//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: The Two captains // by mythmatt //------------------------------// "Excuse me," Mayor Mare looked up from her desk to see a gray unicorn staring at her. He had saddle bags across his back that looked like they were stuffed with material. A traveler, they are always good for business. Perhaps this one will have his bags stuffed with bits instead of camping material for the shops around Ponyville. She smiled to herself, more business, meant for taxes. The unicorn continued, "I believe that someone bought a house in our name last week, and we have just arrived to take up residence in it." He slid a piece of paper over the small wooden desk toward Mayor Mare. "I think you will find that everything is in order." Mayor Mare picked up the piece of paper and studied before slowly nodding her head, "Yes, everything is. I remember you had a family member come by to arrange this last week. Bless his soul, he was such a sweet old stallion." She smiled at the memory and looked up at the grey unicorn in front of her, "You are very lucky to have him as a family member." He merely stared at her in silence while she signed the paper and handed it back to him. "Everything is all set. Hope you enjoy your stay in Ponyville, Mr. Kuckiki." The grey unicorn nodded at her and took the paper with his mouth. He carefully put it in his saddle bags that were on his back. He was just about to leave when Mayor Mare said "I think you will need this." She held out a pair of keys in her mouth. The unicorn accepted them and proceeded to leave the building. However, he did not notice Mayor Mare push a big pink button behind her desk after he left. Outside, a young pegasus sat outside sat looking bored. He was acting, of course. He was in fact teeming with energy at just the mere thought of living here for several months. He could already the huge cultural difference from the place that he grew up in. To be able to learn, see, and understand why these ponies lived these ways would indeed be an exhilarating experience. He began to wonder what kind of foods they eat. "Toshiro," The pegasus looked up to see a grey unicorn approach him "Everything is prepared." He said it as if he expected Toshiro to understand. Toshiro rolled his eyes "Be more descriptive. I'v had quite enough of your indirect statements. When you say 'everything is prepared' you could mean that the cookies just came out of the oven, or that a surprise has just been set. You need to be less vague when you talk, dad." His dad just stared at him in silence, then turned around and walked away. Toshiro raised his eyebrow before following him, "Oh so perhaps there is a surprise being set, or perhaps the cookies have been taken out of the oven. I wonder what kind they are. Perhaps you decided to go with the elegant and decorative look of strawberry, or perhaps you were thnking of me and went with chocolate, my favorite." He said with sarcasm in his voice "So really, were are we going?" His dad just glanced at him and proceeded to walk. This irritated Toshiro even more, "At least tell me were we are going." Silence was his only answer. Toshiro grunted before giving up trying to pry information from his dad, knowing it would all be for nothing. While they walked, Toshiro kept noticing ponies staring at them. When he would look at them and make eye contact they would quickly look away like nothing happened. Also, out the corner of his eye he could have sworn he was being watched by something pink. Each time he would look to see what it was it would disappear just to be seen again out of the corner of his eye a few seconds later. This made Toshiro uneasy at being outside in public. His dad however, was indifferent about the whole situation. What good was it to be concerned by such trivial matters? It did not matter to him. These ponies could do as they pleased for as long as they wanted to as long as they did not interfere with him. He did not care for a few stolen glances at them. While the appearance of something pink was odd, he did not want to bother himself with it. By the looks of it, these ponies varied in colors darastically. It was just another one of them, probably a child wanting to get a better look at them. After a few moments of walking, Toshiro saw his dad walk right up to a house. It looked just the same as every other building in Ponyville. "This," Toshiro's dad said "Is our new home." He looked at his dad and waited for him to continue. Instead he just said nothing. He stood there with his eyes closed like he was expecting praise and thanks for delivering him to his new home like some kind of hero. Even though this was no big feat, he was acting like it was one. Toshrio sighed before saying, "It's nice, I guess." His dad kept his eyes closed. Toshiro grunted and stomped up to the door. As Toshiro raised his hoof to open the door, his dad spoke up, "There is a large group of ponies waiting behind those doors." Toshiro stopped. He looked at his dad suspiciously, who hadn't moved. After a moment he could feel them behind