Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience

[AuthorTransient]

Spoiler: After the Fourth Regrettable Action

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

Tally
[X] Open it.
[X] You gave him a warning.

---

I thought I had seen it before.
In the shadows.
Or in my nightmares.
Or in the eyes of those who are committed to harming their fellow ponies.
But at that moment, I realized I was wrong.
I had never truly seen it, until that day.
I had never truly seen it, until it burst out of that cursed jar.​

-Memoirs of a protector.​

- - -



You are Paperflank. And right now, you are making your final preparations for… for what comes next.

"Make sure it's tight, but not too tight," the assistant armorer says, as he continues to check the equipment he is strapping to your body. "We don't want this falling off your flank or your legs, sure, but we don't want your gear cutting off your blood flow either."

You are currently in an ad-hoc Bureau outpost in Manehattan, in a temporary armory that was flown in from Canterlot just a few hours ago. All around you Bureau agents are hard at work, running this and that way as they see to all kinds of tasks.

In the last few hours, this building has become a buzzing hive of activity. Walls are being reinforced as much as they can be, in such a short period of time. Barricades are being built. Entire passages are being sealed off. And a few minutes ago, you heard that the surrounding block has finally been fully evacuated.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this place is being fortified, yes. But here's the thing. This building isn't being secured against a threat coming from the outside.

On the contrary, all the barricades, blocks and barriers are facing the inside. Everypony's attention, and the several lines of safety that are being raised, are meant to keep something from getting out, not the other way around.

"Alright, shake your legs a bit more just so I'm sure that… yeap, you're all set. Good luck in there, Paperflank," the assistant armory says.

And after you give one last thankful nod to the stallion, you make your way out of the armory, and towards the barricaded stairs that will take you to the underground level.

You can feel your heartrate picking up inside your chest, slightly. You feel nervous, yes, maybe even afraid. But not enough for you to want to give up on this. And hopefully, not enough for you to become a liability, when it truly matters.

Because the thing is, you are a constable of the Lunar Bureau, yes. But your position and skills, even if above that of the average Equestrian constable, still place you squarely as a "rank and file" constable within the Bureau. You are not in a position of leadership, you don't really have any specialized skills, you are not an investigator, and you are definitely not a member of one of the few strike teams at the Commissioner's disposal.

And yet, here you are. Dressed from head to tail in body armor, and making your way to what you have been very clearly told will be a fight.

Because yesterday, during the raids in Manehattan, the Lunar Bureau has found something everypony is referring to as a "monster".

And today, the Commissioner has given the order that the Lunar Bureau will kill it.

…

Yes, a lot has happened during the last twenty-four hours. In fact, you are pretty sure it hasn't even been a full day yes. Still, everything is happening in a blur.

Because just yesterday the Manehattan raids were proceeding apace. Just yesterday you were with the rest of your team, cross-referencing clues and warrants as you made your way to either knock on or kick down another door. So you could hopefully find yet another member of the Gardeners criminal gang.

Just yesterday, you were involved in the raids. But then again, everypony in the Bureau is involved in the raids one way or the other. After all, Manehattan is a huge city, and the resources of the Bureau are limited. So, you are pretty sure that nine out of ten Bureau constables are here, and that a number of detectives has also stayed behind to help, despite the talk that they are mostly focused on some other task.

However, again, all of that came to a halt around the afternoon. Out of the blue, word came down that everypony was supposed to stop what they were doing and report back to their supervisors. Orders from the Commissioner herself, who apparently came to the city early in the morning.

For the first few hours, all everypony heard was that a "dangerous item" had been found. One that matched the description you were all told to look out for.

But before evening came around, everypony heard one way or the other what was truly going on.

The item they had found was not an item. It was a monster, or the cage of a monster. A dreadful mixture of a cursed artifact and genie in a bottle from the fairy tales you heard when you were a foal.

It was a monster, and the Commissioner was gathering ponies who were going to kill it.

To your surprise, you heard that the first thing the Commissioner asked to be brough from Canterlot was paperwork. And while everypony rushed to see her orders done, by securing a building and checking equipment and making sure everypony was accounted for, the Commissioner herself was apparently sifting through everypony's personal files, that were flown down from the capital. Looking for something, they said, in the details of everypony's personal lives.

What happened next was… well, everything.

A specific building in the city, an abandoned museum, was commandeered by the Commissioner herself. Because "it has an underground vault," from what you heard, and because commandeering a bank for the same thing would "take too long".

A very well-secured convoy was set up, transporting the thing they found to this newly acquired vault. Closing off every street it went through and practically galloping through the city as if the transport carriage could explode at any moment.

And finally, the entire building was sealed up and reinforced as if Princess Celestia herself had decided to make that place her new permanent residence.

But of course, the most surprising thing, to you at least, was that this morning you were informed that…



"Paperflank, you are here. Good. That makes all of us."



After passing through all the checkpoints, and noticing that more than just a few barriers were locked behind you as you made your way down, you finally reach the gathering room.

"Yes sir. Paperflank, from the fourth Constable Team, reporting as ordered," you say, giving the stallion a quick salute as you enter the room.

