//------------------------------// // The Being With Two Legs // Story: A Warlocks Destiny // by Linite //------------------------------// Once upon a time there was a city. A great city. A great and diverse city protected by a sphere of unimaginable power. The sphere protected a people, a race of people not like the universe had seen before. They were scholars, Scientists, Adventurers, Explorers, Creatives, and Warriors. These people gave the great sphere a name, The Traveler. Many feared the Traveler while others studied it hoping to advance themselves with its knowledge. However on occasions the Traveler would pick out a select few who it deemed worthy. Worthy of power and responsibility. Beings forged in light and worthy of becoming legend. These beings were called Guardians and they protected what everyone holds so dear. Decades went by as Guardians fought back an enemy they called the darkness. Decades turned into centuries and victories turned into failures. Everything the light cherished was being destroyed until only the City remained. But through the actions of the cities bravest Guardians the darkness's heart was destroyed leveling the playing field for the side of light. Now the battle continues, both sides unable to outdo the other. "Or so we believed." The Speaker said as he walked into his study area with his student and friend Aron. Aron Williams, a Warlock unlike any other, he was well trained in the power of the Void and well taught by the Speaker himself. Aron hesitated then decided not to wait. "Why tell me something I already know. This is a story that children are told before bed." The Speaker took a seat. "Yes, this much is true. But that is why its told to the children. It helps them sleep." Aron walked over to the many papers attached to the wall which held the recent work of the two and only stared as he turned back to the Speaker. "You've done it, haven't you?" The Speaker smiled under his mask. "Perhaps. But we may have wasted too much time." "A spell." Aron began. "A spell able to cross universes and dimensions alike." "Please." The Speaker said lightly holding his hand up. "You seem to look at things with a much broader horizon then what might lie ahead. It will take you to one place. Not a million different realities." "You mean us, right?" Aron asked giving a concerned look towards the Speaker. The Speaker chuckled, "I am much too old for this sort of thing. You'll have to be the one to do it." "I see. Then Jorden and Tish will most likely accompany me..." The Speaker cut him off, "No. Your fireteam...Your friends can not go with you. You alone could be enough to through off the balance between our worlds." Aron held a solid expression, it would be his first time going on a mission alone. "You will be fine. Besides you'll have your ghost with you." The Speaker continued. "Now I must teach you how to properly do this. We don't have much time left as it is." Aron nodded and listened carefully to the Speakers instructions. Two days had passed and Aron was ready to go. He had informed his friends of the situation and while they wished they could go they didn't push the subject. "Farewell my friend." Aron shook hands with the burley Titan known as Jordan. "I'll be back soon." He said as he gave the Hunter known as Tish a quick hug then headed to the Speakers study to disembark. He shook hands with the Speaker, "And if I'm unsuccessful?" "Then return knowing you did your best." The Speaker reassured. With that, Aron backed away and glanced at his ghost. "You might want-" "Right." His ghost replied as he seemed to vanish into Aron. "No weapons?" "Not this time. We'll want to seem as peaceful as possible. And if things seem to go south, I think my Void training will be good enough." With this Aron focused on the spell and before his helmet shielded eyes a portal formed. Taking one last look back at the Speaker he crossed the purple threshold and vanished from sight. "Good luck Guardian." The Speaker said as he watched the portal disappear. There seemed to be a pause, as if reality was non existent. Aron couldn't see anything or hardly think for that matter and as fast as he was thrown into this new sensation he was pulled back to his normal self with the force of being hit by a Cabal shield. "What?" He asked himself trying to take in the new scenery. There seemed to be no notable technology in the immediate area and what seemed to be a hundred faces staring at him in shock. Are these...ponies?! He thought then slowly raised his hand, "Uh, hi?" With this the crowd broke into utter panic. "Whoa! Wait! I'm not here to hurt you!" The surrounding area fell silent as the creatures ran away and his ghost decided to make an appearance. "Nice job. You clear areas really well." "Shut up." Aron responded. Before more could be said the sound of hooves came rushing towards the two. Aron quickly looked at his ghost. "Right, I know." His ghost said as he disappeared into Aron again. It had only seemed like seconds but he was surrounded by royal guard. Aron tried to stay calm but his mind was rushing with plans and was thinking of what to do. Without a second thought he decided words might be the best option. "Hello, I'm-" "Silence!" One of the guards yelled. "You're under arrest!" "Arrest?! Why?" Aron responded. "Will force be needed to subdue you villain?" the guard asked. Thinking it over Aron knew he could easily out maneuver these guards. If he wanted he could have simply teleported away at this point. But his goal was to find help, not start a war with another alien race. Aron put his hands up half way. "No no, force isn't necessary." "What are you doing?" The ghost inside his head asked which Aron quickly ignored. "Good." The guard who seemed to be in charge nodded to one of the unicorns who's horn was now glowing. Suddenly