t think that anyone on a battlefield should be left weaponless.
“Anyhow, you didn’t reply to my guess. Are you Demon type shifters?”
Celica finally nodded. “Yes, we are. Yuki-anesa, or Snow Sis, if you want to avoid the Japanese,” she said gesturing at herself, “and Valkyrie.” She motioned towards Alice.
“I’m expected to stab things and not much else, it drives one crazy at times.”
“That’s only because you want to mix it with shooting.”
“Hey, I spent a good deal of my early life shooting things, it’s fun, dammit!” Alice protested, “I’m going to resubmit that paperwork. Maybe if I phrase it nicely, make valid points, and kiss some ass they’ll let me.”
"How did you even manage to get rejected in the first place? We're in a military facility, for crying out loud."
Trying to remember their shifter type, Mana didn’t quite pay attention to the little side talk they had going on, before realising she hadn’t told them her own. “I’m a bit rude, I didn’t tell you my shifter!” She said in an apologetic tone, drawing their attention. “My Fae shifter is Thunderbird.” She said and rubbed the back of her neck a bit.
“Ah.” Celica nodded. “So that’s what the lightning eyes were about.”
“What a shocking revelation,” Alice noted, “It’s almost as if the girl with the lightning in her eyes has lightning powers. Incredible.”
“Congratulations,” Celica groaned. “The bad pun means she likes you.”
“Like is a subjective term.” Alice corrected her, “It’s more accurate to say I’d be more surprised if you were to sink a knife in my spine.”
“Trust me, good on the inside.”
“Good is a subjective term as well.”
“Then I guess we could call Alice ‘Miss Subjective’ instead.” Mana said with a teasing tone before laughing.
Celica joined in with soft snicker. Their mirth, however, was soon interrupted by a female voice announcing the following station. Celica looked up, as if expecting to see the source of the voice, then sighed.
“We’ll have to get off soon,” she commented, before smiling at the blue-haired girl. “It was fun talking to you, Mana. We should do it again sometime. Actually,” she said, pulling out her phone, “how about we exchange numbers?”
“Sure, I’d like that.” Mana replied with a smile while taking out her own phone “I can only assume Alice isn’t one to do these kind of things.” She said and gave her a curious look, wanting to see if she would pull out her phone or not.
“Sure she is. Right, Alice?” Celica prodded, teasingly.
Alice shrugged, pulling out her own phone and twirling it in her fingers, looking over at Celica. “To offer the phone number or not to offer the phone number, that is the question, is it not?” She tossed it in the air, catching it with two fingers, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” She laughed quietly, passing the phone to Mana.
“Just write down your contact info in there, and we’ll send you a message.” Celica added. “With the way the Academy is, it would be a shame if we met up like this and then didn’t run into each other until graduation day.”
Taking the phone from Celica and Alice, Mana wrote down her number in each of them before handing them back. She then nodded before putting her phone back in her bag. “Well, seeing we covered that, I guess this is where we are going our separate ways.” She said with a somewhat cheerful tone, mainly due to having a couple of new friends now.
With a muffled groan, the tram slowed to a stop, and the people around them began to stand up, making for the doors.
Celica glanced around at the movement before standing up as well, a satisfied grin on her face. “Alright then, we’ll see you later.”
On the station, the group split up, the girls headed for their respective dorms. “She was nice,” Celica commented as they neared their building. “A bit sensitive, but nice.”
Alice shrugged, as she often did, “I’d imagine that stigma would make somebody sensitive.” She coughed awkwardly, remembering the instance in her youth involving toxic chemicals. “Yep.” She affirmed quickly.
“I suppose, though I wish she hadn’t been so serious about it. Oh well, nothing to it.” Celica shook her head, sighing. “The year starts in earnest tomorrow.” She chuckled wryly. “There ain’t no rest for the wicked.”
“I get rest.” Alice rasped in protest, “Anyway, I’m going to try and resend that application to ship at least one of my guns out here. Could you look it over for me, maybe point out why I keep on getting the responses I do?”
Celica snorted. “Sure, if only out of morbid curiosity.”
“Morbid is subjective, too.”
Celica blinked and looked at the girl. She looked young, maybe family from another student, come to visit, or perhaps one of the incoming Shifters who had been brought in this year. Fresh out of high school seemed likely. She frowned briefly at the coloration of her hair. There was a certain stigma to dyeing one’s hair that color, for good reason.
“Hey,” she called, getting up and approaching the girl. “Are you alright?”
Suddenly hearing the voices of the two girls made Mana surprised. She didn’t think she made that much noise falling down. Moving to stand up, she dusted herself a bit “I’m fine, thanks for asking. And people call me Mana. Or well, people would call me Mana if I knew more people around.” She said and then realised that she was talking to the two people she was previously following.
“Sorry if I interrupted your conversation or something, but I couldn’t help overhearing what you said about the different types of bullets for regular guns. Being a techno geek, I found it interesting. How can you make different types of bullets, if I can be rude and just plainly ask?” Mana said, hoping that they won’t decide she is too rude and then just leave her.
“Well, if you were to ask me I’d mainly have an answer for non-magical bullets, because apparently nobody thinks I’m smart enough to understand magic or any of the arcane. Celica might know a bit more,” Alice responded, motioning towards Celica, “and could I ask what you mean by ‘techno geek’? Either you’re a geek about techno music or you obsess over technology which appears to be well on its way to be supplanted by magic that nobody bothers explaining to me.”
“Probably the second,” she quipped, before turning to the girl with a half-smile. “Don’t mind Alice too much, she’s just sour.”
Alice glared at her, “I am the sapient equivalent of those sour candies that make you incapable of tasting anything for a week. I am lemons on steroids and LSD. I am the walking epitome of sour, mortal.” she shrugged, “Which does nothing to improve my standing with people, I suppose.”
Celica blinked, then nodded slowly. “That was a joke.”
“I did mean the second. And I’m not just interested in technologies that are supplanted by magic, but in general. Show me a piece of technology, and I’ll be curious.” Mana said to both girls before moving her sights between the two “So it’s Alice and Celica. Nice to meet the two of you.” She said and then turned to look at Celica “So you can make Magical bullets, huh?” She asked in a curious tone.
“Uh…” Celica hesitated at Mana’s expectant look. “Well, yes.” She looked around, frowning at their surroundings, the fingers of one hand idly drumming against the side of one of the holsters at her belt. “I’d rather not make a demonstration here, though.”
“Shockingly, people tend not to like it if you put a bunch of holes in the walls and basically freeze everything moving until they can get somebody who knows magic to undo it in a way that doesn’t involve the other extreme or waiting for several hours.” Alice interjected with a mock scholarly tone.
At first Mana didn’t quite understand what Celica meant, but when she heard what Alice said “Ah. I’m sorry if I hadn’t been a bit clearer, but I didn’t expect a demonstration here. Of course that wouldn’t make any sense to do. But I was hoping for an explanation on how its possible, or how, in theory, do you do it. But if its hard for you to explain I’ll understand too.” She said and then felt a vibration in her bag.
Taking out her phone, she saw there was only a couple of minutes before her train arrives “Uhm… Which train are you two taking? Because I’m headed to the dorms, and I’d like to keep talking to you two.” Mana asked.
“Dorms.” Alice responded, “Waiting for the train.”
Celica gave a pained smile. “I guess I don’t have an excuse not to explain, do I?” She shook her head, shifting her weight. “It is hard to explain, though. I don’t think I could teach someone else how to do it unless we had the same compatibility. Shifter magic rarely works the same for all of us.”
“I see. I didn’t expect that I could do the same thing exactly or something, but I had another thought, though with what you just said, I guess that thought is also pointless now.” Mana said and let out a small sigh while looking in the direction of where the train was supposed to come from.
