Occupied Equestria: set six years after season 6, it presents an alternative history where Chrysalis chose a different approach to her second attack on Equestria. The Changelings have conquered half of Equestria, while an Equestrian splinter colony - soured to Princesses notion of harmony with all creatures thank to their dealing with griffins - Invaded and took the other half. In Baltimare and the Equestruan Southlands, the magic of friendship has weakened, as Communists, Changeling infiltrators, Fascists, gangs, and even ancient necormancers and dark gods threaten the city and the surrounding regions. This role play is based in large part upon the Equestria at War mod for Hearts of Iron 4, and uses D&d 3.5e mechanics.
In this latest episode, the crew has united once again, and returned in full to the catacombs under the Curwhinny farm. What old secrets they will unearth, whether they will survive without being turned into undead monsters... whether Silver will ever get paid... will be determined in this thread.
1870 replies and 59 files omitted.
>>81411"I might have to read more of these. Were you planning on selling these or turning them over to the authorities?"
>>81411>>81408Dark Star looks inside for what silver needed
>>81414Right inside his bag is a large first-aid kit, almost fully-stocked, containing what else but a bottle of headache medication.
>>81415Dark Star passes him the tylenol
>>81413Sister Ash spits at the mention
"Selling them would only put them in the hands of a Wizard who was interested in the same things Curwinney was. Turning them over to the authorities would lead to the same thing, only with more steps." She growls
"There's no reason for something such as that to exist. It's best thrown away."
>>81412She sits up firmly
"No. I've never read any of these books. But it looks like they are valuable histories. And I will tell you now. Knowledge is not evil. The Truth, is not evil. And hiding from it, or trying to destroy it, is an offense to the Great Mother"
>>81413Shimmer has absolutely never read
this particular history
"The authorities, or course"
>>81416"Спасибо…" He greedily takes it and pops it into his mouth, barely managing to open his canteen and take a drink of water to chase the pill down his throat.
>>81418"Ah. A little disappointing. I would have liked to study some of these."
I offer the book back to Blue Skies.
>>81417"That is for you to convince her of. It is her loot after all."
>>81418>>81417"I believe what she said will be true. While knowledge is not evil by itself. The ability to cause harm to others may lead ponies to do evil."
>>81419Dark Star puts the canteen to Silvers lips
>>81416"Help me here Dark Star.
Your Country needs you" Blue Skies tells him
>>81420She takes it
>>81421"Iron, is strength something that can cause harm and do evil?"
>>81422He seems thankful, taking a couple large gulps, to both swallow the pill and to quench his thirst.
>>81423"Yes, but strength is gained from training and dedication of the pony in question. This is knowledge that needs little to no training in order to accomplish evil, so it increases the chance of someone doing evil, because it is accesible."
>>81425"Iron, do you honestly think any pony can learn history or magic without training or dedication?"
>>81417Ash, point out the filly who tried to summon hellhounds.
>>81423>>81425>the fascist is saving books>the neutral/harmonists are burning booksWhat happened? I'm confused.
>>81428"Shimmer, if you value arcane knowledge,
help me out"
>>81423>>81417"Blue is right. the books should not have been burned until spark or silver looked over them. there could have been a journal or something you burned."
Dark Star has a disapointed look on his face as he looks at ash
>>81428Well, if these books are spread, the methods on how to commit evil will spread. That is not good for the world.
>>81431Say it in character. No metagaming
>>81417"so all the books you burned where on how to create zombies?
>>81429"Blue Skies hasn't made a choice so far that we have regretted. She knows the harm they can do, and yet is assured that they are safely kept under the authorities. It also stands to reason the counter to the undead may be found in the study of the books."
>>81425"Iron, let me ask you a question. Who do you trust, or rather who do you
not trust, with the ability to start fire?"
>>81421>>81418Sister Ash gives a snort
"A Wu ge-.. a Wizard's tomb collection is more than just knowledge: It's a tool. It's a culmination of magical practices synthesized for easy duplication. It is not merely a book meant to help those who seek to educate themselves, but a manual for what it was used to practice."
She snorts again, trying to clear the smoke out of her body
"Magical don't help ponies seeking to better themselves, or their understanding of magick. They're merely shortcuts; recordings of lucritive practices that ponies
should spend years planning to perfect. A borrowed tomb does little to make a better mage; it only serves to let cocky young ones believe they know even the first thing about magick because they happened to read it in some manuscript."
She points at the book
"The secrets in that book are useful to two kinds of ponies: the pony who write them, and a pony seeking to haphazardly immitate that pony. They are not unique secrets. An ambitions magi could naturally develop the same powers on their own, without needing shortcuts."
