5. And A Fortress Came Down
Canterlot Streets
It was a rather pleasant night to be out walking the streets of Canterlot. The moon, with Luna's assistance, had already risen high into the ink black sky along with the thousands of winking and twinkling stars. Crickets were making their usual nightly serenade as a warm, gentle breeze wafted over the small group of ponies and humans as they made their way to the Gilded Horseshoes.
"It's a good thing most everypony is already inside and asleep by this time. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't react too well to alien strangers... even if we told them you were friendly. Some ponies... uh... tend to over react to put it mildly." Said Twilight over her shoulder to the Marines.
"True, causing a panic isn't exactly the best entrance we would want to make." replied John.
Twilight nodded understandingly and continued on as silence descended on the group once more.
"So, Ah've been wonderin," said Applejack after a moment of walking.
John turned his head, looked at her,
"What's it like in that armor of you'rs?
After a moment of thought John replied, "Not bad, I can control everything just by thought. From temperature to whether or not I want to breath the outside air or the supply in the suit."
This information stopped Twilight dead in her tracks making the others almost run into her.
"So, you are telepathic?" asked Twilight craning her neck around to look up at the Chief.
"Not in the least," said John, "The armor and my mind are connected by a wireless neuropathic connection. If I think it, the armor does it."
"Wow," said twilight as she stated walking once more, "thats quite impressive."
"Yes, and it has saved my life countless times."
They all walked along for a few more minutes until they came to the top of a small incline and laid out below them was the Gilded Horseshoes. It was a massive building that was painted a soothing light tan and had a red slate tile roof. With their destination only a few hundred feet before them, they all quickened their pace.
Soon they reached the main entrance. A pair of large wooden doors that each had the hotel's insignia, four interlocking horseshoes, carved deeply into the wood and inlaid with gold, stood boldly in front of them.Twilight pulled the doors open with her magic and walked in, the others following close behind. Inside there was marble floor tiles and rich red velvet on the walls with a massive crystal chandelier hanging in the center of the ceiling. There was marble pillars supporting the great arching ceiling that was also painted gold. The sound of gently trickling water could be heard throughout the lobby, the source of which was a large fountain with the same four golden interlocking horseshoes standing in the middle with the water running down its sides. Directly in front of them was a large decorative marble stair case that lead to the second floor. Off to the side, just inside the doors to the left, was a little nook with a few couches and chairs for anypony that wanted to just take a break and read or just watch other ponies come and go. The place was the very definition of the word lavish.
After a moment of stunned silence Twilight looked around and spotted the reception desk to the right and quickly trotted up to it. The pony behind the desk was older stallion with a light brown coat and a neatly combed chocolate brown mane. At the moment he was deeply engrossed in a newspaper with the title Equestria Daily in large print at the top of the front page.
"Uh, excuse me sir," Twilight quietly said.
The earth stallion put down his paper and pushed a pair of half moon glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Ah, my apologies miss, didn't see you ari..." The stallion glanced past Twilight to see if there was anypony with her. The stallions face just started to turn into a look of pure fear as his gaze fell upon the fully equipped Marines and John, but Twilight managed to cut him off before he could start making a racket that would surely cause the rest of the building to awaken.
"No! Nonononono, please don't yell. They are friendly. We just came from an audience with Princess Celestia, she agreed to let them stay. There is really no time for specifics at the moment but don't you think if the Princess trusts them that they are truly friendly?
Twilight gave him a soft smile.
The night desk pony only stood there still too shocked to move except for a slow, unsure nod of his head.
"Plus, they are in the company of all six of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony."
The stallion nodded again, but was still wide eyed and obviously very shaken.
"Uh, r-right," he fumbled with his words, "So, I s-suppose you want rooms?" his voice very nearly cracking on the last word.
"Yes please." Twilight gave the stallion another gentle, and she hoped, disarming, smile.
"Could we get..." Twilight turned around and quickly counted, "four rooms please? Just for tonight?"
The stallion just nodded, picked up a register, and handed it over to Twilight to fill out. Once the paper work was done the stallion, making sure to only look at Twilight, asked,
"That will be t-twelve-hundred bits, um, how will you be paying?"
Twilight gave a small sheepish smile and quietly said, "Uh, Princess Celestia said to just charge her for the expences of the rooms and what ever other costs may arise."
The stallion cocked his head to the side, looked up at the others and gulped while making a note in the register beside Twilight's name. He couldn't really argue with one of the Element bearers, especially Celestia's personal student.
He then ducked down beneath the desk and retrieved four room keys. The stallion quickly straightened up with the keys hanging by their room number tags from his mouth. Twilight's horn glowed a soft purple as she enveloped the keys in her magical grip, taking them from the stallion.
"Those rooms are on the sixth floor at the end of the hall." said the stallion.
"Thank you, sir." Twilight said as she gave the stallion another gentle smile and turned around to the others waiting by the fountain.
She quickly made her way back to the group, the keys jingling along the way. As she reached the group she said,
"Got the keys, lets head up."
The odd little group moved over to a bank of golden doors that stood directly in front of the reception desk. Applejack was the first to reach the elevator and reached up to press the button to call the car. The button glowed a pale yellow when she released it and almost immediately the doors parted to reveal a lavishly decorated interior, not so different as the main lobby with the same marble floor and red velvet on the walls.
"Alrigh' everypony, pile in." said Applejack.
They all obliged and walked into the elevator which was just large enough to accommodate not only the ponies but the Marines as well. The doors slid closed with a gentle thump and the whir of the winch motor started from above them as they began to ascend.
The stallion behind the desk shook his head, lifted his glasses to rub his eyes and said,
"I think I need to lay off the cupcakes and cider this late at night." and returned to reading his paper.
The elevator let out a soft ding and the doors slid open once more. The ponies and Marines quietly made their way down the hall. Soon they reached the last four rooms. Twilight turned to Luke and John and gave them three of the four keys.
"Here, we will take the last one on the right, you can have the other three."