“I’m sorry. Magic comes almost instinctually at times, you know? It’s partly why Alice is so sour,” she teased. She followed Mana’s gaze, noticing a shape starting to move closer. Realizing the tram was nearly there, She tilted her head towards the tracks, motioning for them walk with her. “I suppose – if I were to give the most barebones explanation I can think of – is that I can give an object an… an intention, let’s say, and the magic it needs to carry it out.” Celica shook her head, clearly unsatisfied with what little she could get across, but quickly turned to smile at Mana. “What year are you? Most of the new students don’t really care about conventional firearms when they can be shooting lightning out of their fingers and torching things on their own.”
Alice interjected again, mumbling this time, “Because most people can’t comprehend the magnificence of a finely crafted revolver.”
“Now I know what to get you on your birthday.”
“I have several guns at home, I just can’t get permission to ship any out here yet.” Alice grumbled in reply, pulling a phone that looked more akin to ballistic plating from one of the many pockets on her jacket, checking something before sliding it back into the pocket.
Hearing Celica’s explanation, Mana nodded, and was about to say something when she heard her question. So she thought she was a first year just because of her appearance, just like most people “I’m in my third year here…” She said and her expression changed in a more depressed one as she walked besides Celica and Alice “I’m 21 years old, despite what I look like.” She said in a more depressed tone. She really disliked when people jumped to conclusions like that.
“Oh.” Touchy subject. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sa—I mean, I…” She trailed off, giving Alice a pleading look. ‘Help me,’ she mouthed.
“You didn’t mean to judge by appearance. It’s what most people do, due to how young I look.” Mana said and rose her sight a bit to look at Celica “I should’ve gotten used to it, but I guess I haven’t. But it’s fine.” She said and slightly shook her head at her own reaction.
“To be fair,” Alice piped in, “You wouldn’t believe the number of people who greet me as sir, even when they’ve heard me speak. It leaves one rather disgruntled after the first fifty or so times, after the first fifty people.”
“Well, you do sound a bit like a guy, with how you talk…” Mana mumbled to herself before sending a small smile in Alice’s direction “Well, I guess both of us have something we dislike other people doing.” She said and the realised how silly that sounded. Everyone had something that they disliked about the actions of others, most likely. Slightly blushing, she moved to get on board the train that had just stopped.
“You two are not making me feel like a good person,” Celica sighed, plopping down on an empty seat.
“I am a horrible person, and am well aware of it.” Alice declared, “One becomes well acquainted with their inner horridity when one spends ten years learning how to kill people with everything short of empty air.”
“Don’t worry Alice, I think you’re good on the inside,” Celica said, lazily. “Like how your side of the room looks like a hurricane went through it, but you keep your bathroom supplies so well organized my first drill sergeant would weep tears of joy.”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad!” Mana said with a sad look in her eyes. She sat down next to Celica and looked at her, wanting to make sure that her apology would be accepted. She also wondered to herself if she was trying too hard to be accepted by others or not.
“Now you’re making me feel worse.” Celica chuckled, waving one hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. But, since we already stepped on this mine, what year do you think we are?”
“Uhm…” Mana looked at both of them and hesitated on answering. Both were higher than her, and she wondered if she was supposed to catch a hint that they weren’t as old as they appeared. Deciding to guess it, she took a quick breath “I think both of you are in the third year as well.” She said in a quick sentence.
Celica gave her a half-lidded stare. “Are you saying we’re old?”
“Maybe. I’m saying that you two are at least as old as me.” Mana replied in a more relaxed tone, figuring that either way, no real harm could be done.
“I was hoping that would fluster you. I suppose I am a terrible person when it comes down to it,” Celica admitted, laughing good-naturedly. “Good guess. I’m surprised we haven’t met before. What’s your Shifter Class? Fae?”
“Thats a good guess on your behalf. Thats exactly my class.” Mana spoke with a happy tone “And even if we were in the same class, I doubt you would’ve noticed me. I don’t have an easy time making friends.”
“Really? I never would've guessed.”
“Yup. Most of the people in my class don’t really notice unless I’m answering something or we are training outside.” Mana said and rolled her eyes.
“Can’t say I’ve had that problem.” Alice shrugged. “People tend to notice you when you kick them halfway across a field.”
Celica gave Alice a brief glance shaking her head. “That's strange.” She turned to Mana. “Trust me, I don’t mean to offend, but you do look rather distinctive.”
Bits of lightning begun to come out of her eyes as Mana turned to look at Celica “If you mean my hair, then yeah. It’s different.” She said. She didn’t sound angry or annoyed, but it appeared as if the lightning appeared without her controlling it, or even noticing it.
Another touchy subject. This Mana was turning out to be quite the prickly girl. That was not a reaction one would have expected from commenting on hair dye, however. Celica’s eyes widened slightly, and she looked away, lips pursed in a grimace.
“It’s natural, just so you know. A lot of people think its dyed, but it’s not.” Mana said and rubbed her eyes a bit, making the lightning go away before looking at the nearest window “Both of you look very nice.” She said in a slightly weaker voice.
“Am I supposed to care if your hair is naturally blue, for whatever cause?” Alice asked, “So what if your hair is blue – and I could probably guess the reason – are you charging in here waving a magic rifle and trying to impose a universal government on us all? If not, I see no issue.”
Letting out a sigh, Mana kept her eyes on the window. “That’s pretty much the first time someone said that to me.” She whispered before looking at Alice. “Thanks. That means a lot.” She added.
“See? Good on the inside,” Celica said with a wan smile. She took a deep breath and absentmindedly brushed her hair back with one hand. “I’m sorry,” she said after a short pause. “I don’t usually put my foot in my mouth like this.”
“It’s fine. I just get tired of people making remarks about my hair, of any kind. It’s not like I chose how my hair is, and I also found out that I couldn’t colour my hair, because there is something about it that wouldn’t react well to hair dyes.” She said and rolled her eyes “But I guess natural is the best colour at the end.” Mana added before turning to look at the two of them again.
“So, what kind of shifters are you? Because if I had to guess, I would go with Demon. But that’s just a guess.” Mana asked in a curious tone.
Celica smiled at the change in topic. “Okay, I’m curious. What makes you say Demon?”
“My sulfuric personality, obviously.”
Mana giggled at Alice’s remark “Well, that, and I don’t think Titans can create magical bullets. If you were Fae, then you would’ve asked me how come you didn’t see me in classes before after I’ve confirmed it.”
“Logic, you foil me again,” Celica said dryly.
“That left Demon and Spirits. So I decided to have a guess.” She finished explaining.
“I’m surprised you didn’t pick Spirit. It’s the first thing a lot of people think of when I bring up guns.”
“Some spooky damn guns then,” Alice commented, a small smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. “Why would spirits be the first thing people think of when you say guns? Guns aren’t exactly subtle weapons last I recall.”
“They are also useless up front against most Shifters, unless you have some trick up your sleeve,” Celica pointed out.
“Well, I didn’t quite think about that, but I figure spirits might need guns too, for protection should they suddenly find themselves in a dangerous situation. Like, most of the forces had already went into battle and the enemy troops sent a small undercover unit to try and take out any support our troops left behind.” Mana said, shrugging her shoulders a bit. That was her own assumption, she didn’t think that anyone on a battlefield should be left weaponless.
“Anyhow, you didn’t reply to my guess. Are you Demon type shifters?”
Celica finally nodded. “Yes, we are. Yuki-anesa, or Snow Sis, if you want to avoid the Japanese,” she said gesturing at herself, “and Valkyrie.” She motioned towards Alice.
“I’m expected to stab things and not much else, it drives one crazy at times.”
“That’s only because you want to mix it with shooting.”
“Hey, I spent a good deal of my early life shooting things, it’s fun, dammit!” Alice protested, “I’m going to resubmit that paperwork. Maybe if I phrase it nicely, make valid points, and kiss some ass they’ll let me.”
