New Legacy

Ch.32

Dear gosh elks can be spooky. Oromis told us to simply fly southwest straight to Marna Mountain, the lone mountain east of Gil’ead. It was fairly isolated and unknown to the Empire; it had an elkish outpost established in the cave systems. The sad thing was we had to go alone.

Roran and I both longed to take Katrina and Kalameet with us, but since their dragons were still hatchlings learning basic concepts, they couldn’t come without needlessly endangering their partners. As for why I felt elks could be spooky? Oromis told us that the army group we would be leading to siege Gil’ead would only be a few days behind us while we prepare to muster at Marna.

However, I think he may have underestimated how fast I can fly now. “I think we got here much earlier than Master Glaedr or Oromis believed we would.” I was now gliding in a slow bank around Mount Marna as we scanned it for the cave we were told was somewhere halfway up the two mile high spire of stone that erupted from the plains around it.

“We did just cross a distance that would take most weeks to travel in a mere afternoon.” Roran replied before he used my borrowed vision to spot a suspiciously green patch of stone among the trees on it’s slopes that I dove down to awkwardly land in front of with my flanks squeezing between two pine trees that squealed and cracked in protest. “No wonder it only took Saphira a few days to fly straight to Aberon from Ellesméra.”

“Hm, hello dear~.” We yelped and turned our heads to see a massive cat, not a species of large feline, specifically a very big cat, smiling up at us with wisps of magic flowing around to form words in the Ancient Language. “It is nice to see a dragon, but could you please not destroy my home?”

“Sorry. I’m still not used to being this enormous. Are you hiding the elk outpost here?” I questioned, unable to move at the moment since my flanks were sandwiched between trees. Gosh I feel fat. Even though I’m pure muscle, getting stuck in something has that effect.

“Yes and no. What can I do for you? I am Cheeser.” Cheeser? That has nothing in common with the naming conventions of Solembum! Lies! “Oh fine, I am Chesonum, I prefer Cheeser or Cheese for short.”

“That’s odd. Solembum and Maud have indicated that werecats prefer to be in places where they can be involved in important events. Angela is a magnet for such things and Maud is constantly in the capital city of the elks, so things are always happening. Why wait out here, Miss Cheese?” Roran questioned and I huffed smoke unhappily that I was now stuck staying stuck with my hips squished against rough tree bark.

“Quite observant of you, Rider Roran. I waited here because I knew you would arrive eventually. I also knew that before you join the battle, something quite interesting will happen. I cannot say what, or it won’t happen~. Please enter though, Shimmer Shinescales will not be pleased if she has to remove bark from her hips.” As I pondered her suddenly providing me a surname/title, the green boulder on the side of the mountain vanished to reveal a cave.

“She speaks the truth. Get off me so I can transform and not have all this chafing.” I huffed and Roran wisely heeded my irritation by jumping down from me with grace he’d learned from training with elves. Once devoid of passengers, I transformed and sighed in relief with a pat of my armored skirt. I was garbed in a full suit of light armor sung from a tree by an armorsmith. Said tree was known as an ironbark tree, so it was at least as effective as metal lamellar armor.

“Let’s get inside and see what we have available. Master Oromis wasn’t sure what had been stockpiled here and the sooner we know ahead of time, the quicker the army group will be able to coordinate.” Roran entered the cave and I followed, having to duck down due to the ceiling not being very high. I would’ve considered it odd since elks are tall, especially the bulls with their antlers, but it seems earth magic doesn’t come to them like it does to wargs.

Thankfully for us, my vision was sharp enough to nearly be darkvision, but not quite. So it took a while before Roran had to light a torch. After descending into the mountain’s depths, we came upon a massive cavern that was pitch dark. There were unlit light crystals along the walls heading down, so Roran and I fed them mana to light things up as we went.

It would seem the elks had been preparing for a while. Once illuminated by the crystal lights, the dozens of trebuchets and the much larger cave exit that I think was in the direction of Gil’ead were revealed. Many were in decay from how long they’d been sitting here, but several were fairly new. Knowing elk magic as I do, I doubt the wood weavers the army group will bring would have a hard time getting the rest working.

“So we’ll have the siege engines available right away rather than having to assemble one from the scarce trees on the plains. I don’t see any battering rams, though.” Roran muttered as if displeased and I snorted in amusement at remembering in canon, that Roran was the one who took Aroughs using just battering rams. I think. My memories from before reincarnation were still getting fuzzier. At least thanks to reading my biography I would understand who I used to be.

“I think elks don’t normally consider battering down walls or gates to be crucial to taking a city. They can just use magic and their great bounding leaps to scale the walls before the defenders could so much as blink.” I looked around the cavern to see if there was anything else here. I found an alcove with a rotted bed of leaves and hay along with an old wooden chest and table.

“Well, as interesting as these are.” Chesonum said as she approached a little crack in the wall and squeezed through with that uncanny and bizarre way that cats can squeeze into things they rightly shouldn’t. “The best things are in here.”

We peeked into the wall to see Chesonum’s magic illuminating an even larger cavern full of rusting armor and skeletons of dragons. What happened here? What was so important about Marna that dragons would have been here? How did Sombra not know about this place if these dragons fought and died here? “Is there a way in there besides this crack in the wall?”