You are currently in the underground section of the commandeered museum. The old National Museum of Equestrian History, which you heard was moved to a more affluent part of Manehattan years ago. To be more precise, you are currently in one of the rooms that lead to the underground vault where certain pieces of art were stored, while not on display.

In this room with you, are five other ponies.

All of them are wearing the same full-body armor as you are.

But unlike you, all of them look like they know what they are doing.

Of course, it is not that you have never used equipment like this before. However, you have only worn this kind of gear during training, either during the physical examinations to ensure you are up to the Bureau's standards, or during the instruction sessions where you familiarize yourself with the available gear.

So yes, you have already put on this kind of gear.

But everypony else in this room is part of one of the Bureau's strike teams. Everypony else in this room works with this kind of gear, and maybe even bled in this kind of gear, whereas you feel more like a tourist in this kind of situation.

Everypony else in this room is maybe a full ear taller than you are. They are all either taller, or they are stronger, or they just look like they are made of sterner stuff than you are.

So, it only makes sense that you look like the odd one out.

"With respect, sir," one of the other ponies speaks up towards the leading stallion, "are you sure about this? We have two full strike teams here in Manehattan. Hay, I even told you Steel Kick and Bush Wacker wanted in. We have ponies who can definitely kick harder than him who volunteered. So why…" he finishes, waving a hoof in your general direction.

His unspoken question is obvious. It's something you don't understand yourself, and that you are sure everypony else is asking themselves as well.



Because why in Celestia's good name were you picked to be part of this team? Why in Equestria did you, a Bureau constable that by every measurable standard can be considered mediocre, received a message this morning that the Commissioner hoof-picked you for the team that would face… whatever monster they found?



You try your best to hide your frown at the pointed question, but you are sure that they are picking up on it. Still, you aren't really frowning at him for saying that. You are frowning because you agree with him.

Because sure, you weren't drafted into this. The runner made it very clear the Commissioner wanted the ponies she picked to agree to the assignment, on a volunteer basis. And you understand that this is a risk. Perhaps even a lethal one.

And sure, you understand that even though you are "mediocre" by the Bureau's standards… well, the Bureau's standards aren't exactly low either. And you know your way around a fight.

But still, you don't understand why she picked you. Especially when you are so clearly the odd one out. The only former constable in a room full of former guards. The only beat cop in a room full of ponies who spearheaded the Blueblood raid.

"He's here because the Commissioner said he should be here," the leading stallion says, shrugging to his fellow soldier. "Besides, look around you. Look at what we are working with. Two unicorns, two pegasi, and me and him make it two earth ponies. This is a textbook strike team as far as I'm concerned."

The other pony is about to open his mouth to say something. But before he has the chance, a lean and solid pegasus mare speaks up, both towards him and the rest of the room.

"That's not the only reason, lieutenant," she says. And her voice sounds so confident that everypony, yourself included, turn towards her. "I mean, can't you see what we all have in common here?"

She asks that, and waits for a few moments as she exchanges a few glances with everypony else.

And sure enough, a look of realization dawns on a few of them after she says that. You figure they all know each other, since they are all in the same line of work within the Bureau. But still, you can only wait until she finally continues to speak.

"Me, the lieutenant, and Sharp Wind over there are from the same strike team, so I can vouch for them. You two boys are from Red Team, so it's a statistical probability," she says to the stallion that first spoke up. "Can't you see? Everypony in this room… already killed somepony, in the line of duty. Everypony here has blood on their hoofs. Which also explains why the Commissioner went over our files of all things, before picking this team."

You feel your breath catch in your throat as the mare says that.

"Isn't that right, Paperflank?" she asks, turning towards you.

And for all that there is no accusation in her eyes, you still feel… tense.

Even among career constables, killing a pony isn't something normal. In fact, it's not something that should happen to begin with. Violent ponies exist, yes, but it is your duty to apprehend them and bring them to justice, and not to do anything else. And for all that killing a pony isn't a black mark on your career, it's still something that… something which everypony else thinks is…

… well, it's not something to be proud of.

Because that's just not something that ponies do.

But still, the pegasus mare is right. And you feel your throat dry up a little bit, before you answer her (and everypony else's) unspoken question.

"My fourth year serving in Baltimare. Had been on the trail of a perp for a while, investigating some suspicious deals with certain… wealthy ponies. And when I finally caught up to him, I found out he was a… he was a foal peddler," you say, earning a few serious, but respectful, glances from the surrounding ponies. "He resisted, things got ugly, and that was that."

You don't really think you need to tell them anything else.

You leave out the part where, after that, they gave you a medal and quietly transferred you to the paper-pushing side of the Constabulary.

You leave out the part where the final report from the internal investigation fully cleared you of any misdeeds, after citing evidence you never reported on.

You leave out the part where you saw red, and where you came back to your senses only after you finished drowning him on a nearby ditch.

Still, the only regret you have about any of that is that… well, you couldn't get any more evidence out of him. You were able to save his last batch of "merchandise", but after that every other trail you had went cold. You are sure you would never have been able to investigate anypony who was rich enough to fund that kind of crime. But still, you regret not finding out more about the peddler's operation.

"That… that actually makes sense," the first stallion speaks up, giving you a second look-over from hoof to head as if reassessing his first opinion of you. "But still, does anypony know anything else about this? I mean, word is that we found a monster. But instead of a rampage on the streets, we all got herded here and… well, and then we get told to wait. Does anypony even know what this is really all about?"