>>81438"Ash. How do you know what you burned were magical tombs. Do you think that he really needed 1000 tombs? Wouldn't just one do the job?"
>>81437"Well, judging from a couple titles. Ancient and lost cultures a little on the occult side"
>>81424With a final satisfied sigh, Silver puts the canteen away, his headache reduced to a more manageable state. With the ability to think regained, the first thing that returns is his anger.
>>81425>>81434>>81435>>81437>>81438Silver steps forward, facing the arguing groups. He looks
pissed. He looks specifically at Ash as he begins to speak. "You can not burn knowledge as easily as you can books."
>>81432Sorry>>81438"Well, that answers the whole 'any pony can learn history or magic question', now doesn't it? If there is no need to learn magic to replicate it, then that question is null and void."
>>81434"Spark, do everypony here a favor and skim all books taken by Skies to see if any one of them contains methods to create any sort of undead, besides any other evil magic."
>>81439"If you think a Wizard only uses one tomb, you've never met one." She replies
"Wizards write spells into all the books they handle simply out of habit."
Also, she was pissed of, and she had to burn something.>>81440"That's exactly my point." She says
>>81441>>81439"Do you mind me looking though your books Skies as he suggests?"
>>81443"Then
why!?" Her response only serves to make Silver even more mad. He takes a step towards the kirin. "Why did you risk our lives over burning few books!?"
>>81443"Oh please. They don't need a literal thousand. Ash, do you
know what these things are?"
>>81444"go ahead"
She lets him see the books around her
>>81446I skim though the books looking for parts related to undead.
>>81445Her ears droop, and she hangs her head
"
That... was inexcusable.. I did not expect the smoke to spend so quickly, and I am to blame for any damages that may have been incurred.." she says with a bow
>>81446>>81447Dark Star loooks at the titles
>>81448At least that one hasn't served to anger him. It hasn't exactly calmed him, either, from the faint sound of his grinding teeth. "But.
Why?"
>>81451>>81450"That is not the issue here at the moment. We need to ascertain that these books do not contain methods on how to do evil magic on them. Then we can discuss on the recklessness of Ash's actions."
>>81452Sister Ash's eyes slowly fade back to their normal state and she walks a good 10 feet away from the group and lays down.
>>81447>>81449Perhaps 9 books surround Skies. One relates to the legends of Kindokini. Another to the worship of Mar deep in the regions of Griffinheim. Another to the Va'kran cult of Zebrica. Another, the legends of the Nordlige Ponnier. Another 2 are like these, but 3 are
different They are hoofwritten, not written by somepony else.
These three are definitely secret histories. One concerns a sorcerer in Sonambula in the middle kingdom, another the aforementioned sorcerer, another even older, dating to the period before the windigos in the Unicorn tribes of the north
Not a single one of the books look like it concerns Curwhinny's powers over life and death. All of them concern the occult, and creatures who were interested in strange things as well as myths. 6 of them were copies of something else made at that time. 3 of them look irreplaceable. It can neither be confirmed nor denied if any of them contain functioning spells, although it would be far from surprising if they did. None are by purpose magical tomes
>>81448"Oh bow yourself. If you don't even have the foresight to know that fire in an enclosed space will kill everypony, then how are you a good judge of such philsophical questions of the value of knowledge?"
>>81451"And you are reckless to destroy knowledge when you don't even know what it is!"
>>81451"Indeed you were." Silver sighs, sitting down. The feeling of his gaze burrowing into her subconscious hasn't entirely gone away. "You are not stupid pony. I know this from just having watched you in there. Even if those books
had contained forbidden, dark magic, you know destroying those books does not change fact that knowledge of these magics still exists. You did not even bother to check if they were indeed what you thought they were before acting, or gaining support from rest of group. Star and I were not even present for ordeal."
>>81452"It is issue to
me." A portion of his anger gets directed to Iron. "I have spent valuable time and money, sweat and blood, on this mission, and now I am not even sure if we will be able to finish it because she acted with impulse. I want to know why."
>>81454> dating to the period before the windigos in the Unicorn tribes of the northDark Star takes this one and flips threw a few pages
>>81456Dark Star can see that this book is written in cursive, and seems to relate the eyewitness accounts of a few unicorns who had been assistants of the court of Princess Platinum, who had a desire to contact the ones living beyond the stars
>>81457Dark Star looks Very Interested in this book
"Princess Platinum?"
>>81454"Most of these pertain to religions and cults already around. A few of these are from long ago. One of these is before Nightmare Moon's banishment. I really wish I could study them further now. But nothing directly related to raising the dead."
