The Crystal Palace
As Flight Foot walked through the halls of the Crystal Palace, his mind was still pondering about the two creatures that had been found with the two warjacks in the frozen wastes. So caught up was he in his thoughts, he didn't notice the unicorn mare in front of him until she bumped into him.
*Oof!* Flight Foot staggered back and looked up. “Oh my, please forgive me, Ms. Comet! I didn't see you there!”
Halley Comet, one of the more well known Warcasters in training in Equestria, chuckled as she helped Flight Foot onto his feet. The light tan Unicorn mare then asked, “What's got you so distracted? I usually see you focused on one thing or another.”
“It's something that a squad and I found while on patrol. Two unknown creatures were with two Warjacks, and the thing is, one of these creatures called out for help a few seconds before we got to them.”
Halley raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you didn't hit your head on something last night?” she asked.
Flight Foot gave her a deadpan look. “I think I would remember if I had hit my head.” Halley giggled before she began to walk off.
“I’ll catch you later.” She called over her shoulder. Shaking his head, Flight Foot headed towards the throne room.
Upon opening the doors, he saw Cadance playing with Flurry Heart as Shining Armor looked on in amusement.
Clearing his throat, Flight Foot said, “Your Highnesses? I'm here to make my report.”
“Alright, what have you got?” Shining asked sternly.
“I was on patrol with a squad from the 51st and I thought I saw lights coming from the wastes. I took the squad to investigate, but as we got closer, we heard a call for help. We then found two Warjacks, a Juggernaut and a Destroyer, and lying on the ground were two strange creatures, both bipedal, both mares, but they weren't Diamond Dogs, Minotaurs or Dragons. They must have been out in the blizzard for hours, because they were suffering from hypothermia, the second one even more so, as she had no winter kit on her. They’re both at the Shining Heart hospital now, but it may be awhile until they recover.” Flight Foot said. “I'm hoping that they’ll be able to explain how they got out there, and why two Warjacks were with them.”
“Hmm… I’ll see if I can find some records on these two.” Shining stated, pondering on what these mares could be.
“And I’ll send a letter to Princess Celestia and Twilight. They should know of this.” Cadence added, to which Shining agreed.
“We should increase security as well.” Shining finished.
“One other thing, one of them was armed for combat. She had some kind of two handed weapon and a handgun of unknown origin. Those we’ve confiscated. But I will order that security is increased where those two are.” Flight Foot said before bowing his head and leaving the room. Outside, he told one of the guards, “Tell Halley to take a squad and head to the Shining Heart hospital. Let them know that if anything happens, to not engage unless ponies get hurt.” The guard nodded and ran out.
Shining Heart Hospital, Room 2A
Tulip jerked awake, coughing violently. She clapped her hands together, summoning her yellow soul gem. A dark cloud formed inside of it.
Dismissing the Soul Gem, Tulip attempted to get out of the bed. She succeeded, however, she planted her face onto the floor.
“Vic-*cough*- Viccy!?” Tulip coughed out, her throat sore and legs numb.
*Cough* “I-I’m here.” Victoria rasped. “W-where are we?”
“A hospital…” Tulip replied, crawling to where Victoria’s voice was.
The sound of high heeled shoes sounded from outside the room, followed by voices. “Look, I don't care what Doctor High Horse thinks, these two don't look dangerous.” One voice said.
“Did you not see that weapon the guards took? Who in their right mind would have that on hoof?” The second voice retorted. Both voices sounded female. There was a click as the knob turned. The second voice then said,
“Where… where’d she go?! She was in her bed a second ago!” As the two entered the room, Tulip saw that they weren't humans, but...
‘Where are we!?’ Tulip tried to crawl under Victoria’s bed, but it was too small, and she only ended up making noise.
“T-Tulip? What's going on?” Victoria asked, coughing weakly.
“Please, we need you to get back in bed! You're still weak from hypothermia, plus you're suffering a mild fever.” A yellow Pegasus with a white and tan mane and tail said to Tulip. A white unicorn with a blond mane and tail stood behind her.
Tulip weakly struggled. “Wh-where am I!?”
