- >Part 1: The Figure from the Sand
- >The train from Fillydelphia arrives around midday
- >As the steam from the engine dissipates, you catch your first view of Canterlot in over a year
- >Your excitement at finally visiting the Royal City again is tempered, however, by the reasons for it
- >The box in your lap rattles as the train comes to a halt
- >Departing the station, you make your way to the Royal University
- >You received the box a few days ago with a letter from your friend and teacher Dr. Ivory Tower
- >As you enter his office you place the box on the desk and open the letter again
- >”To my friend and student Anon,” it begins,
- >The letter goes on to detail the Doctor's past months of research
- >An expedition in the desert of the Camels had turned up a strange etched tablet with unknown letters carved upon it
- >The expedition team noted that the tablet was discovered in a part of the desert with no recorded history of settlement
- >In fact, they had only gone to the area after a series of powerful tremors had sent a cloud of dust into the air there
- >Having recovered the tablet from a crevasse opened up by the tremors, the team brought it to the University
- >They noted seeing what appeared to be a large stone complex further down
- >It was never explored, however, as the desert once again claimed the area after the team left
- >The letter goes on to say that the tablet is on display in the University Museum
- >You decide to take a look at this tablet the Doctor was so keen on having you examine
- 1/x
- >You walk across the campus to the Museum
- >You remember spending a year here studying under Dr. Tower
- >Collegiate ponies walk between classes
- >Across the green you see Twilight Sparkle walking
- >You haven't seen her since you left the University to study in Fillydelphia's University
- >She must be close to graduating by now, Celestia's prize pupil
- >The two of you became sort of friends in that time
- >Though you never got very close; studies always came first with that mare
- >You walk over to her anyway
- >”Hey Anon! I didn't know you were coming to the University this week too!”
- >Always getting excited when there's school involved...
- Yeah, my old teacher called me up here to take a look at some things.
- >”Ooh, what did he have you look at?”
- Well I was just on my way to find out. Why don't you come along?
- >”Ok, lead the way, Anon!”
- >The two of you head to the Museum to look at the mysterious tablet
- >It stands two feet tall, covered in intricate carvings
- >The material seems to be some kind of sandstone, but much more compressed and hard
- >There are what look like strange letters along the edges, surrounding the main relief
- 2/x
- >The odd-looking script frames a squat, bulbous figure
- >Its great clawed feet clutch the rocks upon which it sits
- >A pair of flabby, vestigial wings lie behind its hideous form
- >The creature's visage is capped by a sac-like head with a mass of tentacles making its face underneath a pair of large compound eyes
- >Twilight looks uncomfortable around this tablet
- >”Anon...what is that...thing?”
- >She shrinks back from the tablet
- >You knot your brow looking at the strange artifact
- I'm not sure, Twilight. I'll have to take a look at Ivory Tower's research notes again
- >The two of you decide to walk back to the office
- >Damn thing's making YOU uncomfortable looking at it
- >”Hey, Anon, where IS Ivory Tower? I've been here for a few days now and haven't seen him at all”
- Actually, I don't know... I came when I got his letter, but I haven't seen him around yet
- >Curious...
- >Twilight and you arrive at the office
- >Putting the strange tablet from your minds, you decide to go take in the City of Celestia
- >The tablet can wait until tomorrow
- 3/x
- >Twilight walks along side you happily
- >Out the corner of your eye you can see her violet mane bobbing up and down
- >You decide to go to a late lunch. Maybe you can catch up with your friend?
- >The cafe sits on the east side of Canterlot with an impressive view over the mountains
- >The two of you sit down at your table and it begins...
- >Slowly at first; a vague uneasiness sets in as you order
- >It quickly builds to a crescendo
- >By the time you realize what is happening it is unstoppable
- >You had forgotten the unnatural fury of Twilight's hunger for learning
- >A torrent of questions on all things academic flies at you from the unicorn
- >Magic, history, mythology, archeology. She asks you about every new thing you could possibly have learned
- >She changes gears faster than you can even answer her inquiries
- >So much for catching up like friends, she's just as focused on academia as she always was...
- >You manage to eat your lunch despite the constant stream of questions
- >By the time you leave the cafe, however, she's somehow roped you into going to the Archives for some rare books
- >And here you thought you could get away with taking an afternoon off
- >The Royal Canterlot Archive is massive. You've heard that the entire written history of Equestria is housed here
- >Twilight guides you through the winding hallways
- >Eventually you stop at a large tome sitting on a stone pedestal
- >”The Elements of Harmony”
- 4/x
- >The book looks ancient; at least 300 years old
- >As you look at it, Twilight dashes off into the stacks and returns with a pile of books levitating with her horn
- >”While you're here, you might as well take advantage of the rare-books collection!”
