Chapter Thirty-Seven: Banded In Blue
He could see the human's projectile weapons streaking past him. His Pandragon mount began to whine, releasing small jets of flame from its mouth. He turned to face his tormentor, effortlessly gliding behind him in his brilliant flying machine.
"This is our world! You have no claim to this place!" the praetor bellowed at the top of his lungs, knowing full well that his pursuer most likely could not hear him.
He turned towards three smoldering pits in the jungle below.
"Is there nothing we can do to stop them? I suppose I must try."
After all three of his flock-mates had been cut down by the human champion, he now realized that he alone was left to thwart whatever these strange creatures and their allies had planned for his world.
Every evasion tactic had failed. The human was simply too fast.
"Too fast," Phalanx thought. "This is- not right..."
The human machine and its occupant shot past, climbed into the sky and dove back down. Phalanx seized the moment and banked his mount away from the descending hail of projectiles. He snapped his mount around, managing to bring his heavy-bolt casters to bear on the enemy.
"Burn," the praetor hissed under his breath.
The bolts met their target as the human machine blasted away from his grip and turned about, weakened, but clearly still intact.
"Like the phoenix," the praetor mumbled.
As the machine turned to face him head on, a strange voice rung out in the praetor's head.
"You can't stop what you don't understand."
"Greene," Phalanx thought. "That voice... His name- is- Greene... How do I know that?"
The human did not fire his weapons as the two warriors of the sky converged. Silently, Phalanx prayed that they were depleted. Opening fire with the remainder of his heavy-bolts, the griffin poured his soul into the pursuit of glory. The human machine soldiered on, damaged, but undeterred.
"He's mad... He's going to ram me... Yes... The wing... He'll shear off the wing with his own... How do I know of this?"
Clearly not having time to dwell on this strange forethought, the praetor banked sharply to the left, and the human machine passed by just inches from its intended target.
Phalanx grinned. "Ha ha! Desperation will not save you this time!"
The praetor paused.
"This time?"
"You can't escape your fate. Not now, not in a thousand lifetimes."
Before the praetor could answer, the human machine had already found itself at his tail.
"How-"
The machine smashed into the mount, crushing the mighty beast and it's rider. Mortally injured and far beyond flying, the praetor descended towards the unforgiving Earth.
"No... This is not right! I cannot die here! I did not die here! I- The Alliance-"
The griffin and his mount met the ground with a thunderous crash.
*****************
Lime Tree Hill awoke to the sounds of warfare. Sirens, screams, and exploding arrows were now his sudden reality.
"The Gala... "
"Assistant Hill! Move!" an equestrian soldier yelled as the world suddenly moved into focus.
It was the night. The night that everything had changed. He was in Ponyville. Denizens had marveled at a strange red comet traveling through the night sky. Almost appearing to be falling toward Canterlot. It was a dazzling spectacle, until everypony realized that it was far more.
"What is that?" he had heard others asking amongst themselves.
"Run away! Get out of here! Flee for your lives!" had followed.
The green stallion stood to his hooves and looked around. The wave of energy that had tossed pegasai from the skies and brought unicorns to their knees was just a pale red tint in the sky. Most of the town's population was in full retreat from whatever caused this chaos.
"I have to help secure the town. Mayor Mare needs me," Lime Tree thought to himself, his duties surprisingly taking priority over his instinct to flee. He began to gallop towards town hall when a sudden thought became the focus of his mind.
"The travelers. The one's called humans. The bearers of the Elements of Harmony. They were going to Canterlot... For the Gala..."
He turned back towards the mountain capitol, only to see that it was now covered in a thick red fog. A slight whistling could be heard from the distance. He turned to look in all directions, but the origin of this sound could not be found.
"Almost sounds like a strong breeze... but there's no wind..."
Inwardly, Lime Tree chastised himself for being so easily distracted when clearly there were more important things to be done, but there was something that, for whatever reason, kept his attention.
"What is that?!"
As the perplexing sound became louder and louder, something caught the green stallion's gaze. At first, he could not make out what it was, but it was falling... directly toward him.
"That's... that's a carriage!"
It quickly became clear that his instinct to flee was not being ignored, it was being suppressed. Paralyzed by a fear he could not understand, the stallion remained perfectly still.
