Outside the once proud city of Canterlot, Celestia looked on in worry from the back of the train. Aside from the occasional fire, it was quiet. The train had left a few hours earlier when Luna and Kujira had returned, both badly injured. They will recover, but Celestia was more worried about the thing that attacked them. First the Changelings have giant machines, than that white giant and the human, and now this ‘Fenrir’.
Even if time travel was involved somehow, Celestia wasn’t sure. All she did know was that they were woefully - no, hilariously - unprepared. She could only hope that Twilight and her friends would prevail in the end.
Celestia went back into the car. The back car was full of injured guards, many of whom had been fighting the Changelings and their guns. She could only look at them in pity as she went to the last two patients: Luna and Kujira, who were being tended to by a medic.
Luna hiss as the medic wrapped her wing. “Please stay still, Princess. Or you might open your wounds.”
Luna complied. She didn’t move much as the medic tended to the last of her wounds before he went to help tend to Kujira. “How are you feeling?” Celestia asked.
Luna looked to her sister with her good eye. “I’ll be okay. I’ve been through worst,” that caused the two sisters to giggle. “But still…” Luna looked down, remembering Fenrir’s final words. “I couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. The only reason that machine attacked us was because it had no choice. Even though the machine had no soul, it still had its own fears. A fear of losing itself…”
Celestia lowered her head. So much has happened in one night. After this, Equestria will surly be never the same. She looked to the only clock in the car. It was a little after 2 in the morning. So many lives were changed in just a few hours.
“We’ll be arriving in Ponyville soon. With any luck Twilight and her friends have the Rainbow Power ready.”
Princess Twilight and the others waited as the train arrived from Canterlot. Up in the distance, they could see smoke rising from Canterlot. It was a miracle the mountain city was still standing now. Ever since the battle began, Ponyville’s residents have taken shelter in their homes, fearing for when they would be next.
Twilight had done everything she could to reassure them that everything was fine, but she couldn’t help but worry. First Chrysalis and her Changelings attacked, then Tirek appeared, and now the Tree of Harmony didn’t respond to them. And the Changelings that were guarding it. Something just… didn’t feel right.
They seemed to have been holding back. They didn’t even use their shapeshifting to turn them against each other. Did the Tree of Harmony prevented them from doing so? Or was something else responsible?
Twilight was soon bright back to Equestria when she felt a tap on her shoulder. “The trains here, Twi,” Flash said. No sooner than he said that the train pulled up to Ponyville Station.
When the train stopped, everypony stepped out and headed towards Twilight’s castle. Most of them were okay, but a few were hurt. As soon as all of the civilians were off the train, the guards followed.
Then came the ponies Twilight and her friends were worried for the most: their family. The first off were Gilda, Lighting Bolt, and Galah, Lightning’s younger half-sister. Rainbow was quick to fly to them, a very clear look of worry on her face.
Next was Autumn Breeze and Snowflake (or Bulk Biceps as some call him), Fluttershy’s daughter and husband. Fluttershy quickly gave them a relived filled hug, with the two hugging back as gently as possible.
Then the Pie-Sandwich family stepped off, with Pinkie Pie quickly pulling them all into a bear hug. Applejack then stepped forward as her family, her daughter Honeycrisp and husband Troubleshoes, got off the train, the later clumsily doing so. AJ chuckled a little before she embraced the clumsy stallion and their daughter.
Topaz was next, followed by his father, Archduke Blueblood, and younger sister Rose Gold. Rarity was quick to point out how horrible their manes were, but she quickly dropped it as she hugged them.
And finally, Twilight’s family stepped off. First her parents, followed by her former student Starlight, then Cadence and her daughter and son, and then finally Stella, Sunset and her and Flash’s daughter, Flare. Twilight and Flash were quick to embrace them.
Twilight couldn’t hold back her tears as she embraced her family tightly. She wanted to embrace them forever, but she eventually stepped back. “We were so worried,” she finally said. She glared at Stella and Flare. “What you and the others did was extremely reckless and stupid! But…” she then embraced them again. “…I’m glad that your safe.”
