Chapters Arrivals from the lands of the old faith
Chapter 1: Arrival
In Ponyville it was a day like any other. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, children were playing in the village square. It was the kind of day that you might spend relaxing under a big tree with a glass of lemonade. Spike was sweeping the map room floor without a care in the world.
Then it happened.
The cutie map lit up and displayed all the mane 6's cutie marks, starlight's, spike's icon and six new icons that seemed to correlate to the young six. "Uh.... TWILIGHT!!!!" exclaimed Spike. Twilight Sparkle, Princess of friendship, favourite student of Princess celestia and most importantly Spike's older sister came running in.
"Spike, what happened?" She said.
"The Cutie map just lit up" he replied. Twilight took a look at the map and said
"It's calling all of us and Starlight and the young six!!".
"Yeah I thought it was weird too." said Spike.
"Something big must be happening." mused Twilight. "Spike, send a letter to the princesses, tell them what happened and to meet us on the shore of the Luna sea. Meanwhile I'll get everyone else together and we'll head there." she said.
"On it" replied Spike.
Twilight wasted no time in bringing the rest of the mane 6 to the castle. They were Applejack, rainbow dash, Pinkie Pie, rarity and fluttershy. Twilight's best friends in the entire omniverse.
"So let me get this straight," said Applejack, "The map called all of us and the students and Starlight to this one place?".
"yes" replied twilight.
"Do you think this is another situation that the map is acting as a supervillain tracker?" inquired rainbow dash.
"I don't know, but the Cutie map has never called so many of us to the same location before, so we have to be careful. I want everypony to bring their A-game, Okay?"
"Okay" they all replied.
After arriving at the school of friendship, Twilight called the young six to her office and told them that they were needed on a friendship mission and to start preparing for anything. Then she met with Starlight.
"So we're going on a mission together?" Starlight said.
"Yes" replied twilight.
"And the young six and Spike are coming too?" Starlight continued.
"And the princesses, I have a feeling that whatever's going to happen, we'll need their help."
"Okay, just give me time to pack" said Starlight.
They all made the long journey from Ponyville (and in the princesses case Canterlot) and arriving on the shore of the luna sea.
"So, what are we waiting for?" Smolder asked Twilight after everyone exchanged pleasantries.
"To be honest, i have no idea, but your icons we on the map so you guys have to be here." replied twilight.
" Councillor Starlight, do you know why so many creatures were called here?" said Sandbar.
"Honestly? I have no idea, but I've learned to trust the Cutie map. You may not understand why it chooses creatures but it always makes the right choice." she replied.
Later on, the princesses all convened together "It has been some time since we have been on an adventure together, hasn't it sister?" said Celestia.
"Indeed" replied Luna.
"I just thought that the two of you should be here. I have a funny feeling that whatever's going to happen is going to be BIG " said twilight. "It's too bad Cadence couldn't be here" said twilight.
"Don't worry twilight, I'm sure that she's here in spirit." Replied princess Luna.
"I wonder what's going to happen" said Ocellus.
"Whatever it is it's BIG ," said gallus, "why else would we all be called here?" .
"Yona is not afraid, because Yona has her friends with her, and if there is one thing yona has learned in the school of friendship, it's that the magic of friendship can do anything, defeat any enemy" Yona said confidently.
"I hope you're right Yona." Said Ocellus.
"Guys, this is our first official friendship mission!" Said silverstream.
"I thought it would be more......... exciting." Gallus deadpanned.
"That's good right?" Said Sandbar. "If things are quiet and boring then things aren't dangerous, perilous, ruinous or any of their synonyms" he continued.
"I don't know, I guess I expected more cool action instead of waiting around for who knows what." Said gallus.
"Don't worry Gallus, I'm sure that something cool, exciting and dangerous will happen eventually" said Smolder.
"To be honest, I'm afraid" twilight admitted to Spike. "Usually when we arrive at the location of a friendship problem, there's usually some clue to what's going on or what we're supposed to do! But now we're all just sitting here on the beach waiting for something to happen. It's kind of unnerving."