"I can't get away! I see it right there in front of my eyes! Why can't I move?!"
A voice answered, the voice of Twilight Sparkle.
"You know it ends here, don't you? How does your impending demise make you feel?"
"What? Where are yo- How did you- Twilight?"
"Fear does funny things to you. I've read all about it. Now I want to see it in person. This will be very... educating."
"I don't understand! What's going on? Is that you in the carriage?"
The voice didn't answer, but Lime Tree could now make out a royal carriage, dressed up for the Grand Galloping Gala plummeting towards him. The pegasai pulling it appeared to be unconscious, and those on board could do nothing to save themselves. For a brief moment, he could almost make out the face of a terrified human on board.
"Greene... His name is Gre-"
The carriage hit its mark.
*****************
The blue had become everything. An all-consuming, omnipresent, and absolute, blue.
"Where am I? Do I have a name? Yeah... I do. It's Greene. Lenard Joseph Greene. Captain... Right, that's it..."
Lenard Greene opened his eyes and found himself sprawled across a very strange patch of black grass. There didn't seem to be a sky, but rather a blanket of blue fog. The mist in the air was so heavy that anything beyond a yard or two simply could not be seen.
He pulled himself to a sitting position.
"Hircus. Vance. The same. Nightmare."
"What are you yammering on about, human?"
Lenard turned to see Phalanx propped up on a small boulder nearby.
"You weren't there a few seconds ago..." The pilot scratched his head. "Not that I know where here is."
"Go on, human. What were you just babbling about?"
"I had this dream again. I was killed on a mission in Laos and-" He sighed. "You couldn't possibly know what I'm talking about."
"Perhaps I do. Tell me, on this mission, did the events of the dream differ greatly from the sequences from your memory?" the praetor asked.
"Uh, yeah, considering that I'm not dead."
"You know what I mean."
"Yes. Things were different. Wrong even," the pilot uttered, staring at the ground.
"I experienced something very similar."
"Really? Just now? Because I've been having that dream for few nights... A lot of nights, actually, I think. I can't really remember now."
Phalanx frowned. "This cannot be a chance happening. Hircus is and has been slowly working his way into our minds. Trying to break our spirits from the inside out."
Before Greene could answer, a voice rang out in the mist.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
The fog began to disperse, and a green stallion with a just barely tamed mane stepped from the blue shroud and onto the black grass.
Greene shuffled back. "Lime Tree?!"
"Yeah, it's me. Any clue what this place is?"
Phalanx stood up. "Sapphiron."
It all began to come back for the bewildered pilot. "Hircus. We're still stuck in Hircus' place. His 'realm.'" He turned to face Phalanx. "He got us, right?"
"He most certainly did," Phalanx answered. "Dead to rights."
Greene put a hand to his chin. "Right. So what about Lime Tree?"
"Most likely a trick. Hircus must be trying to get some sort of information or reaction from us."
"Yeah." Lenard shrugged. "We were the only ones near the portal. No one else was even close. Sorry Lime Tree, looks like you aren't real."
Lime Tree's eyes widened. "Wait, what?! What are talking about? I'm right here! What's going on?!"
"What should we do about him?" Phalanx asked Greene, as if the green pony wasn't standing just a few yards away.
"I don't know," Greene answered. "I say we just play along with it. Maybe we'll get some information out of him."
"Guys... I'm right here..." Lime Tree cautiously spoke.
Greene held out a hand. "Hold on a sec. The real people are talking."
With a look of pure bewilderment, Lime Tree sat back on his haunches and waited while Lenard began to think aloud.
"This is Hircus' place... So where's Hircus?"
"Watching or waiting for something I would presume," Phalanx answered with a shrug.
Lenard shot Phalanx a worried glance. "You don't seem too concerned about this. We're trapped in another dimension- or something- that is completely controlled by a psychopath with world bending magic powers! Maybe show some emotion over this whole thing!"
"Hircus does not wield magic. He wields the power of this realm."
"I don't care if he wields Mr. Rogers's tennis racket! We are going to die in here if we don't figure this out!"
"Guys," Lime Tree tried to speak up. "You might want to look at-"
"If he wanted us dead, we already would be," Phalanx cut in.
