Chapter 6: The Mysterious Creatures
Hello everypony!
Before I begin this chapter, here's a term that'll be used:
Gryphonia: Gryphonia is a neighboring kingdom ruled by the griffons (hence the name). I know, the name's a bit clichéd.
Alright, now here's the chapter…
The train whistle gave a long, shrill toot as the train slowed to a stop.
Twilight looked out the window and saw Canterlot Castle. "We're here," she said.
The seven friends exited the train and ran to the castle. They found Princess Celestia there, pacing back and forth.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight said. "We came as fast as we could!"
"Thank you all," Princess Celestia said. "Come now. We have much to discuss."
The ponies and dragon followed the princess into the study. Princess Celestia's horn glowed. A book from a bookshelf near the far wall slid out and floated over until it was right in front of Twilight and her friends. The book was an unassuming dark brown, but it had a golden image of a unicorn's head on the cover.
Princess Celestia looked at Twilight. "I suppose you're wondering why I've summoned you here. I am going to show you something nopony has even seen for thousands of years." She used her magic to open the book onto a certain page.
The ponies and dragon gasped and recoiled from the image. It showed a strange, hairless, bipedal creature standing on its back legs. Its eyes were far smaller than a Pony's, and it had no discernable muzzle. It didn't have hooves, but instead each leg ended in five claw-like digits. It looked like some sort of ape-like creature.
"A Tonamec!" Applejack exclaimed.
"A what?" Rainbow asked.
"You know about the Tonamec?" Princess Celestia asked.
"Granny Smith told me all about 'em," Applejack said. "She told me so many stories that the very name's enough to give me nightmares. Granny said that them Tonamec used to raid Sweet Apple Acres when she was a filly. They nearly burned it to the ground once."
All seven of her friends gasped.
"I'm sure you all know about the founding of Equestria," Princess Celestia said. "The warring Ponies, the wendigos, and whatnot."
"Yes, Your Highness," Twilight replied.
"Well," Princess Celestia said, "there is actually more to that tale than what you learned."
"What do you mean?"
"When the Ponies arrived in what is now Equestria," Princess Celestia began, "they soon discovered that it was already inhabited by these." She pointed to the creature in the book. "These creatures called themselves the Tonamec." She pronounced the word taw-nah-mek. "These creatures, the Ponies soon found out were not simply animals, but sentient creatures that had lived in Equestria for thousands of years."
"But these creatures were brutal, savage, warlike, and uncivilized," Princess Celestia said darkly. "They were evil. They would attack ponies and burn down their houses. They raided towns at will – including Ponyville." Princess Celestia turned the page to reveal a mob of Tonamec chasing terrified Ponies and setting fire to houses. All of the ponies and dragon winced.
"Finally, I decided to stop these monsters," Princess Celestia said. "I issued an edict that said that the Ponies now owned the land and the Tonamec would have to leave to a reservation I set up in the Griffin Kingdom. But the Tonamec refused to go.
"So I sent the army to drive out the Tonamec. We knew the Tonamec had built a city or a village called Tonameca. This was their capital. I planned to herd all of the Tonamec into Tonameca and then destroy it.
"For a while, the plan seemed to work. Soon, many Tonamec villages were they destroyed. The army then set out to find and destroy Tonameca.
"But a unicorn named Galaxy betrayed me. She was one of the first settlers and the most trusted apprentice of Starswirl the Bearded. She told the Tonamec the army was coming. The Tonamec rallied their troops and attacked. The Tonamec were stubbornly persistent and very strong, but we were able to defeat them easily.
"The Ponies followed the Tonamec army, but they got ahead. We were about to launch our attack on Tonameca when Galaxy stole the map to Tonameca and escaped.
"But still I searched for the Tonamec. I finally found them in a cave. It looked like they had been there for several days. I gave the Tonamec one final chance to surrender and leave Equestria forever. But the Tonamec still refused.
"I was left with no choice. I used the Elements to turn the Tonamec into stone, so they would never threaten Equestria or the Ponies ever again.
"The spell was supposed to be permanent. But…" She used her magic and levitated a stone tablet in front of her. It had strange hieroglyphs written on it.
"These are parts of a tablet found in a Tonamec temple," Princess Celestia explained. "Normally I would destroy it, but it held a prophecy – what is strange is that it seemed to foretell the Tonamec being turned to stone...and it also tells of their release. It says that when the sun and moon meet, the Tonamec will escape. It also says that one of the Tonamec – a 'Chosen One' – will fight me."
The six ponies and dragon gasped again.
"I believe I know who this Chosen One is," Princess Celestia said. She flipped a couple pages until an image of a Tonamec boy about the Mane Six's age. He was about the Mane Six's age. He had tan skin and short, sleek black hair. He was wearing a red tunic and had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung on his back. Applejack noticed that he had piercing green eyes, like hers.
"This is Prince Tonatiuh," Princess Celestia said, pointing to the figure and pronouncing Tonatiuh as taw-nah-tyoh. "He is the son of Emperor Tezozomoc and the heir to the throne." She closed the book. "There's also mention of a 'Seventh,' but I have no idea what that might be."
She put the tablet away. "I dismissed it," Princess Celestia murmured. "I should've taken it seriously, but I thought the Tonamec were gone forever…until now. After the eclipse, Luna and I went to Dragon Mountain, to the cave where the Tonamec were. There was nothing there, except for some shattered pieces of stone."
"Hold on!" Rarity suddenly said, startling everyone. Then, she looked at the princess. "Oh…sorry…"
"No, no, it's fine," Princess Celestia said. "You were saying?"
"A couple of days ago, Spike and I were looking for gems for my dresses," Rarity said. "We came across this cave with all these strange statues. Then, we saw the eclipse, as you called it, and all of a sudden these statues began to crack and glow. We both ran back to Ponyville as quickly as we could."
The princess looked very somber. "Then there's no other explanation. The Tonamec have escaped. We wanted to tell you in case the Tonamec try to attack Ponyville again. We have summoned somepony to help defend Ponyville and find Tonatiuh." She looked at a guard. "Send General Daystar in."
Soon, a griffon strode in. He was pale, but muscular. He had matted brown feathers on his head and tawny fur on his body. His eyes were blue, but not warm at all – they were distant and icy. "This is General Daystar from the Kingdom of Gryphonia," Princess Celestia said. "He will send a brigade of troops to guard Ponyville, and he will also lead a battalion to find Tonatiuh."
"My soldiers and I shall do whatever we can to help," General Daystar said quietly in a raspy voice. "No one escapes me." None of the Mane Six could tell, but there was something about this General Daystar they just didn't like.
"I also want to give you this book," Princess Celestia said as she levitated the book towards her. "It is a complete history of Equestria, including the Tonamec."
"Thank you," Twilight said, taking the book.
"We'll be putting the Royal Guard on high alert," Princess Celestia said. "If you see anything suspicious, alert us immediately."
"Thank you, Your Highnesses. You can count on us." Twilight said. She and her friends bowed deeply before departing.
On the second they entered the train to go home, Pinkie Pie shouted, "Ha! I knew it!"
Well, Tonatiuh and friends, things are not looking good for you – now both Celestia and the Elements are out to get you – and what's the deal with that creepy General Daystar? And what's the Seventh?
