“A family can develop only with a loving woman as its center.”
- Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
Chapter 2: A League Unlike Any Other
Princess Luna’s POV
Roughly 1000 years ago…
“MY LOYAL GENERALS, I BRING YOU THE WEAPON THAT WILL WIN US THIS WAR AND...”
“Please, Your Majesty. I know the Royal Canterlot Voice is tradition, but could you please speak a little more softly.” I turned my head to the general who would dare interrupt me. He was covering his ears and so were the others. I suppose this once I could speak in a softer tone. I had my generals follow me to my temporary accommodation so they could bare witness to the foal who would someday lead my armies against my evil sister.
“Behold, my loyal generals. This is the weapon that will win us the war. ‘Tis a glorious night.” I stepped aside so they could gaze upon the foal. Each took turns to examine him in his crib. His blue fur was a slight lighter shade compared to mine. His mane was also as black as night, but his teeth and eyes were his most notable feature. The fact that his teeth had already grown out was a sign of his twisted genetic code. One of my generals, Dusk, approached me.
“It appears that the genetic manipulation was a success, your Majesty,” he muttered to me quietly. I nodded in agreement.
“Yes. Just the other day, a few of the scientists witnessed him generate a spark of electricity. Although we have confirmed he has the blades under his forearms, he has not been able to bring them forth yet.”
“How old is he now?”
“Approximately one month old, I believe. In truth, I have been busy.” There was a small silence between us as we watched the other generals observe the child. I could see Dusk attempting to compose himself, which meant he was preparing to argue with me.
“This is the longest period of time you’ve spent with your son, isn’t it?” He asked. I looked down at him with confusion.
“Most likely. What’s your point?” Again, another small silence was shared between us as we watched the others.
“I lost my youngest son at the beginning of this war. He was three months old. I was shocked when I learned that you ordered your child to be taken to the scientists as soon as he was born. Did you not want to spend any time with him at all?”
“He is merely an instrument of war, Dusk. A means to an end. Our enemies have forced that upon us.” He simply shook his head at this.
“I’ve never approved of this, Princess. In truth, the biggest victim here is that foal. I do not know who the father is, since you are so insistent on not telling anypony. But i hope he at least knows. If he’s still alive, that is.” Not another word was said as he bowed and left the room. Dusk was the only one of my generals who could get away with talking to me like that. Perhaps it was because I had grown a soft spot for his honest nature. He would have made a good Element of Honesty in peacetime, at least before the time my sister and I took control of all six. As general Dusk Apple left for his duties, the rest of the generals followed suit. My maid was meant to bring the foal away now, but she was nowhere in sight. I called out to her but received no reply. We were alone.
I considered sitting down and looking over the battle strategies again, but… something drew me to the small crib. I approached the crib and looked at the foal below me.
To think, there were a million possibilities, and this is what my child looks like,’I pondered to myself.
The colt was just waking up from his nap. His mane was a mess and he was drooling at the side of his mouth. Not exactly the image of a warrior, but I assured myself that one day he would grow to be as powerful and successful as myself. He would save this planet from the slavery and injustice my sister sought to maintain. I chose for him a name that would strike fear into the hearts of my, and his, enemies. A name they would tell their children to be afraid of. Carnage. Carnage Moon. I thought to give him a motivational talk. Perhaps it would resonate with him for years to come.
“Listen to me, foal,” I announced. I dipped a hoof in front of him and he gazed at it in wonder. “You are a warrior now. You will become the most dominant pony on this planet. Nopony will even dare to stand up to your might, and…” Before I could continue, the foal before me began to giggle and attempted to grab at my hoof. “How dare you interrupt me!? You will be punished for…!” In the end, he grabbed my hoof and brought it down to his mouth. He started to suckle at it. I was initially disgusted at this action, but then I caught the content look in his eyes. It was somewhat adorable.
