Flames licked the walls of the former church and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Luna, Clover, Diamond Shard and a thestral burst through the church doors leaving behind the sound of a creature screaming bloody fury. I immediately raised my buster and switched over to Goo Shaver. While it wasn’t the most idea weapon for dealing with flames… it was the only one I had on me at this point. I was discounting Shotgun Ice because it didn’t have enough coverage to deal with those flames.
“Incoming!” A voice rang out of the darkness as Flint was flung out of the building skidding to a halt. Stand was not so lucky as he tumbled out rolling around the ground digging it up as he did so.
“I hate falls…” Stand muttered though he quickly stood back up rolling to his hooves in sheer defiance of whatever was crawling out of the church.
I quickly shot at the flames ignoring the creature inside. The flames needed to be contained before they spread through the town. Whatever had been in the building was not more important than the ponies who lived in this town. I shot several arcing shots before charging up Goo Shaver and tossing the ice blocks over the flames. It barely did the job and the ice would take some time to melt with how strange the weapon was.
Before I could charge up another shot a large tentacle of slime that was made of shadows slithered out of the open door. I switched weapons and fired off a stream of buster shots at the tentacle. It faltered under the assault retreating back into the building. Stand and Flint joined at my sides, Stand with his beam sabres and Flint with his autocannons, ready to meet the enemy head on.
The church roof burst open as a large shadow thestral about five times the size of a regular thestral broke out. Of course the bat wings were made of jewel shards and the tentacles that were coming out of the stomach writhed around. One in particular looked burnt which made me notice that my buster wasn’t set for safety precautions. It was set to kill on contact and I had to mentally place different stopgaps since there were still several moving signals being monitored on the proximity sensor. They were also not behind where I was standing so I knew that the ponies I came for were still okay.
“So… I got the tentacles on the left…” I quietly joked if only to ease the tension that my two partners seemed to ooze out of their bodies.
“Right… I mean right for me.” Stand joined in though it was stiff and clearly he wanted no part of my joking around at the moment but still played it off.
“So what? I have to deal with the head?” Flint asked in all seriousness clearly not getting the joke.
“What? No… look. In all seriousness some of us have to go deal with saving the ponies of this village,” I stopped Flint from interrupting me by placing my hand over his mouth, “ and I want no racist remarks about thestrals. Just get the families out of danger while I deal with the dark mass of shadows. I’m expendable. You two aren’t. Now chop chop…” I made motions with my hands of chopping my left hand against my buster.
They both scowled at me and I shot the ground beneath their hooves making them realize that I was being serious and that I used the shot to punctuate the point. They both quit scowling and raced off to save the survivors.
I knew it was rude. I knew that it would be unwise of me to fight another monster alone. I had fought Corundum with Hurricane but the citizens had to come first. If I did try and restart the Maverick Hunters in a sense now… I would need them to always put the innocent first. It was easier for someone who was born instead of created to find their morality. Even my own morality came from my human soul mingling with the robotic half. The upside of being the only machine in what was a medieval setting was that no one could copy my design in any meaningful way. It would take them years just to figure out metallurgy in ways that went beyond weaponry.
I shut off my train of thought and focused on the creature far above as the flames kept rising up the tower. It looked ready to take off for parts unknown leaving me with few options. I charged up Homing Torpedo and waited until the wings were at the largest span. Releasing the trigger sent numerous fish like torpedoes soaring through the sky impacting on the wings.
The creature was unstable and clearly unused to its size as the wings shattered almost instantly. It had flapped a bit off the tower only to be sent hurtling back inside the building. Knowing that that wasn’t enough to take it out I dashed into the building ignoring the cries of the Princess.
Stand cut through a few burning doors taking care to keep his swings small. The beam sabers easily tore through the wood as the armor on him seemed to know where thestrals were hiding. This let him get all survivors he found out of the danger zone.
Flint was much slower through since his armor was more for combat he was only able to use his hooves to break through weakened walls. That gave enough time for the families stuck by flames to jump out of the large holes he created. It took a while before both could regroup with their charges. In the entirety of their patrol the sound of shots from the church echoed around the blazing inferno filling them with dread they didn’t know they had.
“Hm… you two seem to be familiar… Second Stand? Is that you?” Clover called out as the two returned to the front of the church.
“You didn’t recognize me Clover?” Stand gawked as he was bombarded by the most sudden curveball ever. The armor didn’t hide his face.
“Honestly I was too worried about the gnashing creature ready to strip the marrow from my bone. What the buck did you expect me to be thinking rationally!?” Clover went from sarcastic to irrational which left Luna tittering. Diamond Shard trotted up to Flint and within moments of looking into his eyes hugged his leg.
“Okay… okay, fine. Just a little weird. We’ve known each other for at least a couple years already.” Stand brushed the back of his head.