"How did you even manage to get rejected in the first place? We're in a military facility, for crying out loud."
Trying to remember their shifter type, Mana didn’t quite pay attention to the little side talk they had going on, before realising she hadn’t told them her own. “I’m a bit rude, I didn’t tell you my shifter!” She said in an apologetic tone, drawing their attention. “My Fae shifter is Thunderbird.” She said and rubbed the back of her neck a bit.
“Ah.” Celica nodded. “So that’s what the lightning eyes were about.”
“What a shocking revelation,” Alice noted, “It’s almost as if the girl with the lightning in her eyes has lightning powers. Incredible.”
“Congratulations,” Celica groaned. “The bad pun means she likes you.”
“Like is a subjective term.” Alice corrected her, “It’s more accurate to say I’d be more surprised if you were to sink a knife in my spine.”
“Trust me, good on the inside.”
“Good is a subjective term as well.”
“Then I guess we could call Alice ‘Miss Subjective’ instead.” Mana said with a teasing tone before laughing.
Celica joined in with soft snicker. Their mirth, however, was soon interrupted by a female voice announcing the following station. Celica looked up, as if expecting to see the source of the voice, then sighed.
“We’ll have to get off soon,” she commented, before smiling at the blue-haired girl. “It was fun talking to you, Mana. We should do it again sometime. Actually,” she said, pulling out her phone, “how about we exchange numbers?”
“Sure, I’d like that.” Mana replied with a smile while taking out her own phone “I can only assume Alice isn’t one to do these kind of things.” She said and gave her a curious look, wanting to see if she would pull out her phone or not.
“Sure she is. Right, Alice?” Celica prodded, teasingly.
Alice shrugged, pulling out her own phone and twirling it in her fingers, looking over at Celica. “To offer the phone number or not to offer the phone number, that is the question, is it not?” She tossed it in the air, catching it with two fingers, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt.” She laughed quietly, passing the phone to Mana.
“Just write down your contact info in there, and we’ll send you a message.” Celica added. “With the way the Academy is, it would be a shame if we met up like this and then didn’t run into each other until graduation day.”
Taking the phone from Celica and Alice, Mana wrote down her number in each of them before handing them back. She then nodded before putting her phone back in her bag. “Well, seeing we covered that, I guess this is where we are going our separate ways.” She said with a somewhat cheerful tone, mainly due to having a couple of new friends now.
With a muffled groan, the tram slowed to a stop, and the people around them began to stand up, making for the doors.
Celica glanced around at the movement before standing up as well, a satisfied grin on her face. “Alright then, we’ll see you later.”
On the station, the group split up, the girls headed for their respective dorms. “She was nice,” Celica commented as they neared their building. “A bit sensitive, but nice.”
Alice shrugged, as she often did, “I’d imagine that stigma would make somebody sensitive.” She coughed awkwardly, remembering the instance in her youth involving toxic chemicals. “Yep.” She affirmed quickly.
“I suppose, though I wish she hadn’t been so serious about it. Oh well, nothing to it.” Celica shook her head, sighing. “The year starts in earnest tomorrow.” She chuckled wryly. “There ain’t no rest for the wicked.”
“I get rest.” Alice rasped in protest, “Anyway, I’m going to try and resend that application to ship at least one of my guns out here. Could you look it over for me, maybe point out why I keep on getting the responses I do?”
Celica snorted. “Sure, if only out of morbid curiosity.”
“Morbid is subjective, too.”
Tai Falkenburg said
Yay! Star and Tail are happy. :D Hopefully Storm and Comet are alright.
Ack, another thing I forgot to respond to.
Hey Kapu, I didn't forget Winterjet!
Had Lily been there, she would have recognized the face of Longsight the Unicorn.
With a pulse of magic Scalpel turned to face the Inquisitor, book levitating before him with orb and horn on either side.
“Inquisitors”, the word came out of Scalpels mouth like he was spitting out a bad taste, anger slowly rising in his tone as the force of Len’s betrayal hit home.
Regardless of her actual intent, she had failed him.
“You think I would lay down my arms to you and your backward state again creatures of Moon and Star? Fascinating… but unfortunately very irrelevant, you do not have the capacity to stop the Dawn. As for Twilight, she can burn amongst her grand golden idiocracy and shining ivory towers, she failed unicorn-kind just as she failed her teacher.”
The heavy cloaks of Lambda and Tsan fell away as they discarded them, rising up onto their back-hooves and grasping in metal talons the great swords which they had brought with them. In the light of the moon, they revealed the full extent of their unnatural state, clad in heavy armour and fitted with dark machinery unseen before, they glared at the Inquisitors with utter hatred.
“Twilight could never look beyond her own select regime of textbooks” Scalpel continued dispassionately, as if describing the most boring topic in the world, “She lacks motivation and the capacity to try ‘real magic’ and since the descent of the Alicorn race once again, she has failed to study and develop her understanding of that which she seeks. This Inquisition is the greatest catastrophe to her efforts if ever there existed one, she fails to see beyond ‘accepted magic’”
A flicker of magic coursed across his body as he regained a form he had not taken in at least a decade, “She failed, for instance, to take in the importance of my own work when I served under her House, dedicated to the cause for which she sought, and now she and her house shall pay the price for it.”
Pulling the scarf and hood away, he revealed himself in full.
This was a face which had stirred the nation for a month after his ‘death’, a tragedy which had united the last disparate nobles in support for Moon and Stars racial theories and development of the Slave Domes.
For before them was Dr Tempest.
Ex-leader of the medical division of the Canterlot Slave Domes, high geneticist and occultist of Twilights new empire, innovator, scientist… and martyr for Moon and Star.
The Red Death lived.
Gasping, she remembered where she saw that face. It was on the newspaper memorializing the fallen scientist. "That's impossible. You died years ago…" Fear filled her own face, as the sudden realization that this was no mere rogue unicorn. Here was the Red Death himself, and she was facing him head on.
Longsight realized that night may be her last.
The face of Tempest faded like ruined ink, returning to the colours of his true appearance, but even then the Inquisitors could recognise the Stallion from his ancient paperwork, aged, hardened by experience, and the infinitely deranged by maddening complexities of his work, but still the same in so many ways.
And now with imparted with godly fury.
“I was reborn amidst the fire and ash of the Dome like a phoenix rising from its death, Inquisitor! Reborn with power which has until now has lain dormant, but now no more!”
Light began to pour from Scalpels eyes, his flesh taking on the aspect of the machine god, his voice becoming as booming as thunder in the darkness of the Monolith. His body began to rise from the ground, higher and higher into the air as he levitated without any light emanating from his horn, a dark smile crawling across his face.
“From the ash of death I brought new life, I achieved what was deemed impossible by your false religion!” he spread his front hooves wide as if raising prayer to the heavens and as if on command, they descended.
The Spherical children of his making, giggling and rejoicing in the power of their master, descended from the sky to revel in his power. Slowly they began to circle around the group of Inquisitors ominously, and as they did so the Inquisitors all unconsciously stepped back, closing rank in nervous tension.
“The Lady doesn’t like us!” one of the Spheres giggled, sounding as sweet as a young child as it inspected a purple maned, green coated Inquisitor, as her eyes flickered back and forth in terror at the unnatural and vicious feelings these things seemingly childlike and innocent things gave off.
“Silly Lady…”
The glow of the raw energy was now rippling off Scalpel in great tides of furiously eruptive lightning, creating an electrical Corona around him like some eldritch lord of science. His eyes now glowed a almost unbearable purple light, sparks, flames and flashes of lighting erupting angrily from his form like a dark and abominable deity.
“The Gods have come down from the sky, and they have brought nothing but emptiness, all consuming fire, drowning waters, famine and broken promises with them, as their forbearers have done before them!
“THE TIME OF GODS IS OVER!
