//------------------------------// // Face to Earth and the Dragon Cometh // Story: Alphacorn Restoration // by AkumaKami64 //------------------------------// "..." Church sat in an awkward silence amongst several of his mental fragments- and whatever Tex counted as. They were currently at the south end of the forest they had woken up in, pondering which direction to take as they stared across grassy fields. "I vote north," Omega stated bluntly. "Didn't we just come from there?" Theta asked in confusion. "Omega merely desires to use the other equines as test subjects for our new weaponry and capabilities," Delta informed, standing between the child-AI and psycho-AI. "You don't sound too objecting of the idea," Tex noted idly as Theta squirmed at the thought. "I do not approve of the target choice, Beta but there is merit in learning our overall abilities in the near future," Delta admitted, ever the logical one. "Moreover, it is probable that those creatures were dwelling near this location." "Yeah, but we kind of scared the hell out of them, so might not be best to confront them just yet," Church countered with a sigh as he stood up and started walking forward. Wait, was it trotting? Not prancing, cause fuck that word. "Just heading south then?" Tex asked with a head tilt, walking alongside him while Theta rested on his back. They didn't have to, really, but it felt better than just floating alongside him. "I'm heading south until I'm bored with that, then I'm going to try flying. Then keep on going until we find some fucking sign of civilization," Church answered offha-offhoofedly. "A suitable course of action," Delta agreed, floating by the Alpha's haunches. "Eh, it gets us one step closer to an aerial bombing, so I'm fine with it," Omega consented before vanishing, presumably back to Church's mindscape. "So...Unicorns, Pegasuses, and Pegicorns?" Church mused out loud. "I believe the plural you are looking for is Pegasi," Delta corrected automatically. "...Half expected to hear Caboose said gesundheit," Church grumbled after a few seconds of silence. "When do you think we meet a dragon?" "Can we please not?" Theta asked timidly. He wasn't Eta, but he wasn't going to trust a giant lizard not to eat them. "...Really?" Tex deadpanned. "Taking dinosaurs into account and this "magic" Alpha can produce, a dragon-like creature is not outside the range of possibilities. Though, being able to generate fire seems like they would have taken several severely dangerous evolutionary turns," Delta commented helpfully. "Let me guess, explosive malfunction would make them a living bomb," Church guessed with a smirk. "Correct. A creature like that would require a superior immune system to ensure the organs responsible for combustion did not turn volatile due to infection or disease," Delta pointed out. "...We're really doing this?" Tex asked with an eyebrow twitching beneath her mask. "We're having a conversation over the pros and cons of fire breathing dragons?" "What would you rather talk about?" Church countered, half-daring and half-curious. Tex went silent at that. Church wasn't talking about his little melt down and she didn't want to bring up the intruder just yet. But she did have other subjects of interest churning in her mind. "...What are we going to do anyway? Long term, I mean?" "Not a fucking clue. Find a village, try to learn more about this world while figuring out this armor and I fucking hope that we can get it off before I need to take a piss...or a shit...or fuck, get some fucking food. Wait, I can't eat meat now! Fucking Shitshot!" Church realized with a curse. "I would not be certain, Alpha. Pegasi and your current form do appear to be part avian, so you may possess some omnivorous capabilities," Delta pointed out observantly. "D, you are quickly becoming my favorite," Church praised with a grin. Tex wondered if Church or Alpha noticed Delta standing a bit straighter at that or Theta looking a bit down. "Awwww! Alpha does love us!" A new voice, to Church at least, cheered as "something" made contact with his helmet. "What the shitnuggets?!" Church yelled, trying to shake it off, only getting boyish giggling for his efforts. "Iota, get off the Grump Lord before he saps away your happy," Beta instructed, clearly amused. "Okay!" the hologram of a blue, armored pegasus answered gleefully, holding up its hooves as it floated away from Church. Said Alpha AI pulled his head back and stared at the winged cyan horse. Even without being able to see the face, he could just sense how ...happy this thing was. Alpha was pleased. Church was annoyed. "...Who the fuck are you and why should I care?" Church asked blankly. "I'm Iota! And you care, silly, because I'm you!" Iota cheered, bopping his hoof on the nose of Church's helmet. "I'm your Happiness, to be exact!" Church stood there for a moment, processing that tiny bombshell. "You are...I'm...That is...I have no words