"Well, you won't have to worry about that for much longer, because we are about to find out," the leading stallion says. "Commissioner is going to brief us personally. So, straighten your backs everypony, I'm about to let her know we are ready."

With that, the lead stallion leaves the room, leaving you alone with the other four ponies. And you force your eyes down so you don't meet the stare of the outspoken stallion, or the pegasus mare, or indeed anypony else who is in the room.

But even that silence doesn't last for long.

Moments later, the door opens once again, and you all straighten your backs and salute as the Commissioner walks in.



- - -

"I will only ask this once. I ordered the runner that summoned each of you to be very clear about this, but I also want you to hear this from me personally. What we are about to do will be incredibly dangerous. We might get hurt, and some of us might even die. I will not hold it against anypony if you decide to leave now. Is there anypony who would like to leave?"​

You already met her before, of course. Like everypony else, she interviewed you herself during the onboarding period, and you have already seen her on occasion.

But still, now that you are once again face to face with her, you can't help but think back on the… stories, that you heard.

The first time you spoke to her, in the makeshift interview room whose only unusual characteristic was the fact it was located in Canterlot, she looked and felt like nothing but a regular mare. A thin and delicate-looking noble, who somehow landed in a position of importance like so many others. In fact, you remember thinking that the unicorn stallion next to her was actually in charge, since you had heard ahead of time a former member of the Royal Guard would be involved in the interview process.

Regardless, you remember not thinking much about her, the very first time you met her. And you remember feeling surprised, but otherwise unimpressed, when you learned she was the actual Commissioner of the Lunar Bureau.

And then, you heard… other things.

"Very well. Pay attention, everypony. I will now brief you all on what lies ahead."​

As your days in the recently-created Bureau stretched into weeks, you heard other things from your fellow constables. Tales and, well gossips, that she was strangely close to the Princess. Even after the Catastrophe. Stories of her previous image, and her strange anonymity, within the noble circles. And about her influence in the search for Princess Luna even before that.

Word around the Bureau was that the more ponies learned and heard about her, the more she felt like a ghost. A figure that somehow had been in the backdrop of Equestria all along, serving the Princesses' will in some unseen way, who only stepped out of the shadows in the wake of the Catastrophe itself because the Princesses had nopony else available that they could trust.

Naturally, you only gave half an ear to those rumors. You are more than used to barracks-talk, and you know that paper-pushers have nothing but time to make up stories in their offices, to share with the groundstompers when they return to file their reports.

But the problem was that… well, the stories just kept coming.

"The thing we are about to face is a monster. It is currently trapped, or maybe contained, inside a receptacle. But it won't stay in there for long. The receptacle already shows signs of wear and tear, and at times it feels like the creature is about to break free. We don't even know if we should, or even can, take it to Canterlot before it escapes. So, we are going to set it loose, on our terms, and get rid of it once and for all."​

You were involved with the security detail of Princess Cadance's marriage, and you saw with your own eyes how the Commissioner was standing next to the Alicorn of Love herself as she spoke her vows.

Your team was in the Bureau a few weeks ago, when the Commissioner was in a particularly foul mood, and you remember how something as small as her gaze felt like a whip on your back.

You were one of the ponies who was rushed to that small town, whose name you can't really remember, after the Commissioner was almost assassinated. And you saw the remains of the ponies that were quartered, cut into pieces like slices of fruit, after they tried to get to the Commissioner. And you know for a fact that there was nopony else in that place who could have done that, save for the mare herself.

And then of course there was the Greenhoof affair…

So, again, you have already met the Commissioner. You have already seen her before.

But you will never fool yourself into thinking that you know her.

"I must warn you, though. This monster we are about to face… this thing. It is not a pony. It is not a creature. It is not even alive to begin with. And we have never faced anything like this before. Not us from the Bureau, and not anypony else who is alive in the present age."​

And as the mare briefs you all on what is about to happen, your certainty that there is something about her only deepens.

Because the mare that is here with you right now, standing in the middle of the room as she calmly explains to you that you might all die, is not just a noble mare. She can't just be a noblemare. She is too cold, and too sharp, and too certain of what she is doing. Her thin and lithe frame isn't moving the way you have seen countless civilian ponies move around.

In fact, you only just realized that none of you questioned the fact that the Commissioner is here to begin with. Because if you had heard this story from anypony else, that some fragile noblemare was about to help kill a monster, you would have thought the speaker was insane.

But for some reason, for some insane reason that none of you can even think to question, nopony is pointing that out. Nopony thinks there is anything wrong with this. In fact, a part of you feels relieved that she is here.

Because she is not just a fragile noblemare. She is not a sweet-talking posh who tripped and stumbled her way into the Princesses' favor.

She is the Commissioner of the Lunar Bureau.

And your ears are perked up in attention as you drink every last word that is coming out of her mouth.

"The thing we are about to face is… Evil. Pure and simple. It is Evil itself. And the only consolation we have is that we can, we must, and we will kill it."​

She says that, and then she lightly taps her hoof on the ground as if to make a point.

