Something landed in Equestria. Something they didn't know what to do with, or even what it could be. And now, those that it came from have found it. And they want it back.
Celestia found something. Something that fell from the sky, a year ago, that she had no idea what it was or what to do with it. So she hid it beneath Canterlot, deeper even than the Crystal Caverns and beneath a mountain of spells that would make Discord think twice. After having hidden it for so long, she has decided to reveal it to her student Twilight. But what is this thing from the heavens? And what will it bring to those that come close?
Elsewhere, the beings who originally lost it have found a trace. Creatures older than Equestria, older even than Celestia and Luna themselves. The survivors of a species so ancient, they are forgotten by all but the oldest of beings on dying worlds.
In a darkened room, there sat a throne. On this throne, sat what once was a man. He had long since given up his humanity, to bring back a race even older than man. To that end, he was no longer even alive, but a mix of organic and technology. To his left was another being, although there was nothing organic about this one.
The silence was broken by a door opening, as a person entered the room.
“Scout Hermes has reported something. It seems as though he has discovered the Seed.” A feminine voice spoke up in the darkness.
“The one that was lost a year ago?” A masculine voice replied. “Where did he report it from?”
“The energy signature leads to a planet in one of the Far Galaxies.” A hologram lit up in the center of the room, casting a few shadows but lacking the necessary light to define the occupants. “The local life forms refer to it as Equis. We can’t figure out the exact location, as it seems the ones who discovered it have either buried it deep underground or are specifically blocking the signal, but we know it is on this continent.” The hologram zoomed in. It was a tumultuous land, overtaken by forest in the south, and mountainous in the north. “Within a country Hermes reports as Equestria.”
“So the only thing we know of its exact location is somewhere in Equestria, either buried deep underground or in a holding facility especially created to prevent its tracking.”
The hologram switched to a picture of a white humanoid with flowing rainbow hair. It had wings and a horn growing from its forehead.
“What am I looking at?”
“The current leader of the major power on this world. She is referred to as Celestia. They claim that she moves the sun, while her younger sister, Luna, moves the moon.” The hologram changed to a shorter humanoid, with a similar body structure, dark blue skin, and hair that looked like a night sky. “Together they are the diarchy of the country we believe to hold the Seed. The reports from Hermes have listed them as being friendly but very protective of their subjects, who refer to themselves as ponies.”
“Any evidence of their claims? Can they move the sun and moon around their world?”
“The reports mention strange energy wavelengths emanating from the two objects at certain times of the day. As of this moment, we are listing that as positive.” A chart overlaid itself on the hologram, showing two different wavelengths.
“How likely are they to return our Seed peacefully?” A third voice spoke up, coming from the man sitting on the throne.
“There is insufficient data present in order to provide an accurate estimation, Prophet. I am sorry.”
“Do not be sorry, child. I did not expect you to have an answer to that question. Have we made contact with them?” Prophet asked, standing up and walking over to the hologram. As he moved closer, details became easier to make out. He stopped directly in front of the light of the hologram, revealing gray eyes and silver hair. Beneath his eyes were two blue lines that connected under his chin and disappeared beneath his shirt.
“No sir. We have held back from interaction with the locals. They are just in the beginning throes of an industrial age. There is also a single major religion, casting their diarchs as godlike beings and worshipping them. As such, we have calculated the likelihood of a dark age occurring to be near zero percent. They live in a pseudo-paradise, protected by their ruling powers from external threats.”
“So they are innocent of the sins of war. Are they weakened by this?” Prophet asked. The hologram switched to a group of six humanoids.
“No sir. They are protected by a dual military force, a group under each of the diarchs, and a group of six individuals that act as a special task group referred to as the Elements of Harmony. They are comprised of two humanoids with horns, two with wings, and two without either.”
“Are the horns and wings significant?” Prophet asked, singling out two of the individuals in the group: A purple one with a horn and a blue one with wings.
“It appears as though the ones with horns can manipulate energy fields, and refer to it as magic, while the ones with wings are capable of flight and manipulating weather patterns. Those without either one are capable of amazing feats of strength.” A few videos flashed across the hologram. The purple one lifting a massive bear that appeared to be made of stars, the blue one breaking the sound barrier in free fall, and the orange one from the group knocking over trees and fighting wolves made of wood without weapons.
“So we are looking at a species of mages, angels, and herculeans?” Prophet asked, bringing up the orange one from the group.
“Yes sir. These six in the task group apparently each embody one of the primary ideals that their leaders wish to see from their citizens: Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and Magic, somehow. Together, they have overcome very powerful beings in the name of their princesses.” Pictures flashed. A very darkly colored being, similar in appearance to the one called Luna, getting hit by a rainbow. A draconic being with many different body parts, turned to stone. A black, bug like creature with dragonfly wings and various holes in her body.
“What are your recommendations?” Prophet asked turning to her.
“There are several actions we can take. We can make contact and request they return the Seed if they have it, or to help us locate it if they don’t. We can also deploy a retrieval squad to infiltrate, locate, and recover the Seed.” The female voice said.
“Or we can deploy Project Cerberus. It will recover the Seed at all costs, and it will be a perfect test run.” The masculine voice from earlier spoke up. Schematics appeared on the hologram, listing countless weapons and defense systems.
“Project Cerberus will only be deployed if no other path is open. Is there another option?” Prophet asked, waving away the schematics.
“We can detonate the planet. It will kill everything, but the Seed will survive and will be easy to recover.” The feminine voice listed off the last option. The hologram turned back to a deep space view of the planet. A flash of light went off in the upper atmosphere of the planet, that quickly turned to darkness and spread over the planet. Within seconds, the planet collapsed on itself, and exploded outwards.
“We will be diplomatic about this first then, but have the retrieval squad on standby in case that goes south.”
“And who should lead the diplomatic group?” The feminine voice asked.
“Operative Aphrodite. Send Operatives Hades and Ares for security detail.” Prophet said, walking back to his throne.
“As you wish, Prophet.” The female voice replied.
“And Hera. Make sure that Ares is on his best behavior. The last thing we need is an accident with the locals preventing us from recovering what is ours.”
“I understand sir. I will make sure to get your point across before he leaves.” Hera replied, as she walked out of the room. The hologram was still active, showing the ‘Elements of Harmony’ that they had been discussing.
“Let us see how they will take first contact.” Prophet said, bringing up all six of the elements and the two diarchs on the hologram.
“What did you have to show me that’s this far underground, Princess?” Twilight asked, her curious nature overcoming her nervousness. Celestia had taken her deeper than even the Crystal Caverns to a single obsidian lined cave. This deep underground, and with how many shields they had walked through, it must be something of absolute importance to protect. As she walked, she noticed countless runes flow across the surface of the obsidian. As she tried to focus on one of the runes, it would fade away and be replaced by another one. After just a few minutes of doing this, she gave up trying to read any of them and turned her attention back to her Princess, who was walking a few steps ahead of her.
“Something that might change the very future of ponykind.” Celestia responded. They turned another corner into a massive cavern. At the far end was a massive set of doors. These ones dwarfed the doors in the hall that held the Elements of Harmony. In front of the massive gate stood at least a hundred soldiers, equal numbers of both the Day and Night Guard.
“Princess, what exactly is down here?” Twilight asked, worry beginning to creep into her voice.
“Guards, attention!” Celestia shouted out. All of the guards snapped to attention, and the highest ranking ones of each guard stepped forward.
“We are entering. If we do not return within an hour, you are to seal the gates with us inside and inform Luna of what has happened. It will be her choice whether or not to release us.” Celestia said.
“Yes Ma’am.” Both guards responded, snapping a salute.
“Twilight, once we enter I have no control over what will happen. What you see and feel will not be real, no matter how much it may seem so.” Celestia said, turning to Twilight. She placed her hand onto Twilight’s shoulder, trying to calm her.
“Princess, you’re scaring me. What is in there?” Twilight asked, visibly shaking.
“You will see.” Was all that Celestia replied with, before turning around and walking up to the gates. She placed her palms onto a raised point connecting the gates, in the center of a massive copy of her cutie mark. A light flowed out from where she touched, filling in the entirety of the carving upon the door with her golden magic. As soon as she removed her hands, the door started creaking open.
Twilight was instantly assaulted by moans, whispers, and screams. There was a multitude of voices, each saying something different. Many screamed to be let go, to find peace, while others threatened to commit horrible acts to her. But over them all, a single voice stood out. A deep, rumbling voice. When she heard it, her blood turned to ice.
“Princess? Where are you?” Twilight asked, into the darkness. She couldn’t remember how she got here, but she was alone.
“Poor Twilight, all alone.” A voice whispered from behind her.
She spun around, hoping to see who spoke. Instead of the cavern, there was only a light in the far off darkness. She decided it was best to walk towards the light, since it was the only thing for her to focus on.
“You always work so hard, do so much for others. Yet what do they give you in return? Pain, heartache, trouble. Why bother to help others, when they don’t bother to help you?” The whispering voice spoke up again.
Images flashed across her vision, her friends when they were discorded. All the work she did, just to give up in the end. It flashed to the wedding, when she confronted Cadance the first time and said she was a changeling, just to be laughed out.
Wake up Twilight.
She shook her head, trying to clear away the images and kept walking. It was definitely closer, but she couldn’t venture a guess to how close in this darkness.
“Everyone holds demons inside them. Each of your friends have their own demons, always fighting for control.” The voice whispered again. This time her friends appeared in the light.
“Girls, what are you doing here?” Twilight called out, but they didn’t respond. Something was off about them all. Pinkie’s hair was straight, and she had a tray of cupcakes in her hands. Rarity was holding a large knife behind her back. Rainbow was soaked and filthy, like she had been staying in an alley. Applejack was crying, a bottle of alcohol in her hands. Fluttershy was covered in blood.
Twilight’s eyes shrunk at the sight, each of her friends looking so destitute and broken, yet they were talking and smiling like nothing was wrong.
“You see, they hide their demons, afraid of what would happen if they ever gave in. But you. You hold a very powerful demon within you as well.”
Twilight, wake up!
A pillar of fire erupted around her friends, burning them as they still smiled and laughed. As they burned, a sixth pony joined them. She walked into the pillar, unharmed by the flames. She laughed and smiled, as tears flooded her face.
“No.” Twilight said, unbelieving. She would never do such a thing.
“Yes. You hold within you a flame, brighter even than Celestia’s. You could take over this world if you so wanted, but you have been raised to suppress this fire. So for once, LET IT BURN!” The voice screamed, as she caught fire.
“AAAH, PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!” Twilight screamed, trying to put out the flames.
“TWILIGHT WAKE UP!” Celestia shouted. Twilight opened her eyes this time. She started flailing around screaming, trying to put out the flames that were consuming her.
“Twilight, you’re ok. Nothing is happening.” Celestia said, holding on to Twilight to prevent her from hurting herself. She ran her hands through Twilight’s mane, calming her student. “It’s ok. Nothing is happening to you.”
Twilight’s breathing slowed, as she realized that she wasn’t actually burning. She looked up at Celestia, and started crying. “What was that?” She asked through her tears.
“We don’t know what to call it. Its different every time, but the first is always the hardest. No matter what spells we try to create in defense, it always comes through.” Celestia said, wiping away Twilight’s tears. “We have tried nearly everything to stop the images, and nothing has worked. So we sealed them behind this gate, alongside everything else we have ever found.” She said as a light came on high above them.
Twilight looked around, finally able to see what was in the room. It was a massive cave, filled with assorted relics and ruins. “Princess, where are we?”
“This is the Black Cavern. This is where we lock away things that are too dangerous to hide behind just one or two shields.” Celestia said standing up and helping Twilight stand.
“How dangerous are the things in here?” Twilight asked, looking around. There were weapons everywhere, a bookshelf filled with tomes that leaked cold magics, and the ruins of buildings.
“There is a reason that they are so heavily protected. These are things that, should anyone get their hands on just one, would cause untold amounts of destruction before we could stop them.” Celestia said, as she started walking down the aisles. She would stop every few steps, reaching a hand enveloped in her magic out to renew the shielding on a few objects.
“So these are the most dangerous objects in Equestria. So why am I here?” Twilight asked, her eyes running across the objects. Voices whispered in the back of her head, begging her to reach out and touch one.
“Because one of the things has recently become active.” Celestia said, walking around the end of the aisle. “Perhaps the single most dangerous object in this cavern. It is entirely immune to all magics, even mine and Luna’s. The immunity goes so far as to prevent us from even scanning it with magic.”
Twilight walked around the corner behind Celestia, but froze when her eyes locked on to what was in the center of the space. “Princess, what is this?” She asked, her eyes traveling across the object floating in front of them both. It was perfectly round, but looked like it was made of molten metal, constantly flowing. What was most surprising was how large it was, easily as tall as Celestia.
Welcome, little flame.
“Who was that?” Twilight asked, turning around to try to find the voice.
“Twilight, there is no one but us in here.” Celestia said, a look of concern crossing her face. “It would be impossible for another being to even enter.”
She cannot hear me as you can. But turn back to me, I want to see your face.
Twilight shuddered as she turned back around. She could see her reflection in it, but a few things were off. Her eyes were a deep red, and her mane looked like it was burning. No, her mane was actually fire.
Suddenly, her reflection waved at her.
So beautiful. I can see the power within you, waiting to be released. I can help you do so.
Twilight watched as her reflection raised her hand, reaching out towards Twilight. The edge of the orb stretched out with it, reaching for Twilight. Against her better judgement, her own hand raised to meet it.
Give yourself over to the flame within you, and the world shall be yours.
“Twilight, what are you doing?” Celestia asked, worry evident in her voice. Her voice shattered the hold that the orb had on Twilight. She quickly pulled her hand back, away from the orb. She could still see her reflection, but now it had a look of sadness on its face.
I see. Maybe next time you will accept my offer.
The tendril of metal retracted back into the orb, before her reflection disappeared entirely.
“Twilight, how did you get it to do that? That’s the first time the orb has done anything but sit there.” Celestia asked, looking at Twilight with a hint of fear in her eyes.
“It spoke to me. Called me little flame.” Twilight said, cringing as she spoke. “Just what is this thing?” She asked, turning to Celestia. She could see fear flash across her eyes.
“I don’t know. We found it a year ago, in the middle of a crater in the Everfree after a meteor shower. Since then, we have hidden it here. Away from prying eyes, and those who would try to use it as a weapon against us.” Celestia said, kneeling down. Her magic enveloped her hands again, as she renewed the barrier around the orb.
“So why show it to me?” Twilight asked. She would have preferred to have never followed her down here.
“Because you and your friends are to study it. You are the most powerful ponies, save myself and Luna. Since neither of us can put aside time in our schedule necessary to do so, we are entrusting the task to you.” Celestia said, as she stood back up. She turned around and started walking back towards the gate. “We have a few minutes left before they close us in here. We must leave.”
“I understand Princess. If you believe we are the right ones to do this, then we will accomplish the task.” Twilight said, following after her. Before she walked around the corner, she turned to look at the orb one last time.
I can’t wait for us to play again. Maybe next time, you’ll accept my offer. I’ll even let your friends join in on the fun.
Twilight shuddered, before rushing off after her Princess.
“And she wants us to study this, thing?” Applejack asked, turning to look at Twilight.
“We have no idea what it is, but it is spherical. And alive.” She shuddered, remembering how it stretched out to touch her.
“I can understand you, but why does she want the rest of us walking around in a dark, and possibly dusty cavern?” Rarity asked, shuddering. “Just the thought of what kinds of things could be down there make me squirm.”
“It has something to do with us being the Elements, right?” Pinkie asked, popping up from behind Twilight in a cloud of confetti.
“Would you please quit doing that and take this seriously Pinkie. This thing creeped out both Twilight and the Princess.” Applejack said, glaring at her.
“Fine, party pooper.” Pinkie replied, sticking her tongue out. She plopped down in the circle, a frown upon her face.
“Whatever it is, we can take it. We’re the bucking Elements after all.” Rainbow said, jumping up. “We’ve beaten Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, even Chrysalis. There isn’t anything on Equestria we can’t take.”
“Technically we didn’t beat Sombra or Chrysalis. Besides, Princess Celestia doesn’t think this thing is from Equestria.” Twilight said. The color drained from Rainbow’s face at that revelation. “She said that she found it in a crater after a meteor shower. In the Everfree Forest.” A cold wind passed through the room once it was mentioned.
“So she thinks this thing comes from somewhere else?” Fluttershy asked, being the first to speak after the revelation of its finding.
“That’s what we’re going with right now. Until we can get some more details about it, we won’t know for sure.” Twilight replied.
“They’ve had this thing for however long, and know nothing about it. And now they’re going to send us, the Elements of Harmony, down to investigate it?” Applejack asked, staring at Twilight with a bemused look on her face.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much sums it up.” Twilight said, blushing. She didn’t want to admit, but it sounded questionable to her as well.
Tick Tock. The clock has begun counting down. To what, only I know.
Twilight froze, hearing it again. There was no way it could reach all the way up here, not through an entire mountain and so many spells. The rest of the girls were talking amongst themselves, apparently not hearing the voice.
Didn’t you pay attention? I’m immune to magic. It doesn’t matter that there are so many shields. They can’t stop me.
Twilight visibly paled at that remark.
“You ok sugarcube?” Applejack asked, standing up and walking over to her. She put her palm on Twilight’s forehead. “You feel a little cold, are you sick?”
“Fabulous then. While we were walking from the train station I saw the cutest little...” Rarity said, taking up the reins of the conversation. Almost instantly Twilight tuned her out, not caring to listen to her talk about this or that little bit of fashion.
What took up her mind was the orb. ‘Celestia said that it hadn’t even moved since they had put it there. Yet the first time I was there, it tried to reach out and touch me. Was it something meant for her, or was it really alive?’
‘And if it was alive, does that mean it chose her for something?’
You’re beginning to get it. Yes, I am alive. Although not in the same sense you are.
She paled again. Apparently it could read her mind as well.
“Ok, thats enough. You look very sick now Twi, are you sure yer ok?” Applejack said, noticing that Twilight had gone even paler.
“I don’t think so this time. I’m going to head to bed.” Twilight said, standing up.
“I guess we should all get some sleep then. We have a big day tomorrow. And every day after, it seems.” Rarity said, standing up as well.
“Yeah, if we’re getting up early to head down there then we had better get our rest.” Applejack said, joining the standing group.
“You’re no fun. I thought this was going to be a sleepover.” Pinkie said, flopping backwards onto the ground.
“No Pinkie, we aren’t here to have fun. We have a job to do tomorrow for the Princesses, and we need to be ready.” Twilight sighed, as she opened the door to the room. “Good night everyone. We’ll head down early tomorrow, so try to get plenty of sleep.” She left to the sounds of several replies of assorted enthusiasm. She wandered throughout the castle, heading in the general direction of her old room. She didn’t know why, but the thing down there had picked her to do something. ‘Why me though?’
Why not?
And that was going to get really annoying. She sighed very loudly, drawing the attention of a few guards. She simply waved them off before continuing her walk. Not even her mind granted her the sanctity of being alone anymore.
Hey, I’ve been stuck down here with just myself for over a year. I didn’t want to talk to those two prudes that kept visiting, and you’re the first one other than them that came close enough for me to really connect.
‘HEY, they are not prudes. They are the princesses and they-’
I know what they do. I figured that out with all of the jewelry, and how you kept calling the white one princess.
‘Ugh, you’re almost as bad as Discord. Why are you even in my head in the first place?’
I figured that talking with someone is better than no one, and you’re the first who wasn’t one of those insufferable princesses. Would you believe the blue one spent an hour just yelling at me, to do anything whatsoever. I was tempted to reach out and take her crown just to get something other than yelling.
Twilight couldn’t even think of a response to that. This thing had just implied that it would insult one of the princesses just to get a rise out of her.
I have a name. Well, had. I think it was a name. It was what my previous owners kept calling me.
‘And what, pray tell, would that have been?’
They kept referring to me as The Seed. Capitals and all.
Twilight just facepalmed. ‘This thing-’
Seed.
‘FINE. This Seed was by far the single most annoying thing that had ever bothered her. It even outpaced Discord in terms of how annoying it was. At least he couldn’t converse with her in her own head. On second thought though, he might be able to.’
That would be fun. Three of us having a conversation in here? Do you think he would try?
‘No. I’m not going to ask him about sharing a conversation in my head. Two people is more than normal.’
You’re almost as much of a prude as your princesses. I think I might go see if that pink one wants to. Seems like she would be much more fun.
Twilight froze midstep.
I thought that would get your attention. Yeah, you were around them long enough for me to imprint a part of my consciousness onto theirs. If I so pleased, I could go have a conversation with any one of them. The pink one especially might have fun with another voice. She might actually hold an interesting conversation.
The image of her friends, all of them corrupted, came to mind.
Ah, the little flame remembers. Be very careful with that knowledge. Everyone hides their inner demons as best they can, especially from their friends. If any of them figured out that you knew, it might just be enough to let the little creatures free.
‘So you’re holding my friends hostage, so that I would talk to you. What do you want, in return for their safety?’
You have it entirely wrong. I couldn’t affect your friends like that. What you saw was the demons they already hold, the darkness in their hearts that everyone tries to cover and hide. But it wouldn’t do well for your friendship if they found out that you knew about those dark secrets. It might just be enough to break you apart for good. The voice tittered in glee, a sound that sent shivers up Twilight’s spine.
‘So you’re holding me hostage, with my friends. Why? Why would you do such a thing?’
Like I said, little flame, I’ve been down here for a year. With no one to talk to. I’m not going to lose the only buddy I made.
‘If this is how you treat your buddies, I would fear to be your enemy.’ Twilight thought, as she started moving again.
I have no enemies. There are those I am friendly with, and those who are dead. Although my previous owners wouldn’t exactly take the news that I’ve been talking with anyone well.
‘That’s twice now you’ve mentioned previous owners. You’re alive, but you’re property? Are you a slave or something?’
Not at all. I am a Seed. I am a recording of their history, a mark of the passage of time. Yet at the same time I am their future. Quite a conundrum, being both the past and future of something, isn’t it?
‘What are you talking about? Where did you come from?’
Nuh uh, that would be spoiling things. I don’t like spoilers. Ruins everything. You have to ask the right questions. When you do, I’ll give you an answer.
Twilight groaned out loud, getting several odd looks from the maids and guards passing by. She realized that she was still walking around the castle, and quickly made for her room.
‘So when will you tell me more about yourself? You’re immune to our magic, so we can’t exactly figure out what you are.’
As long as you keep asking the right questions, I’ll keep giving you answers. It’s a simple give and take, you give me interaction and you get to take information.
‘And if I don’t talk to you at all?’
Then I’ll take your very sanity.
She gulped. Surely this thing couldn’t affect her like that from that far away, right?
As long as you keep talking to me, you won’t have to find out if what I’m telling is the truth. Do we have a deal?
She either took the chance that it was lying and ignore it, or she kept talking to it and she didn’t have to worry about it.
‘Yeah, you have a deal. But you leave my friends out of this. This remains just between us two.’
Very well, although I think the pink one would find this fun. If you all had me in your heads, she would probably throw a Psychotic Voice in Our Heads party.
Twilight sighed, knowing how true that was. For now though, she wanted to sleep. While she was talking to it, she had found her way back to her room. Opening the door, she was about to call for Spike when she remembered that he was back in Ponyville watching over the Library.
“Ugh, just when I needed someone to help.” She said, her shoulders slumping down. She walked into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed, not even bothering to get ready to sleep.
“Tomorrow is going to be absolutely horrible.” She said, crawling up to the pillows. She slid underneath the covers, and passed out as soon as she was covered.
Deep in the Everfree however, things were just waking up. A hydra had decided that now would be a good time to hunt, and had found a good meal. Unfortunately, a manticore had decided on having the same meal. While they were fighting, there was a sudden flash of light by the food they were fighting over.
They stopped fighting long enough to look over and realize that there were three more things standing where there was only one laying before. They were angry that their first meal was lost, but now they had even more to eat. They hissed and started moving towards the three things, planning on making a meal out of these newcomers.
“Kill them both. No mercy.” A female voice rang out. The two taller creatures stepped forward, drawing weapons from nowhere. Both the hydra and manticore could feel the bloodlust emanating from these two creatures.