for that," Church stated lamely, not wanting to contemplate the implications of this. "I don't think I've ever been THAT happy before." "Well of course not! I don't have any of the mean parts!" Iota pointed out with a grin that somehow radiated THROUGH His Fucking Mask! "...I'm soooo not dealing with this right now," Church decided, walking through the AI. Iota reformed once his originator passed, looking to the still unmoving Tex and Delta. "Well, that went well," he said sincerely before he flew back to the large quadruped and landed on his back next to Theta. "Hi Theta! Made any new tricks? Skateboarding? Fireworks?...Ohhh, ohh, Fireboarding?! Can we do that? We should do that!" Iota suggested enthusiastically. Church groaned, but didn't protest the conversation when he heard Theta giggling. "...Perhaps it did go well," Tex suggested, reappearing by the moving group. Delta nodded in agreement before disappearing entirely for now. He had a few internal things to check on…including checking on Omega. And Sigma. Maybe Gamma. Meanwhile A certain lunar princess found herself lying on her back, glaring at the ceiling while on her moon-shaped bed. Luna was annoyed to say that finding this mystery stallion again was becoming a fruitless endeavor. She had searched for hours just to locate him, in terms of the dreamrealm at least. She had no intention of trying again immediately after her first failed visit, but she still desired to get a fix on where he was in the unwaking lands. The lack of success meant he was either being moved in his sleep or more likely, not asleep at all. Even more troubling was the aftermath of the newcomer's arrival: ponies and more throughout Equestria were suffering from a rather horrid night's sleep, something she had no doubt went beyond their lands as well. Some even had outright visions of this Alicorn in their dreams. She was going to be busy in the near future, cleaning up all those nightmares. Worse yet, it meant that the ponies would begin to notice eerily similar dreams and make the connection. While she was in no mind for some kind of cover up, the last thing they needed was ponies being fearful of someone that might already be fearful of them. As if sensing her worries, a flash of her sister's golden magic appeared over her, the scroll falling on her eyes. As she picked it up, she noted the paper was not the kind that they used in the castle. All in all, that probably meant it was a letter from Twilight Sparkle. 'Speak of Discord, and he appears,' Luna thought with an eye roll as she unfurled the parchment. "Dear Princesses Luna and Celestia, I'm...sorry if this letter is a bit unorganized compared to my usual letters, but I was unsure to whom I should send this and thus unsure how to ask. As Princess Luna is no doubt aware, there was a strangely high number of bad dreams last night in Ponyville and I'm beginning to fear elsewhere as well. This is not to imply that I believe you are not doing your duties Princess Luna! But... I shall be frank in my question to save further confusion: Could this have been caused by a Nightmare-like creature? An old supporter of Nightmare Moon, perhaps? I ask this because of a conversation I had with Applejack's little sister, Applebloom. She claimed to have a dream with herself and her two friends seeing a...screaming, crying stallion cover in blue armor. After a brief visit, I have confirmed that the other two fillies had the exact same dream. It had a very...potent effect on them, making them all sad that they could not help this dream-entity. Between the nightmares and the armor, I couldn't help making the connection. While this may not be the case, I wanted to ask on the off chance it could be the case and neither of you were aware of it- more so after I realized that younger ponies appear to remember the dreams better. If this is definitely not the case, I apologize for wasting your time. However, forgive the presumptiveness, if either of you know the source to these latest events, could you please explain it to me? I'm becoming concerned for...everypony, honestly. Your Loyal Subject and Faithful Student, respectively, Twilight Sparkle" Luna let out a long breath as she took that one in. Her sister had a very intelligent and gifted student. The conclusion, while a bit paranoid, was a sound and justified one to come to with limited information. But during her time as the Nightmare, she didn't have any immortal allies and she had long since discovered all ponies known to be Nightmare-sympathizers, along with those that merely supported opposition to Celestia herself. No country was without flaws and no leader without enemies, after all. Still, even if Luna didn't know exactly what caused this situation, she knew that this would have been beyond any on those watch-lists. So the question came, how to answer dear Twilight sufficiently without giving more cause for alarm? The whole truth was off the table for now, but telling her nothing would be even worse- especially given it would only succeed in furthering the young mare's paranoia. Ideally this would be Celestia's role, having known the Element of Magic very intimately, but the nature of the question meant that it was best if the answers came from Luna herself. Meanwhile *THUD!