‘No! No! He is a weapon, he will be slicing down your foes in a matter of years. Do not let yourself…’ My thoughts were interrupted when he stopped sucking my hoof and began to reach up at me. I believed he wanted me to hold him. I resisted at first and began to walk away. My work had to come first. All of Equestria would see the beauty of the night, and embrace it over the scorching sun.
Then he began to cry. I felt something twitch inside me. Some sort of maternal calling forced me back to the crib.
I looked over to him again and his crying ceased. He wasn’t frightened of my presence, nor was he in awe of me. He merely looked up at me like a son would at his mother. I rubbed his stomach gently and he giggled the cutest giggle imaginable. I couldn’t help but allow a tiny smile to come to my lips as my little colt’s limbs flailed from him laughing.
‘My colt, my son.’ I gently picked him up in my fore hooves and cradled him. How foolish had I been. No matter why he was created, he was my flesh and blood. I saw him drifting off to sleep, and in this moment of bliss, I couldn’t help but recall an old song sung to me by my mother. A song about a Duke from a city before even my mothers time. In the tale, he led the first army of female warriors after many of the stallions from his city were killed in a previous war. The memory of my mother alone was enough to bring the song from my lips.
“Oh, the grand old duke of York;
He had ten thousand mares.
He marched them up to the top of the hill;
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up;
And when they were down, they were down.
And when they were only half way up;
They were neither up nor down.”
??? POV
Present Day…
“...And when they were only half way up;
They were neither up nor down.”
That was about the third time he sang that song under his breath. It must mean something to him. It will be interesting trying to find out what. I slipped my hood off so I could let my mane breath. I sometimes forget to take it off for hours on end, and then my mane is a mess as a result. Not fun. He began to sweat in his sleep again, so I grabbed the wet flannel and washed his forehead. He seemed to have some sort of allergic reaction to the sleep drug I had administered to calm him down. He wasn’t dying or anything, so he would hopefully feel fine by the time he woke up. After the fight, we brought ‘Mr. Carnage’ back to our base and placed him in a spare medical bed. It took us a day to get back to Canterlot using the express train.
When he didn’t wake up two hours after predicted, our ‘leader’ became concerned, but the Doctor assured him that Carnage would be up and doing whatever he does in good time. If his blades were any indication, then it probably involved slicing things up. Speak of the devil; there was the super smart stallion practically climbing over me to get some sort of reading. He had our guest plugged up to some machines, but he still hadn’t explained to me what it was all for.
“Doctor, what are you doing to the poor guy?” I asked. His head jolted to me before he practically skipped in my direction.
“I thought you would never ask,” he replied. He ruffled my red and white mane as he skipped past me, making me wish I had kept my hood up. The Doctor had been surprisingly candid with me about his story. He was an alien from an entirely different universe. He had directly saved the planet from a Cyberpony invasion several months ago. He used to look humanoid apparently. However, his counterpart in this universe had been driven mad by something called ‘The Time War,’ started to call himself the Master, and turned out to be the one behind the whole thing. Then I got lost in his explanation, but he somehow created a pony clone of himself from leftover regeneration energy, and thus created the current Doctor I was looking at. My head hurt trying to understand; heck, I probably haven’t even gotten that story right. He was an alien and he was smart, and that was good enough for me. He finally got around to explaining to me what all this stuff was for.
“I am trying to figure out what our friend is.” That was pretty much the jist of what I heard so far, but I’d like to actually understand some of it.
“And what do you mean by that?” He jumped over to another monitor with statistics and equations I could only dream of understanding.
“Well, for one thing, I know for a fact that his genetic structure was altered before he was even born. It’s likely that he was implanted in the womb of his birth mother. Possibly, during the time he was in his mothers womb, he was injected with genetic altering material. Incredible that technology like that even existed a thousand years ago. I should know, I paid that era a visit only recently.” I thought for a moment on what he had just said.
“Wait, I don’t think we even have that kind of technology now!”
“No, you don’t, and for good reason. It was technology like that which helped begin the Lunar-Celestial war a thousand years ago. A lot of the research was destroyed and forgotten in a few generations.”
