//------------------------------// // Chapter 33: Hail to the King // Story: Knight of Equestria - On Distant Shores // by SupraMacPringles //------------------------------// The first thing he felt was a painful throbbing in the back of his head. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was at the Canterlot train station. He sat up, gently rubbing his head to find a large bump. His vision was slightly blurry and he saw a orange pony nearby wearing a stetson hat. "Applejack?" he called out while trying to stand, quickly losing balance. She caught him on the way down. "Easy there, big fella. You hit your head somethin' fierce." she said. She helped him lean against a wall, which he slide down into a sitting position. "What happened?" was all he could ask. "After that blast, me and Rainbow Dash woke up first. We thought it best to do as that weirdo said, so we got everypony back here safely." Matt let out a weak laugh. "And here I thought you didn't like me..." he said. She smiled at the human. "Glad to see you're still as smarmy as ever." she replied. "Where's everyone else?" he asked, resting his eyes. "Rarity woke up and said she had to find her family, somethin' about them being in the city to meet up with her later. Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy are still out cold, over there." she said, gesturing to across the platform to where their friends were currently resting. He noticed Rainbow Dash flying around overhead and Pinkie Pie sitting by their friends. He shakily got up and began hobbling over to them, despite Applejack's protests. He discovered quickly that his body was sore all-over, not just his head. As he almost fell forward, it seemed that Applejack wouldn't be able to catch him as Rainbow Dash swooped down to provide support. "What are you doing, walking around already? You need to rest." Rainbow said. "Those are the first words you've said to me all day." he said weakly. "Yeah, well, I'm still not done being mad at you. Or Twilight. But this is no time for that." she replied. She set him down next to Pinkie Pie, who looked uncharacteristically downtrodden. He looked down at his still unconscious friends. Seeing them injured hurt him deeply, but there wasn't much he could do for them in his state. He just hoped they'd feel better than he did when they wake up. "So what's the deal with that guy?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I thought humans couldn't do magic?" "We can't. Well, I can't." Matt replied. "Well what are we supposed to do, stand around and do nothing while he kidnaps the princesses?" Rainbow asked. Applejack walked over to join the group. "You got a better idea? You know this was the most the two of us could do on our own." she answered her blue friend. "I know, I'm just... frustrated!" Dash responded, kicking dust. "I understand, but we gotta get them back to Ponyville. I don't think this Gabriel is one to mince words; he wants us gone." The conversation stopped as Fluttershy began to stir. "Fluttershy!" Rainbow and Pinkie exclaimed simultaneously, rushing to her side. "How do you feel?" Pinkie asked. Fluttershy seemed to be going through similar pains as Matt. "Bad." she said with a whimper. "Just take it easy, Fluttershy. We aren't in any rush." Rainbow reassured. After making sure Fluttershy was comfortable, Rainbow Dash flew over to take the spot Pinkie was in. "... I'm sorry you and Applejack had to lug me out of the castle." Matt said to his pegasus pal. "You should be, it took both of us." she responded with a snide grin. "For a moment, it felt like I was dying." Matt said, somewhat absentmindedly. Rainbow turned to face him, concerned why he would say such a thing. He quickly leaned over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Thanks." The sudden closeness made blood rush to her face. "D-don't mention it. I'm gonna keep a lookout for Rarity, you get some rest." she said, breaking off from him and taking flight. …... Princess Celestia awoke with a fright to find herself in her own bed chambers. She stood and walked around confused, until she noticed a set of what looked like violet, glowing prison bars blocking off her door and window. As she approached the bars, she began to feel pain in her horn; the same pain that pulsed through her mere hours ago. She tried to fire a blast of magic at the bars, only to find her magic still suppressed like earlier. Her door swung open and in walked her human adversary. "I figured you'd be waking up about now." he said. She glared at him and looked around, trying to find any means of escape. "There's no gap, if that's what you're wondering." Gabriel said, as if reading her mind. "What sort of trick is this?" she asked. "Trick? Hardly. This is a smaller version of Amethyst's magic suppression field. Much smaller scale than the full thing, that one probably hit every unicorn in Canterlot. All she has to do is refresh it daily and you won't be going anywhere. At the very least, you have