“As amusing as thy troubles be, where is Sir X?” Luna composed herself as she asked the million bit question.
“Damn it. Flint we should go help him out now.” Stand shook his head and coerced him away from Diamond.
“Stay here lil sis. I have big problems to deal with.” Flint called out as he was dragged from the scene.
“Okay Big Bro… I call your armor if you get a boo boo!” Diamond called out which at the very least earned some levity for the others as Sacred Glade sighed.
“We really should try containing the fire now…” Sacred Glade voiced as she was still a bit scared to do so since the prisoners her leader had gone to capture were now free… even though in all likeliness Primrose was probably dead at this point. She was uncertain… but the creature’s face had looked familiar.
“We would love to but for the moment I have this terrible affliction, a malaise if you will, upon me.” Luna sweetly sauntered up to the thestral lifting her chin to look her in the eyes. “Now release this bucking ring upon my horn!” Luna instantly went into pissed off mode clearly channeling her inner royalty. The blast of her lungs caused a few of the flames to sputter out by the sheer strength of her voice.
“Right… away… “ Glade mumbled out as she was laid out into a ln awkward position that was merely embarrassing rather than revealing.
“Glad I wasn’t on the end of that…” Clover muttered under her breath to a giggling folly who enjoyed the Princess’ antics.
Thirty minutes prior…
I had dashed into the building. The flames were messing with the infrared sensors in my eyes leaving me partially covering my eyes. It was unnecessary but I still had a human soul. I still had feelings within me that kept habits I used to exhibit more often than not. My nostalgia wavered as I looked where the monster had fallen. It had created another hole beneath the podium where whomever ran this convent. I ignored the now burning corpses that had littered the wall… there was already enough to deal with without bringing the dead into this.
Screeching called out from the hole and I switched to Spike Ball. I charged a shot and jumped into the hole. A large thorn covered ball released out of my buster and bounced around the room knocking whatever tentacles had come to stop my descent. It backed up further into the mausoleum breaking through the stone walls that made up the catacombs. I kept firing Spike Ball into the creature forgoing charged shots just to keep damage upon the monster.
It immediately lunged through the continuous shot ramming me into the walls and tearing through whatever was in the way until I was shoved two meters into the dirt crunching several pony skeletons which had been entombed within. I headbutt whatever I could making it flinch back and switched over to Storm Tornado. The burst of air knocked it back with the added bonus of taking the debris back and smashing into the creature. It slammed into the ground using the gems to lock itself in place.
It cried… in a very feminine manner before grabbing several coffins and tossing them my way. It forced me to dash through the open holes in the wall using the still intact walls as cover. The force it threw them at went through the walls lodging themselves as I rushed past each sudden crash. I switched over to Firefly Laser and charged up.
Firefly Laser on its own was a very situational weapon. It created a small firefly drone which was controlled remotely to hit objects in twisted passageways. It also locked my motor functions until I took damage or hit my target. For a fight like this it was useless… until I took stock of the charge shot function. As soon as the last coffin was thrown I bolted from cover using an air dash to dodge a few of the bodies that the creature had used as projectiles.
As I got closer several tentacles shot out from the creature’s underside doing their best to stop me from getting any closer. I powered through tearing the tentacles off as I brought my buster up to the creature’s torso. A large beam of energy fired out causing me to skid back a bit which made it easier for the tentacles grab me. The beam burned through the torso and the smell of burning flesh filled the stale air.
The tentacles writhed letting me tear off the ones that didn’t let go through sheer strength. Distracted… I didn’t notice the bodies that had fallen out of the shadow creature until I turned my buster back on it. They were the mummified remains of the bodies that had been interned within this crypt. I didn’t know if it was a trick of the shadows enveloping us or my sensors being on the fritz from the brawl but it looked as though it had shrunk.
“So… you’re a parasite then?” I questioned out loud though I never expected it to answer me.
“Corundummmmm~ Killllllll~ Himmmmm~” It answered me… in a haunting feminine tone that seemed to be… enjoying what was happening. Though the tone shifted back unexpectedly. “Saaaaave theeeeeeeemmmm~ “
“Who?” I finally replied after a small bit of trepidation. It didn’t answer anymore and charged forward forgetting its pain.
Switching to Homing Torpedo I jumped onto the wall kicking off it as I let several volleys of torpedos to track their target. The creature tanked the shots letting out more body parts from its shadow, all of which were mummified remains. The explosions rang out causing the creature to lose its momentum which allowed me to catch the beast in my grasp. I was forced backwards struggling against the speed at which it rushed forward tearing grooves in the floor with my armored greaves.