“Do you enjoy blowing my mind on a regular basis with information that I shouldn’t even know about?”
“Oh, of course. The look on your face is priceless.” I forced back a laugh the best I could, but it still came in the form of a snort. He wasn’t done surprising me, though. “This will also shock you too. Our friend here? Over a thousand years old.” My eyes widened in shock.
“Damn, he looks good for a thousand. Is he immortal or something? He doesn’t look like an Alicorn, what with no horn and all.”
“Perhaps, but it would be easier to ask the ma… stallion himself. Still getting used to talking pony.” He undid the plugs and other examining equipment on Carnage and started to pack away. “I better get all of this to the TARDIS. I should also let the others know what I’ve learned.”
“Ah, yes, your mysterious machine. When do we see it, then?” He placed everything in a large brown box and picked it up with his hooves.
“Soon, but I must be off. Are you sure you want to be here when he wakes up?” I waved off his concern.
“Relax, I have a way with ponies. Besides, somepony has to do it, and having armed guards in here with me will only provoke him. Trust me on this; I’m a psychiatrist.” He nodded to me and made his way out, but when he got to the door he gave me one last piece of advice.
“By the way; you’ve probably figured this out too, but I believe fire is some kind of trigger to him. I know you’re not Spitfire, but... try not to set anything on fire.” With that, he left me alone.
When I first met Spitfire, she was a lot tougher than I expected. For a showpony, she ran the Wonderbolts like a military force. She was tough, but fair. She also had a tiny mischievous side. To see somepony that seems so tough, so hardcore that it looks like nothing could shake them, and then to see them terrified out of their mind, is quite fascinating. I don’t mean to sound cold. I feel very sorry for her. Hell, I understand her! If I saw this guy suddenly reveal the teeth of a dragon and then come charging after me brandishing razor sharp blades from his freaking hooves, then I would have been scared witless myself!
I do, however, desire to figure out this pony’s mindset and reasons for turning berzerk. I guess it’s that psychiatric side of me with the thirst to analyse ponies.
I saw the faint beginnings of him stirring awake as I kneeled against the bed. I didn’t always want to be an Assassin you know. I originally wanted to be a... well, a psychiatrist. How other ponies acted and behaved fascinated me since I was small. However, my dad was always one to push training onto me. He always claimed it was for self-defence, but it was obvious to see that it was recruitment. We compromised in the end. He allowed me to get my degree in psychology on the condition that I actually did join the Assassins. I really am a licensed psychologist, but that’s only an official cover. In the end, I fell in love with the uniform and the code. I came to truly believe in what we were doing, rather than using it as a means to an end. The Brotherhood always came first.
I realised that my reminiscing had me off guard when I came back face-to-face with an awake and glaring Carnage. I could tell that he recognised me, so I decided to break the ice.
“Hey there. My name is Silver Tongue,” I said with the sweetest smile I could muster. He didn’t say anything in response, but he did continue glaring at me. His eyes were… outlandish. They definitely weren’t normal pony eyes, but they did seem familiar to me. I realised that I was staring again and mentally berated myself. “Sorry. I apologise for having to drug you earlier. We were told you wouldn’t have come here unless we forced you.” He then surprised me with his response.
“It was a good thing you did drug me.” My ears perked up at this.
“Really? How so?”
“If you hadn’t been there, then there wouldn’t have been much left of your friend to find.” I inwardly gulped but kept my friendly demeanour. Was that a threat? He wasn’t exactly attacking me yet. I took that as a good sign. He was probably curious as to where he was anyway. He didn’t move, but his eyes wandered around the room for a second before they returned to me. “Where am I?” he asked.
“Canterlot,” I replied bluntly. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. He seemed more annoyed than angry. To be honest, I was surprised how calm he appeared to be, but I was thankful for it. “You’ve been out for about three days now. How are you feeling?” His eyes opened wide at this.
“Three days!? What the hell did you give me?!”
