//------------------------------// // A Grand Encounter // Story: Cold Scales // by Konatra //------------------------------// King Solaris sat on his throne in a dismal state. For weeks he and his brother Prince Artemis wasted hours going through old magic scrolls and spells on how to track a missing person. This person was of course Spines who was the adopted daughter of Solaris and next in line to the crown. Her disappearance came without notice and left no trace of any sort. What made this disturbing was the lack of evidence that Spines even existed in this mortal coil anymore due to the unexplainable absence of her magical signature. Magical signatures were unique to all living creatures, very powerful or specialized beings are able to identify and even track down others if they had the 'scent'. Solaris was very close to Spines so of course, he could track her just from his magic keeping memory of her signature, at least that was thought at first. According to his scouts that were sent with a magical copy of her tracks to find, Spines stood in the middle of her and Prince Dusk's library and that was it. The king wanted to lash out at these so-called detectives for their apparent lack of skill but he calmed himself and felt it was best to trust the professionals. They did give ideas at what may have occurred and none of them eased his worry. Some suggested she activated some kind of self destruct spell and simply ceased to exist, although no such spell could be located in any of the spellbooks in the entire library and of course such deadly spells are blacklisted from the community and can only be found locked away in the secured archives of the Canterlot Palace. Another disturbing theory was a possible kidnapping. It could be that agents against the throne learned of the connection the two shared and used magic masking spells to capture Spines. This seemed the most logical conclusion but no ransom or threat has been made in this long, so it lead to another dark possibility for her disappearance. Some of Solaris's best theorists say that Spines if she is still alive, has been corrupted by dark energies unknown to the magic archives. It could be that Spines had somehow tainted her magic signature by foreign magic and was just simply untraceable. Out of every idea given this was the one Solaris hopped was true despite the implications. This could mean Spines has been corrupted in some fashion, but it has been proven again and again that those who fall to darkness are always capable of redemption. The big issue, however, remains to be her whereabouts, agents were sent to scour the far reaches of Equestria but still, nothing concerning Spines has come about or what may have caused this dark turnover. What has come about is a whole new matter entirely. Unknown creatures were sighted in the Everfree, nothing in any logbooks could categorize the shifty black creatures that lurked in the shadows of the trees, and by the accounts of Dusk, it can be safely assumed that these 'Nightmares' were extremely hostile and were to be avoided at all cost. The forest scouts discovered massive pockets of these creatures amassing by the thousands near Ponyville but before the scouts could escape from their hidden locations and report the matter, a new party would always reveal themselves. Yes, large and small robotic machinations would emerge from the skies and lay quick and decisive waste to the gathering armies before they could amass further, no matter the size, the robotic faction would always land a critical victory. Solaris knew what this meant and it was not good, to say the least. War has come to his nation and what was worse was his noninvolvement of any known faction. His nation was merely a bystander right in the middle of it. The two forces could not be tracked due to their speed and ability to turn invisible but if anyone could find a base of some sort then what? What could his knights do to such savage and advanced forces? Not even modern-day magic or ancient spells could create such devastating damage without pause, with great pain in his heart Solaris had to put the search for his daughter on hold and focus on the national threat in front of him. He read the report given to him recently by the Canterlot guard once again, each time made his heart sink deeper into his chest. All throughout the grand capital, there have been multiple sightings of mechanical beings. At times they are seen apprehending individuals who have broken the law or are in danger and rescuing them from harm. While this was oddly good news in that it hinted at the possibility that this advanced faction was on friendly terms with his, it left many serious questions on their intentions. Many more reports were made of sightings of these mysterious beings. Guards spotted the faceless ones on roofs of in dark pathways. In the night they rush past guards at such high speeds it is questioned if a being was even there at all. They were everywhere, watching, observing his subject's every move. When caught watching they would fade into the darkness they inhabit, the ponies were starting to notice these odd sightings and