//------------------------------// // Chapter 40 - Battle For Ponyville: Prologue. // Story: Ark: Friendship is Survival // by Pomp-Neigh //------------------------------// -INSTALLATION: EQUUS- It is nearly impossible to tell what the time of day is upon the Equus installation, save for those who kept devices such as clocks, watches, and other time-keeping contraptions. This is due to the ever-present blanket/cloud of lavender that blocked out the Ark’s sky since the Corrupted Master Controller’s revelation. And, of course, both the ‘sun’ and ‘moon’ are forever hidden from everyone’s eyes. In tandem, transparent multicolored lining forms hexagons in the sky, which indicates the dome that seals in all living things upon the installation, as is the case with all Arks. The veil has been lifted, and the truth is plain for all to see: The artificial makeup of their ‘world.’ -Canterlot- Many forms of life moved on the streets of Equestria’s capital, although somewhat orderly as guards from many different species seemingly guide the masses towards a particular location. Wagons are being pulled by individuals with their personal belongings placed upon them. And those who didn’t possess a form of transportation carried what they could via saddlebags and other portable storage. However, aiding these efforts are mechanical entities whose size could rival even the largest of yaks and buffalo. In addition, miniature mechanical marvels flew through the air and are similar to the size of typical pegasi. They perform various tasks such as scanning individuals and patrolling the entire capital. Of course, chaos is a frequent dancing partner to order as other residents are in a frenzied panic, demanding answers to their current predicament. Some are even breaking out into fights due to their frightened state, clouding any sensible thoughts and actions, although one also couldn’t fault them for it.  ………. Floating above Canterlot, the transparent form of Megan Williams looks down with regret and sympathy plastered onto her features. “I never wanted to see this again…” Megan comments, following a saddened sigh. “It pains me to see all of you suffer like this, to experience on a smaller scale the same hardships me and my parents had to face,” Her lips quivered; a sense of fear sends waves down her spine.  “When the King Titan attacked us all on Earth, everyone panicked; we were all afraid. While some remained as civil as possible, others would just toss aside such notions and fought amongst themselves.” The homo-deus shifts her head towards the direction of Ponyville, but a new addition to the distant town immediately presents itself: an enormous transparent dome that takes on a pink coloration, and much like the dome that covers Equus, hexagons are stitched together in the protective shell’s makeup.  “HLN-A, Cadence… I won’t rest until I get you out of there…” A moment of silence ensues, save for the sounds emanating from below due to Canterlot’s activities, before a familiar popping sound makes itself known, followed by the serpentine form of Discord. “Discord,” Megan starts, turning towards the Overseer, “How are they doing?” The Overseer places his eagle’s talon behind his head, “Well, Celly has just recovered, although I’ll never quite get used to her current appearance. It’s funny since I’ve seen it in the distant past and during the Ark’s creation, but I guess her usual form became the status quo. I must say: these memories you’ve unlocked for me have been very… enlightening.” Megan smiles, “That’s good to hear. I understand that their current forms might dig up some unpleasant memories, but make no mistake, they are still Celestia and Luna,” Her features morph into concern upon saying the dark alicorn’s name, “About Luna… is she…?” Discord winces, “You, uh, might want to see for yourself. We repaired the damage as best as we could, but- well, you’ll see.” -Canterlot Castle: Inner Portion- Celestia trotted through the halls of the castle hurriedly. Her hooves clopped heavily against the marbled floors as those she had passed stepped aside, her guards saluting their fiery princess’s departing form.   Fiery princess is an apt description as Celestia’s rainbow-colored mane and tail had long since disappeared, replaced entirely by flames. Her eyes are pure black, and her orange-slitted pupils dilate as she focuses on her main objective.   “Please, make way! I must see to her at once!” She shouts, now finding herself within the Lunar Wing of the castle. However, there’s a change to her voice - more profound yet all too familiar. -Darn you, Discord! How dare you block off her room from me! An anti-teleportation field, ridiculous! I wouldn’t have interrupted-- -You absolutely WOULD have interrupted their progress, Sunbutt,- Discord interjects, speaking into her mind. -I know you.- -Tch, of course, you’re listening. She’s my sister! It’s only natural that I’d come running upon receiving the news Sunset Shimmer gave me!- -Fair enough. Although my workers and Lyra have recently finished up with Lulu, so there’s that. I could lift the teleportation field, but you could use the exercise. Haha!-  The sun alicorn ignores the Overseer’s words as, during their inner conversation, she now approaches her sister’s bed-chambers. A pair of Luna’s thestral guards—a stallion and mare—are stationed at the room’s entrance as they turn their gaze towards the encroaching alicorn. Celestia slows down and comes to a stop, and as she is about to reach out to open the left side of the light-blue double door with a forehoof, the stallion bat pony spreads their right wing and blocks the door before saying: “I’d advise you to prepare yourself, your highness,” The thestral retracts his wing, folding it to his side, “It’s a pretty unnerving sight, although I mean that in a respectable manner.” “Well, I think it makes the Night Mother look more fearsome, yes?” The thestral mare comments. “She truly takes on the visage of might and grace. Dah, but, yes, what she wears now is quite peculiar.” Celestia absorbs their words for a moment, and with a breath, she grabs onto the door’s handle and applies her strength. The door opens, and the scene she sees before her instantly shocks the alicorn to their core. Lyra Heartstrings, who happened to be approaching the door, turned her gaze to the shocked alicorn’s presence.  “Ah! I see that Sunset has delivered my message. Good to see you back on your hooves, Guardian.” “Wh-L-Luna…” The alicorn stutters, her gaze fixated upon the form of her sibling, who laid peacefully on her bed.     Two of the small flying mechanical beings float alongside the bed as a series of scanners exits the entities, lines of technological origins scanning Luna’s slumbering form. However, it wasn’t these entities that shocked the fiery mare, for she and many others had adjusted to their presence. It was Luna’s physical condition that caused shock, specifically, two of her limbs, which acquired an interesting overhaul.  In essence: the dark alicorn looked as if Nightmare Moon herself had returned once more, although her default armor is currently unequipped. But when it came to the night mare’s front right leg and right wing, not to mention the chest region in-between, those appendages had been replaced entirely by futuristic technology. Celestia is simply at a loss for words, sorrow and regret festering within her form. Upon noticing this, Lyra takes the initiative and clears her throat before saying: “We’ve done everything we could back at the Overseer’s Laboratory, but her wing and foreleg were… too damaged,” She takes a deep breath and sighs, “We had no choice but to perform an amputation.”  A gasp could be heard from Celestia’s parted lips, and now that she thought about it, had they performed the task with her present, she would’ve undoubtedly caused an uproar. Discord’s actions were now more reasonable than she had thought. “Therefore, prosthetic implantation was our next best course of action,” Lyra continues hesitantly.  The unicorn then fires up her horn in a yellow/golden aura before a screen of identical coloration pops up in front of the duo. The visual depicts two mechanized individuals with Luna present on the lower right section of the screen.  “We used the forelimb of a Stryder, the large equine machines which aided us, as a basis for Luna’s missing forelimb,” Lyra explains, Celestia looking towards her sister then back to the screen. “As for her wing, we performed the same action and used the wing of a Voidwyrm to influence its’ construction.” “Voidwyrm… yes, you once mentioned that they aided other nations during the battle in Ponyville?” Celestia inquires.   