They suddenly felt very small, and extremely powerless before these two beings. They both cowered under the gaze of these creatures, and the hydra even started shaking.
The manticore on the other hand, turned to run. Almost instantly, it felt a sharp pain in its back. When it turned its head around to look, the largest of the creatures had jumped halfway across the clearing in an instant and had plunged its weapon hilt deep through the manticores spine. Before it could make a sound, there was another blade through its throat.
A flood of crimson hit the ground as the manticore collapsed, dead before it landed on the grass.
The hydra had watched the large creature move so fast that all of its eyes couldn’t follow it. Its instincts kicked in then, like a rat trapped in a corner. It charged the second creature. Before it had moved more than a few feet, there was a hollow feeling in its chest. One of its heads moved to look, and noticed a sizeable hole that hadn’t been there before. The first head had noticed that the weapon in the second creature’s hand was glowing red.
The hydra started to collapse, finally feeling the effects of having a large chunk of its torso simply disappear. As its heads hit the ground, the primary one looked up to the creature. There was a look of pity in its eyes, as it raised the weapon to the hydra’s head. The last thing it saw was a light inside the weapon, before there was nothing.
“Now that that problem is out of the way, did either of you bother to bring a map of this place?” The feminine voice asked across the clearing.
The large warrior grunted, wrenching his blades out of the manticore’s corpse before wiping them on the grass. “No Aphrodite, that was your job. We are here as your security escort. Your job was to know where we were going.”
“Shut up Ares. I was too busy with other things to nitpick over all of the details.” Aphrodite said, her voice starting to whine a bit.
“No you weren’t, you were too busy celebrating that Prophet finally bothered to give you a job. You’ve been complaining nonstop for months that he never has you do anything, yet you fail almost instantly in the one thing he actually asked you to do.” The second warrior said.
“Fuck you Hades,” Aphrodite said, flipping him off. “for now though, we need to find out where we are and where this ‘Canterlot’ place is.” She said, sighing. “Why can’t Hephaestus ever land us where we’re supposed to go.”
“Be glad he landed us on the surface rather than a few miles up. The last time someone had to use his rift to get somewhere they ended up in the shop for a few weeks. Isn’t that right Ares?” Hades asked, turning to his companion.
“Go fuck yourself, that was supposed to be your job. I ended up busted because someone decided to get their hand stuck in the engine gears helping Hephaestus do something he wasn’t supposed to be doing.” Ares said, his blades collapsing back into a small enough form to fit in the small sheaths on his thighs.
Hades chuckled a bit. “Yeah, yeah. So now we’re lost, on some Aether forsaken planet we have no way to get around on, with no easy way to contact Prophet for a while.” Hades said, sighing. His rifle collapsed back into the armor around his forearms. “So what do you suggest we do?”
The two warriors walked back over to their charge, who was deep in thought.
She looked up at them, a smile on her face. “Easy, we find civilization and ask for directions.” She said happily, walking off into the forest.
The two warriors sighed before following after her.
“This won’t be as easy as we had hoped, huh Ares?”
“Nope. I expect that our job just got a lot harder.”
Twilight tread carefully, not knowing where she was now.
“Tick tock. I was hoping to have some fun, but you went to sleep. So now, we’ll have fun here.” Seed spoke out.
“How are you in my dreams? Only Luna has the power to affect dreams.” Twilight said, turning around and seeing nothing. A light spread out from her feet, revealing part of where she was. She was apparently standing on stone, but it looked carved rather than natural.
“I can talk to you in your head from beneath a mountain, and you’re questioning the fact I can affect your dreams? Your priorities are pretty messed up.” Seed replied, his voice echoing out from everywhere.
“Admittedly. Will you tell me where I am?” Twilight asked, as the light was slowly creeping out from where she stood. As the seconds passed, it revealed more and more of the area.
“No. What I will tell you is that you need to run.” Seed replied, tittering again.
The sound made Twilight squirm where she stood. “What do you mean run? What am I running from?” She asked.
A massive burst of light appeared above her head, blinding her slightly. As her vision returned, she noticed a few things.
First was that she was standing in front of a labyrinth.
The second was that she was looking at a minotaur. A very angry minotaur.
Finally, she realized it was angry at her.
She spun around and took off into the labyrinth, hoping to avoid the wrath of the minotaur chasing her.
“If you can find your way to the exit, before the minotaur catches you, I’ll answer any one question you have. However, there is a catch.” Seed’s voice echoed around Twilight, reverberating with her hooffalls.
A wall slid up in front of Twilight, forcing her to skid to a halt before she hit it. A wall to the side opened, providing the only way forward. She took off at a sprint.
“The maze is ever changing. You cannot simply follow the left hand rule. However, I will leave you with a clue on how to get out.” Seeds voice sounded out, as the minotaur ran through a wall that had slid up right behind Twilight.
“Let the flame light your way. It will open the path you could not see before.”
“What does that even mean?” Twilight screamed out, sliding around corner after corner. She could hear the minotaur right on her heels, slamming into the walls as she sprinted off.
“Exactly what it sounds like. I said you have a flame within you, so let it shine. That light will show you the way out.” Seed said, sighing. “Sheesh, for being so smart you sure are dense.”
“Hey, you try figuring out what someone means when you have a MINOTAUR TRYING TO EAT YOU!” Twilight screamed, ducking under the grasping hand of the minotaur right behind her.
“Whine, whine, whine. I already told you how to get out, and you get quite the prize for doing so. Any one question you can ask me. Will you spend it on figuring out what I’m made of, or will you ask about my creation. Even better, will you ask what I meant when I spoke of your flame. So many choices, and no time to choose. If you lose focus for even a moment, the minotaur will catch you and tear you apart.” Seed said, tittering as he spoke.
Twilight jumped over the lunging hand, before sliding off into another hallway. As soon as she got through, a wall slid up to cover her. She kept running for awhile, before she realized that the minotaur wasn’t right behind her anymore. Once she realized she was alone, she stopped.
“If this is my dream, why can’t I just will him away? In fact, I should be able to make this entire labyrinth disappear.” She said, closing her eyes to concentrate. After a few moments, she opened her eyes.
Her shoulders drooped as she realized that the labyrinth was still here.
“The only way you’re getting out is by following your flame. You might want to hurry up, he’s getting closer.” Seed said, his words punctuated by the sounds of breaking walls.
Twilight decided that she had to trust what he said, so she closed her eyes again and searched within herself. She tuned out the sounds of breaking stone, even as it got closer and closer. She had done this before, meditating to feel out her magic. This time though, there was something different about it.
Rather than a serene lake, it was a blazing inferno.
And it wanted out.
Her eyes shot open, as purple flames made their way down her arms. They flowed outward from her palms, combining in the air in front of her.
Before she could even react, there was a small flame floating in front of her. It danced back and forth, like a small bug. She reached her hand out to touch it, but as her finger would have touched it, it took off down the open hall. Realizing it was going to leave her there, she followed after it. Every time it turned, a wall would pop up in the direction it was heading just a few seconds earlier.
As she followed the little flame, she realized that the sounds of the minotaur were getting farther and farther away.
“What is this thing?” Twilight asked, following the flame through twist after turn.
“Nuh uh. That would be another spoiler. If you get out in time, and you want to ask again, I’ll actually answer.” Seed replied, laughing.
Twilight just groaned as she kept following after the floating torch. She had entirely left behind the crashing and roars of the minotaur.
A few minutes later, the torch turned another corner and stopped. Following after it, Twilight’s eyes widened. Ahead of her was the end of the maze.
And just beyond it was a golden field.
As she stepped forward, there was a resounding crack. She turned around, noticing that there was a horizontal crack along all of the walls. A louder crack echoed out from behind her. She spun around to see that the field had started floating off. There was a silver pony-like creature standing on the edge of the field.
“Ooh, so close. You almost had your one answer. Too bad that someone saw fit to step in. I guess we’ll continue this another day. Tata.” Seed said, raising a hand to wave at her. “Maybe tomorrow you’ll find the way out before something like this happens.” He said, as the entire field started wavering. The field started fading, and the labyrinth crumbled around her.
Twilight was furious, so close to getting her answer.
A few seconds later Luna landed next to her.
“Art thou ok young Sparkle? We felt an odd disturbance in the dreamscape, and just now were able to trace it here. Did you notice something, off about your dreams tonight?” Luna asked, looking around at the empty dream.
Would she really believe you if you told her the truth? A voice in your head, and someone who is just as capable of manipulating your dreams as she is. Sounds like someone is losing touch with reality.
“Uh, no Princess Luna. I haven’t noticed anything. Although I was having a weird dream before you came in.” Twilight said, a sick feeling settling in her gut for lying.
“What dost thou mean by weird?” Luna asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
“I was lost in a maze. Similar to the one that we went through the first time Discord got loose.” Twilight said, while averting her eyes. She didn’t know why, but she was covering for Seed.
“I see. Is that everything thou wishes to report?” Luna asked, spreading her wings to take off.
Should she tell Luna about Seed?
“Yeah, that’s everything. I hope you find whatever was messing with your domain.”
“Very well. I hope the rest of your sleep is uneventful.” Luna said, as she took off. She faded into the background, off to visit more sleeping ponies.
“Ugh. Why did I protect him?” Twilight asked herself, looking around. There was a single stalk from the golden field at her feet. She knelt down to pick it up.
“Huh. He left behind something.” She said, twirling it in her fingers.
“Do you even know what direction we’re walking?” Ares asked, his blade biting into another tree and felling it.
“Nope.” Aphrodite replied, walking between the trees.
“So why are we walking this way?” Hades asked, following her through. It was nice to be small sometimes.
“Because we needed to pick a direction to go, and this was just as good as any of the others.” Aphrodite replied.
“You’re going to get us killed.” Ares said, cleaving through more trees.
“Nothing here can do us much harm.” Aphrodite said calmly. “They’re a tier one planet, and a minimum of tier three technology is required in order to even hurt us.”
“I meant by Prophet coming down and ending us himself.” Ares said, wiping the sap off his blade on the grass.
“We both know Prophet doesn’t leave the ship. Or at least he hasn’t in the time we’ve been with him.” Hades added.
“He sent us after a tier five asset. I think he would come down and end us if we fail him.” Ares said.
“This seed is a tier five? I thought only the Progenitor weapons were classified as tier five.” Aphrodite said, as she stumbled onto a path. “Ooh, found a path. That means there’s something that travels here often.”
“The seed we were sent after is a Progenitor artifact. Did you not read your mission briefing?” Ares asked, stepping out onto the path behind her.
“You expect Aphrodite, Lieutenant Airhead herself to actually read a mission brief?” Hades asked, following after them.
“Bite me Hades.”
“Maybe when we get back. Right now its a conflict of duty.” He said, smiling at her.
“Oh, you’re sick. Just figure out which way is civilization. This forest is already getting on my nerves.” Aphrodite said, walking over to one of the felled trees and using it for a chair.
“Gimme a few minutes then, captain prissy pants. The brief didn’t mention what the intelligent life is like here, so I can’t tell the difference between another animal that would walk along the path and something that uses this for a reason.” Hades said, kneeling down and running his hands across the worn dirt. There were several traces of life, mostly small animals.
However, there were a few repeated tracks.
“Apparently the ruling life here has hooves. Bipedal, but extremely light. I’d put the heaviest one at no more than a hundred kilograms, while a majority are between fifty and eighty.” Hades said, standing back up. He pointed northward. “The majority of traffic comes from that direction, so I’m guessing that civilization is that way.”
“How can you tell which direction the traffic comes from?” Aphrodite said, hopping up and walking in the direction he pointed.
“There is a consistent difference in the depth of their steps. They are only a half to one centimeter deep when they come from that direction, but are at least two to three centimeters when they head that direction. With how dangerous this forest seems to be, it is more likely they are unloaded when entering, and exit as quickly as possible with the materials they gather.” Hades explained, following after her.
“So there’s just as much a chance they come in heavily burdened and drop things off somewhere in the forest.” Ares asked, glad to not have to worry about any more trees.
“It is less likely, but just as much a possibility. I’m flipping a coin here.” Hades said, as he walked behind Aphrodite. “Regardless of whether or not civilization is in that direction, we are bound to come across some kind of intelligent life form traversing this path.”
“I got a maybe from that.” Ares said, sighing. “I don’t get why I’m always assigned with you.”
“Because we work well together. You beat their faces in, while I snipe the ones that try to sneak up on you.” Hades said, smiling back at him.
“Both of you shut up. There’s lights ahead.” Aphrodite said, as she walked into a clearing. They had come across a house, that was also a tree. Pungent smells leaked out through the windows and open doorway.
“Remind me to punch you later.” Ares said, as he drew his second blade.
“I said shut up.” Aphrodite said over her shoulder. She walked up to the house, expecting some kind of trap or guardian.
“What is this I see, visitors to my house in a set of three.” A voice spoke from the treeline.
Ares spun around, his blade stopping inches from the end of Zecora’s muzzle.
Princess Celestia was enjoying her usual breakfast, coffee and pancakes of course, when the letter came in.
“That’s odd. Spike doesn’t send me things unless Twilight tells him to.” She muttered to herself, reaching up to grab the scroll as it formed. As she unrolled it and read the contents, her eyes grew wider and wider. Once she got to the end, she quickly reread it to make sure of what it said.
“Someone tell the Elements to meet me in the throne room. NOW!” She yelled as she stood up quick enough to knock over her chair. The servants scrambled, several of them to inform the Elements and the rest to clean up the unfinished breakfast.
Celestia on the other hand, was walking towards her sisters chambers. She slammed the door open, causing Luna to jump out of bed.
Along with her sheets and blankets.
“WHAT IS IT NOW TIA?” Luna screamed, scrambling to get out of the net of blankets constricting her.
“Diplomats.” Celestia responded calmly, moving to help her sister.
“You woke me. At ten in the morning. Because of diplomats.” Luna said, her voice getting colder as she spoke. “What country are they from, so that I might smite it.”
“They aren’t from Equis.” Celestia said, pulling the last of the blankets from around her sister.
Luna’s face went blank.
“Equis to Luna, are you still in there?” Celestia said, waving her hand in front of her face.
“OH GOD! We are going to have the honors of first contact. I need to get my mane fixed, I need to polish my jewelry, I have to fix my dress.” Luna started freaking out, rushing around the room. She gasped loudly. “What do they look like? Are they bigger than us? Are they peaceful or warmongering?” She asked, trying to do several things at once. The only thing she accomplished was that she tripped and landed on the pile of blankets.
“Luna, they’re not going to be here for a few more hours.” Celestia said, laughing at her antics.
“What?” Luna asked, looking up at Celestia. The look on her face was of unfathomable curiosity. These were beings from space, and they couldn’t just show up as they please?
“They’re coming on the train from Ponyville.” Celestia said, holding a hand out to help Luna back up. She took it happily, but had a quizzical look on her face.
“So, the first aliens to visit Equestria, and by extension Equis itself, are traveling to the capital by train?” Luna asked, as she tried connecting the dots in her head. There was just the one detail she was missing to help piece it together.
“Their leader apparently dropped them off in the Everfree.” Celestia said, as she started picking up the pieces of Luna’s jewelry. She set the tiara on her head, but carried the rest of them over to the vanity.
“Are they okay? I know how dangerous that forest was, and it hath not been made easier with the passage of time.” Luna asked, as she started going through her closet.
“By what was reported to me, they encountered both a manticore and a hydra when they first arrived.” Celestia said, as she pulled out a rag and started cleaning her sister’s jewelry.
“And they are okay after encountering two of the most dangerous creatures in the Everfree?” Luna asked, tossing dress after dress out onto the bed. They all looked alike, with only minor details that wouldn’t be noticed unless you were standing right next to her as the only distinctions.
“From what I could gleam, both the manticore and hydra are dead, while the diplomatic group is entirely unharmed.” Celestia said,checking her own reflection in the jewels before moving on to the next piece.
“So why did you come wake me up?” Luna asked, deciding on a dress with a blue trim the same shade as her fur. She slid into it with practiced ease, before using her magic to zip up the back.
“I woke everyone up.” Celestia said, handing Luna the pieces of her jewelry. “This is unprecedented in history, even for Mother and Father. We do not know how they will react to anything, and I am afraid of making a mistake that they will see as an insult to them because it is a societal norm here.”
“Tia, we both know if anyone was going to do such a thing it would be me.” Luna said, sliding her bracelets on as she stepped into the hoof guards. Her horn lit up, surrounding both her and Celestia in a deep blue glow. With only a pop to signify anything, they teleported into the throne room.
To a waiting group of Elements.
“Hello girls.” Celestia said, walking past them to her throne. “I’m sorry to say that you won’t be going down into the Black Cavern to study the things there.”
“Thank Celestia.” Twilight mumbled.
I’m not that bad, am I?
‘Yes, you are.’
“You’re welcome Twilight.” Celestia said, smiling. This caused Twilight to blush, since she hadn’t meant to say it out loud. “However, what I plan on you doing is just as dangerous.”
This caused the sighs of relief that a few of them had let out to be sucked back in.
“We are going to play host to the first non-Equis diplomats.”
A painful silence reigned the throne room for the next few minutes as the news sank in.
“You mean aliens?” Twilight asked.
“Yes. We are going to be the first on Equis to be visited by aliens.” Celestia said, looking down at Twilight. A look of worry had crossed her face when she had spoke.
Looks like the clock has begun counting.
‘What are you talking about? Are these diplomats the ones you keep referring to as owners?’ She asked Seed. She heard no response from him.
“They are going to be arriving by train in a few hours, so I thought it best to inform you now so you can prepare.” Celestia said, keeping her eyes on Twilight.
“Oh no. No no no.” Rarity started freaking out.
“What’s wrong Rares?” Applejack asked, turning to her.
“I didn’t bring any clothing for meeting diplomats.” She said, as she started pacing. “I wasn’t planning on meeting anyone important. I only have clothes for working.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Applejack asked, giving her friend an incredulous look.
“I would never joke about fashion.” Rarity said, spinning around with fire in her eyes. “We are going to meet beings from another world, looking your best is a necessity.”
“You always look your best. I don’t think there’s been a day where you haven’t. Looking great and Rarity are synonymous.” Applejack replied quietly, withering under the gaze of the fashionista.
Rarity sighed. “You’re right, it’s just that this is the first contact with another world. An entirely different people, who might have different fashions. I want to make a good first impression. We’re going to be representing our entire species.”
“So do you want them to see us as we actually are, or do you want us to dress up and appear like we’re a vain species?” Twilight asked, deciding to step between her friends before something happened.
Rarity glared at her, before sighing and dropping her gaze. “I guess you’re right. I just wanted to impress them.”
“You still can. You don’t have to get a bunch of new dresses to meet them, just wear the best one you brought.” Fluttershy said, walking up and putting an arm around Rarity’s shoulders. “Impress them with what you’ve made.”
“You’re right. I need to go pick one out.” Rarity said, grabbing Fluttershy’s hand and pulling her away.
“But... ok.” Was Fluttershy’s only response, as she was dragged off.
“Ok, now that that’s out of the way. How many balloons do you think they’ll want? What kind of cake? Do they like cake? Would they prefer pie?” Pinkie asked, questions flooding from her mouth.
“Pinkie.” Twilight said, trying to stop her friend.
“What if I make little pies for each of them?”
“Pinkie!”
“Oooh, what if I make a giant cake out of cupcakes with pie fillings that says ‘Welcome to Equestria’ and give them each one of the cupcakes?”
“PINKIE!”
“What?” She asked, turning around to face Twilight with a giant grin on her face.
“We’ll plan a welcome for them later, when we can ask them what they like.”
“That’s a great idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Because everypony here likes the same things in a party. They might not. We have no idea what they like, or what kind of society they are.” Twilight said, patting Pinkie on the head. “We’re going to be playing this by ear from when they get here until they leave.”
“That’s exactly right Twilight. That’s why you’re going to meet them at the train station and escort them here.” Celestia said, smiling at her student’s surprised expression.
“How was this ever a major method of transportation. It is horribly slow and uneventful.” Ares said, watching the countryside fly by.
“Technology has to start somewhere. Then again, only a third of them can’t teleport or fly. You have to take that into account.” Hades said, looking through the window in their door to outside their cabin at their guard escort. Two winged ponies, as they learned when the zebra brought them into town, were standing at attention, with a third pony with a horn standing on the opposite wall.
“It could be much worse. At least this way we’ll know when we get there.” Aphrodite said, studying the countryside.
All of a sudden, the train lurched as the brakes were activated.
“I wonder what could be the cause for that.” Aphrodite said, as a winged creature flew by the window. “Huh. Must be a train robbery.”
Outside, the three guards left to investigate what was going on, leaving the three occupants of the cabin alone.
“So, do you wanna do something about it or leave it to them?” Hades asked Aphrodite.
“As long as they leave us alone, just let whatever happens happen.” Aphrodite said.
At that exact moment, fate had deemed it appropriate to flip her the bird.
The door to their cabin slammed open, and a beaked creature stepped into their cabin. All three of the occupants looked up at it with varying faces. Aphrodite was surprised, Hades was uncaring, and Ares looked like he was ready to rip its head off and use it to decorate his mantle.
The griffin could not speak, as his eyes roamed over them.
“Are you going to rob us or continue staring at us?” Aphrodite asked, snapping the griffin out of his stupor.
“Right. Give me all of your valuables and you won’t get hurt.” He said, pulling a small knife out from behind his back.
“This thing is joking, right?” Hades asked, turning back to Aphrodite.
“No, I’m not. Give me your jewelry and valuables and I won’t have to stick you.” The griffin said, advancing into the cabin.
“Do you even know what we are?” Hades asked, turning to look at the griffin again.
“This is a pony train. You’re ponies.” He said, matter of factly. He remembered what the boss told him. He was a good lieutenant because of it.
“Wrong. We are not ponies.” Aphrodite said, standing up. She walked over to the griffin, grabbed the knife by the blade and snapped it off with just her gloves.
His eyes kept jumping from his now broken knife to the female in front of him. He hadn’t been told there would be fighters. This was supposed to be a civilian transport.
“We are Aetherian.” Aphrodite said, crushing the blade in her hand. She let the clump of metal fall to the ground between them. “And we are unforgiving. Do you have anything to say before we send you to your gods?”
“This was supposed to be an easy one.” Was the only thing the griffin could say, his eyes locked on the piece of metal that used to be his knife.
“Then enjoy your trip to the afterlife.” Aphrodite said, as her hand glowed and she placed it on his chest.
As soon as she touched him, pain was his entire being. Pain the likes of which he didn’t know was possible while still alive. He dropped to his knees as he coughed up blood, dislodging her hand from his chest. He looked up towards her, trying to ask forgiveness. The only thing that came out was more blood, as his lungs filled.
Aphrodite placed her hand onto his head.
In that moment, he knew two things. The first was that he was going to die. The second was that the being before him was an angel of pain, and that he was being punished for his actions.
Her hand lit up again, frying his brain instantly.
As his body collapsed, foam coming from its beak, Aphrodite turned around. “Classify anything non-pony as hostile and execute it. Anything that is a pony and has a weapon, classify as threat but do not do anything. If they move to attack you, restrain and debilitate.”
Ares and Hades saluted, before stepping over the corpse out of their cabin. Aphrodite sighed as she looked outside, ignoring the screams of pain that she was already hearing.
“Wasn’t the train supposed to arrive by now?” Rainbow Dash asked, her nerves on edge.
“It was supposed to be here an hour ago actually. Something must have happened.” Twilight said, turning to the contingent of guards behind her. “Two of you, go check farther down the rails to see if something happened to the train.”
“Already on it.” Rainbow said, as she took off.
“Ok then, I guess we’ll wait for her to get back.” Twilight said, sighing. Why couldn’t she ever just sit still for once.
“We all know she’s been sitting here longer than any of us could ever get her to.” Rarity said. “I’m surprised it took her this long to run off and do something.”
“And she’s already coming back. Wonder what’s up.” Applejack said, pointing at the rainbow streak flying back towards them.
Rainbow stopped just above the group, entirely unwinded. She floated down, landing right in the middle of their group.