“THE TIME OF TYRANTS IS OVER!
He paused, and the very atmosphere became as silent as the void as it awaited, holding its breath in terror and fascination as the pony who was not fully mortal made his proclamation. When he did so it was in a voice which was no longer equine, but of brass, steel, grinding gears and of infinite multitude. It was the terrible voice of the legion.
[/b]“Țͩ̍̈ͫ̿H̱̠̖̻͓͔͖̲̅̀̈̀̀͒ͧE̜̜̻ͯͥ͊ ̂ͯͬͩ̋ͤͭͤ̚ͅT̝̯̙͉̉̾̑̓I̜͒ͦ̏͐ͥ̅ͣM̦̻̭ͬ̐ͨͤ̀̐̒E̘̫̱̦͇͒̿̚̚ ͔͇ͬͤͭ͂I̦̟̟͓̮͓̔̈̎ͫ̆S̪͔̙͓̺̣͍̈ͧ ͎̤̰̱͈͓͛̎́̿U͇͖̙̞̫͈͎̬͌̇͂͊͋P̗̰̬ͦ͊̊ͭͥͪ̾O̟͖̻̘̞͗̓̈́ͬͯ̐̒N̥̞̆͂͐ͤ͒ ͇͕̱̪͍̰̦͚ͪ̑ͬ̎͋ͦ͌̇Ũ͖ͫ̏͆ͥ͌̎ͥͅS̖͈̱̣̘͒ͤ͑̀.̗͈̲͓̗̒͋ͧͅ.̻̥͚̬̣̎̃ͫ̽ͧ.͉̩̥̻͓̣̞̦͗ͦ̚ ͈̥͈̪̔̑̓͆͛ͫ͒͌T̜̯̰̮̖̃̏̋̈́̉ͫ̒H̬͇͓̮ͤͦ̄͒̾E̞ͭͬ ͓̪͚̲̆ͣ̋̈́̂ͫṬ̤̠̞͇̗̪̞̙̾ͥ͛̿̚Ĩ͍̳̬̰̦̣̥̋͑M̳͈͗̑̊ͤͦE̙̬̭̥̤͒̈ͯ̃̔͌̑͊… ̟͓̟͉̤ͥ̈̈́ͪͯͅO͎̼̣̲̦̻̯͉̮ͭͥF̊͋ͦ̓̍̊ͅ ̼̳̟͙͇̜̓̇A̝̼ͤ̄N̰̽ͪ̍̒ͤ̓̔̓̔G͎̯̙̟̮̜̜̠̰ͬ̄̆̚E̤̱͖͖̤̩̮̎̓̂̔ͣ̑͒L͕͚͕͇̜̖͚ͣ̆S̬͈͔̉ͩ͑ͣ.̳̫̝̄ͬ”[/b]
With that he spoke the word…
…The word which would echo through-out Equestria and bring an age of wonder and terror upon the world….
…The Word which would begin the Time of angels.
The Monolith erupted, light blazed from every word, every symbol, every crevice, every line of the great monument to the ancient gods, illuminating itself in terrible, dark purple light… And as the great orb began to rise and turn after its long silence, six wings of pure elder light emerged from the back of the mortal who had awoken them.
There was silence.
Then he spoke the final command, amplified by magic, and enhanced with its terrible potency.
"̙̗͉̎͆̄͋K̯̩̱̠̫͕͎̆̉̾I̳͛̚L̞͔̲͈͓̆ͣͮ͊̅L̗̬͓̬͖̝ͩ̈́ͨ͗̇ͯ ̙̠̹̪͎͕͎͗̊ͅT̞̱̏̊̐ͮ͐͗̾ͣH̖̠̟̼̅͂ͮÊ̜͖̊̽͒́͑Ḿ̺͙̮̙̫̖̹̓̆͆̓̂͂ ̥̻͗̓̄́̑̍ͦͤͬͅA̬̦̥̮͇̩͈͒̏̋ͨ̂͂̊L̤̙̳͔̩ͪ̔͆ͅL̘̣̺̠̲̦͖̉͐̌̏̆̉̌.̜̯͔͓͎͉̬͔ͫ̌̂̚"̱̦̰̺̈̓̇ͦͩͮ
The Gates of Hell had been opened.
And the screams of its demons were not far behind it.
Scarlet watched as the Inquisitor took out the Scholars, the corners of her mouth twitching on the edge of a snarl. “Oh, that is not cool you bitch.” She hissed at the Inquisitor, who she definitely recognized if not knew. She’d seen her before fleeing M&S territory with a precious artifact of theirs, needless to say she wasn’t fond of the Inquisitor.
“Looks like your friends are doing their thing, sweetie.” she chuckled menacingly to the dead Inquisitor she held in her magic, “I think we should join the party, eldritch summoning rituals be damned, I like Lens.”
Leaping from her hiding place she flung a pair of throwing knives at the two closest Inquisitors, one of whom was Longsight and the other one she didn’t recognize. The nameless Inquisitor went down screaming as the knife found a home in his jugular, and the other whistled by Longsight’s ear, taking off a small chunk of it but nothing else.
“Turn around a bit more so I can put the next one up your ass, bitch!” She cackled, throwing the dead body next to her at the group where the explosives she’d prepared on his body shredded the leg of another Inquisitor and sprayed the others with bone and chunks of gore.
She looked over at Scalpel with an impressed whistle before shouting at him, “How about a temporary alliance against mutual enemies?!”
Upon his command every blade of the Spheres had been activated at once, the childlike laughter turning into the vicious and hateful screams of brutality and darkness. The Inquisitor who had been the focal point of their interest was the first to fall, barely even registering the attack before falling as the Sphere sliced her throat open and a rush of blood spurted forth in sanguine streams.
“Dead Lady!”
Before anything else could occur the Inquisitors began to open fire on the mechanical abominations, which managed to escape through versatility for the most part, aside from a few who were struck and fell burning to the ground. The Spheres immediately scattered, flying furiously like enraged hornets around their targets, as they began to maim and mutilate their opponents.
Before the Inquisitors could get the upper hand however The Risen joined the fray. With mighty sweeps of their swords two more of the enemies number were beheaded and disemboweled. The Inquisitors began focusing their on them, blasting them with fire and ice alike as they attempted to take these abequine monstrosities down.
What they did not expect from that moment was for sudden reinforcements to emerge from behind them and begin to slaughter them. From the right came the mad beastial Warrior Drones, leaping from the darkness to plunge scythe like leg blades into their opponents soft flesh and grind it under their metal teeth. From the left, the Jaeger corps, experimental soldiers entirely clad in armour from head to foot, asides from six glass eyes, and wielding huge cleaver like swords began to eviscerate their opponents, almost dancing through them and cutting them down like threshed wheat. They all screamed and bellowed in zealotic fury, casting aside all qualms and butchering unrelentingly.
Two Inquisitors managed to make their way past the Risen, charging suicidally towards Scalpel in order to stop him before he even began the great ritual.
Scalpel didn’t even spare them a thought before he ripped their bones from their carcasses, feeding their souls into the ancient magic he had now awoken, along with the screaming sacrifices which now burned and melted on fully risen orb as it spun and hummed with ancient magic.
He must have heard Scarlet in some form however, for despite his children’s utter slaughter of the inquisitors, they passed her by almost unnoticed.
As he continued the ancient chant, the words boomed from his lips like thunder, and causing the air to roar with eldritch cries and undulations as his brethren responded in the void. He raised the orb and horn before him like the priests of old, raised it and bathed them in the magic of the ancients. This sacrificial dagger, this breaker of all physical bonds, would bring his ascendency and the Corona star would be his glorious light in heaven.
He felt like a god.