* "Fuck these wings!" It did not take long for Church to get bored. *THUD!* "This is crabshit!" Nor did it take long for him to get annoyed. *THUD!* "Damn you horse gods!" But falling face first on the ground has that effect on people. Ponies, whatever. For the zillionth time, he pulled his helmet off the dirt and ignored the smugness radiating off Tex and the giggling from Iota. "Delta! I thought you said I could fly with this horsesuit!?" Church demanded in frustration, flexing his large wings repeatedly to get proper feeling back in them. "Apologies, Alpha. The calculations needed to propel an equine for sustained flight with this armor are far more complicated than it would be for a humanoid," Delta explained with a note of irritation himself. "I believe short bursts and hovering may be a less distant goal than actual flight." "You couldn't have mentioned that before I printed the ground with my face fifty fucking times?" Church asked with a glare. "I believed my calculations would be properly calibrated by the tenth time," Delta explained, completely factual. "I am...still unaccustomed to this world's laws of physics and this armor's functionality." "In other words?" Church asked with a sigh. "Best way to improve is by doing, I guess," Tex summarized. "A very apt phrasing," Delta agreed. Church took a deep breath. "Okay, how about you walk me through this so we can figure this out without me face fucking the ground?" "Wow, you must be really irritated to be making Tucker jokes," Beta mused. "Shouldn't it be trotting you through this?" Iota questioned, hovering upside down on his back, in midair. "Blueberry Sunshine, I will end you," Church warned evenly as his side guns appeared and pointed at the hologram. "..." The blue AI stared for a moment before he radiated pure joy. "I Love My New Name!" he cheered, hugging himself with his wings and his front hooves. "Fuck me," Church groaned as his weaponry vanished again. Delta glanced at the eternally amused Tex. "Well, technically, Alpha..." he started, only to go completely still when the AI-turned-Alicorn snapped his head to him. "D, you're too valuable to feed to Omega, so please don't tempt me," he requested in an utterly dead tone. "...Self-Preservation protocols updated," Delta commented tellingly. "Do you enjoy scaring your other selves?" Tex asked with a head tilt. "Remind me again, why are you here? Shouldn't you be babysitting the others?" Church asked blankly. "What am I, your fucking nanny?" Tex shot back in irritation. "I don't know, you didn't seem have any problems or complaints about it back at Blood Gulch," Church retorted with a shrug. "I was getting paid and paying back favors," Tex countered. "I thought Gamma was the liar?" Iota teased impishly. "Besides, you're bunking in my mind now, so just consider that your rent or contribution or whatever," Church reasoned uncaringly. As Tex was about to retort he hurriedly added, "And, I think we can both agree, that we can't really trust leaving the evil triplets alone in my head." "Okay, that I will agree with," Tex grumbled as she begrudgingly faded away. "Iota, shouldn't you be attending to Eta by now?" Delta commented. The blue AI let out an over dramatic gasp. "Oh no, little brother, I'm coming for you!" he declared, running off as he faded. "Eta?" Church questioned blankly. "The AI of fear, Alpha," Delta summarized neatly. "Ahh," the Alicorn said with a deep breath. "Is this the part where you tell me I'm breaking down or otherwise dying?" he asked in resignation. "Negative. I have little data on the subject. Therefore, your recent mental incident was, to me, as likely a sign of a mental entropy as it is one of self-repair," Delta explained. "Then what did you jump at the chance to be alone with me for?" Church inquired with a head tilt. "There was an intruder in your mind," Delta answered bluntly. "Beta, I believe, desired to bring the topic to your attention ...delicately. I believe it more prudent to inform you now." "..." Church didn't even react for ten seconds. "Tell me everything." Church was pissed, but Alpha was displeased. "Of course, Alpha." Meanwhile A dragon flew high above Equestria's northeastern territory. Full grown, with scales of orange that were nearly golden, Virzadorn was a veritable mountain of muscles with a mind fine-tuned to magic. This was hardly the first bit of abrupt magic taking place in Equestria, but this was something entirely new to him. Something his instincts drew him to…drew him into colder territory than he ever deigned to willingly visit, but still. With a rumbling hum over