John took the keys and Twilight motioned the others to follow her to the last room.
John opened one of the doors and ducked through the entryway to look at the room.
When he came back out he said, "Two beds and a couch, three to a room. Here." and he handed one key to Luke and one to Mac.
"Normal procedure, secure the doors and windows and keep watch rotations. This is still an alien world." John said to the Marines
All the Marines gave a quick salute and opened their room doors and all of them went in for the night.
Twilight stood in front of their room as she watched each of the three doors close behind the Marines. As the last door closed she inserted the key into the lock and turned it. With a soft click the door unlocked and Twilight used her magic to open the door. The six ponies and one baby dragon made their way into the room. Twilight turned the lights on and took in a sharp breath. The interior of the room was just as posh and fancy as the main lobby and elevator. Red and gold everywhere, with two very large beds taking up one wall and a couch in the middle with other various pieces of furniture throughout the room.
Rainbow Dash, seeing all this, simply gave out a large yawn walked past the others, over to the window, unlatched it and suddenly took off leaving behind only a gust of wind. The others just stood in the doorway staring out the window that Rainbow Dash had just flown out of.
"Now what in tarnation is she up too?" questioned Applejack to no pony in particular.
Just a few seconds later Rainbow flew back in through the window pushing a fluffy white cloud. She placed it high up in the room near the ceiling and then landed in front of the others.
"What?" asked Rainbow in response to the other's questioning looks, "A bed is nice and all, but absolutely nothing is better than sleeping on a cloud. I'm just glad the Weather Team decided to move in a small cloud bank today. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get that little beauty." Rainbow said as she jerked her head towards the cloud.
The others simply shrugged or shook their heads and walked over to the beds.
Twilight was the first to speak, "Ok, I think this will work, Applejack, you and me will take this one. Pinkie and Fluttershy, you take that one," Twilight said and pointed to the other bed, "and Rarity, you have the couch.
"I beg your pardon, but... what! We are in one of the fanciest hotels in all of Canterlot and you put me on a couch!" Rarity said incredulously.
Twilight sighed and pointed her horn at the couch which quickly morphed into the same kind of bed as the other two.
"Oh, um, thank you Twilight." said Rarity sheepishly.
"Ok, it's been a long day. How about we all get some rest." said Twilight wearily.
Every pony nodded, unbuckled their saddle bags, dropped them to the floor and proceed to climb into their respective shared beds. Twilight's horn glowed one last time as she turned out the lights once everypony was comfortable.
Soon there after the room was filled with soft snores from all directions. Rarity turned over in her bed and was just about to nod off when she noticed a small lumpy mound on the floor next to the bed. Upon closer inspection the small lumpy mound turned out to be the curled up form of Spike. Rarity thought for a moment and then reached out and gently stroked the small dragon's spines, he stirred awake and looked up to see Rarity gently smiling at him.
"Why are you on the floor darling?" asked Rarity. "Here, there is plenty of room up here." she said as she scooted to the other side of the large bed.
Spike just stared.
"Well, come on." Rarity said with the same gentle smile.
Spike still dumbfounded at her offer, slowly climbed up onto the bed, and wriggled down in between the covers. He turned over, looked at Rarity and quietly whispered, "Thanks."
Rarity smiled, leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on the tip of his snout and quietly said, "You are quite welcome, my little Spiky-wikey."
Both Spike and Rarity felt themselves blush and turned away from each other.
"Goodnight, Rarity." Spike whispered.
"Goodnight, Spike," Rarity whispered back, "sweet dreams."
The last thing both of them heard that night was the sound of soft string and piano music off in the distance drifting on a warm breeze through the window Dash had left open.
Both contemplated where the hauntingly beautiful music was coming from and who was so masterfully playing it, but soon both gave in to the soft flowing medley and allowed it to carry them off to sleep.
----The Next Morning----
"It's morning guys! Time to get up, it's a brand new day! Oooh and we get to spend it all with our new friends!!" said Pinkie skipping around the room joyously.
Applejack merely grunted, rolled over, and pulled the blanket tighter around herself, Twilight's eyes opened a fraction of an inch before she gave out and they closed once more, and it appeared that neither Spike, Fluttershy, or Rarity had even heard her. Pinkie stopped in the middle of the room and looked around in confusion and thought,
"Now how in the world can they be sleeping in on this super-fantastical day!"
Pinkie looked up towards the ceiling where Rainbow Dash was still floating on her cloud and snoring. She lowered herself as low to the floor as she could then, with her tongue slightly sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration, sprung upward at an amazing speed. In a split second she had reached the edge of Dash's cloud bed, sucked in a deep breath and shouted,
"Good morning, Dashie!!!"
"AHHHHH" Rainbow Dash yelled as her eyes flew open and proceeded to topple out of her bed in a furry of flailing limbs.
Dash just managed to fling out her wings and slow her decent before she hit the floor. She landed with a whoosh of air from her wings and turned to face Pinkie with a look of annoyance.
"Pinkie, why did you wake me up so ear...?" Rainbow gave a massive yawn, "ly. I was having the most awesome dream ever!"
"Because today we get to spend the day with our new friends!" Pinkie said energetically bouncing up in down in place and gave Dash a massive grin.
At this Dash couldn't help but to crack a small smile herself and chuckle, Pinkie's good mood was rather infectious even for the rainbow pegasus this early in the morning.
"Now quick help me get the others up so we don't miss a second of this extra-superrific day!"
"Ok, ok" yawned Rainbow again.
Suddenly an idea hatched in Rainbow Dash's mind. She snapped her mouth shut from the yawn, looked up at the cloud she had been sleeping on and then slowly looked back at Pinkie with a sly grin plastered on her face.
"Ooo, I know that face! Whats the plan?!" asked Pinkie in a dramatic whisper as she crouched low to the ground as if to start sneaking up on somepony.
"Heh-heh, just give me a sec, I got this covered."