"Don't worry so much twi," said spike. "Try to stay positive." He said.
"Alright" twilight replied.
After a while they decided to set up camp, as it was getting dark. Thankfully, Pinkie Pie insisted on bringing snacks with her so they were all very well fed. After eating their (sugary) dinner, they spent much of their time just catching up with each other and talking about nothing in particular. It was nice.
Then they saw it.
It being a large ship that was approaching the shore of the Luna sea through the evening mist. The ship appeared to be made of black wood and flew a red flag that had a black crown with a red eye in it. everyone watched with bated breath as the ship approached the shore.
As it moved closer, a silent phantom through the dusk, they could make out the name on the side. It said: The Queen Forneus. The ship slowed then stopped. It dropped anchor. Then the gangplank was lowered to the shore and trotting down the gangplank was....
Author's Note
Cliff-hanger! I'm pretty sure the Luna sea is a real sea i saw on a map of equestria. if it's not please tell me in the comments. As for why the ship is called the queen forneus, it's because in my story, the lamb really likes forneus and views her as a mother figure. also please be kind in the comments. Constructive criticism is welcome!
Arrivals from the lands of the old faith
A sheep.also wearing a black crown with a red eye in the centre. In fact, Twilight was certain she saw the eye blink a few times. The Lamb looked down at them, and paused a surprised look on their face. Then they went back onto the ship. After a while, The Lamb descended the gangplank, this time with a few individuals following.
One of these individuals was a rather grumpy looking black cat, the second was a green individual that Twilight quickly identified as a bagworm. Following the bagworm was a much less grumpy looking yellow cat. Following the yellow cat was a red frog who was also grumpy looking. next came a blue squid (who looked very nervous). Finally came a purple spider. One of the strangest things about these new individuals, Twilight thought, was that many of them were injured. the bagworm had bleeding bandages on the place where his eyes should be, the frog had bandages on her throat, the squid on his ears and the spider on his head. Another strange thing is that the black cat seemed to have a third eye on his forehead, but it's eyelid was closed. Another strange thing was that the yellow cat was wearing a necklace with a golden skull on it.
The Lamb and their entourage approached the gathered creatures. They paused a few meters away. The Lamb approached the princesses and gave a short bow.
"How do you do?" The Lamb said.
"Greetings" said Princess Luna.
"On behalf of all of Equestria, I welcome you to our land" said Princess Celestia.
"Hello there, I'm princess twilight. That's princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Quick question. Are you a ruler of some kind? I only ask because of the crown..." Twilight said.
"You can say that," said the Lamb. "My followers refer to me as "The Lamb", you may call me Lambert."
"If you don't mind me asking Lambert, what brings you and your retinue to our lands?" inquired princess Luna.
The Lamb sighed. "That's a long story. Can we discuss somewhere more private later?" he inquired.
"Of course." said Princess Celestia.
"Would you like to introduce your friends?" Princess Twilight asked.
"Of course," The Lamb replied. "Introducing, Narinder !!!" He pointed at the black cat. "Leshy !!!" he pointed at the bagworm. "Heket !!!" He pointed at the frog. "Kallamar !!!!" He pointed at the squid. "Shamura !!!! He pointed at the spider. "And last but definitely not least Toby !!!!" He pointed at the yellow cat.
"It's nice to meet you all!" said Toby.
"Hello" said Leshy.
"Hello" said Kallamar.
"..........Hello.........." said Heket.
"Hello" said Shamura.
"Hello" said Narinder.
"Hi!!! I'm Pinkie Pie and this here is Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Gallus, Ocellus, Silverstream, sandbar, yona, smolder, spike and Starlight glimmer" Pinkie said pointing to each creature as she said their name.
"We should probably take this conversation somewhere more private. Perhaps Princess Twilight's castle?" suggested Princess Celstia.
"Of course, Princess Celestia!" replied Twilight.
"Before we depart, can my associates and i grab a few materials from the ship?" inquired the lamb.