None of you cheer. None of you smile. None of you express anything other than grim determination, and a deep understanding that this has to be done. That this has to be done, and that if you don't do this, then somepony less prepared will have to.

So, after the Commissioner takes one last look around the room, she nods to herself and quietly leaves.

The lead stallion, the lieutenant, follows after her. And you all file behind them after that.

"I will be taking point. Lieutenant," you hear her say from up ahead. "I trust you to direct the squad to support me."

And a short walk later, you reach the large and imposing doors that lead to the museum's vault.

But before you even set hoof beyond the metal doors, a chill reaches your spine, and a sickening whisper starts to caress your ears.



- - -



There is nothing left to say.

There is nothing left to do.

Now, you must act.

The seven of you are currently inside the underground vault of the commandeered museum. The doors of the vault are locked shut. The ventilation panels have all been blocked. And the closest Bureau ponies, other than yourselves, are a full level above you, tensely waiting on the top of the main staircase behind a thick set of barricades.

The room you are currently in, the vault itself, is a large circular-shaped structure. It is several ponies tall, definitely tall enough for your two pegasi to fly, which in turn brings you to your current configuration.

On the two opposite sides of the vault, close to the distant walls, are the two unicorns. Ready to use whatever spells their horns can conjure for this fight.

High above and close to the ceiling are the two pegasi. Ready to be as mobile as possible, to help however they can.

You are standing next to the lieutenant, the two earth ponies ready to stand your ground as needed.

The Commissioner herself is right in front of you, just a few paces away.

And at the very center of the vault is…

"…"​

… the very sight of it is already sickening, somehow.

At the very center of the vault, is a pony-sized jar. Marble white and so cold that even the ground under it is already coated with frost.

The jar itself is covered in thick metal chains, with a few locks here and there for good measure. Although they all look bent, or worn, or like they are about to crack thanks to the brittle frost that surrounds the jar.

And then, of course, inside the jar itself is…

"…"​

You know that sound.

You know that sound.

You recognized it the moment you heard it.

The Commissioner told you all about this. It told you the jar itself was cursed. That the creature inside it was even worse than that. And that the monster would try to get inside your very mind, telling you whatever was needed, just for the sake of tormenting you.

And true to her words, the moment you stepped into the vault, you started to hear it.

The sound of gurgling. The sound of a pony drowning.

The sound of the monster you killed, all those years ago, as you held him down with your own hoofs and drowned him in that ditch.

This sound, this ringing noise inside your ear, disgusts you. It disgusts you because it reminds you of everything you saw that day. It disgusts you because it reminds you that you failed to apprehend the ponies that truly matters, the ones that were funding that whole operation. It disgusts you… because you swear that the jar makes it sound like he is laughing even as you hear him drown.

The thing inside that jar, you know, hates you. It hates you, and it is mocking you, and it wants you to suffer. Because whatever curse or whatever spell it knows is enough to look into your mind. And it is using that power for the sole purpose of tormenting you.



"Everypony, get ready! On my mark!"



But the Commissioner's words snap you back to your senses.

You push your hoofs under you, as if trying to dig yourself into the concrete floor to get a more stable base. You let your adrenaline, and your past experiences, and the very purpose that comes from your cutie mark wash over you, as you steel yourself for what comes next.

Less than a second later, the Commissioner's horn begins to glow, and the color of her magic surrounds the chains around the jar.

And when they come loose, three things happen at the same time.

The first thing that happens is that gravity asserts itself over the chains, and they slide off the sides of the jar and towards the ground with a heavy thud.

The second thing that happens is that the lid of the jar explodes towards the air.

And the third is that a monster, a creature so foul and dreadful and old that it could only have been dragged from the farthest reaches of the pre-historic past, all but bursts out of the jar.

It bursts out of the jar, and it HOWLS as it does that.

"SEND ME TO THE MIDSTS OF MY ENEMIES, THAT I MAY DIE KILLING!"​

Its words, if you can even call them that, are almost burned into your brain. The searing cold of its sheer malice branding itself into your conscience with the aching cold of a savage frostbite.

It doesn't roar those words, because merely saying that it is roaring would not do justice to it. Instead, it is as if the very soul of that creature poured out of that jar, the moment its lid was open. Causing the air to tremble into sound, and then into words, as if that utterance was the very manifestation of its being.

As if it had poured out its very essence, its very being, with that declaration.



It wants to die.

It wants to kill you.

And above all else, it hates.



Everything around you dims into a violent fog.

An impossible wind blows from every direction.

And at the very heart of that localized storm, the harbinger of ponykind's very End looks down upon you, its eyes making it very clear that it exists solely to bring about your extinction.



[The Windigo has initiated combat]

[The Lunar Bureau will respond. Velvet Covers has placed herself as the Main Combatant]



There is no hesitation. There is no half-second spent in muted silence, as each side contemplates the other. In fact, the beast never stops moving at all.

One moment, it is bursting out of the jar and violating your senses with its muted warcry.

And on the next, it is already charging at you. It is charging at you all. Because all the motivation it needs to kill you all is the fact that you are alive.

But as if to make a point that Ponykind will not give up without a fight, you don't hesitate either.

Spoiler: Combat Rolls

Spoiler: Multi-combat rules

Multi-combat rules.