Rainbow Dash turned her head and flexed her wings and with a loud crack, popped her joints. She sagged slightly relishing the feeling before shaking her head and quietly flapping up to her cloud. She positioned it right in the middle of the room and peered over the side to look down at Pinkie. Pinkie, knowing what her pranking partner was about to do, nodded eagerly. Rainbow Dash gave one quick nod as well, the grin on her face growing larger. She reared back and with all her might struck the cloud dead center and twisted her hooves to the right. She quickly flew off the cloud and joined her pink friend on the floor who had a thoroughly confused look on her face. Rainbow grabbed her and they both ran to the bathroom and hid just inside the doorway. After a few seconds of nothing Pinkie asked,
"Why didn't it go off? I thought you were going to do that lightning bolt thing like you did on Nightmare Night last year. Is it a dud or something?"
Rainbow dash shook her head, pointed around the corner and whispered back, "Na, I put it on a timer. Watch it."
Pinkie peeked around the corner and watched as the cloud's color slowly changed from pure white, to gray, to almost complete black. Suddenly Rainbow Dash's and Pinkie's hair stood on end and with a monstrous crash the cloud exploded sending sparks of lightning in all directions.
The room was filled with the startled screams of the rest of the Elements as each jumped out of their beds, or in Fluttershy's case jumped out of bed then flew right underneath it. As their screams, and in spikes case, hiccups, died down the sound of uncontrolled laughter replaced it. Everypony turned towards the noise and saw Pinkie and Rainbow Dash rolling on the floor laughing so hard they started to cry.
"Bwahahahaha! That was priceless!" Rainbow gasped.
"You can say that again!" said Pinkie between giggles and snorts.
Twilight tried to shoot Rainbow Dash the most withering look she could muster and was just about to start scolding but instead burst into laughter herself.
Hearing Twilight laugh after a prank of this magnitude and this early in the morning was the last thing Rainbow Dash had expected.
Rainbow eyeing Twilight warily asked, "Whats up with you?"
Twilight, still snickering said, "Y-your... h-h-hair."
Rainbow cocked her head over and turned around to ask Pinkie if she knew what Twilight was talking about. Rainbow jumped a good three feet in the air when she saw Pinkie who was almost nothing but a large ball of fuzz with a head and tail. Apparently she had gotten a mild zap by a stray spark.
"Oh no, if that's Pinkie, then..." before she could finish her sentence she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Her normally wind blown mane and tail were now sticking straight out, mohawk style. After the initial shock wore off, she turned her head this way and that with a grin and looked at her mane from different angles and finally said,
"I kinda like it but... eh, it's just not my style. Maybe I'll try it out some other time."
At this she ran a hoof over her mane and shook out her tail until they were in their normal position. Rainbow turned away from the mirror and looked towards Pinkie who still resembled a over sized, pink, fuzzy, beach ball. She glanced up at Twilight and said,
"Hold on, I can fix her."
Rainbow trotted in front of Pinkie and rolled her further into the bathroom. She then zoomed out the still open window and a second later was back with another cloud, this time it was light gray and heavy with rain water. Rainbow positioned the cloud above Pinkie, landed and said,
"Hey in there! It's about to rain on ya, hold still."
A slightly muffled, "okie dokie lokie", came from the ball of fuzz.
Rainbow dash proceeded to hop up on top of the cloud and started to bounce up and down on it, jarring the water it contained out and drenching Pinkie. Once the cloud was empty, Rainbow sopped up the water on the floor with it and pushed it out the window. Once she had returned Rainbow hovered in front of Pinkie and said,
"Alright, get ready for the Rain Blowdry!"
At this Rainbow flew around and around Pinkie until finally the wind she created had dried out Pinkie's hair. Rainbow slowed down and landed in front of Pinkie. Pinkie looked at her completely straight mane and tail and then looked up at Rainbow Dash and the others with a worried look. The others glanced from their friend to each other worriedly.
After a minute of awkward silence Rainbow was the first to say something,
"Huh, that's wired. Usually the Rain Blowdry has the complete opposite effe..."
Suddenly, the sound like that of a party balloon being inflated filled the room then cut off with a quiet pop.
"Whew, that was a close one." said Pinkie happily as she poked at and bounced her now puffy mane and tail. She then got up and trotted over to the door.
"Well, come on guys, the day's a wasting!" said Pinkie and proceed through the open door. The others simply looked at each other, shrugged, grabbed their small saddlebags and followed Pinkie out the door. Once in the hall Twilight went to each door of the Marine's rooms, knocked, and said,
"It's me, Twilight, it's time to get moving. The train back to Ponyville will be leaving soon."
Small scuffling sounds could be heard behind each door. Soon the doors opened and the Marines filed out with John, Luke, and Mac being the last out of each room.
"Alright, lets get moving. I'll go ahead cast the invisibility spell, you know what to do."
The Marines formed a tight pack with the ponies around them as Twilight once again cast the spell. Once the Marines were well out of sight they began to move out towards the elevator. As they were walking down the hall a door to their right opened suddenly and out stepped a pure white unicorn with neatly a neatly trimmed and combed blue mane and tail. The group stopped in shock as one of the most influential ponies in all of Canterlot stepped out in front of them with his just as influential wife behind him.
"F-fancy Pants!" gasped Rarity, "and Mrs. Fleur de lis."
"Ah, miss Rarity," said Fancy Pants, "it's good to see you again, and your friends too I must say. What brings you back to Canterlot if I may ask?"
"Of course, it was just some business to take care of with Princess Celestia. We are actually getting ready to go back home." said Rarity as they reached the end of the hall. Both Rarity and Fancy Pants pressed a call button for elevators.
"Well, miss Rarity, I wish you safe travels, and maybe, the next time you are in town, you could stop by my home. I know how good you are at dress making, I was thinking that I could pay for a custom suite?"
At this Rarity very nearly fainted, but somehow managed to catch herself before she could cause herself any embarrassment.