Longsight felt the nick of Scarlet’s blades and the dripping of blood. She looked behind her and saw the face of a mare. Next to her, Ringing Bell finally fell dead to the ground after his neck was punctured. Cooly, Longsight’s horn glowed with power, and was preparing to attack. But the explosion had caught her off guard, a distraction that took her away from Scarlet and to the incoming spheres. And the horrible sight of Scalpel’s forces.
The unicorn let loose her magic,unleashing beam after beam of energy. Spells were cast, blades flashed, and the roaring of pain and rage filled the ruin. It was but only a few minutes, but to those still standing it felt like a lifetime.
Blinding another drone with intense light, Longsight ran back to help support two other agents. She blasted a nearby monolith and it collapsed, though she did not know if she got any of the horrible monsters. So fucking fast , she thought. The Scholars nor Sweeper’s Cult had nothing like this… who are we fighting? The agents took cover behind the rock, and tried to assess the situation.
“Ma’am! What do we do?”, asked a youthful stallion. Probably a new recruit.
“We will not fail due to neither false god worshipers nor a delusional freak,” Longsight replied. She spotted Lens, still drugged and unable to move. “We must fall back. Quickly, we take the Scholar.” The Inquisitors nodded and ran towards the Scholar. Though the Recruit’s face was shredded by a Sphere, two other agents had joined the party. They came close to Lens.
Scarlet jumped in front, swords and axe drawn, “We going somewhere, cupcakes?” She smirked, twirling the swords around and leading them ever closer to the Inquisitors. “I think you three need to relax, let out some pressure, can’t be healthy. Here, let me help you.” the right blade flashed and the neck of the Inquisitor on the right began to spurt blood.
“Oh, looks like a shallow wound. Here, let me help you again.” she cooed almost nurturingly, both swords diving into his neck while the axe lopped off the ear of the one on the other side. She quickly rectified that mistake, burying the axe in the neck of the mare, who crumpled like a rag doll.
“So, what’s your name again?” she asked Longsight, “I know you, just not your name, could you oblige me?”
The agent smiled, a part of her wanting to burst out in laughter. My fellow Inquisitors are dying, an army of abominations threaten Equestria, and a dead martyr returns as an unholy alicorn. Yet here I am, cornered by some random mare who wants to know my name of all things.
“Why not,” she muttered. Before continuing the unicorn casually cast a spell that sent a block of stone in the direction of some Spheres, as to avoid being interrupted. “Alright, my name is Longsight Everclear Brightness.”
Whilst the Inquisitor and the mercenary sized each other up in preparation for conflict, the skies above began to twist and warp in hideous contours, writhing with half-formed shadows and great burning lights. Any sane creature which might have looked up at that moment, under the light of the Monolith, would have sworn the very fabric of reality was unraveling before their eyes.
They would have been right.
Scalpel was not just sane at that moment however, he understood the very means and the way of parting the veil, using the ancient rituals he bent the laws to unleash power of the great void upon him. Around the great ceremonial structure rumbled and shook as it had not done for perhaps forty thousand years, preparing for the way for what was to come.
The titanic central orb was now burned as brightly as a small sun, the roasted bodies of those sacrifice to it turned to ash by its immense power, and the souls of the recently dead driven the unholy machinery onwards to the final pinnacle of energy saturation.
Scalpel twisted and swayed in the sky, his body and mind wracked with ecstasy and rapture which had been brought by the power of the godlike being within him. The ritual was almost complete, soon everything would be as promised. The Black Sun would arise, the injury which had been brought by the failed ascendency would be purified and perfected, he would be as blinding as the sun, and burn with the power of that which had been denied.
Turning his thoughts away from the luxurious ecstasies of the olden magic, he began the final stage in preparation. The pages of the black sun prophecies ripped from their bindings to float in a fluttering sphere around him, and from each page he took the symbols to bind the power of the old magic upon them, carving them unto the heart of a star with the horn of god. With each new addition, the Corona Star resonated with newfound magic, the frequencies of the great void and itself synchronizing, linking, preparing for the godlike lightning which would resurrect this dead husk into living antediluvian star matter once more.
A few desperate stragglers, maimed and critically injured by his children tried to make their way towards him and tear him down.
...And so they had burned in his light, as the old magic stripped them of their bodies and cast them into oblivion.
Her head down, Longsight looked like she was on the verge of despair. “You know… I don’t remember seeing you before, yet you say you know me? Strange. Did I do some harm to a love one? Destroyed your father perhaps? Or was it something more mundane? I stole some cake from you when we went to school together? Dated your boyfriend?”
Her gaze was still averted from Scarlet. “You know, I have so many enemies in my real life, I tend to forget who they are. That was the nice thing of going undercover, being able to forget about the old foes… It was easier to sleep!” Suddenly the two unicorns were engulfed in a blinding light.
The second Longsight cast her spell, she jumped on top of Scarlet and began to stomp with all her might.
Scarlet rolled to the side as Longsight jumped at her, “Your name doesn’t suit you, are you sure you aren’t nearsighted? You’d think a mare with that name would be able to know a bad idea when she has one.” she commented offhandedly, “Now I’d like to make sure you didn’t hurt Lens or her friends too badly, so I need to wrap this up.”
Jamming one of her swords up to the hilt in Longsight’s chest, and using the other to split her horn so she couldn’t counterattack, Scarlet brought in the heavy axe for a finishing blow, neatly severing Longsight’s spine and about half of her neck with it.
With a final cataclysmic roar, the fabric of reality finally tore asunder amidst this decimation of Inquisitors, breaching the bounds and lighting the air with alien skies and eldritch lights. A million flames erupted and exploded around it, as reality groaned under its temporal rejection.
And from amidst it all, he saw the body of a dark god loom above like a destructive angel of times since lost.
Glowing spheres and lightning filled the sky, twisting abnormally around the nameless thing which sound not be, and as it turned its attention to the rupture in space and time which presented itself before it. The world parted, ash fell, trees erupted into burning cinders, and the world exploded into a thunderous roar of unnamable, horrific screaming.
In a harsh blast of bright purple light, a great flaming eye appeared above them, as titan as the sun, dwarfing all the sky under its intensity and searching gaze. From its midst it appeared as if the god of storms had created it out of pure raging chaotic lighting… intense, rapturous, powerful… furious. Amidst its centre was the slit pupil, as if a gigantic snake was peering down from above, ready to lunge and devour the earth with fangs of demonic power, staring at the world with amoral and unknowable intent.
But the pupil was not right… it was growing larger and larger, and the more Scalpel gazed at it, intoxicated with power and madness… the less it seemed to be a pupil….
It was a dark figure… and it was growing.
The final phrase of the ritual fell from his lips like stone, the magically enriched air, enforced by the sacrifices given this night, whiplashed as the ritual was fulfilled. Energy was drained from every corner of the Monolith, even from the trees nearby, who greyed and wilted under the strain. It was if a great vacuum had sucked the oxygen from the world, dragging it screaming into the void.
One by one, the great standing stones of the Monolith fell silent, their power muted, their glowing symbols dulling, draining like blood out the veins of a titan, collecting in infinite density in the dark heart of the Corona Star.
Everything fell silent.
And from the eldritch stars and the burning eye fell a pillar of lightning, falling from the darkness like a dying god might fall, burning and shining as it descended from the heavens.
The world was engulfed in burning white.
And then all was darkness.
Then from the darkness a glow emerged, a dark ominous light, shining with power and transcendent magic… nestled within the hooves of a mortal.
Scalpel gazed down at the Corona Star, its shape alight with glowing power as it began to awaken from death once more, to burn brightly in his hooves once more… and open the gateway to his ascendency.
Then he felt it through his hooves, the deep sonorous beat, the pulse of energy, the primal magic which had been forbidden to all but gods and demons.
The dead heart of a star had begun to beat once more.