fear began to creep into every household. Solaris feared this was the first step to a full-scale invasion. They were gathering knowledge, looking for weaknesses, memorizing troop patrol routes. The King was troubled, backed into a corner, what could he do? His guards are flimsy despite being the elite of the world, they wouldn't know true combat or experience. When faced with a true threat they toppled like dominoes and caved easily. What training could be done to supplement this? Shining Armor is with his wife in the Crystal Empire and his abilities would do nothing to shield this city as the dark beings were already well infiltrated. Discord was missing as usual and any help that blasted nut case could provide very well may make things that much worse if left to his own devices...perhaps the magic archives could- Solaris dropped the scroll to take the focus of his surroundings. He was a fool to not notice the growing menacing atmosphere that had overtaken the empty throne room...yes empty. The king rose from his seat with air in his chest, his gaze could burn flesh if given enough focus. "Show yourself intruder and I will be willing to hear what you have to say. If you wanted to attack you had an opportune advantage moments ago..." It was silent, so silent that for a moment as he scanned the large room Solaris wondered if he were starting to mentally deteriorate. But his keen senses proved themself as nine armored clad robotic figures appeared out from thin air only meters away from his throne. Well, his senses couldn't seem to tell how many had just made fools of his entire royal guard and magical defense system. He silently tensed at the clear number disadvantage. The intruding party stood in a perfect line of two-fours with the clearly elite member in front. This one was different from the rest, in the reports described the mysterious beings as faceless, thin mechanoids but this one was unseen to all except him, could this possibly be their leader? It was all black and very tall in comparison to himself. Its arms looked to be able to crush through the strongest of steel walls while its legs looked strong enough to run faster than the best of the Bison tribe. It wore a heavy-looking cloak with intricate patterns that seemed to show a draconian serpent coiling around its form. But the face of this imposing figure rattled the iron-faced king. It reminded him of her with its sharp face and clear draconic influence. And the glowing green eyes it had made a memory flash across his eyes. But he shoved those distracting thoughts aside. "What business do you have to break into my kingdom and terrorize my people I demand an answer from you." He spoke calm but stern, he knew he had to remain neutral in what he said for this exchange could very well decide the fate of Canterlot in not all of Equestria. And then to his surprise, the giant bowed deeply to the king. "My apologies your lordship but it is not in my place to speak for our queen." 'A queen?' The king thought, already thinking deeply about this new information. "But I believe your questions may be answered for we bring a message from our fearless queen for you, the king of this land." Without waiting for a response the elite pulled a silver ball from its cloak and placed it gently on the ground. A second later a blue light emanated from the top of the sphere and presented a holographic but crystal clear image of another draconic armored being. Its eyes shone through into his own. This one seemed thinner in appearance but its armor bore more lines and ridges and seemed more unique in how important this one held itself. "It is an honor to meet you, King Solaris." She bowed slightly in a respectful manner. "I am Queen Carbon of the android legion, I want to speak to you in person but my loyal subjects would need to escort you to my home. There I will answer all your questions and reveal to you the nature of our arrival and the massive threat that looms over your peaceful kingdom." Solaris mulled over this request shortly. In reality, not much could be done, what if he refused? Also what if he accepted, where would he go, is this a trap, and would he be able to return. But it was not like he could fight all these figures at once and if they wanted to harm him they could have done it easily before and it seemed this Queen wanted to work together against the clearly violent demonic forces that lived in the forest. It would be foolish to reject this powerful force without hearing what they had to say. Yes, the answer was clear. "I accept." He said simply while not breaking contact. The Queen seemed to smile with its eyes. "Then I will see you soon, we have so much to talk about." At that the hologram deactivated and the elite picked it back up into its fold. Solaris walked down slowly to the elite. "Where do we go from here then?" "It is simple your highness, it will only take but a moment." The elite calmly placed its large hand on the King's shoulder, before he could react to this they were all gone in a sudden flash of light. Now the room was truly empty and the King of Equestria went missing...not like this would be the first time.