Taubitha read the prophetic poem over and over, looking at the scroll, and then at her beautiful little two-horned fony Princess's cute yet bloody jaws, then back at the scroll, and then at Princess, and then at the very bottom of the scroll.
This prophetic scroll activated by Omar Fhirehelmsen, with activation assistance from Kahli Khulfer.
"What the fuck is this supposed to mean, Princess? And why does it mention my absolute skank of an ex-best-briend, Kahli?"
Princess blinked, and then she coughed up a lung, literally.
"Ew! Princess, if you're going to eat people, please make an effort to keep them down. I don't want to see that shit."
Princess bowed shamefully, and then she quickly scarfed down the discarded lung.
"EW!" Taubitha balked. "Well, anyway, thank you for protecting me, Princess." She looked again at the prophetic scroll. "Is this shit for real, Princess? Are you some sort of a... I mean... You're not the 'Harbinger of Doom,' are you? What does that even mean?"
Princess whinnied cheekily.
"You are?"
Princess snorted.
"So, like... That's why you have a system, right?"
Princess huffed.
"And I guess that's why you've been spitting acid all over everybody.
Princess whinnied in the affirmative.
"And why you slaughtered everybody in this blimp."
Princess neighed and nodded.
Taubitha kept up this line of questioning for a bit, eventually gleaming that not only was Princess indeed the Harbinger of Doom, as accordig to the prophetic scroll she'd coughed up, but indeed that Princess had a vested interest in killing... Well, basically, Taubitha learned that her phony wanted to kill essentially everyone. However, after having a bit of a pragmatic discussion over leading questions and passionate hoofing and whinneys, Taubitha was able to come to several conclusions.
The first, was that the Harbinger of Doom did not necessarily have to destroy the world of Nomachiato forever. Moreover, it was that Princess had the goal of killing as many people as possible and establishing dominion over everyone else. Then, worst case scenario, she could slaughter her subjects on a rolling basis as she continued to progress and level up over time.
The second, was that if the Harbinger of Doom did end up completely destroying the world of Nomachiato forever, she could always establish dominion over another world, or at the very least abscond to that other world as a world-devourinng fugitive. The most important point in this bit of clarification for Taubitha was that ending the world was not the end of the harbinger's life.
The third, and of course most important conclusion that Taubitha had come to was that, as she was [paired] to Princess, she didn't necessarily need to be destroyed. In fact, Princess liked having her around, and only revealed her Harbinger of Doom status to Taubitha because she wanted her to be, decidedly, on the same page.
So that was all well and good. However, of course, Taubitha was still a little conflicted about the whole thing. Sure, she was [paired] to Princess and had already developed a good deal of emotional attachment to the fony. If she even was a fony... However, on the other hand, Taubitha wasn't entirely certain that she wanted to bring forth the end of the world. Sure, Princess was, if the events that took place on the dance floor were any indication, decidedly up to the task, but that didn't mean that she had to end the world, right?
"Right?"
Pricess blinked at Taubitha aloofly. It was the kind of non-answer that someone would expect of a creature that existed solely to bring forth the end of the world.
Taubitha decided in that moment that she'd try to ignore Princess' evil origins. Maybe she'd be able to reform the fony before any sort of world ending took place. After all, they were [paired], and if Taubitha didn't want to end the world, didn't that have to count for something?
Taubitha didn't ask Princess. She was a little intimidated by Princess, though overall she didn't necessarily find the beast scary... It was just that, well, she felt like she ought to give her fony the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time, maybe she wouldn't try to make Princess disappointed. Not that anything she'd said necessarily disappointing... Other than not wanting to end any worlds.
Regardless, what had Taubitha's mom been doing to get ahold of the Harbinger of Doom? And why and how had Kahli, of all people, had something to do with all of it?
Princess neighed in a tone that signified clearly to Taubitha that she had absolutely no idea.
And then, Taubitha noticed the tingling in her lower back. She was ready to level up. She looked at her fony.
"You're probably ready to level up, too, aren't you, Princess?"
Princess whinnied.
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[Level up]
[Level up]
[Level up]
[Level up]
[Level up]
Taubitha felt almost nauseated as she realized she'd just leveled up five times at once.
[Congratulations, you've reached level 28]
Taubitha smiled triumphantly.
[You have 1 skill slot available. Would you like to select a skill?]
Taubitha sure did want to select a skill.
[Excellent. The following skills are available for selection:]
[Beast Form]
[Harbinger's Apprentice]
[Wicked Wings]
Hmm, usually Taubitha had just leveled up her [Beast Form] [skill], but she wondered if there might be a better course of action to take at this time considering that it had limits... Plus, some of these other [skills] looked pretty cool... Then again, would leveling up her favorite [skill] most likely alter its limits in a positive way? Probably... Still, Taubitha at least needed to know what her options were.
[Beast Form]
[Increasing Beast Form will allow for you to triple your STM rating when transforming, as well as massivley improve your attack strength and radius by a power of three.]