“It’s an old recipe meant to take down more… aggressive opponents, but it appears to have affected you a little too well. Again, I’m sorry. If we thought you would come peacefully then we wouldn’t have done what we did.” He quickly calmed down and nodded.
“You’re probably right about that. I’m sorry as well. I’ve been trying to distance myself from…” He paused as he sat up and looked away. Some ponies often do this when they’re trying to say something they have difficulty saying. “Miss Silver Tongue…”
“Please, call me Silver, or Sil for short,” I interrupted. I tried to break the formal barrier so he could open up more. Perhaps that was the key to convincing him to join us.
“…Silver. Your group brought out a side of me that hasn’t been revealed in over a thousand years. It has taken medication, meditation and me reforming myself into a gentlestallion to finally suppress that side, yet in a matter of minutes your group brought him out again.” He paused again, then turned to me with anger etched on his face. “So please, kindly tell me exactly what you ponies want with me.” I shut my eyes. I honestly wanted to tell him right there, but that wasn’t my place. I had to lead him to the stallion with the answers.
“Carnage, I…”
“MR. CARNAGE!” He roared at me. I took a few steps back but kept my composure. “My title is Mr. Carnage, and you shall address me as such. I am not Carnage, I am not Prince Carnage, I am not any other ridiculous nickname you could come up with. MY NAME IS MR. CARNAGE!” Despite his angry shout, his voice quickly softened. “Please. Don’t take my name away from me. It’s all I have.” Heh, I can’t remember the last time something actually scared me.
“Mr. Carnage, I am sorry, but I can’t tell you. However, I can take you to the pony that can.”
“Take me, then. I want answers right now.” He leapt up from the bed and landed on his hooves, but I quickly stepped between him and the door.
“Hold on,” I demanded. He paused and I explained. “Look, I’ll take you, but only on two conditions. I can tell you’re a pony of your word.” He nodded slowly and I tried my best to control the situation. “Alright then. First, you have to remain calm and don’t immediately try to escape once we leave this room.” I waited for him to respond and he looked at the ground rather than my eyes. He appeared to be thinking it over. “Second, you have to hear him out. Give him a chance because believe me, there’s more going on here than you could possibly imagine.” I stuck out my hoof and he stared at it. The silence was agonising, even for me. Eventually though, he gingerly lifted his hoof and shook mine. “Excellent. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t hold your breath,” he said dryly. I opened the door and we both stepped out into the corridor. The red walls were decorated with a multitude of pictures that featured odd looking ponies and, presumably, the ancestry of my employer. I let Carnage look around for a moment and then he asked me a question. “This is a mansion, isn’t it?”
“Yes, this mansion is located near the edge of Canterlot.” He nodded as his eyes continued to scan through the odd pictures. I couldn’t help but ask. “Have you ever been to Canterlot before?”
“No, but I’ve seen the border. The army managed to push close to the capital before we were pushed back. I imagine it looks very different than… I forgot to tell you how old I am, didn’t I?” I waved a hoof dismissively as I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.
“Relax, the Doctor already figured out how old you are.”
“The Doctor? Oh yes, the tan stallion I encountered. How on earth…”
“You can ask him yourself once you finish talking to the boss?”
“And who exactly is the boss?” Before I could answer we were interrupted by the sound of a mare.
“Silver, I’m glad I caught you. Look, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be… alone… with… him…” We turned and saw a petrified Spitfire who looked like she had seen a ghost. Suddenly, she shook her head and instead of a look of fear, she now had an angry glare directed at the Stallion beside me. Carnage didn’t even bat an eyelash.
“I see he’s awake.” she mumbled to herself. “Be careful of him Silver. Rookie there will try to bite your head off the moment you turn your back.” Not another word was said as Spitfire flew off as quick as a flash in the opposite direction from which she came. Carnage turned his head to me.
“Well that was awkward. Did she just call me Rookie?” I put a hoof on his shoulder.