“We all are…” the all to familiar voice of Princess Celestia said. Twilight quickly let go of the two mares and turned to see her fellow princesses. Celestia was the first off, followed by her daughter Aria and son Enigma. They were okay, as one would expect, but as for Luna…
“Oh my gosh! Luna!” Twilight cried out when she saw Luna’s state. She was covered head to hoof in magical charged bandages. Her right eye was hidden and one of her wings had a cast. Then she saw Kujira. He wasn’t nearly as covered, but his broken leg was obvious to everypony present. The thought that both an Alicorn and a dragon could be injured to such an extent was terrifying.
“Whoa! What the hay happened to you guys?” Rainbow Dash asked when she noticed. A small group of Ponyville residents gathered around them, all discussing what could’ve done this.
“Worry not, my little ponies,” Luna said in her best reassuring tone as possible. Though her wincing did fumble it slightly. “We will be well within a few days. As for Canterlot…” Elatha and Artemis gently moved closer to their parents, worried for their well being.
She looked to the mountain in the distance. Even now, smoke still billowed from the once proud city. “Mares and gentlecolts…” Celestia began. Her voice was strong and dignified, but that didn’t hide the fear it help. “Today, on what was supposed to be a day of celebration, two ancient foes have returned, stronger than ever before. And while they were driven off, I fear that they may return, soon.”
This caused everypony present to panic a little. Celestia waited until they all calmed some before continuing. “If they do returned, I am not sure we will be able to stop them. But there is hope,” this got everypony’s attention.
“As some of you have heard, a little over a year ago something was found within the Frozen North, and it was recently moved to Canterlot. And then on this night, during the darkest hours of the attack, it awaken. A warrior of great power who single hoofly drove away the enemy. As for why he had done that, we don’t know. But tomorrow morning, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends shall head to Canterlot and speak to him. Until then, everypony get some rest. It has been a long night.”
Slowly, everypony went home. Most of the civilians from Canterlot decided to stay at the local inn, while the Nobles insisted on staying within Twilight’s castle until their homes were repaired. Twilight reluctantly complied and allowed them to stay within her castle.
She knew she was gonna hate their stay, but right now her focus was on what had happened in Canterlot after she and her friends left.
“The Tree of Harmony never responded to you?!” a shocked Luna asked after Twilight explained why they never made it back.
“Yes. We tried everything we could think of. Nothing worked.”
“And while the Changelings were waiting for us within the cave, they quickly left. And they seemed to have nothing to do with it. As far as we could tell, not a single stone was misplaced.”
“This is bad,” said Celestia. “If you’re no longer connected to the Tree, then we have no choice but to rely on the human and his ‘Gundam’.”
“The hay’s a Gundam?”
“Oh, that sounds like a totally awesome game!”
“It’s most defiantly not a game.”
Twilight, Cadence, Hope and Startrail all gasped. “Daddy!”
“Dad!” the two siblings said as they quickly embraced their father.
“Shining Armor, you’re okay,” said Twilight as she went to her brother, followed by Cadence and Flash.
“Hey, what about me?” Discord asked as he floated above them.
Celestia chuckled a little as their son quickly joined him. “It is good to see you as well, Discord.”
Suddenly, Discord dropped to the ground. He landed with a hard thump. “Ow!” the chaos bringer groaned as he got up.
“Father! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, son. I’m fine. My magic is just… on the fritz is all,” he said with a smile.
Celestia, though still worried, simply nodded before she turned to everypony else. Some of the younger ones were begging to fall asleep. “I think its time we all hit the hay.”
No one made a comment on Celestia’s casual line. They simply nodded and went home. For Twilight and he family, it wasn't far until they reached her castle. Celestia and Luna and their families went to some of the guest bedrooms, while all the young ponies went to Stella’s observatory.
Soon it was Twilight and Flash’s turn. As Twilight entered their room and allowed herself a moment to relax after a, admittedly, long night, she found herself unable to sleep just yet. She understood why. It was exciting, meeting a Human in Equestria and possibly be given the chance to study his mechanical arm and the machine.
She and Sunset had already learned so much from the humans beyond the Magic Mirror, and this human was clearly from a far more advance society. And the fact that he willingly risked his own life to save others told her that he must be like the knights in the stories Shining Armor used to read her as a filly.
She could only imagine how wise and noble they must be…
“So let me get this straight,” Bai began. “We’re in a kingdom called Equestria, nearly entirely populated by ponies, two tribes of which can control nature itself! And a few other creatures like Griffins and Minotaurs also live here. And Equestria is governed by four Alicorns, all having the title of ‘princess’, two of which have lived for over a thousand years and can move the sun and moon. And it’s protected by a magical glowing tree that is hidden in a forest that is completely ‘unnatural’ to you that it’s normally avoided by everyone.