"Oh... my! Yes! Of Course I will. I will start on the plans at once!" Rarity excitedly said.
Fancy Pants chuckled and stepped through the now open elevator doors, Fleur following close behind.
As the doors were just about to close Fleur suddenly spoke, "And I think I would like one of your dresses as well." she said with a genuine smile. Then the door closed.
This time Rarity was simply stunned into motionless, jaw hanging open.
"Ok, come on sugarcube, elevator's here. We gotta get going."
Rarity snapped out of her stupor and shook her head as the group walked into the elevator.
Once all were inside Twilight pressed the button for the lobby. The doors glided shut and they began to descend.
"Here are the keys." said John and suddenly his hand appeared from thin air as it breached the perimeter of the spell. Twilight looked over her shoulder and grasped the keys in her magic along with her own room key. John's hand disappeared once more and all was silent except for the whir of the winch and the soft dings of the bell signalling the arrival at each floor. The elevator came to a stop on the ground floor and the doors slid open to reveal the lobby. Twilight lead the group out of the elevator and across the lobby to the main doors. As she walked by she levitated the four keys to the front desk. The receptionist, a young mare this time, gave Twilight a odd look as she took the four keys and thought,
"Now why would six mares and a baby dragon have needed four rooms for only one night?"
After a moment of thought on the subject the receptionist shrugged and replaced the keys on the board beneath the desk.
The group walked out the front door and out into the bright morning sunlight of another beautiful Equestrian morning. Everything was now much different than when they had all first arrived. The shops were all starting to open for the day and early morning shoppers were already trotting along the cobble stone street. The day birds were singing and the sunlight was glinting majestically off of the Royal Castle's many towers and spires. The group made their way down the streets to the Canterlot train station, meticulously avoiding the few ponies they did meet. Once they finally reached the train station, Twilight bought tickets for the seven of them, then Twilight, with the tickets in tow, led the group to the open door of the last car that was empty once again. The group settled in and awaited the whistle that would signal the beginning of their journey back to Ponyville.
Suddenly the door opened and in hurried three mares. Two with large interment cases and the other with a smaller one. The conductor shouting, "All aboard!" could be heard in the distance from the front of the train through the open door. The mares, after sliding the door shut, turned around breathing heavily, apparently having had to have run in order to catch the train.
"Oh, hello." said the grey mare with perhaps a Trottingham accent.
"Hi!" said a mint green unicorn.
"Hey hey, looks like we got the Elements in the house." said a white unicorn that was wearing a pair of purple lensed raver goggles.
The original occupants of the car glanced at each other nervously. Keeping the humans a secret would now be almost impossible.
"Oh, hey Octavia, Lyra, Vinyl. What are you three doing in Canterlot, well, I should say what were you doing?" Twilight asked as the occupants of the car felt a small jolt as the engine opened up the throttle and began it's trek down the tracks towards Ponyville.
"We all performed at a concert at the Canterlot Symphony Hall." said Lyra as all three sat down in two of the benches towards the front of the car and turned around so that they could continue to talk.
"Yeah, not exactly my favorite kind of music. I like to stick to my Dubtrot," said Vinyl Scratch, "but it can be pretty wicked if it's done right and the pay was good. Anyway, let's just say being a DJ and all, I know how to play piano, have to too work the synth I sometimes use at my shows.
Oh, so that was you three we heard last night." said an impressed Rarity.
"If you were you staying at the Gilded Horseshoes then yes. We were practicing a little in the courtyard right before we headed off to the performance." Said Octavia.
"Ah, well may I say that your music is absolutely beautiful." said Rarity.
"Thanks," said a smiling Lyra, "if you thought the practice was good you should have been at the actual performance."
"I really wish I had known about it, I would have loved to have heard the real thing." said Rarity, though she knew as tired as she was last night she doubted she would have been able to make it.
"Yeah, it was all pretty awesome." Suddenly a thoughtful look washed across Lyra's face.
"Wait a sec," she turned to the other two musicians and said, "since they never got to hear the real thing, what do you say to doing one or two of the pieces? I mean at the moment we've got nothing but time."
"Hmmm..." said Octavia with a thoughtful expression and after a moment of considering said, "sure, why not. We should have enough room to do it, and the ride should be smooth enough." she said with a smile.
"What do you guys think, you wanna hear some of it?" Octavia turned back around and asked the others."
"Yeah, that would be great." said Twilight. All the others nodded except Rainbow Dash, who simply crossed her forelegs on her chest and huffed thinking,
Ugh, classical music. Maybe if it was just Vinyl's music it wouldn't be so bad but all this namby pamby stuff?
The three musicians smiled and opened their cases. Soon the car was full of the first cords of beautiful music. Octavia masterfully played her cello, Lyra plucked the strings of her lyre, and Vinyl played a compact synthesizer set to a grand piano. Each of the three had their eyes closed and were smiling. Each moving with the steady rise and fall of the light hearted and happy melody. Suddenly, the music changed. It took on the sound of some sort of disaster looming in the distance and getting closer as if one were marching towards battle. The notes grew more staccato and accented, their faces twisted from the happy smiles to grimaces and scowls. The music steadily sped up getting more and more frantic then suddenly it hit a high, shrill note as if it were the frantic and dying scream of sompony at the end of their life staring up at the spear that would end their life. And then the music completely cut off for a brief moment. When the music resumed it had slowed down and switched into a minor key. The players facial expressions changed along with the music one again to sad and forlorn. The sudden change in music had its desired effect. Each and every one of the car's occupants got chills and the hair on the back of all their necks stood on end. At this Rainbow Dash sat up and starred wide eyed. Every so often a fresh wave of chills swept down her spine. The music started slowing down even further and Octavia softly dropped out and Vinyl soon followed suit leaving only Lyra still playing. As Lyra's playing slowed down even further, not unlike a music box running out of tension in its spring, she plucked the last note that hung, reverberating, in the air and let out a small, barely audible sigh. The car was in complete silence as all three musicians were still, their heads bowed.