Before it could work its way into pummeling me a large shockwave of green energy smacked into the creature’s side knocking it further into the catacombs. Flint landed… partially winded from the conflict before hand. Stand floated down quickly after brandishing his beam sabers ready to strike… only to notice that the creature had been flung away.
“Hey! I thought we agreed to take it together.” Stand complained as he glared at Flint.
“Then move faster.” Flint growled out. “We would have made it at the same time if you hadn’t wanted to float in on style.”
“Style counts for some things, got it! It separates us from animals and makes us more than instinct driven beasts.” Stand countered.
“Now if that actually meant something in combat maybe you wouldn’t have needed X to deal with Corundum.” Flint snarked out trying to make his point while the creature growled in the back… something they both ignored.
“Weren’t you on the side that got spanked. I’m pretty sure assholishness needs to be beaten out of the incompetent.” Stand snidely stated as he stared down Flint.
“Ooh… let me show you how much of an asshole I can be when my backhoof goes so far up your ass that they’ll be calling you horseshoe instead.” Flint puffed up as they trained their hooves against each other.
I stepped over to the two and with a quick swing of both my arms I hit them both on the head making them create craters in the floor about a foot in diameter and eight inches deep. They were lucky to be wearing armor since I wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with this any longer than I had to.
“Shut up. Fight that.” I ordered as they picked themselves off the ground. “Any more fighting and I’ll put you through a training course that involves one hundred rounds of combat against me… no armor.”
“Yessir!” They both shouted as the creature got back up. They were both clearly freaked out with how coldly I stated the consequences for disobeying would be. I wasn’t serious but the lack of emotion in my tone would always sound scary and intimidating whenever I did use said tone.
The creature screamed as Flint and I opened fire, him with his autocannons and me with my buster, peppering it with shots. Depending on how many corpses it had absorbed while the two had saved our charges would determine just how much we would have to hurt it to kill it. Stand zoomed forward, blades outstretched, and tore off whatever limb the edges touched. It knocked off the limbs but the body regenerated the damage.
“I hate shadow monsters!” Stand cried out as he was knocked off course by a stray tentacle.
Flint and I were knocked to the side as it merely bulldozed through our barrage of fire. Several mummified corpses fell out completely turning to dust leaving the creature back to stumbling around once again.
“Saaave theeeeem~ aaaaaallllllll…” It cried out before turning back to us. Several mantis claws tore out of its shoulder and menacingly paces around Flint and me.
I switched to Fire Wave and prepared myself. Stand was breaking out of the small pile of rubble he had been tossed to while Flint powered up his hooves.
It was a veritable Mexican standoff at this point. The creature was smarter than it appeared using its size to either crash our defensible position or separate us into smaller groups. The worst part was the sheer agony the voice vocalized whenever it was able to speak. I wasn’t certain if that was the last dregs of what was most likely a mare’s equinity or a ploy to make it harder to end the threat.
It charged in almost suicidally forgoing all semblance of planning and cunning. I threw away all semblance of calmness and shot the flamethrower into the face of the creature. Stand came flying up above me and with a flick of his blades sent an energy beam in the shape of an X knocking the creature back. I withdrew my arm letting the flames do their work. Flint rushed forward and with a powerful leap shoved their right front hoof into the mass of shadows. The creature screamed as it was knocked through another wall.
It finally stopped moving allowing the three of us to finally get a closer look. The shadows receded leaving the burnt corpse of a small thestral mare. I couldn’t tell what color her mane used to be or her wings. We turned to leave disgusted by what was a perversion or what a pony was supposed to be.
A small cough stopped us.
The thestral was barely alive but the agonizing pain she was in kept her going most likely. I rushed over while Stand and Flint kept their distance.
“...why?” She coughed up, a small trail of ash pouring out of her mouth.
“Because you started a fight and trusted a monster.” I answered trying to guess what she was talking about.
“No… why save them… not us?” She asked. I couldn’t tell if she was crying but her eyes had been burnt out from the shadows leaving burnt out sockets where they once were.
“They found me first. If you had I probably would have followed your lead.” I grimaced at the thought. She had wanted to do something important but I didn’t know what.
“I wanted… us to be… important… to save them…” The mare quietly mentioned as the jewel on her chest shattered and she melted into sludge staining the ground with a deep black scar.
I looked on… while Stand and Flint turned away. There wasn’t much we could do at that point since there was no body to bury… no body to cremate… and no body to mourn over. Her words had been cryptic and without context to any of us. She, whomever she was, died ignominiously. A leader who followed a path that led to the death of several of her ponies.
Corundum had a hoof in all of this. A wing as well given the state of the body he took. It also registered estrogen on the deeper scans that my own sensors were pushing.
“I would have liked to speak with her… even if it had gone south I would have.” I spoke to no one in particular and Flint and Stand finally worked up the spine to stand beside me and look at the remains, or lack thereof.