AND that Discord thing from earlier is the embodiment of Chaos and Disharmony who once ruled Equestria a thousand years ago, AND the Changelings and that Tirek guy ALSO appeared a thousand years ago (must’ve been one hell of a year). AND that the Changelings, somehow, only feed on love, the emotion itself and not some metaphor.
AND we just happened to be found a year ago in the Arctic (or, as you guys call it, the Frozen North) several klicks from a magical crystal kingdom, which in turn is governed by one of these Alicorns, who is called the Princess of Love, AND is protected by a magic heart thing that is powered by the love and hope of a bunch of ponies who… can be all… crystal-ie…”
“…Basically, yes.” Fancy Pants looked to both… the ball, Bai, and to Ian. It took several minutes for Bai to respond after Fancy Pants answered their questions. He’d half expected them to have taken it in stride. Though, that would appear to not be the case.
“Oookay… If you’ll excuse me, I need to go rewire my logic centers,” Bai the rolled away towards the machine.
Fancy then looked to Ian… who had placed a hand on his head and was mumbling. “Tree of… Princesses… Why are… How can there be… I don’t even… Bai, wait for me.”
Fancy stood there as Ian grabbed some wired and was lifted up to where the seat to the machine was at. Sighing, Fancy decided that these two weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. So he decided to check to see if his home was still standing.
“I’ll be back in the morning,” he called out as he trotted away.
“Alright.” Ian called back. “And here,” Ian tossed something out of the ALicorn’s cockpit. Fancy quickly ensured it in his magic.
When he brought it closer, Fancy saw that it resembled a small book, only it seems to be made of metal and there were pages, just a small black area. “Uh, what is this?”
“It’s a tablet. There’s an English Dictionary in it. You said it yourself that this ‘Princess Twilight’ would be able to create a translation spell, right?”
Two days later, Fancy Pants waited near Canterlot’s gate. While most of the city was back to prime shape thanks to Discord, it, combined with his fight against Tirek, had tired the Draconequus out to the point he needed to take a 5 month break. So he explained things to the Princesses and left for his pocket dimension home, which he called “Casa de Discord”. Well, where ever he went to it usually meant some peace and quiet for the residents of Canterlot.
But not today. Today most of Canterlot was in mourning. So far roughly one thousand ponies were injured during the attack, seventy-five of which needed to be hospitalized. At least twelve ponies lost their lives, and over a hundred are still missing.
Things have now finally quieted down enough that the Princesses would be able to meet Canterlot’s saviors: the Gundam and Ian. News had traveled fast about the attack. No matter where in Equestria you were, all of the papers, and every radio station, all said the same thing: “Canterlot Attacked! Saved by Mysteries Giant Robot”.
Fancy Pants was currently reading one such article right now. Somehow somepony got a picture of the Alicorn with Ian and Fancy himself in it. He remembered when those reporters had asked him about his thoughts on Ian. How they found out he was speaking to Ian for the past two days was beyond him, but he mostly paid them no mind. He just simply told them to wait until Ian official appears in public before they ask anything.
Grasping one of the apples Mrs. Applejack had given him with magic, Fancy Pants took a bite as he continued to read. Most of the gossip concerned Ian, but some of it concerned Discord as well. Even after all these years, many ponies didn’t fully trust the Draconequus, even after he and Celestia ‘had’ Prince Enigma.
Speaking of the princesses some of the nobles were blaming Princess Twilight and Princess Sunset for what happened. And it’s not hard to see why. The Changelings were using machinery that was unlike anything Equestria had seen before, and the two princesses were known for being the type to create such things.
Because of that the nobles are saying that the attack happened because of their desire to modernize Equestria. When Twilight first ascended into Alicornhood, the backlash was unprecedented. And when Princess Sunset first appeared, the amount of negative responses had only increased overtime. It didn’t help that the father of Sunset’s daughter was Flash Sentry, Twilight’s husband. The negative responses didn’t just come from the nobles, but from commoners as well. Thankfully, there were still those who favored the two mares, but they were simply not as vocal, nor as annoying, as the opposition.