A single character is currently fighting against two or more enemy combatants, and lacks a "multi-combat" skill to engage them separately.

The individual character will only engage (and be able to wound) the enemy "main combatant".

Conversely, all enemy combatants will be able to "contribute" to the overflow of the individual character.

As always, characters will be able to "maneuver" (to escape, change the "main combatant", or perform other actions) through a test that applies Martial status or other relevant bonuses (but it will not apply Edge, since it is not a personal combat roll).

Spoiler: Combatants

Combatants

Six-pony team of constables has been generated as follows:
-One 4/4 health team-leader, with 10 +2d6 personal combat;
-Four 3/3 +1d2-1 contables, with 11 +1d6 personal combat;
-One personalized character;
-All Lunar Bureau characters possess the trait [Murderer].

[Combatants (name, health, personal combat)]
-Windigo (3/3, +55) (Solo Combatant)
-Velvet Covers (3/3, + 29) (Current Main Combatant)
-Team-leader (4/4, +18)
-Constable 1 (4/4, + 17)
-Constable 2 (3/3, +15)
-Constable 3 (4/4, +14)
-Constable 4 (3/3, +14)
-Paperflank (3/3, +11)

[A Confident Certainty: both the Commissioner and the Windigo will roll two dice, and keep the highest, every six dice rolls]



[Windigo's first roll: 63 73 + 55 (Personal Combat) – 30 (Outnumbered) = 98]

[Commissioner's first roll: 41 93 + 29 (Personal Combat) = 122]

[Team-leader's first roll: 6 + 18 (Personal Combat) = 24]

[Constable 1's first roll: 84 + 17 (Personal Combat) = 101]

[Constable 2's first roll: 59 + 15 (Personal Combat) = 74]

[Constable 3's first roll: 28 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 42]

[Constable 4's first roll: 37 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 51]

[Paperflank's first roll: 28 + 11 (Personal Combat) = 39]



[Overflow: Bureau – 27, Windigo – 0]



[Windigo's second roll: 51 + 55 (Personal Combat) – 30 (Outnumbered) = 76]

[Commissioner's second roll: 6 + 29 (Personal Combat) = 35]

[Team-leader's second roll: 14 + 18 (Personal Combat) = 32]

[Constable 1's second roll: 55 + 17 (Personal Combat) = 72]

[Constable 2's second roll: 69 + 15 (Personal Combat) = 84]

[Constable 3's second roll: 56 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 70]

[Constable 4's second roll: 85 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 99]

[Paperflank's second roll: 17 + 11 (Personal Combat) = 28]



[Overflow: Bureau – 58, Windigo – 41]

[Windigo suffers one wound (-50 to Bureau's overflow)]

It is as if a localized snowstorm just exploded out of the open jar, the moment its lid flies open.

It is a localized snowstorm, and it takes you far too long to realize that there is a head, and a body, and a thing inside that expanding fog of white smoke.

But before you realized it, the monster is already moving.

It rushed out of its prison, yes, but it also went straight for the Commissioner. Maybe because he understood that she is challenging him, or maybe because she is just the closest thing to him that is alive. Still, the nightmarish creature of snow and frost gallops towards her with flying hooves.

You are vaguely aware that it is assuming a pony-like shape, but whatever features it might have are already being contorted by its hate and its malice and the sheer speed it has as it barrels towards the Commissioner.

You can't act, you can only react. Because although the beast is rushing towards the Commissioner, you and the lieutenant are right behind her. And right now you are all but staring down at an incoming avalanche.

You don't have any time to think. You don't have any time to make a plan. Against something as violent at that, you can only survive.

You jump to the left. The lieutenant jumps to the right.

And the Commissioner stands her ground.

!!!!!

Everything around you is slowly being enveloped by mist and fog. You can still see everypony, but something tells you that won't happen for long.

However, you can definitely see the Commissioner's horn, as it shines like a sharp sun from within the rushing snowstorm.

The monster rushed straight to the Commissioner. And since it is made of snow and ice and hate, its charge caused it to stampede through the Commissioner. To the point that, right now, there is a veritable tunnel-shaped blizzard that is coursing through the Commissioner, as well as the spot you were just standing on.

But the mare herself, you can see, is unharmed. Or rather, she is standing as strong as a pony possibly could given her situation.

She is standing, her head is aimed downwards, and her horn is glowing.

And only then do you finally realize what just happened.

The beast barreled through the Commissioner, yes.

But in return, she gored her with whatever edge-sharp and sun-hot magic is glowing from her horn.

Moments later, the rest of the squad chimes in. The pegasi flying overhead buffet the storm-monster with a wind-blasts from their wings, scattering its fog-like body through sheer pressure. And an array of colorful blasts explode inside its body.

You have no idea if you are hurting it. You have no idea if you can hurt it. But if it has a body that is made out of snow and malice, it makes sense to try to hurt it by scrambling and scattering all that blizzard.

!!!!!!!!!!​

And less than a moment later, the creature howls. It howls in hatred, but also something you can only describe as pain.

But you do not dare to be encouraged by it.

Because once it is done barreling through the Commissioner, leaving the mare's frame covered in snow, and the creature's body sporting a bisecting gap where her horn gored it, the creature begins to look around.

The nightmarish monster begins to look around, and its eyes set on you.