access to your own bath chambers. Oh, and we can't stop you from raising the sun and such. Do so at your own free will." "So that's it? You plan to keep me prisoner?" she asked. "I'd consider it a kindness. I didn't turn you to stone, send you to the moon, or banish you to walk the earth for eternity. You'll be provided food, so I'd be grateful if I were you." he replied, toothy grin spreading across his face. Celestia desperately tried to search for any sort of solution to her entrapment, but knew Gabriel would just toy with her. "And where is Luna?" "Safe. I'd get some rest, you've had a big day." he said, opening the door and leaving as quickly as he came. As he walked down the hallway, a serpent like shadow appeared behind him. "Considered my deal, Lord Discord?" Gabriel said. "Let me make sure I understand your terms." Discord said, manifesting a small pair of glasses and a paper contract with nothing on it. "You want me to not intervene in your Equestrian insurrection in exchange for...?" he trailed off. "A display of true and utter chaos, yes." Discord thought about it for a moment with several exaggerated thinking noises. "You know what, human? I'll go along with it, but you had better deliver." "I've been waiting years for this. Delivery is assured." Gabriel said as the two shook hands. …... Luna felt a pounding headache crawl it's way into her consciousness as she awoke. She saw quickly that she was in her bedroom, and that she was not alone. "So, you're finally awake, Princess?" said the purple unicorn. "I am... and who are you?" Luna asked, trying her best to shake off the pain. "Oh, my apologies. My name is Amethyst, faithful of the King." she said calmly. "King?!" Luna exclaimed as the memories of what happened before she was knocked out replayed in her mind. "He fancies himself a King?!" she walked towards the unicorn, enraged, only to notice the purple bars separating them that cause a tingling to travel though her horn. "I wouldn't recommend getting too close, Princess. The pain from the suppression field is enough to make one sick." Luna took several steps back. "Then why isn't it hurting you? You're closer than I am." A small laugh escaped the unicorn's lips, the first time her expression wasn't deadpan. "Because I'm the one who cast it. Though you may not believe me, I have no desire to hurt you." "You're right. I do not believe you." Luna replied with a huff, turning away. "Gabriel has put me in charge of your care, so we'll be seeing each other quite often. Ah, that reminds me; I have your dinner. Or would it be breakfast for you?" Luna looked out the window to see the moon had yet to rise and then to the clock to see that she was a couple of hours late. "Not even the suppression field could stop you or your sister from raising the sun and moon, Princess. That power is too unknown, too... ancient for me to stop." Amethyst said as she slid Luna her food through the magical bars. Luna brought up the moon and felt the sun move as well, meaning that her sister was alright wherever she was. "I would love to stay and chat, but I have several other duties to attend to." "Wait!" Luna exclaimed, remembering something important. "What about Twilight Sparkle and the others? Are they alright?" Amethyst smiled softly at the moon princess. "They are." As she left the room the smile was replaced by a sly smirk. "For now." …... Back at the train station, Spike had woken up and was thankfully more exhausted than wounded. Rarity had never returned, so the group began loading up on the next train back to Ponyville. Twilight was still unconscious, so they gently lay her in a seat next to Matt and Spike. "I-I still don't feel right leaving without Rarity." Spike said. "None of us do, Spike. But we don't have much of a choice, this is the last train back for the night." Applejack replied. Just then, the sky adjusted to being nearly night time. "I guess that means the princesses are alright." Rainbow Dash said. A white pony with purple mane and tail suddenly entered the train. "Oh, there you all are!" Rarity said. "Rarity!" Spike exclaimed, rushing over to her side. "Are you alright?" he said. "Oh, Spikey-wikey, I'm just fine, thankfully." she said, patting a hoof on his head. "I thought you said you were looking for your family?