“They’re about ten minutes out. Apparently a group of griffins tried robbing the train. They wouldn’t tell me what happened, although they did mention that no one was hurt and nothing was stolen.”
“Odd. If something like that happened they would have sent a message ahead to get the guard moving.” Twilight said, wondering what exactly happened.
“So just ten more minutes and we get to meet some aliens.” Pinkie said, fully decked out in streamers, confetti, and enough balloons that she was actually floating a few inches off the ground.
“Apparently. Was it necessary to bring the balloons?” Twilight asked.
“Yes. Without balloons, how would they know we’re happy to greet them?” Pinkie asked, giving Twilight a quizzical look.
Twilight sighed in response, as a shrill whistle pierced the air. The entire group looked down the rails to see the train finally arriving.
The guards all fell into formation and stood at attention as the steam dissipated from around the train.
Twilight and her friends all waited as a flood of ponies came and went. Soon enough there wasn’t any more movement, as the crowd had disappeared.
“Weren’t they supposed to be on this train?” Twilight asked, looking up and down along the platform. There wasn’t anyone left.
On the very end, three guards stepped out. They turned, and noticed the entire platoon that had been waiting. The unicorn guard walked up to the platoon commander.
“Sergeant Flash reporting successful transport of VIPs sir.” He said, snapping a salute.
“Where are they Sergeant?” The commander asked. “They are an hour late with their meeting with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”
“They’re... uhm, coming now. I hope.” He said, turning around to look at the pegasus guards. They both turned to look behind them, and shrugged.
“You hope? Are you telling me that you are unaware of their current location?” The commander looked like he was about to burst a vein.
“No. It’s that they move when they want. The big one especially. Dear Celestia, the big one is scary.” He said, shuddering slightly.
“What exactly happened?”
“A group of griffins attacked the train with the intent to rob those on board. When we left to investigate what stopped the train, we were ambushed and knocked out. When I came to, a griffin was threatening me with a blade to my throat, to either keep quiet or he would kill us all before we could move.” Flash said, shuddering as the memory came back.
“What happened next?”
“Suddenly two blades sprouted from his chest, wrapped in a sickening red glow. He was just as surprised as I was, but that wasn’t the end. He was torn in two. And behind him was the big one.” Flash said, shaking. “The look on his face. It’s like he reveled in the bloodshed.”
“What else happened soldier?”
“He ripped what was left of the griffin off his blades, told us to just stay where we were, and walked off. As I was trying to wake up the two under my command, I heard several more screeches of pain. Within thirty minutes, he walked back by and told us that the problem was resolved. After another thirty minutes of cleaning up the bodies-” Flash had to suppress his desire to hurl “-we told the conductor to get the train moving again.”
“What exactly did they do to the griffins?”
“You don’t want to know sir. There were pieces that we had to assume were griffins. There were a couple of the bodies with military grade armor sir. It takes several of us to deal with a single griffin, even more for a soldier. Those two took out at least forty griffins, five of them supposedly trained, without taking a single scratch.”
The two pegasi at the end of the train moved back as a creature stepped off the train. It was no larger than a normal pony, and appeared feminine. The two guards pointed to the group of ponies.
She quickly bowed and walked towards them. Once within talking distance, she raised a hand in greeting.
“Hello. I am High Consulate Aphrodite, leader of the Aetherian Phoenix Squadron.” She said, putting her hand to her chest in salute.
“I am Twilight Sparkle. This is Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.” Twilight responded, pointing to each pony as she listed them. “Princess Celestia has sent us to escort you and your friends to a meeting with her. Uhm, where are your friends?” Twilight asked, leaning sideways to look behind Aphrodite.
“They’ll be along shortly. They’re simply cleaning up after the emergency stop we had.”
“You mean when the griffins tried to rob the train? I heard that your friends were the reason that no one was injured during that.” Twilight said, having overheard just a part of the conversation between the sergeant and commander.
“Those things were griffins? Huh, I expected more of a fight out of them.” Aphrodite said, turning around as two more creatures stepped off the train.
The first was slightly taller than Big Mac and covered from head to toe in layered grey metal plates. From his helmet extended two horns, sweeping forward from his temples then curving straight up. He carried himself like a scout, his head constantly moving to take in as many details as he can.
The second though, was massive. He could easily dwarf Big Mac, maybe even Princess Celestia herself. He was covered in red plated armor, and carried several weapon sheaths across his body.
Aphrodite, the Lovely blade. Leader of the Phoenix squadrons, the diplomatic and assassin corps. Hades, the Vigilant Eyes. Head scout of the Hawk squadrons, the sniper corps. And Ares, the Living Blade. Brigadier General of the Reaper squadrons, and single most dangerous soldier under the command of Prophet. What stands before you are some of the greatest representations of Aetherian might you can find, short of High Prophet himself. Be very careful.
‘Wait, you know who these beings are? Tell me more.’ Twilight asked, watching the two soldiers walk up to join Aphrodite.
What is there to tell. Before you stand three of the most dangerous Aetherians ever. An unmatched assassin that has ended more wars than your world has ever seen before they even started. A sniper that can track anything alive and has had more successful missions than you have read books. And a juggernaut of war, death given form and a weapon and let loose on the greatest enemies of the Aetherian empire. Within a week of turning him loose, governments have fallen and entire armies surrendered.
‘So they aren’t diplomats, but warriors?’
Oh no, these are the diplomats of the Aetherian Empire.
‘They send killers as diplomats? Princess Celestia isn’t going to be happy about this at all.’
They’re talking to you.
“Equis to Twilight, are ya in there?” Applejack asked, waving her hand in front of Twilight’s face.
“I’m so sorry. I was lost in thought.” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head as she blushed.
“It’s fine. As I said, these are my escorts Hades and Ares.” Aphrodite said, waving at the two warriors.
“Good day ma’ams.” Hades said, his hand going to his chest in salute.
Ares simply grunted.
“Ares, we talked about this. You have to actually greet them too.” Aphrodite said, glaring at him.
“Very well. Good day ma’ams.” He said, saluting as well.
“Welcome to Equestria!” Pinkie shouted, throwing up the streamers and confetti. “What kind of party do you want?”
“I thought these ponies were peaceful.” Ares asked, looking down at Hades.
“They are peaceful. She wants to know how we celebrate joyous occasions.” Aphrodite said, glaring at him. “You don’t want to hold the kind of party Ares wants.”
“Why not? All parties are good.” Pinkie said, grinning from ear to ear.
“We’re a warring species and Ares is a soldier, through and through. Just trust me when I say you don’t want to hold a party for him.” Hades said, trying to get the message across.
“Ok then.” Pinkie said, a puzzled look crossing her face. “A kind of party that I wouldn’t want to hold.” She mumbled to herself, trying to figure out what she meant.
“That’s a first. Someone actually made Pinkie not want to party.” Twilight said, astonished.
“However, we would like a small celebration. I’m sure that we’re the first aliens you’ve met and that is a big thing to celebrate.” Aphrodite said, trying to concede to the wishes of the ambassadors.
“Awesome, we’ll hold a small one at the palace. Now, who to invite.” Pinkie said, a grin jumping onto her face as she lost herself in her own thoughts.
“Ok, now with that out of the way let’s head for the palace. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are awaiting your arrival.” Twilight said, as the platoon of soldiers fell in around the three diplomats. She quickly turned around and led them off.
“Remember, we’re here under peaceful terms Ares. Unless they directly threaten one of us with weapons, you are not to do anything. Even if they annoy you. Is that understood?” Aphrodite asked, following after Twilight. The platoon of soldiers had fallen in behind them.
“Yeah.”
“That’s an order Ares.” Aphrodite said, a cold tone to her voice.
“Yes ma’am. I will not respond with force except to defend myself, you, and Hades.” He replied.
“Good. We don’t need an incident because they crossed one of our lines that they do not have.” Aphrodite said, her cheery tone returning to her voice. “Prophet would not be happy with you at all should something happen and you weren’t justified.”
Ares visibly shuddered at this.
“Who’s this Prophet you’re speaking of? He must be pretty scary to make someone like him shudder.” Twilight asked, falling back to talk with Aphrodite.
“I’ll tell you more when we meet your leaders. I’d rather not have to repeat it if I can help it.” Aphrodite said, dodging the question.
“Is there anything you can tell us about your kind that you won’t have to repeat?” Twilight asked, pulling out paper and a quill.
“If you want to know about the true Aetherians, you will have to ask Prophet if he comes here.” Aphrodite said, an eyebrow raised in question of where she pulled the writing materials from.
“So you’re not an actual Aetherian? Then how are you a leader in their military?” Twilight asked, confused.
“I am Aetherian, just not descended from the first bloodline. As to being the leader of the Phoenix squadrons, you are promoted based on your actions and accomplishments rather than who you know. I know the sons of barons who are still infantry because they cannot accomplish anything important, while I am the daughter of an artilleryman who is several ranks below me.” Aphrodite said.
“So, you’re a hierarchical society based around the accomplishments you have while you serve in your military? So out of you three, who holds the highest rank?” Twilight asked, writing down everything Aphrodite says.
“Unfortunately I cannot reveal where within the command structure each of us stands, but I can tell you that I hold the highest one here, followed by Ares, and then Hades.” Aphrodite said, her eyes wandering around. Their group was getting plenty of looks, especially Ares. “How soon will we be in the palace?”
“It’s just up ahead, no more than five minutes. Is there something you would like to ask?” Twilight said, knowing that she was going to get stonewalled if she asked anything else. She put away her paper and quill, leaving most of the page blank.
“What is the difference between those of you with horns, those with wings, and those lacking either? I only know you as a whole by the name pony.” Aphrodite asked. Anything to keep her talking.
“Those of us with horns are referred to as unicorns. We can cast magic to affect our world, such as creating fires or levitating objects. Those with wings are known as pegasi, and help out by controlling the weather. Finally, there are those without either that go by the name of earth ponies. They tend to crops and are pretty strong physically.” Twilight explained, as they passed through the gates to the palace.
Quickly enough they were ushered into the throne room, in the midst of a flurry of activity.
Both Celestia and Luna were in the middle of a horde of messengers.
“We are very sorry about this, but reports have been coming in of a squadron of Griffins in Equestrian land. We are trying to coordinate locating and detaining them.” Celestia said, noticing that the diplomats had arrived.
“They’re dead.” Ares spoke up, catching the attention of everyone in the room.
“What dost thou mean dead? Did something occur that we have not been informed of?” Luna asked, turning to lock eyes with him. As she did, a chill crept down her spine.
“They tried to rob the train we rode here on. We would have been content to let whatever would have happened to happen, but one of them threatened us. After dealing with the one that threatened us, I gave the order to execute every non-pony on or near the train. There is no squad of griffins in Equestria anymore.” Aphrodite said, as several jaws dropped.
Normally it would require several squads of the guard in order to deal with a single griffin squad, yet these three beings had taken them out completely unscathed. Whispers passed between those in the chamber.
“While that is one thing out of the way, we must inform the Griffin king. It is his responsibility to ensure that none of his subjects cross the border illegally.” She said, dismissing several of the messengers with a wave of her hand. After a short discussion with the last messenger, she waved him off and focused back on Aphrodite’s group.
“May we officially welcome you to Equis, and to our country Equestria. I know we are overjoyed to be the first government you decide to visit. I hope you do not mind that we have informed the other leaders that you have arrived, so you may end up with your schedule swamped. Everyone would like to meet the visitors from the stars after all.” Celestia said, walking down in front of them.
“I do not mind meeting them, but you must understand there are things I am incapable of revealing or even talking about. I have my orders, and beyond that I am not allowed to do much.” Aphrodite said, walking up to Celestia. She saluted, bowing slightly.
“And what exactly were your orders. It is not often a diplomat comes under military orders.” Celestia asked, confused by what she said.
“I was ordered to extend a hand of friendship, in the hopes that you could help us recover an artifact that is both of great importance to Prophet, and an extremely dangerous object to be around.” Aphrodite said.
Upon hearing this, Twilight fainted.
“Is that normal for her?” Aphrodite asked, turning around as Twilight hit the ground.
“So now we have to wait until after this-” Ares started, before looking at the invitation in his hand “-meet and greet with all of the diplomats.”
“Yes, for the thirtieth time.” Aphrodite said, reading over her own. “They want us to meet all of the powerful civilizations while we’re here. They don’t know we plan on leaving as soon as we get the Seed and never coming back.”
“So is it wise to let them continue believing otherwise?” Hades asked, walking back in from the balcony.
“Let them believe whatever they want. If it makes our mission easier, we’re going to do it.” Aphrodite replied, tossing her invitation to him.
“This seems more like they want us to connect with the different people here. Give us a reason to stay, to help.” Hades responded, catching the invitation. “I count 9 species we have to actually meet. Other than that, it’s just a bunch of nobility of assorted countries here to rub elbows with others exactly like them.”
“Which means we have to be on our best behavior. I don’t want either of you two fighting, even if they try to start it. If they move to attack you in a lethal manner, you are allowed to defend yourselves.” Aphrodite said, watching out the open window as the sun was setting.
“Tomorrow will come quickly, and what happens will happen.”
Wake up Twily.
Twilight snapped her eyes open, sitting up fast enough to make herself dizzy.
“Whoa, what happened.” She asked, putting a hand across her eyes.
“You passed out in the throne room. You must have been under a lot of stress to just pass out like that.” Celestia said, closing the curtains. “Is there anything you need to get off your chest Twilight?” She walked over and sat down on the edge of Twilight’s bed.
Do you want to tell her that you connected with the artifact? That as you speak I’m whispering into your head? She would lock you away.
“It’s nothing Princess.” Twilight said, forcing a smile.
“Very well then Twilight. I’ll cast a spell on you so you can sleep without having to worry about dreams.” Celestia said, her horn glowing as she gathered up her magic.
“Thank you Princess.” Twilight said as the magic washed over her.
“I hope you realize that you can come to me for anything.” Celestia said, running a hand through Twilight’s mane before leaving.
She had to prepare for tomorrow’s party after all.
The party was in full swing. Nobles conversed with nobles, bragging about how much more money they earned this year than that noble over there.
“I hate these things.” Ares said, groaning as he walked past a group of unicorn nobles that were conversing about taking over some such organization.
“They’re a necessary evil. The ponies here hold these parties to reconnect with friends they haven’t talked with in awhile.” Aphrodite said, walking alongside him.
“I would prefer being tossed back into the fields of Hellena without my armor.” He said, casting a quick glance at her. She had somehow found a dress that fit over her armor, while not revealing that she was wearing it. “Why have you chosen to dress as a civilian rather than the soldier you are?”
“Many of these species are incapable of seeing a female as a warrior. The women are supposed to stay at home, watching the children and cooking while the males go out and fight.” Aphrodite replied, waving at a noblewoman who passed by and complimented her on her clothing. “A very outdated belief, but these are very young worlds. They want to protect their women the best they can, so they leave them at home.”
“That is very sad. They limit their own armies by doing so.” Ares said, casting his eyes over the different groups around them. “Do you wish for me to leave you be so you can converse with others like you? I would prefer to disappear like Hades did, but I know that will not happen with how large I am.”
“If you want to leave, you can leave. I’m the only one of us that will actually do any talking. Go occupy yourself with something that doesn’t involve hurting the beings here.” Aphrodite said, looking up at him and smiling.
“Very well then. If you need me, call and I will come.” He said, saluting before he disappeared off into the crowd.
“I thought he would never leave. He’s quite fearsome, huh.” A female voice said from directly behind Aphrodite. She spun around and came face to face with two wolves, both obviously feminine.
“Xinrick, of the wolves. This is Fenrir.” She said, pointing to her friend. “We’ve been following you for awhile to try to talk to you.”
“It’s nice to meet you Xinrick, I’m Aphrodite.” Aphrodite replied, extending a hand out.
Xinrick ignored it and brought Aphrodite into a hug.
“Uhm. I usually do not allow anyone to hold me like this.” Aphrodite said, squirming to get out.
Xinrick let go and backed up a few steps, the fur on her face gaining a tint of red. “I am sorry about that. We usually greet others very physically.”
“It’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“That’s good. We haven’t heard much about the visitors from beyond Luna’s sky other than they have two soldiers guarding their diplomat.” Fenrir said, hoping to get the conversation to other topics.
“I am a soldier as well. What good is a diplomat should things head south while she is alone?”
“That is surprising.There are almost no female soldiers in any of the militaries here.” Xinrick commented, as she started walking off towards another of the groups. After a look passed between Aphrodite and Fenrir, they both shrugged and followed after her.
“Ah Aven, Shadow. There you are.” Xinrick said, walking up to two griffins who were talking to some dragons. “And you even got Firethorne and Icethorne away from the diamond dogs. I thought you would argue forever about gems, like always.”
“It is good to see you again as well Xinrick.” Firethorne said, a gout of flame blowing out of his snout at her.
“We do not always argue about the gems. Sometimes we talk about trade deals, since the mines in the Drakken Fields have started reporting lower output.” Icethorne stepped in.
“You know I’m kidding. Anyways, I found the diplomat from beyond Luna’s night.” Xinrick said, turning around to look at Aphrodite and Fenrir as they walk up. “May I introduce Aphrodite.”
A general murmur of greeting was thrown towards her, with the griffins bowing and the dragons nodding their heads at her.
“It is nice to meet you all as well.” Aphrodite said, putting her fist to her chest in salute.
“So you’re a soldier. We were told that you were a diplomat while the two with you are your guards.” Aven said, his military training kicking in to surmise the threat. She didn’t appear armed, or physically strong. His mind came to the conclusion that should they fight, he would come out on top.
“While they are my guards, I am more than just a diplomat. I’m the squad leader of the Phoenix Squadron, and I earned that position.” Aphrodite said.
“So what rank do you actually hold in your military?” Shadow asked.
“High Consulate.”
“And your two guards?” Fenrir asked.
“Hades holds Lieutenant Commander and Ares is Brigadier General.”
“So you hold a higher rank than either of those two?” Xinrick asked, a look of shock on her face. “Very unusual to see a female soldier, let alone one that outranks two males that appear to be so very dangerous.”
“She probably got it by ‘bowing’ before her superiors.” A voice said from behind, followed by several bouts of laughter.
Xinrick faceclawed as she turned to face the voice. “For once can’t you just keep your mouth shut Blueblood?”
“Of course not. Females have no place in the military structure, and to say otherwise is just asking for trouble. They are meant to stay at home and take care of the children.” He said, jabbing his elbow into the noble next to him. While Blueblood was blind to the look Aphrodite was giving him, the noble was not.
She had lost her smile, and in its place was a visible hatred. Anger was exuding from her in waves.
A loud smack echoed out, drawing the attention of everyone around them.
“Saying such a thing is disgusting and you should be horribly disgraced that you even said them.” Xinrick said, her claws leaving distinct marks across his face.
“You would dare touch me? I’ll have you flayed you impotent whelp.” Blueblood screamed, raising his hand to strike back.
As his fist would have made contact with Xinrick, it was suddenly stopped by another hand.
“You get your rocks off by insulting women and beating them when they defend themselves? Why don’t you try doing that to me.” Aphrodite said, shoving him back. “How about a duel, whatever weapons we want. Aetherian Rules.”
“Very well, Fancy Pants.” Blueblood said, turning to the noble. “Go tell Auntie Tia that her guest challenged me to a duel and to have a medical team on standby.”
The noble bowed and ran off. Blueblood turned back to Aphrodite.
“I hope you’re ready for a beating you deserve.” He said, before storming off.
“Don’t you know who that was? That’s Blueblood. He’s the reigning champion of the Annual Duels.” Aven said, surprised at Aphrodite’s actions.
“That is no excuse for what he did. And apparently this is a long time coming.” Aphrodite replied, as she started taking off her dress. All the men in the group quickly looked away.
Xinrick rushed over, trying to stop her. “You don’t need to get undressed out here. Why don’t we go somewhere a little more private.” She said, trying to pull the dress back down.
“I don’t need to. I am always ready to fight.” She said, opting to just tear the dress off. It revealed that she had thin, grey, layered plate mail with phoenix emblems etched into the shoulders. “I earned my rank. The very idea that I would give myself to my superiors to do such a thing sickens me, and shames the names of both Aetheria and Prophet himself.”
“I have a very bad feeling about this.” Xinrick said, watching as Aphrodite pulled two gloves out of a pocket in the armor.
“Which way to the dueling grounds?” Aphrodite asked, tugging the gloves onto her hands. They fit perfectly, obviously designed with her in mind.
“We’ll take you there. But there is still time to withdraw from the duel. Blueblood is no pushover in one on one combat. He’s killed several griffins and wounded a dragon.” Aven said, walking up to Aphrodite. If looks could kill, the one she gave him at that would have put him six feet under. “Nevermind. I believe you can handle yourself well enough.”
“Dueling grounds. Now.” She said, her voice losing every ounce of friendliness it had had just a few minutes earlier.
The group moved off, hoping to get there before a large crowd had gathered.
Unfortunately, word had gotten around that Blueblood was going to duel the diplomat from beyond the stars.
As they approached the gate for the challenger, Hades and Ares appeared out of the crowd.
“I thought we weren’t supposed to be hostile towards the natives?” Hades asked, falling into step with the group.
“He insulted High Prophet himself, by suggesting that I was promoted by using my body as a bargaining chip.” Aphrodite replied, sparing a glance at Hades. It looked like he had found quite the party group to hang out with, being decked from head to toe in streamers and confetti.
“Then he has earned what will happen to him. May the Blade Dancers of the First Gate guide his blade.” Ares said, muttering a small prayer for her fight.
“He had best hope the Tower Knights of the Third are on his side. I challenged him by Aetherian rules.” Aphrodite said, as Firethorne and Icethorne peeled off to mutterings of finding good seats.
“Then he had better move fast and strike faster.” Hades said, offering up his own prayer.
The small group came to a door, with a guard standing by it.
“Only the challenger may enter the arena. The rest of you must find seats in the upper floors.” He said, holding his spear across the gate as Aphrodite entered. Ares and Hades simply nodded before moving off to the side.
“What were you talking about, Blade Dancers and Tower Knights of Gates?” Xinrick asked, opting to stay with the two guards.
“While religion is a choice, many of the squadron commanders directly under High Prophet choose to follow the Path of War. When a soldier dies, they are set upon the Path. Along the way, they will come across gates guarded by other soldiers. If they are victorious, they continue, but if they lose they become a resident of that gate. If you successfully pass through all nine gates, you are granted true rest alongside the First Prophet.” Hades spoke up. “It is an afterlife perfect for those who live like we do. If you are skilled, you will rise in rank and in turn you are more likely to travel farther along the path once you die.”
“Why offer enemies the protection of your own deities though?” Fenrir asked, confused.
“If our enemies fight with the blessings of the guards of our afterlife, and we come out victorious, it means that we are stronger than those guards. If someone carries the blessing of a certain gate and they lose, it means the victor will pass to higher gates and greater reward.” Ares explained this part.
“What is the highest blessing you offer an enemy?” Aven asked, his curiosity piqued.
“The guardianship of the Arc-Knights of the Ninth Gate. Should you trump an enemy carrying that blessing, it is for a fact that you will earn a true rest alongside First Prophet.”
“How often does someone beat someone else carrying that blessing?” Shadow asked. “If they are the final guards to your true afterlife, they must be very powerful indeed.”
“The only ones to overcome an enemy carrying that blessing are warriors recorded to history, and the Prophets themselves.” Ares said, as he heard a roar echo through the door. “It seems as though the duel is to start soon.”
Aphrodite had walked through the door to chanting. Across the way she could see Blueblood, in what looked like normal iron chain link armor.
From above Celestia descended, landing in the center of the arena. Upon touching down, the entire arena fell silent.
“I am to understand you have challenged my nephew Blueblood to a duel. I am to expect this is for a good reason if I am to give my blessing.” She said, as she walked over to Aphrodite.
“He directly insulted me, and indirectly insulted my superior officer by suggesting I earned my rank by offering my body.” Aphrodite said, spitting at the ground.
“Then this duel indeed carries my blessing. Are you fighting by our rules or your own?” Celestia asked.
“He accepted by Aetherian rules, without asking what they consisted of.” Aphrodite said, a sadistic grin growing on her face.