"Watch out!" somepony yells, before the monster's ethereal snout contorts into a hateful grin.

Spoiler: In-between actions

[The Windigo wishes to target "the weakest enemy combatant"]

[The Commissioner will move to intercept]



[Windigo: 100 + 30 (Harmful action) = 130]

[Commissioner: 63 + 9 (Martial) = 72]



[The Windigo has successfully changed targets]

[Critical success! The Windigo will be "rewarded" with a full turn alone with its new target]

Somepony yells something.

Above you, the pegasi desperately flap their wings, trying to create a localized hurricane to pull the wind-made beast away.

On the corner of your vision, you watch the burned-metal glow of the Commissioner's horn moving.

But all you can see is the baleful glare of the monster, right in front of you, as it picks you out as its next target.

And for a fraction of a moment, you are alone.

"I WILL BE YOUR END"​

You do not know if the creature howled that, or if it whispered that into your ears, or if your mind just conjured those words inside your head, after dragging them from a deep and primitive part of your brain that just knows what is about to happen.

Because this monster in front of you, it doesn't really belong to this world. Not exactly.

This thing, this nightmare, belongs to this world only in the sense that a period belongs at the end of a written sentence.

Less than a second has passed. Less than a moment. But in this dreadful period of time in which your eyes have locked with that of the beast, you have come to understand all of this things in an instant.

That thing, you know, is a Windigo. A pre-historic monster. A fairy tale. A story that is told to scare foals into behaving, but that deep down ponykind knows is as real and inevitable as the passage of time and the finality of death.

It will take you. It will take all of you, eventually. One day, its hate will cover the world in frost, and everything you have ever built as a civilization will be reduced to dust.

That will happen. As you stare into the monster's eyes, you are suddenly sure of it. The same way that, even though you were inside a vault just a moment ago, you now understand that you are utterly alone, on a blasted snowscape from which you will never escape.

That will happen. You are sure of it. One day, the Windigos will take you all.

And right now, this Windigo will begin that long work by taking you.

Spoiler: Combat Rolls

[Combatants (name, health, personal combat)]
Windigo (2/3, +55) (Solo Cmbatant)
Paperflank (3/3, +11) (Current Main Combatant)



[Overflow: Bureau –8, Windigo – 41]



[Windigo's first roll: 47 + 55 (Personal Combat) = 102]

[Paperflank's first roll: 75 + 29 (Personal Combat) = 104]



[Overflow: Bureau –10, Windigo – 41]



[Windigo's second roll: 74 + 55 (Personal Combat) – 30 (Outnumbered) = 129]

[Paperflank's second roll: 57 + 29 (Personal Combat) = 86]



[Overflow: Bureau – 10, Windigo – 84]

[Paperflank suffers one wound (-50 to Windigo's overflow)]

The Windigo, the monster, charges towards you. And as you look into its eyes, you are gripped with such a chilling hopelessness that everything seems to be moving in slow motion.

But the moment the beast is upon you, the moment it is about to trample you with its snowy hooves and chilling frame, something happens.

Something inside of you cries out in defiance.

Something inside you burns.

The Windigo crashes against you like a solid wave of hatred. Sharp snowflakes dig into your coat, the warmth of your body is stripped from your fur, and the impact itself is like a kick to every part of your body that is facing it.

It hurts. It hurts. And something inside of you tells you that even a full minute in here will be enough to kill you through hypothermia or perhaps even freeze you solid.

But the Windigo's furious charge only lasts for a few seconds, as the bulk of its storm-like body washes over you.

And what is more, you don't… you do not know what just happened. You don't even know how to describe it.

But as you stood your ground, as you dug your hooves into the solid concrete, and did the only thing an earth pony could do which was hold the line, something flared inside of you. Some unexplainable warmth that came from your heart, or from your cutie mark, and that flared throughout your body.

You have no idea of what just happened. But as the Windigo sapped your body warmth with its hateful charge, it also took that gentler warmth that surged from within you. The Windigo took that from you, and it hated it.

Perhaps it even hurt it. Perhaps it even burned the beast with its touch, like its chill covered you with frostbites.

And just like that, the storm finishes passing over you. It passes over you, your hopelessness is disappears from your mind the moment you are no longer locking gazes with the beast, and you are back at reality.

You are inside the vault. Around you are your companions, and the fellow soldiers who are facing against this harbinger of the End.

And they once again pounce at the beast the moment you are no longer at risk of being hit by their attacks.

Spoiler: In-between actions

[The Commissioner wishes to become the Main Combatant]

[The Windigo will move to intercept]



[Commissioner: 70 + 9 (Martial) = 79]

[Windigo: 13 + 30 (Harmful action) = 43]



[The Commissioner is once again the Main Combatant of the Bureau]

"...-FOR YOUR AUDACITY, YOU MONSTER!"

You can barely hear what is going on. Between the raging blizzard, the howls of the Windigo, the spells being thrown by the unicorns and the buffeting winds from the pegasi, you can only barely make out the tail-end of the Commissioner's yell.

You try to move, but you suddenly realize one of your legs is stuck to the ground. Glued to the concrete by a sheet of frost.

