Tom considered himself a fairly ordinary guy, all things considered. Apart from the fact he enjoyed watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (which was something of a guilty pleasure for him) as its associated spinoffs, he was the sort of man whose hobbies were considered to be fairly normal for a fellow of his age, being a railway enthusiast (he disliked the term 'anorak'), a keen gamer, and also an amateur military historian. Any era would suit him well for study and research. Any weapon or armour raised his interest, be it Roman or Renaissance, British or Belarussian, or Pike or P90. It is with this latter interest we concern ourselves today, for as he availed himself of the morning paper, he read a rather interesting headline in his local newspaper which caught him by surprise.
AMAZING FIND AT CENTRAL NOTTINGHAM DIG SITE!
Archeologists were amazed to uncover a strange suit of armour in a dig site near the construction of a new shopping centre in Nottingham yesterday. The armour is of an unknown era, and astonishingly well preserved for its age, but the size of the armour is what amazes them. We spoke to David Watkins;
"Well, what makes the armour so fascinating is the fact it's seemingly built for an equine, but an equine far smaller than any ever seen in the United Kingdom. We are not sure if this is a hoax or not, but the dating we've done on the metal would suggest it's at least 500 years old."
We will continue to report on this story as it develops.
Tom finished his coffee and got himself outdoors, pulling on his coat as he set off towards the tram stop. "I must take a look at this armour," he said. "If it's a truly miraculous discovery, it could change the entire understanding we have of history for the next few decades, perhaps forever!"
The tram journey to NG2, the nearest station to the dig site, was nice enough. The tram ran smoothly, no idiot drivers tried to outrun the tram, and all seemed to be fine in the world. The sun shone, the sky was blue, there was not a cloud to spoil the view.
Tom got off at the stop and walked towards the dig site. Nearby were two friends of his, Lance and Andy, amateur archeologists like himself, and keen detectorists on top of that.
"Hey Tom!" Lance called. "You here to see the new armour they've found?"
"You bet I am," Tom smiled. "It beats pulling up bean cans and ring pulls, eh?"
"I found a 1976 Coleman in perfect condition yesterday," Lance replied. "That's pretty rare."
"Not as rare as that gold coin you found, mate," Andy answered. "Oh well, it beats finding bean cans. Seriously, why do people around here dump so many bean cans?"
"I have no idea." Tom shrugged his shoulders. "Shall we head over?"
"Sure thing. Detectors off!"
The trio walked over to the glass display case that had been erected, and the armour had been displayed within it. The armour pieces had been assembled in an order that depicted how it would have been worn, and consisted of several segmented back plates similar to 'codfish' armour worn by Roundhead troops during the English Civil War. There were also pauldrons for the front and back shoulders, as well as four armoured horseshoes. The plates were a very deep purple or blue, with two turquoise lines running down the pauldrons on the rear legs, which formed into a symbol that resembled a pair of horns.
"Good lord!" Lance said, looking closely. "Whoever built armour this small?"
"Whomever built armour this small, you meant," Andy corrected. "And what were horses this small doing during the Civil War?"
"OK, Mr Pedant," Lance snorted. "I have no idea! Was this some sort of absurd display of wealth? What do you think, Tom?"
"I'm not actually sure," Tom admitted. "The armour somehow looks familiar, but I can't place it somehow. But look! There's a piece missing from the backplate."
"So there is! Very well spotted."
Andy glanced at Lance. "Pub?"
Lance smiled. "Go on then." The two men strolled off, but Tom stayed by the box.
"You coming, mate?"
"I'll follow you guys up! I want to take a closer look." Tom was peering so closely at the armour he didn't notice something next to his feet. The missing segment of armour was somehow lying there. As Tom stepped to go, he slipped, and his hand landed on the plate, triggering a massive electric shock.
"Open up your eyes, little one," said a voice in his head. "I guess you will have to do."
Tom had no chance to anger before a deep, throbbing pain built up in his forehead. As his mouth and nose were forced together into one piece of his face, a muzzle if you will, part of a horn smashed its way of his forehead. But it was incomplete, with several jagged parts and cracks to indicate where parts had broken off before.
Tom came to a horrified realisation as to who this was, as his eyes turned turquoise and his teeth began to flatten, his canines reduced to equine teeth. "The armour! It belongs to Tempest Shadow!" A scar came into being over his right eye as he came to this conclusion.
"Took you long enough to figure it out. After she died in combat against the Hippogriffs, I need a replacement. Luckily, I have you!"
Tom's neck was forced to a longer length as his spine was washed in a flame of agony, pushed down to an equine stance. No matter what, he couldn't stand up. "No! I'll never-!"
He stopped as his memories started to fog over and fall apart. His body continued to change as the memories continued to change. His arms snapped forwards into front legs as his hands melted into hooves, and his chest expanded into a barrel. He remembered it all! Being wounded by that bear. Being rejected by her friends for her deformity. Thrown out and laughed at by society because she was imperfect.
As his manhood was sucked into his body, replaced with the female equivalent, the hatred began to consume her. She hated everything. But most of all, she hated ponykind for throwing her out and forcing its citizens to subscribe to its friendship crap. Her legs, now back legs, snapped into the backwards position as her feet became hooves. Her clothes merged into a single garment, a heavy black bodysuit that ran partway down her forelegs and hind legs, and partway up her neck. A magenta tail popped out of her butt as her hair morphed into a mane the same colour, styled in a mohawk. She gained pony ears, to replace the human ones she formally had, finally followed by purple fur sprouting from her skin and covering over her flesh.
She smiled as she looked over herself. "It won't be long until this world fears my wrath," she said. "But my armour would help me greatly."
As a response to her words, the armour in the case glowed, and the glass shattered. The plates floated over, and began to fit into place. First came the backplates, three in all, which locked into the top of the bodysuit. Second came another piece to protect the area above her tail. The chestplate bolted into position, soon joined by an armoured collar to protect the back of her neck. The first two pauldrons attached themselves to her shoulders, consisting of a wider top plate joined to a smaller lower plate. The rear plates attached themselves to her rear legs, larger and bulbous to deflect bullets. Each of those pauldrons had the twin turquoise lines on them, the emblem of the Storm King.
As the horseshoes attached themselves to her hooves, Tempest Shadow was teleported to the command deck of her cruiser. An officer saluted her. "Commander Shadow, we have our targets confirmed."
"Who shall feel the Storm King's wrath today?" Tempest smiled.
"One band of the griffons refuse to submit to his authority," the officer replied. "I take it you shall be leading the assult?"
"Naturally," Tempest smiled, as she boarded her drop pod.
"We're in position over the target!" the pilot radioed. "Dropping pods in 3, 2, 1, dropped!"
Tempest focused her mind for battle as her drop pod plummeted to the planet's surface. Moments later, it smashed into the ground, rocking as the balancing cores engaged. Seconds later, the doors dropped as a hail of gunfire roared toward them.
Tempest shook her head. Such fools. She charged her broken horn, sparks flying from it and into the air, and charged.