//------------------------------// // Discovery // Story: Fortress Equestria // by computerneek //------------------------------// She shakes her head as she leaves town, leaping off the edge.  She’d planned to spend some time in the library before hitting the streets to inquire after her parents. However, she hadn’t even hit the library yet when some stallions in gold-colored armor had stopped her, and asked where her parents were.  She’d answered honestly- that she didn’t know, and was looking for them. The two stallions- which, she suspects, are some kind of law enforcement- had then taken her into custody for no apparent reason.  When asked, they only told her where they were taking her. Which was a place she didn’t want to go.  She’d tried turning invisible to escape- but they were unicorns.  One managed to counter her invisibility spell, the other levitated her back.  They’d then stuck an annoying ring on her horn- or, her armored horn.  It seems to affect her through the armor anyways- she couldn’t feel her magic, and he had called it a ‘suppression ring’. Not that it had helped them any.  She’d waited until they dropped her off- some kind of orphanage, she thinks- before making her escape.  She’d slipped the ring right off of the smooth outer surface of her armored horn, made herself invisible, and left through the back door.  The guard- no horn, no wings, that means he’s an ‘earth pony’- had tried to catch her, but her armor had proven stronger. She’d made her escape while he was still recovering. The next guard she’d crossed paths with, on the street, had asked her the same question the first two had.  This time, though, she’d come up with something fictitious. She’d claimed that her parents were waiting for her in the library. He’d pointed out she’d been going in the wrong direction.  She’d admitted to being lost. He- a pegasus- had flown her to the library.  He hadn’t followed her in, though, so her fiction had held. She’d studied up on everything important- basic history, what a cutie mark is, and so on.  She’d left when the library closed- and made herself invisible to avoid all the guards. Now, still invisible, she’s headed for that little town by the forest up ahead.  She extends her alloy wings, catching her fall and accelerating away. Hopefully, a little town like that will be a little less… Well, Guard-infested. Her armor might be designed to allow her to sleep safely in the field, or even in the air, but she already did that once.  As much as doing that had helped her reach livable land- ‘Equestria’, it’s called- overnight, she’d rather not do that where somepony might actually see her. Besides, her armor isn’t the most comfortable thing to sleep in. She tilts her head slightly as she reaches cruising speed.  If she does find a bed to sleep in, and sheds her armor for the night, she’ll have to guard against somepony walking in during the night. She squints through the sunset at the village.  Her armor responds to her request, zooming in on it- and in a matter of moments, it’s just a forelegs’ reach away.  It looks like it’s got more than a few guards, as well- but they seem to be more willing to simply follow and watch than control. Oh- and for as unfriendly as that forest looks, it’s nothing her armor can’t handle. By the time she arrives in town, most of the ponies have turned in for the night- leaving a number of guards patrolling the streets.  She sheds her invisibility before entering town, and makes a beeline for what has to be Main Street. A guard stops her.  “Excuse me, Miss?” he asks. Much nicer than the guards in Canterlot, she decides, as she turns to respond.  “Yes?” He blinks a couple times, before giving himself a shake, taking a deep breath, and running a hoof through his two-toned blue mane.  “Sorry,” he finally continues, turning away to unsuccessfully hide the blush. “I thought you looked familiar, for a second.” He takes another breath.  “Sorry about that. Carry on.” “Wait!”  She calls out to him, right as he turns away. He turns back, raising an eyebrow.  “Yes?” She mentally prepares herself to disappear.  Invisibility… and teleport, possibly. “I’m, uh, a bit new to the area- I was wondering if there was someplace to sleep?” He blinks a few more times, turning to face her more fully.  “Um, I’m not sure,” he finally answers. “I’d have to ask… Here, follow me.” He leads her not to Main Street but to what looks like a Guard outpost not far from the middle of town.  He even leads her inside- and acquires the attention of the desk officer. She braces herself for escape. But, as it turns out, she didn’t need to.  He simply asks after someplace safe for her to sleep- and, after confirming that she doesn’t already have anyplace, gets a place. Then he leads her back outside, and out to the library.  Apparently, there’s a loft in here. While normally reserved for the librarian, it seems they haven’t had a librarian in years. Oh well.  She hadn’t really planned on interacting with the librarian anyways. He shows her to the door.  It’s a nice tree, she decides. “And here we are,” he mutters.  “Are you going to be okay overnight, or…?” She nods.  “I’ll be okay,” she smiles.  “Should I expect to see anypony?” He shakes his head.  “Library is always empty at this hour.” “Ahh.”  She nods, and starts to head in.  Then, the door just swinging open, she turns back towards him.  He’s also turning away, presumably to resume his patrol. “Wait- I have to ask, is there a particular reason there’s so many guards about?” He nods.  “I haven’t heard the full story- nopony has- but word is we’ve been fighting a war of survival for decades…  and we’re losing. By Celestia’s orders, every town and city is regularly patrolled- and if anypony heads out after dark, we make sure to follow and protect.” “So, the enemy has gotten past the line?” He nods.  “Alcari,” he states.  “They’re called the ‘Alcari’.”  He glances quickly to the sides.  “If we’re going to talk, we should probably do it inside.” She nods, and leads the way.  It’s a nice little library, if she ignores the disaster waiting for her on the shelves.  The books seem to be semi-randomly placed, but she can recognize the remains of its prior, alphabetical organization. He follows her in, and closes the door, before letting out a sigh.  “Never know when one of them is going to jump out at you. We can’t afford to let our guard down- even for a moment- outside.” “But you can, inside?” He nods.  “Usually, yes…  come to think of it, they like infesting public buildings.  I should probably scour the place before leaving you alone here- and make sure you lock the door when I leave.”  He shudders. “I’d hate to lose somepony to something like that.” She tilts her head.  “What do these… ‘Alcari’ look like?” He describes them.  If she allows for all the uncertain words he’s using, it matches her observations of the Enemy that had nearly captured her as a foal. “I…  I hope I never see one again,” he states, completing his long oration with a tear. She blinks.  “What happened?” He looks away.  “A… Long time ago.  Long before anypony knew about the war.  Mighta been before it even started, I’m not sure.”  He takes a deep breath. “That… That was when I got my cutie mark.”  His head hangs. “I was out camping with my parents… Three of the things came.  I tried to protect everypony- but they broke through my first shield, and took my sister.  I was able to protect everypony else with my second shield- and the ensuing cutie mark- but I couldn’t protect her. “Two of the things left with her, while the third stuck around to batter at us.  During that time, a strange mare showed up. She killed it, promised she’d get my sister back, and galloped after them. “I never saw her again.”  He blinks more tears out of his eyes, his voice cracking.  “I don’t even remember what she looked like!” She places one hoof before the other.  It’s a walk- a rock-steady walk. She’s completely invisible, covered in so many layers of spellwork even the greatest mage alive would miss her with the most powerful sensing spell known. Today is the day. She’s spent the last fifteen years preparing for this.  Building her massive buffers of spellwork, the ones she activated today. She crosses the border, leaving Equestrian territory.  Fifteen years of nightmares, fifteen years of determination, fifteen years of power, instantly burns any Alcari that looks her way to a crisp. Fifteen years, she has waited. Today, she attacks.  She’ll reach that metal ground, find out what happened with the filly.  Return home. Or die trying. That didn’t stop her from setting herself up to win.  Unless the Alcari flow in as fast as they can from all parts of their land, all traveling directly to her, there simply won’t be enough of them to exhaust her spellwork until long after she’s back on Equestrian soil. And since they haven’t a clue she’s even here… She glances to the side. A brief pulse of her horn converts the ground a sizable army of Alcari are standing on into magma. She’d like to see the Agency do this.  Or, even, have a clue how to do it. She designed all of these spells herself.  She designed the trigger-release thaumic storage ability. She’s not just running on her thaumic reserves. She’s running on fifteen years of thaumic reserves. Nothing will stand in her way. Nothing. She walks on, retracing the steps she’s followed every night. A brief pulse of her horn unleashes the nuclear potential energy contained within one of the things’ claws over there, converting an entire army into a mushroom cloud. She will not be stopped. A pony excursion, lead by the Agency, is coming out behind her, taking advantage of her trail of destruction.  She doesn’t think they know what’s causing it, but she does know they’re using it to penetrate and surround the Alcari’ lines. She leaves them behind.  She walks deep into enemy territory. She reaches the top of a hill. A very important hill. There it is.  The metal ground. She can see the battlements surrounding it.  Carefully hidden in the terrain, to allow layer after layer of hidden soldiers just waiting for that filly to leave. They’re filled, to the brim.  All watching that metal ground. That’s good.  She’s still there. Or at least, the Alcari think she’s still there.  She hopes she escaped. Her horn pulses.  The trenches, the battlements, are now rivers of lava, completely devoid of living Alcari. She walks across them. She doesn’t sink.  She doesn’t get burned.  Those are events reserved for her enemies. She reaches the metal ground.  Locks her gaze on the portal that had opened so long ago. Walks towards it. It slides open, exposing a solid metal interior, as she gets close. “You’re back,” a male voice observes from inside.  “We were starting to wonder.” “We?” she asks, raising one eyebrow. “Yes,” the voice returns.  “Twilight is alive and well.  Why don’t you come in?” She shrugs, stepping down into the passage.  “Where is she?” The door closes behind her.  “She’s out exploring the pony nation right now, looking for her family.  Don’t worry, she carries so much armor the Enemy could whale-” “Alcari.” “Excuse me?” “Alcari.  That’s what they’re called.” “So, she carries so much armor the Alcari could whale away at her for weeks and never get through.” She starts relegating her spells to standby.  “How is her education?” “I’ve educated her as best as I could.  I do find that my kind is rather uniquely qualified for such, though I may have missed a subject or two I have no knowledge of- such as pony history.”  He sighs. “Or, even, her own last name.” “Sparkle.” “Sparkle?  That her last name?” She nods. “Fitting.” The last of her spells goes back to standby, and she blacks out from a sudden rush of mana.