//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Five years of Ice, A thousand years of Flame // by Lucky424 //------------------------------// I followed Celestia into a room just off the throne room. It turned out to be her office, and there was a solid wooden chair placed in front of it. She motioned to it with a hoof, and I sat down. Before I could do anything, I saw a couple of glowing lights in the corners, and some ropes secured my wrist to the arms. I tried to pull out of them, but the ropes were very strong. “Thank you, you may leave.” Two unicorns emerged from the shadows and left the room, leaving Celestia standing behind me. “Do not worry, it is purely...” “Kinky.” “...for my safety.” She trotted around the desk, sitting down and opening a folder on her desk. She read through the papers inside, occasional glancing at me. It was a little disconcerting, and she closed the folder with a sigh, finally looking me in the eye. “I think we should get the unpleasant part of this out of the way first. The document I have here says that you asked Twilight for some of her magic in order to track the missing filly, Applebloom. Is this correct?” “Yes.” “And that upon discovering her, you entered into a deal with... ah, yes 'the alpha', but then killed him, another, and became the alpha yourself, but did not initially help the filly nor Twilight Sparkle.” “Who the fuck gave you this report?” “Do you really need to ask?” True, I probably could've figured it out myself, but I still wasn't sure what she was after. "You then boarded the vessel, and instead of using it to return with your own kind, you sabotaged the vessel, sent it to it's destruction, and killed any survivors.” It wasn't a question, more like she was clarifying the truth. “That is correct. And if I may?” “Yes?” “They. Were. NOT. My people. I would just like to clarify that.” “But to my understanding, they had similar abilities to your own, and were just a bit more... tribal.” “Does that report tell you what they planned on doing?” She flipped the folder open and read through that section again, before she shook her head. “They were planning on eating your entire race. I stopped them. And yes, I am well aware of the fact I could've used parts from their ship to repair my own. I already have a different solution to that, but I don't expect it to work out.” “I see. Well, that is all for that part. Now, your nightmares.” I dropped my gaze to the floor. “I... am unsure how to deal with this. Normally Luna would do it for me, but she has not left her room since this morning.” “Uh...” “Oh, you are still going to talk to her, don't worry about that!” Fuck... I'm not looking forward to that. “But anyway... may I ask what they were about? All I know is that you are having them, and it is the reason Prince Armour is in the hospital. So, if you can inform me what...” “Sarah. They were about Sarah.” “I... see. I do not wish to insult you, but I have not been told of her. Could you...? If you feel comfortable with it, of course.” I could feel the tears starting to build up, and I tried to move my hands to wipe them away. Celestia's horn flashed, and the ropes around my wrists disappeared. “Sarah... was everything. I met her after I got promoted...” Hundreds of light years away, in another galaxy... “Morning LT, good night shift?” The young officer turned to the other one that approached from behind, a smile playing up on her face. “Morning ma'am, and I'm surprised you haven't heard yet.” “Heard what? It is something to do with the SF team on board my station?” “Yes ma'am. I give you the brief details, there is a more comprehensive report being compiled now. Anyway, approximately oh three twenty Zulu we received an encrypted transmission, and got a small part of it recorded. It was a series of pulses, that repeated after a few moments. We don't know what to make of it just yet, and the techs are still trying to break the encryption.” “Let me hear it.” “But ma'am... the techs...” “I want to hear it. Please...” The lieutenant turned round and flipped a switch on his terminal, and beeping started to play through the speakers. It lasted a few moments, and like he said, started again. She closed her eyes as she listened to it, remembering something from her military history lesson. “Well I be... lieutenant, stop the techs. It's not encrypted. It is the message.” “Ma'am?” “Do it.” The officer took off running, and came back a few minutes later. “They've stopped. Do you know what the message says?” She put her hand into her pocket and pulled out a relic of ancient times. A notebook and pen. She sat in the command chair and marked down the noises she heard. He looked over her shoulder, but all that was there was some lines and some dots. “I will do in a moment, I just have to find the correct information.” She tapped a few commands in to her console, and it flashed up with the same symbols, each accompanied by a letter or number. “Morse code? What is that?” “It is an ancient way of sending messages, using this