"Of course" said princess Celestia.
After grabbing what they wanted to grab, The Lamb and crew accompanied the creatures back to Ponyville. They marvelled at the train, peppering the creatures with questions, that they answered the best that they could. Upon reaching Ponyville, they took in the town and marvelled at Twilight's crystal tree castle. After everycreature was inside and comfortably seated, the Lamb cleared their throat.
"It's time to tell you why we're here. But in order to tell you that story, I have to tell you this story......"
Author's Note
If you're wondering why none of the siblings are wearing a golden skull necklace, my personal headcanon is that after you defeat them, they also have the immortal trait. If Narinder has it, then why shouldn't they? Please be kind in the comments
Arrivals from the lands of the old faith
The lamb told their story. "It all began a long, long time ago, in a far away land called the lands of the old faith. In times long forgotten, hundreds of gods used to roam these lands, but they disappeared. What happened to them? Who knows. All you need to know for now is that there are five gods remaining at the beginning of our tale.
Shamura the god of war and wisdom, Kallamar the god of pestilence, Narinder, the god of death, Heket the goddess of famine and Leshy the god of chaos. They were known as the bishops and ruled over the lands. Everything was good. So obviously, things had to go wrong. It started with Narinder. He was curious about everything and that curiosity and his underlying ambition was encouraged by Shamura. Shamura was the one who implanted ideas of change inside Narinder's head. This was a problem because while Shamura's domains of war and wisdom are constantly evolving, Narinder's domain of death was static. Using the lessons Shamura taught him, Narinder sought to change his domain.
His siblings didn't like the road that Narinder was taking. So they decided to seal him away forever. They lured him in, but before he was chained to the netherworld, he put up a terrific fight. Leaving the bishops injured in some way. For Leshy, it was his eyes, For Heket her throat, for kallamar his ear and for Shamura, their skull was split. But they had done it. they had sealed away Narinder, who was renamed the one who waits. Later, Shamura sent down two kittens to narinder's realm because he didn't want him to be alone. It was cute in a weird sort of way."
Narinder and Shamura glanced at each other, a silent understanding between them.
The Lamb continued. "So everything was hunky-dory right? WRONG! After they sealed Narinder away, Shamura had a prophecy, that said that a lamb would be the one to free narinder. Obviously, the bishops didn't want Narinder to get free, not only because it would be bad, but because the spell that bound narinder was tied to their combined life forces. so in order to free narinder, they would have to DIE.
Clearly the only rational thing to do is hunt down and kill every single lamb in the lands of the old faith. Surely that would stop the prophecy from coming true! unfortunately it doesn't. In fact it ensures that the prophecy will come true because Narinder is the god of death, and the lambs that are sacrificed go straight to him. But he waits until the very last lamb to make his move.
That's where I come in. I was the last lamb, the last of my kind. I was sacrificed and taken before the one who waits. He offered me life again, but at a price: starting a cult in his name. I agreed and returned to the mortal realm. With the help of my mentor Ratau, i started up my cult and got it going. Then i crusaded into the territory of the four bishops, defeating their henchmen until eventually, they fell as well. First it was Leshy, then Heket, then Kallamar and finally Shamura. All the while, my cult grew. I was a pretty good leader, if i do say so myself. Then came time to free Narinder.
Narinder now had no more use for me, so he demanded that i surrender the Red Crown so that he could finally be free. I refused. Immediately Narinder unleashed his two bodyguards Aym and Baal on me. (If you were wondering, they were the same two kittens that shamura sent to him earlier in our tale.) i defeated them. Then it was versus the god of death himself, and after long and ardous battle, I earned a nail-bitingly narrow victory. After the battle, narinder was supplanted, and i became a deity in my own right. I chose to spare narinder and me and my cultists returned to the mortal plane.
Things were peaceful for a while. Then came the mystic seller who informed me that the bishops were in a purgatory like state, where they were reliving their defeat over and over."
At this, the four bishops shuddered.