Scalpel held it in his hooves, cradling it like a newborn infant, face filled with wonder and glory at his achievement. The light fell away from his eyes, becoming as calm as they had ever been, but now brightened… blue turned azure… and then Tyrian purple. The wings upon his back, once angelic and full of blinding light, began slowly to fade away, like ash on the breeze of time… and slowly the angel that had arisen descended to mortality once more.
As Scalpel touched the ground, he barely registered the obliterated corpses of the Inquisitors, nor the now bowing legions of assembled Risen which knelt before him, revering in the glory of the resurrected star.
The time was now upon this mortal world…
The Time of Angels.
_________________________________________
Armifera smirked as Winterjet issued her challenge, raising a keg towards the northern mare, “Cocky, aren’t ya?” she grinned, “I like it.”
Casting a sobriety spell on herself before corking the whiskey and stowing it in the small pouch on her side, which she handed off to Summer Winds, Armifera’s horn began to glow, surrounding the two sheathed swords at her sides, “Shall I keep an emergency healing spell handy, or do you think you should play it safe and we cover the edges on these contraptions?”
Her horn glowed further, reducing her size and the size of her armor until she was only a little taller than Winterjet, after all it wouldn’t be much of a glorious battle if she dwarfed the mare. Flaring her wings, which now bore gleaming wingblades, she shouted, “I think I’ll take you up on that challenge of yours!”
With a pulse of magic Scalpel turned to face the Inquisitor, book levitating before him with orb and horn on either side.
“Inquisitors”, the word came out of Scalpels mouth like he was spitting out a bad taste, anger slowly rising in his tone as the force of Len’s betrayal hit home.
Regardless of her actual intent, she had failed him.
“You think I would lay down my arms to you and your backward state again creatures of Moon and Star? Fascinating… but unfortunately very irrelevant, you do not have the capacity to stop the Dawn. As for Twilight, she can burn amongst her grand golden idiocracy and shining ivory towers, she failed unicorn-kind just as she failed her teacher.”
The heavy cloaks of Lambda and Tsan fell away as they discarded them, rising up onto their back-hooves and grasping in metal talons the great swords which they had brought with them. In the light of the moon, they revealed the full extent of their unnatural state, clad in heavy armour and fitted with dark machinery unseen before, they glared at the Inquisitors with utter hatred.
“Twilight could never look beyond her own select regime of textbooks” Scalpel continued dispassionately, as if describing the most boring topic in the world, “She lacks motivation and the capacity to try ‘real magic’ and since the descent of the Alicorn race once again, she has failed to study and develop her understanding of that which she seeks. This Inquisition is the greatest catastrophe to her efforts if ever there existed one, she fails to see beyond ‘accepted magic’”
A flicker of magic coursed across his body as he regained a form he had not taken in at least a decade, “She failed, for instance, to take in the importance of my own work when I served under her House, dedicated to the cause for which she sought, and now she and her house shall pay the price for it.”
Pulling the scarf and hood away, he revealed himself in full.
This was a face which had stirred the nation for a month after his ‘death’, a tragedy which had united the last disparate nobles in support for Moon and Stars racial theories and development of the Slave Domes.
For before them was Dr Tempest.
Ex-leader of the medical division of the Canterlot Slave Domes, high geneticist and occultist of Twilights new empire, innovator, scientist… and martyr for Moon and Star.
The Red Death lived.
Gasping, she remembered where she saw that face. It was on the newspaper memorializing the fallen scientist. "That's impossible. You died years ago…" Fear filled her own face, as the sudden realization that this was no mere rogue unicorn. Here was the Red Death himself, and she was facing him head on.
Longsight realized that night may be her last.
The face of Tempest faded like ruined ink, returning to the colours of his true appearance, but even then the Inquisitors could recognise the Stallion from his ancient paperwork, aged, hardened by experience, and the infinitely deranged by maddening complexities of his work, but still the same in so many ways.
And now with imparted with godly fury.
“I was reborn amidst the fire and ash of the Dome like a phoenix rising from its death, Inquisitor! Reborn with power which has until now has lain dormant, but now no more!”
Light began to pour from Scalpels eyes, his flesh taking on the aspect of the machine god, his voice becoming as booming as thunder in the darkness of the Monolith. His body began to rise from the ground, higher and higher into the air as he levitated without any light emanating from his horn, a dark smile crawling across his face.
“From the ash of death I brought new life, I achieved what was deemed impossible by your false religion!” he spread his front hooves wide as if raising prayer to the heavens and as if on command, they descended.
The Spherical children of his making, giggling and rejoicing in the power of their master, descended from the sky to revel in his power. Slowly they began to circle around the group of Inquisitors ominously, and as they did so the Inquisitors all unconsciously stepped back, closing rank in nervous tension.
“The Lady doesn’t like us!” one of the Spheres giggled, sounding as sweet as a young child as it inspected a purple maned, green coated Inquisitor, as her eyes flickered back and forth in terror at the unnatural and vicious feelings these things seemingly childlike and innocent things gave off.
“Silly Lady…”
The glow of the raw energy was now rippling off Scalpel in great tides of furiously eruptive lightning, creating an electrical Corona around him like some eldritch lord of science. His eyes now glowed a almost unbearable purple light, sparks, flames and flashes of lighting erupting angrily from his form like a dark and abominable deity.
“The Gods have come down from the sky, and they have brought nothing but emptiness, all consuming fire, drowning waters, famine and broken promises with them, as their forbearers have done before them!
“THE TIME OF GODS IS OVER!
“THE TIME OF TYRANTS IS OVER!
He paused, and the very atmosphere became as silent as the void as it awaited, holding its breath in terror and fascination as the pony who was not fully mortal made his proclamation. When he did so it was in a voice which was no longer equine, but of brass, steel, grinding gears and of infinite multitude. It was the terrible voice of the legion.
[/b]“Țͩ̍̈ͫ̿H̱̠̖̻͓͔͖̲̅̀̈̀̀͒ͧE̜̜̻ͯͥ͊ ̂ͯͬͩ̋ͤͭͤ̚ͅT̝̯̙͉̉̾̑̓I̜͒ͦ̏͐ͥ̅ͣM̦̻̭ͬ̐ͨͤ̀̐̒E̘̫̱̦͇͒̿̚̚ ͔͇ͬͤͭ͂I̦̟̟͓̮͓̔̈̎ͫ̆S̪͔̙͓̺̣͍̈ͧ ͎̤̰̱͈͓͛̎́̿U͇͖̙̞̫͈͎̬͌̇͂͊͋P̗̰̬ͦ͊̊ͭͥͪ̾O̟͖̻̘̞͗̓̈́ͬͯ̐̒N̥̞̆͂͐ͤ͒ ͇͕̱̪͍̰̦͚ͪ̑ͬ̎͋ͦ͌̇Ũ͖ͫ̏͆ͥ͌̎ͥͅS̖͈̱̣̘͒ͤ͑̀.̗͈̲͓̗̒͋ͧͅ.̻̥͚̬̣̎̃ͫ̽ͧ.͉̩̥̻͓̣̞̦͗ͦ̚ ͈̥͈̪̔̑̓͆͛ͫ͒͌T̜̯̰̮̖̃̏̋̈́̉ͫ̒H̬͇͓̮ͤͦ̄͒̾E̞ͭͬ ͓̪͚̲̆ͣ̋̈́̂ͫṬ̤̠̞͇̗̪̞̙̾ͥ͛̿̚Ĩ͍̳̬̰̦̣̥̋͑M̳͈͗̑̊ͤͦE̙̬̭̥̤͒̈ͯ̃̔͌̑͊… ̟͓̟͉̤ͥ̈̈́ͪͯͅO͎̼̣̲̦̻̯͉̮ͭͥF̊͋ͦ̓̍̊ͅ ̼̳̟͙͇̜̓̇A̝̼ͤ̄N̰̽ͪ̍̒ͤ̓̔̓̔G͎̯̙̟̮̜̜̠̰ͬ̄̆̚E̤̱͖͖̤̩̮̎̓̂̔ͣ̑͒L͕͚͕͇̜̖͚ͣ̆S̬͈͔̉ͩ͑ͣ.̳̫̝̄ͬ”[/b]
With that he spoke the word…
…The word which would echo through-out Equestria and bring an age of wonder and terror upon the world….
