//------------------------------// // Names and Numbers // Story: The Noble Guardians // by nobreiner //------------------------------// Mayor Mare sat in her office, poring over a stack of legal documents almost as tall as she was. As she considered whether to approve Filthy Rich’s reparations for the ‘emotional damage’ Nightmare Moon’s attack had caused, her office door was suddenly thrown open, a rainbow blur rushing up to her desk, and sending the papers flying. Grunting in frustration, Mayor Mare glared up at the Pegasus floating above her. “What is it, Miss Dash?” The rainbow mare crossed her hooves, huffing indignantly. “Well, I was just sleeping at home, minding my own business, when all of the sudden some giant BOOM nearly knocks me out of bed! What’s the deal?” Then, a soft ahem issued from behind Rainbow, and Mayor Mare looked past the disgruntled Pegasus and smiled at the two mares standing in the doorway to her office. “Ah, Applejack, Fluttershy. I assume you two are here for the same reason as Miss Dash?” Applejack gave an embarrassed nod and Fluttershy mumbled an incoherent apology. Stepping forward, Applejack swept her hat off with a hoof respectfully, before saying, “Ta be honest, we’d like ta know what’s happening with this here shootin’ star we’ve been hearin’ about.” Mayor Mare’s gaze swept across the three ponies, taking in their curious expressions, until she sighed and sat behind her desk. Resting her hooves on the desk, she said, “Very well.” She then proceeded to explain the situation, as the mares listened with rapt attention. Once she finished, and before the three could say anything in response, she asked, “What I would like to know is why you three are coming to me now. That meteor landed-“ She glanced at the clock mounted on the wall behind them. “-two hours ago. Why wait to come to me to find out about this now?” Fluttershy was quick to respond meekly, “Oh, I’m sorry, but the crash made such a loud noise that it scared all of my poor animals. It took me until just now to get them all calmed down. It was awful, just awful!” Mayor Mare nodded, and shifted to Applejack. “Well, shoot.” Said the farmpony. “Ah had pretty much the same problem with the cows down at Sweet Apple Acres. Blast shook ‘em up so bad, they nearly started a stampede. Ah had t’calm them down b‘fore they charged straight inta Ponyville.” Mayor Mare nodded again. “Thanks for preventing a disaster, then.” She then turned a skeptical eye to Rainbow Dash. “And as for you, Miss Dash?” Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, grinning embarrassedly. “Well, I may have gone back to sleep after the crash woke me up. Or tried to, anyways. I was too curious though, so I came here. But forget about that-“ She planted her hooves on the desk and leaned in, before continuing in a suspicious tone, “-are you telling me that Twilight led Pinkie and Rarity into the Everfree Forest, and you just let them go!” She jabbed an accusatory hoof at Mayor Mare. Applejack grabbed Rainbow’s tail in her jaws, yanking the Pegasus back before spitting out her tail and saying, “Settle down, sugar. Ah’m sure Miss Mayor had her reasons.” Turning to the Mayor, she continued, “But ah am a little worried. The Everfree Forest is dangerous, why’d ya just let Twilight and the others go?” Mayor mare sighed. “I understand your concern, but it was the best possible option at the time. The town was in an uproar; we believed we were being attacked! Then Twilight comes along and says the meteor is magical in origin, and offers to go investigate it. Besides, the six of you ventured into the Everfree just three days ago, and Twilight is Celestia’s personal student. Surely Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie can handle themselves within the Forest, right?” Rainbow, Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged uncertain looks, and Rainbow responded, “Mayor, we barely survived in there with all six of us! Not to mention this ‘magical meteor.’ Who knows what dangerous thing it could’ve brought here?” Mayor Mare shook her head. “I’m afraid that whatever problems you may have had with my decision, there’s nothing that can be done about it now. Twilight was the only one to see the object land, so there’s way of knowing where she went.” Rainbow Dash huffed angrily. “I don’t care, I’m not just gonna leave Twilight and the others in there! I’ll find them if I have to search the entire forest!” She turned to Applejack and Fluttershy. “Let’s go save our friends!” Applejack nodded emphatically, pumping a hoof, and Fluttershy whimpered, but made no objection. Together, the three mares rushed back out the door, leaving Mayor Mare alone in her office, her assorted papers still scattered throughout the room. Laying her head in her hooves, Mayor Mare briefly wondered whether or not to run for reelection… again. ------ As Rarity followed Pinkie back down the forest’s path, she continued to cast worried glances back at the six armored ponies trailing behind them. Each of them was intimidating on their own, but together they seemed to exude an aura of death. Having seen