Lyra nods, “Indeed. Now then, these prosthetics possess pseudo nerves that effectively simulate her normal limbs’ senses. It’ll feel like she never lost them at all; of course, appearances will say otherwise,” The unicorn’s ears fold against her head, “I’m so sorry, princess. I wish we could’ve-” “No,” Celestia interjects, albeit with the motherly tone she always takes, although it has a slight deepness to it. Courtesy of her current form. “You have nothing to apologize for, Lyra.” The flaming alicorn lowers her head and nuzzles the unicorn as if she were her own offspring, causing Lyra to smile and return the gesture. Celestia raises her head once more, looking down upon the magic mint mare with absolute gratitude. Despite having the appearance of Daybreaker, the kind, motherly, and loving aura of Celestia remains.   “I am forever in your debt,” She said. “Make any request of me, and should it be in my power, I will grant it without hesitation.” Lyra giggles in response, “That’s ok, Guardian. You don’t-” “Princess Celestia!” A distant voice calls out from outside of the room, a set of clopping hooves drawing ever closer. The two thestral guards stop an orange unicorn mare with a red and yellow mane from entering the room. “Halt!” “Please, you have to let me in there! Who knows what Celestia could be- oh…”  Upon noticing the scenario within the room, Sunset Shimmer’s worry faded away as both Celestia and Lyra looked towards her with a raised eyebrow. The two mechanical beings still tend to Luna’s unconscious form. “Ehehe, um… sorry about that,” Sunset said sheepishly.  Celestia chuckles, “It’s quite alright. Although, I do apologize for storming off like I did after you gave me the news.” The two guards allow Sunset to enter the room, to which she smiles in response before trotting towards Celestia and Lyra. “Why wasn’t I able to teleport here?” “One word: Discord,” Celestia answered with slight annoyance. “Ooh! Did someone call little old me?!” The Overseer comments as his voice echoes across the room before his serpentine form appears. However, he wasn’t alone as the human-like shape of Megan Williams accompanies him. The two new arrivals float in the air for a moment before Megan plants her legs onto the floor, Discord still remaining aloft. The homo-deus looks towards Luna’s form and turns to Lyra with a satisfied expression. “You did very well, Lyra. Her vitals are perfect, and I can sense no malfunctions with her prosthetics,” She turns to Discord, “You too, Overseer. Well done.” Discord feigns being hurt, “Ack! Would you expect any less from the Lord of Chaos, AKA, best Overseer ever?” Everyone takes on an expression that can translate to: ‘Weeell…’ “Bah! Fine, be that way, haters,” He responds as he folds his arms across his chest, causing them to laugh lightly in response. “Now then,” Megan starts. “Let us head to the throne room for our next course of action,” She turns her gaze to Celestia, “Except you, Celly. You’re staying here,” She winks, “I bet Luna will be happy to see you up and about. You guys can join us in the throne room when you’re ready, and we’ll brief you on anything you’ve missed.” Celestia is momentarily taken aback by this but forms a grateful smile before nodding, “Thank you, Megan,” She said before turning towards Luna’s bed. “I’ll stay here with you,” Sunset Shimmer comments, gesturing for Lyra, Discord, and Megan to go on without her. However, unbeknownst to everyone else present, Megan looked towards Sunset while saying internally: -Sunset… there is much that I have to tell you.-  As the former trio disappears in a flash of light, Sunset Shimmer catches up to Celestia as the duo stands alongside the bed. The sun alicorn looks upon her sibling’s form with a mixture of worry and pride as Luna’s stomach rises and deflates.  “You still blame yourself, don’t you?” Sunset questions after a moment of silence. Celestia grits her teeth, fangs exposed, “I should’ve been faster, stronger, and much more aware. Were it not for that, Luna wouldn’t-” “Hey now, stop that,” Sunset interjects. “Listen, I’m not very good with these talks. Heh, that was always Twilight’s expertise, and yours. But what I do know is that if anyone is to blame for all of this, it’s Edmund Rockwell. Not you, not me, not Luna, him.”    Another moment of silence ensues. Then, Celestia laughs with a forehoof covering her muzzle. “You truly aren’t any good at this, dear Sunset.”  “H-hey!” -Canterlot Castle: Throne Room-     A large collection of individuals from various species stand within the throne room. King Thorax and his brother chatted with their changelings while Dragon Lord Ember and a handful of her dragons stood beside them. Queen Amira, Rain Shine, and Tempest Shadow can be seen amongst a collective of kirin, storm beasts, and saddle arabians. King Aspen and his deer awaited patiently alongside the other species present.  