The clip-clopping of many hooves against the ground and the flapping of a pair of wings sounded through the air as the group made their way toward the place where Arceus had mysteriously entered Equestria.
“I hope the poor dear’s armor is alright,” Rarity said softly to the purple mare trotting alongside her.
“I’m sure it’s fine. After all, nopony could possibly move…” she trailed off as they reached the clearing. Arceus was staring with a look of horror. Not because the armor he’d expected to find was damaged, not because it was moved, not because it was absent from its previous resting place, but because it was now somehow…decorated.
Streamers alit on the mostly polished, ornate blue surface, contrasting in tone with the blood of daemons which still stained the ceramite surface. A vibrant pink pony was humming to herself, bouncing around the suit of armor, her chaotic, frizzy mane and tail bobbing as she did so.
“Oh, I’m soooo excited for the girls to get here! We’re going to have a ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party for this big, weird hunk of blue metally stuff!” she spouted quickly in a bright, high-pitched voice. Before anypony could blink, Arceus was galloping toward his armor at top speed. The other ponies ran (or in Rainbow’s case, flew) after him as fast as they could, but the blue pegasus was the only one who could manage to keep up with him. Applejack followed closely behind, but Arceus and Dash far outpaced her.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no!” Twilight exclaimed. “I hope he doesn’t hurt Pinkie!” Much to the unicorn’s relief, however, Arceus came to a sudden halt in front of the now festive suit of heavy, otherworldly armor.
Unfortunately for Applejack, his halt was so sudden that she crashed right into his rump, which seemed to hurt her far more than it did Arceus. The space marine pony simply stood his ground, barely noticing the mare crashing right into his rear. Applejack sat there, dazed for a moment, before stepping back and watching the proceedings, ready to spring into action should her strength be needed for some reason.
“You, bouncing pink one! Step away from the armor this instant!” he bellowed loudly, instantly capturing said ball of boundless equine energy’s usually flighty attention.
“Oooooh! A new friend!” she exclaimed, bouncing straight up to him and landing with her face right in front of his, startling him for the first time since he’d arrived. He reluctantly gave ground to the strange pony, or tried to; she followed his backwards trek until his back was against a tree. “I’ve never seen you around here before! Oooh, I need to get the welcome wagon!”
Her former interest in the mysterious armor largely forgotten in light of the apparent newcomer, who sat completely bewildered in the shade of the tree he’d backed into, she bounced away, only to encounter her friends. “Oh, hi, girls! I’m on my way to get the welcome wagon!”
“I think that may be a little…much, Pinkie. He’s not from Equestria, and he’s very confused,” Twilight said, looking towards Arceus with concern. The battle brother turned pony sullenly watched from a distance as Pinkie and Twilight conversed.
“Oooooh, I see.” Pinkie looked thoughtful, contemplative even, as she put a hoof to her chin. Then, she brightened. “That’s okay! They say music’s a universal language, right? Well, I keep record-players stashed all across Equestria, in case of musical emergency!” She bounced towards the tree that Arceus was under, and pulled an archaic-looking phonograph out of a hollow in the aging oak, along with a couple of records.
“Pinkie, darling, please wait!” Rarity said, galloping up to her enthusiastic earth-pony compatriot. “Please, allow us to explain! Um…oh, dear.” Rarity and Twilight both quickly attempted to think of a way to get Pinkie to back off before things got seriously out of hoof. Suddenly, Twilight had it. In a flash and a magical “pop”, she disappeared, reappearing between Pinkie and Arceus. Pinkie had been making her way towards the built stallion, who was grumbling to himself while carefully removing the pink pony’s decorations with his teeth.
“This is heresy! Desecration! This armor is an ancient heirloom of my chapter, and now it is defiled with these strangely colorful trappings!” Resisting her instinct to lay a comforting hoof on his shoulder, Twilight simply spoke to Arceus.
“We’ll get it cleaned up…but first we need to talk our friend down.” Arceus turned and morosely nodded, sighing and plopping down heavily on his haunches. Pinkie seemed to be rather nonplussed.
“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight began to explain patiently, “Arceus came from…somewhere else. Somehow I don’t think he wants a party right now. But once you’re properly introduced, maybe we can all have one together?” Pinkie nodded in a rare, solemn moment, but was quickly bouncing in place excitedly.