…The Word which would begin the Time of angels.
The Monolith erupted, light blazed from every word, every symbol, every crevice, every line of the great monument to the ancient gods, illuminating itself in terrible, dark purple light… And as the great orb began to rise and turn after its long silence, six wings of pure elder light emerged from the back of the mortal who had awoken them.
There was silence.
Then he spoke the final command, amplified by magic, and enhanced with its terrible potency.
"̙̗͉̎͆̄͋K̯̩̱̠̫͕͎̆̉̾I̳͛̚L̞͔̲͈͓̆ͣͮ͊̅L̗̬͓̬͖̝ͩ̈́ͨ͗̇ͯ ̙̠̹̪͎͕͎͗̊ͅT̞̱̏̊̐ͮ͐͗̾ͣH̖̠̟̼̅͂ͮÊ̜͖̊̽͒́͑Ḿ̺͙̮̙̫̖̹̓̆͆̓̂͂ ̥̻͗̓̄́̑̍ͦͤͬͅA̬̦̥̮͇̩͈͒̏̋ͨ̂͂̊L̤̙̳͔̩ͪ̔͆ͅL̘̣̺̠̲̦͖̉͐̌̏̆̉̌.̜̯͔͓͎͉̬͔ͫ̌̂̚"̱̦̰̺̈̓̇ͦͩͮ
The Gates of Hell had been opened.
And the screams of its demons were not far behind it.
Scarlet watched as the Inquisitor took out the Scholars, the corners of her mouth twitching on the edge of a snarl. “Oh, that is not cool you bitch.” She hissed at the Inquisitor, who she definitely recognized if not knew. She’d seen her before fleeing M&S territory with a precious artifact of theirs, needless to say she wasn’t fond of the Inquisitor.
“Looks like your friends are doing their thing, sweetie.” she chuckled menacingly to the dead Inquisitor she held in her magic, “I think we should join the party, eldritch summoning rituals be damned, I like Lens.”
Leaping from her hiding place she flung a pair of throwing knives at the two closest Inquisitors, one of whom was Longsight and the other one she didn’t recognize. The nameless Inquisitor went down screaming as the knife found a home in his jugular, and the other whistled by Longsight’s ear, taking off a small chunk of it but nothing else.
“Turn around a bit more so I can put the next one up your ass, bitch!” She cackled, throwing the dead body next to her at the group where the explosives she’d prepared on his body shredded the leg of another Inquisitor and sprayed the others with bone and chunks of gore.
She looked over at Scalpel with an impressed whistle before shouting at him, “How about a temporary alliance against mutual enemies?!”
Upon his command every blade of the Spheres had been activated at once, the childlike laughter turning into the vicious and hateful screams of brutality and darkness. The Inquisitor who had been the focal point of their interest was the first to fall, barely even registering the attack before falling as the Sphere sliced her throat open and a rush of blood spurted forth in sanguine streams.
“Dead Lady!”
Before anything else could occur the Inquisitors began to open fire on the mechanical abominations, which managed to escape through versatility for the most part, aside from a few who were struck and fell burning to the ground. The Spheres immediately scattered, flying furiously like enraged hornets around their targets, as they began to maim and mutilate their opponents.
Before the Inquisitors could get the upper hand however The Risen joined the fray. With mighty sweeps of their swords two more of the enemies number were beheaded and disemboweled. The Inquisitors began focusing their on them, blasting them with fire and ice alike as they attempted to take these abequine monstrosities down.
What they did not expect from that moment was for sudden reinforcements to emerge from behind them and begin to slaughter them. From the right came the mad beastial Warrior Drones, leaping from the darkness to plunge scythe like leg blades into their opponents soft flesh and grind it under their metal teeth. From the left, the Jaeger corps, experimental soldiers entirely clad in armour from head to foot, asides from six glass eyes, and wielding huge cleaver like swords began to eviscerate their opponents, almost dancing through them and cutting them down like threshed wheat. They all screamed and bellowed in zealotic fury, casting aside all qualms and butchering unrelentingly.
Two Inquisitors managed to make their way past the Risen, charging suicidally towards Scalpel in order to stop him before he even began the great ritual.
Scalpel didn’t even spare them a thought before he ripped their bones from their carcasses, feeding their souls into the ancient magic he had now awoken, along with the screaming sacrifices which now burned and melted on fully risen orb as it spun and hummed with ancient magic.
He must have heard Scarlet in some form however, for despite his children’s utter slaughter of the inquisitors, they passed her by almost unnoticed.
As he continued the ancient chant, the words boomed from his lips like thunder, and causing the air to roar with eldritch cries and undulations as his brethren responded in the void. He raised the orb and horn before him like the priests of old, raised it and bathed them in the magic of the ancients. This sacrificial dagger, this breaker of all physical bonds, would bring his ascendency and the Corona star would be his glorious light in heaven.
He felt like a god.
Longsight felt the nick of Scarlet’s blades and the dripping of blood. She looked behind her and saw the face of a mare. Next to her, Ringing Bell finally fell dead to the ground after his neck was punctured. Cooly, Longsight’s horn glowed with power, and was preparing to attack. But the explosion had caught her off guard, a distraction that took her away from Scarlet and to the incoming spheres. And the horrible sight of Scalpel’s forces.
The unicorn let loose her magic,unleashing beam after beam of energy. Spells were cast, blades flashed, and the roaring of pain and rage filled the ruin. It was but only a few minutes, but to those still standing it felt like a lifetime.
Blinding another drone with intense light, Longsight ran back to help support two other agents. She blasted a nearby monolith and it collapsed, though she did not know if she got any of the horrible monsters. So fucking fast , she thought. The Scholars nor Sweeper’s Cult had nothing like this… who are we fighting? The agents took cover behind the rock, and tried to assess the situation.
“Ma’am! What do we do?”, asked a youthful stallion. Probably a new recruit.
“We will not fail due to neither false god worshipers nor a delusional freak,” Longsight replied. She spotted Lens, still drugged and unable to move. “We must fall back. Quickly, we take the Scholar.” The Inquisitors nodded and ran towards the Scholar. Though the Recruit’s face was shredded by a Sphere, two other agents had joined the party. They came close to Lens.
Scarlet jumped in front, swords and axe drawn, “We going somewhere, cupcakes?” She smirked, twirling the swords around and leading them ever closer to the Inquisitors. “I think you three need to relax, let out some pressure, can’t be healthy. Here, let me help you.” the right blade flashed and the neck of the Inquisitor on the right began to spurt blood.
“Oh, looks like a shallow wound. Here, let me help you again.” she cooed almost nurturingly, both swords diving into his neck while the axe lopped off the ear of the one on the other side. She quickly rectified that mistake, burying the axe in the neck of the mare, who crumpled like a rag doll.
“So, what’s your name again?” she asked Longsight, “I know you, just not your name, could you oblige me?”
The agent smiled, a part of her wanting to burst out in laughter. My fellow Inquisitors are dying, an army of abominations threaten Equestria, and a dead martyr returns as an unholy alicorn. Yet here I am, cornered by some random mare who wants to know my name of all things.
“Why not,” she muttered. Before continuing the unicorn casually cast a spell that sent a block of stone in the direction of some Spheres, as to avoid being interrupted. “Alright, my name is Longsight Everclear Brightness.”
Whilst the Inquisitor and the mercenary sized each other up in preparation for conflict, the skies above began to twist and warp in hideous contours, writhing with half-formed shadows and great burning lights. Any sane creature which might have looked up at that moment, under the light of the Monolith, would have sworn the very fabric of reality was unraveling before their eyes.