“We did our duty… even if I’m the only soldier here at the moment.” Stand replied though his gaze always seemed to want to look away.
“We were both soldiers…” Flint growled out though he left it at that and turned to me. “Look we do what we have to because there is no choice. Look was Geode did… at least from what I noted before he died. He made sure to do his damndest to make Mi Amore Concerto cry. Anything to get his jollies off. While this mare certainly didn’t deserve this, as a leader she made her choice. It wasn’t the best choice but she followed it regardless.”
“She didn’t have a choice! She was made into a monster against her will!” Stand argued seemingly fed up.
“She made the choice to use those red crystals. That is her mistake. While everything else was out of her hooves… this choice wasn’t. She made her choice and this is what it cost her.” Stand evenly stated clearly not wanting to let his emotions take charge like Stand.
I didn’t care much for their little dick measuring contest, which to the untrained eye it didn’t look like one, but I didn’t really want to get involved unless it broke into combat. I kneeled down and allowed the sensors to fully analyze the remaining black sludge.
Magic… thaumic readings all over the place but lower than what I read from Star Swirl. It was just enough to keep a large animal alive. That was the kicker though. I briefly wondered if the shadows created from the crystals were merely using their hosts like war beasts rather than anything else. The soul was most likely Corundum’s and he made it clear his contempt for all organic imperfect life.
“Boss. We should head out.” Flint caught my attention.
“Boss? When’d we start that?” I hardened my stare though hopefully to look confused rather than angry.
“Just now. Look we need to get out there for damage control. Also those rings on my sister’s horn need to come off.” Flint responded as he quietly started trotting towards the entrance.
“Well he does have the right idea… “ Stand reluctantly agreed and followed Flint back up.
I looked back at the stains one last time before heading up with them. In truth that was the first time I killed someone that still was able to think and feel. It may have been a group effort to stop her… but I was the one who burned her body to the point that she was at.
“Right… let's get out of here.” I followed after the pair leaving whatever regrets I had gained buried within the mausoleum.
“What dost thou mean you can’t get it off!” Luna screamed as we climbed out of the ash ridden church.
It seemed like the thestrals had gathered severals cloud and a slight downpour had started. Magnus had spoken about it during our conversation detailing the weather patterns by pegasi. I supposed that thestrals were the same. It was… enlightening to have the rain also wash the ashes off our armors. It was almost as though we were being purified though with controllable weather it made the god like act rather mundane.
“You good there?” I walked over to the group causing Luna to quiet down as she turned to face me. She was still clearly intimidated by me… though most ponies were since I was taller than most of them. Had she stood on her back legs she would most likely reach my height.
“Verily X. I am just… absolutely livid… that they can not remove these rings upon our horns. None of the ponies here can. All the ones with knowledge were apparently taken during the golem attack. So while I am sad of their fate this overwhelming anger is making it very hard to keep calm.” Luna growled out even as her tiny form made her look adorable.
“Right.” I looked over the ring noticing that it was a very simple mechanism. Push in the locks and remove the ring which made me very concerned. The fact that all the ruling class had this knowledge but the working class didn’t was unnerving. I quietly placed my fingers on the mechanism and pulled the ring off easily to the shock of everyone there. I did the same for Clover and Shard and pocketed the rings for later analysis.
“H-how did you do that?” The small thestral stepped up to me completely confused over what happened.
“I examined them and intuitively removed them. I don’t think anymore than that needs to be said.” I answered. “Now… who’s going to be in charge of you now cause I don’t think you have any leaders now.”
The thestral buckled at that thought, ears splayed down and looking utterly broken at that revelation. It didn’t help that several more thestrals came out of their homes, all of varying sizes and ages. This left us in a very precarious position. It wouldn’t affect us badly but this entire community had the head cut off leaving nothing but the tail to thrash around. Corundum had done a clean job of killing something even if he didn’t mean to do so. His goal was clearly that one body he had fully manifested within.
“I don’t know…” She answered back clearly lost in her thoughts after everything that had happened.
Luna seemed to be the most affected by this situation if the smoldering embers of her rage subsided. It wasn’t until Clover took me aside that I didn’t know what to do about them. Stand kept watch of the crowd while Flint didn’t seem to care about anything more than his younger sister.
“Yes Clover?” I finally stated in a quiet voice.
“We should contact the others. I can send a message back to them now that my horn is free.” Clover mentioned clearly hesitant to do so.
“Why are you - You’re wondering who to send it to.” I sighed as I rubbed the space between my eyes since the frustration was threatening to break my blocked emotions.
“I can send it to anypony but I was wondering who to prioritize. Especially since I have the feeling this needs to be handled discreetly.” Clover whispered under his breath.