the door as well. So that's why he was so silent. For once, he actually understood why his dad preferred not to talk, but this could not even account for all the many other times he had remained silent. "What should we do?" Toshiro asked. This was a odd situation for them. What would these ponies be doing in their new home? Then it hit him. Have we been discovered so soon? He immediately dismissed the idea. There was no way they could have known about them this quickly. Instead, this must be one of the lands many of the strange ways these people lived. Were they all going living in the same house? Perhaps this house was meant for multiple families, and these would be their neighbors? Toshrio was lost in thought until he saw his dad turn around and suddenly walk away. What are you doing now? He asked himself. He asked at his dad, "Were are you going?" His dad stopped in the middle of the road and said, "I'm leaving. They will eventually exit our house. The best thing we can do is wait them out. Instead, I want to become antiquated with this town. That is all. You can do as you like from this point on." As he spoke he continued to walk away from Toshiro. Not a very father-like thing to do at all. He continued to walk until he rounded a corner and left Toshiro alone. Well, Toshiro thought, I actually thought he would want to open the door. He looked back at the wooden door. It hadn't moved an inch, but he could definitely tell that there was bodies behind of it. Toshiro could see the faint outline of different colors through the dark windows as well. What do they want? He asked himself. Was this really an ambush meant for them? Why would there be so many in such a small building? He looked at the door one last time. There really is only one way to find out. He reached out his hoof and gingerly pressed against the door. Inside, the house it was completely dark. The only light came through the windows, which was oddly not enough as it should have been. Toshiro carefully stepped inside. He didn't know what to expect. He could feel the eyes of what was in the area boring into him as he slowly made his way into the house. What are they waiting for? Just as his tail cleared the door, it slammed shut. In the next moment, all the lights turned on, and in the loudest voice possible everypony assembled yelled, "Surprise!" Toshiro jumped at the sudden sound. His ears went flat against his skull and his wings flared open. He bent his legs slightly and looked ready to pounce at the first pony who dare approach him. This didn't scare or even unnerve the ponies who just surprised him. Instead, many of them started to laugh and talk in excited tones about how they 'got him'. It was only when Toshiro noticed the huge sign that said 'Welcome to Ponyville!' in bright colors that he saw this was not a threat on his life. A pink pony with blue eyes approached him, "Ohohoho! We got you good! Welcome to Ponyville! My name is Pinkie Pie!" She extended a hoof and smiled widely. Toshiro glanced at her suspiciously before shaking it. He gave a small grunt when he felt electricity course through his arm and pulled his hoof back. Pinkie laughed and said,"I got you again!" She then began to laugh even harder at the look of confusion on Toshiro's. "Please forgive muh' friend here mister, she is a wild one." Toshiro turned his head to see a orange pony with a blonde mane go up to him. "Names' Applejack. Pleasure to meet you. Y'all don't need to be so worried 'bout this. Jus' one of the things we do when new ponies come to town." She smiled at him. "There are few other's who would have liked to come to this here party, but couldn' make it due to last nights event." Toshiro raised an eyebrow, "Last nights event?" Pinkie Pie gasped, "You mean you couldn't feel it? Well, it felt like over a thousand pounds of something just slammed into you! You could hardly even stand! Well at least i couldn't anyway. After a while it became really hard to breath. But don't worry, whatever it was, Twilight, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna drove it away! Though, Twilight seemed incredibly worried about it when she got back." As Pinkie finished, Toshiro's mind was racing. So just my excitement caused them to fall to the ground? And if those were the princesses that the head captain told us about, they are extremely weak. They were helpless when we stunned them to make our getaway. He looked at the two ponies before him. This world really is weak. No wonder hollows would want to prey on these creators. Toshiro smiled at the two, "Nice to meet you. The name is Toshiro." Pinkie frowned, "Toshiro? What kind of a name is that?" She glanced at his flank, on it was a '+' sign. "And what does that even mean?" "Pinkie," Applejack said, "Don' be so rude to our new guest. He calls himself whatever he wants to. As for his cutie mark, I think that you should tha' its rude to ask what it means." Pinkie huffed at this, "Well sorry. It's just that his name is weird and his cutie mark is unusual." "Pinkie! Why I should put you in a ball and fire you out of