"Guys..." Lime Tree mumbled.
Greene shot to his feet. "Oh then please tell us Mr. Owl, just how do we get to the center of this insanity!?"
"Owl? What are you talking about human?"
Lime Tree put himself between the two arguing sky warriors and pointed a hoof upward.
"Why don't you ask him?"
Greene, Phalanx and Lime Tree turned to see that they were not sitting in a small patch of black grass, but rather sitting in the hairy paw of an enormous Lord Hircus.
Lime Tree turned to Greene. "You know, I wouldn't be upset if that fog rolled back in right now."
Lenard nodded incredulously.
"I second that."
**************
Gerri Reed and Micheal Kaiser burst into a small improvised office where Generals Rock, Snow Wisp, and Highlander issued orders to Major Classified, Lieutenant Cleaves, and several other human and Equestrian officers.
"Sirs," Kaiser started. "We have a bit of a development."
Highlander removed his cap and ran a finger through his hair with exhaustion.
"It better be worth something, we're up to our ears in this mess! I've got twelve reports of rioting in the last hour!"
"Rioting?" Gerri asked.
"Yes, rioting," Cleaves answered. "People are starting blame the military and the AEE for all of this."
"He's right," Highlander continued. "There is a growing sentiment that if we'd just minded our own business and studied the anomalies from the safety of our side that none of this would be happening. Sadly, I'm starting to agree."
"I do not," General Snow Wisp started. "I believe our fates were meant to be intertwined in this way."
General Rock stared at his bandages. "I don't like thinkin' about what might have happened had the human forces not shown up when they did. It's just too perfect not to be fate."
"Well," Kaiser interrupted, "Fate or no fate, I don't think it would have mattered. We'd all be in this mess one way or another."
Highlander narrowed his eyes. "What are you getting at, Kaiser?"
"Me and Gerri have been having some strange nightmares."
Cleaves shrugged. "So?"
"In these nightmares, our darkest, most haunting, or otherwise pivotal moments are relived, only this time, they go horribly wrong, resulting in our deaths. Have any of you experienced something like that?"
Highlander looked at Cleaves. Cleaves looked at Snow Wisp. Snow Wisp looked at Rock. Rock looked at Highlander.
Highlander set his pen down on the office desk. "How do you know- Yes. It was me back in Afghanistan. I got caught in a car bomb blast. What does this have to do with what's going on right now?"
Gerri stepped forward. "We believe that the big anomaly outside, or maybe even all anomalies, are a result of this Lord Hircus's attempts to invade Earth."
Highlander shook his head. "What?"
Gerri continued. "He started with the other side, attacking the ponies and dethroning the princesses. But I think his plan was also the conquest of our side as well."
Cleaves squinted an eye. "And just what makes you think that?"
Mike lifted a finger. "The anomalies themselves. Now we've been talking a lot with Dr. Harrison, and some of the stuff he says makes a lot of sense."
"Such as?" Highlander asked.
"The anomalies, sir," Gerri answered. "They connect both sides together using the same weird energy this Hircus guy is using to invade with. I mean, all this time we've been acting like the other world is just that, another world. But what are the odds of two planets with the same name, same languages, same customs and designs?"
"It's simple," Kaiser explained. "Two sides, same big blue coin."
"You're saying they're connected by more than just the anomalies?" Highlander stated.
"They have to be, " Kaiser answered. "And I bet only the big bad up there really knows how."
"Just what are you insinuating, Lieutenant?" Snow Wisp inquired.
Kaiser looked over to Gerri for reassurance, then back at the generals.
"I'm insinuating that the guy attacking us is the only reason our two worlds ever met."
********************
......ae32##oUDAGH-----"CIA"-----35.23a_Break_sg243df1#$$@>...."Major Classified"... akdlj34##)$942-Entry....