“Send it to Star Swirl and add a note about only allowing Hurricane and Mistmane to come along.” I advised and looked over the situation more clearly. “Also Somnambula if she is there. This place needs more hope since Platinum is still with Concerto at the moment.”
“What about Puddinghead and the other Pillars?” He questioned looking a bit confused.
“I need someone to stay there to keep an eye on Aegis.” I bluntly stated. “There are still several POW’s I kept after they attacked the fortress.”
“Ah… Did you hurt them?” Clover cautiously asked.
“No but I made them scared. It was either that or let actual justice take hold. What did you think would happen if Aegis got his hooves on them?” I questioned back clearly unamused at this point.
“I’ll send the message now then.” Clover nervously chuckled before his horn lit up and the message was sent.
It took three hours before Hurricane and Star Swirl showed up. For some reason the other Pillars hadn’t come.
“Ah Luna! You’re okay!” Star Swirl rushed up to the small lunar princess giving her a hug.
“Release me Star Swirl! Thou are embarrassing me!” Luna struggled under the care while a few of us chuckled at the sight. Hurricane instead rushed up to me. He let his eye look over Stand and Flint clearly looking for an explanation.
“Hurricane. Good to see you so prompt. What about the others I wanted to be here?” I brought up derailing him from starting this conversation.
“Aegis needed to be kept quiet. Some to keep Celestia safe so he couldn’t push her into listening to her anger and others to keep him from finding your prisoners.” Hurricane succinctly brought up stopping me from asking more. “Now what about this?”
“I used some of my own parts to give them armor. It should last another twelve hours before it turns back to energy. They’re difficult for me to make last longer than a day and for those that don’t match their energy signatures.” I explained though I omitted that I could make a few more after I found some more of the capsules which held my abilities. He gave me that look… the kind of look that said that he was on to my little game but would hold back for the moment.
“Fine. What about the situation here?” He moved on to the next topic but I pushed Stand forward to speak.
“Sir!” Stand saluted. “At approximately 1600 hours we engaged with several crystal golems. All of them oozed the same shadow as one, Goring Corundum, who was killed at the very least one week ago. Due to the constant barrage we assume that the entire military wing of this settlement was used as raw materials for this makeshift army. At a certain point it was clear that Corundum was using said golems as host bodies and completely creeped the shit out of me. I would literally be placing bricks had X not been here.”
“Stand… facts only. Don’t need to know about bodily functions.” I stated in an even tone which got him to quickly break back on track.
“Right, Sorry. At that moment X allowed the two modules to attach to us and give us these new armors you see before you. We assaulted the town knocking down several golems and made our way into the church. According to Sacred Glade, that mare there,” Glade waves nervously as she was pointed out by Stand, “gave us the information of our Princess’ whereabouts. Once within we found them trapped within the mausoleum. Unfortunately we also found their leader, Miss Primrose, slowly changing into a monster similar to eyewitness reports of what Corundum turned into. We were forced to take care of the creature though even in her death throes there still seemed to be some equinity left in her. Whatever Corundum had promised her he made certain to pay it back in the worst way possible.” Stand summarized as quickly as he could.
“Very well-“ Hurricane started only for Stand to continue.
“I mean seriously there were tentacles and scythes everywhere and she screamed like some unholy beast. A part of me thought she was going to go around skewering ponies after she grew crystal wings.” Stand continued only for Flint to bop him on the head.
“Ow! What the Tartarus!” Stand glared at his companion who forced his head back to Commander Hurricane. He was displeased.
“Second Stand.” Hurricane growled out as he forced him to look him in the eyes.
“Y-yes?” Stand stuttered out.
“Shut. Up!” Hurricane snarled out which made Stand clam up. Flint didn’t even take advantage of the moment to snicker at him with the glare Hurricane sent his way. “X, what about Corundum?”
“He found a unicorn horn somewhere and used it to escape. As to where? I can’t say for sure. Even my sensors have a small range and I can’t figure out magical teleports just yet.” I explained. I could only tell they went north but that was it. Where exactly north was beyond my capabilities. Though one of my sensors did read higher than average levels of magic. Discord levels of magic in fact.
I kept quiet and merely left my thoughts on the matter locked for the moment. Discord obviously thought of this as a game and seemed to keep a veritable group of players ready for anything… which meant keeping some of them out of my range. As much as I could wipe Corundum out now, Discord most likely would get in my way and I wasn’t anywhere close to ready to handle him.
I needed to find more capsules but I never received any pings for that set of tech in this neck of the woods. I would have to check elsewhere whenever I had the chance. Hurricane finished barking orders to Stand and Flint who took stance next to Star Swirl and Clover.
Their armor recoiled back and the two modules floated back to me. They looked surprised that that had happened.