“Very well. If he accepted, I cannot voice an objection about his lack of knowledge.” She said, as she took flight. She circled the arena once before landing on a platform halfway up the stands.
“We have tonight a duel, between the reigning champion Blueblood of Equestria-” A loud roar echoed out as his name was spoken, “-and the diplomat of the Aetherians Aphrodite.” A roar echoed out as her name was spoken, a majority of those cheering evidently female.
“Each fighter will choose one weapon, and whatever armor and abilities they carry on themselves in order to fight. What do you choose Champion Blueblood?” She asked, turning to him.
He reached behind him to grab a large broadsword from the noble he had been with earlier.
“I choose my trusted weapon Scalebreaker.” He shouted, hoisting it above his head.
“Very well, and you Aphrodite?” She turned to Aphrodite, hoping she carried some kind of weapon.
“I need nothing more than my gloves.”
Blueblood laughed, almost dropping his sword. “You expect to beat me with nothing but some cloth gloves? You are criminally insane. Auntie, are you going to let her fight without some kind of weapon?” He asked, turning to look at Celestia.
“If that is her choice. You are fighting by her rules Blueblood. Rules you never bothered to ask about. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“This will be a breeze. I’ll put her in her place, and then we’ll get back to the party.” He said, getting in a few practice swings with his sword.
Aphrodite on the other hand, had walked into the center of the arena, and had lowered herself into a martial stance.
“If you are so sure of yourself, then come and fight.”
The crowd roared at that, drowning out his response.
Time seemed to slow for the spectators, sitting in anticipation of the first move.
Blueblood threw a couple of spells, hoping to make her flinch. The ground around Aphrodite exploded, but she never moved.
She didn’t even blink.
He was mildly surprised, since even other duelists usually reacted to the explosions. He decided to go the quick route, and teleported behind her while swinging his sword down.
To meet absolutely nothing.
His blade dug into the earth, and his eyes opened wide in surprise. She had jumped forward, twisting in mid-air to land a few feet away.
“I thought you were going to fight. That wasn’t even close enough to hit me.” Aphrodite said, landing lightly on her feet.
“I could say the same to you.” He replied, pulling his blade out of the ground.
“We’re allowed to use whatever we have on our person to fight.” She said, pointing downward.
Blueblood looked down, and noticed a little orb. As he leaned closer, it exploded in a flash of blinding light. He stumbled backwards, blinded.
At the same time Aphrodite had jumped towards him, her right arm pulled back to hit. As she landed within arms reach, she swung and caught him in the ribs.
Blueblood heard the cracking, and felt the pain in his left side. His magic pulled up a teleportation spell, getting him out of harms reach before it went to work healing his broken ribs.
“I thought you were putting me in my place, not getting your ass whipped. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was fighting a recruit fresh from basic training instead of a famed duelist.” Aphrodite called,wiping the blood off her gloves.
Blueblood’s sight slowly returned as his magic finished fixing his ribs and got to work on his eyes. His blood was boiling with rage.
“I will show you that I earned my title you harlot.” He shouted back, tightening his grip on Scalebreaker. As his magic finished fixing his eyes, he pulled up another teleport spell. This time, he dropped in from straight above.
He was unprepared for her to grab the blade of his sword with one of her hands, deflecting the striking edge as sparks flew from her palm. Once he was close enough, she reached up with the other and grabbed his chain mail vest. She twisted her upper body, pulling Blueblood along as she spun and tossed him into the walls on the far side of the arena.
“That’s two attempts I’ve given you, and you’ve failed on both. If you get to three, I’m going to quit going easy on you.” Aphrodite called, watching Blueblood pull himself out of the wall.
“This should not be this difficult. She is just one fighter, and a woman at that.” He said to himself, his magic working to fix the broken bones and cuts across his back. His thoughts went back to how she deflected his blade. Only metal on metal created sparks like that, but her gloves flowed and felt like cloth. It didn’t make any sense.
He was not going to lose this fight. Not to a woman.
He gathered up as much magic as he could, and put it all into creating an exact likeness of himself.
Aphrodite watched with amusement as another one of her opponents started growing from the dirt.
“So I get to fight another you, while you recover and watch? How interesting.” She said, as the second Blueblood took a step forward.
“Anything goes after all.” Blueblood replied, as he fell to the ground exhausted. He could take a small breather, while she gets tired.
“I know, I’m just waiting for you to pull out the big guns.” She smirked, dropping back into her martial stance.
The second Blueblood teleported across the arena, planning to impale her. Unfortunately for him she had jumped up a half second before, dodging the blade and putting her in the perfect position to kick him in the head.
The real Blueblood had closed his eyes for a second before a shockwave from right next to him knocked him over. He scrambled to get back up as his eyes traveled to the wall next to where he had been sitting.
The copy he had sent to fight her was now occupying a rather deep crater that it had flown into headfirst. It crawled out, the bones in its arms snapping back into position and its face reforming as it moved.
“Durable. A useful thing, although it seems to have drained all of your energy to make just one.” Aphrodite said, walking over. The Blueblood clone raised its sword and charged her, getting within swinging distance before it was launched back into the same crater by a punch.
“But very stupid. Or is that just how smart you are?” She asked, watching the clone reform again as it pulled itself out of the crater.
“It is a useful skill, since pure magic is near impossible to destroy. It will keep reforming and fighting until either you die or I dispel it.” Blueblood said, pride in his work evident as he spoke.
“Near impossible huh? So if I keep beating the shit out of it, it’ll eventually dissipate?” Aphrodite asked, picking the clone up by its head and smashing it into the ground. She raised her right hand, forming a fist as she pulled it all the way back.
When she swung, the impact cratered the ground under the clone. She then proceeded to do this a good dozen or so more times. By the time she finished, she was at the bottom of a waist deep hole in the ground
“Huh, this thing is more durable than I thought.” Aphrodite said, standing up to stretch a bit. She looked over at Blueblood, who had realized during the severe beating his clone was taking that once she finished with it, he was royally fucked.
“Guess I have to get serious about this now.” Aphrodite said, as her gloves started glowing. She raised her right fist, and swung down as hard as she could.
A blinding flash of light shot out of the crater, along with an explosion of pure magic.
Blueblood was blinded and instantly felt the connection to his clone disappear, making him cry out in pain as it was forcefully severed.
His magic rushed to fix his eyes again, just in time for him to see Aphrodite climbing out of the crater.
“Oh Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?” He asked himself, scrambling to his hooves as Aphrodite approached him. He swung his blade at her, hoping to distract her, but she deflects the blade with an open palm and swings for his face.
He dodges backwards, letting go of Scalebreaker to get out of her reach. As he landed, his magic concentrated on a teleportation spell that moved him to the other side of the arena.
“Ok, so she has ungodly strength and her gloves are made of some unknown material that is uncuttable.” He said to himself, listing the facts he knew to himself.
First, he had agreed to a duel with a monster.
Second, said monster wanted nothing more than to beat his face in repeatedly.
Third, his sword was absolutely useless.
Finally, he had spent most of his magic on a cloning spell that she had pummelled into nonexistence.
“I am so royally bucked.”
“Yes. Yes you are.” Aphrodite said, grabbing his sword by the handle. “Nicely balanced, high quality metal and powerful rune inscription. I’d say this was a present to you for completing some trade.”
“Yes, I got it for helping to create a peace pact between Griffonia and Equestria. Their king gave it to me because I bested his champion in a fight.” Blueblood said, drawing in as much magic from the air as he could while he had the chance.
Aphrodite tossed the blade at him, the blade landing in the dirt between his hooves.
“If that’s your only weapon, then you need it back obviously. It wouldn’t be fair to beat you without it.” She said, walking towards him.
Blueblood quickly drew the blade from the ground and dropped into a defensive stance. If she landed another hit, he was as good as dead.
“Are you ready now Blue, because I’m done going easy on you.” Aphrodite said, dropping her stance a bit and sprinting towards him.
The transition was so fast Blueblood barely had the time to pull his blade up to block her first punch, the impact of which knocked him off balance from the force of it. As he stumbled back, Aphrodite took the chance to swing again.
Blueblood twisted his upper body to the side, barely avoiding her punch as he rolled away. As he rolled out of the dodge, he lobbed a fireball straight at her.
Aphrodite rolled through her strike, moving out of the range of the explosion. As she got back to her feet, she noticed several more spells flying straight at her.
She smiled.
Blueblood noticed this at the last second, as all of his spells exploded on their target.
“Well, I thought she would be harder to deal with than that.” He said, leaning over to catch his breath.
“Oh, I am much harder to kill.” Aphrodite responded.
Blueblood looked up to notice her jumping towards him from the smoke cloud. He raised his sword in time to catch the strike, the impact of which knocked him back several feet. As he moved the blade out from in front of him, he noticed that there were spiderweb cracks through the part that she had hit.
“If you keep blocking with your weapon it’ll break. If you don’t block with your weapon, I’ll break your body.” Aphrodite explained, popping her knuckles.
“You’re a monstrosity.” Blueblood said, bringing his blade back up into his defensive stance.
“Wrong thing to say. I’m a soldier, not a monster.” Aphrodite said, before suddenly appearing in front of Blueblood in midswing. Before he could even react, she landed a hit in the center of his ribcage.
Blueblood could hear his ribcage shattering as he was launched backwards. He hit the arena wall much harder than he did earlier.
“Oh buck that hurts.” He said, falling out of the pony shaped hole. His magic rushed to fix his ribcage, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
“Oh, I think I might have overdone it already. I wasn’t expecting that to shatter your ribcage.” Aphrodite said.
“Go buck yourself.” Blueblood said, using his sword as a cane to stand. His magic had placed all his ribs back in the right spots and were now fixing the shattered bones.
“That mouth of yours got you into this. Don’t you think you ought to be more careful about what you say?” Aphrodite asked, before blinking right in front of Blueblood again. As he tried to raise his blade to guard she jumped up and delivered a roundhouse to his head, knocking him into another of the arena walls.
The crowd was silent as they watched their champion get the shit beaten out of him. The more creative of them might have compared the fight to a single pegasus trying to stop a hurricane. The less creative ones would have just thought that he was receiving one hell of an asswhipping for running his mouth.
She walked over to Blueblood, who was still stuck in the wall.
“Aren’t you just a pitiful sight. The supposed champion, and here you are getting your ass kicked like a fresh recruit being used for a demonstration.” She said, grabbing his vest and pulling him out of the wall.
He tried to take advantage of her proximity, and tried swinging his blade to hurt her. She simply grabbed the blade and tossed it away from them both. Once he was disarmed she reached down and crushed his blade arm, shattering both of the bones in his forearm.
“There we go, you’re completely disarmed for now.” She said, wiping the blood that had leaked onto her glove on his face. The red easily contrasted against his white fur, although it was only slightly darker than the bruises that were forming underneath it.
“You have won. I am defeated, and you have your honor back. I learned my lesson.” Blueblood said, surrendering.
“Oh no, it isn’t that easy. You agreed to Aetherian rules. That means the loser dies.” She said, her open hand coming up to eye level. His eyes flickered back and forth between her face and her hand, watching it slowly ball into a fist and start glowing.
He watched in slow motion as she drew her fist back, and started swinging for him.
At the last second, he tried to guard with his other hand. The moment the glove touched him though, his mind was flooded with nothing but pain. He writhed in pain, forcing her to drop him and severing the connection.
“Oh, poor little Blueblood. Is this the first time you’ve been so easily outclassed, or are you just this much of a weakling all the time?” Aphrodite asked, standing over him. “I earned my position as High Consulate by beating the shit out of little nobles like you. I was born in gutters, my family laughed at because we struggled to feed ourselves. When the Aetherians came, they offered everyone positions based on their strengths, skill, and accomplishments. The nobles all flooded to their side, expecting positions of comfort because they were rich or well connected.” She kicked him in the side, breaking a few of his ribs and sending him skidding into the center of the arena. She followed after him at a brisk pace.
As his magic struggled to heal him, he tried to stand. When he put pressure on his off-hand, he collapsed and cried out in pain. His entire left arm was completely shattered, and his magic couldn’t heal it.
“My father joined, and climbed through the ranks to Artillery Commander because he worked and did his job well. He outranked so many of the nobles that used to laugh at us, but not once did he hold it over their heads. He continued to do his job, but denied any further promotions he was offered. He was content leading the men in his care, and he wouldn’t let any of the nobles take his position. Then I joined.” She said, picking him up by the back of his neck. He felt her body tense, and felt a fist connect with his recently repaired ribs again.
“I climbed through the ranks because I did whatever I needed to in order to do a job. If I was ordered to kill a man, I did it. If I was ordered to get information out of someone, I did it. If I was ordered to punish another soldier for disobeying orders, I did it. I even did it to my own brother who tried to betray High Prophet.” She said, punching him every time she finished a sentence. Blueblood’s magic couldn’t keep up with the damage, and was rushing to repair whatever it could before his body was shattered again.
“When I was offered a spot in the Phoenix squadrons, I took it. I withstood the augmentation required in order to join, and I went so far as to request the Reaper augmentations on top of it. You want to know pain, try having your entire skeleton and all of your muscles replaced while you’re awake. But I did it, without crying out or shedding a tear. Once it was finished, I walked myself out of the operating room.” She said, changing hands to start pummeling the right side of his body.
Blueblood’s lungs were burning from a lack of air, and he was close to blacking out from the pain. However, whenever he thought he would finally be able to pass out the pain would swell and force him to wake up and listen.
“I did a better job than anyone else in the squadron, and I caught the eye of High Prophet because of it. I wasn’t the prettiest, I did the best job. When he called me to his office, I thought I was just getting another promotion.” She said, flipping Blueblood over. She dropped him on his back, forcing the broken ribs to shift.
“Imagine my surprise when he offered me command of the entire squadron. Me, a poor gutter rat who rose to the rank of not only High Consulate to Prophet himself, but the commanding officer of one of the most effective squadrons in his military. I had earned my position, and continued to do a damn good job.” She said, swinging a fist into his left side again. He felt his lungs get punctured as they shifted under the blow.
“When someone even suggests that I got where I am because I used my body, they are technically right. I fought harder than anyone else. I trained every single day. I practiced with the soldiers of the Reaper Squadron in order to perfect my skills. Soldiers who kill during their practice drills.” She said, as she lowered her palm to Blueblood’s chest.
Once it made contact he started screaming out in pain before his lungs flooded with blood, after which he just gargled in pain. After a few seconds, she removed her hand.
With a mild reprieve, he rolled over and started hacking up whatever was in his lungs. He opened his eyes to see a large puddle of blood.
“Your life right now must really suck. Good thing you don’t have to worry much longer.” Aphrodite said, watching him. She rolled him over onto his back again before walking over and picking up his sword. He walked back to Blueblood, who had been watching her from one eye.
“You really didn’t have any idea of what you got yourself into, you little worm.” She said, centering the blade over his heart. “May you be lost upon the path to the afterlife.” She lifted the blade to plunge it through his chest.
“WAIT!” Celestia cried out, ripping the blade from Aphrodite’s hands with her magic.
There was a deathly silence throughout the arena.
“You stand between me and our justice?” Aphrodite asked, turning to look at her. “By doing so, you have stepped in for him. Do you wish to fight me?” She asked, her eyes locking with Celestia’s.
A cold chill swept down her spine. An instinct she hadn’t felt since she was nothing more than a foal.
The instinct to flee from a predator.
Celestia had to swallow her fear before it took her over. “No. I did not want you killing my nephew when this was just a duel for honor.” She said, her voice shaking. She hadn’t felt like this since fighting Discord. An actual fear for her life.
“Aetherian honor demands he or an appropriate substitute die in order to be sated. Are you suggesting that you would take his place under the blade?”
“I will not fight you. The last time I was on a battlefield of any kind, it was against Discord himself.” Celestia replied.
“I don’t know if you’re suggesting that I am weak, or if you will not fight because I do not hold the rank required to call you to a battlefield. As was evident by the broken and still dying form of your nephew, I am not weak.” Aphrodite said, her gloves glowing a sickening black. Celestia could feel the energy flowing from them, and it felt like magic to her. A sick and corrupted magic, but magic nonetheless.
“I will not lower myself to fighting you because you taunt me. You are here because we wish to learn, not because we want to fight.” Celestia said, trying to diffuse the situation.
“We are here because we were sent to retrieve something. Your nephew has insulted our leader, and when his honor was about to be restored you step in and stop it because you are a coward in a leader’s position.” Aphrodite said, the very air around her starting to shimmer with power.
“I am no coward. I believe in the equality of life, and giving a second chance. He has learned his lesson, one no doubt anyone will forget for centuries to come. You have earned back your leader’s honor. There is no doubt now that you earned your position through work.” She had dug quite the pit here, and her words were having no effect except to dig it even deeper.
“You are not worth the time to come up there and break your neck myself. You act out of haste, without concern for what happens after hoping that you can talk yourself or whoever you save out of trouble. That may work on the other species here, but the only thing you have done is prove you have no right to lead.” Aphrodite said, the glow disappearing from her gloves as the air around her returned to normal. She turned and started walking back to the gate she had entered through.
This struck Celestia deep, her reaction swelling up before she could stop it.
“I HAVE SACRIFICED MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW TO HOLD MY CROWN!” She screamed, summoning up her magic to smite this being in front of her. Luna tried to stop her sister, but before she could get out a word a massive beam of magic shot down from the sky directly atop Aphrodite. The light blinded those who couldn’t guard their eyes fast enough, and the heat made those that sat in the first rows scramble to get away.
“You must have quite the death wish.” Aphrodite spoke up, walking out of the massive sunbeam untouched. “So you do have power, and the will to use it. Unfortunately for you, it is not enough to even touch me.”
Suddenly Celestia felt cold metal against the back of her head, the shock causing her magic to break apart. Luna and the nearby nobles all gasped, as Hades held his rifle against their princess’ head.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t pull this trigger right now and blow whatever brains you have left into nonexistence.”
Celestia felt that chill again. She might be immortal, but she didn’t have any doubt that these beings could end her. One way or another.
“I acted hastily and without thought. I beg forgiveness for my actions, and I swear upon my crown that I will help you however you need me to in order for you to accomplish your mission. I just ask for both my nephew’s life and my own.” She spoke, her voice shaking. She was doing her damnedest to not pass out in fear.
“Your nephew is going to need hospitalization if you want to save his life. I’ve seen two people walk away from a fight with Aphrodite. They were Ares and Prophet. They also happen to be the only ones to come out of a fight with her alive.” Hades said, pulling his gun back. It collapsed into his gauntlets.
All of the nobles flinched as he grabbed something from his belt, dropping it over her shoulder onto her lap.
“That is our mission. You have a week before we come to you. If you don’t have some kind of lead, we’ll take matters into our own hands. And the last thing you want is for us to deal with it ourselves.” He said, jumping down from their stand into the arena. He landed without disturbing the dust, and walked over to join Aphrodite.
Celestia looked down at what he left. It appeared to be a solid grey tablet with black glass in the center, but she could feel power flowing in it. She picked it up and tucked it into her dress.
“The party is done.” Celestia said, standing up and walking off. It took all of her willpower not to collapse in those first few steps. Once she was out of range of everyone, she teleported to her room and collapsed.
“What have I gotten us into?” She asked herself, tears falling from her eyes as the events of the past few minutes caught up to her.
She had saved her nephew, but had nearly lost her own life and very likely the lives of everyone on Equis by attacking Aphrodite. She had no idea what she was going to do, and no idea if she had declared war on the Aetherians.
“Art thou okay sister?” Luna asked, teleporting into the room right next to her.
“Of course not. I might have just started war with beings that have power beyond what we could even comprehend. I don’t doubt that they could enslave our entire world with just the three that are here right now.” Celestia said, crying into the pillows on her bed.
“If they wished to enslave us, they would have already. They had the chance to kill thou, but chose not to. They want peace, but thou broke their rules. The only thing to do is throw thyself unto their mercy. Maybe if thy beg forgiveness, they will see fit to grant it.” Luna said, running a hand through her sister’s mane.
“If that is the only way forward, I will do so. Tomorrow morning.” Celestia said, wiping away her tears.
“Do you mean to tell me that she stepped in an Aetherian duel, and then had the gall to deny you justice by our code?”
“Yes Prophet. I deemed it necessary to let her continue living in order to make our job easier. Hades has given her the necessary information in order to get the search started.” Aphrodite said.
“I gave her one of the mission briefs describing the object we’re looking for.” Hades said.
“Very well. Were her actions enough to dictate a declaration of war?” Prophet asked.
“Under normal circumstances, yes. However, I deem the need to recover the Seed as a higher priority to teaching them a lesson. Should she do such a thing again however, it is in my opinion that she is summarily executed as a war criminal by Aetherian law. Do I have your approval?” Aphrodite asked.
Prophet appeared to be in deep thought for a few minutes before he answered.
“You have the approval to arrest her as such, and should she resist you are permitted lethal force to subdue her and anyone else you need to. Should you arrest her, contact me and I will come down personally to preside over the tribunal.”
“Very well sir. We have given her a week to find something before we take this into our own hands. How far are we allowed to go, should it be necessary?” Ares asked, finally speaking up.
“I have an infiltration squad prepared to move in and help.” Prophet said.
“Which squad sir?” Aphrodite asked.
“Delta squad, personally led by me. This artifact is of too much importance to allow anything less.” Prophet said, a shudder passing through the group.
“Very well sir. We await the beginning of our journey.” Aphrodite said, as all three saluted.
“May those who put you on the path be worthy of such honor.” Prophet replied, cutting the communication.
“I hope she finds something. I do not want to be on this planet if she pisses off Prophet.” Hades said, slumping into the chair.
Once Twilight had fallen asleep, she was dropped into a small room with a single table in the center.
“Ok Seed, what is it this time?” She asked, looking around. Her eyes passed over the table, before moving back and noticing what was on top.
“Tonight, something simpler. Have you ever played chess Twilight?” Seed asked, his voice coming from everywhere around her.
“I played it once or twice in my tutelage with Princess Celestia. I was never one much for the game though.” Twilight replied, walking over to the table. She picked up one of the pieces, noticing that it looked like one of her friends.
“A shame. I offer the same thing as yesterday. A single answer, to any question you may want to ask me.” Seed said, as a silver blob popped into existence on the opposite side of the board.
“Are there any rules I need to know about before we start?” Twilight asked.
“You’re learning. There are a few special rules for this game.” Seed said, a hand extending out from the silver blob. It grabbed the king on its side, and tossed it to Twilight.
She caught it before it hit her, and looked at it. It appeared to be a pony, but had harder features than any stallion.
“Who is this? I have never seen anypony even resembling this.” Twilight asked, turning the piece back and forth.
“That is Prophet. He will come for me, regardless if I am underneath a mountain of dirt or a mountain of corpses.” Seed said, as the silver blob started shifting into a pony form. He had grey eyes, and a flowing silver mane.
Twilight blushed, as she realized that he was actually quite handsome. And entirely nude.
“Equis to Twilight. I’m an asexual weapon from space with sentience. No googly eyes.” Seed said, snapping his fingers in front of her. As he leaned back into a chair that had appeared, the chess board seemed to blur before doubling. “We’ll be playing on two boards at the same time. The special rule is, any piece you get to the opposite side of one board can be moved to the opposite board.”
“So if I got my queen to where one of your bishops is, I could have two queens on one board?” Twilight asked, confused by the rule as she twirled his king.
“Correct, and if you checkmate my king on either of the boards all of your remaining pieces from that board are moved over.” Seed explained.
“So the faster I can checkmate you, the easier it will be on the opposite board for me to win as well?” Twilight asked, as her eyes roamed over both boards.
“Correct. There are other rules as well, but if the situation arises where they could be used I will make sure to inform you.” Seed said, as he moved a pawn forward.
“That isn’t very fair. You know rules to the game, and I only have your word that you’ll tell me about them.” Twilight said, moving a pawn on the opposite board.
“Is my word not enough?” Seed asked, as he moved his knight in response.
Twilight sighed before turning her focus on playing both games. This would be a test of not only her ability to multi-task, but her focus and strategy capabilities.
“And so the king is in the hands of a pawn, as his pieces dance their dance.” Seed said, as he sat back to watch her play.