“Relax. Her psych profile suggests she’ll get over it soon. She’s as tough as nails. The nickname is a way of giving herself superiority over you, and making you less of a threat in her eyes. It probably won't work though.”
“I don’t blame her for acting like she did,” he looked over to where she flew off as he seemed to be reminiscing. “I forgot that I’m a monster.”
“Hmm, interesting. Perhaps he suffers from self-hate and low self-esteem issues. When soldiers return from the battlefield they tend to develop self-hate if they killed another pony. It all stems from guilt, but perhaps there’s more to this case. His whole life purpose must have been to kill. Even my father wanted me to have a choice, but he had none.” I realised I was staring again too late.
“Um, Miss Tongue. Are you alright?”
“Uh, yes. Sorry, I sometimes space out. And again, call me Silver.” We walked the rest of the way in silence. The mansion was huge. Over thirty bedrooms and two floors. The boss was on the bottom floor so we had to trot downstairs. We spotted a number of my colleagues, including Vinyl, who came up next to me when Carnage went a couple of hoof steps ahead of me.
“Hey there,” she whispered. “When he begins talking to the boss, we’re all going to listen by the door. You in?” I nodded and she broke off before Carnage looked behind. He didn’t spot her and we continued on. We finally made it to the door as we stopped before entering.
“I was to bring you here once you awoke,” I said. “He’s alone in there. No guards, no reinforcements. Please, hear him out. Are you ready?”
[Mr. Carnage POV]
“Okay, I’ll hear him out. I’m ready,” I said with certainty. The white mare opened the door for me and I stepped into the room. At first, the room appeared to be surprisingly simple. Like the many corridors, there were pictures and the walls were red. There was also another door on the left wall and a Unicorn writing on a desk at the far end. There were two things that fascinated me about this room, though. One thing was the massive picture on the right side that was adorned with a number of other pictures surrounding it. The other thing was the far wall. It was black and appeared to be made out of glass. It was like looking into an endless void of stars. Little white specks that appeared to move and in the centre was a giant blue sun that filled the room with an bluish glow. The unicorn stopped what he was writing and looked up at me.
“Rather impressive, isn’t it?” he said. “What you’re looking at right now is a tear in our reality, a hole that was created years ago. It leads to afar off universe, deep in space. In order to stop anything coming through, this glass was enchanted with magic so no being alive can break through it.” He turned to his right in his swivel chair as he noticed one of the pictures was at an angle and got up to fix it. “There’s been other such tears created. Three years ago, a small group of teenagers gained the ability to enter another world through the mirror. They did it after they realised a serial killer was using that world to kill ponies inside it and dispose of theirs bodies. Gaining the abilities to defeat him required battling their inner selves, but that’s another story.” He seemed satisfied that the picture was in place and returned to his seat. I heard the door shut behind me as the unicorn took out a cigarette, lit it, and began to smoke it.
“That stuff'll kill ya,” I noted.
“Not as fast as our enemies,” he retorted.
“’Our enemies’?”
“The creatures I seek to defeat are a threat to all pony kind. They are everyponies enemies. Please, sit.” He pointed to the chair in front of his desk as he went back to signing papers. I had no real reason not to accept so I trotted over and sat down. He took another puff off his cigarette and flicked the end onto an ashtray on the chairs arm. He was, at a guess, middle aged. He had a short, styled mane. He was dressed in a black and white suit that looked very expensive. There was one thing me and him shared though. We both had very unusual eyes. Unlike mine, his eyes were not of this world. They were round but had indescribable blue lines in them. The lines were straight but looked like a circuit or a mosaic design. In all honesty, it was hard to tell. “This mansion was built by my father as a cover for this window to another world. Due to the nature of my families work, my entire life has been swamped in secrecy. That is how I got my name. Let me introduce myself. My name is the Illusive Pony.” On instinct, I shook the hoof he extended to me.
“Unusual name,” I commented.
“Says the pony who likes to be referred to as Mr. Carnage,” he replied.