them tear apart the pack of Timberwolves (literally, in some cases) Rarity was terrified of leaving the figures out of her sight. She kept an especially close eye on the one that was currently carrying Twilight. He was a massive hulk of a stallion, even taller than Big Macintosh, and even his thick armor did little to hide his unnaturally large muscles. And his armor, a horrid hodgepodge of asymmetrical plating and garish colors, caused a pang of horror with each glance she took of the behemoth. Since agreeing to lead them back to town, Rarity had been feeling a growing dread of their eventual reveal to Ponyville. She had seen the townsfolk’s reaction to the meteor landing, just how were they going to react to seeing these terrible forms enter town? Though, she had to admit, without their help they would have been massacred by the Timberwolves, and they had clearly expressed an honest desire to keep them safe. She couldn’t help but forgive them of the violent acts they had committed, knowing that they were all for the sake of her and her friends’ safety. So, to repay their heroism, the least she could do was help get them to the nearest civilization. Heck, for all she knew they simply wished to contact wherever it is they came from and be on their way. Or destroy all of Equestria. She prayed to Celestia it was the former. As the group finally returned to the dirt path that would lead them out of the forest, Pinkie drew back from her position at the front of the pack to begin bouncing alongside the one Rarity had identified as the leader of the group. After a few moments of her bouncing alongside him, the blue armored stallion glanced confusedly at Pinkie and asked, “Need something?” Pinkie Pie beamed in response. “Well what with all the scary ‘Timberwolf-vs.-armored-super-ponies’ stuff, I forgot to introduce myself!” She moved in front of Carter forcing the Spartan to stop in his tracks, and stuck out a hoof to shake. “My name’s Pinkie Pie!” The stallion cocked his helmeted head as if to say ‘seriously?’ before slowly extending a hoof to grasp the bobbing mares. “Commander Carter, leader of Noble Team.” Pinkie buzzed in excitement. “Noble Team? Is that the name of you and your friends? That sounds super-duper cool! Why are you guys called that? Are you really noble? Are you all nobles? Or dukes? Or maybe lords?” Rarity, sensing the quickly increasing discomfort of the Commander, stepped forward and calmly brushed the pink mare aside. “I apologize, darling. Pinkie Pie can be a bit… eccentric.” Drawing a hoof to her chest and tossing her mane over her shoulder, she said grandly, “You may call me Rarity.” Carter looked down at the pearlescent pony before him and cocked an eyebrow beneath his helmet. What is with these ponies’ names? He wondered. Shrugging off his confusion, Carter nodded. “Pleasure to meet you ma’am.” He could tell from the mare’s introduction that she was a dedicated high-society type, and therefore should be spoken to with courtesy, if for no other reason than to avoid an argument. Smiling genuinely at the Commander’s politesse, Rarity continued, “A pleasure, darling. And who, might I ask, are your friends?” The question caused Carter to glance at the rest of Noble Team, who shrugged noncommittally in return. Turning to face his fellow Spartans, Carter began, “This is Kat and Jun, Nobles Two and Three.” He gestured to the teal and olive colored figures, each of them giving friendly nods in return. “Emile and Jorge, Four and Five.” The skull faced figure seemed to be entirely ignoring her in favor of observing the blade attached to its shoulder, which was now drawn and held close to the figure’s face. He scrutinized the edge of the blade the same way Rarity would scrutinize a design for a dress, searching for imperfections and only giving a passing glance to her before continuing his inspection. The mismatched goliath, on the other hoof, gave a surprisingly jovial wave in response. Gesturing to the last figure, Carter said, “And this is Noble Six.” The steel armored Pegasus said nothing in response, and Rarity felt slightly unnerved by her expressionless gaze. “Just Noble Six?” Asked Pinkie, cocking her head to the side in confusion. “Doesn’t she have a funny name too like you guys?” Our names are funny? Carter thought skeptically. “Noble Six is the only name someone besides her knows. Anything else is just black ink.” Pinkie surprisingly grinned in response. “Ooh, her name’s Black Ink?” Rushing over to the Lieutenant, she grasped her hoof and began vigorously pumping it in a hoofshake. “Hi Miss Black Ink, I’m Pinkie Pie! Did you know I have a sister whose name is a lot like yours? Her name’s Inkamena, but I just call her Inkie!” The mare said all of this in one breath, still rapidly shaking the Spartan’s hoof. Amazingly, Six showed no outward reaction, other than a slight tilt of her head to the left. Eventually, the pink mare released Six’s hoof, a wide grin still plastered on her face. Six then said, “My name isn’t Black Ink. Just call me Noble Six.” The grin on Pinkie’s face faltered for a moment, but quickly reappeared. “Okey