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I was, but I couldn't find them. I'm hoping they forgot it was today and stayed in Ponyville." Rarity replied. She then noticed the state a half dazed Matt was in next to an unconscious Twilight Sparkle. "Oh my goodness... are you alright darling?" she asked Matt. "Does it look that bad?" he asked, coming to attention. "I don't feel all together, honestly..." "I took a look at him after I was able to stand and I think he might have a concussion." Fluttershy said. "Why aren't we getting him to a doctor, then?" Rarity asked. "... That Gabriel fella told us to leave." Applejack said. "And since when do you listen to the bad guy, Applejack?" Rarity asked. Applejack placed a hoof on Rarity's shoulder. Rarity could feel her friend trembling. "Matt might look the worst for wear but all of us are hurt. I think it's wisest to listen to that nutjob. It sounded like more of a threat than an order." she said. Rarity could feel the fear in the air among her friends, a fear she shared. She had assumed Applejack and Rainbow Dash would want to storm the castle but was proud of them for retreating. "That probably is the wisest choice." She turned her attention to the sleeping princess in the car with them. "Twilight still hasn't woken up?" she asked, already knowing the answer. "Not yet." Spike replied, taking his seat next to Twilight and Matt. The train began to move, bound for Ponyville in a short time. Everyone took their seats and a relaxed silence fell over the friends. As it got some distance away from Canterlot, they felt the ground shake. "M-my horn just had the weirdest feeling..." Rarity said. "Look!" said Pinkie Pie, pointing out the window to Canterlot castle, slowing getting smaller as the train continued to move. A violet beam of energy erupted from the castle before forming a large elliptical dome around it which shimmered against the moonlight. "What the hay is that?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It looks like a barrier spell. Shining Armor cast one around his wedding, remember?" Spike said, having studied magic with Twilight a lot in the past. "Well, whatever it is, I felt it from here." Rarity said. "That unicorn girl that was with Gabriel was almost as scary as he was." Pinkie Pie said. "Y-you can say that again..." Fluttershy added. The magic ripple was strong enough for Twilight to feel, too, as the disturbance began to rouse her from her slumber. She opened her eyes to see Matt and Spike gazing out the window, only to quickly notice her. "Twilight!" Spike exclaimed. She brought herself to sit up and was immediately hugged tight by Matt and Spike. "Easy, boys." she said with a small giggle and a wince. "I'm still kinda dizzy..." The other mares shared a giggle before coming in for a group hug. "I suppose a little longer wouldn't hurt." …... As they returned to Ponyville, those among them that needed medical treatment were escorted to receive it. Afterwards, Applejack looked off into the distance to the purple-cocooned castle, now silhouetted by the moon. Rainbow Dash fluttered down to stand next to her. "What are ya thinking, AJ?" Dash asked. "I'm thinking that this is just the beginning. And that we gotta spread the word about what happened." she replied. "Spread the word? Have you met me? Everypony in Equestria will hear about this by tomorrow, at latest." They share a hoof-bump as Rainbow flew off into the dark. Applejack took another look at the castle before deciding to return home for the night. …... The next two days passed quietly despite the entire nation being on high alert. There was no sign of the human usurper since the day he arrived, although the barrier protecting the castle still told of his presence. The royal guards had all been thrown out of the castle, so they took up positions around it. They were all watching, waiting for even the slightest movement. Early in the morning on the third day, a carriage pulled by skeletal beasts emerged through the barrier with a hooded pony riding atop it. It rolled along near-silently until it reached the center of the city. The pony lowered her hood and unfurled a scroll using her magic. "Citizens!" Amethyst shouted to command attention. A crowd gathered around, many ponies leaning out of their homes and shops see what was happening. "By order of the King; Canterlot is to be evacuated of all inhabitants within the next six hours. Anypony found within the city limits will be punished severely." she rolled the scroll back up. "I would not recommend being caught, my lord has been eager to make some examples." she added. She tucked the scroll back into her robes as the carriage turned to head back to castle. There were a few minutes of calm as the carriage rolled away before chaos broke out. Dozens upon dozens of ponies scramble to leave as quickly as possible. Pegasi began flying away in droves, unicorns and earth ponies filled the streets. Gabriel stepped out onto a balcony that also held a large telescope. He put his arm against the railing and leaned over. Shortly after, Amethyst joined him. "I see Rainbow Dash performed admirably. They all took the declaration seriously." he said. "Was that really necessary, Gabriel?" she asked, leaning over as well to watch the madness unfold. "Had to pay Discord sooner or later, didn't want him interfering with my plans. Besides, isn't it delightful, Ammy? Look at them, buzzing around like insects under a magnifying glass." he replied. Amethyst sighed and shook her head. "Even now, you're much too carefree." "You were the carefree one when we were younger. I have to pick up the slack now that you're all business." "... Are you really