“And how do you know that?”
“I know a lot of things. Quite frankly, I know some things I wish I didn’t.” He took another puff of his cigarette before continuing. “I have sources that you wouldn’t believe. I know things that other ponies know only as myths and legends, but they are all true.” I sat there skeptically. In the back of my mind, there was a voice reminding me that there was an off chance that I was being told the truth. However, I wanted to test my new acquaintance on his so called ‘privileged’ knowledge.
“Alright then, why don’t you give me some examples of this secret knowledge?” The Illusive pony smiled at me as if he already knew I was going to say that. He pressed a button on his chair and a secretary with a brownish mane and a tight white suit came in through the door to my left. She reached into a draw to the side of the Illusive pony until she found what she was looking for. I couldn’t help but think that either he was incredibly lazy or he really liked his chair. It was a very nice chair. The secretary pulled out four separate files and laid them out on the table in front of the Illusive pony. She swiftly left the room, presumably to return to her work. Illusive began reading the first one out.
“Here’s a good one only a few will ever know. One hundred years ago, Equestria came into contact with an alien race. The citizens of Equestria never found out about this, but they turned out to be hostile and were planning an attack on Equestria. Celestia authorised something called the ‘P-COM’ project that specialised in developing new weapons and training soldiers to fight the aliens. It proved successful in combating the alien threat and all the soldiers involved were sworn to secrecy, and as soon as the threat was destroyed, the P-COM project was closed down. Some ponies were left with scars from something they called ‘Psi’ training. Sadly, even I don’t know what that was.”
“And the public never found out what it was?”
“They never have.” It appeared he noticed my sceptical look, and he was quick on the draw to back up his knowledge with more knowledge. “I see you're still not convinced though, so here’s another example.” He set down the folder he was holding and picked up another. “For over a thousand years there has been a war. A war fought by two warring factions. And although their ideals and leadership have changed throughout the years, one thing has remained the same throughout their conflict. One group wants absolute control and the other wants freedom for all.” I couldn’t help but lean forward with intrigue. I was fascinated by the idea of a thousand year war and the Unicorn in front of me fed my interest. “They are the Templars and the Assassins. The Templars stand for order and control while the Assassins stand for freedom and liberty. You see, Princess Celestia has led us into a golden age of peace and freedom, but the Templars see it as chaos. Ponies forced on their own to find their talents and they certainly view threats like Discord and Chrysalis are still present today because of Celestia’s ‘dysfunctional’ reign.” I inwardly growled. Every time I hear that mare’s name.
“The Templars sound like my kind of Ponies.” I mused aloud. “Princess Luna would have never let those threats linger or even start for that matter.” The Earth pony waved a hoof dismissively at that statement and replied.
“Perhaps. Although you yourself cannot deny that you are slightly biased in that remark.” I nodded. I didn’t want to hear that, but it didn’t make it any less true. “All I know, though, is that the Templars have shown themselves as nothing but tyrants when they actually gain power. One of the other guests today is actually an Assassin. You’ve met her, I presume.”
“We’ve met. She was drooling over me in my sleep.” The stallion opposite me couldn’t help but laugh at that remark.
“Her father has always told me she is drawn to the more… unusual ponies of society. Her last coltfriend was a wolf.”
“You don’t say? What has happened to the wolves over the years? We had an alliance with them during the war.”
“They’re not doing as well as they could. After the war, they surrendered and were forced into the north. They’ve thrived since then but they haven’t been on good terms with Celestia ever since.”
“How are you linked to the Assassins then?” He took a quick puff of his cigarette before answering that question. He seemed to be contemplating the best way to explain.
“The organisation that I represent, or rather, I lead, and the Assassin brotherhood have similar… interests. My organisation seeks to benefit and maintain the prosperous future of all pony kind and keep it safe from invaders and internal corruption alike.” He flicked the end of the cigarette and took another puff. “We believe that the best way to achieve this is to keep the princesses in power…”
“But that will only happen as long as the princesses are a benefit to society. Am I right?” He mused over my interruption for a moment before answering.