“What? I need to make them better and we’re out of combat already. Besides magic doesn’t affect me much so that would make it harder for you to get back home given how Star Swirl and Clover are posed.” I mentioned as the two modules returned to my body into a small compartment on it. Truthfully, as soon as it entered they returned to an energy form and melded back into my circuitry.
“We shall be returning in two days to get the political situation in better hooves. Sacred Glade will be taking charge while we discuss whom will keep this community together till then.” Hurricane announced as he joined the group.
“We shall see you back at the fortress X.” Star Swirl waved which both Luna and Diamond Shard copied though much faster.
The large discharge of magic left me alone with Sacred Glade who was clearly intimidated about my presence. She looked up to me quite literally and I looked down to her. I kneeled down to remain on even footing with her metaphorically though. She seemed to shudder at my proximity but her eyes showed exactly how much fear she was holding on to.
“So… perhaps we should get the ponies somewhere safer. Would help them escape the rain.” I mentioned which seemed to get the wheels turning and something clicked in her mind.
“Right… I’ll get them ready. Please give me a moment… scary crystal golem… X, I mean. That’s what I said, X. I said that.” She stumbled over her words before flapping off to get the thestrals into order.
I ignored the comment since it didn’t really bother me. I was mostly fine with the comment since that was the role I was playing. Even if I used reploid I would still be equated to a golem in the context of this world. This displaced bullshit was really confusing me since I didn’t really care about whatever overarching crap was going on with the rest of the people trapped in this situation. Most probably had years to get used to this while I had at most a month at the very least.
A month of volunteering for war, surviving death, killing monsters, and generally keeping my humanity from faltering under everything I had done in that month. At most I could say I’ve killed three sentient beings. Diode may have been through circumstance but Corundum and Primrose were done with purpose. A part of me was fine with the outcome but Primrose left a sour taste in my mouth.
She didn’t deserve what happened to her but at the same time she paved her own road to destruction with the choices she made. It was very much that no matter where you went, the world was always left in shades of grey.
I shelved those thoughts for later and followed with random groups. Using Goo Shaver, I extinguished whatever leftover smoldering wrecks were still near the church. The thestrals were still very wary of what I was keeping their distance except in the most dire circumstances. It took the better part of the night before we finished securing the town from any more random fires breaking out.
It was during this trek that I found something really weird in one of the wreckages. It was a thalassa shell on a keychain. The thaumic scans revealed that it had similar energy to the item I received from Wyatt.
I cringed since dealing with that world got me dragged into a world where Kamen Rider was the main drive. A thalassa shell meant that something Kingdom Hearts was on its way. I didn’t want to deal with it. I really didn’t so before the shell could say it’s random spiel I placed it in the same compartment as the rider item and ignored that I ever found it. When I wasn’t busy repairing things and out of a populated area I would see what it did.
It had taken a while and my own lack of sleeping had freaked out the thestrals enough that only Sacred Glade had the spine to stick around me. I had used Boomerang Cutter as a makeshift buzzsaw cutting down whichever trees they marked to repair their homes. The church was left alone as a smoldering mess… especially after the ritual sacrifices were revealed. The charred bodies that were found apparently had been loved ones who had spoken out against Primrose though it had only happened after Corundum had come to the city.
Star Swirl returned with the five thestrals who I had kept captured alongside Celestia and Luna. He also had Puddinghead with them as well. That was a weird thing though since Celestia still had red eyes she was barely recovering from the lack of her sister.
“So what’s the verdict?” I asked Star Swirl as Puddinghead and Sacred Glade got into a discussion.
“We’ve decided to integrate the thestrals into Equestrian society with a new pact system. Since they had captured Luna they will pledge themselves under her sovereignty forever more. It was her suggestion… and while I’m proud of her forging her way towards becoming a ruler. Well, I can’t help but to worry about the circumstances.” Star Swirl whispered over to me keeping his voice down.
“It does seem a bit strange. I’m guessing there was opposition?” I wondered aloud keeping my voice pointed at him.
“Like you wouldn’t believe. Most from the army, of course. I’m sure I don’t have to mention names.” Star Swirl gave me that look. The look of pure annoyance condensed over a thousand times.
“No I got it. I’m guessing there is a reason he still stands as one of the armies best and brightest then?” I snidely remarked leaving disgust evident near the end.
“He saved the life of all three leaders during a terrorist attack. For his bravery he was commended but his attitude to other races was swept under the rug. Politics, the most disgusting of words. Because of that moment he has some clout with defense policies in our burgeoning nation. Truthfully without him we would have long been gone.” Star Swirl admitted though reluctantly. He seemed to be sucking in air through a straw with how hard this was to say.
“Who made it pass?” I looked as Sacred and Puddinghead looked over a large scroll most likely housing the treaty.