Even today Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Sunset Shimmer still receive threatening letters from anonymous sources. Fancy Pants received similar letters as well, likely because he fully supports their proposed reforms for Equestria.
As he finished the apple, he turned his attention upward. Ian and Bai said they were running a diagnostic of the Alicorn’s systems, whatever that meant.
“All of the systems seem to be okay.”
He heard Ian’s voice from the cockpit. It had only been a couple of days, but Fancy could tell that the spell Ian did was beginning to wear off. His Equestrian was starting to get bad.
“Same for the Aether Reactors. I was worried for a bit that they were damage but they’re fine. But there are a lot of cracks in the armor, likely from when we were in the deep freeze. The NRS is already working on them, but it’ll take a couple of days.”
“Now we just need to figure out how we managed to reach the MS Carrier. You think it’s because of the ACS?”
“I’m not so sure. The ACS has a limited range of about 20 klicks, and the MS Carrier was way beyond that. So someone or something must’ve been maintaining the Thoth during these past 50,000 years.”
“Okay, so if we assume you’re right then there might be people out there.”
“What do you mean by ‘assume’? We’re still alive, aren’t we?”
“Yes, but I’m still debating if that was because of luck or not.”
“Are you two finished?” Fancy Pants called up. They should have left a half-hour ago. Now they're late. “We were to meet the Princesses in the throne room at 12:30, and it’s currently 12:41.”
“Right. The meeting…”
“We’re almost done, Francis. Don’t get your dollies in a knot.”
“Excuse me?”
“Francis, this is a delicate procedure, and it takes time. We’ll leave as soon as we’re done. Once we finish the diagnostics we’ll go meet the queen and the elements of whatever.”
“Bai. Francis told us that Celestia is a princess.”
“Until I learn why she’s called that, I’m gonna stick with queen.”
“12:45!”
“Alright! Alright, we’ll hurry up.”
Celestia waited patiently in the throne room. It was almost noon, the time Sir Fancy Pants was to bring the human here. Beside her were Luna and her husband, Kujira. Both of them were still recovering from the fight against ‘Fenrir’. Luna tried her best to maintain her posture, but the occasionally wincing forced her to relax her muscles.
“Are you okay, Luna?” Kujira asked.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Celestia didn’t buy that. “There’s no reason for you to be here, Lulu. You and Kujira can go get some rest.”
“No, I insist,” Luna replied. “I’m not a fool anymore, Tia. I can handle myself. And it’s not just your duty, but my duty as well to protect Equestria. Like it or not, if this human and his machine hadn’t interfered, Canterlot would’ve fallen by now. Speaking of the human, shouldn’t he and Sir Fancy Pants arrived by now?”
Luna was right. The meeting was to happen at 12:30, and it’s almost 1 o’clock now. And the human wasn’t the only one running late. The Elements of Harmony were late as well. Unusual, especially for Twilight. Celestia was about to ask what was keeping them when a bright light suddenly appeared. Celestia immediately recognized it as a mass scrying and teleportation spell, meant to find and transport specific targets. And she had a good idea who casted it.
Everyone nearly jumped up as a group of ponies appeared. A soaking wet Rarity was frozen in place, quickly covering herself with a towel. Nearby a dizzy Applejack slumped against the wall as a confused Fluttershy quickly looked around her new surroundings, some small mice clinging onto her mane.
A bewildered Rainbow Dash had somehow landed in a chandelier, the bolts connecting it to the ceiling beginning to fail. Near the throne itself stood Pinkie Pie, happily working on a crossword puzzle.
And in the center stood Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Sunset Swimmer, Prince Flash Sentry, and Twilight’s former pupil Starlight Glimmer. Starlight was currently covered in a blanket and had a sleeping mask on. A light snoring indicated that she was still asleep.
“TWILIGHT!” Three of the mares screeched, jumping Starlight awake.
“What happened?! Did I travel through time again?!”
Celestia couldn’t hide her bemused smile as Twilight’s friends slowly regained their bearings. “Hi, Twilight!” Pinkie happily greeted as she placed a few cherries on the cake, ignoring the fact that she was just teleported without warning.
Twilight gave a sheepish smile. “I can explain-”
“Twilight, darling, we know that we were gonna be late for the meeting,” the fashioned interrupted as she dried herself off as best she could. “I had just finished my morning bath when you teleported us here. After the hassle of the last two days, being late to a meeting was the least of our problems.”