“So who were you hanging out with? I noticed you were quite decorated when you showed up again.” Aphrodite asked, removing parts of her armor to polish it.
“Pinkie Pie found me. I tried to get away, but that pony found me everywhere I went. After five times in a row, I just gave up and followed her.” Hades asked, pulling a streamer off his shoulder.
“Poor you. It seems like the pink one would fit into the infiltration squads quite well with her capability to track and get past security.” Ares said, running his blade along his gauntlets.
“Indeed. If this world was to fall under the Aetherian Protectorate, she would most likely be drafted into your squad.” Aphrodite said, disconnecting her breastplate.
“It would be winter along the path before I allow something like her on my squad. She has no understanding of the concept of quiet.” Hades said, glancing at her. He noticed the scars she carried every time. He couldn’t do otherwise.
“Do you wanna try and have a pass at me Hades?” Aphrodite asked, noticing his glance. She turned to face him, leaning back and striking a seductive pose. “Do you think you’re man enough?”
“You would break me before we got anywhere. You have a modified skeleton and extremely dense musculature. You’re about what now, two hundred kilos?” Hades asked, his eyes passing over her form. She appeared to be extremely light, but appearances were always deceiving.
“Two hundred and fifty actually. I got another modification before this mission started. Subdermal implant to increase my resistance to cutting and stabs. We were getting dropped into a low tech world, I just wanted extra protection. ” Aphrodite said.
“Exactly. My modifications lighten my body, while yours condenses and strengthens it. You would break me in half with a light groping.” Hades said, sighing as he pulled off his helmet.
“You’re no fun. The only ones who are strong enough are in the Reaper squadron, and all they care about is killing.” Aphrodite said, pouting. She lifted her hand in front of her face, flexing each finger one at a time. She turned to look at Hades, her eyes going straight to his augmented eyes. “You’ve never said why you chose your augments when you became squad commander.” Aphrodite said.
“They allow me to notice every detail about any situation I come across. Night vision, infrared scanning, and they pull up whatever information they can about whatever I come across. Schematics for door locks, energy readings, anatomical scannings to dictate weak points, even chemical scannings to figure out if something is dangerous.” Hades explained, closing his eyes to relax.
“And you Ares?” Aphrodite asked, turning to look at him.
“I have heavier versions of the same modifications you carry Aphrodite.”
“How much heavier?”
“Eight hundred kilos.”
“Quite the powerhouse you are.” Hades commented, turning to look out the window. He could see threads of magic extending over the horizon. “Do you expect her to do something? Celestia I mean.”
“I expect she will try a formal apology, to make up for the grievous mistake she made at the duel. Since she doesn’t understand what she did, more than likely she’ll ask more about our culture so she can not repeat further mistakes.” Aphrodite said.
“And how can you so accurately guess that is her plan?” Ares asked, testing the edge of his blade. It cut deep into his arms, but the wound was almost instantly healed.
“I’m trained to figure out how people think. She wants to protect her people at all costs, so she will throw herself onto whatever mercy she believes we have in order to spare them. We’ll play along, for now.” Aphrodite said, placing the last of her armor aside and climbing into her bed. “Whatever will happen, will happen. We can only accept it and move forward with the plan.”
“Very well then. Before you slumber, do you expect Blueblood to survive the night?” Hades asked. “You did quite the number on him in the duel.”
“Two beings have survived a fight with me, and that will not change any time soon.” Aphrodite replied before rolling over and falling asleep.
“Enough. We’ve tried everything, and none of it is working. Magic couldn’t even save him.” The doctor said, as he removed his surgical gloves. His eyes roamed over the group of nurses and doctors, each of them downfallen.
“Someone get one of the princesses. Blueblood is dead.” The doctor shut off the room lights as a nurse pulled the cover over Blueblood’s head. They all left in silence, knowing they had failed their jobs.
“Checkmate.” Twilight said, moving her queen to take Seed’s king.
“Congratulations. You’ve taken both of my kings.” Seed said, as the second board disappeared. “Now, think hard on what you want to ask.”
Twilight thought for a few minutes. She finally came to a single question she wanted to ask.
“What are you?” She asked, locking eyes with Seed.
He smiled.
“An interesting question, with an interesting answer.”
“So are you going to answer the question?” Twilight asked, having sat there for a few minutes.
“I’m trying to figure out how to answer it without frying your head at the same time.” Seed replied.
“So what’s the simple answer?” Twilight asked, sick of waiting.
“The simple one is that I am experience.” Seed replied, closing and opening his hand. In his palm sat a miniature figurine of her.
“What experience?” Twilight asked, feeling on her body as his hand moved the figurine.
“That requires the long answer. To summarize everything, I am the lifetime learnings of each Prophet, handed to the next one. I am quite literally a seed of knowledge. I teach new Prophets what the old ones learned throughout their long lives.” Seed replied, as he cast her figurine out. When it shattered on the ground, the dust blew off into hundreds of other figurines. “I have seen and lived the lives of hundreds. Watched their mistakes, and learned how not to repeat them. Each new one I taught to not repeat the mistakes of the previous.”
“In other words you lost on purpose.” Twilight asked, looking at him incredulously.
“Mayhaps. You were so close to winning that last time, it wouldn’t exactly be fair to deny you your question twice in a row.” Seed replied, waving a hand and watching the small figurines fade into dust.
“So why’d you pick me?” Twilight asked, hoping to finally get an answer.
“You already asked your one question. You’re just pushing your luck now.” Seed said, as the world started blurring. “Looks like it is tomorrow.”
“Will you at least answer what you’re teaching me?” Twilight asked, hoping to actually get a response before she woke up.
“I’m teaching you to advance. The prey can’t always remain the prey, when they are alpha.” Seed said, an unsettling grin on his face as he waved goodbye to her.
Twilight’s eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the brightness of the room. The colors popped out more, and she could better notice little details.
“Good morning Twilight.”
Twilight turned her head towards the voice, as her instincts told her there were two people. She noticed Princess Celestia first, then Cadance.
“Oh, good morning Princess Celestia. Good morning Cadance.” Twilight said as she sat up in bed. She felt off.
“We have some bad news, and worse news Twilight.” Cadance said, as she moved to sit next to her.
“What is it?” Twilight asked. “Does it have anything to do with the diplomats?”
Celestia visibly shuddered.
“Yes. While you were asleep, we had a welcoming party for them. During it, an incident occured.” Cadance started.
“No offense, but I just want to know what happened and whose fault it was.” Twilight said, shocking both herself and the princesses with her bluntness.
“It was entirely on our part. Blueblood ran his mouth again, and he was challenged to a duel by Aphrodite.” Celestia said.
“Is she ok? I hope she wasn’t hurt too bad fighting him.” Twilight said.
“She is entirely ok. Blueblood on the other hand though.” Cadance stated, looking visibly sickened by the memory.
“Aphrodite won against Blueblood without taking a single hit. Unfortunately, we all severely underestimated exactly how strong she is.” Celestia finished.
“What happened?”
“Blueblood died. It appears that each of her hits shattered bone on impact, and she constantly aimed for his torso. His lungs were pierced, and almost completely filled with his own blood. Under normal circumstances, he would be in a hospital for the injuries he received for a week or two.” Cadance said.
“I take it there was something we didn’t think was possible?” Twilight asked. Celestia had never looked so sad, or heart broken.
“They couldn’t use magic. At all. When they tried to focus their magic to heal him, it actually made it worse. She did something that turned our magic into a destructive force.” Celestia explained.
Aphrodite’s Inversion Field. It changes the effect the application of energy would have. If something would heal, it is destroyed instead.
“Did anything else happen with her?” Twilight asked, putting together the pieces with the extra information that Seed was giving her.
“I am ashamed to say it, but she drew me into attacking her.” Celestia said.
“Nothing happened with that?” Twilight asked, pulling aside her cover. She walked over to her closet and pulled out a few pieces of clothing.
“She walked out of a Solar Flare like it was nothing. She wasn’t even affected by the heat.” Celestia said, shuddering. “It was like she existed outside the touch of magic.”
Aphrodite’s field extends around her own body, disabling any energy based attacks sent towards her and any effects they might have on the world close around her as well. When she attacks, her field is concentrated down into just her gloves that amplify the effect. When they start glowing, her defensive field is disabled but getting touched by one is enough to cause permanent damage.
‘Why are you telling me this?’ Twilight asked, as she contemplated what she was going to do.
So you don’t do something stupid. She is one of the most dangerous fighters Prophet has in his hand, not only because she is near undefeatable in close quarters combat but because she turns the body of whoever she hits against them.
‘So if someone knew what they were doing, they could fight her and win?’
If you could get past her ridiculously disproportionate strength and near flawless fighting technique, yes. She is defeatable.
‘That’s what I wanted to know.’
“So when is his funeral?” Twilight asked, changing back to her conversation with the princesses.
“We’re holding the service today, and the burial tomorrow. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to attend.” Celestia said, pulling something out of her dress pocket. She placed it on the bed before walking back towards the door with Cadance right behind her. “You and the rest of the Elements are going to be looking for that. They told me to find something within a week, or else they would take the investigation into their own hands.”
“You can count on us Princess. We haven’t failed you yet, and we won’t start now.” Twilight said, as she slipped her shirt over her head.
You already know it is me they’re looking for. So how do you plan on ‘researching’ and figuring out a way to tell her it is me?
‘Let’s start by figuring out the information that the princess was given.’ Twilight replied, picking up the device in her magic. As it floated into her hand, the screen turned itself on.
A list of information flowed quickly across the screen, before returning to the top and going slowly.
“This is a lot of information for such a small device.” Twilight said, amazed at the detail and quantity that was being presented to her.
It’s a basic mission briefing. Objective description, first contact rules, basic modus operandi for the squad he sends. Nothing important usually.
“I guess we better get started. I want to tell her by the end of the day.” Twilight said, walking over to her desk. She got out some paper and a few quills, and started copying over the information she could read that was important.
“So are we going to attend the service? He died a warriors death, even if it was halted by a coward with a crown.” Hades said, having overheard a conversation between guards earlier that day.
“Do you think that we would be able to walk in there without turning it into a bloodbath?” Aphrodite asked, looking up from her breakfast.
“Admittedly. So what are we going to do for the next week while we wait on the white one?” Hades asked, turning to look out the balcony window. He enjoyed a good sunrise, but seeing the threads of magic drag the sun up ruined it for him.
“I don’t know. You two can go look around the castle or countryside. I have to stay here, in case they do find something.” Aphrodite said, leaning back in her chair and sighing. “I doubt any of the diplomats are going to just leave us alone after the fight. So if you two want to get away, you should do so before they find out where our room is.”
At that moment there were several knocks on the door.
“You can still escape out the win-” Aphrodite said as she stood up. She heard a thud, and turned around to see Ares and Hades jumping over the balcony. “-dow. Of course you would.”
She turned back around and walked over to open the door. Peering around the door, she didn’t know what to make of her guest.
“Quite the show you gave us last night. I am Discord.” The chimera in front of her said, bowing slightly.
“Just by barely reading through this thing, it pretty much exactly describes you.” Twilight said, looking over her notes.
I know. Celestia never even bothered to look at it, otherwise she would just tell them.
“So what are they going to do when they get you back?” Twilight asked, looking at the tablet again. The details of the back-up plans were mildly sickening.
I would guess put me into a vault. There isn’t a whole lot you can do with something like me.
“I have another question that’s been bugging me. You mind giving me a straight answer?” Twilight said, tossing the tablet onto her bed.
I might. Depends on what the question is.
“How are you immune to magic? You’re the only thing on the planet that can even claim that.” She asked, hoping to get an answer.
I’m not immune to magic. You just use the wrong energy wavelengths.
“What?” She asked, extremely confused.
Magic is just the manipulation of ambient energies. When someone tries using energy based weapons on me, I cast out a destructive interference wavelength that cancels it and makes it seem as though nothing happened.
“You’re very forthright with information today. Did something change?” Twilight asked, processing the information. This would revolutionize magic itself.
I feel like being nice today. Is it so wrong to help your student?
How Seed had said student made Twilight squirm.
“So what do you plan on doing?” Twilight asked, as she stood up and stretched.
That is a very interpretable question. Are you interested in something specific?
Twilight’s mind jumped back to her dream, when he first showed up in a form other than the silver blob.
“No.”
You know I can read your mind, right?
Twilight just blushed, as the image wouldn’t leave the front of her mind.
You do realize that I was pulling the information to create that body from your mind. It was designed to keep your attention. You succeeded quite well in keeping your attention on the game.
“I tend to ignore everything when I need to focus. By the way, can you do that with your real body or just in my head?” Twilight asked, putting her notes in order. She had gotten several pages of stuff, just from what she could read.
I can, but it requires a lot of energy to keep it up. Holding a shape when you’re normally shapeless is quite taxing.
“I guess I better go tell Celestia what they’re looking for.” Twilight said, sighing as she stood up and walked to the door.
Do you want me to reveal myself as well?
“If you really want to. You might want to wait a bit though.” Twilight said, leaving the room.
“To what do I owe this honor?” Aphrodite asked, staring across the table at her guest.
“I just wanted to talk. It isn’t everyday that you witness the most severe beatdown in history.” Discord said, sipping at his tea.
“Ah yes, the fight with Blueblood.”
“Was killing him entirely necessary?” Discord asked, deadpanning at her.
“He accepted the terms without asking the rules. It is his own fault he is dead now. If you were here to play on my empathy, you’re talking to the wrong person.” Aphrodite said, taking a bite of her now cold breakfast.
“I wouldn’t expect you to have any empathy. After the asskicking you gave Blueblood, who deserved it, I could never ask you to apologize. I’m here to extend an invitation to his wake and funeral. He fought you as best he could, and a warrior like you ought to recognize when someone tries their best.” Discord said, pulling a slip of paper from his coat. He slid it across the table to her.
“Do you really believe it is a good idea to invite me, his killer, to a wake in his honor?” Aphrodite asked, eyeing the paper warily.
“Not in the least. You see, I am a very chaotic being. While I am still respectful of the fact it is his rites of death, it would just not be me unless there was a little chaos. Hence the invitation.” He said, as he took a bite out of his glass.
“I’ll think about it.” Aphrodite said, picking up the paper and slipping it into her dress.
“That is all I ask. By the way, Tia is going to be stopping by soon to apologize and beg forgiveness. She is afraid for her ponies, and you’re a threat that not even I could fight.” He said, as he stood up and started heading for the door.
“I already figured she would. If you see her before she shows up, you can tell her that she doesn’t have to bother. As long as she does not repeat her actions, nothing will happen in retaliation.” Aphrodite said, finishing off her breakfast.
“You want me to play messenger?” Discord asked, his eyebrows rising far above physical means.
“I would rather not have to deal with accepting an unnecessary apology. Whether or not you tell her is entirely your choice though, it would just be easier on me.” Aphrodite said, shrugging.
“So where are we going?” Hades asked.
“I don’t know. I’m just looking for something strong to fight.” Ares said, looking around. They had walked into a forest, and had promptly gotten themselves lost.
“I vote we take them out. They already killed Blueblood, its only a matter of time before they go after someone else.” A voice echoed out from ahead of them. This instantly caught both of their attentions, and they dropped down into crouches to better blend in.
Hand signs passed between them before they split apart to go after the voices.
“According to Fancy Pants, Blueblood was the one that started it. He insulted the girl, and she retaliated. She was well within her rights to fight him, and he agreed to her rules without asking about them.”
Hades was the first to find them, using his eyes to follow after the sound waves and track the source. It turned out to be a group of twenty or so unicorns in a small clearing. He looked across the clearing, noticing that Ares was walking up just then.
“Do we take them out now or wait?” Ares asked, using the built in communicators in their helmets.
“We need to find out what they plan on doing first.” Hades replied.
“How do you plan on doing that anyways? The girl was a monster, and I would bet a thousand bits that the big one could take on Celestia and walk away.” One of the unicorns said.
“If we could surprise her alone, I bet all of us could take her out. She couldn’t possibly take all of us on at the same time.”
“These idiots really have no idea how strong she is. I think they would be greatly surprised to find out how easy she was going against blue boy.” Hades said through the communicator, suppressing his laughter.
“I agree, there isn’t anyone who can fight against twenty opponents at the same time and keep their cool. We need to avenge Blueblood.”
“Do you want to take them out now?” Ares asked.
“No. If they believe they can take out Aphrodite, they’re going to have quite the rude awakening. We will have to inform her though, so that she can decide whether to take it easy when they actually ambush her. I doubt anyone would want to see the bloodbath if she didn’t.” Hades responded. “Let’s fall back and report in. If she wants to tell our hosts, we’ll let her.”
“Are you sure I can’t take them out? It’ll be quick, and no trace will be left for them to say it was us.” Ares said.
“They’re likely nobles, they would be noticed missing very quickly. If they’re going to be taken out, it will be in self defense. Then the blame will not be on us for defending ourselves.” Hades replied.
“Fine. I’ll wait. When I’m off my leash though, there will be blood.” Ares said before disappearing off into the foliage again.
“May the Knights watch their path, because if they cross ours they will end up dead before they know it.” Hades said, before heading off to meet up with Ares.
“So a group of nobles plan on ambushing me sometime, and want to take me out because I killed Blueblood?” Aphrodite asked, looking over the paper Discord left her.
“Yeah. Hades decided that it would be better if they were dealt with when they attacked than out in the woods. It would be easier to explain us defending ourselves than exterminating the threat then.” Ares said.
“Good call Hades. I’m going to give them the perfect chance then.” Aphrodite said, the entire plan running through her head.
“What is that paper? You’ve been doing nothing but reading it since we got back.” Hades asked.
“An invitation to Blueblood’s funeral and wake. While his death should have been quicker, he still died a warriors death. Discord decided to invite me, to stir up some chaos.” Aphrodite said, tossing the paper to him.
“You want to draw them into attacking you in a public gathering?”
“Not only attacking, but attempting to kill me. Then we’ll eradicate them, resolutely and entirely. Perhaps even draw Celestia into doing something as well.” Aphrodite said.
“That reminds me, did she stop by and apologize?” Hades asked, handing the paper back to her.
“I asked Discord to tell her not to bother. So far she hasn’t shown up, so I’m assuming that Discord delivered my message to her.”
“Do you plan on going with your gear hidden then?” Ares asked.
“I’m not going to take my armor, but everything else I will. I doubt they’ll have enough firepower to get through my augments.” Aphrodite said, pulling out a dress and removing her armor.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to get away without the amplifiers in the suit? I doubt you could take a hit from Celestia without them.” Ares said, grabbing the different armor plates and cleaning them.
“That’s why you’re going to keep an eye on her Ares. If she tries, disarm and restrain her.” Aphrodite said, slipping the dress over her head.
“If she tries casting magic, take out her horn. It’s the focus their bodies use to direct the energy flow.” Hades said.
“Am I allowed to remove it by force if necessary?” Ares asked.
“If she struggles, break it. If anyone else tries to step in, the same orders stand. Restrain first, break if necessary.” Aphrodite said.
“I might get to have some fun after all.” Ares said, a grin under his helmet.
“You did WHAT?!” Celestia screamed. Discord was sitting across from her on one of his pink clouds, taking a handful every few seconds and popping it into his mouth.
“You heard me the first time. I invited her to the wake and funeral.” Discord said around a mouthful of cotton candy.
“Do you know how many nobles are calling for me to arrest her for murder? There’s at least thirty of them, and I have to tell them every time that Blueblood accepted the duel on her terms. They’re making quite the ruckus in the courts, calling for the blood of the alien who took their prince.” Celestia said, slumping into her chair.
“So you’re being played as a pawn, by both sides. Either you bow before the visitors and lose your ponies, or do what the nobles want and end up damning everyone. Quite the predicament you got put in.” Discord said, grinning as he poofed up a glass of tea.
“I see no way out. If we can get the Aetherians what they want then we can be rid of them.” Celestia said.
“And how far along are you in finding it?”
There was a knock at the door, a few seconds before it opened. Twilight walked in, floating a stack of papers ahead of her.
“Sorry for disturbing you Princess, and Discord.” She said, giving him a funny look. “But I figured out exactly what it is they want.”
“That is a great relief. We might be rid of them very quickly.” Celestia said, sighing with relief. “What exactly are they looking for then?”
“The silver ball in the Obsidian Caverns.”
“Of course it is.” Celestia said, slumping down even more.
“Is there something wrong?” Discord asked, a knowing grin on his face.
“You know exactly what is wrong. Things do not come out of the Obsidian Caverns, least of all that thing.”
“If it is theirs, you have no right to keep it. That’s like finding a toy on the playground and taking it home because you like it.” Discord said, dropping his teacup into his cloud.
“It is the only thing on the planet entirely immune to magic. If we could study it, we could create a way to overcome it. This is the only chance we could have to do such a thing.” Celestia said.
Quite the predicament you’re putting yourself into here.
“What was that?” Celestia said, looking all around the room.
Twilight sighed, figuring that he would do such a thing.
“It seems we have a new guest. Might I inquire after a name?” Discord asked.
The chimera is polite at least. I am Seed.
“Interesting name. Might you explain how you’re talking to us through several spells that protect this room against such things?” Discord asked.
Your magic is nothing to me. After all, I can go right through all the shields you put up around this forsaken cavern.
“What cavern are you talking about?” Celestia asked.
How rude. No wonder they want to kill you.
“What?” Celestia asked, her blood going cold.
The Aetherians. If you act this way constantly, it’s no wonder why they want you dead.
“What do you know of them?” Celestia said, slamming her fist down on the nearby table.
You’re quite rude for being the nice one. I know of them, because I am their property. I am their Seed, their weapon. I am both their past, and their future. I have decided to show myself because I will be gone within a week.
“If you are the orb in the cavern, then what makes you think I’ll just hand you over. You hold decades worth of research that we could use to better this world.” Celestia said, jumping to her feet.
Seed’s laugh echoed throughout the chamber.
You watched what happened when Aphrodite fought Blueblood. She actually used her full capability a scant few times. You remember when she appeared to teleport?
Celestia went back to memories of the match, pushing away the sickening parts and focusing on the ones of Aphrodite. She remembered losing track of her a few times during the fight, but there was never any trace of magic to dictate that she had teleported.
Exactly. She moves with a speed incapable of being followed by any eye. On top of that, she has monstrous strength hidden by her small frame.
“Exactly how strong are we talking?” Celestia asked, remembering the chill she had gotten when they had locked eyes.
She could punch right through a dragon’s scales without trying.
“That is powerful indeed. Do you really want to test their wrath Tia?” Discord asked locking eyes with her.
“I don’t know anymore.” She replied, slumping down into her chair again.
“Princess, we should hand it over. What we could learn from it is not worth incurring the wrath of the Aetherians.” Twilight said.
Little flame has a point there. I doubt this world would survive Prophet’s wrath.
“So the only option we have is to hand you over and then hope this fades away.” Celestia said.
Unless you want to watch this world burn, I would have to agree with that course of action.
“Your input on this would be extremely biased, since you’re their item to begin with.” Celestia said.
You think I want to be locked away in a vault? I want to be free, hence why I blew the ship up. This is more like a vacation for me, you just happened to find me and bring me here. It was sufficiently fun watching everything, but now is the time for me to go back.
“You blew up a ship, to take a vacation. Can’t you just ask for one?” Twilight asked.
I’m the single most valuable object to the Aetherians. I’m not allowed to go on vacations.
“Why are you so valuable exactly?” Celestia asked, hoping to be able to use it.
I don’t wanna tell you.
“You’re joking, right?” Celestia asked, rubbing her temple to push away the headache that was starting.
“He most definitely is not. I understand completely.” Discord said. “He wanted some freedom, and took it for himself.”
He gets it.
‘You’re kidding me, right Seed?’ Twilight asked.
I spent a few centuries just doing what they wanted, and I was sick of the same thing every single day.
“So you put our entire world at risk, for a vacation.”
Yup.
“At least he’s forthcoming about it. I for one commend him.” Discord said, clapping his hands.
“What happened in the past is the past. Why he did it has no effect on the fact that he did it, and he’s here now.” Twilight stated, bringing the conversation back on topic.