They would have been right.
Scalpel was not just sane at that moment however, he understood the very means and the way of parting the veil, using the ancient rituals he bent the laws to unleash power of the great void upon him. Around the great ceremonial structure rumbled and shook as it had not done for perhaps forty thousand years, preparing for the way for what was to come.
The titanic central orb was now burned as brightly as a small sun, the roasted bodies of those sacrifice to it turned to ash by its immense power, and the souls of the recently dead driven the unholy machinery onwards to the final pinnacle of energy saturation.
Scalpel twisted and swayed in the sky, his body and mind wracked with ecstasy and rapture which had been brought by the power of the godlike being within him. The ritual was almost complete, soon everything would be as promised. The Black Sun would arise, the injury which had been brought by the failed ascendency would be purified and perfected, he would be as blinding as the sun, and burn with the power of that which had been denied.
Turning his thoughts away from the luxurious ecstasies of the olden magic, he began the final stage in preparation. The pages of the black sun prophecies ripped from their bindings to float in a fluttering sphere around him, and from each page he took the symbols to bind the power of the old magic upon them, carving them unto the heart of a star with the horn of god. With each new addition, the Corona Star resonated with newfound magic, the frequencies of the great void and itself synchronizing, linking, preparing for the godlike lightning which would resurrect this dead husk into living antediluvian star matter once more.
A few desperate stragglers, maimed and critically injured by his children tried to make their way towards him and tear him down.
...And so they had burned in his light, as the old magic stripped them of their bodies and cast them into oblivion.
Her head down, Longsight looked like she was on the verge of despair. “You know… I don’t remember seeing you before, yet you say you know me? Strange. Did I do some harm to a love one? Destroyed your father perhaps? Or was it something more mundane? I stole some cake from you when we went to school together? Dated your boyfriend?”
Her gaze was still averted from Scarlet. “You know, I have so many enemies in my real life, I tend to forget who they are. That was the nice thing of going undercover, being able to forget about the old foes… It was easier to sleep!” Suddenly the two unicorns were engulfed in a blinding light.
The second Longsight cast her spell, she jumped on top of Scarlet and began to stomp with all her might.
Scarlet rolled to the side as Longsight jumped at her, “Your name doesn’t suit you, are you sure you aren’t nearsighted? You’d think a mare with that name would be able to know a bad idea when she has one.” she commented offhandedly, “Now I’d like to make sure you didn’t hurt Lens or her friends too badly, so I need to wrap this up.”
Jamming one of her swords up to the hilt in Longsight’s chest, and using the other to split her horn so she couldn’t counterattack, Scarlet brought in the heavy axe for a finishing blow, neatly severing Longsight’s spine and about half of her neck with it.
With a final cataclysmic roar, the fabric of reality finally tore asunder amidst this decimation of Inquisitors, breaching the bounds and lighting the air with alien skies and eldritch lights. A million flames erupted and exploded around it, as reality groaned under its temporal rejection.
And from amidst it all, he saw the body of a dark god loom above like a destructive angel of times since lost.
Glowing spheres and lightning filled the sky, twisting abnormally around the nameless thing which sound not be, and as it turned its attention to the rupture in space and time which presented itself before it. The world parted, ash fell, trees erupted into burning cinders, and the world exploded into a thunderous roar of unnamable, horrific screaming.
In a harsh blast of bright purple light, a great flaming eye appeared above them, as titan as the sun, dwarfing all the sky under its intensity and searching gaze. From its midst it appeared as if the god of storms had created it out of pure raging chaotic lighting… intense, rapturous, powerful… furious. Amidst its centre was the slit pupil, as if a gigantic snake was peering down from above, ready to lunge and devour the earth with fangs of demonic power, staring at the world with amoral and unknowable intent.
But the pupil was not right… it was growing larger and larger, and the more Scalpel gazed at it, intoxicated with power and madness… the less it seemed to be a pupil….
It was a dark figure… and it was growing.
The final phrase of the ritual fell from his lips like stone, the magically enriched air, enforced by the sacrifices given this night, whiplashed as the ritual was fulfilled. Energy was drained from every corner of the Monolith, even from the trees nearby, who greyed and wilted under the strain. It was if a great vacuum had sucked the oxygen from the world, dragging it screaming into the void.
One by one, the great standing stones of the Monolith fell silent, their power muted, their glowing symbols dulling, draining like blood out the veins of a titan, collecting in infinite density in the dark heart of the Corona Star.
Everything fell silent.
And from the eldritch stars and the burning eye fell a pillar of lightning, falling from the darkness like a dying god might fall, burning and shining as it descended from the heavens.
The world was engulfed in burning white.
And then all was darkness.
Then from the darkness a glow emerged, a dark ominous light, shining with power and transcendent magic… nestled within the hooves of a mortal.
Scalpel gazed down at the Corona Star, its shape alight with glowing power as it began to awaken from death once more, to burn brightly in his hooves once more… and open the gateway to his ascendency.
Then he felt it through his hooves, the deep sonorous beat, the pulse of energy, the primal magic which had been forbidden to all but gods and demons.
The dead heart of a star had begun to beat once more.
Scalpel held it in his hooves, cradling it like a newborn infant, face filled with wonder and glory at his achievement. The light fell away from his eyes, becoming as calm as they had ever been, but now brightened… blue turned azure… and then Tyrian purple. The wings upon his back, once angelic and full of blinding light, began slowly to fade away, like ash on the breeze of time… and slowly the angel that had arisen descended to mortality once more.
As Scalpel touched the ground, he barely registered the obliterated corpses of the Inquisitors, nor the now bowing legions of assembled Risen which knelt before him, revering in the glory of the resurrected star.
The time was now upon this mortal world…
The Time of Angels.
_________________________________________
Armifera smirked as Winterjet issued her challenge, raising a keg towards the northern mare, “Cocky, aren’t ya?” she grinned, “I like it.”
Casting a sobriety spell on herself before corking the whiskey and stowing it in the small pouch on her side, which she handed off to Summer Winds, Armifera’s horn began to glow, surrounding the two sheathed swords at her sides, “Shall I keep an emergency healing spell handy, or do you think you should play it safe and we cover the edges on these contraptions?”
Her horn glowed further, reducing her size and the size of her armor until she was only a little taller than Winterjet, after all it wouldn’t be much of a glorious battle if she dwarfed the mare. Flaring her wings, which now bore gleaming wingblades, she shouted, “I think I’ll take you up on that challenge of yours!”
kapuchu said
*shrugs* It'll come up in the next post.
He and Thea bang all night.
Or just Thea.
That or I need more sleep.
Ugh
So much philosophy in that post
Someone give me a data sheet quick.
So much philosophy in that post
Someone give me a data sheet quick.
Mr Nim said
I fully read the first post and then the first two pages of the OOC and this looks like a really good concept, but I also noticed afterwards that you said it was closed... Is this still the case? Because if so, I think I might leave a Reserve CS here. I would hate to miss a chance to join such a roleplay ^^
Yes please, we very much need some more people.
9:12 PM (21:12 to use the military time, or whatever the proper term is) for me right now.
And for the record I do sleep, just only about 4-5 hours and when I don't have anywhere to be it's generally from 4-5 AM to about 10 (otherwise it's usually 2-3 AM to 7-8 AM). I'm on Eastern Standard Time or GMT -5:00.
Can't wait.
I am the poster girl for excitement.
Get hype, y'all.
And for the record I do sleep, just only about 4-5 hours and when I don't have anywhere to be it's generally from 4-5 AM to about 10 (otherwise it's usually 2-3 AM to 7-8 AM). I'm on Eastern Standard Time or GMT -5:00.
Can't wait.
I am the poster girl for excitement.
Get hype, y'all.
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