“Okie dokie lokie!” Suddenly, the party pony stopped in mid-air, pausing there for a moment before landing gracefully on her hooves. The space marine eyed her warily, figuring this was some sort of strange witchcraft, but said nothing, even as she trotted slowly up to him.
“So, your name is…Ar-see-us?” She stuck out her tongue. “That’s borrrring. Let’s call you something fun! Like…Arcey! Wait, I’ve got it! Rainbow Dash is R.D., so how ‘bout R.C., just like those neat little cars you drive around with the remote and use to race and do tricks and stuff?! You seem really fast, so it totally fits!”
Arceus stiffened and looked as if he were about to protest, but Twilight shook her head.
“It’s best not to argue with her, Captain. You can’t win. Her very existence defies logic sometimes.” This elicited a sigh and a nod from the dour stallion.
“Ooooh, so you’re a captain? Captain of what? Do you have a fancy sailing ship? Can I ride on it? I love sailing, but I’ve only ever been once, well, twice really, but the first time I don’t remember really well cuz we were out on the waves and the big boat was rocking a lot and I got reeeeeeeeeeally sick and passed out but the second time was a lot of fun because we went fishing and even I caught some, but the captain got really mad and yelled at me because I started trying to juggle the fish and I lost control of them and one flew and hit him in the face! It was soooo funny!”
This entire tirade seemed as if it came in the space of one breath, but battle-tempered Arceus made it through with little more than an eye twitch, where lesser ponies would have been begging for mercy.
“I…see. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I suppose…” he said, extending a hoof cautiously in Pinkie’s direction. She grabbed it and shook it vigorously, making even the powerful stallion’s taut muscles feel as if they were about to vibrate right out of his foreleg.
“Nice to meet you, R.C.! I’m Pinkie Pie! I’m Ponyville’s official party expert!” she said, and would have continued rattling his foreleg had he not snatched it away a few seconds ago. The pink pony didn’t seem bothered by this, and started to bounce around him in a circle. The captain followed her with his eyes but soon figured out the only thing this would earn him would be some dizziness. He snorted and walked toward Twilight, Pinkie bouncing excitedly after him.
“That went significantly better than expected,” Rarity said.
“You got that right,” Applejack replied, watching the scene unfolding before them. “I was afraid that Arceus fella was gonna buck Pinkie inta next week!” Rainbow Dash, who had been watching silently from her perch in the tree that Arceus had previously taken shelter under, yawned and casually examined a hoof.
“I still don’t trust him. I mean, do you honestly expect me to believe that he just popped out of nowhere? Puh-lease. Twilight can call it ‘magic’ or whatever she wants, but I’m not buyin’ it.”
“Rainbow, why is it so difficult to give somepony the benefit of the doubt?” Rarity inquired.
“Uh-huh. I see how it is. You like him, don’t you?” she said, grinning wickedly and pointing an accusatory hoof at her ivory unicorn friend. “I saw you at the café, trying to sweet talk him!”
“Now wait just an apple-buckin’ minute, R.D.!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ah’m the Element o’ Honesty, and I can pretty well tell ya that he ain’t been tellin’ us no fibs.” The cyan speed-demoness frowned down at her two friends, and shook her head.
“Ugh…you guys are hopeless. Don’t come cryin’ to me when he brings Ponyville all sorts of trouble. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date with a nice, comfy cloud.” She dashed out of sight, leaving her usual vibrant rainbow trail, most likely to take her nap. Applejack shook her head.
“I’ll be darned if that mare ain’t the stubbornest, orneriest pony I ever did meet! It’s easy ta forget she’s an Element o’ Harmony like us, sometimes,” Applejack said with a sigh. Rarity smiled softly.
“She may be stubborn, but she’s just protective of us. She is the element of loyalty, after all. And true loyalty isn’t always easy to earn, even for well-intentioned ponies like our new friend Arceus.” Applejack nodded, recognizing the wisdom in Rarity’s words, and turned to see the aforementioned sturdy stallion standing in front of Twilight, Pinkie chattering seemingly incoherently and bouncing beside his head. That pony was made of sterner stuff than any of them, as he seemed as if he’d already learned to (mostly) tune Pinkie out at her most irritating moments.