After a long moment of silence Rainbow Dash was the first to start clapping, and all the other ponies quickly followed. Octavia, Lyra, and Vinyl all looked up, smiling at the applause.
"Well? What did you think?" asked Lyra.
"That... was so awesome!!" Rainbow Dash said happily. "I may just have to start listening to more of that kind of music."
"That was so beautiful." said Rarity "How you so masterfully switched from each piece to the next... amazing."
All the others nodded their approval as the last set of goosebumps began to recede.
Each of the musicians smiled and blushed a little at all the complements.
As each of the musicians were putting away their instruments Vinyl looked over at the group and asked,
"So, what brought you to Canterlot in the first place?"
"Oh, uh..." Twilight was at a loss at what to say. Should she tell them the truth or should she try to worm her way out of the situation?
"You see, we had some, uh, business to take care of with Celestia about a situation that arose. But no need to worry, it's all been taken care of."
At this Twilight gave an obviously forced smile. As did all the others that any of the three looked at.
"Ok, come on Twilight. What's up? Something's got you all nervous." said Octavia.
"What? Nervous? I'm not nervous, who said anything about being nervous?" asked Twilight a little too quickly.
This now had all three of the musician's attention.
"No offence Twilight, but you have a horrible poker face. said Vinyl "Seriously, whats up? Is it something we should be worried about."
Just before a defeated looking Twilight was about to respond, a barely contained sneeze seemed to come from thin air. Everypony's ears perked up at the sound and Twilight groaned.
"Ok, fine. I will tell you but you have to promise not to freak out."
Octavia, Lyra, and Vinyl all looked at each other and then back at Twilight and said, all in unison. "We promise."
Twilight shook her head and looked over at Pinkie. Everypony knew exactly what Twilight was going to say.
"Pinkie Promise." Twilight said flatly.
Even knowing what she was going to request, they were still slightly surprised. They knew this was definitely big if they were going to have to Pinkie Promise.
In unison, once more, all three chanted, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Twilight looked again at Pinkie who solemnly nodded her approval of the promise.
"Ok, here goes everything." said a hesitant Twilight under her breath.
Twilight's horn glowed and with the usual soft pop, the invisibility spell hiding the small group of humans dropped.
Octavia jumped and gasped at the sight, Vinyl leaned forward and put her goggles on top of her horn, revealing her dark magenta almost red eyes and said, "Whoa, dude, I see why you wanted us to Pinkie Promise."
Lyra, who happened to be sitting the way she normally did, just like one of the humans, didn't move a muscle except for her jaw dropped open.
After a few tense moments of silence Twilight cleared her throat awkwardly and said," Ahem, uh... these creatures are called"
"Humans." whispered Lyra finishing Twilight's sentence.
"Exactly, they are called Huma... wait, what did you say? How do you know about them when this is their first time ever being here. None of us, not even Celestia, knew about them."
"Because," said Lyra quietly, still dumbfounded, "This isn't the first time they have been here."
The car was once again silent except for the muffled clicking of the wheels on the steel rails below them.
"Well, this is the first time they have actually, physically, been here." said Lyra, finally recovering from the shock.
"You see, back when I lived in Canterlot, I was given special permission by Celestia to go into the Canterlot Archives, with a guard escort of course, I was looking for information about ancient Equestria for a college paper that counted as a huge part of my grade, so I wanted to make it really well written and with correct facts and all. But while I was searching through the information I came across one of the few writings that had survived from before Discords rule. It was written in ancient Equestrian and took quite a while to decipher. It turned out to be an account of something falling from the sky like a star. When the ponies found it, from how it is described, it was a big metal hunk of something, but somehow, still intact, was a gold disc attached to the side of it. It had several pictures of different things etched into the surface and the scribe that wrote it all down also copied down what looked to be the name of the thing. At the top of the plate it read Voyager I." said Lyra excitedly, finally being able to meet the subjects she had been trying to study for so long. "
"After that there was nothing else about them mentioned anywhere, my best guess is that it was all forgotten when Discord came into power, but even though there was nothing else mentioned I knew I had to keep looking. There was just something about them that made me want to study them. And ever since I've been looking for more information." Lyra finished and smiled sheepishly when she saw Twilight starring at her slightly open mouthed.
"Ah," said Luke, "We wondered where that thing had gotten too. We lost the signal from Voyager I an extremely long time ago. That was actually one of the very first deep space satellite probes Humans ever sent into space. It was really only meant to observe the planets of our own Solar System, and a little bit further but since we really couldn't call it back, we had to let it go, and apparently, it finally ended up here. Now, how it jumped such a large distance is any ones guess. The nearest star that was in its path was suppose to be reached in thirty nine thousand four hundred and eighty eight years from now."
"Eeeee!" squealed Lyra. "You speak our language?!"
Luke chuckled and said, "Small universe, huh?"
"There are just so many questions I want to ask you! I... I just don't know where to start!"
"Well, the obvious one is are you dangerous." said Octavia eyeing the group of Marines warily.
Luke looked at her and said, "No, we are not, we pose no threat to uh... Ponykind I guess I should say. Actually, we really want to get our ship fixed and get going. We have... places to get to."
"Ooo, a ship! Whats it like?" asked Lyra.
"It's a massive thing that can travel so fast that we can go extremely far in very little time. It just so happens that something went wrong with a part and we were sent further than what we were intending too. That's why we are here. To try to find supplies and raw materials to repair our ship."
"Ah, ok, I see." said Lyra thoughtfully, "Well, it certainly looks like you all have come a long way as a race since building that probe thingy.
"Very far indeed." said Luke.
"You know," said Luke to the three mares, "this may be going back a little bit but you actually surprised us with your music. We all agree with Rainbow Dash over there," Luke nodded in the cyan pegasus' direction, "It really was awesome."
All three mares smiled and said "Thank you."
"You know, if you thought that was cool, check this out." said Vinyl as she pulled out a small black cube from her synth case.