“When Princess Luna reappeared, we were initially worried. However, she has shown herself as fair, just, and more than willing to protect Equestria. She has also shown to be a very capable ruler if Celestia is ever away. Celestia has always been more of a good than a hindrance. At least for the past five hundred years.”
“Do they even know about you?”
“Celestia does. And before you ask, no she does not approve. Her hoofs are tied though, as we are rooted too deeply into politics and society. Back to my point though, that is how I know Miss Tongues father. We’ve never really been opposed and we’ve frequently maintained a healthy work relationship.”
“Alright, enough about this Assassin business. What other secrets are there that you’ve got in those folders.” Illusive nodded to me and picked up the next folder.
“Above us right now is a flying city.” I paused for a moment, trying to take in what he just told me.
“… You mean Cloudsdale?”
“No, a city not on the clouds, that was built for the Unicorns.” I sat there for a moment, again trying to picture it in my head.
“Okay, excuse my ungentlestallion like language. But you're fucking with me, aren’t you?”
“No, I am not ‘bucking’ with you. And you are excused.” I rolled my eyes at that as he continued with a very serious expression. “Around twenty years ago, a top physicist theorised that one could use balloons as a catalyst to hold up entire buildings by utilising outer dimensional particles. These weren’t any ordinary particles, these particles held the key to traveling through time and space.”
“So this physicist used the particles to hold up the balloons, but the balloons themselves were but nothing than a show.”
“Sort of, you have the gist of it. The city was created at the grand science exhibition which has hosted technology from all kingdoms for over 200 years now. Before I go any further, would you like to take a guess at who funded this venture? I’ll give you a hint, the majority of the population and the entire upper class are comprised of Unicorns.” It didn’t take me long to figure it out, but it couldn’t be. Surely they weren’t that big anymore.
“It’s not the UDL is it?”
“Got it one. Specifically the stallion who calls himself the prophet of the old religion. Father Corn Stock. Father Corn Stock’s ancestry was filled with Unicorn farmers who lost their business due to an Earth pony family in Ponyville that cornered the apple farming industry in his district years ago. This shook their sales as apples became more popular and eventually they lost their business. Their family were forced to take odd jobs and the Stallion himself fell into gambling and alcoholism before stumbling across the old religion.”
“Old religion... you don’t mean…”
“Yes, I mean that religion.”
“But that was before my mother’s time. That religion had no real spiritual basis, it just forced a system where the Unicorns were on top and the Pegasi and Earth ponies were on the bottom.”
“Exactly, he claimed that he was born again and met some followers of this old religion who realised his ability to sway a crowd to his argument. Needless to say, they made him their figurehead. He gained a surprisingly large cult following, including some very rich ponies who put their money in the project. Then, unbeknownst to anypony, they launched the city in the middle of the night. They took their entire cult, including the Earth pony workers, declared their independence, and they haven’t been seen since.”
“Could they become a problem? And how on earth has no Pegasi come across the city?”
“You forget. There are some very powerful Unicorns in that city. They built a system that keeps the city invisible through constant use of Unicorn magic. They constantly have workers putting magical energy into the machine on a daily basis. To answer your other question, we have been monitoring the situation ever since it began and we have no new info. Any Pegasi who was unfortunate enough to collide with the city has never been seen again. The Doctor has taken a great deal of interest in this story, though.” I had heard enough at this point. This stallion was merely messing with me. A city suspended by balloons that wasn’t really suspended by balloons. Ridiculous!
“Next you’ll tell me is that there’s a city underwater too.” He paused for a moment.
“Well, actually there’s two. Atlantis where the seaponies reside and Rapture where…” I got off my chair before he could finish his sentence and headed straight for the door. I no longer wanted to be treated like a foal at story time. I had things to do, things I still wanted to see.
“I’m done now,” I called out. “Thank you for the fantasy stories. I’ll be on my way.” I grabbed the door handle and began to open it when he called out to me.
