//------------------------------// // Prologue 2: Unexpected company // Story: A Legend in his own time // by Midnight Everlasting //------------------------------// Prologue 2 Unexpected Company ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ugh... sweet mistress of the Land, what did I drink last night?" Trace moaned. It felt as if there was a small goblin jabbing his head with a large stick. After a few more annoying throbs of pain, the boy realized he was actually being poked in the forehead. Now that he focused on it, there was sound to go along with the feeling. How convenient! "Helloooooo?" came a sing-song voice. "Anypony in there?" it asked. "No," said Trace with a huff, wrenching his covers over as he turned his face into the pillow. Wait, covers? Wait, pillow? What? What?! "WHAT?!" Trace shouted as he flew into the air in shock. He stayed there for a moment, then crashed to the white tiled floor. After he scrambled free of the blanket, he took a deep breath and looked around, checking off his mental list. All body parts accounted for? Check. All body parts functioning? Check. All clothes in tact? Not check. Standing naked in a room full of colorful ponies, all of whom look incredibly embarassed? Check. ... Emotions in tact, specifically embarassment? Big old CHECKEROO. Trace's face flushed red as his mind finally realized that he had been stripped naked and was now clad only in his innocence in front of a crowd of what he assumed were a sentient species of miniature horses. "Um..." he managed to stutter. "Where are my clothes?" A white pony with a red mane and a large needle tattooed on her butt stepped forward. "We had to remove them to get at most of the more severe cuts, but every time we tried to get close we were shocked with electricity. After we took your clothes off the effect only got worse, so no one tried to put them back on." Trace nodded. "That would be my little 'security system'. A personal creation of mine called the MagneSphere," he explained. "You're just lucky you hadn't charged at me. The faster you're going, the harder you are repelled." The pony shivered, but managed a smile. "I'll just leave you to the Princesses then," she said very quickly. "Tata!" With a slight gust of wind, she was already out the door. At his confused look, the tallest pony in the room, an alabaster one with a multi-colored pastel mane as well as both wings and a horn stepped forward. "You'll have to forgive Ms. Smile," she said, her voice kind and yet firm. It wasn't hard for Trace to see that she was a ruling class pony. "She isn't used to seeing... whatever you are." She gave a small smile. "But I've been remiss, I've forgotten to introduce us to our guest." The Princess stepped back and began to point down the line of ponies assembled at the edge of the room. "This is Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and my sister, Princess Luna. I am Princess Celestia, ruler of this land. Now, may I ask, who are you?" Trace, who up until now had been dutifully remembering names, jumped slightly as he was addressed. After a moment, he answered with a flourish. "Who am I?" he replied. "Who am I? Why I'm just greatest Lord of Chaos ever! The name is Trace Legend, madam. Glad to be of service." He finished with a low bow, which conveniently prevented him from seeing the look of utter disbelief on Celestia's face. "D-did you say... chaos?" she stuttered quietly. Trace shot upright and nodded vigorously. "I take it that, despite your Princess titles, you two are the ruling pair here in... wherever we are?" Celestia nodded slowly, fear creeping into her eyes. The Lord of Chaos, in whatever form he may be, was only ever after one thing: ruling Equestria. She cringed slightly, waiting for him to challenge her for the throne as he had before, fearing the battle that surely lay ahead. She looked to Luna, who was now gazing fearfully at the creature as well. Noticing her gaze, she gave her sister a subtle nod, assurring her that she would stand by her side if she had to. She prepared to hear those fatal words as the thing leaned towards her, a mischievous smile on its face and... bowed again? "Well then, I shall offer my services to you, Princesses Celestia and Luna." Celestia shot Luna a look of utter confusion that her sister returned. "... Beg pardon?" she asked. The creature straightened itself again and gave a small smile. "Well as the Lord of Chaos, I have a set of rules that I follow. I made them up, but that just means I should follow them even more, right? Anway, rule 23 states that, in the event I find myself in a strange land with no idea how I got here, I am to find the ruling species and offer myself in the defense of their kingdom to the designated ruler. In this case, you and your sister." Trace took a breath and continued. "I am to help with any altercations, battles or chess tournaments that I should find myself in the middle of and put a stop to them immediately, unless of course the chess tournament is on it's semi-finals. No point getting involved after that, am I right?" The room was utterly silent once again. After a few moments too long of strained silence, Celestia moved. She lifted a hoof and said "Lulu, take Twilight and her friends to the train station, then wait for me in the throne room." Luna nodded slightly and the seven ponies shuffled