Octavia looked over curiously and then face hoofed.
"Oh no, not this. You and your bloody wubs." she said quietly to herself.
Vinyl pressed a few buttons, looked up, and put her goggles back on with a grin.
"Get ready, It's about to get intense."
And with that Vinyl pressed a final button on small cube. and suddenly the train car was filled with the sound of pure bass that had been mixed in a sound board.
Several of the Marines were nodding their approval while the rest covered their ears, most of the ponies in the car were doing the same except Rainbow Dash and Pinkie who were proceeding to jam out to the "Wubs" as it has been come to be called.
Suddenly the music cut off and everypony and everyone looked at Vinyl to see that Octavia pressing a button on the cube.
"Awww, come on Octy, no fair." said Vinyl.
"Later, then they can listen to it if they want too, but for right now, it's to small of a space."
Vinyl let out a defeated sigh and said, "True. Oh well." and she slid the cube back into the case.
"So, what kind of music do you have?" asked Lyra the idea suddenly popping into her mind.
After a moments though Luke said, "Well we have classical like you three played earlier and we also have a form of music that is similar to what you were just playing Vinyl. We also have Rock and Roll, Pop, Country, and many other various styles, really and truly there are to many to name."
"Yeah, same here. We have Country, and I'm assuming Pop is short for Popular?" asked Lyra.
"Yep, you got it." said Luke.
"But what about this Rock and Roll you mentioned?"
"Uh, well... it is really hard to explain, I wish I could play some for you so you could just hear it for yourself."
"No worries, I got you covered." said Vinyl as she dug around in her case once more.
She soon pulled out another, larger, cube, but this one had two sets of ear buds hanging from it as well as a speaker on the top.
Vinyl got up and walked over to Luke and said, "Here, put these in your ears. Just think of the song you want and I will be able to hear it. See it to. This will also let me see what you are thinking along with hearing it when you are playing."
Luke couldn't help but look a little suspiciously at the cube.
"Don't worry dude, I've used this thing hundreds of times, it's my own invention, and besides, I can only see and hear what you want me too, I designed it that way." said Vinyl reassuringly.
Luke looked over at Twilight who nodded him on.
Luke took the ear buds and put them in his ears as Vinyl began to push some buttons and flipped a switch.
"Go ahead." said Vinyl.
Luke closed his eyes and began to try to think of a song. After several moments of consideration he decided to go for one of the now really old and retro rock songs.
Suddenly the first notes of Sweet Child O' Mine began blasting into Vinyls ears. After a few seconds in Vinyl was staring wide eyed. She looked at everypony in the car and said a little loudly,
"You guys have really got to hear this, I think you might even like it Octy.
Octavia rolled her eyes while Vinyl hit a button with her magic and suddenly the car was once again full with music. All the Marines sat up and started grinning at Luke's song choice and the ponies merely had the same reaction as Vinyl.
After a few minutes, the last cord of the song rang out, and the song ended.
"Wow, just... wow." said Vinyl in amazement.
"The main instrument in that. Was that a string instrument?" asked Octavia
"Yeah, it's called a guitar." said Luke.
"You were right Vinyl, I do like it. Granted not as much as the classic music I listen to regularly, but if we can start playing some of that, we just might start a whole new trend in Equestria."
Vinyl nodded eagerly and said, "I might even be able to mix that in with some of my regular music. For some reason ponies keep saying my stuff is getting a little stale."
"Really?" asked Rainbow in surprise. "How could anypony think your music is getting stale. Heck I could listen to it all day."
"Thanks dude." Vinyl said, grinning.
Turning her attention back to Luke she said, "Yeah, we have some stuff like that here but nothing compared to that. Most of what we have like that is unicorn made because of how fast and intricate the notes can be, and even then it is heavily mixed to get it all sounding good."
Suddenly the train car jolted and began to slowly decelerate.
Twilight, with confused look on her face said, "We are here already?"
She looked out the window and indeed they were only a couple of miles from Ponyville station.
She looked back and said with a smile, "Wow, time sure does fly when you are having fun and listening to music plus I guess it helps they were running behind schedule and pulled out all the stops to get here quicker."
Then, suddenly, the smile fell from Twilight's face.
"Oh no, we're almost back. What should we do." Twilight turned around to the rest of the Elements. "Should we let them walk in the open or should I cast the spell again."
"Well, personally, Ah think we should let 'em walk in the open, Ah mean tha folks in town are all gonna find out about them one way or nother." said Applejack, "Plus, they'll be with walkin in with us, so that'll probly put a lot of 'em somewhat at ease."
Twilight thought for a moment, weighing the options she had. Applejack had a point. The residents of Ponyville would eventually find out about them anyway, especially when they start bringing in their equipment to start mining.
"Plus, we'll say they are alright too." said Vinyl motioning to herself, Octavia, and Lyra.
Lyra and Octavia nodded in agreement.
"Thanks guys." said Twilight the smile returning.
"Ok, first thing first. Rainbow, could you fly over to town hall and ask Mayor Mare to call a town meeting at noon?"
"Sure, no problem. I'll go ahead now and meet up with you guys in a little while." said Rainbow Dash as she walked to the end of the car, opened the door, and stepped onto the small balcony attached to the still moving car. Rainbow spread her wings and took off with a single powerful down stroke.
"Ok, we will be pulling in in just a few minutes, once we pull in lets get off and get back to the library as quick as we can. Everypony got that?"
Everypony in the car nodded and began moving about collecting their saddlebags and getting ready to disembark.
With one final sigh the engine came to a stop. The doors to the cars opened and many ponies began filing out.
"Ok, here goes everything... again." said Twilight as she lead the group onto the platform.
"C'ya, guys." Vinyl loudly whispered into Twilight's ear, over the sound of the train as it started pulling out of the stain as they made it past the ticket booth. Twilight nodded and waved good-bye.
"Ok, so far so good." whispered Twilight to herself. Just maybe this was going to be easier than she had thought.