“Perhaps you would like to hear the story about the lost child of Nightmare Moon. The Pegasus child who can bring forth electricity from his hooves, blades implanted in his forelegs, and stronger senses than anypony alive.” I stopped halfway out the door. How did he know Luna was my mother? I’ve never told anypony that. “The stallion who was built to win a war. The stallion who is a living weapon of mass destruction. The stallion... That is right in front of me.” I stepped back inside and closed the door behind me. Slowly, I trotted back to the desk. “You are the long lost child of Princess Luna, Prince Carnage Moon.” Before anything else was said, the door to my left burst open and standing there was a frantic Shadow Heart. She panted heavily as she looked around the room. Behind her was the rest of the group who were in a pile. It appeared they were all listening behind the door, but the revelation caused Shadow to snap and barge right in, causing the rest of them to fall on top of each other. Luckily, Guardian was at the bottom so nopony was crushed. Shadow flew to my hooves. She propped her spear up and leaned against it so she was bowing to me. This was a very different mare than the one I met in that alleyway.
“I am tru-ly so-sorry my liege,” she whimpered, “I had no idea. I-I am your loyal servant, as I am a loyal servant to your mother.” Then it all made sense. The Luna guards were sworn protectors of all the royal family, especially those descended from mother. In all honestly, I never liked ponies grovelling at my hooves. I patted her on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
“Um... it’s alright, I suppose. You did not know what you were doing.” Then she started kissing my hooves and that was just weird. Ponies actually want others to kiss their hooves, since when? Luckily for me, the group behind her untangled themselves and Silver quickly took Shadow away.
“C’mon Shadow. We’re not meant to be here, remember?” I think she was about to cry just as they took her away and closed the door behind them. The Illusive pony looked at me with a blank expression on his face.
“Do you see the power your name alone carries? It wouldn’t be in your best interest for others to discover it and who you really are.” I saw where this was going now. I was going to have none of it! I marched forward towards his desk and got straight in his face.
“My mother is to not find out that I am alive!” To his credit, the Illusive Pony didn’t even blink. He looked me dead in the eyes.
“In truth, I have no intention to let her know. All I want is for you to help me. In doing so, you are helping all of Equestria.” I backed off slightly, but not too much, so I could still appear threatening.
“And what do you mean by that?” He grabbed the last folder and handed it to me. Inside was more than I expected. Details about me. Practically my entire life story, my powers, pictures from my emergence to my time in the Everfree, my beginnings as a woodcarver, my favourite café and so on. They had been watching me, practically since the beginning. “Well…this is creepy.”
“I suppose it can been seen as such.”
“What do you want?”
“Do you remember what I said about the Templars? We have acquired information that would suggest that they have come into possession of some kind of super weapon. Worse, I believe they have made some sort of allegiance with another species.”
“What species? Griffins? Wolfs? Trolls?”
“We don’t know yet, all we have are our suspicions. We need you for your strength and abilities. Also, we believe that you and the weapon are connected.” That really caught my attention.
“How?”
“Both you and this weapon are apparently over a thousand years old.” I shook my head in disbelief. An ancient weapon as old as me?
“How do you know this?”
“That’s classified, I’m afraid,” he put out the cigarette and looked me dead in the eyes. “This is what I want you to do. You and the group are to look around Canterlot for anything suspicious. We believe that members of this alliance are working on something in the middle of the city. I want you to come back with your findings.”
“I haven’t agreed to…”
“But you will. Miss Tongue has assured me you’ll be more than happy to help us if I guarantee your permanent seclusion.”
“What do you mean?”
“We will guarantee not a single pony will ever discover your identity. And my little organisation will make sure of that for the rest of your immortal life.” I sat back down and quickly took it in. Freedom. Permanent freedom. A plus was stopping a super weapon and protecting all of Equestria. Maybe even find out something about myself that I didn’t know before. “Well, Mr. Carnage. Will you join us?”