Xenophage
Equestria
Chapter IX
Aftermath II
Canterlot Castle Royal Dining Room: Dusk
Nathan stared at his meal with a mix of anger and disappointment, he we served a small green salad, he spotted small cherries and other berries, he glanced at Orion and the rest of his fellow gods, each had the same, as he looked down the table, even one had the same, except Discord and Pinkie, they both had chocolate and cream. Nathan looked at this tiny plate and shrugged, he picked up the tiny fork and tried to eat the small plate of green. As Celestia looked at Orion and Nathan, looks of doubt on their faces, Celestia tried to change that.
“Um, Lord Orion?” Asked Celestia as she looked at him, in turn Orion slowly looked up and asked:
“What are you on about? ‘Lord’? I haven’t been called that in years, just call me Orion, alright?” Said Orion with a seemingly caring smile, Celestia took it as a true one.
“Oh, well, Orion, why are you truly here? I mean, all of you, Order and Chaos, Justice and Crime, Peace and War? Why did you three come?” Asked Celestia as she stopped eating.
“Well, even here of a Yin and Yang? Yin is the light, safety, hope. Yang darkness, danger, despair. If only the ‘good’ gods come, the light shale over whelm the darkness, and light shale rule all, same goes for darkness, one can not survive without the other, it’s the reason life goes on, life and death are the same and much different at the same time, both are needed.” Replied Orion as he also stopped eating to talk, much of the other chatter died down.
“YOU ARE NOT THE GOD OF CHAOS!! I AM!” Boomed Discord as he jumped up and started to walk after Orion, Orion merely waved his hand and Discord stopped. “I can’t move. Help”
“I am not the god of Chaos, I am the god of Order, the Yin to Nathan, the god of Chaos, my Yang. You are this world’s sprite of Chaos, you are powerful, but Nathan’s power spans the entire multiverse.” Replied Orion as he effortlessly lifted Discord up and placed him back in his seat. Discord’s face was a mix of hate and acceptance.
“Oh, well then, what is your real reason, you are here? Equestria can fend off it’s own enemies, it’s strong, it ponies are strong, everything about it is strong.” Asked Shining Armour.
“If that’s true, why is the city of Las Pegasus a pile of ashes, why is half you army dead or seriously injured? Why are you worried? Why are you calling for help?” Asked Orion in response to Shining Armour’s question. Shining Armor’s face drooped, defeat.
“Because they have fallen from grace, because they think them selves gods, because they know that now.” Replied Nathan as he bit off the points of his fork and started to chew them. The sound of steel twisting and snipping came scratching from his mouth. Half the table cringed with slight pain. Orion quickly slapped Nathan in the back of the head, causing him to spit out the metal.
“You have no right to speak of Equestria like that, we've fought dragons and hundreds of creatures to keep our selves safe!” Barked Rainbow Dash, Gilda put her talon on her shoulder and spook:
“Don’t.” Rainbow Dash ignored this, however Orion didn't.
“Earth had Dragons, Hydras, and all the creatures that are common in Equestria, however, now they are gone, hunted to the last, killed, and more than likely eaten. Humans are the strongest creature we have even faced, most creatures die out when food runs out, disaster, or war sticks. But humanity gets stronger.” Replied Orion, this oddly made Rainbow Dash even madder.
“What?! You killed and ate them!? You’re the real monsters!” Boomed Rainbow Dash as she walked over to Orion, who raised to the challenge.
“Really, humans monster?! Who would have thought, a race where slaving, murder, rape, and other barbaric things are common with out laws, are monsters, you must be the smartest of the whole bunch!” Mocked Orion.
“Are you mocking me?!” Asked Rainbow Dash as she started to fly to reach eye level. This made Orion smile, he raised his left hand and snapped his fingers, Rainbow Dash soddenly wrenched in pain.
“Ahhh! Hel-- Ahhh!” Suddenly light filled the room and so did heat, in an instant, it was over, Rainbow Dash laid on the floor, except not Rainbow Dash. There laying on the floor was a slim, athletic looking, rainbow haired naked girl with a pair of small wings folded on her back. Gilda quickly got her bearings and rusted over the her lover’s side, Celestia jumped out of her seat by just stood there, everyone was dumbstruck, even Luna.
“H-how did you do this?” Asked Gilda, slowly trying to wake up the very much human Rainbow Dash.
“And more importantly, why?” Asked Luna in an irritated tone.
“Just a lesson, and to answer your question, Gilda, just a simple swap spell. She’ll be fine, well, once the pain of your body shifting wheres off. She’ll come to in a few minutes, the pain will be long gone before that, should I shift her back?” Asked Nathan, Gilda froze, it should be an easy chose, but Gilda thought it over.
“No, not yet, leave her be. I’ll try and explain to her.” Replied Gilda as she motioned for the guards to come over, they didn't move. Orion snapped his fingers and Gilda and the human Rainbow Dash were gone, just then half the table flew out of their seats, the other half nearly slammed their head on the table.