>>81458Dark Star can recall from his childhood stories that Princess Platinum was a leader of the Unicorn tribes of the north at around the time of the migration and Equestrian unification
>>81459Iron's will breaks. "Wait, that is all?" He looks down, stupefied. "So the burning was worthless?" Iron shakes his head and sits down. "I cannot believe it." Iron, dejected, leaves alone Skies and retreats to his armor pile and shield in order to equip them, cursing silently.
>>81460Dark Star's eyes flash Recognition
"Wow, i had almost foregotten about her."
Dark Star reads some more about how she planned to contact them
Sister Ash wanders off to where she left the jars, trailing smoke as her body settles down.
>>81462>>81460>>81458Without taking the time to carefully study the book, it's very difficult to say just what, precisely, is going on. It looks as if the book is saying that in those short years before the Windigos. Before Discord. Before Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia. There was a dedicated group of unicorns. They opperated under the assumption that beyond the lunar sphere, out in the either, there were creatures. You could call them angels, you could call them minor gods - but immortal god-like creatures that danced and played on their own. They wanted to... actually, what they were trying to do is hard to determine, again, without taking a full 10 hours to read it. They wanted to access the outer planes. Or bring what was in the planes here. Or merge them...
>>81461"Not necessarily. Who knows what were in the books I
couldn't save
>>81464She gets to where the jars are, and sits upright cross-legged, completely silent before them.
>>81466They are equally silent to her
>>81465"Gods? from Beyond the moon?"
>>81465Iron still curses silently, strapping all his armor pieces and equiping his shield. He then follows Spark.
>>81459Silver just sighs once more. He gets up from where he is sitting. And goes to where Ash is heading.
>>81466"I still would like to know why." Silver's voice no longer carries the anger it once had, though it's clear he's still looking for an answer. "You are kirin. I have never heard of your people until now. It is clear you are gifted with fire...sometimes too gifted...I want to understand reasoning behind your decision. Why you made it, and why you made it so rash."
>>81468"... I am fine..." She says after a whike, visibly
not on fire anymore.
>>81467She's praying, silently
>>81469The text refers to them as "outer ones." They seem to be creatures that date from beyond creation. They are not monolithic, but rather are of diverse kind. Now he sees it. They wanted to talk to one under the light of a full moon. Or at least, that is what they did on one moonlit gathering - the unicorns all wearing their robes and prostrating themselves before the night sky
>>81473When is the next full moon?
>>81474Well, the moon last night was waxing gibbous, so definitely within one week. Like tonight or in two days, maybe three
>>81475Dark Star seems like he is considering something
>>81472Iron, still angry, now stands next to the prone Ash, looking for threats.
>>81471"Silver, as much as I would like to know her motives, I would suggest leaving some time for her to think it through." Iron states, fully armored except his good hitting hoof and shield equipped on his other hoof.
>>81477"Spark, do not be a fool. She is clearly not fine. Leave her be until then."
>>81476Reading on... wait. Wait a minute. The author
did try to get the incantations. He seems to stop to relate this part very carefully. He has at least two different versions of the same spell here, evidently coming from two different witnesses. He makes notes about translation issues. He talks also about what the subtleties could mean. He implies that he got this knowledge from "spirits" and at some point had to coerce the information out. It's obvious he doesn't know if the evocation permutations would work or not. He mere tried to write it down with as much detail as possible. That was a 5 page tangent as he describes the night
>>81478"Sometimes a fool learns the hard way."
>>81471She speaks again after a few seconds
"... I was wandering through the lair of that stallion. I found the place where he kept his treasures. In the moment, nothing in that place seemed worth saving to me, nothing alive.. so I decided it may as well burn..."
She opens her eyes slowly
"... I cannot say what I did was the right thing to do, but it felt like that in the moment.. a room full of stolen masterpieces, all stolen from the ones who would have properly valued them, for the greed of a wicked pony willing to torture souls to amass his wealth and power... At the time, I only wanted it all to burn, perhaps not because the things in that room deserved it, but because it I felt they should..."
Her shawl gas finally stopped smoking
>>81479Dark star continues reading
>>81483Sources vary as to exactly what animals were brought, and what needed to be done for the ritutal, although the author clearly has his theory of what the components were, and he points out other details of the event that would be helpful should anypony reading it decide they want to come up with their own theory. Anyways, it seems as if it was successful in its first attempt with the unicorn contacting one of the Outer Ones. But the Outer Ones quickly filled his mind with a slew of negative emotions, causing him to break contact. This concerned the onlookers, but convinced them the process was working in part, and they committed to meet at the next full moon in an even larger session
>>81482Iron looks sternly at Ash. "As much as I would like to forgive this transgression, it is a sign of something more problematic. You need to rein in your emotions or this will happen again, and maybe somepony will die for it next time you lose control again, and I can guarantee that you would feel devastated by killing somepony who did not really deserve it."
