Silver raised an eyebrow, then noticed that Moonshine was in a corner booth with a bottle of bottom shelf rotgut and a full ashtray. She'd likely already told everypony what had happened. "Dracaryns," Silver replied. "From the planet Dracarys." He turned to Staal, who had walked in beside him. "Drinks are on me. You and the boys go relax." Staal nodded, and the Dracaryns settled in the booths. "First thing is first," Silver said, "I will be needing ten bottles of Connemara whisky. Top shelf." ************************************************************************ Nightshade shrugged. "I have what I need. I'm ready whenever you all are. And I think I've figured out how to get us all in."
"Tell us on the way," Navaja requested. "I'm getting an itch to try out my new blades." Raven nodded, securing her spear under her wing. "Same goes for my electric dip*squee!* poker." ~~~~~~~~~ Dusty made his way behind the bar, floating down ten bottles of the high quality whisky. "So you know, officially, you're dead. It'd be hard to make a tab for you on our new government-approved system."
Silver produced a single large gold bar from his pocket dimension storage device, which had replaced his bag of holding after he had left his equipment in the care of the Council. He would eventually be wanting that back, by the way. "I trust this will suffice? I have not had time to visit my vault, and I see you have an omni-register installed." *************************************************************************************** For the sake of pacing, we're going to skip right ahead to a hanger in Canterlot, where a familiar airship awaited our heroes. Those who had been on the ill-fated voyage to the Old Country would recognize the ship, refitted and repaired after narrowly escaping the minions of Apophis two and a half years earlier.
"That will cover it, yes." Dusty simply placed the gold bar into his register. "Do you need change? I may not be able to break this." ~~~~~~~ "Whoa..." Maya gazed up at the ship in awe from the hangar. "This the ship you dudes used to go up north?" "Si," Navaja answered. "I'm surprised they didn't decide to scrap it, after all that damage."
Silver chuckled. "I suspect we will find a way to spend that much today." His eyes narrowed. "Now, on to something more important. Why does it smell like a dead glutton demon in here?" **************************************************************************************************** "I bought the ship from Gaston and Galahad's sister about a year ago," Nightshade said. "Cost me three million, and another six to have it fixed up. But it was worth it. She's the fastest airship in Equestria, and her shields can survive a volcanic blast. No weapons, though."
Dusty narrowed his eyes, mildly confused. "Hmm? Oh. You mean the, um... severed demon head. Somepony brought it in as a gift." ~~~~~~~ "We are the weapons," Azrael reminded. "Sounds about right to me," Rave agreed with a smirk. Asmo snickered. "With ponies like us, who needs guns?"
Silver nodded. "I wonder, perhaps, if it is related to the conspicuous absence of my daughter and several of your other regulars?" He had heard from several guards that Nightshade still spent most of her downtime at Maya's. She wasn't at home, so he'd hoped to find her here. ******************************************************************************** "That's the spirit," Nightshade said cheerfully. "We've got a long way to go, so let's go ahead and board now."
Our heroes quickly boarded the ship, as though guided by some invisible hand trying to force a story forward in spite of obvious pacing issue. Before long, the were on their way east, to a small island located in the Celestial Sea between Griffonstone and the dragon lands.
"That where we're getting in?" Raven asked curiously, looking out one of the windows on the bridge towards the island. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "They're assassinating a dead pony," Dusty said plainly. "You remember when Discord stopped Azrael from completely destroying Apophis' soul before he sent Belial to hell? Well..."
Nightshade nodded, steering the ship towards a large hole that billowed smoke. The ship dropped into an inferno, the shields crackling as the raging fires threatened to break through. After a few moments, the flames were behind them, and massive underground city appeared below them. "Welcome to Necropolis. The city of the dead." ******************************************************************************** Silver grunted. "That is unfortunate news. Apophis had followers. Many followers." He would know. He'd spent the last two years waging war on the Apophii Empire. "If they learn their master still exists, in any form, they will seek him out. And they would happily tear this planet apart in the process."
Selena: Huh. Anypony bring SPF 5000? (Trying to make the mood a little lighter but most likely failing) Rep: (sending a snippet of himself to the bar if possible, having reached his destination) *A blurry figure started forming in the bar*
"I know of this city," Azrael said, approaching the window to look out. "Many old poems had different interpretations of the city, from a kind of purgatory, to a hellish place. I never made it this high up during my time. I'm curious about it." "It's okay here," Asmo said simply. "I had no idea this place really existed," Navaja said in amazement. "Remember that Japonese fighting game I was helping do the tracks for?" Raven spoke. "One of the fighters has a finishing move where she drags the loser here. Never heard o' the place till I saw that." "I have a little SPF 50," Maya offered to Selena. "Close enough?" ~~~~~~~~~~~ Dusty nodded. "So that's why they need to erase Belial as soon as possible. I would go with, but I was tasked with holding down the bar. And keeping the young one entertained." Moondust climbed up to one of the booths next to the aliens, curiously poking one of them in the head to see what they felt like.
Selena: That'll work. Thanks Maya. *The figure in the bar, coalesces into Rep, but only vaguely.* RepB: Hello all.
Silver glanced at the figure that had appeared in the bar. "Representative. Good. I wanted to speak with you." ***************************************************************************** Staal glanced at the young pony poking his scaly head, grinned, and breathed a ring of silvery smoke at the lad. It was a trick that never failed to delight his own children. **************************************************************************************** The Pequod, as Nightshade had rechristened the airship, sailed over the city for what felt like weeks, cruising between stone towers that stretched up for thousands of feet into the blood red mist that clung to the ceiling of the cavern. Below them, millions of souls looked up in curiosity, the braver winged ones flying close to get a look at the living who had entered the realm of the dead. Nightshade set the ship down in an open area in front of a massive palace, and cut the engines. "There are a few things you need to know before we go down there. When any thinking creature dies on Equus, except under extraordinary circumstances, their soul is sent here. In Necropolis, the worth of the soul is weighed by the god Anubis, and sent to Paradise or Tartarus. But, as you saw, some souls choose to delay judgement. It may be fear, or unfinished business, but they choose to remain." She glanced at the crowd gathering around the airship, recognizing a few of the faces among the dead. "But some are forced to remain in the city. When you take the life of another, their soul becomes bound to yours. They are forced to wait in the Necropolis until the one who took their life faces their own judgement. At that time, the weight of their lives, and all the good or evil they may have done had they lived, is weighed against the soul of the killer." She sighed. "I'm telling you this because every single one of of us has killed before. And now they've come to greet us."
"I did my first kill a thousand years ago," Maya hissed quietly. "And I'm not dead yet... My mom. She's here. Buck, dude, that's not cool..." "Guess my parents already got past this place," Raven thought aloud. "Even if the dude's alive now, he died before." "I recognize a lot of these faces," Azrael said plainly, glancing out the window. Navaja nodded, heading to get ready to leave the ship. "Many high-profile targets of mine in the crowd." "Lot of these mooks start to smell the same to me after a while," Asmo admitted. ~~~~~~~~ Moondust stared at the smoke, eyes wide, clearly amazed. "Whoooa..." Dusty gave Rep a small nod. "Hello again, old friend."
Nightshade glanced at Raven. "They could be here. Many choose to wait for their loved ones in the city. Would you want to see them if they were?" ************************************************************************* Among the crowd, there were many ponies who had been turned into wraiths by the power of Apophis and the windigos. One of them, a unicorn who looked startlingly like Blackout, approached the ship.
"I left my equipment aboard the Council ship when I destroyed the swords," Silver replied. "I would very much like to have it returned to me."
