Xenophobia Sneak Peek · 7:09am Oct 27th, 2012
Hey. This next chapter for Xenophobia has been a long one, and I don't have much time for writing at the moment, but as an acknowledgement of your patience I have a small excerpt for you guys.
A figure wreathed in shadow walked the path toward Ponyville, a small satchel swinging at his side. Occasionally, the strap would slip off the figure’s padded shoulder, giving the traveler pause as he re-adjusted the bag with a soft rustle. The quadruped’s town grew larger as he strode onward, the memory of a motherly voice giving stern instruction swirling in his head.
“You will go disguised as entertainers from far away, so as not to cause unnecessary panic. The wedding will be a huge event, and its success rides on the cooperation of thousands of my subjects: subjects who must be calm and collected in order to do their duty.”
He hated that voice. The smooth, caring inflection of the words was a lie, and Gerald Hanes knew it. One doesn’t deal with Company bureaucrats and not learn the subtleties of the spoken word: the language of politics. Jer knew a lie when he heard one.
“In five days, Twilight will arrive with a letter inviting you to the wedding. You are to be ready for your task by then.”
The Princess of a nation of sweet, gentle pony-folk had stolen away their one chance at going home. Not that Earth was Jer’s home, really… but then nowhere was if he actually thought about it. He had no home, and no real family other than Ray. So with his quiet friend he remained. Earth was Raymond’s home, Raymond’s life, and Jer wanted him to resume that life. If not for that damned pony…
“You will be tasked with protecting the Elements, guarding them with your lives against Discord and his tricks…”
Guarding. Protecting. Jer kicked a small stone out of his way as he continued down the path.
She wanted them to be glorified bodyguards. It would be laughable if it weren’t also infuriating. Here they were: two former members of the Colonial Military, survivors of the Earth Hive, and all-around badasses… demoted to security duty.
Gerald snorted.
Okay. It was kind of funny, but Jer most definitely wasn’t going to tell that to his thoroughly pissed off friend.
“… with your lives…”
Celestia’s decree echoed through his mind once more. Guard a bunch of natives with their lives? Really? What kind of danger did she think they were in? A wedding! They were guarding a bunch of ponies at a wedding, and these ponies weren’t even a part of the ceremony! Shouldn’t they be guarding the bride? Or the groom? Weren’t they the ones most likely to be targeted?
What wasn’t she telling them?
An icy, prodding sensation wormed into the back of Jer’s skull. He felt… violated. The traveling human halted in his tracks and turned his gaze upward, scanning the sky for anything out of the ordinary. His eyes lingered on a small cloud, silhouetted against the sea of light streaming from the unsettlingly familiar pockmarked moon. He could have sworn that he’d seen an equine figure posing atop the condensed water vapor.
“Celestia…” he guessed to himself, not amused by the white pony’s presence. Glaring heavily at the sky, he raised his left arm above his head, extending his third-most finger and presenting it to whomever may have been watching from above. Satisfied with his small gesture of defiance, he continued down the path.
Maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to make everyone happy and get retribution at the same time. The thought was a little idealistic on his part, so he dropped the idea, settling for vengeance alone. He’d come up with something; he was sure of it.
In the mean time, however, Jer had probes to plant.
“I do not find this course of action to be exceptionally wise, Dear Sister,” the self proclaimed Goddess of the Night asserted as she watched the strange, bipedal creature make its way toward Ponyville. Its thoughts were tainted with the malicious desire to spill blood, most of which belonged within the body of the Goddess of the Sun: her beloved sibling. “Why did you choose to anger this creature so? Can you not sense the anarchy lurking beneath its naked skin?”
A soft breeze wafted to Luna’s left, rustling her deep blue feathers and prompting a small shiver. Celestia had landed next to her. The two alicorns were situated upon a darkened cumulus floating lazily above Ponyville—the home of her sister’s fair pupil, Twilight, and her companions.
“You remember how easily my student and her friends were corrupted, Luna,” the Sun Goddess’s voice lilted. “Discord revels in the desecration of harmonious creatures, but Chaos cannot defile itself. If they are angry, they will give into the madness you are sensing, and Discord will have little power to sway their minds.”
“But how do you know they wilst not simply join him?” Luna queried, raising her voice slightly in exasperation. “What stops them from turning against us for our actions?” Celestia was silent for a moment, and Luna watched as her sister observed the biped travel toward the sleepy town below. Finally, she spoke:
“They understand morality… that much I have seen. Their comprehension is twisted and seeded with irrational hate, but it is still there. The aliens will do what they see as right. We can only hope that vengeance does not follow.”
“I still suggest we incarcerate them,” Luna huffed. “They will influence the populace: they will bring change your little ponies haven’t seen for countless centuries.”
“Our Little Ponies, Luna.”
“Yours, Sister,” Luna mumbled, turning her back on her taller counterpart and the small burg of Ponyville. “They’ve always been yours: it simply took one thousand years of exile for me to accept it.”
She spread her midnight wings and took flight.
As always, thanks for reading! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Looking good man! I can't wait to see the tensions between the princesses and the humans. Good stuff there!
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