Ironic isn't it? >>81471"Silver. Psst!" Blue Skies comes up to him and whispers
>>81482Silver nods. He understands, or at least, understands enough. "You are young, yet. You have not yet learned control of such feelings. It is not something I could blame you for, so long as you understand where you went wrong, and are willing to take steps towards controlling it." He gives her a pat on the back, no longer afraid of having his hoof catching fire from contact.
>>81487Silver turns to her, wondering what she wants of him.
>>81484is there any notes on what it said to him?
>>81489"Can we move away and talk in private?"
>>81490The unicorn who was the conduit of the activity was not one of the perspectives who relate the story. The unicorn seemed to have been filled with hate at the time, and after contact was broken, seemed to have this theory that the rest of the group were plotting against him. That is just the first time, anyways
>>81491As if Dark Star has been put under a compulsion spell, he continues reading.
>>81489Sister Ash nods slowly as her eyes shut and she resumes her prayer.
>>81491Silver nods, standing up.
>>81493"If you wish, we can talk more later. I do not know what help I can be to you, but I can try to help you on path of control, if you will allow me."
>>81491With his talk with Ash concluded, he goes with Blue.
Well, with everypony busy, the sorcerer, glass by his side, trots back to camp.
>>81494"... I must finish this reposition.. These lost ones must have heir eulogy, if they are to rest..." She replies, before resuming her unintelligible prayer
>>81493Iron stands by her side. He has composed himself from his anger and stands straight. He wonders how could someone be taught not to be angry.
>>81492There was a debate among the unicorns of the circle. Some of them thought that the incident proved the outer ones were hostile, some thought them a mix of good and evil, and some of them thought that they could be placated. There was another session. In this incident, when they contacted the outer ones, one responded very clearly. The outer one seemed to think that everypony was... boring. Dreadfully boring and normal. He convinced the conduit that his quest for knowledge was futile because of the finite perceptual abilities and mental faculties of a pony. This revelation was said to visibly dull his coat and break him emotionally. But the effect was confined to the pony who had been the conduit, and everypony else began to believe that it may be possible to select who to speak to, or perhaps even to summon to the terrestrial plane
>>81494She takes him over to the side, and whispers
"Did you pocket anything else?"
>>81498"so they're evil? hmmmm"
Dark Star continues reading
>>81498"There was not much, I am afraid. Most valuable thing I found was this." He pulls out Alabaster's silver locket; he tries to carefully remove the picture it contains. He also pulls out the necklace the native skeleton wore from yesterday. "It seems, if there was treasure, it was either burnt down, or in area of catacombs we did not search."
>>81499In the third session, the conduit managed to contact a different outer one. This one was proper, well speaking, and at least seemed to be trustworthy. This Outer One seemed to have a problem with the ponies and their nature, finding them disorderly and in need of stern guidance. The conversation with the outer one continued for quite some time, but it is very clear that this one took a deep interest in the lives of ponies on the terrestrial plane
>>81500She examines it
"This locket is much too old to have belonged to that foal"
Sister Ash remains in prayer position before the jars for as long as the rest of the party remains outside, not moving from her position even once.
>>81501He seems interested in this particular bit of information. "Are you sure it was not just gift to him?"
>>81503"Look at the attire on this unicorn mare"
She shows him the image in the locket
"This looks older than 930"
>>81502Iron stands besides her, also not moving from his position as a guard.
>>81501"He contacted another one? wow!"
Where in Equestria is this set?
>>81504He examines it himself, even if he's unsure about his own knowledge on the styles of attire for different time periods.
>>81507A style of bun that looks particularly old, with ornate red dress. The locket it heart shaped and silver
>>81506Still another one responded as well. This one was not quite as enthusiastic as the previous: the outer one liked the freedom of the outer planes, and the creativity it allowed, and did not want to loose that. But neither was the outer one indifferent to the land of ponies
This is set in the northern lands north of Equestria, in Dream valley of the kingdom of the Unicorns, prior to the migration
>>81508"Hmm. That is odd. What do you think this means, if anything?"
>>81509"That this isn't Alabaster's locket. That, or somepony gave him a locket far older than his grandmother. I think he had it in his hoof or something"
Okay, it's getting really late for me.
Sister Ash will be praying for each jar individually. It may take her more than an hour, while the of the party does whatever.
>>81477>>81508"Hey Spark. come check this out."