only giving them six hours?" she asked, looking his way. "Hmm... maybe five-and-half, depends on how bored I get." he answered, returning her gaze. He then shifted his eyes, seeming to notice something in the far off distance of Ponyville. …... Matthew Nabal stood on the small balcony of the library, looking out to the distant castle still wrapped in purple energy. He gently rubbed the back of his bandage covered head, relieved that the swelling had gone down. Life had gone from fun, sometimes dangerous slices-of-life to just waiting, and a sense of dread hung over him. After his experience with The Gods of Ragnarok who had disguised themselves as human, he had no idea what to make of this Gabriel who stole the throne. He couldn't be sure what he truly was. He had considered asking The Doctor, but he couldn't locate the police box and Lyra and Bon-bon hadn't been home in several days. "What are you thinking about?" Twilight Sparkle asked, joining her human partner. "Nothing in particular. Just letting my mind wander." An answer she expected, mostly. "I heard back from my brother. He and Cadence are making preparations to come help, all the way from the Crystal Empire." "Good, good. Guess we need all the help we can get." was all he said. Twilight now stood at his side. "You know, if something's bothering you, you can tell me." she said reassuringly. Matt let out a long sigh. "I know. It's just... I haven't seen another human in so long. I didn't think there could possibly be any others here. Lo and behold, the only other one I've met and he's... he's such a..." "A jerk?" Twilight finished. "Yeah. A huge jerk." he affirmed as they both laughed. "And on top of that, he hurt my friends. He hurt you. I get the feeling he isn't through hurting people just yet." "Hey, don't worry, everypony's all healed up now. Besides, you took the biggest hit of all of us. Does it still hurt?" she asked. "Ever so slightly. A very dull pain, it shoul-" he cut himself off, noticing a large disturbance coming from within Ponyville. "What's going on over there?" he asked. Twilight noticed it as well. "I don't know. I'll go check it out." "I'll come with." A short walk over to the Ponyville train station revealed a large crow of ponies arriving via train. There was quite a commotion going on and Matt could hear snippets of 'King' and 'evacuate'. A pony that seemed to know Twilight approached her. "Princess Twilight! You have to help!" she said. "What's going on? Start from the beginning." Twilight replied. …... Celestia could hear the commotion outside from her room but couldn't see what was going on. As she tried to get a good angle without touching the suppression field bars, she heard her door open and the wheels of a cart. Gabriel pushed in a cart, on top of which sat what the princess assumed was her lunch. He hadn't visited her since the first day of her imprisonment, her food and other necessities provided by one of his skeletal servants. Gabriel had stepped out of armor, now only sporting a deep blue vest with a high collar. His clawed gauntlet was also removed which revealing a bandaged right arm up to the elbow. The spot his left arm would've been was visible without the wing draped over it, wrapped in some sort of brace. His large sword was still sheathed at his hip. "I would've brought this earlier, but I had to eat mine first. Amethyst is a wizard in the kitchen." he said. He pushed the cart through the bars and Celestia stopped it with a front hoof. She stared him down for a moment. "What?" he asked. "The bars aren't physically there. Objects can pass through." he said, pulling out a green bottle with a red ribbon on it, uncorking it and beginning to drink. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Celestia lobbing one of her large pillows at him. He quickly lowered the bottle so as not to spill it and took the pillow directly to the face. She grinned with narrowed eyes at the human. "Sorry, I just had to make sure." she said. Gabriel unexpectedly broke into laughter. "I'll give you that one; it was funny." he said. The noise outside grew louder and louder, prompting the Princess to ask. "What's going on out there?" "Oh, that? I'm having the city fumigated for pests. Large, four legged pests with hooves." "Wait... so you're..." she said in realization. "Relax, I'm just forcing them to leave. I have my own aspirations for Canterlot, those pompous fools will just get in the way." "But you're displacing hundreds! You can't just expect the entire city to move!" "I both expect and demand it. After their time limit is exceeded, those who remain will be hunted." he said as he left. "Wait!" She called after him. "You can't do this!" she shouted, worried terribly about her subjects. …... Twilight Sparkle had done her best to manage the situation at hand. The second train had just arrived with more refugees as Canterlot was evacuated. She worked quickly with help from Mayor Mare and others to calm and organize the new arrivals. She