“You're in Shining Heart Hospital in the Crystal Empire. You were brought here by a group of guards after they found you in the Frozen wastes.” The unicorn answered this time. “You and your friend were suffering from severe hypothermia. Why you two were even out in that Tartarus forsaken wasteland, Celestia only knows…”
“We…” Victoria began to speak, but was then taken by a coughing fit. Her whole body shook with the effort. “We don't know how we even got there…” She then fell silent, her energy drained from the bout of coughing.
Tulip was still terrified. This had to be a dream, it just had to.
“Please… let us help you.” The Pegasus begged. “We don't mean any harm.”
Tulip couldn’t take it anymore. She felt lightheaded, and this was too much for her to handle. So she passed out.
The two ponies glanced at each other before the unicorn’s horn glowed a light cyan. The same aura surrounded Tulip and lifted her up before gently putting her back in her bed. “Poor dear… she’ll get better after she gets some rest.” The Pegasus said.
Victoria struggled to sit up. She herself was shocked that they were in a world where sapient ponies existed instead of humans. But how we did we even get here…? She wondered tiredly. “Please… don't hurt us…..” she rasped.
The Pegasus looked over at her with pity in her eyes before she left the room, the unicorn following and closing the door. Victoria sank down and let sleep take over.
She woke up a few hours later to see Tulip sitting up. “Hey… you okay?” She asked, her eyes worried.
“Y-yeah.” Tulip replied, avoiding eye contact.
“I don't get it… how did we end up in this world? Last thing I remember was falling unconscious by the car… next thing I know, we’re stuck in a blizzard…” Victoria muttered.
“Why are you asking me?” Tulip asked.
“I'm just trying to make sense of what's happened to us…” As Victoria lifted her hand, the glowing circle of runes appeared around it. “We end up in a strange world and have powers that were supposed to be made up. We don't even know if everyone in this world is friendly…”
“All we can hope for right now is to live long enough to learn how to be prepared for combat.”
Victoria then remembered something. “Before I lost consciousness, I remember hearing someone giving orders to keep an eye on two 'jacks… but it must have been me hallucinating from being too cold, because there's no way those things that were with us were warjacks…” She then looked down at herself. “Where's my armor and clothes?!”
As Halley and the squad of guards entered the hospital, Nurse Bright Line met them at the entrance.
“Ms. Comet, what's the matter?” The light brown earth pony mare asked. “Don't tell me you got injured during training.”
“No, it's not that. I understand that you recently received two new patients?” Halley asked. Bright Line nodded.
“Yes, and from what I just heard from Night Star, they just woke up.” she said. “If you want to know where they are, they're in room 2A, second floor.”
At a slight nod from Halley, two guards left for the room. “The rest of you, patrol the perimeter. I need to go talk to these two.”
“Yes ma’am” the guards replied.
As Halley entered the elevator, she shook her head. If you ask me, this is probably just a big prank the brass is pulling on me as payback for the Jalapeno sauce joke… she thought. But then again, stranger things have happened...
The sound of heavily armored hooves caused the two girls to look up in fright as they heard three voices talking outside the door. “Stay out here, I’m gonna see if these 'creatures’ are inside and awake, or if it's another of Flight Foot’s barside tales.” One voice said, a woman's by the sound of it. There was an affirmative from the other two,males this time
“What's… what's going on?” Victoria whispered, looking at the door.
“Why are you asking me?” Tulip questioned.
Victoria gave her friend a exasperated stare as the door opened. To their surprise, a tan unicorn mare with a black mane and tail in navy blue armor walked in and stopped in shock as she looked at the two of them. “Guess Flight Foot wasn't lying…” she said in a small voice.
As the mare took a step forward, Victoria studied her. That armor looks like warcaster armor… but it should slow her down enough to allow Tulip and I to run out the door…
“I'm Halley Comet, Warcaster in training. I have a few questions to ask the both of you.” The mare said, looking at them.
“No.” Was all Tulip replied with before hiding under the covers of her bed.
Halley's eyes narrowed. “Gonna be stubborn about it, ey?” She chuckled.
“No, because we're leaving.” Victoria said before raising her hand, the ring of runes appearing and circling it. In an instant, a fog sprung up, cutting off Halley's vision. Blinking in surprise and shock, Victoria quickly ran and grabbed Tulip from her bed. “Let's get out of here!” She said, holding her friend's hand as the two ran out, Halley cursing behind them.