that cannon you carry around if you don' shut up right-" "That won't be necessary." Toshiro interrupted, "I am more than willing to awnser any questions concerning myself. My name comes from my grandmother. As for the symbol on my flank," He looked behind him, "it means-" He hesitated for a moment, then continued,"It means that I am good at math." He looked back at the two ponies who were previously arguing. Pinkie thought for a moment,"Oh! I get it now! Its a plus sign!" she shouted. "Yea..." Toshiro said uneasily. "Mister, I'm mighty sorry for my friend here, she normally doesn' act this rude." Applejack apologized. Toshiro nodded at Applejack. He turned back to Pinkie who was smiling to abnormally big, "Well now I've had enough talk for now. Let's-" she pulled out a cannon from nowhere and aimed it right at Toshiro Crap. "-Party!" Pinkie fired the cannon and barrage confetti came out. However, Toshiro was no longer standing were he was a moment ago. Instead he was standing directly behind Pinkie ready to dodge another shot. Applejack looked around confused. Were had he gone? He was there one moment, then gone the next. How could he even move that fast? He has no horn, so he can't teleport. Did he fly? No, that could not explain it since there were no wing beats. So... how? Perhaps he just ran and I blinked when he did? Applejack thought to herself. Pinkie didn't seem to care at all that he was no longer there. She laughed at the confetti and turned around to stare Toshiro right in the eye, "You're good at this! Perhaps I shall have to do more extreme things to get you again. This should be fun!" Toshiro blinked at her and looked at what she had fired. Confetti? He looked back at Pinkie who had a crazy look in her eyes. What is her deal? Applejack noticed Toshiro and Pinkie having a staring contest, "Alright you two, I think that's enough for now. Lets enjoy this party that Pinkie has prepared." Toshiro kept staring at Pinkie, "How exactly did you prepare this party so quickly?" Pinkie smiled even wider, "Why silly, Mayor Mare told me about you coming to town. That's when I followed you to your house, and set up the party just before you opened the door!" Toshiro blinked. She prepared it that fast? "How did you get everyone in the house without us noticing?" "I just brought them with me!" Pinkie responded. Toshiro wanted to question her further about this, but the look on Applejack's face said not to question it. Pinkie laughed one more time before running in a pink blur toward a food table. What a strange pony. Toshiro looked at Applejack, who said, "C'mon mister. I'm sure there are plenty of ponies who want to meet you." She guided him over to a large group of ponies, and he began to meet and greet them all. ---------- Princess Celestia was in a rocky desert. The sun beat down on her relentlessly, making her sweat under the heat. The heat parched her throat. There was no life at all, just the sharp and jagged edges of the mountains and rocks that pierced her hooves sharply. "Glory, Were are you?" Celestia shouted into the nothingness. Her voice bounced off the rocks creating a dull echo. "Glory," She called again, "I know you can hear me. So now were are you? Why don't you reveal yourself?" Suddenly the sun itself descended from the sky and shot right for the ground in front of Celestia like a comet. Celestia had to avert her eyes to keep the light from blinding her. She did not understand why Glory had to make this much of an entrance. A loud bang signaled that the comet had landed, kicking up dust and debris that had been lying on the ground. Celestia looked right at the fire that the explosion had created, and out of it stepped a pony in the image of fire. It had no physical body, instead it was just flames. It was almost a perfect replica of Celestia. It was the same height, had wings and a horn, and the same commanding aura. "There you are, Glory. Look, I know that we-" "You should have brought me." Glory spoke in a loud and commanding voice. It was feminine, but it commanded authority that someone would hear from a warlord. "Celestia, even after these thousands of years, you should know to bring me if a hollow appears. I sometimes wonder if you have even grown." Celestia just smiled slightly at this,"I will remind you that we are one in the same. We are not that different in that regard." Glory ignored this, "For the good of your citizens you should have brought me. Instead, you just thought you could take it on by yourself without me. Now you have endangered the lives of many by letting not one, but two of these things away." Celestia glared at her,"I do not need to be reminded of this, Glory. I already went through that whole ordeal by myself. I don't need to go through it again." Glory's eyes became a even brighter color of flame at that remark, "Well, I hope that you have learned your lesson now." "I have. So, now that we have gotten over this, I think we should go over some things before we go into combat." Glory nodded at this. Then with a voice of command and power, Celestia said, "Bankai."