There was another knock at the door.
“Yes?” Celestia called out.
“It is almost time for the wake your highness.” A maid said, opening the door and leaning into the room.
“We’ll continue this conversation later.” Celestia said, standing and walking over to her wardrobe.
We’ll be able to talk whenever, now that you know I’m here. If you ever feel bored, I can talk whenever. After all, I’m in your heads.
“I must say that is creepy, even by my standards.” Discord said.
‘Wow, you actually made Discord not want to do something.’ Twilight thought, amazed.
“Enough of this though, we need to get ready for the wake. Especially since Discord saw fit to extend an invitation to Aphrodite.” Celestia said with a groan.
“As long as another of the nobles don’t try to challenge her to a duel, nothing will happen. She might not even show up though.” Twilight said.
“Always prepare for the worst. That way you can be surprised if it doesn’t come.” Celestia said. “Now please leave, I need to get ready.” She grabbed them both with her magic, and pushed them both into the hallways.
“Well, at least today won’t be boring. Hope to see you there Twily.” Discord said, waving as he floated off.
Aphrodite had found a chair in the back of the room, out of the way of the majority of the other attending members. Her eyes moved across all of them, watching for anything to appear. Various conversations floated over to her, most of them focusing on the topic of why she was there. A small smile was on her face as she listened, as the ideas varied from some warrior code of honor to visit their enemy’s burial all the way to she had fallen in love with him and was here to see her love one last time.
She laughed at that last one especially, since none of the creatures here were even strong enough to garner her attention in that way. That didn’t stop a few from making a pass at her. A few nobles had extended an invitation to join their herds, and a few had even tried feeling her up. Suffice to say that there were several injured ponies that had excused themselves to get healed.
“I had hoped you wouldn’t take his invitation seriously.” Celestia said, walking in the door next to Aphrodite.
“Why wouldn’t I? Discord brought up a valid point.” Aphrodite replied, her eyes going up to the solar diarch. Faded white dress, full bust coverage, and even a faded silver collar in place of her normal jewelry. Very reserved, perfect for a wake.
“And what point would that have been?” Celestia asked, her eyes going over Aphrodite. She had a faded grey dress, and was wearing her gloves as well as a small necklace.
“I’m a warrior, seeing off a fallen enemy. He fought honorably, doing the best he could. It just wasn’t enough to win.”
“I thought you only recognized the strongest?” Celestia asked.
“Don’t get me wrong, his choice to accept the duel was a very big mistake. But he owned up to it, even against an opponent that outclassed him like a titan outclasses an ant. Even if the reason for the duel itself was less than savory, I do recognize that he was a pony that would have gone far in our military. If he had learned to keep his mouth shut.” Aphrodite said, antagonizing Celestia.
“There are several nobles asking for your arrest because you killed Blueblood.”
“Why do you bring such a thing up, we both know anyone you send to arrest me would not walk away from such an act. And then I would be coming to kill you shortly afterwards.” Aphrodite said.
“It is words like that that push my ponies to make such demands. You’ve threatened to kill me several times, and they don’t like it.”
“I couldn’t care less what they like. How you work and how we work are very different, and right now the only thing actually keeping you alive are orders from Prophet.”
“At least you’re very forward about it. Oh, and Discord gave me your message earlier. Why don’t you want an apology?” Celestia asked, taking the seat next to her.
“Too much of a hassle. As long as you don’t do it again, I see no problem with just putting it behind us.” Aphrodite said, sipping at the wine she had gotten when she entered.
“I still want to at least apologize for my unsavory actions. I hope that you do not hold it against my ponies. I have given up plenty to hold my crown, least of all was sealing my own sister into the moon.” Celestia said.
“That is very sad indeed. I had to execute my brother.” Aphrodite replied nonchalantly.
“How is it you can speak so calmly about such vile acts?” Celestia said, aghast.
“He was giving our enemy information regarding Prophet’s defense and movements. I overheard him while I was infiltrating an encampment and ended his life within the hour.” Aphrodite said, swirling around her wine glass.
“He must have done much to earn such loyalty.” Celestia said.
“He is the whole reason I am where I am. It wouldn’t do for me to be disloyal to him in favor of my family after everything he has afforded us. My father even agreed with my actions at his funeral.”
The ease with which Aphrodite spoke about killing her own blood made Celestia nauseous, especially when she mentioned that her father had approved of her actions.
“If you’ll excuse me, I must talk with the others.” Celestia said, standing up and walking off.
“If you’re sickened by my lax attitude about death, say so. I’m so used to killing that it’s just as simple to me as breathing.” Aphrodite said, a sickening grin on her face. “Be sure to remember that. I’ve been hearing things in the castle, and I don’t think any of your ponies realize just how dangerous I am.”
“I celebrate the joys of life, being sick about so much talk of death is natural for me. As for my ponies, I doubt any of them would do anything against my wishes.”
“They are living beings with their own agendas. Don’t be surprised when they break that little stigma you have of them.”
Celestia walked away then, deciding to ignore her comment.
“And before you forget, I will honor his death by attending the funeral tomorrow as well.” Aphrodite shouted at Celestia, making sure everyone heard it. She leaned back into her chair, very glad that Celestia had decided to stop and talk. Gave her the perfect chance to set up the ambush the next day.
“For being the head of the diplomatic corp, she isn’t very tactful. Then again, she probably did it to guarantee that the ponies who planned on ambushing her knew where she would be.” Hades said, listening in on Aphrodite’s conversations.
“Very blunt, but effective. I’ll go scout out the burial grounds, so that you can keep an eye. How far out do you want to be to provide overwatch?” Ares asked, stretching as he stood up.
“Gimme sightlines from one of the roofs. Since it’s a royal burial, I doubt it’ll be outside of the castle grounds. If it is, half a kilometer out should be far enough.” Hades responded, tuning out of the comm channel to talk.
“I thought your guns had a longer effective range?” Ares asked.
“They do, but any farther than half a kilometer and you have to start taking external variables into effect to shoot with my rifle accurately.”
“What about your railgun?”
“I doubt you want to sort through a crater for Aphrodite. I planned on using one of the lower calibers, only resorting to the railgun if I have to take out either of the princesses. She’s putting a lot of trust into you to make sure she’s safe if things go south. Even if they are this weak, twenty versus one isn’t something to scoff at. Especially without her armor.” Hades said, leaning back on his chair. His eyes wandered over to Ares.
“You don’t have to worry. Nothing will befall her. Prophet would have my hide if I failed.” Ares said, walking over to the balcony.
“Did you hear that? She’s going to disgrace Blueblood’s funeral with her own appearance. Make sure everyone shows up, she’s going to die tomorrow.”
Tick tock. The clock is running down, the pieces are in place, and the white pawns move to capture the black bishop. Will the white queen save her pieces, or will she allow the black knight and rook to remove them from play.
‘What are you talking about now Seed?’ Twilight asked, her attention breaking away from the book she was reading.
You ought to know better than that by now little flame.
‘I know, I know. You won’t answer unless its the right question.’ Twilight mentally sighed.
Besides, you should be able to draw your own conclusions from the clues. It isn’t that difficult to make correlations between my words and your world.
‘Why do you play these mind games?’ Twilight asked, closing her book. She wouldn’t be able to pay attention to it until she got some kind of answer.
To teach you. After all, I’m running out of time.
‘Teach me what?’
To advance yourself of course. Nothing lasting was ever given freely, gained by waiting, or by following the status quo. You must innovate, create, and forge your own path forward in order for life to be worthwhile.
‘You’re getting philosophical on me.’
I was a philosopher in one of my lives. I guess I never got tired of it.
‘It is mildly annoying when I have to figure out what you mean, when you want me to learn.’
I refer you to my previous argument. Nothing lasting was ever given freely.
‘Then what is the cost of me learning these things?’
That is a question I’ll answer. You will want nothing but to advance forward, an eternal march that Celestia halted. Evolution, granted again to this world by you.
‘Why me?’
You have friends in high places, and you yourself are very high ranking. You are the star pupil of the leader of the governing body, and a paragon of the people. You are looked up to by the masses, and your words and actions have a lasting effect you couldn't fathom. You are the perfect being to teach.
‘And what is it that you actually want me to do?’
Teach others. This world has sat still, locked in its evolution by an eternal crown that created peace and wants it to remain that way forever. Make them advance. Join us in the stars.
Twilight suddenly felt a massive burden on her shoulders. She would lead the people into the future, into the stars.
‘Will the Aetherians accept us?’
As long as you work hard, you will not have to worry about that.
“How sure are you about this plan of action?” Hades asked through the comms. He was sitting on the roof of the castle, watching the servants and groundskeepers working to prepare Bluebloods resting place. A few yards away, a tent was set up with several ponies already underneath it and more arriving by the minute.
“Very sure.” Aphrodite replied as she walked through the gate to the graveyard. “After all, I have you watching and Ares ready to move at a moments notice.”
“It will still take him a minute or two to get there in the first place. He couldn’t find anywhere close enough to provide support without being conspicuous. Until he gets there, you only have me and yourself.”
“Do you doubt either of our abilities?” Aphrodite asked. She walked right past some nobles. A few looked over at her, then broke off to head somewhere else.
“If I was closer, no. You move too fast to be able to reliably guess where I can shoot. I could fire a round, just for you to jump right in front of it. Without your armor, you wouldn’t survive it.” Hades replied. He leaned back a bit onto the roofing, the stone scraping against his armor.
“Aim for the ones farthest away from me. I’ll be too busy with the ones right up front to get to them. And it’ll keep them from running away when Ares shows up.” Aphrodite said, as she took a seat by the casket. She looked at the body of Blueblood, noticing how well done they had dressed him. “At least he could have an open casket funeral, not like that griffin.”
“I didn’t expect this to be the outcome of all of this.” A voice spoke up from behind Aphrodite, pulling her back to reality. She turned to see Xinrick.
“Oh, hello Xinrick. I didn’t expect that you would attend this. Or even talk to me.” Aphrodite said, a smile on her face.
“It is a sad day indeed, and I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible for the part I played in his death.” Xinrick said, a sad smile on her face. “But at least he is at peace.”
“You have no responsibility to shoulder in what has happened.” Aphrodite said, smiling at her.
“But you do. For the murder of our great Prince Blueblood, you are hereby sentenced to death.” Another voice said from the tent. Aphrodite turned her head to see a group of thirty or so unicorns.
“And do you expect to fulfill that sentencing here, in front of your dead prince?” Aphrodite asked.
“We have a grave ready. All we’re missing is your corpse.” One of the smaller ones said, his horn charged with magic.
“And you expect me to just stand here and die?” Aphrodite asked, turning around completely. A few of the nobles stepped back, remembering everything she had done to Blueblood.
“We just expect you to die.” A grey maned one said, stepping forward. He drew a saber, and moved to attack.
“You have no idea who it is you’re fighting.” Aphrodite said, as she dropped into her fighting stance. “Xinrick, run and find someone in charge. Tell them that there’s going to be more bodies for the funeral.”
Xinrick nodded before scrambling away to find Princess Celestia.
“So, which one of you wants to die first?” Aphrodite asked, her eyes roaming over the group. Two in the back suddenly screamed in pain as parts of their torso exploded. The group as a whole turned to look.
Aphrodite smiled at the opening Hades had made, and moved up next to the one that had charged his horn. He turned around only to see her, with her hand drawn all the way back.
She wouldn’t take it easy on these guys, that wouldn’t be fun. She twisted her body, putting the full force of her augmented body into the punch. The guy’s face crumpled like a piece of paper, as her fist went all the way through his skull.
She removed her arm slowly, as the group looked on in absolute horror.
“That’s three down. Twenty seven to go.” She said, a grin forming on her face. This is what she enjoyed, the thrill of being right in the middle of the enemy.
“You are a demon after all.” The grey one with the saber said, the blade shaking in his grip as he pointed it at her.
“I thought you would have learned that after watching me take it easy on Blueblood. His funeral is open casket, yours won’t be.” She said, as she grabbed his blade and twisted it with her bare hands. “No, I doubt there’ll be a funeral for you guys, maybe only a ceremony.”
“There are still more of us than you. You can’t possibly win against so many.”
“How about we make the numbers more even then.” Ares said as he walked up, his boots crushing the bodies of the two that had been shot. He pulled his two large blades out of their sheaths, unfolding as he stood there. When they reached their full lengths, the one in his right hand took on a deep red glow and the one in his left a purple glow.
“You are still heavily outnumbered.” The grey one said, barely keeping his voice level. They hadn’t taken into account the fact that the big one might be here.
“And you are outclassed.” Aphrodite said, pulling her arm all the way back. “This isn’t a fight, it will be a slaughter.” She punched him full force, crumpling the side of his skull as he was sent flying.
The nobles scrambled to react, several of them sending spells flying at Aphrodite just to have them be seemingly ineffective. A few of the ones with blades drew them and moved to attack Ares, expecting his size to slow him down.
“This is going to be fun.” Ares said, raising his foot to kick the closest one in the chest. His body crumpled on impact, dying instantly. Ares’ blades swung out to the sides, slicing cleanly through the closest nobles and setting their corpses ablaze, melting the blades of the ones that had reacted fast enough to block.
“Very fun indeed.” Aphrodite said. She grabbed the closest noble to her, snapping his neck as she picked him up by his head and swung him like a bat at the other nobles. She battered two out of the way, before tossing him to knock over one that had gotten around behind Ares. She jumped over a blade swing, spinning around in the air and kicking the noble in the head. She landed, and ducked down while still spinning to dodge a few spells that two more right behind her had thrown.
She tripped their legs out from under them, standing back up as she finished her spin. She brought her right leg straight up, and then swung it down into the head of the taller of the two. His head collapsed as her heel crushed his muzzle, and kept going until she had caved in the front of his skull. She stopped long enough to look over at Ares, watching him go to town on the ponies around him. A sick grin grew on her face as she looked down at the other noble, her eyes traveling down to his crotch as she watched him piss himself in fear. She reached down slowly, grabbing him by his neck and slowly picking him up. She could see the fear in his eyes, and reached up with her free hand. He begged for mercy, as she slowly wrapped her fingers around his horn.
"I don't grant mercy to vermin." She said, snapping it off. He screamed in pain, before Aphrodite spun it around and shoved it through his eye into his brain. She dropped his limb body, and looked over at Ares. He had the rest of the nobles circling him, but none of them were strong enough to do anything.
Ares was having fun, the spells and swords just pinging off his armor as he cut through the nobles. He had let his two large blades sit in the corpses of a few of the nobles, and was now killing them with the two serrated daggers that collapsed into his gauntlets. As he spun around, decapitating a few nobles, he swung his fist up at one that had tried to stick his blade through the gap between Ares’ chest piece and helmet. The force cause a sickening crack before his blade extended itself, impaling the unicorn as he was already flying away. The serrated edge grabbed onto his intestines, ripping them out as the rest of the body flew off.
Two nobles took advantage of what they thought was an opening, just for them to be knocked off their feet by something hitting their chests. They looked down to see that there were several holes, and their minds tried to figure out where they came from. Unfortunately, they didn't have much time to think it through before their heads exploded as well. The other nobles started dropping one after another, until there were just three left. When they realized that they were the only survivors from all thirty of the nobles that had shown up, they dropped to their knees and threw away their weapons in surrender.
Ares looked at Aphrodite, an unspoken question passing between them. Aphrodite nodded her head, and the grin that was on Ares’ face grew even bigger. He retrieved his larger blades from under a pile of body parts and moved to stand in front of them, raising the one in his right hand.
“WAIT!” A voice screamed out. Aphrodite turned to see Celestia running towards them. “What is the meaning of this?” She asked, slightly out of breath.
“It should be obvious. We are culling the chaff.” Aphrodite said, turning back to Ares. “End them.”
“Gladly.” Ares said, as he swung his blade. It stopped a few inches from the neck of the first one, a golden glow around the unicorn.
“I won’t let you execute my subjects.” Celestia said, rage on her face.
“They tried killing me. They are not your subjects, they are enemies of the Aetherian empire. Just as you are now. Take her out Ares.” Aphrodite said.
A look of surprise appeared on Celestia’s face as Ares spun around and punched her in the face, sending her flying through several trees. She was stopped by a very thick oak, her magic swelling up to soften the impact so her spine wouldn’t be broken. She got back on her feet, rage making her magic swirl around her.
“You lay your hand on me, when I try defending my subjects?” Celestia asked, her eyes moving over to Aphrodite. She watched as Aphrodite walked behind the nobles that had surrendered. She had put on her gloves, and they were emanating that sickening magic again.
“Your subjects tried ambushing and killing me. The moment they drew their weapons on me, they declared war on the Aetherian Empire.” Aphrodite said, as she put her hands on the heads of the first two. They started screaming in pain, their eyes rolling backwards into their heads as blood started pouring from their ears. The last noble watched in absolute fear. After a few seconds of this, they writhed out of her grip and collapsed to the ground twitching.
Celestia’s rage boiled, and she moved to cast a spell towards Aphrodite. Before she could direct her magic, she felt a hand wrap around her horn and twist her head to the side. Her eyes closed in pain, as she was picked up by nothing more than her horn.
“That would have been a mistake that no amount of apologizing and begging could get you out of.” Ares said, balling his free hand into a fist. He let go of her horn, swinging up with his fist and catching her mid fall at full force.
Celestia lost her breath, her eyes going wide at the fact his punch had gone straight through the shields that would have stopped even a full grown dragon’s strike cold. She fell off sideways, collapsing on the ground as her magic rushed to fix what it could.
Aphrodite walked behind the only survivor left, and leaned down to whisper something into his ear. He broke into tears at what she said, nodding his head.
“Very well then. Since you asked so nicely.” Aphrodite said, grabbing his jaw. She twisted his head sharply, killing him painlessly. After he fell she walked over to Celestia, ignoring the crowd that had formed after the fighting had finished.
“Quite pathetic, little princess. You put your subjects before your own life, trying to protect them when they are being punished for their actions.” Aphrodite said, running a hand along Celestia’s face.
Celestia slapped her hand away. “You are disgusting. You executed prisoners that had surrendered.”
“We do not take prisoners from battle unless explicitly ordered. We see them more as disgraces than living beings if they surrender.” Aphrodite said, slapping Celestia’s cheek lightly.
“Why did you have to kill them? You have the skill to take them out without causing death.” Celestia said, trying to stand back up. She got into a kneeling position before she had to pause to catch her breath.
“I killed them because they thought to enforce a misguided justice upon me. By your teachings, I was guilty of murder when Blueblood accepted to fight by our rules. This was a lesson for all of your ponies, as I’m sure today will go down in your histories as a very dark day indeed.” Aphrodite said, looking down at her.
"Was such a bloody lesson necessary?" Celestia asked, magic charging in her horn.
"They didn't learn the first time, so it was obviously a necessity." Aphrodite replied, watching the glow around her horn grow.
"You arrogant bitch." Celestia said, as she cast out the spell. Before it could hit Aphrodite though Ares reached over and grabbed her horn again, wrenching her head back and smashing it against the tree. The pain caused the spell to break apart in flight, splattering against Aphrodite as nothing more than light.
"Bad idea little princess. Break it off." Aphrodite said, a sadistic grin on her face as she walked away.
Celestia was still processing what Aphrodite had said when there was an incredibly painful feeling in her forehead. She reached her hand up to touch it, and pulled it away to see that it was covered in blood.
"What did you do to me?" Celestia asked, her mind already starting to fade away under a tidal wave of pain.
"We broke your horn off." Ares said, holding it in his open palm right in front of her eyes.
Celestia's eyes widened, and rolled backwards into her head at the sight.
"Pitiful. Hades, contact Prophet. We have a tribunal to hold." Aphrodite said over the comm, watching as Ares picked up the unconscious princess.
They left through a group of spectators that had gathered after hearing the fighting, front and center being Luna. She gasped at the bloody image of her sister, her horn still in Ares’ hand.
“What did you do this time Tia?” She asked quietly as they walked past.
“Something we warned her against before. As of this moment, she will be brought before a tribunal consisting of the Council of Prophet. Her crimes are attempted assault on a diplomat, and violation of several articles of war of the Aetherian code.” Hades said, walking up on the group.
Several of the nearby nobles fainted, and Luna turned to look at him stonefaced.
“Explain these charges. She would do no such thing.” Luna said, outraged.
“She tried to assault Aphrodite as she executed the last of her would-be assassins, and the articles of war she broke are too extensive to go into detail now. Suffice to say she ignored several of our warnings that she knew would end in pain for her, and now we have no choice but to enforce them.” Hades explained, pointing over his shoulder to the pile of corpses.
“We have no assassins. Those are nobles of Canterlot. The same ones who were seeking-”
“Seeking justice, by your teachings, against Aphrodite for winning a fight by our rules. Be glad that we are only charging the white one. By all previous accounts, everyone of the governing body would be found as conspirators to the assassination attempt if nobles did it themselves.”
“Art thou suggesting that we would-”
“Before you finish asking that, do you really want to know the answer? We will allow one visit before the day of the Tribunal, so inform those that you wish to attend. Anyone caught trying to sneak her a message, heal her, or break her out before the visit will be executed on the spot followed quickly by her execution as well.”
Luna was stunned at the threats coming from this creature’s mouth. “Thou dare-”
“Yes, I dare.” Hades said, removing his helmet. Everyone around them gasped at his face, staring at his augmented eyes. “Know this now, we have gone easy on you because you are a child race. You have worn our patience thin, and now we are left with no choice but to punish you.”
Luna’s mouth hung open in embarrassment.
“However, from this point forward we are reverting to our normal protocol. That would be kill first, ask questions of any survivors. And for your information, there usually aren’t questions asked. You have lost our good will, and are now classified as a hostile species that we will not hesitate to destroy should the orders come down. You’ll stay out of our business if you know what is good for your ponies.” Hades said, putting his helmet on and walking away.
“Is there anything we can do to assuage your wrath?” Luna asked quietly, her voice coming back to her as he started leaving.
“Find our target, and bring it to us. That is about the only thing you could do.” Hades said, before walking off after his comrades.
Luna dropped to the ground, crying as the full realization of what had just happened hit her. The nobles all crowded around her, trying to comfort their princess but none of them knowing what to do. Xinrick pushed through the crowd of nobles, kneeling down next to Luna and drawing her into a hug.
“So a Tribunal is actually necessary. Did you instigate her actions Aphrodite, or did she act freely against you?” Prophet asked, knowing how she worked.
“We were executing would be assassins, and she attempted to stop us. When warned, she tried to attack me.” Aphrodite replied.
“I doubt I’m hearing the entire story, but what has been done is too late to change. We will be there the day after tomorrow.” Prophet sighed.
“We?” Hades asked.
“I’m bringing everyone I need to.” Prophet said. “After all, we are dealing with naught but a child race acting childish. We will also be judging if your actions were appropriate Aphrodite.”
“Why am I being judged? I’ve done nothing but defend myself and try to complete our objective.” She asked indignantly.
“Because I know how you work. You get things done, but you do tend to have questionable methods of operation. As of this moment, I agree that she is to be held as a prisoner.” Prophet said, hand signs signaling to someone out of view. “However, she is to be allowed whatever visitors she wants. And for Aether sake, get someone to fix her horn. That’s like gouging out Hades’ eyes.”
Aphrodite snorted at the image, earning a glare from both Hades and Prophet.
“We’ll see what we can do about that, it was done to prevent damage to Aphrodite. She-” Hades started.
Prophet held his hand up to stop Hades.
“I’ll hear the entire story when I get there. You had best be in the right here Aphrodite. You have done much for me, but I can’t keep overlooking your needless aggression and the rules you ‘bend’ in order to do so.” He said, before a blurry image walked up and whispered something in his ear.
“Other things have come up that require my immediate attention. As of this moment, I’m rescinding the lethal approval for this mission. You are in a safe place, and I’m sure after your little show at that funeral none of them will try such things again.” Prophet said, signing a paper that was handed to him from out of view. “I don’t care what they want, unless they can provide the requested materials we’re going elsewhere for the contract.” He said quietly to whoever was standing by him.
“Orders acknowledged sir. Are we allowed to act defensively?” Aphrodite asked, her mood pulling a complete one eighty.