“What just happened?!” Boomed Luna, the guards were at Orion’s neck in seconds.
“Nathan, what did you do?” Asked Orion as he pushed the spear heads away from himself.
“I stopped time for them, but kept it going for us and Gilda. Don’t worry, they’re in Gilda’s room.” “Great, please go back to your posts, and stop trying to kill me.”
“Right, go back to your posts, on second thought, go for an Ale in town, I’m sure the Guardians are more than enough to stop any more incidences, right?” Asked Luna to Nathan in a very sly and seductive voice. Nathan froze, the spot light was on him; “Y-yeah, we’re more than e-enough. Go on we’ll. Yeah head out.” Replied Nathan in a stumbling tone.
“Right away, thanks sir and madam.” Replied one of the six guards as they slowly walked out.4
“Now, who is ready for a bit more action?” Asked Blueblood as he got up and walked into a small door behind him. Orion knew where this was going, and he whispered something to John, who in turn grinned like a mad man, this was not going to be good for Zed or Nathan. Or was it? When Blueblood returned a red wall like curtain lifted up and revealed seven ponies, two the six humans recognized as Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, the other five were more than likely Octavia’s band, but something was off about them, but was this a battle or a duet?
“What’s up Ponies, Changeling, and what ever you are!” Yelled the blue maned mare with the massive headphones as she pointed at the table. “Octavia and I are going to be playing some songs from our album, Songs from the Heart! Now let’s get it on!!” Boomed Vinyl as she throw a record on the turn table, Octavia and the small band started playing Spring. The rest of the hour was filled with mixes of Classical and Dubstep, straight Dubstep or straight Classical. After an hour of listening to music, Blueblood stood up and spook:
“Right, time for the duels, I trust you all enjoyed your meals?” Asked Blueblood as he walked out through the door behind him.
“Mine didn’t have enough nails in it.” Replied John as he leaned back and started a small chat with Rarity and Zed.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think ya can eat nails.” Replied Applejack in a semi-pissed off tone.
“Nah, the NCR Ranger Vets. chew nails and spit napalm.” Replied Nathan as he picked his teeth.
“Need to meet these Rangers.” Replied Trixie as her plate was removed by a waiter.
“No, most are kinda racist, plus they would faint just but looking at you, the bright of colours.” Replied Layla as she got up a streched.
“Please sit down, all of you. I have something to say.” Said Celestia as she sat up slightly. She sat down once all, execpt Blueblood sat down, just then Celestia spoke:
“On behalf of Prince Blueblood, I would like to welcome you to Canterlot Castle, Orion, Nathan, Zed, James, Layla, and John. I hope this party will open your eyes to our way of life.” Said Celestia as she raised a silver and glass cup filled with a red wine, all down the length of the table did the same, even Chrysailis. “Hail!” Layla’s eyes quickly went black and her vision went also black. Time stopped for everyone except the five other humans.
“Hail to our mighty queen, Layla!!” Boomed a mighty voice, a blush filled Layla’s face as she looked down the table of faces, many she had known for years, some new, some blurred, some missing, spots remained empty. A small sliver of sadness filled her eyes, but pride quickly crushed her feelings for her lost friends, the time for remembering them will come latter, now is the time to celebrate the living and the victory over the Dragon Horde.
“Hail, Layla! For saving me from the Dragon, Tocumsa! Hail!” Boomed a marry voice of a one eyed warrior, the room erupted into a single word. Hail.
“Hail to Layla, for saving the city of Fresh Water!” Once again the room filled with the word, Hail.
“Hail to Layla for bringing an end to the tyranny of King Lucian!!” Once again but this time much louder the room filled with the word, Hail. Layla was known as a hero among the “Savage’ nations of the north, many feel they have both power and cunning, but many others think they are barbarians whom must be destroyed without mercy, one such person was King Lucian, and another was High Mage Faither, whom called upon the dang King known as Tocumsa. The Dragon whom all other dragon are born from. The memories of her first life quickly faded, leaving only the blurry image of a man, standing proud and tall. As her eye brightened up she found her self in her bed, with Nathan sleeping half on the bed and half on a chair Zed as in a large arm chair in the far side of the room, around the room were a a mix of Lunar and Solar Guards, one saw her get slowly up and ran out the door. Nathan twitched as he heard the clanking of the metal hooves on the stone floor. The doors quickly opened as Orion, James, and John ran into room. A mix of joy and relief when they looked at the slowly waking, Layla. Orion quickly kicked Nathan awake and Nathan’s eyes widened and hugged her.
“Almost lost you Layla, the power started to rip apart your mental state, we striped you and the rest of use of power, we’re just a bit stronger than Luna, but don’t tell her that, oh and Rainbow Dash just woke up too, Blueblood thinks it’s time for the duels, oh and Trixie was at your side for a few hours, her duties pulled her away, she asked me to say, ‘Hope you get better, Luna says you’re invited to a small ‘party’ for friends, see you.’.” With that Orion left.