cypher. I'm not surprised that you don't know it.” She started to translate the message. The first two words appeared, SOS, then the next came SGT, followed by LUCKES. She type the name in a personnel search box, watching as it searched active soldiers. When the results came back empty, she tried the deceased list as well. It too returned no results. She tapped her pen against her lips, then opened the missing in action list. It would take a while, as there were currently hundreds on there, their conditions unknown from when the war finished five years ago. It was the same for both sides, and now they were helping each other search. She relaxed back into the chair and closed her eyes. They snapped open again as the computer beeped, and then widened at what was on display. One match(s) found: SGT LUCKES, A DOB: 11/06/1986. She did the maths, and opened his file, quickly realising just who had sent the message. If it was really him... “Let me hear the last part of the message.” He flipped a switch and the latter half played, and she jotted it down. “It... can't be...” “Ma'am? What is it?” “Tell me lieutenant, what do you know of The Magic Of Friendship?” “It was sent to the Sol system, to see if Terra could be re-inhabited at all. And then it dropped out of all known communication. Even recon flights on the edge of the galaxy didn't pick it up on their scans.” “That is the official story, yes. The truth is that the ship was hastily built, and it could not enter the atmosphere correctly. They were ordered to return, and they acknowledged, saying they had to wait for the ground recon team to leave the planet. Two years into the war, and the ship I was serving on at the time was using Sol to conduct spying missions. We found the Friendship in orbit around Luna, and scanned it. There were no bio-signs on board. True, it was a two hundred year old vessel, but there were not even any results of remains.” “I don't understand ma'am.” “The latter half of that message says Sgt Luckes is trapped on an unknown world, and that he got there on the Friendship. The station has new orders. I want you to search for that signal, and locate it's origins. I'll have a word with the SF guys... and contact a... friend in the Solar Reich. If we go after that vessel without them, it could result in another war, with them as the enemy this time.” “Ma'am?” “You should have studied military history. Trust me, you do not want to fight them. Give the order, then knock off. Take two days, because after that... things will get busy.” “Yes ma'am. Is it possible for me to go groundside for a bit?” “Groundside? Why would you want to do that? Oh... this is your homeworld? In that case, take a week.” “Thank you, Admiral Luckes, see you in a few days.” The lieutenant saluted and left the command centre as she eased back in to the chair, looking at the file still open on the terminal. “Well hello, my great uncle. I can't wait to meet you." Celestia looked around at the ponies seated at her long table. She had Cadence, Twilight, the other Element Bearers, and the Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire to her right. To her left was the significant others of the mares. The chair opposite her was still empty. The servants came in with the meals, but hesitated when they saw the Luna Princess was not present. Celestia nodded at them and the continued to serve. Shining Armour had opted for soup that night, as his throat was still quite sore. She looked over to the table in the corner, where he was having his meal with the griffons. There was no talking, just eating. She too was unsure how to start a conversation. She raised her head up as she heard a heavy sigh from the corner, seeing him looking to the empty chair. He pushed his plate away and left the room. Celestia noticed that his meal remained untouched. She nodded to her guests to carry on without her, and left. She followed at a discreet distance, following him in a seemingly random walk. This was the third time they had been down this corridor. Something peeked his interest, and he chose a different direction this time. She followed through the doorway, finding herself in Luna's private library. They had already been past her bedroom, and it was clear she was not in there. She heard him give a chuckle, and looked over his shoulder to see what was so amusing. There was a picture on the table, and she easily recognised Luna's hoof in it. She was sitting at a table upon the balcony in her personal sanctuary, a single candle and a a dark blue rose upon it. Serving her was him.... but he was wearing nothing except a small apron, a bow tie, and cuffs from a shirt. “I look like a stripper.” Celestia looked around the room, and spotted a pink bag marked with two blue eyes and a purple curl in the shape of an 'R'. A single glance in and she floated the bag over to him, and his eyes went wide with surprise. “Her favourite meal is fried daisies and haycakes. Head on up, I will make sure they arrive for you.” What the fuck was I doing? I had left all