“Y-yes, but-”
“And how are our families going to react to us just disappearing? Gilda was already on edge after what happened in Canterlot. She’s gonna freak.”
“Uh-”
“Twi, try ta be more considerate in th' future. Or should we point out all th' times you caused us trouble?”
“…Sorry…”
“Oh, Twilight,” Celestia groaned, shaking her head but unable to keep an amused smirk from her lips. “There was no reason for you to do this.”
“…I just wanted… to make sure we were here on time was all…”
…
“So, uh, how are you feeling, Princess Luna? Prince Kujira?”
“Much better, actually,” though a quick shot of pain in Luna’s back said otherwise.
Pinkie Pie then began to dart around the throne room, like she was looking for something. “Where’s Ian?” she asked as she looked under the carpet. “I just finished this ‘Welcome to Equestria’ cake for him.”
Everypony looked to where Pinkie Pie was standing before, and saw a 4 tire cake with vanilla frosting with the words ‘Happy Welcome Party!’ written in blue icing. “When did-? Never mind.”
“Did we miss the meeting?”
“Sorry we’re so late.”
Twilight immediately perked up as she looked to the throne room’s doors. “Flurry! Shining Armor! Cadence!” Twilight ran up to the Crystal Royal Family and…
“♪Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!♪” the three mares giggled as they finish the song and dance.
“I had no idea that you were back. How was Saddle Arabia?”
“Hot and boring,” she answered, though it was obvious that she felt differently. Flurry Hearts mother placed a wing over her while her father grabbed her hoof. “I wish I… could’ve been here to help.”
Flurry Heart’s father sighed. “Stop beating yourself up. None of us could’ve expected any of this to happen.”
Flurry hung her head down. “I know, I know…” she then looked out towards the field. “But I would like to meet the guy who saved by baby sister and little cousin.”
“So would I, but are we sure we can trust him?”
“According to Sir Fancy Pants, we can,” said Celestia. “He has been conversing with Ian and Bai for the last two days, and he’s seen no reason they would betray us.”
“Wait. What’s a Bai?”
“According to Sir Fancy Pants, Bai is Ian’s companion, a being called an A.I…”
“A.I.!” Twilight and Sunset gasped.
“A.I…” Pinkie said, putting a contemplative hoof to her chin. “What’s the A stand for?”
“Artificial…” Twilight then saw Rainbow Dash open her mouth to say something. “Intelligence,” Twilight answered before the blue pegasus could even ask.
“‘Artificial Intelligence’? You mean, like creating life?!” Starlight asked, shocked.
“Not exactly… It's a science fiction concept in the other Equestria, but it's had a lot of development put into it,” Sunset explained. “The idea is that you can create a computer or a robot that can not only learn but can make its own decisions, really not that different from a living being. The Equestria I used to live in has intelligent systems that can do that now to some extent, but nothing to the point that you'd mistake it for an actual living being.”
“Gracious. I could never even imagine such a thing,” Rarity said.
Kujira, though, was deep in thought. First Fenrir, and now Bai. Hmmm… Is there a connection between Fenrir and Bai?
“By the way, how is the translation spell coming along, Twilight?” Celestia asked the Princess of Friendship.
“Oh, yes,” Twilight beamed. “We’ve finished it, thanks to this!” Twilight levitated a book shaped object out of her saddlebag. It was silver, but there was a black, square-shape area on one side.
“Uh, what’s that?”
“Oh, it’s called a tablet. Ian gave it to Fancy Pants as a gift to help create the translation spell. It is a truly amazing piece of machinery! Using a sensitive screen it can allow you to access various files and-” Twilight stopped when she realized that the only ones in the room who could understand what she was saying were Sunset Shimmer and maybe Starlight. “Uh, think of it as like a library, only it has hundreds of books inside.”
“Ah,” everypony said in understanding.
“And that’s not the best part. It has a dictionary!” she said.
…
“…That’s it?” said Rainbow, sounding incredulous.
“Yes,” Sunset bluntly stated. “With it we were able to finish the translation spell. The language Ian speaks, English, is almost identical to Altum.”
“What’s Altum? Is that a new Prench pastry?”
“No, Pinkie. Altum is an ancient language that was once spoken thousands of years ago, long before Equestria was founded. It became the basis for modern Equestrian, along with Prench, Cantish, and Germane.”