Aron felt his hands yanked down to his sides. Surprised at this he tried to move them but they wouldn't budge. Okay this is new. I've never met creatures with this sort of ability before. Psions are close but even they have their limits. "This way." The guard began to move with one moving next to him. Two bumped Aron from behind to get him moving and the others went off their separate ways. As much as Aron wanted to break their hold he was equally curious to gather information. Ghost, can you do some scans without being out here? "No. I have to physically scan it." the ghost replied. Thought so. Lets hope words won't fail a second time. "Can you tell me what you are?" He asked. No response. "I'm a human if that helps break the ice." "Quiet." "I have many questions about your people and-" "I said quiet. You can save it for the princess." Princess? Aron looked around. Tall buildings resembling structures from pre collapse paintings. Guards dressed in gold metal armor. The more I look at this place the more I'm reminded of fairy tales and old stories. Just hold out Aron, answers are coming soon... I hope. The walk didn't take long but it was painfully quiet. Each time Aron wanted to ask a question he'd have to remind himself that he was to remain quiet. He knew he was headed for some sort of prison cell. A dungeon perhaps. And sure enough he was proven right as the metal bar door swung shut in his face. "Kind of a small cell, don't you think?" He called out as the guards left him behind. "You're not going to 'guard' me or anything?" The guards vanished at this point leaving Aron alone. Great. Guess we have to wait now. I didn't even get a phone call. "Strange." He said out loud. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen any technology at all." The ghost appeared in front of Aron. "We haven't explored much, but I agree. This place seems rather primitive." With that said the ghost started scanning the walls and the bar door. "We could easily get out of this. Lets teleport past this door and do some exploring." "No, we should wait. If we leave and just start walking around it might stir up more panic." Aron said as he took a seat at the back wall. "Speaking of which, did you see those strange creatures?" "I did." His ghost replied. "Have anything on them?" The ghost thought for a minute making the usual computing noises he makes when trying to solve something. "No. However, I do have a distorted record on the one with the horn. People before the collapse called them unicorns but they were only fairy tails." "Well this place is certainly different." "That other one. The one yelling out the commands." The ghost continued. "He seemed to resemble a, well, a pony." "I was thinking the same thing but they seemed so different." "True." The ghost replied. "I'm glad they speak English. I wouldn't want to learn a new language." Aron smiled under his mask at his ghosts remark. "Lets just hope this princess is friendlier then the guards." The huge wooden door swung open with a royal guard trotting in. "Your highness. We've captured a strange creature that mysteriously appeared in the middle of town today." "A strange creature?" Celestia asked. "Yes. It stands on two legs and seems to be wearing... something." The guard hesitated on the last part. It wasn't everyday that they saw armor from a different universe. "Very well then." She sighed. "I was planning a trip to Ponyville but a court session takes precedence in this situation." Celestia began to pen a letter to Twilight informing her of the recent development. The guard bowed. "I shall set the hearing for noon then, your highness." Then proceeded to walk out of the room. "Today of all days." Celestia said to herself as she finished her letter. "What other creatures have the Crytparchs discovered from the collapse?" Aron asked his ghost wanting to know as he much as he could. The ghost brought up what he had. "Pegasus, a creature similar to what we've seen but with wings. Manticore, broken records say it was a hybrid creature that cared only for destruction. Draconequus and Changelings, only broken text referring on them have been recovered." The ghost paused for a moment while making his usual thinking noises. "Something about an Alicorn, again the text was found severely damaged." "I see." Aron said. "That's not a lot but better than nothing. It may be possible that all those creatures exist here, maybe even more." "Well I hope not." The ghost responded. "Why's that?" "That Manticore creature sounds terrifying." Aron shifted his position. "Ghost, does anything seem, well, off to you?" "Well we're the good guys in a prison cell so, maybe." "Its not that." Aron pondered. "Those ponies seemed so afraid of me. I understand that I'm very different but that was immediate panic that we saw earlier." The ghost entertained the idea. "You think something's wrong then?" "I'm not sure yet." Aron stood and briefly stretched. "It just doesn't seem-" Aron was cut short as the sound of a metal door opened from down the hall. The ghost was already back in Arons head as he stepped up to the bar door. "I hope you weren't planning on lunch." Two guards had stopped at the door. "You have an audience with the princess." Before Aron could respond, his arms were restricted to his sides again and was motioned out of the cell. As he looked around he noticed how the walls were a constant grey brick color which suddenly changed to a cream color with outstanding decorations covering the wall. As his walk continued it only revealed more of the beauty this place had to offer showing huge stain glass windows depicting what seemed like events on them. Aron looked at one with a purple unicorn leading five others against a confusing looking character. Do you think that's the Manticore? He thought to his ghost. "I'm not sure. But