Suddenly a high pitched scream rang out from the crowd of ponies. Everypony on the platform turned to see what the commotion was about and in the process noticed the Marines. The entire platform erupted into chaos and everypony cleared out so quickly even Rainbow would have been proud of them.
The group stopped in the middle of the station.
"Ugh," groaned Twilight as she face-hoofed, "this is what I get for thinking we actually may not be noticed. That's almost as bad as saying, "What else could possibly go wrong!"
Twilight, suddenly realizing her mistake clapped her hooves over her mouth and gave an apologetic look at the now wide eyed group. Everyone and everypony was now on alert looking for any trouble.
Suddenly a shout of "My baby!!" rang out across the platform. All eyes jerked around to see a small baby stroller wheeling its way towards the end of the platform as a high speed freight train was barreling down the tracks towards the station.
Without even thinking about it, the chief sprung into action, sprinting for the carriage that was now inches from the edge of the platform. The chief reaching the carriage swiftly, but gently as he could, plucked a small bundle from the carriage's interior. The carriage rolled swiftly over the edge and onto the tracks. The chief stood stock still for a moment and then walked away from the edge with the small foal wrapped in its blanket. Its mother, standing by herself in the middle of the wood floored platform was staring at the chief with tears flowing down her cheeks. With a loud crash the train hit the carriage and smashed it completely. The chief, barely taking notice of the sound, and walked slowly to where the foals mother stood.
"I believe this is yours." said the chief gently as he knelt down and held out the small foal to its mother.
The mother let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding, as did several other ponies that were hiding around the edges of the station watching everything that was taking place. She reached out with shaking hooves and took her baby from the grip of the chief.
The little foal let out a giggle, held out its tiny hooves and said, "Mama."
The mother wrapped her foal in her forelegs giving it a tight hug and nuzzling it affectionately before looking up into the chief's visor without a shred of fear and said, "T-thank you... thank you so much."
Suddenly, the sound of a single pony clapping their hooves could be heard, followed shortly by a few more and a few more until the entire platform was full once more full of ponies, but this time, instead of cries of fear, shouts of joy and celebration were all around them.
A bright photographer's bulb went off and somepony shouting, "Hey, mister! Mister! Whats your name!"
"Spartan 117." replied John. over the ruckus as he made his way back to the group of Marines.
"Ooo, there's more of you?!" several ponies shouted out when they finally noticed the other Marines. "And you are with the Elements of Harmony too!"
That was the last thing that anybody heard coherently. All the ponies were asking to many questions. It was all blending together into a roar of noise.
"QUIET!!" shouted Twilight as she magnified her vice with a spell. This caused several ponies to jump and a few to even scowl at her. In the ensuing quiet Twilight laughed meekly and said,
"Heh, a little loud, sorry. Anyway, don't worry. You will have plenty of time to have your questions answered latter on today. Mayor Mare will be calling a town meeting soon outside town hall. So go ahead and spread the word."
Everypony began to talk again and quickly went their separate ways, eager to tell everypony about the new arrivals and the heroics of one in particular and that they will all get to meet them.
Once the station cleared for sure Twilight let out a sigh and said, "Come on, lets get to town hall then we can go back to the library." And with that, the small goup set off once again.
Truth and Reconciliation. In unknown space.
Dropping out of slip space in three... two... one...
A slight deceleration could be felt throughout the massive purple battle-cruiser.
"Report" barked Lat 'Ravamee.
"Shipmaster, the human's slip space trail is still on the same vector and growing stronger." replied the navigator.
"Good," growled 'Ravamee, "Enter slip space once more."
"By your word, Shipmaster."
'Ravamee turned around with his hands behind his back and growled to himself,
"I will find you Demon, and when I do, I shall relish the feeling of your pathetic bones snapping under my boot."
'Ravamee snorted and walked off of the bridge, the door's three main panels sliding apart to let him pass and then sliding shut and locking behind him.
Ponyville Town Hall
The large mass of ponies that had gathered in front of town hall was so thick that Mayor Mare had a hard time making herself heard. Finally she gave up and disappeared just inside the door of town hall and rang the massive bell at the top. Everypony gathered there grew quiet as the last ring of the bell faded and Mayor climbed back up on the podium.
"As you can see, we have some new... beings here in town today. One of them is a hero as most of you know.
One of the Marines thought, "Heh-heh, you have no idea."
All the ponies there applauded and quickly settled down at the Mayor's motions.
The Mayor turned her head towards the group of Marines with the Elements standing next to them and said,
"Would Twilight please come up here?"
Twilight nodded tiredly and walked up to the podium.
"Ok, any questions?" asked Twilight.
Several hooves shot into the air.
"Ugh," Twilight groaned to herself, "Ok, let me clear things up and ask that again, like Mayor Mare said, we have some new friends... yes friends. The only reason they are here is to repair their transportation and then leave in peace. They mean us no harm. While they are here they will be mining material from a few of the copper and gold mines around here and Canterlot to aid in the repairs of their transportation. Celestia has given them permission to do so, and all this means they will be bringing in some equipment, so, please don't panic if you hear or see some strange sights. There is also the probability we can learn a great deal about new and very advanced technology while they are here as well.
"Now, are there any questions?"
The crowd was silent.
"Ohhh-kay, if there are no questions we will be off to the library." said Twilight.
Twilight dismounted the stage and started leading the group to the library.
"That's strange, it sounds like... OH COME ON!!" thought Twilight as she leaned out to look behind the group. The entire mass of ponies was following them grinning from ear to ear.
"Ugh, fine, what ever." said a frustrated Twilight and continued on.
They soon arrived at the library and both groups stopped right outside the door.
"Ms. Sparkle," asked Luke. 'Is it alright if we go ahead and start bringing down supplies? It would involve setting up a temporary base."
"Huh, oh, yeah. Sure." said Twilight as she magically unlocked the door to the library.
Luke nodded and keyed his radio to talk.
"Captain Keyes, do you read? Over."