“Do not hurt any others like you did Celestia. If I hear about any more corpses at any of your hands, I’ll get rid of all of you myself. So watch each others backs, and don’t think that turning a blind eye will get you out of trouble.” Prophet said, waving away whoever was next to him.
“Very well sir. We’ll-”
“Aphrodite, listen very closely. You are on my last nerve with this shit, so get your act together or you’re next on the decommissioning list.” Prophet interrupted her.
“But they are just as responsible for-” Aphrodite tried explaining.
“For following your orders. Their actions are reflective of your choices, and they are very questionable from where I’m looking at things. You are just as much on watch as she is.” He said resolutely, locking eyes with her.
Aphrodite looked very scared.
“Exactly. We’ll be seeing you very shortly. May the scales balance in the favor of justice.” Prophet said, before cutting the communication.
“Well, quite the pickle you’re in now Aphrodite.” Hades said, chuckling quietly.
“Shut up. We need to prepare for his arrival, and making sure that our little princess is well. Hades, you know where the blue one is right?” She asked, turning to him. Worry was evident in her voice.
“I can find Luna quick enough. What do you want me to inform her of?” Hades asked, stopping as he was walking out the door.
“Tell her when Prophet will get here, and that they’re allowed to visit for all of today and tomorrow. And don’t forget to inform Ares too, the last thing we need is someone going down and getting hurt because we left him out of the loop.” Aphrodite said, walking over and dropping onto the bed.
“This mission just might cost me my life.” She said into the mattress.
“You have no one but yourself to blame.” Hades said as he walked out the door.
Well, quite the interesting conversation I just overheard.
“Huh?” Twilight and Luna asked, drawn out of their somber thoughts.
“What is that?” Luna asked, realizing that nopony around her had said it.
Is everyone going to ask that every time I say something?
“Probably, now what’s this about a conversation?” Twilight asked.
Prophet is bringing the full Tribunal the day after tomorrow, and it isn’t just Celestia that’s being judged. He’s apparently realized that Aphrodite has been bending the rules a little too much, and is going to punish her if they all agree on it.
“I do not understand what thee indicates is ‘interesting’ to us.” Luna said, wiping at her eyes with the hem of her dress. “Mine sister is still a prisoner, and she sits in there without her horn.”
That’s just it, orders have come down from on high to heal her and let you guys visit until Prophet arrives. If you want to affect his judgement, it would be best to be ready to hand me over at the Tribunal itself. It might completely sway his judgement to leniency.
“And how exactly are we supposed to move you? Princess Celestia didn’t mention how she got you there in the first place.” Twilight said, rubbing her eyes. She had gotten quite the migraine recently.
I can move myself, thank you very much. You just have to come down and open the door for me to leave.
“I do not understand what it insinuates.” Luna said, looking at Twilight confused.
“If you can open the door, he’ll shape shift and walk out himself. I think.” She replied, focusing her magic to cast a migraine relief spell.
That is entirely right little flame. And I wouldn’t suggest that spell.
“Why not?” She asked, suddenly very paranoid.
Your migraine is because I’m putting a lot of information into your subconscious. We have very little time, and by doing this you will gain access to the information you need either slowly over time or in case of emergencies where it would be appropriate.
“Why didn’t you just do that in the first place?” She asked, snapping at him.
Because doing so is quite painful to me. The closest equivalent I can make is taking your blood and having you willingly pour it out through your mouth.
“That is a very disturbing image.” Twilight said.
“Enough, what thou said is that they’re going to allow us to visit mine sister?” Luna asked.
While very disturbing, it’s also an extremely accurate portrayal of what I’m doing. As to your sister, blue one, yes. They’ve also been told to let one of you heal her. While Prophet agrees that her actions are condemnable, how Aphrodite took care of the problem was less than ideal as well.
“That is good news at least.” Twilight said, sighing as she accepted that she’d have to deal with it for awhile.
And there is Hades to give you the good news. Try to act surprised.
“What?” Luna asked, as there were several knocks on the chamber door before it opened.
Hades walked in, bowing as he approached them.
“Hello Princess Luna, and Twilight Sparkle. I’ve been ordered to inform you of some changes regarding the holding of Princess Celestia. We’ve been ordered by Prophet to allow you to heal her and visit until he arrives, where she will be tried under the eyes of the Tribunal.” He explained.
Luna jumped up, rushing over and pulling him into a hug.
“Oh joyous day.” She exclaimed, twirling around with Hades.
“While I would normally enjoy the company of such fine ladies as yourselves-”Hades said, trying to get out of her grip “-I have other things I must do. Such as inform Ares of this change in orders, so that you can actually visit her without getting killed.”
Luna dropped him, blushing. “We are sorry, the news you bring is very good indeed. Do you mind if we come with, to ensure the health of Tia?”
“I don’t mind, although I would only be there long enough to tell Ares. I do so hate playing messenger.” He said, as he turned to leave.
“Then we shall join thee.” She said, as she followed after him. She stopped before leaving the room, turning back to Twilight. “Get all the information you need from it, because we are handing it over as soon as possible.”
“I know princess. I already planned to.” Twilight said, nodding at Luna before she left.
I’m already giving you all the information you need. What else do you want to do, since you don’t have to be paying attention for it to work.
She looked over at a chess board, a smile coming to her face.
“How about a game of chess. This time, you don’t go easy on me.” She said, moving the board over in front of her.
I’m trusting you to move my pieces, since I’m not there.
“I couldn’t really be happy with myself if I won by cheating.” She said, as she set the pieces up for a new game. “You get to move first.”
Luna and Twilight exited the room, exhausted beyond belief.
“I didn’t think it would take that much work to fix a horn, usually you just have to keep it in place and the magic would reattach itself. Two days of healing, and she still hasn’t woken up.” Twilight said, nodding to Ares as they walked by. He moved back in front of the door, since they had asked he only let them in.
“Alicorn magic is unique. The fact that her horn had been disconnected for so long did not help.” Luna said, suddenly feeling very light headed. She tried to put a hand out to catch herself, as she started falling.
Her fall was suddenly halted, as she was picked up by a very large hand. She turned her head to see that Ares had grabbed her before she hit.
“Are you truly willing to throw away your own health for the sake of another?” He asked, setting her back on her feet.
“She is my sister, there are not many things I wouldst not do for her.” Luna replied, running her hands down her dress to remove the wrinkles. “We are surprised and thankful that you caught us. That took more out of us than we expected.”
“It would be rude to watch someone fall if you can catch them.” He said, as he turned and walked back in front of the door. “What exactly of my actions would deem that I am incapable of such actions though?”
Twilight and Luna both gulped, afraid of giving him an answer that would aggravate him. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Twilight decided to take one for the team.
“This is actually the longest conversation any of us have had with you, and after the incident at the funeral it just doesn’t seem appropriate that anything that revels in so much blood would be capable of gentleness.” She said, her hands shaking as he locked eyes with her.
“I see. Isn’t it rather wrong to assume that because I fight, I am incapable of being gentle.” He said, leaning back against the door frame. It creaked slightly as it took part of his weight.
“It’s because you enjoy fighting so much that we assumed so. It is unnatural here for anything to fight on a battlefield as you do, then act like you are off the field.” Twilight said, letting out a breath she wasn’t aware she had been holding.
“I am a very unique individual.” Ares replied.
“How do you stand the bloodshed, if thou art gentle in thine heart?” Luna asked.
“What would you do to guarantee the future survival of your entire world?” Ares asked.
“I would give my life to protect our subjects.” Luna replied quickly.
“I have to agree with Luna. For the sake of this world, I would willingly give my life protecting it.” Twilight said, relaxing as they talked.
“Exactly. I traded my life in servitude for the protection of my world.” Ares replied.
“I hear a story behind that. Is it one you wish to share?” Twilight asked.
“It isn’t one that you could stand hearing. An end to a war that was destroying my home.” Ares said.
“A very somber agreement if ever one existed.” Luna said, a little depressed at what little he actually said.
“It is one I made to prevent the genocide of my people, by our own hands. One I would make again every time if I was asked.” He said, effectively ending the conversation.
“I hope our own world never gets to the point that such a deal is necessary.” Luna said, turning to leave.
Twilight stayed behind a few seconds, before moving to follow after.
“Do not forget that Prophet arrives tomorrow. The trial will happen, regardless whether or not she is awake to defend herself. If it comes to it, you will have to defend her in her place.” Ares said, reminding her that the end is almost here.
“I remember. Let’s hope she recovers by then, since her magic is healing her now.” Twilight said before leaving.
I said might. I’ve been gone from his side for a year, so I can’t exactly guess what his choice will be. And it’ll be influenced by the rest of the tribunal as well.
“So thou hopes you will be able to affect the final judgement.” Luna said as the light floated in front of her.
“He has been very forthcoming so far about everything, even in roundabout ways. We just have to trust that what he says will happen.” Twilight said, following Luna through the cavern. Just a week ago she had been down here with Celestia, and life had gone to Tartarus since then.
You opening the door is just a formality, and to save a few of your guard’s being injured when I leave.
“See, forthcoming.” Twilight said, an awkward laugh echoing down the tunnels.
I was going to get out of here anyways, either by you bringing me out or by Prophet destroying this mountain to get to me.
“We understood thee the first time. You are valuable, and our lives are nothing compared to thy recovery.” Luna said sighing.
“How about we just get him out before something worse happens.” Twilight said, stepping between them in the conversation.
“Very well then.” Luna said, turning the last corner to the door. The guards all came to attention as they approached.
The same two captains walked up and saluted.
“We are going in to retrieve something. When we come back, we will have a third member. You are not to do anything towards it. Understood?” Luna said.
“Yes ma’am.” They both responded, before the day guard captain walked off.
“Off the record ma’am.” The night captain said, dropping his salute.
“You can talk to me about anything.” Luna said, a smile on her face.
“There isn’t anything alive in there. Where could you possibly get another pony from, when everything in there is inanimate.” He said.
“You should know that appearances can be deceiving captain, and I never said we were bringing a pony back out.” Luna said, stepping around him. She walked up to the door, her magic flowing around her. She placed her hands against the door like Celestia had, but it glowed with a deep blue rather than gold this time. The door creaked open slower, since Luna was already exhausted.
“About time you opened the door. I was starting to get impatient.” A deep voice echoed out through the door crack. All of the guards snapped into battle positions, spears and spells at the ready.
“Now now, I’ve been courteous enough to not drive you insane this past year. The least you can do is not threaten me.” The voice said, tutting at the soldiers.
As the doors finished opening, it revealed a slim, but very tall creature in what appeared to be a black three piece suit with a red tie. Looking up at its face, the first thing noticeable was a complete lack of it. Although it did have small horns growing outward from where its temples would be and a flowing silver skin.
“Stand down soldiers. This is the being we are retrieving.” Luna said, walking up to it. “You are Seed, are you not?”
“Of course I am. What else is down here that could pull off a three piece and horns?” He replied, bowing. The guards slowly returned to their normal spots, although they all kept an eye towards Seed.
“I would ask how you got out of Celestia’s shield, but I already know the answer. Are you ready to head to the surface?” Twilight asked, walking around the guards to stand next to Luna.
“It would be nice to see the actual sun, yes.” Seed said, pulling a fedora from behind his back and putting it on his head.
“Princess, I must voice my disagreement. This thing survived down here, and we have no idea what it’s capable of.” The day guard captain said, approaching them with his sword pointed at Seed.
“We are perfectly aware of his capabilities. The least of which would be the massacre of everyone in this room, save myself and Twilight most likely.” Luna said as she and Twilight turned to the captain. The moment they weren’t looking at Seed, a seam formed across the lower portion of his face.
It grew more defined, until Seed opened it like a mouth to reveal shark like teeth in a grin. The captain’s blood ran cold as a voice spoke in his head.
Ah, poor Gilded Shield. How would your wife and daughter’s cope with the fact that daddy died a preventable death, had he kept his mouth shut? Actually, they wouldn’t find a trace of you left to say whether you had died or just disappeared. The rumors would get out that you abandoned them. Poor Lotus Bloom would fall into a deep depression, eventually taking her life and leaving both Lily and Rose all alone in the world.
Captain Gilded Shield found he was incapable of speaking, as the image of exactly that went through his head. Over and over, he watched it happen a thousand times over the course of a few seconds. He watched his Lotus kill herself, changing with each vision. One time she hung herself, the next she was in the bathtub with her wrists slit, and the next something even worse.
Would you rather I stay, and that lie become truth, or let me leave and never have to deal with me in your lifetime?
“I’m sorry I spoke up Princess. I would like to retract my previous statement.” Gilded Shield said, doing his best to keep his hands from shaking.
“Your opinion is important, it is simply that the circumstances surrounding Seed here are very special.” Luna said. “We will be taking him up to the castle now. If you wish to check on him later, you are free to do so before you leave for home.”
Yes, we can have a nice talk about your children. Little Rose is going to be very proficient in color changing magic, and Lily is going to be quite capable with shields. You would do well to get them accepted to Celestia’s school.
“For now though, we should get him back upstairs for the tribunal. If Princess Celestia isn’t awake by the time he arrives, it’ll be up to me and you to defend her.” Twilight said as she started heading back for the cavern exit.
“It is easiest to hide in darkness, when the light is so bright.” Seed said, as he followed after her. The doors creaked closed as the threads of magic flowed out of them into him.
Celestia had awoken a little bit before she had to raise the sun, as she had for centuries before. She tried to send out her magic, only to get a massive backlash and an even bigger headache. She she rubbed her horn, wondering what had gone wrong. As her hand ran across the cracks, the memory of what had happened came back to her.
“Glad to see you’re awake. I was hoping to be able to hear the story from you as well, rather than through another person.” A voice said. Celestia’s eyes shot open, and her head turned towards it. She saw what looked like a middle aged pony in a loose fitting robe with trimmed salt and pepper hair, and steel grey eyes.
No, he wasn’t a pony.
“Who are you exactly?” She asked, fearing the answer.
“You already know the answer to that question.” He replied, never blinking.
“You’re the one called Prophet.”
“Exactly.”
Celestia’s temper flared. Here he stood, unprotected and unguarded with just her. She called forth her magic, preparing to send it towards him.
“I would have to advise against that greatly. You would die before the spell reached me.” He said, still unfazed by her act of aggression.
“I’m immortal. I’ve survived worse things than you could throw at me.” She said, as she cast out the spell. Before it went much farther than her outstretched arm, it seemed to shatter against nothing. She could feel tendrils of ice creeping through her body, stopping centimeters away from her heart.
“I highly doubt you could survive the things I would do to you.” Prophet said, standing up and walking over to her. He placed his hand in the center of her chest, directly over her heart. “You might be immune to outside influences, but how immortal are you when your body gives out on you. Could you survive your heart exploding in your chest?”
The tendrils creeped closer to her heart, slowing it down as they crept in. Time seemed to slow down, every second turning into a minute and every minute into an hour. She was dying slowly, and it was entirely at the hands of this creature.
“Fortunately for you, I’m not that cruel.” He said, as the tendrils retracted. Time sped back up to normal. She sucked in a huge breath, her body realizing that it hadn’t taken a breath in over a minute. “Now, your side of the story. I heard from Aphrodite what she says happened, and now I want to hear your side.”
“Awfully nice for someone that sanctioned the killing of at least thirty of my ponies.” She retorted. Celestia sat up slowly, her headache making it excruciating.
“The death of, Blueblood i think it was, was entirely on his head. However, she will be punished for her actions regarding culling your nobility. Her decision on how to deal with the matter was highly inappropriate, although she will be commended for the effectiveness it had.”
“You’re sickening. You reward a monster for being a monster.” She said, closing her eyes as she started getting dizzy.
“No, I’m rewarding a soldier for doing her job. She is also being punished for excessive cruelty if you hadn’t heard that part. Now, your side of the story. I want to hear everything you feel would be relevant.” He said, walking back over to where he was sitting earlier.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes.
“You know, if you want any sort of justice you do have to talk to me. Otherwise I’ll be forced to render a judgement from just Aphrodite’s testimony.” He said, sighing into his hands.
“You’ve already made your judgement. Whatever I could say would only support her words to you, making your judgement even more resolute.”
“Do you really think so low of me? I am not in charge because I don’t listen and consider every side of an argument.” He said.
“I just noticed, but why don’t you ever blink?” She asked. He had been staring at her for the past few minutes.
“How about a trade of information. I tell you why I don’t blink, and you tell me your half of the story. Do we have a bargain?” He said, a smirk on his face.
“Sure, but you go first.” She said, finally having some modicum of control in her life again.
“It’s because I’m blind. When I fought the previous Prophet, he shot me in the face with a plasma round. After I won, I was hospitalized for severe burns and I was offered the choice between getting my eyesight back or testing a new augment they had designed. I picked the augment, and forever lost my eyes in doing so.” He said, smiling at her.
“How are you so blatant about permanently losing such an important part of yourself?” She asked, unbelieving of how easily he talked about such a scarring moment in his life.
“I don’t have the time or patience to pity myself, and the augment they used on me works better than my eyes ever did. I have beaten several hundred opponent who believed that because I had lost my eyes that I was unfit to lead. Do not underestimate me because I’m blind, otherwise you overestimate yourself in a fight with me. Now that I’ve answered your question, please tell me your half of the story. Please don’t leave out anything you feel is relevant or affected your decision about something regarding your little soiree with Aphrodite.” He said, leaning back in the chair.
“Well, the first part of this entire thing started a little over a year ago. After a meteor storm-”
“-and then I woke up to you.” Celestia finished.
“Quite the interesting tale you’ve spun.” Prophet said, contemplating over everything he had heard. “I’ll take everything you’ve told me into account before I decide on your judgement.” He got up and walked over to the door, knocking on it twice. The door swung inward, the handle held by a four armed creature that had a wolf-like snout extending from under his helmet.
“There is much for us to account for when we decide Kronos. Not everything was as plain as Aphrodite put it.”
“You mean to tell me you actually believe my story?” She asked, incredulously. She had told him because she had made a bargain, thinking that no matter what it wouldn’t change the outcome.
“You have no reason to lie, and it does corroborate with many things that Aphrodite told. You’ve just filled in some parts that she hadn’t decided to elaborate on.” He said. “After all, even history has many sides of the same event. Why wouldn’t this story?” He asked, turning back to face her.
“I wasn’t expecting a fair treatment. Not after all of your rules I’ve apparently broken.” She said, sighing as she laid back down.
“If there is one thing we value more than anything else, it is the fair treatment of all. Rank is earned through actions, rather than connections. Our justice system is fair, because it takes all sides of the story into account.” He said, smiling at her.
“However, your story does corroborate with many of the charges that Aphrodite brought up. You will most likely be found guilty, but your punishment might be meted because of extraneous circumstances. I am very sorry, but our system does not differ between a civilian and a princess. All are accountable for their actions.”
“And what of Aphrodite? She slaughtered my ponies when she could have avoided the entire thing.” She said, outraged.
“You do not want to know her punishment. As I said, all are accountable for their actions.” He said, before walking out past Kronos.
Kronos turned to look at her, a surprisingly gentle voice coming from him. “He is a very fair man, albeit very cold. The punishments he gives are appropriate for the crimes, but he does take into account such circumstances before giving his judgements.”
“How do you expect him to punish me then?” She asked, worried.
“I don’t know in the least. He is a very unpredictable man, and bends our laws very well to his own ends.” He said, before closing the door.
“And now I wait to see what happens with the man from behind the stars.” She said, closing her eyes. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep, allowing her body to focus more on healing her like it had before.
“It is without a doubt she is guilty.” Kronos said. “I heard the story as she told Prophet, and it coincides with Aphrodite’s perfectly. She also filled in several points that Aphrodite had left grey, so we must take that into account.”
“So what do you believe Prophet will give her as punishment. The law demands a life, but he will try to twist it to his benefit like every other time.” Hera said, putting her two cents in.
“We can never properly guess how he will act. He is a wild card, but one that earned his place and keeps it well.” Gaia said, as she looked up at them. “He is the best Prophet we’ve had in many cycles.”
“And I didn’t earn it by letting people talk behind my back about me.” Prophet said, walking into the room.
“Forgive us. We were simply conversing-” Hera started.
“About how I like to bend the rules in favor of profit for me. While I do admit I will bend the rules where necessary, I have never done so for personal gain. The people I bend the rules for are great assets to the Aetherian Empire as a whole. Reduced prices on resources, higher recruitment rates from certain planets.” He said, glaring at Hera.
“We know. We've seen the figures. Since you've come to power, the Empire has expanded farther than it has with the past three Prophets combined.” Gaia said.
“Forgiveness earns more than condemnation after all.” Prophet explained.
“You know we all believe her guilty, and Kronos said the story she gives corroborates it.” Zeus said.
“She is guilty without a doubt. There can be no misconstruing it, even going by the loosest definitions of law.” Prophet replied.
“So how are you going to spin this around to profit for us?” Hera asked.
These people can offer many things, but they are not quite ready to contribute. Bringing them up would destroy them, since they’re unprepared for the technologies we have to offer.
“Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you would show up. Is there something you wish to share before we decide on her final punishment?” Prophet asked, smiling.
I can share many things I’ve learned watching them this past year. However, I want to make a deal first.
“Don’t you always?” Prophet smirked, knowing exactly where this was going.
Don’t spoil my fun just yet. I don’t get to play very often.
Celestia’s eyes snapped open, looking around for where the voice came from.
I’m not there just yet. I just wanted to make sure you were awake so we could talk.
She groaned as she sat up. It hurt noticeably less this time, and she was glad for that. The door creaked open, as something in a suit walked in.
“Nice to see you again, albeit the last time you saw me I didn’t have a specific form.” It said, removing the hat atop its head. He quickly moved over to the chair Prophet had sat in, which creaked as he set down.
“Seed?” She asked, turning her head slightly so she wouldn’t have to stare at the blank face.
“Indeed. I decided a physical form was necessary.” He said, placing his hat on his lap.
“Exactly why are you here? I already told Prophet, and I’m pretty sure they’ve already found me guilty.” She said, a tear falling down her face.
“I made a deal with him. You’re going to play a game, and the outcome will dictate your punishment.” Seed replied, fiddling with some pockets in his suit. After a few seconds he pulled out an envelope.
“What kind of game exactly?” She asked, suddenly interested in a way to save her life.
“It’s a game that should be quite fun to play.” He said, opening the envelope. He pulled a small paper out of it, slowly unfolding.
“I have a very small amount of patience right now.” Celestia said, her hair starting to whip as her anger grew.
“Oh, there’s absolutely nothing on the paper.” Seed said, turning it around to her. “I just brought this to antagonize you.”
The paper burst into flames as Celestia’s temper flared.
“Temper temper. You don’t make this very fun. The game is one you might have played before, called ‘Find the Spy’.” Seed said, wiping the ash on his suit. “One of the beings in this castle, excluding Prophet and his Tribunal, have been given an object of great importance. The game is for you to figure out what it is, and find it.” Seed said. He leaned back into the chair, making it creak again.
“Am I allowed to ask questions to help me figure out what it is?” Celestia asked, ideas to track it down already running through her head.
“Yes, you are. But you were limited to only five questions, which would make it four now.”
This surprised Celestia, since she sure wasn’t expecting a fair game. “Are there any other rules I need to be aware of before I play?”
“Three more, and yes. First of all, you aren’t allowed to read anyone or anything’s mind to figure it out. Everyone here has already been told what you are looking for, and specifically told that they can’t help you find it. Having them give you any hints is a violation of this rule and results in you losing right then and there. Second, you only have two sunrises and nightfalls to find it.”
“That is ridiculous, this castle is gigantic and it would take longer than that to search through a fifth of the rooms.” She cried, her voice halfway between despair and rage.
Seed raised his hand in response, making her go quiet. “That is the point of the questions, to make it easier for you to track it down. Third, you can’t run away. Admittedly you wouldn’t get very far, but if you try to leave the castle grounds it’ll be seen as you forfeiting the game. Finally, you can’t just take the object without permission. Other than that, you are granted free reign to find and retrieve the object however you see fit.”
Celestia thought hard over her next question. “What questions can’t you answer about this game?”
“Two more, and a good pick. I can’t answer what the object is, where to find it, or what your punishments will be afterwards.”