whatever it was I'd say they beat it." The ghost responded. Aron turned his head revealing another window showing two unicorns with the pink one having wings holding each other closely seeming to vanquish another strange looking creature who was all black with green eyes but with the same body type as a pony. "Look at that one. It has holes in it." The ghost stated bluntly which Aron didn't respond to. The guard in front of him stopped which Aron quickly noticed making him stop as well. "Stand there. Don't move from that spot creature." The guard ordered as him and the other took positions to his sides. A few moments passed of nothing but standing looking at an empty throne. Just as Aron was about to ask an obvious question the room filled with a bright flash of light causing the guards to look away and even causing Aron to squint under his helmet. Once the flash of light disappeared a white being with a horn, wings and wavy hair was sitting with an expression of constant judgment on her face staring into Aron's visor. "I am Princess Celestia of Equestria. Ruler of the Sun. You have been brought here on the account of uprooting Equestrian lifestyle. How do you plead?" Celestia held a serious tone. Aron was silent for a quick second thinking of a proper response. "Uh, not guilty." "Then an explanation is in order." Celestia responded. Oh great, what am I suppose to say? "Tell her why we're here. She seems to have a lot of influence in this place, if anyone can help us our best bet is her." The ghost responded to his thought. I noticed that much but how do I explain- "Are you going to explain yourself or not?" Celestia asked growing unsettled by Arons silence. After a brief moment Aron decided on what to say. "My name is Aron Williams. I'm not from around here. In fact, I don't even belong to this universe. The place that I'm from is in the middle of a war where both the dark and the light are constantly at each others throats. I'm from the side of light. And though I wish it wasn't true, we're losing... your highness." "Another world?" Celestia asked beginning to soften her expression. "I know its hard to understand." Aron started. "But we need help. We've tried everything we can. But we've hit that point where we're out of options." Celestia looked at her guards for a moment who only stared at Aron then returned her gaze to the creature that seemed so different. "And you have no ulterior motives?" "I give you my word." With that Aron hoped what he had said was enough. "Release him." Celestia said. The guards looked at each other puzzled but they weren't about question their princess and released the magical restraint. Aron was relieved at this and squeezed his wrists to get feeling back in his hands. "I feel that we have much to discuss." Celestia stated as she stood from her throne. "I'll summon the other leaders here for a meeting, until then you are more than welcome to stay here. My guards will show you to your room." "Thank you." Aron was about to turn to head out of the throne room but stopped himself and gave bow. "Your highness." Celestia didn't seem changed by the extra remark which Aron quickly noted and decided to take his leave. Celestia watched the door close and sighed while levitating another piece of parchment to send to the princess in Ponyville. Dear Twilight Sparkle, A situation has risen in Canterlot that concerns me. I am hereby asking you to attend a royal meeting to address this situation. A letter will be sent to Cadence as well. If you want a better explanation, I'm sorry. I can't give you one. You would never believe it if I told you. Sincerely, Princess Celestia A quick bit of magic and the letter was away. After sending it she sent her guard to fetch her some tea and started writing the letter for Cadance. It didn't take long for the letter to arrive at the newly rebuilt Golden Oaks Library and sure enough it did with Spike spitting out the rolled up parchment and Twilight catching it in mid air. "Another letter from the Princess, huh?" Twilight said as she unrolled the letter and began to scan her eyes over it while Spike continued with his usual cleaning duties. "What's she want this time. Is she going to be able to make it to Ponyville?" Spike asked dusting another book shelf. Twilight rolled the letter back up. "No spike. Looks like I have to go to Canterlot. I don't know for how long though." Spike put down his duster. "Canterlot? Can I come with you?" Twilight thought for a moment. "Maybe not this time Spike. Besides this sounds urgent. I need to leave immediately and I need you to handle the library and tell our friends where I went." Spike held a defeated look but decided to go along with it. "Alright Twilight. Are you going to take-" "The emergency packed bag for when situations come up in Canterlot? Of course Spike, Why else would we have these systems?" Twilight glanced at the closet and brought out the already packed saddle bag with her magic and headed for the door. "I'll write to you as soon as I can. Okay?" "Yeah, yeah. Take your time." Spike responded. Twilight gave one last glance towards Spike. "This doesn't mean you can skip cleaning the library and read comic books all day." Spike looked like he was caught with hand in the cookie jar and waved at Twilight. "What? Me? Come on Twi." Twilight smiled and took off for Canterlot and tried to imagine just what the princess was getting at. First she said she would be late since a trial came up, but those never take very long. Then she suddenly calls all the heads of Equestria to a meeting which she could only explain why in person. Deep in thought, Twilight hoped it wasn't an issue with a certain Draconequus who loved Chaos and went rogue almost a year back. Oh well. At least I get to spend some time with Celestia. We never see each other anymore.