my clothes outside, and now looked exactly the picture. What would my friends say? My parents? What would Sarah say? Probably something along the lines of 'If I leave before you, then I want you to be happy, and find someone else. Just don't forget me.' And the present situation... she'd say something like 'quit horsing around, just fuck her already!' I had to admit, I was a little... okay, a lot put off by the fact she was like that, but they were the dominant species here. And very intelligent. And Luna had a wonderful person... ponyality. Her coat was nice and soft too, her wings silky to the touch. I looked down to the floor and noticed my apron had become a tent. Okay... so if it wasn't bad enough from that massage, then after tonight... probably going full native. Fuck it, who the hell is going to judge me now? I dropped all the images from my mind and slipped in through the door quietly. The table was in the correct position, with just a candle on it. Celestia was right that I'd need the rose with me. I put the food on the side, the rose on the table, and grabbed the blindfold that I got from Pinkie Pie, creeping up behind Luna. I slipped it on over her head, and she span round, waving a hoof in the air. “Who dares to assault me in my private chambers?!” I grabbed her flailing hoof with my hand, and her scowl turned into a smile. I led her to the table and left her there, returning with the food. “You can take that off now.” She slowly raised her hoof up, and her mouth dropped at the view she was presented with. She went to get up, but I pushed her back into the chair. "Fried daisies and haycakes, cooked just how you like them.” She gathered up a knife and fork, beginning to eat whilst I poured her a glass of wine. Before you ask, she had a stock of it up here. The next morning finally rolled around, but Celestia was too exhausted to get out of bed, choosing to set the sun on its path and snuggle back down against her feathery pillow. Twilight awoke to find the book she was reading covered in drool, but not from her. Mac had moved in the night and the book was underneath his head. An orange mare and a golden stallion slowly peeked out from the bushes where they decided to spend the night in the gardens. The cost was clear so they hoped out, and turned right in to the path of two earth pony guards. They just smiled and continued their rounds. Soarin finally flopped back against the cloud as Dash started to snore. He knew that she had a lot of endurance from her academy records... but they didn't even scratch the surface. Fluttershy awoke to find a set of golden hooves wrapped around her waist, and nuzzled the stallion as he slept, who came awake and returned the gesture. Rarity was working on her mane, glad to have something to take her frustrations out on. I mean, how hard would it be to give Rumble his own room? Not only that, but there had been a thunderstorm during the night for some reason, and he hadn't quite gotten past his fear of them. So she had awakened to find him pressed against her, and her against Thunderlane. After waking with Sweetie Belle in such circumstances, she just pulled him close and dozed back off for a bit. The early morning kitchen staff came in to prepare breakfast, and wondered just what the hay had happened inside. One of the counters was covered in whipped cream, chocolate and fruit, in the vague shape of a pony. They started to argue over whether it was a mare or a stallion, before one of the younger pegasi colts gave a banana a tentative sniff. His wings shooting out from the scent finally settled the argument, and as they cleaned up they found some ropes under the mess. In the castle? There was some very kinky ponies in there last night. In a luxurious penthouse apartment just down the road, a gold pegasi mare gulped a glass of water down, slicked back her orange and amber mane, and returned to the bedroom. It was time for round twenty seven. Two ponies ran down the road outside, one a white unicorn stallion running from a furious blue unicorn mare, yelling something about 'getting her turn' and carrying a couple of questionable items in her magic. Gilda and Grosvenor had a chick on their back each, taking a slow walk towards the stairs at the end of the corridor, past the princesses bedrooms. They stopped as the door emblazoned with a sun opened and Garrard stepped out, his feathers ruffled. He turned to look at his son and daughter in law, nothing being said. “What?” He just turned around and carried on. The door on the opposite side opened, and the human walked out, half naked. He didn't even have his shoes on, choosing to carry them, his shirt hanging over his shoulder. “Morning.” He went the other way to Garrard, heading to his own guest room. The two griffons looked between each other, and then back to their chicks as the girl asked something they hoped she wouldn't. “Momma, why was granddad in Celestia's room?” They couldn't answer, and couldn't because it would mean damaging the pure innocence behind those eyes.