Before you can do anything, the lieutenant's hoof is stomping down on the ice, freeing your hoof. And your ice-dry throat can't even form the words to thank you before he pulls you away from the creature's grasp.

Still, you look around, desperately searching for the creature within the localized blizzard. Trying to see where its head, and the bulk of its hatred, is manifesting itself. Because you know for a fact that it wants you. It wants you, because you are the weakest chain of the link, and murdering you will be the first step to picking off everypony else one by one.

You look around, and you finally find the hateful Windigo.

It took to the air, it is circling around the top of the vault, swiping the pegasi away with the bulk of its storm-made body. Flying in circles, at the speed of the gale, as it…

… no, wait. It's not preparing to do anything. It's not even trying to attack the two pegasi.

Your eyes go wide as you realize what the Windigo is truly trying to do.

The beast, you can tell, is trying to shake the Commissioner off.

Because somehow, somehow, she has her hoofs around its neck. And despite the ethereal nature of its body, the Commissioner's hoof are somehow straddling it, as if the mare could strangle it into submission.

Near the distant ceiling of the vault, the Commissioner's horn shines into a glare once again, and the very walls tremble as the Windigo howls in response.

Spoiler: Combat Rolls

[Combatants]
Windigo (2/3, +55) (Solo Combatant)
Velvet Covers (3/3, + 29) (Current Main Combatant)
Team-leader (4/4, +18)
Constable 1 (4/4, + 17)
Constable 2 (3/3, +15)
Constable 3 (4/4, +14)
Constable 4 (3/3, +14)
Paperflank (2/3, +11)



[Overflow: Bureau – 10, Windigo – 34]



[Windigo's first roll: 24 + 55 (Personal Combat) – 30 (Outnumbered) = 49]

[Commissioner's first roll: 96 + 29 (Personal Combat) = 125]

[Team-leader's first roll: 43 + 18 (Personal Combat) = 61]

[Constable 1's first roll: 52 + 17 (Personal Combat) = 69]

[Constable 2's first roll: 9 + 15 (Personal Combat) = 24]

[Constable 3's first roll: 62 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 76]

[Constable 4's first roll: 33 + 14 (Personal Combat) = 47]

[Paperflank's first roll: 38 + 11 (Personal Combat) = 49]



[Overflow: Bureau – 144, Windigo – 34]



[Windigo suffers two wounds (-100 to Bureau's overflow)]

[The Windigo has been defeated]

Your body is still too slow. Your insides are still too cold. Even moving your eyes hurt, from how dry your entire body is.

But you have more than enough strength to look up as it happens.

The Commissioner does something with her hoofs. And for all that the Windigo has no body, and no muscles, and no bones that could be snapped, it still lurches. The Windigo lurches hard, and then it corkscrews to the ground.

The pegasi race down towards the ground next to its snarling face, creating a wind tunnel that is all but herding that localized storm towards the floor. The unicorns coat its body with exploding, firework-like spells, fighting against any attempts from the beast to re-knit its body into a fiercer blizzard. And even the lieutenant rushes towards the action, leaving you behind after saying something your pained mind couldn't really understand.

Still, the blizzard is so heavy you can barely see what is going on. You know where the pegasi are only because their efforts are clearing the storm around themselves. And you have a vague idea of where the pegasi are because you can trace the source of their spells.

However, you know exactly where the Commissioner is. Because as the Windigo races from the top of the roof of the vault towards the hard ground, the glow of her horn remains attached to the back of its neck throughout the entirety of its mad dive.

The gale reaches a crescendo, the speed of the monster's descent becomes terminal, and despite the cacophony of noises that both drown and are drowned by its wordless howls, the Commissioner's voice somehow cut through the stentorious raging.


"BACK-"

-the commissioner's voice cuts through the blizzard, and snow, and the very monster that she is somehow holding with her hoofs-

"-TO THE PIT!"



And despite the impossibly thick fog, you somehow that at the very last moment the Commissioner readjusted her body on the creature's back. Making it so that her right hindleg is squarely on the back of the Windigo's head when it impacts against the ground. Putting the full weight of their dive on the sole of her hoof, which she slams against whatever passes for the creature's skull.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!​

Your ears hurt as the beast lets out one last howl. Not of pain, not of frustration and not of rage. But instead, it is a howl of something you can only describe as agony.

Agony over the fact that it failed to kill.

Agony over the fact it took so long to die.

Agony over the fact that that it hates and it hates and it hates.

But after that last long and painful howl… it is finally over.

…

The fog slowly recedes, the unnatural cold slowly fades away, and the great underground vault is once again visible as the source of the magical blizzard is no longer there to sustain it.

You are hurt… but you are alive. All around you, thankfully, everypony else seems to be doing alright as well. Some of the are shivering, although not as much as you, and all of them are covered in snow.

Near the center of the room, you watch as the Commissioner limps out of a small crater. The shape of her horseshoe is neatly imprinted on the hard concrete, and you can see she is not favoring one of her hindlegs. But still, her gaze is… well, it is not hard.

Actually, her gaze is almost soft. She looks relieved. She looks like a normal pony, who isn't even aware of what she just did or what just happened.

Instead, as if she didn't just drop from the ceiling with her hoofs around a creature made of pain and malice, she slowly limps her way towards you. Shooing away the lieutenant, and really everypony else, as she makes her way to your sorry self.