Dokey Lokey!” She smiled brightly, stepping back to join Rarity. Suddenly, a cry of shock caused everypony present to turn toward its source, to find Jorge with a screaming purple Unicorn on his back, until she suddenly disappeared in a bright flash of light. ----- Twilight Sparkle awoke in a daze, her head pounding and causing her to clutch her forehead with both hooves in an attempt to lessen the pain. As Twilight gradually became more aware, she began to feel an uncomfortable pain in her back. She shifted slightly, but this offered no respite. Groaning softly, she blearily opened her eyes, and found herself looking at what appeared to be an upside-down metal pony. Her eyes suddenly snapped open in shock, taking in the details of the monster before her. It was garbed in teal armor, and the arm closest to her was just a metallic skeleton. Quickly casting her gaze around her, she discovered that there were more of the monsters; six in total, and trapped between them was Rarity and Pinkie Pie! Truly panicking now, Twilight felt her heartbeat begin to quicken. Then, a sudden, horrible scraping sound caught her attention. Looking toward the source of the noise, her eyes widened in terror at what she saw. One of the metal ponies, one Twilight had only briefly paid attention to in her panic, now was the only thing in her sights. It was covered in Dark Grey and Red armor, and a collection of strange rounded objects dangled from its barrel. But it was two particular traits that drew Twilights attention. The first was the largest knife Twilight had ever seen that was clutched in the monster’s hoof. It was long and curved, and produced a terrifying scrrrape sound as the monster brought it slowly down the large metal plate on its opposite shoulder. The second was the horrible image of the creature’s face. The monster’s face caused Twilight’s entire body to seize up in terror. It was a skull; a crude, jagged skull that in Twilight’s terrified state, looked like the face of the Pale Pony himself. Then, to Twilight’s horror, the face slowly turned, and looked right. At. Her. Immediately her mind jumped into a panicked hyperdrive, and her horn ignited with magic, as a scream of terror ripped from her mouth. Her body instinctively began to pour energy into a spell, one that would act upon the one thought dominating her mind: Must get away! Then, in a burst of magical light, she was gone. ----- Rainbow Dash led the charge from the air as she, Applejack and Fluttershy made their way towards the Everfree Forest. As the thick copse of trees that was the Forest’s entrance drew ever closer, Rainbow twisted around and, still maintaining her speed, turned to face her friends. “Okay, so here’s the plan.” She said authoritatively. “We go in there, find the others, and beat the horseapples outta whatever’s in between, got it?” Applejack rolled her eyes, not slowing her pace. “Rainbow, since when did ya’ll become the leader here? B’sides Ah don’t know if beatin’ the hay outta everything we find in there is gonna help us find Twi, Rarity and Pinkie Pie any faster.” Fluttershy was flying quietly alongside Applejack, refusing to rise more than a few feet off the ground. At Rainbow’s suggestion, she gave a shocked gasp. “Oh, Rainbow Dash, I’d never be able to hurt any of the poor animals in that Forest! If they were in my way, I’d probably just go around them. Or maybe ask politely for them to move.” Rainbow scoffed, turning back towards the forest. “Don’t be such a doormat, Fluttershy, besides, do you want to save the girls or not? They’re in the Everfree Forest! It’s not like they’re just gonna-“ She was cut off as a large blast of light appeared in front of them, before dissolving into the image of a familiar lavender Unicorn. Twilight stood on shaky hooves as she found herself outside the forest. Suddenly, a massive surge of fatigue hit her as the cost of the teleportation, along with her previous exhaustion, made her pitch forward as her legs gave out beneath her. She was saved with a rough landing into the dirt, however, as a pair of yellow hooves wrapped around her protectively. Eyes widening in shock, Fluttershy drew closer to her friend as the Unicorn fought to stay awake. “Twilight, what happened?” Fluttershy whispered urgently, propping the Unicorn up with her hooves. The lavender unicorn was unable to form a coherent response, only able to breathe, “Help… Monsters, I-“ before collapsing in Fluttershy’s grip, unconscious. Gently, Fluttershy cradled her inert friend in her hooves, tears forming in her eyes. Quickly rushing over to the pair, Applejack and Rainbow Dash gasped in shock at the sight of their passed out friend. The two mares’ expressions contorted into ones of horror. “What happened to her?” Asked Rainbow Dash. “Is she?” Fluttershy shook her head. “No, she’s still breathing. She’s just passed out.” Both Rainbow and Applejack sighed in relief, and Fluttershy continued. “I need to get her home and get her in bed. You girls should go on without us.” Rainbow’s expression darkened. “Right. We’re gonna find whatever did this, and we’re going to make it