//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - A Whole New World // Story: S.T.A.N.D. Vol.1 - The Journey // by Darkwhip //------------------------------// As the tower clock rang eight in the evening, two orbs of light materialized inside the castle. Behind them three intricate murals stood telling the great tales of the land. The orbs resonated with magical power, one had an amber tone of orange while the other retained a deep blue hue. They crackled through the air, echoing in the stone walls, casting an eerie light unto the murals. Two guards ponies heard something before suddenly feeling the immense magical power hitting them like a heat wave. Taken by surprise, it took them a mere moment to ascertain it wasn’t just her ruler again, as the moon was well on her way through the night sky. One of them went to sound the alarm out of fear and the other went to investigate the issue closely. The orbs, now finishing whatever spell they were meant to do, started to dissipate and like a shell opened through the middle, leaving a spherical crater where they once were. Inside each of them laid a half-conscious pony. One had a dirty blonde mane with electric blue highlights, folded wings could be seen as he laid muzzle down with his plot up. In the place where the other orb was, a curious creature laid sleeping still with it’s head tucked between two forelegs. It had slate grey unpolished chitin with two wings lazily hanging by the sides as it seemed to take a peaceful Seeing this, the guard immediately hoofed his trusty spear and pointed at the trespasser’s. A white alicorn adorned with a dress that shimmered a harsh white with black and gold trimmings, and a large golden crown roughly the size of a pony head with a single jewel that was black, sat expectantly at her dinner table as the serving ponies were bringing trays of the most well-made food in Equestria. Sweet Shake was the name of her latest chef ever since the last one was fired. The Queen had a rigorous taste and was famous for having a sweet-tooth. Sweet cake herself had prepared a two decked version of a german marble cake. The alicorn gleamed as the cake was revealed, and just as she was about to sink the knife and take the first piece, a guard came and warned her of the situation. After hearing the sitrep from the guardspony she immediately decided to go, given that ponies breaking into the palace grounds was an emergency event and something she needed to personally oversee. Trotting past the guards she pushed the heavy double doors with her magic with such force, it sent minor gust through the halls . The guards straighten up, then follow with a bow, but still face the duo with their spears. The alicorn stopped right in front of the two intruders in all her glory. She stood tall, and looked as if she was as stiff as stone “Why are there two peasants in my castle?” she coldly states, with a tone directed for only burning disgust for the intruders. One of the guards, bows and answers. “ M-my Queen. These two appeared in here from orbs of light, different from a typical teleport spell, amber for the bug, and deep blue for the pony…” the blond pony’s face fidgets for a second, as if dreaming something that made him cringe. His cutie mark was a pencil that appeared to be a lighting bolt on his bum inside a star-shaped clock, and a tail uncommon to most ponies. It appeared to be somewhat shaped like a rooster's tail. The bug, as the guards have called it was in fact a changeling, a creature unseen ever since the Darkening. Thought extinct until now yet there it was, laying peacefully in the sphere crater, an amber sparse mane atop its head with amber fins running along the neck, and a amber yellow shell where a pair of insect wings rested. A fin-like tail, riddled with a few holes also in the same colour lied at it’s lower body The Queen, after analysing the situation thoroughly and weighing in her mind the weight of dealing with trespassers on her keep over finishing her dinner and that marvellous cake. After a few seconds she declared “Kill them, No trespassers in my castle”. When given these orders, she watched the closest guard prepare to impale them both. Satisfied she went back to her dining table. The guards, a contingent of eight ponies, waited until the doors closed with a mighty sound. The guards look towards the sleeping trespassers with evil smiles. The guards nearest to the intruders started to raise their shining spears to stab them in their hearts. . .. … There is hesitation in their actions. Something about this whole situation was off. Even though they weren’t the best and the brightest, they knew something wasn’t right. The guards look at the two for a moment as if expecting something to happen. They sweat inside their helmets. Nopony simply teleports into the castle. After two or three minutes, one guard finally steeled his will long enough to do the deed, dismissing any paranoia about being a trap. Shaking his head, he raises his spear high to thrust down… The poor fool didn’t even get to push down. The four windows inside the spacious building break with glass raining down. Not long after, a voice can be heard yelling “ Mist out!”  and then a single bolt from the top left and top right windows hit the inside and start smoking out sparkling smoke. Shapes can be seen coming through the windows and thuds of different tones are heard landing. The smoke gets thicker and the guards can barely see, but the shining white of their armour. “OhBuckOhBuckOhBuckOhBuckOhBuck! What the buck is going on? An attack? Who would dare attack the castle?!” the guard thinks. “Killing these two would have just removed some stress. What in the actual BU- wait what was that?”. A brief sound can be heard, but it was too quick to register fully. The mare guard can make out the shining armour of the other guards in front of her amidst a rapidly expanding fog. “Wait, what was that?” a fellow guard said, before she saw his glint disappear. Shortly after that, the sound from earlier is heard again and another armour glimmer disappears. She just now realized the sound as a “yelp”. “ Okay, okay, keep calm. It’s more than likely they are tripping and falling. Nothing to be- WHY THE BUCK ARE THEY DISAPPEARING?”