- >She passes you the monstrous pile and trots down the hall
- >Great, you know that you're not going to get out of here without reading through all of them...
- ...Thanks, Twilight...
- >You hide your groaning dread behind a curtain of fake enthusiasm
- >The unicorn smiles and leads you further into the archives
- >She stops again at a large table and drops some books from the pile
- >Immediately she's thrown them open and starts pouring over the volumes
- >Not wanting to stand around like an idiot, you do the same
- >Hours later the two of you finally leave
- >Your mind is full of obscure pony mythology and history...
- >You hope now you can get some rest
- >Twilight left you with 5 obscure titles to read on your own
- >You ended up not catching up with each other all day
- >Mare needs to get her priorities straight...
- 5/x
- >The next day you go in to the University
- >Ivory Tower's research notes should shed a bit of light on the origin and meaning of the tablet
- >From what you can find around the office, Ivory has gotten a good deal of work done
- >You look at the clock
- >10:30
- >He should be in by now...
- >You're a bit worried, but the research notes catch your eye
- >It seems as though Ivory was trying to translate the strange lettering on the tablet
- >Looking through what is on the desk, he was unable to find anything using similar characters in the Archive
- >...An entirely new language, discovered in the Desert of the Camels...
- >You decide to visit the Archive again yourself
- >Maybe you can find something in the Old Histories that Ivory couldn't
- >The old stallion would have an aneurism if you cracked this before he did
- >You gather up his notes and take them over to the Archive
- >The Old Histories wing of the Archive is far less traveled than other sections
- >You can smell the dust in the air from the countless scrolls and books from ages gone
- >A large desk in the central area provides a place to work
- >Placing Ivory Tower's notes on it, you set about looking for the ancient languages area
- >There has to be SOMETHING on this in here
- >Hours pass
- >You look through what feels like hundreds of texts looking for any clues
- >The characters on the tablet remain utterly alien
- >You look at the clock
- >8:30
- >You've spent the whole day and gained nothing
- >Tomorrow...
- 6/x
- >Having found nothing to help translate the tablet, you try instead to make some sense of the bizarre relief
- >The squat bulbous figure at the center brings no familiar associations
- >The head is vaguely reminiscent of an octopus, but past that is simply unknown
- >Your next trip to the Archive brings you to the Ancient Cultures and Civilizations Wing
- >You again set about gathering all the texts you can relating to the Desert of the Camels
- >The more you try to find out, the hotter the curiosity burns in you
- >You've got to get to the bottom of this
- >And who knows? If this is some new civilization, you could get published! You could be famous for this...
- >The Archive again yields a mountain of information
- >Every known civilization is accounted for in the histories
- >You're constantly astounded at how rich the history of Equestria and the rest of the world is
- >Even considering that fact however, a full day of research passes
- >Of all the civilizations to populate the Desert of the Camels, none are recorded in the area of the tablet's discovery
- >On top of that, not a single one has art resembling the tablet's bas-relief
- >You look back through Ivory Tower's notes
- >To your dismay you find that the notes give no more leads
- >You've managed to find no new information to add to Ivory's research
- >Seems you've run out of leads already
- >With a long sigh you return the books to their proper places and put the notes back in your bag
- >You decide to stay in Canterlot one more day to say goodbye to Twilight Sparkle and visit some old teachers
- 7/x
- >The next day you walk around the University to see your old professors
- >You stop by Ivory Tower's office to find it empty once again
- >It's a bit worrying; the old pony was never once late, let alone absent, when you were in school
- >The other professors say that he went down to Baltimare to examine some artifacts acquired by the Museum there
- >You think he'd have let you know since he sent you that letter asking you to come up to Canterlot
- >It doesn't matter, you think, since you couldn't find anything new out about the tablet
- >You decide to just leave Ivory a letter reporting what you found and catch the next train back to Fillydelphia
- >As the train pulls into the station at Fillydelphia, the image of the tablet flashes in your head
- >It happens so fast that you don't even recognize it right away
- >You head back to Fillydelphia University to get back to your studies
- End of Part 1
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The Call of Colthulhu (Cancelled)
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