“Celestia of all ponies was the one who pushed it through. She stated that all ponies needed a chance to live and gave Aegis one of the most smoldering glares I’ve ever seen. Though since Luna had returned I could tell she was still very emotional.” Star Swirl admitted as the guards all kneeled swearing loyalty to Luna who looked so bashful at the notion.
“Looks like things are being taken well at least.” I pointed out glad to see something good come of this.
“Indeed. We shall be heading back to the fortress and working out on whom we need to check on next. The report I received from Second Stand was worrying. Corundum… the bastard still walks amongst us. We need to make allies quick because he, out of all the monsters in this world, is the most dangerous. Even with that spirit about he at the very least is passive in his mischief.” Star Swirl snorted clearly pissed off by something.
“Sounds good. Give me a few days though before you plan anything out. I’m… tired for the moment. Plus I need to start a project which should take me those few days.” I admitted since I didn’t really need to keep this a secret… but I needed to keep it close to the vest. While I hadn’t sensed Discord spying on me, I was unwilling to divulge too much.
“Hm? A project? I would ask but I can tell that you want to play this by ear. That suits me just fine. In my day I hid a lot of secrets just because it seemed like a good idea at the time. I should probably figure out if I’ve forgotten anything sometime.” Star Swirl chuckled good naturedly waving off the worry. It left me a bit lighter and I allowed myself to smile.
“Yeah. When I get back we’ll go after the next mark.” I nodded which got him to smile back.
We both assured both sides that the thestrals would be integrated into Equestrian society. The principality has grown once more including a large section of Hollow Shades. In time messages would be sent out to the other settlements detailing the merger. From what little I wanted to glean and the information Nana catalogued thestrals would work for Luna when she came of age. They would be integrated into the rest of their culture albeit adding their culture to the principality.
As soon as all the talks were done I made a few decisions about what I was going to do. Star Swirl gathered the girls together and teleported them back to the fortress. Luna and Celestia seemed confused that I wasn’t going with them though they couldn’t voice their opinion anymore. Sacred Glade watched me carefully, a look of wonder painted across her face.
“Um… will you be staying?” Glade carefully brought up clearly uncertain about the situation.
“No… but before I go I wanted to ask you something. What did you do here exactly?” I sat down on the grass ready to listen. Nana had left it in my itinerary before I commenced my own project.
“Me? Um, well, I guess I was a secretary. I compiled Primrose’s schedule and the more mundane aspects of the economy of this town in particular.” Glade listed off the small qualifications which at the very least Nana approved of.
“Hm… I see. Well when this merger takes place I would like to speak with you about something important.” I mentioned offhandedly as I placed my face in one of my palms resting it against one of my legs.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have any feelings for you that way.” Glade immediately barked out clearly unamused.
“Wasn’t going to ask that at all.” I shot back.
“Oh… buck.” Glade covered her face with her wings and got really small. She was so embarrassed it was almost funny.
“You know what I did for Flint and Stand, right?” I quickly returned the conversation back to what I wanted to bring up.
“Yes… what about that?” Glade looked a bit mystified since all she had seen was the armor in action.
“Come later on I may need you to join me for something like that. A project of my own that may revolutionize the world. I doubt it but you never know what anyone of us could be capable of.” I slyly states keeping it quiet what I wanted.
“Uh… okay I guess. Once this merger happens I kind of want to stay out of politics.” Glade clumsily agreed clearly unsure of what I was speaking of.
“Mind if I get that in writing?” I asked before I forgot. It was best to get a contract in before things could get complicated.
“Ugh… fine. I hate paperwork even more than ever and I’ve been working with it my entire life.” Glade groaned as she brought out a small scroll and using one of her wingtips bit through the flesh to get some blood out.
She quickly signed a short contract stating she agreed to help me with something at an unspecified date once the merger took place. The wound bother me until I noticed that it had clotted over much quicker than I expected.
“Here. Keep it safe and I’ll honor it you weird golem, you.” She muttered the last part under her breath.
I nodded and placed the scroll inside my arm compartment as well. Giving a short salute I stepped away from her and activated my teleport unit. My target was the Foal Mountain cave I started excavating. I needed to start building something for myself.
I needed to make sure I had a life outside of being a protector of ponies. This was a large world and there were plenty of other species out there. Being exclusive to one meant nothing but suspicion and derision in one form or the other.
I would start something bigger than me. Perhaps this world could use Maverick Hunters. With Corundum still out there it was looking to be a better and better idea. I also had to look into Project Harmony as well.
This world was changing and whether it was for better or for worse I couldn’t stop it. I could only go with the flow.
“My, my, my… look at you. Quite the predicament you have yourself in now don’t you?” Discord chuckled as he floated around the changeling queen.
“Buck you! I am fine!” Chrysalis screeched as we swatted a hoof at the chaotic serpent.