The lamb continued. "So i crusaded once more, and freed the bishops. When they gained mortal forms like narinder, i took it as a sign to invite them into my cult. After that i revived Aym and Baal, reunited them with their mother Forneus (who's name is on the ship.) and spent time improving the cult. Well, it's basically a town now. So that's the story. Any questions?"
Author's Note
Please be kind in the commments
Arrivals from the lands of the old faith
"So... What are your plans that you're here in equestria?" said twilight
"Originally, we came because clauneck said this was where we should go, because apparently it was 'our destiny', but he didn't elaborate" Lambert sighed. "Since, we're going to be here for a while, we might as well get started with our cult expansion plan"
"Pardon me, but did you say 'cult expansion plan'?" said rarity.
"Of course, the others will be sailing back to the lands of the old faith while me, narinder and shamura stay to create a teleporter between there and here to make travelling quick and efficient. then we can look into starting a branch of our cult here" Lambert explained.
"Piece of advice," said Starlight "try to avoid using the word 'cult' it holds... negative connotations in equestria".
"OK... how about... a community of like-minded individuals?" suggested Lambert
crickets chirp
"Ok, i'll think of something better later" lambert grumbled.
"While you're here, would you like a tour of ponyville?" suggested applejack
"Yeah!," said Pinkie "and afterwards we can throw a 'Welcome to ponyville' party with you guys as the guests of honour!"
"That sounds lovely!" said toby.
The others decided it wasn't a bad idea, so they left twilight's castle and wandered around ponyville. Leshy couldn't see anything, so toby described everything that the group saw to the best of his ability. Heket seemed mildly interested in sugarcube corner, commenting on their "above average" confectionary. Kallamar seemed to be impressed by the hospital, wishing that he could compare notes with equestrian doctors. Shamura spent most of the tour muttering to himself, and Lambert and Narinder spent most of the tour looking after him and casting worried glances at each other.
eventually though, the tour ended and it was time for the welcome to ponyville party. pinkie pie went all-out (like she did for every party) and everyone enjoyed themselves (even narinder). Afterwards, everyone went back to their respective homes. It was decided that the guests from the lands of the old faith would take up residence in the castle.
Twilight couldn't sleep. The discovery of creatures and lands so interesting kept her wide awake. Eventually, she left her room to go get a glass of water. She then ran into lambert who was also in the kitchen.
"I see slumber proved elusive to you as well" lambert said.
"Yes, it's just... so much to take in. Gods? Cults? Genocide? I feel exhausted and i'm not even the one who experienced it!"
"But I did" said lambert quietly.
"Can you tell me more about the lambs before they were..." said twilight
"Exterminated? I suppose so. We lived in groups called herds. We used to live in villages and towns but after the reaping started, we became nomadic, which staved off our extinction for a little longer." said lambert.
"It must have been horrible" said twilight
"Oh it was, but things are better now, for which I am eternally grateful." said lambert
Their conversation was cut short by an enormous exploding sound.
"Twilight! what happened?" asked spike as he and starlight raced down the stairs with the others from the lands of the old faith.
"I'm not sure spike, but it seemed like it came from the everfree forest." twilight replied.
They left twilight's castle and met up with the rest of the mane six on the way. they rushed through the forest towards where a large pillar of light was shining from the castle of the two sisters.
As they approached it a strange being emerged from it. they wore a cloak with a hood, covered in various patterns, the space underneath their robe revealing a galaxy-resembling space underneath. they had two eyes, white sclera and black pupils. behind them, the group could see other creatures similar to the first one within the pillar of light, which now resembled a doorway between dimemsions.
"Oh no..." said Lambert
~~iybewuorfubrfeonrpienorfrnikbfrofrbo~~ the creature said.
then it switch to english
"Greetings infant god" the creature said addressing lambert.
Author's Note
I originally created this fic because I realised that cult of the lamb would go great with MLP friendship is magic, and I wanted to inspire others to write similar crossover fics. so what are you waiting for? go write a cult of the lamb x MLP friendship is magic crossover today!