“So, Lady Sparkle…how do we go about removing the objects that Pinkie Pie so kindly decorated my armor with? And what’s more, how do you suggest we move it all so that no other, uh, ponies get their han- I mean, hooves on it?” Arceus was obviously becoming accustomed to common Equestrian lingo, as difficult as it had been for him at first. His formal, stiff manner of speech was still very much intact, however. Twilight gazed at the hulking mass of foreign metal.
“Well…I suppose we could get some heavy equipment to move it, otherwise we’d need to move it magically, piece by piece, and that could be-“ she started, realizing mid-sentence that Arceus had already hefted what looked to be the biggest part of the armor onto his back and was laboriously moving toward town.
“I say, that stallion’s got the kind of muscles that would even put your brother to shame,” Rarity said quietly to Applejack. The orange earth pony merely stared.
“Eeeyup,” came the small reply. A violet glow enveloped the hunk of armor that was on the stallion’s back.
“Why didn’t I think of it before?!” came Twilight Sparkle’s excited voice. “All we have to do is cast a weight reduction spell on each piece, which will last long enough for us to get into town! Now, where to keep it…?” she pondered aloud.
“I have a spare storage room in my boutique I’d more than happy to let the captain use for his armor,” Rarity graciously volunteered.
“Great!” Twilight exclaimed. “Then let’s get started. Applejack, Pinkie, I’ll need you two to help Arceus carry everything. Rarity, help me focus magic on the whole pile so that the weight-reducing spell takes full effect. And Rainbow Dash…wait, just where is that pony?” she inquired, looking around curiously as all the others began going about their appointed tasks. “Oh well. She’ll turn up eventually…probably after we’re done,” Twilight muttered.
Well before sundown, all of the armor had been placed in the spare storage area of Rarity’s Carousel Boutique. Her little sister Sweetie Belle and her friends Applebloom and Scootaloo watched the proceedings with curiosity.
“He sure is a big fella, ain’t ‘e?” the younger Apple family sister said in awe.
“Yeah…you can say that again,” said the small orange pegasus known as Scootaloo.
“Well, why would ah say it again? Ah already did!” the small yellow earth pony complained to her friend.
“He’s ginormous!” the little white unicorn beside them exclaimed.
“Now, Sweetie Belle…be courteous to our guest. He’s come from…well, a very long way to visit Ponyville.”
“How far, sis?” Rarity’s inquisitive sister asked, looking up at her elder sibling with a look of youthful wonder.
“Mmmm..I’m not entirely sure. Geography was never my strong suit,” Rarity replied, hoping this wouldn’t prompt any more questions from Sweetie. Lucky for her, the little unicorn seemed to take her sibling’s reply at face value.
“Oh, okay,” she said simply, a little high pitched squeak in one of the syllables. The three fillies continued watching the stoic visitor curiously as he hefted a large hunk of strange metal into Rarity’s spare storage room and supervised the movement of the rest of it. Scootaloo nudged Sweetie’s side gently.
“Hey, Sweetie Belle…you think he’s moving in with your sister?” The other two looked at her strangely.
“What’re you sayin’?” asked Apple Bloom suspiciously. “That Rarity and this fella are…together?” The little orange pegasus merely smirked.
“Heh…maybe I am, maybe I’m not. But whatever. This is getting boring to watch. Let’s go do some crusading, girls! Maybe today’s the day we’ll get our cutie mark!” The other two fillies nodded enthusiastically and they all galloped out of and away from the boutique.
Twilight was panting a bit as the last piece of armor was placed in the storage area, and her formerly glowing horn went dim as she deactivated the weight spell. She sighed with relief and leaned against a nearby wall.
“Are you alright, Miss Sparkle?” asked Arceus with obvious concern.
“Oh, yes, I’m fine. Thank you, Arceus.” She trotted over to his armor and began to examine it, lightly rapping a hoof on it. “In all my years of study, I’ve never read about anything like the metal this is made out of.” Arceus walked over to stand beside her, his hoof-falls heavy on the boutique’s floors.
“It’s called ‘ceramite’”, he said. “It’s a special ceramic material. It’s not metal at all, actually. I know not of its origins. It may have been discovered in the Dark Age of Technology.” Twilight cocked her head.
“What’s the ‘Dark Age of Technology’?” she asked curiously.