stood at a podium to address the crowd. "Attention everypony! I know we're all scared and confused, but we need to get everypony situated in an orderly fashion. While we work out a solution for temporary housing, Pinkie Pie has been generous enough to donate her inordinately large amount of tents for your use." she spoke into the microphone. Pinkie Pie and Matt stood close behind, Pinkie waving when her name was mentioned. "Twilight never ceases to amaze me." Matt said. "I know, right?! She's always so organized!" Pinkie replied. "Yo!" they heard shouted in their direction. They turn to see a white unicorn wearing purple shades and a beige earth pony walking towards them. "Oh hey, it's DJ PON3!" Pinkie shouted as she enthusiastically waved towards them. "Vinyl, Octavia. It's been a while." Matt greeted, also waving. "Were you two on that last train?" "We were..." Octavia said, clearly relieved to be no longer on-board. "I can't believe both of us fit, it was so tight in there!" Vinyl said. "What exactly happened up there?" Matt asked. "We didn't see it ourselves, but apparently our new 'King' ordered everypony to leave." Octavia said. "And he only gave us six hours." Vinyl added. "Six hours? For the entire city?" Matt asked, earning a nod from the mares. "That's what I said!" replied Vinyl. Behind them, the crowd twilight was trying her best to quell was getting louder and louder. "What's with them?" Matt asked. "The upper crust of Canterlot, forced to live like normal ponies. There was bound to be some social discourse." Octavia answered. Matt gave his attention back to Twilight and the crowd, finding it to be some sort of interrogation as the crowd shouted questions at the young princess. "How will we take back Canterlot?!" someone shouted. "I'm working on that right now, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are on their way from the Crystal Empire to provide support." Twilight answered. "Weren't you there when it happened? Why didn't you stop it?!" another pony yelled. "The two individuals who invaded the castle were incredibly careful about their planning, not to mention they used powerful magic to incapacitate me as well as the Princesses." "Well... What about that thing?" someone said, pointing at Matt. "Isn't he a human like the guy who attacked the castle? What if he was working with him?" This was the only question to make Twilight flustered. "M-Matt is-... Matt is not related in any way to the human who attacked the castle. He was with me when it all happened." she said. The crowd either didn't hear her or didn't care as a wave of suspicion flooded towards Matt. He was being accused, blamed and suspected of all manner of things. Matt's expression could only be described as wounded as he headed off back to library, unwilling to bare any more accusations. Pinkie Pie stepped up to the podium ahead of Twilight. "You should be ashamed! Matt's a nice guy, he would never do something like that!" she said before she hopped after the human. Twilight glared at the crowd before following after him as well. Vinyl shook her head at the crowd. "Most uncool." she said. Back at the library, Matt was sitting down and reading as Pinkie and Twilight arrived. "I hope they didn't upset you too much Matt. They have no idea what they're talking about." Twilight said. "Yeah! Don't worry, we know you didn't do anything wrong." added Pinkie. Matt closed the book and rested it on his chest. "Thank you. I should have assumed that the only other human in Equestria would be suspected because of Gabriel's actions. Doesn't make me feel less attacked, though. I guess I'll be staying indoors until this Canterlot situation gets resolved." …... Amethyst checked her pocket watch, seeing that the citizen's designated six hours was nearly up. She stepped back onto the balcony she and Gabriel stood on earlier to find him there again, adjusting the dragon wing that hung over his armor. "You waited the whole time limit?" she asked. "I figured I'd use the time to have my armor polished." he replied. "It does look quite good on you." Amethyst said, coyly smiling. "I appreciate the flirting, but we have something to attend to." Gabriel said, returning her smile. He stepped up on the railing of the balcony. "Try not to damage the brickwork too much on the way down." she said. Gabriel leaned forward and fell off of the balcony. He fell rather quickly, then stabbed his sword into the wall of the castle, ripping open a hole for more shadows to crawl out of. He kicked off the wall much closer to the ground and managed to land on his feet. As the shadows formed around him, they took the shape of skeletal ponies, large beasts and a few winged ones that gathered around him. He looked back to the wall he stabbed earlier to see a large gash in the bricks from his blade. He shrugged, slung his sword onto his shoulder and began marching forward. Amethyst appeared in a flash of light to follow behind him. "Find any stragglers. Bring them to me."