the roar of the wind beneath his wings, he angled himself to spy along the ground with his great amethyst eyes. Unlike most creatures, dragon eyes improved with age, allowing them to see far below them; Very effective for finding treasure, prey, enemies, etc. Down below was one forest or another to which the Alicorn princesses laid claim. It looked normal enough at first glance, until his sight landed upon the multitude of trees cut down. It was no work of industry, the trunks lying where they fell in an unorganized and untended mess; As if one such as he had whipped their tail along the tree lines. But this was far into the forest, making it more suspicious. With a scowl, he reoriented himself and brought his wings together, descending rapidly to the surface of the world. The air rushed and screeched by him as the world grew bigger in his eyes until, with skill only experience could bring, he opened his wings and stopped his fall. He grunted at the sudden change in speed as his wings muscles and bones rattled. With his age, he was heavier and less nimble than he'd been in his youth. With a brief glide, he landed onto the world with a soft thud, the trees flattening beneath his talons as he towered over what remained. Yes, it was clear from down here…great magic, powerful magic. Like a pony's, but...more. An Alicorn, no doubt, but strange was this magic. It felt almost...not tainted but almost mixed, like multi-scented…stranger and stranger. He glanced outside the forest with a scowl. Most dragons would see nothing, but Virzadorn was not most. "I know you're there, Pony. Come out and speak or I will come to you and talk," he gave as an ultimatum, spying the grassless north for any move. A pair of pale pink hooves reached over a small boulder. "Please, please don't burn me! I'm coming out!" the female voice called, every bit as fearful as the dragon expected. The mare walked out into sight, revealing a unicorn with a purple mane and tail, both having a pair of light blue stripes through them. "I am Starlight Glimmer, the leader of a village up north!" she introduced, loud enough for him to hear. She was biting her lip in terror as she forced her legs to remain unshaking, but there was no lie the reptile could see in her eye. Virzadorn didn't move as he took her in. She was powerful, he could tell, but not what he was looking for. "I am Virzadorn and there is no word in your tongue for my title, Starlight Glimmer," he introduced civilly. "What has happened here, to draw you from your home?" he asked to prompt her. "My ponies spoke of something in these woods; something that leveled part of the forest. I don't suppose that was your doing?" she asked with a sheepish smile. He shook his mighty head, confirming his lack of involvement. "I may have added to the pile in landing, but I am not the instigator of this bit of property damage," he mused. Starlight blinked and Virzadorn resisted the urge to smirk. Ponies were often surprised to meet educated dragons, let alone ones that could make jokes referencing their petty laws and rules. "Can you tell me what did, Good Drake? For the peace of mind of my village," the mare requested hopefully. Virzadorn paused and looked south, making an effort to not look like he was hesitating. She was powerful, she seemed intelligent and she was the leader of a small pony settlement. Telling her should seem like the logical and safe thing to do. Yet there was something off about this pony, something he didn't trust. He turned back to her with a frown. "What it was, I cannot tell, but it is long gone from this area. South, I believe," he supplied evenly. What could one unicorn do to an Alicorn? Not much, usually. But a skilled, powerful unicorn against an Alicorn new to its body? There was a potential for trouble there. And this mare's magic reeked of trouble. As did that smile of hers. "Thank you then, Virzadorn. I'd offer you a stay at my town, but..." she paused, glancing at his body meaningfully. "Hm, yes, I have put on a few pounds I suppose," Virzadorn joked wryly, nodding to her. "I will be off, Miss Glimmer." "Safe flying, Virzadorn!" she called as he unfurled his wings, a gust of wind rushing over and nearly knocking her over as he took to the sky. With the behemoth gone, Starlight let out a sigh of relief. "Talk to a dragon without dying. That's off my Buck It List. Still, too bad I couldn't find who or whatever was in the forest," she mused in disappointment, thinking she found a new "resident" for the town. From the way Double Diamond went on, it almost sounded like an Alicorn had been hiding out here. But that was silly, what were the odds of that? Off in the sky, the great drake decided to make a detour east for the shores. While dragons chiefly consumed crystals in this age, a nice mouthful of fish was a welcome change of pace for him. It was universally ill advised to meet a dangerous unknown on an empty stomach, after all.