“Maybe if you were smaller you could fit?” Chesonum playfully questioned and I growled at the tease over my size.

“That can’t be right. No normal person could fit in there, not even a warg. There is no magic able to shrink people down to that size...but…” Roran examined the stone wall and traced his fingers over it before he chuckled and uttered words in the Ancient Language. The stones shuddered and the crack suddenly turned into a massive hole with the sedimentary rock that had composed it falling apart into grains of sand and other particulates. “A false true wall made of sediment. Clever.”

“It’s a good thing you know your stone.” I praised my Rider and we entered the larger cavern full of the bones and rusted armor of dragons long-gone. “Oh no.” I picked up a dim glowing amber gem the size of a small apple and felt sadness well in my heart. “Some of them chose to go into their Eldunari rather than die.” I mentally probed the dead dragon’s Heart-of-Hearts, but got no response. It was as mindless and empty as the extra Eldunarya stuffed in my chest.

“Not some.” Roran sadly said and held up several Eldunarya. “Why? Why did they do this to themselves? Why willingly subject themselves to isolation and madness? Do you know why, Cheese?” Roran put the practically dead stones of power in his Inventory and I did the same with the one I held.

“In the hopes they could help others one day. With their aid you may be victorious, but that is up to you. Take them into the light so that they will be reinvigorated.” Chesonum told us before leaping up at me and I yelped before she dove into my cleavage, required due to how busty I was. Holy crap! Why did she go into my storage?!

“Get out of there! Gah!” I yelped when the Eldunari I’d put away popped out, surprisingly much brighter. Huh? “Check the ones you just put away Roran!” I held it and probed it with my mind. It wasn’t entirely gone now! It was barely more than an ambient mental presence, as if dreaming, but they weren’t entirely mindless!

“Perhaps...since our dimensional storage is a powerful form of passive magic, the Eldunarya are able to rapidly replenish their magic from it? Wait!” Roran fished in his satchel and pulled out a belt of gemstones. It wasn’t the Belt of Beloth the Wise, Oromis gave that to Eragon. Rather, it was a well-crafted imitation using the best gemstones elkish jewelers could find. “The Eldunarya can rapidly gather mana, then we can transfer that mana to gems!”

“Then repeat! We can stockpile an absurdly massive amount of mana rapidly!” I giddily retrieved my spear, which had quartz crystal embedded in the pommel and haft, then focused on moving the energy from the amber Eldunari into the quartz and it worked!

“Hm and what of this?” Chesonum asked when she emerged from my cleavage with a massive gem shaped like a tree with the skeletons of two alicorn riders resting against it. “Before you ask; no. It was not within your magic storage before. It appeared there once you fulfilled the requirements.”

“Huh?” What requirements?

“Sh-Shimmer~!” I looked to Roran to see he was hovering off the floor. “W-what’s happening?!”

“Roran!” I flew up to my Rider and grasped him-!

🥚

-My gosh. Everything was stars.

Roran and I stood in the ether, the cosmos extending all around us. “Where are we?” I whispered in a mixture of fear and awe.

“I don’t know…” Roran then gasped and I turned to see what startled him. I blushed hotly at the sight of a white-furred pony that stood at my height and had massive baps! I mean, seriously! They nearly reached her belly button! She was dressed in a beautiful and elegant white and gold robe that framed her incredible body perfectly and added regality to her presence.

She had gentle magenta eyes that looked upon us in curiosity and joy. Her mane and tail were elegant quad-coloured pastel pink, green, blue and purple. They flowed as if suspended in a gentle nonexistent breeze and helped draw further attention to the fact she had both a horn and wings. I have never seen or heard of a pony like her.

“It has been such a long time, since someone has come here.” She approached slowly and politely, looking down at Roran with a gentle, almost motherly smile. “My Little Pony, do you know what you have done?”

“Uh...I just figured out a way to collect and store massive quantities of magic within a previously impossibly short period of time?” Roran asked in answer and got chuckles.

“Well, yes that.” Another pony much like the first, but slightly shorter with dark blue fur and a mane and tail that was similar to the surroundings, said from behind us and she rounded us to stand next to the other mysterious mare.

While she was perhaps a few inches shorter, she was just as beyond curvy, but perhaps a little less in the bust and more in the bottom in her black and silver dress. “Sister. He has done something that could elevate normal ponies to our realm of magic potency.” Her clear cerulean eyes were sharp and appraising, like a judgemental aunt unlike her motherly sister.

“Indeed, but I sense he is not the one that has been pinging our senses for the past 17 years.” The taller sibling replied and I put Roran behind me.

“What is going on?! What do you want with my Rider?!” I demanded defensively and the sisters took a startled step back, as if they hadn’t even noticed me before.

“Goodness. A dragon is soul-bound to him? What odd things have become of our ponies in the North?” The lighter-toned mare questioned and her sister huffed.

“T’would seem that it is high time we finally took a journey north to reconnect with Our Little Ponies now that we have flying vessels able to ignore the wrath of the sea serpents.” The dark toned mare declared with a rather severe and dire tone.