Wow, that was a pretty good upgrade. But, Taubitha still wanted to check out some of her other [skill] options - after all, some of those would probably fall off the list next time she leveled, and therefore they were a little more enticing than just simply improving an already great, powerful [skill].
[Harbinger's Apprentice]
[You are the tauman chosen as the pair to the Harbinger of Doom! With this, you'll gain minimized access to the harbinger's own skills, including the ability to spit acid and melt things with your vision. You'll also improve your chemistry with the harbinger.]
That was an enticing [skill]. In fact, Taubitha felt it was probably the only [skill] she could reasonably choose. After all, it was the most logical thing to do, and also the best chance she'd have at possibly rehabilitating Princess from her murderous ways. Plus, didn't it mean she'd get two [skills] for the price of one? And along with that, didn't it also mean she'd get any other [skills] that Princess got? There was no way this wasn't the objectively best decision for a skill. Still, Taubitha needed to look at that last [skill], didn't she? She needed to at least know what it was, even though there was no way she'd ever choose it.
[Wicked Wings]
[This skill allows you to permanently sprout large, spiky wings. They will be sparkly and svelt, and they will match your look perfectly. They will allow for a strong, permanent increase of your agility and strength through percentage based modifiers. Plus, they will also make you three times prettier.]
Taubitha knew what skill she was choosing now.
[Skill Selected]
[Wicked Wings]
Taubitha just hoped that Princess hadn't seen her skill list selection. Or, more aptly, that her fony wouldn't mind that she picked the cool winged [skill], even though it was ostensibly the wrong choice.
[Princess is ready to level up]
[Would you like to level her up?]
Taubitha thought yes. After all, it was just as well that Princess would need to level up after slaughtering everybody around them.
[Level up]
[Level up]
[Level up]
[Level up]
[Princess has reached level 30]
"Wow, Princess! Nice! You're a higher level than me now!" said Taubitha with an only slightly jealous tone.
[Princess has 1 skill slot available. Would you like to select a skill?]
Of course Taubitha would. She was hoping she could use this as an opportunity to rehabilitate her beloved fony from her murderous ways.
[Blood Drain]
[Skull Blaster]
[Hooves of Woe]
Taubitha felt a bit of pause. None of these [skills] seemed like they would realy help to rehabilitate Princess, in fact, they all sounded like they'd make her even more likely to commit another act of murderous mayhem. Still, it didn't feel fair not to level up her fony, did it? Taubitha figured she'd check the [skills] out. Maybe they weren't as bad as she thought.
[Blood Drain]
[Use this to drain the blood right out of your enemies from where they stand. Controlling their blood flow allow you to pull blood away from their brains, making them weak and easy to kill.]
Taubitha figured that [skill] was probably a little too much for Princess at the moment.
[Skull Blaster]
[Weaker enemies will tremble as you explode their heads from a distance! All that is required is for you to affix your equine vision on a sufficiently weak specimen, and then you may stand there and watch as their head explodes like a pinata.]
Taubitha didn't think that was a great [skill] choice, either. She was, well, she was trying to get something that Princess could use without it inspiring her to commit murderous atrocities.
[Hooves of Woe]
[Permanently entrenched in your muscle memory is the ability to, in one fell swoop of your hoof, disembowel someone weaker than yourself. Along with this, your hooves are now three times as large and tipped with a sinister poison that slowly kills anyone exposed unless they immediately administer an antidote.]
Taubitha was speechless. She'd been holding out hope that [Hooves of Woe] wouldn't be so horrible, but in truth it sounded like the worst of the three [skills] as far as murderous impulses went. But, she had to pick one, now didn't she?
[Skill Selected]
[Skull Blaster]
Taubitha figured that, well, maybe Princess would only use this [skill] on bugs or something. Or when she was in terrible, immediate danger. Then it would be okay. Right?
With that, time sped back to normal. Taubitha stood there, looking at Princess, who looked quite pleased with herself.
"You better not be trying to explode my head with your new [skill], Princess," said Taubitha with a side-eye and a flick of her wings.
Her wings!
They were long, and dark, and slick and reflectant. They seemed to be covered in dark scales that, every once in a while, caught a hint of bioluminesence. They were, also, huge... But Taubitha could intuitively control them as an other appendage, as if she'd had them her whole life, and she noted too that they could fold up to an almost unnoticeable size if she tried... Though, why would she? They were glorious! They were awesome! She stretched them out wide, and she felt for once in her life like some sort of massive, yet daintly, angelic yet demonic being. It was truly surreal.
Princess whinnied with approval.
"Thank you, Princess," said Taubthia with a smile. She folded her wings up a little, walked up to her fony, and petted the beast between the two wicked spires on her head.
And then, the blimp shook! With a terrible creak and a crack that sent Taubitha's ears ringing and heart beating, a side wall started to perforate and crumble. Taubitha heard a terrible noise, a noise like the blimp was being battered by a swarm of something giant and sinister slamming into the side of the blimp over and over again.
"Fuck! What's happening, Princess?"
Princess neighed aloofly. She had no idea.
Taubitha watched as the wall continued to crumble and dust started to snake through the air. Whatever was happening, she and her fony would be ready for it.