However, there was a noticeable drop in the number of leaders present. Prince Rutherford and Chief Thunderhooves are nowhere to be seen. King Catspian has yet to return with Grubber as the duo is still located within the Crystal Empire. Among this large gathering, the impatient form of Shining Armor repeatedly taps his left forehoof against the marbled floor, muttering: “I should’ve been there… I should’ve been there…” He repeats, sadness and worries plastered onto his face. ………. After some time, and so suddenly, all voices within the throne room go silent as a human individual stands before them, but most interestingly, it wasn’t Megan Williams. In fact, it wasn’t a homo-deus at all, but something very close—a normal human from Asian ascent. The black-haired female stands tall at the precipice of a small flight of stairs at the base of the three thrones, specifically in front of what was planned to be Twilight Sparkle’s. Everyone looks towards her, their attention fixated upon this woman who practically radiated authority. From what they could tell, she had changed her attire, for she once wore the same Tek Armor as Bon Bon but designed for human use. “Listen up!” The woman shouts, ears perking up in response. “I know that many of you have lost loved ones due to recent events,” She brings her right hand towards her chest, closing it into a fist along with her eyes, “Yes… I know this pain well.” A sudden clopping of hooves hurriedly approaches the human as Shining Armor now stands at ground level and before the first step of the flight of stairs. With determination, he calls out: “You’re Mei-Yin Li, correct?!” Mei opens her eyes and looks down at him, “Yes. And if I’m correct, you must be Cadence’s beloved.” That was all Shining Armor needed to hear as he pleads: “Please! Tell me what happened in Ponyville, and to my wife! I’ve tried to ask everycreature who was there for the full details, but I get the same answer over and over: speak to Mei-Yin Li in the throne room.”  Mei-Yin could feel something stirring within her form, a sense of familiarity upon hearing the stallion Prince’s words. Her eyes wandered downward as she comments internally: -Diana…-     Shining Armor looks to the floor, “Please, I love my wife more than anything. I-” “Your words are honorable, Shining Armor,” Mei interjects, causing the stallion to look upward. “I respect anyone who holds their loved ones close to their hearts. Fear not, for your timing is perfect.” At that moment, the forms of Lyra, Discord, and Megan Williams appear after flashing light. The crowd turns their gaze towards them, and something starts to build up in response. It began with a single clap, which seemed to infect everyone else before a large eruption of cheers, whistling, and clapping appendages ensues. Discord bows as if he had just performed the finale to a show while Lyra sheepishly smiles in response to the crowd’s actions. Megan Williams gives everyone a salute before she teleports and reappears alongside Mei-Yin. “Mei-Yin Li,” Megan starts, a face full of gratitude. “I don’t have the words to express how grateful I am.” Mei crosses her arms, “You needn’t thank me. It was all Helena’s-”      “Ooooo!” Megan interjects with a squee. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” The homo-deus attempts to rush forth and hug the human, but Mei-Yin grabs onto Megan’s head in one swift motion, preventing the hug from ever occurring. “Atatata!” Mei exclaims. “You want to hug something? Go hug a tree!”  Megan pouts as Mei removes her hand, “Awwww…” Mei-Yin turns towards the crowd with a small chuckle, “You’re just like Helena.” Megan blinks and beams a smile, “Hah! That’s one hell of a compliment!” -POINTS! I got Mei-Yin herself to compliment me!- The homo-deus ‘fangirls’ internally. “Although, you both are way too easygoing for your own good. You should learn to discipline yourself.”  -Goodbye, points…- As Megan slumps her shoulders for ‘losing points,’ Mey-Yin still has Shining Armor’s worries in mind. The audience before her starts to dye down their cheers, prompting her to say: “Before we begin, some among you need to be updated about the events that have transpired within Ponyville,” She glances down towards Shining Armor, and as if words had been exchanged between them, the unicorn stallion jolts to attention. “My tale is not only to keep you informed but to also honor the fallen. They shall never be forgotten.” With those words, Mei-Yin proceeds to tell the tale of the Battle for Ponyville.