“Who are you, are you the skeletons that were part of the tree-like idol’s carving?” Roran asked, trying to make sense of this while I kept myself between him and these mysterious mares.

“I do not know of what you speak, but know this: you have achieved something that only one other in history has. Unfortunately, young Cadence has been unable to contact us ever since she ascended. Now, before you finish here, I must know what has become of Our Little Ponies.” The taller sibling said while stressing the our with a look at her shorter sister.

“Uh...alright. It’s a good thing Shimmer instilled me with her love of History. Would it be enough if I provide you with a primer of what we’ve gathered?” Roran fished in his satchel and retrieved a book he’d written summarizing the history of ponies on Alagaesia.

The shorter sister practically snatched it and rapidly began skimming over it. “Rude!” I huffed and the taller sister booped her sibling’s snoot. She looked suitably embarrassed, but then went back to skimming the contents. Once she was done, she handed the book back and wilted.

“We have failed them, sister. We sent them north in hopes of them surviving when our lands became barren and cursed, but they have suffered just as badly there under constant conflict and tyranny of one form or another. Our lands have recovered, there is safety and security in Equestria again.” The darker mare stated and the lighter mare nodded.

“Thank you. We’ll reconnect with you all as soon as possible. Now then. I am Queen Celestia. This is my sister, Queen Luna. We cooperatively rule our nation beyond the sea south of your lands.” Upon introducing themselves, Roran gasped and knelt with his head bowed.

“Goddesses Celestia and Luna! Forgive my irreverence from before! Shimmer, kneel!” Roran hissed at me in panic and I sent a feeling of displeasure to him at the very notion since they’d abducted us!

“Stand, for while your reverence is appreciated, you have no need to do so. Not when you are about to ascend.” Luna declared and I felt my heart race and shock fill me.

“What?” Roran asked before a sudden slideshow of images began to pass. It displayed Roran’s journey beginning with him accepting me from Eragon, hatching me, learning a whole new world’s wealth of knowledge, rapidly growing in his knowledge base and developing new devices and uses for magic. Ultimately it came to him discovering a way to generate and store mana in immense volumes, which then caused a light to emerge from both his and my chests.

“What’s going on?!” I squeaked as the light surrounded us and I hugged Roran to me tightly while we floated above the sisters.

“You have found your Destiny!” The sisters practically sang together and everything whited out.

🥚

My vision returned slowly as I staggered about the empty cavern. All of the dragon skeletons had been reduced to dust and the armor had been scattered to the far walls. I fell to my knees and groaned as I looked about and found Roran standing on wobbly legs. I gasped when I noticed that he now had a horn and wings that matched his russet fur like those two sisters had.

“Ha! I knew something interesting would happen here!” Chesonum purred loudly with a paw resting on the crystal tree and skeleton idol. “Long ago, a certain snake told me to bring this here and return around this time if I wanted to see something. Well, a new Alicorn certainly is an interesting turn of events!”

“Wuh?” Roran asked as he tried not to throw up.

“Now then, thank you for this. I need to make sure this is someplace else now if I want to see it happen again!” Chesonum waved her massive tail around in a circle and she vanished along with the mysterious idol.

“Wait! Come back you manipulative shit!” I roared and stood up, only to yelp when my head hit the ceiling. W-what?! I looked down and felt terror at seeing past my naked bosom was my Rider who barely came up to my knee! “No! What’s happened to me?! To us?!” How will I get out of here?! How will I live?! If I’m this massive in my anthro form, how impossibly gigantic is my birth form?!

“B-bwuh~?” Roran’s russet face blushed so red he looked like a ripe tomato when he looked up at me. O-oh no! I’m flashing him my privates simply by standing! I’m fine with this, but it’s so embarrassing~!

“Babe?! Hello?! I got a message from my bosses that I had to-Great Googly Moogly!” Kala declared when she had somehow entered the cavern when she should be back at Ellesméra! “No wonder they told me to find you right away with this!” Kalameet dove a hand into her cleavage and produced a collar? “Put it on!”

“Uh, how?” I asked incredulously after she tossed the tiny thing up to me, but when I grabbed it I yelped since it decided to magically size up enough that it would fit my neck. “Okay…” I wrapped it around the base of my neck and squeaked when suddenly I was standing at the same height as my dragoness lover! I’m back to being average height! “What is this?!”

“I did mention my people need to wear something to live in normal society when we reach a certain age? That’s it. I can’t stay though, Master Oromis will have my tail if I don’t head back. Be safe, okay babe?” Kala moved in and kissed me before running back out of the cavern.

“Shimmer? I...don’t know what just happened. I need to lie down. Can I use your storage?” Roran asked with a quaking voice, his emotions filled with fear, confusion and trepidation. I didn’t bother to say anything, I just let my nipple studs expand my bosom so he could climb through my cleavage into my storage and then I sighed and just laid against my heaving boulder breasts that never shrunk back down from my pregnancy.

I think I’m done for the day too. We’re safe in here, it’ll be fine if I doze off.

It wouldn’t be until the next day that Roran informed me that my horns had become diamond.