“Aaand… that means… what exactly?” Flurry asked.
“It means me and Sunset were able to finish the translation spell.”
She and Sunset went on to explain how simple the spell was. It consisted of two layers – one over the ears, one over the mouth. There would be nothing visible, of course, and there may be some mismatched mouth movements to what came out, but after some time verifying she’d copied the linguistic algorithms right from her books, Twilight was confident. And hay, she still had time to spare.
Of course, when she tried explaining all of that, most of it went in one ear and out the other of her friends, but it helped fill the silence while she wove magic like a seamstress until everything was as good as she could make it.
Everypony in the room took their turn underneath Twilight’s horn, enduring her early attempts and then her later successes.
And of course, the moment Twilight finished her grand explanation, Rainbow found a way to dumb it down almost brutally.
“So… you’re dubbing us,” she grunted bluntly.
Twilight hesitated, missing a step, before turning to look at Rainbow. “I… What?”
“C’mon, egghead, I’ve seen enough martial arts movies; I know what’s going on. It’s like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but in real life.”
“I saw that movie once,” mumbled Fluttershy. “It wasn’t what I was expecting… There wasn't a tiger in it at all. Or any dragons.”
“Oh,” Twilight said, genuinely stumped by the simplicity of the response. “I… I guess that’s pretty accurate. Huh… I didn’t even think about that.”
“So long as nopony start tryin’ ta pull them silly fightin’ moves again,” Applejack drawled, “we should be fine. How long is this goin’ ta last?”
“Can’t say for sure,” Twilight muttered. “I hope for a while. It might be a problem if we have to recast it all the time.”
Then Rainbow raised a pertinent question. “Uh, I don't mean to rain on your parade, Twi’, but… how do we even know it’s going to work? You know, besides the ear-tickling and tongue-tingling.”
“Well, we’ll have to wait for Ian to test it. Where is he anyway?”
“He hasn’t strayed far from his machine,” said Luna. “We’ve received a letter from Sir Fancy Pants, saying Ian and Bai are doing maintenance on their machine.”
“When will they be finished?”
“The letter was sent to us over an hour ago.”
“Oh… Twilight…?” the purple mare nodded as she concentrated.
“There, all done.”
“And it only took you 4 hours and 20 minutes.”
“Hey, why don’t you suck my-”
“Bai!”
“What?”
Fancy Pants sighed as a wire lowered Ian to the ground, Bai landing beside him. Their Equestrian was getting worst and worst.
“We. Are. Late!”
“We. Know. Sorry.”
“Bai, enough!!” Ian snapped. “Remember why we’re going to this meeting? To both get a more permanent way to communicate, and figure out what to do next- Why are we glowing?”
“Huh?”
“Oh dear,” Fancy Pants recognized that the glow was a sign that they were about to teleport soon. Likely by Princess Twilight Sparkle. “It appears that the princesses have waited long enough. Have either of you teleported before?.”
“Wait-What?!”
The pony, the human, and the A.I. controlled Haro disappeared in a flash of light.
Everypony stood a few steps back as the three appeared in the throne room.
Fancy Pants ground in annoyance as he stood back up. What caught their attention, however, was Ian and the ball robot near him. While he was still recognizable, Ian’s appearance had changed. He was still wearing the suit, but he also wore an unbuttoned black trench coat, with a plain blue shirt underneath, and a simple belt holding a pair of loosen light-blue pants with black boots. He also has a pair of brown… things over his hands. If Twilight remembered correctly they’re called ‘gloves’. He also has a pair of goggles around his neck.
“Okay, that sucked,” said Ian, in perfect Equestrian.
Nopony needed to see his mouth moving to know that something was slightly… off, however. The voice that played in their ears was oddly blunted and unnatural, like they all had a little translator perched on their earlobes reciting what was being said while imitating the speaker's voice. Most of the human’s inflection was missing entirely, and it had a rather tinny quality to it, unnatural and artificial, but it was words, and they could understand it.
“Wimp,” Bai chuckled. “Synthetic body for life, yo.”
Nopony expected that. The little ball didn’t even have a mouth, just a line where a mouth would be. But that didn’t stopped Twilight. She nearly squealed when she saw the small robot. She knew about the larger one currently outside Canterlot, but nopony ever told her about a little one.