"Paperflank, are you alright?" she asks, with a voice so soft and, well, so worried you can barely believe it is coming from her mouth.

You try to answer, but your throat is still too dry from the flash-freezing you almost suffered. So, you nod to her instead.

"Oh, haystacks. You are not fine at all! You look dreadful. Here, let me… actually, somepony carry him out. We're taking him to the infirmary upstairs pronto. In fact, you all are going through a checkup. That's an order!"

If you didn't know any better, you would think the Commissioner of the Lunar Bureau is now fussing over you as if you were foals. But still, this is certainly just her taking responsibility for her subordinates. Which, given the fight you have been through, makes sense, and shows that she is a mindful superior.

And to be honest, you don't really have it in you to resist the lieutenant as he effortlessly lifts you to his back.

Still, as you think about… as you think about what just happened. As you think about everything you just saw, the only thing that comes to your mind is that...

"Everypony, you all did something great today. I am proud of you. All of you. Today, you pushed back against evil, and Equestria is safer for it. There are worse things out there, and there are still dark places like the one that monster came from. But today, we won. And right now that is all that matters."​

… you can only think that, truly, you have no idea of who the Commissioner is, or where she came from.

But, as the saying goes, you never heard of a Princess ever making a bad decision.

So, you now know that the Bureau is in good hoofs.

In fact, you are sure of it. You, and everypony else who hears about what happened here today.





Velvet Covers has defeated a Windigo, with the help of the Lunar Bureau. Her prestige within the Lunar Bureau has increased, and this matter has been resolved.

In the aftermath of this feat, Velvet Covers was able to introduce one of the Lores to the Lunar Bureau.

Velvet Covers has crafted the Level 1 Manuscript "Institutional Knowledge: Monster Hunting Techniques". It has been added to the Secret Library, and it has introduced the Lunar Bureau to the Lore of Edge.

The Lunar Bureau threadmark has been updated.

 

[OurLadyOfWires]

Dear reader, this is an "administrative" post that in my opinion warranted a threadmark.

Feel free to skip to the next threadmark to continue the story.

Spoiler: Author's notes

I am glad you all enjoyed the last update! Or at least that's what I hope happened. Still, I don't have a lot of opportunities to write combat, so I am legitimately happy you guys picked the Windigo fight.

As a personal note, at first I wanted to write it from Velvet's POV. But several factors made it that a third-person perspective would have been overall better. Hence good Paperflank taking center stage for this update. I don't expect us to see him anymore, but he is a good constable for your Bureau.

Still, I would like to point out that Velvet Covers herself had never seen a Windigo in the Wake before. And I need you all to realize that this meeting was dread-inducing even for her. (Although a non-capital D dread). Still, the fact remains that I tried my best to show that this was an encounter that warranted a boss music on the background.
No, really think about it. Here, you had a team of seven ponies. And the main combatant (Velvet herself) was rocking an above-heroic combat status. So, for all that Ponykind is big on its "heroic" units, those are still rare and sparce. In fact, your entire civilization only has three Princesses, one Shining Armor, and now one Velvet Covers.
So, even though you won, Velvet Covers is worried about the big questions. What if there were two Windigos at the same time? What if there were more? What if Windigos appear on multiple cities?
Make no mistake, there is potential for evil, and Evil, to win.

But as you said to your subordinates, today you won, and that is all that matters. And other than that, all you can do is keep strengthening the shield that the Lunar Bureau must become. One Lore level at a time.

[CHANGE OF SUBJECT]

So, I realized too late (as in, literally when you guys pointed out) that I fudged Paperflank's combat stats during his solo stint.

Thankfully, even if we used the real numbers, he would "only" have received an additional wound.

So, because I liked the fluff of how Harmony's warmth "burned" the Windigo, and because no mechanical changes would have truly occurred, I'll consider this a harmless error and not make any changes. And considering how I was already a bit miffed that Paperflank suffering "frostbites" was a bit too strong of a word, now that we all know he should have taken two points of damage, I am a lot more comfortable with the description of his wounds.

Which means, again, I'll declare this a "harmless error" and we can all move on.

[CHANGE OF SUBJECT]

In other news:
-I have been extremely, and I mean extremely, busy. Thank you for your patience!;
-Typos have been un-typoed (Windigo is an "it", not a "him", and other things besides);
-I am sure there are more typos I am still missing, so point them out if you will;
-I noted the comments that Biedde's Edge is not being applied to the Secret Library. But to be honest, I have not yet decided IF Names will influence the Lunar Bureau for now. Baldomare visited the Windhoof Club and the Master gave lessons, to justify it, but I don't see Biedde wearing a Lunar Bureau badge (yet?). So for now, no Name-bonus to the Bureau, but that is subject to change, as well as subject to certain things that might happen. But for now I'll just apply Velvet's own acts and Manuscripts to the Bureau's Lore level. Please give it more time;
-And your Knock Sacrament has been updated into your character sheet.

Thank you for your time and patience, and thank you for reading my story!

I am not sure when I will be able to write the next update, given how hectic life has been. But as has been the case so far, I'm sure I'll be able to squeeze in some time to do it.

As always, I hope you are all doing well.