. As the mare says this, their outlines start to rapidly disappear in the fog. Being that there are only eight guards, it’s not long until the mare can only see herself. She starts to get skittish. Seeing only silhouette's move around, sometimes coming in close and others swerving away. Eventually she loses it and grabs the nearest silhouette and slams it on it’s back. A brief “oof!” can be heard. “ I-it’s just some losers.... There is nothing to worry about! They’re all dead”! With a battle-cry the mare starts grabbing,flipping and punching the silhouettes. It’s not until they stop moving that she gets cocky. They just stand there, as if  waiting. “WHAT’S THE MATTER YOU BUCKING COLT’S? REALIZE THAT YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE? EHE AHAHAHAHAH!” she screams and laughs madly. In her laugh she fails to hear the last shatter of the window and behind her a large unicorn trotted to her calmly, stopping behind the mare. “I don’t think anyone has to die today.” a gruff male voice says behind her. The mare guard, quickly turns around with a wicked smile and eyes that show a mad glint in her eye. What she see’s however, makes her change her expression. Her eyes shrink to pin-pricks. She inhales loudly and her hooves start shaking in fear at the sight. In front of her is a stallion, as big as an alicorn. This stallion had a golden mane with a clean white unicorn horn served to split his flowing mane. His manecut, made to resemble a lion’s, gave him a regal look. His tail had a triangular shape at the end and had the shape of the tip of a broadsword. His coat was white, but you couldn’t see all of it with a blue cloak that whipped in the air. On his horn was a ring that was shaped as a golden heart with a grey crystal in it. As the cloak swayed in the breeze that was granted access by the broken windows, a cutie mark could be seen on his rump: A shield with the face of a lion and half a sun on it’s left side and a star on it’s right. The figure of the Stallion itself was Alicorn size, with muscles that were clear to see. But the look on his face is what scared the mare the most. On the Stallion's face was a look of determination with fire in his eyes. It was a face that looked as if it would bring true justice to all that was good. It scared the mare because she knew she had done horrible things: murder, theft, false evidence, more than likely everything of which was evil. The stallion looked at the mare and moved his head closer. At this point, the mare was shaking in her armour badly. His gaze was steely, driving into her very soul, searching into her very being. He found her guilty, and swiftly his verdant eyes took a glow and she fell quickly, fainting with an “eep”. ”No more bloodshed.” he stated with valour in his voice. “Secured and ready, Commander Glory.” one of the ponies said. The white unicorn nodded in approval. “Good. Let’s get these two out of here and safe-” Glory was cut off by a slam of a door opening for the second time that night. Shortly after, over the Everfree Forest... Glory levitated at high speeds to avoid the pursuit. Most of his force had been split to avoid capture and aid in his mission, when from behind him came a thestral-force led by a deep blue alicorn donning silver armour. “There he is! Seize him at once!” she shouted and pointed with a hoof as the guards obeyed and rushed to the running Glory and his cargo. A grunt could be heard as he pushed his horn to the limit, a grey thick fog appeared to trail him in the night. The guards dove into the fog and followed his path, even as it lowered down into the forest. With a heavy thud, one by one the guards fell. Their high speeds they couldn’t maneuver the trees in time due to the fog and night time, along with their night vision not suited to the fog. “Thy petty tricks won’t save thee!” Said the lead alicorn as she took to the sky and flapped her wings with all her might as the guards gave chase. The wind cut through the fog like a curtain being opened. But as the fog eventually split to it’s source, Glory and his cargo where nowhere to be found. The active guards, ones who chose to follow their mark instead of aiding their unconscious comrades, hovered as they scanned the forest. Even their eyes,accustomed to the darkness, proved ineffective at finding any sign of his whereabouts. As the guards gathered their comrades, the whole hunting party coalesced to the last point where they’ve seen him. “Bedswerver!” she accentuated her words by stomping her hoof in frustration. As the guards left, the remaining fog dissipated and from the hills of the north, stood Glory with an apologetic expression. He looked back to the forest one last time and vowed to save them. For without them, guiding the ponies would be a nigh-impossible task. With the sisters corrupted and the actors of the scale reversed, it was only a matter of time until even he was defeated and darkness overtook again. He had to believe in them, with a heavy heart he recalled to himself. At that moment a patrol hovered by, missing the magic outburst by just a few seconds. Back in the forest, our two visitors laid under the cover of dense foliage and a fallen over tree log,that had been long overrun with weeds and fungus. It seemed that after the guards left the forest would have peace again. Just then, a curious bunny hopped over the log, scouting the area. It’s gaze scanned the forest, a paw over it’s eyes providing cover to see. it looked for a moment and hopped down, repeating this procedure again. Thinking of the nice carrot stew it’s master had prepared back at home, the one that he was minutes away from devouring, the little bunny stomach’s complained and the little creature turned around to hop back up. There is where it saw our visitors, hastily deposited and fast asleep. Surprised by this sudden sight the little creature stomped its feet, hating the fact that the new ponies would probably delay its meal even further as evidenced by the male’s scratches. Still, it had a duty to fulfil. “Angel! have you found anything?” said a butter yellow coloured pegasus, coming up close behind the rabbit. The rabbit immediately recognized her master and, with decisive hops, came to report her master of its find. “You found two ponies? How are they?” replied the pony, now preparing first aid with her left wing from a prepared saddlebag she wore. Following the rabbit’s advice she followed him to under the tree log, meeting the fallen visitors. She hadn’t seen a changeling in a long time… but the pegasus looked hurt so her nostalgia had to wait. Remembering her better days, she immediately went to try to wake them up starting with the changeling. Grunting in annoyance the changeling rolled away from the hoof, now with her belly up and wings splayed to the side and front legs retracted in front. She tried waking the pegasus. This one inched closer to her hoof, guiding it to his wings, but before she could touch it, she retreated away, blushing. Seeing their refusal to wake up, she scanned them closer and saw the scratches on them. From kindness, she decided to help them. Calling upon her friends, there came a bear, who carried the changeling while she herself put the unconscious pegasus on her back. A short time later, the movement graced the changeling with a moment of waking. It’s eyes opened, blurry. The yellow pegasus noticed, her blue eyes meeting the changeling amber ones, and said to the waking changeling “You’re fine now, go back to sleep”. As her soft words were heard by the changeling’s, it closed her eyes and mumbled “Ponies…” The bear steps then, gently rocking the changeling to sleep.