out, still looking confused and bashful, as the creature called Trace had forgotten that he was entirely naked. When everypony had left, Celestia beckoned to Trace. "You are going to come with me, Trace Legend. I have something to show you." Trace held up a hand. "We aren't going anywhere yet," he said. Celestia's eyes grew wide again. Had he just tricked her into being alone so he could take her out?! "I'm still... well I want my clothes back." Celestia rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. She had been so focused on his face that she had forgotten... she allowed a single spark to escape her horn and the closet in the corner of the room opened gently. Inside were Trace's belongings. She walked outside as he squeaked with delight and began to put his clothes on. Only a moment later, he was outside and they began their trek down what was clearly a hospital corridor. "So..." Trace began, "was that magic you used earlier?" The question caught Celestia slightly off guard. "What of it?" she asked as neutrally as possible. "Well, where I come from, there are very few who have access to magic anymore. It's an old concept, and has been almost entirely replaced by technology. Why, if it weren't for me and... well if it weren't for me, everyone would probably think it was a myth!" A note of sadness crept into his voice, but was banished as he laughed a moment later. The Sun Princess noticed this, but said nothing. "In that case, yes magic is commonplace here. Each type of pony has their own unique brand: the unicorns with their ability to manipulate reality, the pegasi with their command of the weather, and the earth ponies, who's nature magic generates our crops each year." Trace nodded, taking it all in. "But enough about us, what are you? And a better question would be, how did you get here?" At this Trace rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm what's called a supernatural, but my species name is Human. There's a fancier word for it but most just say Human. And as to how I got here, well... it was entirely by accident. It's kinda embarassing to talk about, and I've been embarassed enough for one day." Celestia sighed inwardly, but allowed the human his privacy. "So when will you be well enough to return to your homeland?" The Princess continued. They were out of the hospital now, walking through the busy streets of a city. A sign by the exit said 'Thank you for choosing Canterlot Hospital for your emergency needs. Stop by again, any time!' Ponies up and down the street were stopping to stare at the odd pair: a hairless Diamond Dog and Princess Celestia, apparently talking with civility. "Never," came his short reply. The Alicorn stopped in her tracks, causing Trace to do the same. "What do you mean, never?" she asked. The human shrugged. He continued as they began to walk again. "I mean never, Princess. Gathering the energy necessary is no problem. In fact, I could probably pull off several more teleportations through to the next dimension before I really felt the energy drain." Celestia rolled her eyes at this. Clearly the human was exaggerating, nopony was that powerful. "The problem is that I don't know which direction my dimension is in, so I'd end up hopping from world to world with no destination. And even for something driven by chaos, that's a dangerous task." Despite herself, the Princess found that she believed everything Trace had said. Perhaps it was the honesty and bluntness in his words. Perhaps it was that slight hint of sadness that had snuck it's way into his eyes again. Either way, Celestia felt for the young being. He was so far from home, she was surprised he was taking it this well. After a few minutes of walking in silence, they reached the gates of a large palace. It's gleaming white spires shot high into the clouds and cast a shadow on the mountain they were attached to. Everywhere Trace looked, ivory spires shined back at him in the morning light. Celestia stepped through the gates as she opened them with another spark from her horn. "Welcome to Canterlot Castle, Trace Legend," smirking when she noted the shocked look on the human's face. He walked forward, still gawking at the towers. After a minute or two, his attention returned to the ground, where he noticed Celestia waiting for him, trying and failing to contain a snicker at his obvious love for the architecture. "Well?" she asked. "It's beautiful," he said simply. She smiled and led the awestruck Trace onward towards the front doors. Once inside, they made their way to the throne room. The Princess threw the doors open, greeted Luna with a smile when she saw her sister had already arrived, and sat on her throne. She was about to speak when a guard rushed into the room as though all of Tartarus was on his tail. He slid to a stop before the throne, tetering on one hoof before falling on his face. Standing, he looked to the throne with worry and shame in his eyes. "Princesses!" he cried, bowing hastily. "There's a problem!" Celestia leaned forward, suddenly businesslike. "What would that be, Lieutenant Wall?" she asked, her even voice concealing her growing dread. "It's coming straight for us Your Majesty! It's taller than the city walls and even Shining Armor's shield couldn't hold it back!" A monstrous roar sounded close by. "There's a dragon in the castle gardens!"