“Be careful, the egghead is geeking out again.”
Twilight ignored Rainbow’s comment. She was just too focused on the machine to really care right now.
“Uh, why is the purple one staring at me? Forget that, why is the blue one speaking in perfect English?”
Twilight backed off a little. This must be the A.I., Bai. “I take it this means you made good use of that tablet,” said Ian as he got up.
Then Twilight tested the other aspect of the spell by speaking, herself. “We did. Thank you for letting us use it,” she said before offering the tablet back.
Ian had a bewildered look before he took the tablet back. “It… could use some work, whatever you did.”
“Uh, yes it could,” Twilight clears her throat before continuing. “You must be Ian.”
“What was your first clue?”
“Bai, don’t antagonize them. Yes, I’m Ian.”
He then gestured to the robot.
“And this here is my partner, Bai.”
“Sup, bitches?”
The group recoiled a bit, except for Fancy Pants who sighed, at the profanity. Some like the Princesses were just slightly surprised, while those like Rarity or Fluttershy gasped in disgust or shock.
“How vulgar!” Rarity chided.
“Uh-oh.”
Ian, after recovering from slapping himself with his artificial arm, glared at his A.I. companion. “Wonderful first impression, Bai. Next time, how about you also tell them to go screw themselves.”
“…Shut up.”
“Before we start an incident, let’s begin,” Luna got up, though it pained her to do so.
“Whoa. What the hell happened to you? You look like you were mauled by a mad dog.”
“You could say that,” Luna winced. “Me and my husband, Kujira, were attacked by a machine called Fenrir and-”
“Wait, back up. ‘Fenrir’? As in PMD-84 Fenrir?”
Luna and Kujira looked to each other. “IF Prototype PMD-84i Fenrir, actually. We were actually meaning to ask you about it.”
“Okay, first off, how the hell are you two still alive after fighting a Mobile Drone? And secondly, how the hell did a Providence Mobile Drone end up here?”
“Let’s save that for later.”
Over the next hour Ian and Bai explained everything that they knew about the battle. Fluttershy had to leave when they explained what they did to the dragons that were at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns… And what happened to any other monster that got in their way.
Though what shocked them all the most was how long they were apparently frozen for.
“How long!?!”
“Uh, what?”
“Oh… my…”
“You still seem young, though…”
“Whoa…”
“Fifty thousand years?!”
“That… doesn’t seem physically possible.”
“*gasps* You’ve missed over 50,000 birthdays?! I’m gonna need to make a super big cake to hold that many candles!”
Celestia and Luna were left speechless. They’ve been around for a long time, that’s true, but the oldest being they’ve meet was the previous Dragon Lord, Torch. The human standing before them was over 50 times that!
“Now I like to ask a few questions of my own,” said Bai.
That snapped some of them out of it. “But I thought Sir Fancy Pants had already answered your questions.”
“Yes, I’ve tired, but they only led to more questions.”
“Yeah, they did. First off, the bright pink one. She’s the ruler of the Crystal Empire, right?”
Cadence, though a little upset that the “A.I.” didn’t even bother to use her name, bear it as she stepped up.
“Yes, I am. Princess Cadance, at your service.”
“Yeah, hi. Nice to meet ya. The place you rule is called the Crystal Empire, right?”
“Yes, yes it is.”
“And by ‘rule’ you mean that you have the highest position in the royal hierarchy there with no one above you?”
“Yes, I am the highest position.”
“And Empires are ruled by either an Emperor or an Empress, right?”
“Yeesss…”
Flurry Heart looked to her mother with a little concern. It was pretty obvious that the talking ball is starting to get on Cadence’s last nerve.
“Mr. Bai, what is your point?”
Bai's response though caught everypony off guard.
“If you’re the ruler and thus the highest authority of an empire, then why the hell are you just a princess?”
There was a silence amongst the crowd. Their facial expressions ranged from thoroughly confused to deep in thought. Twilight, Sunset and Starlight stayed frozen like statues, with Twilight rubbing her chin with her hoof as she tried to come up with an answer.
Flurry Heart was left speechless. Shining Armor put a hoof to his forehead as Cadance looked up, pondering in a bewildered state.
Celestia opened her mouth, she was about to retort, but whatever she tried to say died in her throat once she figured out it would do no good. She looked to Fancy Pants, who was shaking his head, like he was asked the same question before.
Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all couldn’t think of an answer. And Pinkie Pie was, well, trying to come up with a recipe for crystal cherry cake. It was a few seconds before the awkward silence was broken by, unfortunately, Bai.
“You don’t have an answer for that, do you?”
Twilight, though still bewildered by his previous question, was the only one able to answer the A.I. “Uh, well, yes but-”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
Twilight fumed at the A.I.’s lack of manners. But before she could create a counter, Ian placed one of his feet on Bai. “Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?”
“Sorry, but not really.”
“Hey! Don't do it you fu-” Ian then kicked Bai like a hoofball. The A.I. bounced around the throne room several times, somehow avoiding the stains-glass windows, before landing about halfway across the hall. “OW! That fucking hurt!”
The group slowly looked to Ian. “You’ll have to forgive him,” he said with a shrug. “Of the one-hundred Gundams, mine gets an asshole intelligence.”
“I heard that!”
Twilight gasped. “One-hundred! There’s one-hundred of those machines?!”
“There were at one time,” Ian lowered his head, memories from when he first joined the Revolutionary Army resurfacing. “I’m not sure how many are still intact. For all we know, the Alicorn could be the only one left…” he trailed off, the ramifications he had ignored before returning.
Everypony in the room took pity on him. There was a very good chance that Ian could be the last human. Celestia then rose back up to her hooves. She walked a few steps forward before spreading her wings, and with a few gentle flaps she ascended up to the head of the staircase.
“Luna, to me.”
Luna rose and with a few mimicked movements, joined her sister. They spoke in hushed voices, occasionally glancing back at the small crowd in the hall below. “I certainly do trust him, but after witnessing the power of his machine, he is a huge threat…”
“And let’s not forget the machine me and Kujira faced. It’s armor was made of a stone that cancels out magic. In any other case I would’ve dealt with it easily. I shudder to think what a small army of Fenrir’s are capable of.”
“Let alone what a squad of Gundams are capable of.”
“And the Changelings have somehow gotten ahold of a similar power… Sister there are only a few powers in Equestria that can keep such a thing in check.”
“Then we should keep Ian and his machine close to those we trust. Twilight and Sunset would be delighted, and Rusty Gear would want to study the Gundam as well.”
“Are you sure it is wise to keep him in Ponyville?”
“It’s the ideal location. The citizens of Ponyville have grown accustomed to odd events. And they would be far more welcoming than Canterlot. Besides… Tirek and Chrysalis are still out there, and it’ll only be a matter of time before they strike again. We need his help.”
Luna nodded slightly, thinking matters over. In all their years, little had prepared them for this... Still, they would had to make do with what they had.
“Very well. Ponyville it is.”
Luna exchanged a nod with her sister before the two turned back around. The motion of the two rulers facing their audience slowly silenced all conversation and all eyes were upon the pair. Celestia lightly stomped her metal clad hoof into the ground with a firm clack, akin to a judge's gavel hitting their base.
“From hence forth, young Ian O’Connell shall be placed under a refugee plan put forth by the Royal Sisters of Canterlot. In exchange for harbor and freedom in Equestria, young Ian will be placed within Ponyville. While there you will be expected to live and work amongst the populace.”
The news was getting mixed reactions from Ian. Though he seemed more curious than worried. Luna continued from her sister's speech.
“Thou will abide by Equestrian law. Unless in cases of self defense thou shall not harass, steal from, physically harm, or kill anypony. This extends to your machine. Unless in dire situations or under a necessary research purpose by Miss Sparkle and Miss Shimmer, you are not, either by will or by force, to use your machine. Failure to meet these rules will result in just punishment to the caliber I assume all know. I warn thee, an alternative to this plan would be most preferably avoided.”
Celestia added onto the last statement, capping off the speech.
“You and your machine will be put under the eye of a select few who will report to us should there be any trouble, and to aid in the naturalization process. After a week you will be brought back here to Canterlot's halls to see what progress has been made, and for any changes to be dealt with if needed. You had best hope the words of your equine contemporaries are not negative…”
Despite an uneasy glance, Ian didn’t object. “Sounds good,” said Bai, the ball-robot having rolled back up to the group. “But seriously, Ponyville? Who comes up with these names?”
“Bai, enough.”