pay.” She pounded one hoof into the other, growling. Next to her Applejack nodded, her expression stern. “Yer right, Rainbow. Whatever it was that coulda done this hasta be stopped. B’fore it hurts anypony else.” Applejack affirmed, and together the two continued their sprint toward the Forest. ----- “What the Hell just happened?” Carter commanded, looking from Jorge to the two mares, staring at Jorge with worried expressions. At his order, they turned their gazes to Carter, and grimaced nervously in response. “She must have woken up, and gotten a bit of a shock at seeing you all.” Rarity suggested. Carter huffed. “Yes, I can guess that much. What I want to know is what that flash of light was, and where she went.” He scowled at the two ponies. “Now. What. Happened?” Pinkie Pie was the first to respond. “Well, Mister Carter, Twilight teleported!” Carter raised a brow. “Teleported.” He deadpanned. “Yup, teleported! Y’know, magic!” Pinkie grinned, unable to see Carter’s baffled expression. Magic? She must be joking. Casting a glance at the transformed members of Noble Team, he thought, Then again, it wouldn’t be the strangest explanation. I mean, what else could do this? “So, you ponies can use magic.” To his surprise, Pinkie shook her head in response. “Silly, I can’t use magic, I’m just an Earth Pony! Twilight’s a Unicorn, like Rarity! Or you! Or Miss Kitty!” Kat began an indignant response, but was cut off by Jorge. “I hate to interrupt, but where did Twilight go?” This question drew everyone’s attention, and Rarity gasped. Rushing up to Carter, she pleaded, “Commander, Twilight was suffering from magical exhaustion already! Teleporting like that would completely drain her of whatever energy she had left! The poor dear must be passed out somewhere! We must find her before something else does!” Carter looked at the Unicorn’s desperate expression, and nodded. “Alright, you heard her Noble Team, we have a new objective. We have to find this Unicorn.” Honestly not an order I ever expected to give. He thought dryly. Kat was uncertain, however. “Commander, how are we supposed to know where this Twilight is? She could have transported herself anywhere.” Rarity was the one to respond. “Well, Twilight was probably panicking. Magic mostly follows instinct when one doesn’t focus clearly, so she’s probably taken herself out of the Forest, away from danger.” Carter nodded in response. “Alright Noble, let’s get out of this forest. Move out!” Then, with Rarity and Pinkie Pie in the lead, and Noble Team following close behind, the group galloped down the path heading out of the forest. ------ Together, Rainbow and Applejack were quick to reach the Everfree Forest. They were greeted by a pleasant surprise, as they saw Rarity and Pinkie Pie leaving the Forest. The pleasant surprise quickly turned to horror as following them out of the Forest was six monstrous forms. Reacting quickly, Rainbow shot upwards, gaining altitude before launching herself downwards at the closest figure, Applejack following close behind her on the ground. Together, the two rushed past the shocked Rarity and Pinkie Pie, ignoring their desperate cries for them to halt, and struck their targets with all their might. Carter was relieved to see the exit to the Forest finally appear, but just as he crossed the edge of the trees lining the Forest’s edge, he heard a loud cry of “Stay away from my friends!” and he was suddenly struck by a heavy impact. The force of the blow was enough to shatter his shields, and cause him to stumble back slightly. Jerking his head toward the source of the blow, he saw that it had come from what appeared to be a sky blue Pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane, and who was now shaking her forehooves and cursing loudly. “Celestia damn it! What is that thing made of?” Waving her hooves in an attempt to quell the pain the blow had caused, she looked towards the figure to see how much damage she had managed to do. Upon seeing her target, her jaw dropped. A blow that normally would have been enough to dent metal had left this creature completely unharmed. The only difference her strike seemed to have caused was the small jolts of orange electricity that now ran along its frame in short bursts. Applejack had made a similar discovery when she had galloped up to the largest figure and delivered a solid buck that would have toppled most trees in Sweet Apple Acres, but didn’t even budge the beast, only causing a small burst of light to issue from its form and sending jolts of pain up Applejack’s legs. Jorge was, for his part, impressed. The orange, blonde-maned pony that had just bucked him had completely drained his shields. For anything less than an Eight-foot-tall Elite, that was truly an impressive feat. Hoping not to agitate the orange mare any further, he calmly said, “Please calm down, there’s no need for that.” Applejack grimaced at the giant in response, placing herself between the monsters and her friends, Rainbow doing the same next to her. “Ya just stay back, varmints! Stay back, or ah’ll buck ya into next week!” She pawed at the ground