"I read you. Over. What's the news?"
"We have made it back to the small town and are now ready to set up shop down here. Requesting a fortress drop at grid locations," John handed the map to Luke who's HUD in his visor overlaid a coordinate grid on the map, "Mike Lima two four and Hotel Oscar five nine."
"Request received and base drop approved sending them your way now. Take care of them. these are the only two we have."
"Will do, out."
Luke turned, looked at Twilight and said, "If you thought anything of our's was impressive so far, wait till you see this." and pointed up.
Everypony craned their necks upwards to look. Just about when she was about to ask what she was suppose to be looking at two small yellow specs appeared in the sky and were growing larger at an alarming rate. One of the shapes changed course and headed for Canterlot while the other was heading for the outskirts of Ponyville.
"Hey guys, what did I miss?" Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight and stared at her for a moment before following her gaze upward.
With a loud roar the base drop pod slowed down, landed, released its pay load then rocketed back up into the sky to be quickly followed by another pod that did the same. A sort of crackling could be heard coming from the two pieces, even at this distance, as the base fused its two halves together. With the whoosh and electric hum of hydraulics the base's main door came open and stopped with a loud and resounding boom.
"And this is where we will be staying." said Luke to the crowd of stunned ponies.
Luke then turned to the squad of Marines and said, "Felles, let's go check out the house." and with that Luke, John and the rest of the Marines walked off towards the already busy fortress leaving the stunned crowd behind.
Twilight watched as several large ships came down and landed around the base and fifteen to eighteen more Marines hurried out of each and into the base. Several panels opened up in the ground and what Twilight could only assume were buildings started rising from the massive holes. More ships, smaller this time, landed on some of the buildings and unloaded crates then rocketed back up while another building freshly completed had white hot flames coming out the top of it.
"Wow, if somepony didn't know about the human a minute ago, they sure do now." said Twilight, "This is going to get... interesting, I can feel it in my gut."
"Ooo! You too!! said Pinkie excitedly, "I didn't know you had a Twilight sense! My sense is telling me the same thing, It's going to be a doozy!!"
Twilight, remembering the last "doozy" Pinkie's Sense predicted had almost made her go insane. She groaned and thunked her head onto the door.
"Great," said Twilight sarcastically. "Uh, I think we all just need to go home and get some rest, I don't know about you all but I'm wore out from all these surprises."
"Actually, Ah think we're all fairly good." said Applejack.
"Ah, so it is just me. What ever i guess. I've got a book calling my name. I'll see you girls in a few hours." And Twilight opened the door and entered with Spike bringing up the rear.
Twilight closed the door and proceed to light some candles in the dim library, grabbed a random book with her magic, walked up stairs and collapsed onto her bed and began to read.
"What do we do now?" asked Fluttershy.
I guess just go home for a few hours till Miss. Egg Head in there cools down." said Rainbow.
"Ah guess so." said Applejack.
The Elements said their good byes for a moment and then parted ways going to their respective homes.
The large mass of ponies, after recovering from the shock of the base landing, also began to disperse back to their normal routines but many kept looking back at the now busy base. All except for a certain tie wearing, brown Earth pony with an almost gravity defying mane and an hour glass Cutie Mark and a grey mare with a blond mane and tail and a Cutie Mark of bubbles who stayed right where they had been standing.
"I-I never would have expected for humans to end up here of all places. Great, wonderful, brilliant humans." said the stallion.
"You knew about these new guys already, Doctor?" asked the mare.
"Yes Derpy, I've known about them for a very long time."
"Well, lets go meet them, it will be like a big reunion for you all. Hey! maybe you can even help hem fix their ship Twilight was talking about."
"Hmmm, you know, that's not a bad idea. Yes, lets go and visit for a little while. I'm sure my regenerated form will give them a laugh." said the Doctor with a small chuckle. Ooh, maybe they have some bananas that I can pick up. Bananas at the market are just so expensive."
And with that the Doctor set off for the base with Derpy following close by his side.
Canterlot: Royal Castle
As the Human's base landed just outside Canterlot, Celestia and Luna witnessed the base's construction and more or less the same thing that had happened in Ponyville, from the balcony of one of the many towers. The base was far enough away from Canterlot that not a lot of ponies would ask questions. But both Celestia and Luna knew they would have to tell Canterlot about it to make sure they avoided another panic. The last thing they need is another Wedding Incident as it has been come to be called.
"And so their preparations for digging begin." said Celestia.
"Yes, it would seem so." said Luna, "I just hope they really do mean us no harm."
"Oh, I'm positive they mean no harm. It's this Covenant they spoke of that has me worried."
"Not to worry my sister. With operation Midnight's Light up and running and with the combination of the Human's and our advanced technology we are sure to keep our subjects safe."
Celestia turned and walked over to the entrance back into the castle, pausing at the door she said, "I hope that you are correct Luna, I really do."
"Plus..." continued Luna, grabbing Celestia's attention once more, "If the worst does come we do have the H.A.R.M.O.N.Y. Station.
Celestia gave Luna a thoughtful look and said, "True, but we will only utilize it when and if massive casualties become imminent.
"Of course." said Luna.
"Well, Luna..." said Celestia with a warm smile, trying to brighten the mood a little. "I guess I should leave you to the night. Good night, Love you, sister."
"Good night, Tia. Love you too." Luna said as she returned Celestia's smile.
Celestia opened the door and walked back into the castle, closing the door with her magic, leaving Luna on the balcony to watch over the moon's progress.
Idea for the music session came from V-pony author of Blue Angle. (It's a really awesome story. I highly recommend it.)
Ok guys, here it is. The very much long over due Chapter 5. As you can see, to try and make up for it getting out so late I more than tripled my minimum word count of 3,000 for y'all. Also, I tried to do as much proof reading as I could but we all know stuff slips through, so as always, if there is any mistakes, feel free to point them out and I will try to get in and correct them as soon as possible. That's all for now. See you at the next chapter!!