“Humankind…that is, the race I belonged to in my world, once enjoyed a time of technological bliss. Then came peril that pushed that race to the brink of extinction, in what was called the Age of Strife. The ‘Imperium’ I keep speaking of was all the remnants of humanity spread out across the stars banding together in order to survive. Much knowledge was lost, and much of it may never be regained.”
As a studious and knowledge-hungry unicorn and as a compassionate pony, Twilight was saddened by what Arceus told her.
“I-I see. I’m sorry, Arceus,” she said solemnly. Arceus waved a hoof.
“It was long before my time, Lady Sparkle. Think nothing of it. It is not something you need concern yourself with now, and the distant past is the least of my own worries at the moment.” He left the boutique, silent except for the heavy clomps of his hooves on the floor.
“Who stuck a worm in his apple?” questioned Applejack as she came to stand beside Twilight.
“We were discussing his armor, and then he told me of his race’s tragic history…’humankind’, he called them. I guess the remembrance made him a little upset, and he’s trying not to show it.”
***
Rainbow Dash moved stealthily from cloud to cloud, peering down at the massive, wandering stallion. Even from up here she could make out his powerful, muscular form…
“Stop it!” she hissed at herself, moving to the cover of another cloud to keep up with his distance-eating, steady lope. ‘Man, doesn’t this guy ever get tired?’ she wondered to herself as she peered through the cloud canopy at Arceus. She had to grudgingly admit, his stamina was rather impressive.
“Hi!” came cheery voice from behind her. Rainbow Dash’s tail stood on end and frizzed out and she fell facefirst through the cloud she was standing on, landing on the ground with a thud. A gray mare with yellow eyes pointing in oddly opposite directions and a big grin on her face fluttered down to land in front of her.
The noise had of course caught keen-eared Arceus’ attention, and he turned to see what the ruckus was about. The gray pegasus was hovering over Dash, prodding her.
“Uh…are you okay?” she asked quietly. A low growl erupted from the blue mare who lay on the ground. “Oh, I guess that means you’re alright. Anyway, if you’re not hurt, I got some mail to deliver. Bye bye!” The mare flew up and off into the clouds, mailbag slung over her shoulder. Arceus trotted up to Rainbow, and gently nudged her with a hoof.
“Who in the Emperor’s name was that? And are you alright, uh, Lady Dash?” This got the rainbow-maned pegasus to her feet, albeit a little unsteadily.
“Don’t call me ‘Lady Dash’. It’s too…girly,” she said with a sickened expression while rubbing the new bump on her head. “Just call me ‘Dash’ or ‘Rainbow’, okay?” Arceus nodded slowly.
“Alright, La- I mean, Dash. Are you well? That looked like a nasty fall.” She was inwardly relieved he didn’t ask what she’d been doing up there, but she still didn’t rust him.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. What were you doing, way out here? This road leads to the Everfree Forest! It’s dangerous in there. Nopony goes in there alone.” She eyed him suspiciously. “What were you planning?” Arceus rolled his eyes and sighed, rubbing his temples with his hooves. Finally he looked up at her again.
“Look, Rainbow Dash,” he began, “I know you don’t trust me. But if I wanted to do your or your friends harm, I could easily have crushed your skull as you lay helpless, and none would be the wiser. Do you see any witnesses?” he asked, gesturing around the large area. Just as he said, Rainbow was unable to spot another pony as far as the eye could see. She hovered up in the air, and still could spot nopony else. She landed gracefully in front of him and sighed.
“I guess you’re right.” He scuffed a hoof on the ground and looked away. “I’m…I’m sorry, okay? I guess you’re not a bad pony. But I’m warning you, I’ve got my eye on you. And you never answered my question. What were you going to do in there?”
“I’ve heard tell that there’s a witch of sorts who lives in this ‘Everfree Forest’. I wanted to visit her. Though I hate to suffer any of her ilk to live, I suppose she might be able to offer me some help in understanding how I got here, and how I can leave.”
Rainbow nodded.
“Yeah, that’s good thinking. Zecora may be able to tell us something.” She flew into the air and hovered above him. “Well, I’m going with you.” Arceus shrugged.
“Do as you will. Just try to keep pace.” He smirked and dove off into the woods, galloping at full pace. Rainbow smirked as well, soaring at a low height and top speed into the forest after him.