Outside, the two guards heard the commotion and turned in time to see the two humans charge out of the fog filled room and bowl right past them.
“In the name of the Crystal Empire, halt!” One of the guards yelled, but as he charged forward, he found his hooves frozen to the ground. The other was sent flying via a kick courtesy of Tulip.
Halley, meanwhile had managed to stumble out of the room in time to see what had happened. Gritting her teeth, she charged her horn, a ring of runes appearing around it. She then moved forward in a blur, her spell having given her the power to move faster while time slowed to a crawl. She sped past Tulip and Victoria, halting at the elevator. “You're not leaving here without my say so! How did you get two Warjacks out there with you in the Frozen wastes?” She growled as the two halted in shock. “Did you steal them from us?”
“What’s a warjack!?!?” Tulip screamed.
Victoria meanwhile, was shellshocked. “Impossible….” She whispered as Halley began to speak.
“They're robots powered by a generator called a cortex. There are many used here in Equestria, all used to defend from anything that might hurt us.” The unicorn then glared at the two. “And to be honest, I have quite a bit of trouble believing you two somehow ended up in the wastes by yourselves.” She then charged her horn up and aimed it at them. “Now follow me, and no one gets hurt.”
Victoria gritted her teeth. She knew she was vulnerable with her armor gone, and without her weapons, she didn't stand a chance. Plus, she had felt her energy drain after she had summoned the fog and frozen the first guard, and didn't think she would be able to do it again. She then sighed and nodded. “You win…. But please don't harm us…”
“I’ll give you my word that I won't harm you, as long as you both behave, understood?” Halley asked, looking at the both of them.
“Don’t tell us what to do…” Tulip said with narrowed eyes.
“Or you’ll what? You don't look like a warcaster that can take me on…” Halley growled.
“Tulip, we’ll play along for now, but when she lets her guard down, we’ll make a run for it.” Victoria whispered.Tulip nodded at that.
Jerking her head for them to follow her, Halley pressed the button for the elevator. It slid open with a ding, and the three entered. As soon as they had hit the ground floor, the mare pushed the two humans out, her horn trained on them. Several gasps were heard as nurses and patients entering saw them for the first time. Victoria looked around, noticing the nervous looks they were getting from the ponies. “Nothing to see here! Go about your business!” Halley called out. “Keep moving!” She hissed under her breath at the two, shoving them towards the door.
Tulip, to Victoria’s surprised, looked infuriated. This wasn’t like the Tulip she knew. Then, she spoke. “I don’t have time for this…”
“Tulip? What's wrong?” Victoria asked.
Tulip breathed raggedly. “I don’t like others bossing me around like this…”
“We’ll make a break for it when we get outside.” Victoria whispered.
“Quiet, you two!” Halley snapped. She then sighed. “Honestly, it's like watching colts…”
“You’re forcing us…” Tulip hissed, crossing her arms trying to calm down.
“Ms. Comet!” Halley turned her head to see Flight Foot trotting towards them. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I…” Suddenly, Halley began to look embarrassed. “Sorry, sir.”
Flight Foot turned to Victoria and Tulip. “I apologise for Ms. Halley's behavior to the both of you. She's still learning that being a Warcaster isn't always about brawn.” Halley gave him a small glare. “The name's Flight Foot, one of the Royal Guard stationed here in the Crystal Empire. The rulers here have asked for me to bring you to the palace. They want to know how you ended up in the Frozen wastes, and, if possible, help the two of you.”
“I need to go for a bit.” Tulip replied, looking at her hands.
Victoria hesitated. “Tulip… we need to find out more about where the heck we are, and if we split up… I don't want to lose you.”
“I’ll only be gone for a bit… I’ll meet back up with you… What’s the most distinguishable landmark?”
“The Crystal Palace, the tower in the middle.” Flight Foot said, pointing at the skyscraper sized object in the distance. “It's above the Crystal Heart, a relic that protects the empire from the cold winds and snow from the wastes, along with any enemies that try to attack.”
“I’ll be there in less than an hour.” Tulip said, before walking away.
Victoria sighed as she followed Flight Foot, Halley trailing behind them. This world gets more and more confusing…. She thought before the three exited the hospital... And into the empire...