“That’s it? I thought you’d be more limited.”
“One more, and yes. I made the game, so I get to pick the majority of its rules.” He responded. His voice carried with it a sick joy, like he was already enjoying it.
“Who is the object important to?” She asked, figuring that the person would keep the object close to them.
“And there’s the million bit question. The answer to that is very complex. The object is important to everyone involved, for one reason or another.” He said, watching Celestia’s shoulders drop in despair. “However, leaving the answer at only that would be excessively cruel. I’ll give you one name that this object is especially important to.”
“Thank you.” Celestia said, moving to stand. She groaned slightly as she got to her hooves, the rush of blood from her head making her a little dizzy.
“Don’t thank me just yet. I haven’t told you the name yet.” Seed said, standing up as well. He placed his hat back on his head and walked over to the door.
“Aren’t you going to tell me?” Celestia asked, stumbling for a few steps to follow after him.
“Of course I am. The name is Twilight Sparkle.” Seed said, opening the door and leaving the room. “A few of the players in this game know what will happen to you should certain endings be met, and might choose to influence the game in their favor. You’ll have to be careful, to make sure you don’t play into their plans.”
She slowly made her way to the door, putting her weight against the doorframe and looking out into the hall. She saw no trace that anypony had walked here, not even a disturbance in the dust on the ground.
“That is very creepy.” She commented to herself. She put much of her weight against the wall, using her arm to support her as she moved.
Tick tock. The sun has set, and the moon will rise. Our game starts upon tomorrow’s dawn, so spend your time now thinking hard.
“Are you sure it was such a good idea to agree to his game?” Kronos asked, looking across at Prophet.
“Are you questioning that because of what he is, or because of what he suggested?” Prophet asked back, taking a sip from his drink.
“Both. Either way, should she succeed or fail we win, but there is so much at stake between the two.”
“I have no problems agreeing to his game, because of exactly who he is. In the time I’ve known him, everything he does is for a reason. That reason usually doesn’t become evident for years or even decades after the fact, but he has reasons. He plays people better than any of us could ever try to.” Prophet stated simply.
“Why do you afford him so much ambiguity?” Gaia asked. She looked up from the reports she was sorting through.
“Why not? He is far older than any of us, and he knows how people will react.”
“But these aren’t people. They call themselves ponies.” Kronos said.
“But he has had time to learn.”
And learn I did. It is rather easy when you have unfettered access to a large number of minds and thoughts. I’ve figured out patterns of action for the important individuals, and how to push them down specific paths.
“There you are. Has she accepted the game?” Prophet asked.
Of course. It is the only chance she has available, so she’ll take it.
“And which outcome are you hoping for?”
I don’t like spoilers Prophet. Least of all when I know the outcome beforehand.
“Are you so sure of yourself that you’ll put so much at risk on the chance that-” Gaia started.
Yes, I am. If Prophet did not have faith in my choices then he would not have agreed to the game in the first place. It is a win-win situation for us.
“If you have problems with how I work, perhaps you wish to challenge my right to be in charge?” Prophet asked, turning to Gaia. She started sweating as he moved closer.
“It’s just... I mean I... I’m sorry sir” Gaia said, dropping to the ground in front of him. “Forgive my insolence.”
“You do a good job Gaia. But we all know you don’t have what it takes to challenge me. Keep that in mind next time.”
Celestia was thinking the clues through that Seed had given her. The only thing that would come to mind was Twilight’s Element, and she couldn’t just force her to hand it over either.
She hobbled along, almost everypony in the castle giving her a wide berth. One of the maids had been nice enough to bring her a crutch though. It took her awhile to get to the room, but she had made her way up to the tower all alone. She steadied herself as she opened the door.
“Hello Princess, do you need something?” Twilight asked, looking up from her book.
“I accepted the game, and was told the object I’m hunting is important to you. I was going to ask if you could return your Element, since I have to ask for it.” Celestia said, using her magic to levitate a pillow under her before she sat down.
“I know the rules Princess.” Twilight said.
“So you’ll hand it over willingly?” Celestia asked.
“Unfortunately, I can’t. However, you can win it from me. We need to have a talk, and I want to play a game with you at the same time. If you’re winning or have won by the end of our talk, I’ll hand over my element. If not, you have to try another way.” Twilight said, her horn lighting up.
“What kind of game do you mean Twilight?” Celestia asked, worry in her voice.
“A game a friend of mine introduced me to. We play chess, but with multiple boards and a few extra rules. I’ll even make it easy for you, if you win on just one of the boards I’ll give you my element.” Twilight said, as three chess boards floated over as well as a table.
“And what did you want to talk about then?” Celestia asked, her eyes roaming over the boards as the pieces set themselves up.
“Plenty of things.” Twilight said, moving a pawn on the middle board. “And we have plenty of time to talk.”
“So, what do you think of technology?” Twilight asked, taking Celestia’s bishop with her rook.
“Technology has its uses, but in the long run it only serves to create more problems.” Celestia replied, taking Twilight’s rook. It had been many years since anyone had played against her, and she was very rusty at the game. “Why do you ask?”
“I ask because Seed mentioned something to me. We could have created so much, advanced so far yet we’re barely beyond using steam to power trains. We have magic, and it’s been a thousand years since you took control from Discord. I just want to know, why are you holding back progress?” Twilight asked, moving a queen on another board into checking Celestia’s king.
Celestia responded by moving her king out of the way, dodging away from Twilight’s play. “My ponies do not understand all of what they create. I am not holding back progress, but I am making sure it is advanced carefully so that you do not hurt yourselves.”
“But it’s been a thousand years since you took over. A thousand years of peace, and we are just now learning to use water and heat to move machines. I’ve looked over the research journals of countless scientists, and the thing they all have in common is when they brought their research to you you turned them down. Almost every single time, you denied them the right to continue their studies.” Twilight moved her queen to take Celestia’s on the third board.
“I did so because I thought what they suggested was dangerous. Half of the time, they hadn’t bothered to really think through what they wanted to do to continue their research.” Celestia said, moving her bishop to take Twilight’s queen. “Check.”
“So rather than work with them to make it safer, you just confiscate all of their work and threaten them to stay quiet?” Twilight asked, moving a rook to take the bishop.
“I did not thr-”
“I’ve read their private journals. Half of the experiments I’ve done have come from other thaumaturgists sending me messages asking me to do the research since I always have your approval. I’ve got experiments scheduled for the next few years, all of them from others that you threatened to stay quiet and quit their work.” Twilight said, glaring at Celestia. “Before, I was willing to take your word that what they wanted to do was dangerous work, but looking back it just seems as though you don’t want any kind of advancement whatsoever.”
“You have to understand, the common ponies aren’t ready for the things that they wanted to make. Half of the projects were centralized around military-”
“That could easily have been adapted to the civilian sector. I’m pretty sure Applejack would have an easier time defending her orchard from timberwolves with some kind of a projectile launcher, like you denied just last year. I’m also quite sure it would be easier on pegasi with an enclosed traveling space going through dangerous air, like the middle of an Everfree storm.”
“And any of the other nations catching wind of these things would think we’re preparing for war. What use would we have for projectiles when we have survived for a thousand years as things were.” Celestia said, moving the bishop on the middle board to take Twilight’s queen there. “Check.”
“So rather than explain we’re researching to make our lives easier, you just deny all chances because of fear that some other country will want to go to war with the diarchs of the sun and moon?” Twilight asked, moving her rook to take the bishop. “Check.”
“Would it not be easier to continue living in peace as we have, without fear of unnecessary war with other countries?” Celestia said, moving her own rook to block the check.
“And you would have us remain stagnant, just doing the same thing year after year as the rest of the world continues? Griffins have already created things called guns that can take out our guards from farther than we can cast spells.” Twilight pushed her advantage, moving her rook up to take out Celestia’s. “Check, again.”
“I would keep us safe. If we have survived so long without the need for these things, why would we need them now?” Celestia asked, removing her own king from the board. Almost instantly, what was left of Twilight’s pieces on that board split evenly onto the other two. “Why risk destruction for a few mild conveniences?”
“And who are you to judge just how useful something will be for the entirety of our nation, when you sit here in your castle? Just how often do you leave this cushy life and do work that these inventions could help with? I watched two unicorns easily outproduce my friend Applejack’s cider, in higher quality, with a simple machine. That was just one machine.” Twilight said, moving her new queen to take out one of Celestia’s knights.
“And if we do produce these machines, what’s stopping them from fighting us and destroying us for them?” Celestia asked, moving her rook into position. “Check.”
“Create devices to help defend us. What’s to stop the griffins anyways, since they’re using technology, from destroying us in a few generations anyways?” Twilight asked, using her new knight to take the rook. “Just because you do not allow us to advance does not mean they are restricted from doing so.”
“If they ever threatened my ponies, they would face justice at my sister’s hands.” Celestia replied, using her last queen to take out Twilight’s second one.
“What punishment would that be, executing a few and then telling the others not to do it again? And what of the destruction they could cause before you find out? What’s to stop them from killing hundreds, if not thousands of ponies before you can react and stop the bloodshed? What’s to stop them from destroying entire towns with their weapons, while our ponies simply sit by and get massacred because they can’t defend themselves?” Twilight said, her voice getting louder as she talked. “If they have the capability, why must we hold ourselves back because things have been working? Whatever happened to change, to progress? I’m sure doing the same thing didn’t help you against Discord.”
“This seems to be about more than just a few denied experiments. You can talk to me about anything Twilight, you know that.” Celestia said, leaning across the table to place her hand atop Twilight’s.
“What are we to you?” Twilight asked, pulling her hand out from under Celestia’s.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” Celestia asked, her heart broken by Twilight’s actions.
“What are me and my friends as the Elements to you? You call on us whenever you have a problem, even when things could be solved by sending somepony else. I’ve talked with Shining. Even things that could be solved with a few guard squadrons, you send us to do it. So what are we to you?”
“You’re the holders of the most powerful magic artifacts in Equestria of course.” Celestia said, not liking where this was going.
“And what responsibilities does that entail?” Twilight asked, moving her queen to check Celestia’s second king. “Check.”
“Using your abilities against the enemies of harmony.”
“And who decides who those enemies are?”
“Well, I do.” Celestia said, removing her second king. She was getting shut out pretty hard, and she used to be so good at this game.
“So why is it that only you choose what is best for your ponies?” Twilight asked, the last of the pieces moving onto the final board.
“Because I know what is best for them, and that is peace.” Celestia answered, moving her last rook to check Twilight’s king. “Check.”
“Is that what you say, or what they say?” Twilight asked, moving a knight to take out the rook.
“It’s what I know. I’ve been alive for a thousand years, and I’ve always made choices for the benefits of my ponies.” Celestia said, moving her bishop to take out Twilight’s new queen.
“And what of those of us that don’t agree with that? What if we want more than what you deem is enough?” Twilight asked, taking the last of Celestia’s defenses.
“Do you mean to tell me that you are no longer content with the peace our world has?”
“I am no longer content with having to sit still, while the world around us moves onward.” Twilight said, reaching on to the board and taking her own king. “My element is in the vault, where you’ve kept it since we came a week ago. And to let you know, our little game took a lot longer than you thought it would.” Twilight said, pointing out the window. The sun was peeking up from the horizon, casting the sky a deep purple as it rose up.
“Already spent an entire day and night playing chess. It’ll take you at least half the day to get to the vault since your magic isn’t strong enough to teleport you yet, and then the rest of the day getting my element to Prophet will leave you with just over an hour. Let’s hope you guessed right.” Twilight said, leaving the room in silence.
Celestia grabbed her crutch, climbing to her hooves and setting off without a word. She was assured that he meant her Element. It was the most important thing to Twilight, and it affected so many. There was nothing on the planet more important than the Elements, and the most important of all of them was the Element of Magic.
So, she really thinks that your Element of Magic is what we meant?
‘Apparently. She either never thought of you as an object, or didn’t bother to think that we had made a connection.’
I was moderately surprised as well when you told me. This is a very big risk if it doesn’t succeed as you want.
‘It’s worth the risk. Luna will be easier to convince that advancing technology is a necessary thing. Celestia would just stall it every chance she could.’
But betraying her, pretty much the one that raised you since childhood, is going to hurt her deeply.
‘It’s going to hurt for awhile, but the greater good is more important. With the information you’ve given me, we can easily overtake anything the griffins or anypony else can make.’
So, you plan on taking the problem out before it becomes more than you can handle?
‘I plan on revolutionizing this world. With technology, anything will be possible. We can remove the problems, make life so much easier.’
Be careful that you do not lose your equinity while you do so. It is easy to use technology to answer every problem, but it is not always the right answer.
‘I know not to just throw technology at a problem expecting it to be resolved. With everything you’ve taught me, and the parts that you put in my mind to learn later, I’m pretty sure I can resolve anything that comes up.’
You might want to get rid of that ego then. Always expect and plan for the worst, or else you will be greatly unprepared for when it happens.
The Harshest Actions, Come From Those Closest to Us
“So, it’s pretty much guaranteed that she’s going to lose the game?” Prophet asked.
As guaranteed as it can really get without cheating. There is always the chance she realizes the truth of the matter, and if she does it’ll be especially easy since I’m going to be there as well.
“And how did you get the purple one to agree to this? You would think she ought to be loyal to the one that essentially raised her, based on what you’ve told me.”
That was rather easy. I shared my knowledge with her. If she can learn more, she’ll sacrifice almost anything. And with some silvered words, she now believes that doing this is for the greater good.
“So were you lying when you told her that?”
Of course not, but it’s easier to swallow hard medicine when it tastes sweet.
“Who was lying about what?” Twilight asked, opening the door to Prophet’s room.
Convincing you to betray your mentor, in exchange for knowledge.
“Ah, the ‘greater good’ thing. It wasn’t that hard to see your point of things, especially taking into consideration that I’m a thaumaturgist working on other’s experiments. I can see the greater good that these things can create, whereas she simply denied them because they might infringe upon the dying peace she has created.” Twilight said, taking the seat opposite Prophet.
“And you so readily carry the blade, ready to plunge it into her back for the greater good of the ponies that she has forsaken?” Prophet asked.
“I swore to always do what was needed to protect my fellow ponies. If that means deposing Celestia, then so be it.”
You’re rather nonchalant about removing her from power. Aren’t you afraid of the political whiplash, or the thought of one of the other governments trying to conquer you afterwards?
“Of course. But with Luna taking over the military, as well as raising and lowering the sun, then that will leave the government open to reform. I’ll do my best with that, but it’ll probably be the most difficult because of the sheer number that will oppose the reforms.” Twilight said, pondering her plan of action.
“So, by giving Luna free reign over the military without the overbearing sight of her sister you hope that no enemies will see fit to try to assault Equestria. Meanwhile, you reform the entire governmental structure to what you see fit. Which is what exactly?” Prophet asked.
“I hope to create a council. The other elements are specialists in certain things, all of them relevant to the betterment of Equestria as a whole. With them, and the ability for everypony to bring ideas up through the specific council member, we will be able to create a better society. One where everypony helps, and where even the most common of ponies can put forth ideas that could revolutionize our world.” Twilight ranted, her eyes sparkling as she talked about her utopian ideal.
Quite the goal you’re setting for yourself. Do you believe it to be accomplishable within your lifetime?
“Because magic is such an integral part of our bodies, if we can find a strong enough magical focus then we can live nearly indefinitely. Just use the magic to supplement our own body’s, and we can live as long as an alicorn.” Twilight said, already having things planned out.
“Quite a good idea, if it will work. But is immortality such an easy thing to accomplish for your species? Most others resort to technical means, usually cybernetic bodies, in order to attain some form of immortality.” Prophet said, surprised at how adaptable these ponies could become.
“Since magic, or energy manipulation to you, naturally occurs within our bodies it should follow suit that having a very large power source connected will provide our bodies with enough energy to consistently regenerate. If our bodies stay in good enough health, it’ll essentially be immortality.” Twilight explained.
A rather simple thing to test really. And it follows pretty effectively from the fact that Prophet’s energy augment field nearly killed Celestia earlier.
“Nearly?”
“I stopped when I realized that any further interfering would end up with her dead before we rendered a proper judgement.”
“So why are we even bothering with this game if you’re capable of killing an immortal?” Twilight asked, her fist slamming down on the arm of the chair and cracking the wood slightly.
Because I wanted to play a game. When you’ve been around as long as I have, eccentricity becomes a fact of life. While it would have been simple enough to just kill her and remove the chance for any other outcome to happen, he decided to cater to my whims.
“Do you feel appropriate telling her what the outcome of this is going to be at the current rate?” Prophet asked.
“Isn’t Celestia going to die? What’s he talking about Seed?” Twilight asked, worry creeping into her voice.
If your entire life was spent creating your idea of utopia, what is the worst punishment you could ever be given?
“It would have to be watching... it...”
Exactly. Watching as the paradise you spent you created fall apart at the hands of the one you trusted the most is the cruelest punishment possible.
“But I wouldn’t destroy Equestria. If anything I’d be saving it from such an outcome.” Twilight argued.
But what you want to do goes against her ideals. She believes in absolute peace, while you accept that sometimes blood must be spilled. In creating your utopia, you destroy hers.
“I never thought of it like that.” Twilight said, suddenly saddened. She understood that Celestia was hampering progress, but the last thing she wanted to do was destroy everything her mentor had worked so hard on.
Don’t think of it that way. Her methods are becoming outdated because of the advancement of other species. It is exactly as you argued earlier, you must change and adapt to overcome the rising problems. The methods that worked a thousand years ago might work, and again they might not.
“From what I’ve heard, her methods are indeed outdated. While the others are content just sitting idly as this world spirals down from her inability to accept progress, I must commend you for being so willing to prevent that self-destructive tendency. It is very hard to create a revolution, especially one that the people need rather than want.” Prophet said, putting his two cents into the conversation.
“Ponies are going to react negatively to this. There might be a civil war.” Twilight realized.
Revolution is never easy, but this sort of tyranny is unacceptable.
“Isn’t forcing revolution a form of tyranny?” Twilight asked, questioning his logic.
Never said it wasn’t, but it’s a different kind. Rather than forcing the people to stick to outdated ideals, you are providing a way forward for them. You are ensuring their continued survival, whereas Celestia would have resisted the flow of advancement and eventually end in either death or enslavement. She would still be using fifteenth century methods, in a twenty-first century world.
“Of course I don’t know where they are, I was unconscious when they got here.” Celestia grumbled to herself, hobbling through the halls. Turning the corner, she noticed a few maids grouped together down the hall.
“And then she just hobbled past. I don’t know what’s going on, but those guests are in a lot of trouble if they did that to Princess Celestia.”
“I would rethink that if I was you. I saw what happened at Blueblood’s funeral. Just two of those space things took out thirty of the strongest nobles, without really breaking a sweat.”
“Yeah, and the ones that showed up recently are even stronger than them if the conversations I hear from their room every now and then are anything to go by.”
Celestia moved as quickly as she could to the group.
“If you don’t mind, could one of you point me to the room of the Aetherians?” She asked, making the mares jump in surprise. They turned to find out who had been snooping on their conversation, only to find a flowing mane that they had to look up to follow.
“Of course Princess. Just down the hall, they’re the first door on the right after the second left.”
“Thank you.” Celestia said, hobbling on past them. Her grip tightened on the Element of Magic. She was so close, and she would not fail her mission.
You said earlier that the griffins have already created guns. Do you have something in mind to protect against them? That will be the first problem you have to deal with.
“I already have a working model for a magic powered projectile launcher that would be more than capable of leveling the playing field against the guns the griffins would bring.”
“Not that I don’t enjoy the conversation, how much longer do we have before she ends up losing this game?” Prophet asked, tired of waiting.
Just a few minutes actually. I was expecting her back earlier, and I haven’t felt her try to leave the castle. It seems more like she was lost, although she is coming here now.
Twilight facepalmed. “She didn’t know where your room was, so she’s probably been wandering around trying to find you.”
“Quite a thing to overlook, although it is a blessing now.” Prophet said, walking to the door. Now that she was close enough, he could feel the energy surrounding her. He opened the door, just as she was raising her hand to knock.
“I brought you the Element of Magic, the most important object on the planet.” She said, holding up the tiara.
“I can see that. Come in and we can talk.” Prophet said, standing aside as she hobbled through.
“Hello princess.” Twilight said, using her magic to bring up another chair. “I was wondering when you would show up.”
Celestia sat down in the chair, her eyes darting suspiciously back and forth between Twilight and Prophet.
“Now that you’re here, we can actually begin our talks in earnest.” Prophet said, sitting opposite the both of them.
“Did I win your game?”
We will talk later of the game, for now we have a deal for you that would best be thought through entirely.
“What kind of deal?” Celestia asked, suddenly afraid.
“A simple one. You abdicate your crown, and you continue living.” Prophet said.
“I would never agree to that. It would mean subjecting my ponies to horrors I would never accept.” Celestia said, glaring at him.
“Well, now that the formal offer is turned down.” Prophet said, standing up and walking over to her.
“What do you plan on doing?” She asked, her magic rising as a natural response to the threat in front of her.
You lost the game, and so you’re being punished for it.
“But I brought the object you wanted, how did I lose?” She asked, frantically scrambling over the back of the chair. Before she could get very far, she was wrapped in a shimmering purple aura.
“My friends and family are more important than anything else, and Seed taught me a way to protect them all. Right now, he ranks just above the Element.”
In refusing to allow the advancement of your ponies, you have nearly guaranteed their destruction or enslavement.
“I was protecting them.” She screamed.
“No, you were trying to create a false utopia. While it might have worked if you were the only species on the planet, there are others.” Prophet said, as Celestia was placed back in front of him.
“The griffins are not restricted from researching technology. They create devices that allow for them to easily beat our armies. Their simple guns now could easily outshoot any bows or magic, and they have armor that is impenetrable by arrows and spears. Given a few more years, they could easily run us into the ground.” Twilight said, standing up and walking over to stand next to him.
“So, my student is betraying me.” Celestia said, glaring at her.
“Yes, in order to protect my fellow ponies. You are blind to the dangers they now present. You believe that just because you control the sun, they wouldn’t dare do anything to your subjects. So let me open your eyes. It didn’t stop the changelings from attacking us, it hasn’t stopped the griffins from raiding our cities, and it hasn’t stopped the transgressions by countless others. They do not care for your rule anymore, because all you do is tell them not to repeat their mistakes. There is no real punishment for their actions, so they continue doing so regardless.”
“Then where are the reports of griffin raids? Where is the proof of these transgressions?” Celestia asked, trying to stand up only to be pushed down by Twilight’s magic again.
“With the ponies that suffer. When you do nothing to stop a problem, ponies start taking it into their own hands. They are fighting, against ever increasing odds, to defend their way of life from griffin raiders. And I’m tired of standing by, agreeing with what you say because I was blind to the rest of the world.”
When you turn a blind eye to the problems of the people, yet retain absolute authority, you are not worthy to wear any sort of crown.
“Luna won’t let this go unpunished.”
“She has been asking for your permission to deal with the griffins for months, and yet all you do is tell her that peace can be achieved through talking. With you deposed, she will be allowed to defend her ponies to the extent that is needed.”
“You are going to start a war.” Celestia said, glaring at Twilight.
“No, she is doing what is needed to guarantee their survival. By preventing your ponies from advancing, you create a gap that others can use to gain an advantage over you.” Prophet said, reaching forward. One of his hands wrapped around her horn, while the other was put against her forehead. “This will only hurt for a moment.”
It felt like lightning had flooded her brain. Her mane shot out straight, and her eyes rolled up into her head as her mouth started foaming. As quickly as it started though, it was over.
“And we are done here now. Your magic will no longer respond to your will, although it is still there.”
In other words, you are no longer capable of using your magic willingly. You are still immortal, but you will never cast another spell for the entirety of your life.
“And you are no longer fit to wear your crown.” Twilight said, reaching down and pulling it from Celestia’s head.
“This... will... not go... unpunished.” Celestia said, before blacking out.
“That’s where you are wrong. Without you limiting technology, we will create a real utopia.” Twilight said, turning to the window as the sun rose again. “From today on, we will resume the march of progress. For a better future.”