with a forehoof, snorting angrily. The figure that Rainbow had struck stepped forward, a small shell of light encompassing it, accompanied by a soft bzzmmmm noise. “Look, just calm down, we’re not going to hurt anyone.” Rainbow jabbed a hoof at the figure, proclaiming, “Hay yeah, you’re not gonna hurt anypony! Cause if you even try we’re gonna wipe the floor with you!” Behind the two irate mares, Rarity spoke up. “Rainbow, Applejack, this is entirely unnecessary! These ponies were helping us!” Rainbow and Applejack cast incredulous looks to Rarity and Pinkie Pie. “Oh really?” Said Rainbow Dash, sarcasm heavy in her tone. “And what about those ‘monsters’ that Twilight was mumbling about? Or are there some other giant metal ponies I should know about?” Pinkie Pie was quick to answer, “I don’t know about those other monsters, Dashie, but Noble here saved us from a pack of meanie-pants Timberwolves! But Twilight didn’t see it, cause she was sleeping, but then she woke up, and then she screamed, and then she teleported away!” She said all of this in one breath, leaving most of her words nearly incomprehensible. Confused at Pinkie Pie’s rapid-fire ramblings, Applejack said, “So what are you tryin’ ta tell us?” Rarity answered, “That this was all a big misunderstanding, darlings, and that Noble Team here has no intention of harming us!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash considered this revelation, looking at the group of Spartans, who remained silent. After a pregnant pause, Applejack said, “Alright, Rarity. Ah believe ya.” Rainbow Dash grunted in exasperation. “Applejack, are you crazy? Just look at ‘em!” She pointed an accusatory hoof at Emile, who rolled his eyes in response. Applejack fixed Rainbow with a firm stare. “Ah am lookin’ Rainbow, and Ah’m seein’ that they’ve done nothin’ to hurt any of us. Plus, they saved Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight.” Rainbow spluttered for a second, searching for a convincing argument. Finding none, she crossed her hooves and grumbled, “Fine.” Zipping over to Carter, she prodded his chest with a hoof. “Just know that I’m watching you, buddy.” Carter nodded. “As well you should.” Turning to the others, he continued, “We should head into town, I’m sure you two want to check on your friend.” The mares gave their agreement, and the assembled Spartans and ponies continued their journey towards Ponyville, now joined by Rainbow and Applejack. As the group made their way towards Ponyville, Rainbow and Applejack questioned Rarity on the events that occurred in the Forest, occasionally directing a question to a member of Noble Team. Like Rarity, the two were a bit disturbed by the brutality with which Noble Team dealt with the Timberwolves, but were willing to overlook it in favor of being grateful that their friends were saved. In return, they gave their own version of the events following the meteor crash, describing their meeting with the Mayor, to finding Twilight, up to when they had encountered Rarity, Pinkie, and Noble Team. As the town drew closer in their sights, Carter held up a hoof, and the group stopped. “Before we go into town, we need a plan.” Rarity nodded in agreement. “You’re right, darling. We can’t just go strolling into town; that would cause a panic. Furthermore, I wish to make sure that Twilight is okay.” Applejack rubbed her chin with a hoof in thought. “When we left town, nopony was wandrin’ the streets. I guess the meteor hittin’ wasn’t enough to keep ponies from sleepin’.” “Still, we should be careful.” Carter warned. “We’ll make our way to the library, and you can check on your friend. Then you can take us to meet this Mayor.” The ponies agreed, and the group ventured into Ponyville proper. The streets were empty, and the group quickly made their way to the library, without a single pony spotting them. Jun gave a relieved laugh. “Well, that wasn’t so ba-“ He was interrupted as an enormous burst of light ruptured the air above them. Looking toward the source of the noise, the assembled ponies saw a ball of light as bright as the sun, which gave way to reveal a glowing white Alicorn in its place. The Alicorn immediately caught sight of the ponies, and its eyes filled with anger. Then, before they could say any words in the Spartans’ defense, the Alicorn’s horn glowed, and Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack vanished in a flash of golden light. The Alicorn then turned its gaze to Noble team, its eyes literally burning with rage. “YOU MONSTERS WILL NOT HURT MY SUBJECTS!” It roared, its horn and eyes igniting in fiery blazing light. As the enraged Alicorn bore down on Noble Team, Emile summarized the Spartans’ combined thoughts: “Well, shit.” Author’s Note: AAAAHHHH! Cliffhanger! I’m so, so sorry! But honestly, this chapter was mostly exposition, and having the action sequence in here would have butchered it in my opinion. It’s called juxtaposition, folks! I just had to break them up, please forgive me! So how is this going to end? Why is Princess Celstia there? Will Noble survive? Find out, in the next chapter of The Noble Guardians!