“Sure you do. And I am the avatar of the Flying Spaghetti Monster here to grant your heart’s desire. Meatballs are extra though.” Discord scowled as he pushed a talon into her muzzle.
“Be serious!” Chrysalis cried out before wincing back into her seat. The attack by that… shadow thing had drained her dry of almost all her magic.
“Oh I am. That’s my day job on the astral plane. But if I must be serious…” Discord rolled his eyes as he got comfortable. Though comfortable would be him floating around in strange patterns. Chrysalis wasn’t certain why but she could tell Discord was signaling something. Most likely an insult.
“What do you want!? I need rest and I’d rather not have to deal with your sorry flank while I’m recovering.” Chrysalis sneered as she looked at all her trapped subjects held back by licorice whips and cotton candy chains. Chocolate had frozen over several changelings
“Let’s cut to the chase then. I know you faced a shadow creature a while back and I wanna know where he is.” Discord own charismatic grin disappeared turning into a solemn stare which Chrysalis found unnerving.
“What do I get out of it?” Chrysalis pounced on that train of thought.
“You get to keep your limbs?” Discord innocently stated making Chrysalis flinch from the abruptness. He soon fell into mad cackling. “Oh you should see your face. Priceless!”
“Stop with these shenanigans! I don’t want to deal with this!” Chrysalis barked back making Discord slowly falter back to simple chortling.
“Fine, fine. I’ll feed you some ‘love’ and give you some information. More than enough for information, isn’t it?” Discord smiled… but he let his fangs show all too easily.
Chrysalis held back a stifling remark. As much as she hated this, she needed to get back up to snuff. The drones were very much incapable of gathering love on their own without razing a town or two. Her own fangs grinded as she quickly weighed her options. With that heavy weight on her back she made a deal.
“Fine. If it gets you out of my mane then by all means let’s make a deal.” Chrysalis grunted, disdain and disgust dripping from her mouth.
“Neat.” Discord answered as he pulled out a small ball of love energy. To Chrysalis it smelled of narcissism and joy. Paltry and barely good enough she took the energy and got back to her hooves.
“As for your info… last time my drones checked in that shadow creature was skimming along the waters towards the dragon lands. That volcano island they use for their useless rituals and whatnot.” Chrysalis admitted with a sigh.
“Thank ya kindly little lady. And as for my own info, you heard, right? How the ponies have some new muscle on their side. He’s a bit ignorant about how the world works. Would be easy to trick said person into becoming allies, wouldn’t it? Of course that’s just me pondering out loud and you know how much I love to hear myself talk. After all that’s what I get told all the time especially by you… yes you the reader… I can see how much glee you get. Seeing my antics, well who could blame you. But I’ll be playing it close to the vest this time.” Discord smirked all the while Chrysalis tried her best to ignore the antics of madness personified.
“You done? Good, leave then. I have planning to do.” Chrysalis scowled as she watched Discord’s every movement.
“Yes yes. Keep your chitin on. Don’t want to disturb another player at the table while she schemes.” Discord chuckled and with a snap of his fingers he vanished off to Faust knows where.
Chrysalis pondered the serpent’s last words. She was included at the table as his equal… no. She wasn’t an equal in his eyes. A player he called her. Which meant that there were several more players that were scheming and plotting. She quickly organized her troops. She needed to use his information to her advantage even if she was remiss to go into a honeypot sting on the words of a Chaos spirit.
“Lacewing! Front and center!” Chrysalis screamed out. Her voice echoed through the hive for her soldier to arrive.
Discord appeared several meters away from the shadow creature stopping it from moving closer to the dragonlands.
“Stygian! My boy, my friend, how goes it!” Discord immediately knocked the Pony of Shadows off guard and into a hoof shake.
“Unhand me! Discord… ah Discord, to what do I owe the pleasure.” Stygian and the Shadows spoke as one, a doubling effect as both blended into one.
“Just wanted to say that as much as I enjoy your work I need you to stay away from them for now.” Discord scowled as he readied his talons.
“Laid your claim then. Say no more… I’ll abide by your whims for now then. How about you teleport me back to the Well of Shades then. I require some more darkness.” It spoke and asked keeping a sense of superiority which pissed Discord off. Still plans were plans and while his may have not made sense, he needed the pieces where they were needed.
“Of course old friend. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Discord sarcastically remarked placing an overemphasis over the word friend.
“Also for the record and our continued games… I am not Stygian. I am to be called the Pony of Shadows and nothing more.” It growled out clearly trying to be intimidating. To Discord it felt as though it was a mass of shadows but unlike the umbrum it had no set form.
“Of course.” Discord snapped his talons and the shadows all were warped back to their well.
“Now let’s play information broker then.” Discord grinned as he rubbed his paw and talon together.