Dear Princess Luna,
Our human allies have assured me that this message will reach you. Enclosed is my report on the Liberation Alliance's IEMP weapon. The Implosive Elemental Magic (or Mageitc) Pulse. Though much has occurred in recent days on both sides of the portals, the true enemy, this "Lord Hircus" is still in possession of the Elements of Harmony. Even worse, he has shown little restraint in their use as weapons of mass destruction. If Hircus is not stopped, the recent event that forced us from our homes (in which the Elements were not at full power or even fully harnessed,) will be nothing more than a prelude to the destruction he will wreak in the future. If this IEMP is ever completed, many more could, and most likely will, suffer the consequences. As for our human allies, the threat is not averted here either. If, for example, a piece of high yield, human, nuclear technology was to meet the finished IEMP device, it could quite literally be the end of the world as we know it. Our highest priority should be the recovery of the elements and the destruction of all schematics for this device. This is all we have currently on this subject.
As for our continuing investigation on the Banded traitors, our operatives have exposed the ones we've found so far, but they've all eluded our capture, or ended their own lives. The only partial lead we currently have is that one of three of our finest is a Banded criminal. The three are as follows: Arch-Sgt. Sky Blade. (ERP), Cpl. Star Sabre (PGS), and Pvt. Crescent Skies (UNC). We currently have a human operative that is close to these three conducting the investigation. I must stress that this is a partial lead, nothing is certain with the Banded. We will be on our guard. I will contact you again when I have more relevant information.
-Major Classified.
....2L#JOFU#(H----"United Nations"---FIO)W---END---aqj;33j2j2;werj;--00----"Princess Luna"---'af'232r......
********************
Greene, Lime Tree, and Phalanx stared up at behemoth before them.
Greene stepped forward. "Lord Hircus. You've put on some weight."
"It is all quite relative, child. Have I grown larger, or have you grown smaller?"
Phalanx cut at the air in protest. "Spare us the overly verbose psychological banter you have planed for us, Hircus. Tell us why we are here."
"Yeah, and why you created a resemblance of Lime Tree Hill."
Lime Tree sighed. "I'm not fake..."
"That one simply wandered into my clutches. I assure you he is just as real as you and me."
Phalanx narrowed his eyes. "I asked you a question, Hircus. Why are we here?"
"Ah, yes. I suppose you are now wondering why you aren't another mindless drone or another casualty of my glorious ascendance. That is simple."
"I'm not one for dramatic pauses," Phalanx snarled.
"Then I will be brief. You see, in a world where every creature is a soulless shell, life as the Earth's undisputed ruler could become quite... monotonous. I will no doubt require intellectual stimulation, so I have decided to preserve a selection of each species to act in that capacity. You and any others I collect will remain here, in my realm, where you will not age, sleep, or even grow hungry. Sapphiron will sustain you as it has sustained me."
"At what cost?" Lime Tree asked.
"Of course you will go mad eventually. Without the power I wield, your bodies will become more and more a part of this realm until you can never leave it. When that time comes I will dispose of you."
Greene folded his arms. "Looks like you have it all figured out then, huh?"
"I have had centuries to formulate my plans."
"Well," Greene put his hands at his hips. "If we're going to be here the rest of our natural, and apparently, unnatural lives, we might as well finally know the truth. What turned you into someone capable of doing this? How did you wind up looking like a living Picasso?"
Hircus appeared to be taken aback by the sudden interest in his own history.
"When the princesses are my personal chambermaids and the Earth becomes my seat of power, there will be no time for stories, so I will grant you this. The princesses began the story, the chaotic one continued the tale, my orbs began to sow this great tapestry together, and now, with their help, I shall fill in the final pieces.
Lenard, Lime Tree, and Phalanx exchanged glances as the world of blue began to shift into something very different.
"Unfortunately for you, I am not much of a story teller. So I feel a more... personal touch is needed here."
The world began to settle. Hircus could no longer be seen, and the trio now found themselves standing on a green hill overlooking a stunningly scenic valley. The sun proudly hung in the sky. The birds chirped their enchanting songs.
"So... what just happened? Where are we?" Greene wondered aloud.
"I have no idea. I've never even seen a place like this," Lime Tree answered.
Phalanx seemed unnerved. "I have. In a book. A book long forgotten."
Greene began to sweat. "What book?"
Phalanx continued to stare into the valley. "In that book we found in Hircus' library; Black Sun, Red Moon."
Lime Tree took note of the griffin's growing facial expressions. "Why does he look so nervous?"
"Phalanx... What part of the book was it?"
The griffin turned to his counterparts. "The bloodiest chapter of the Great Continental Wars between the ponies and rams..."
Lenard and Lime Tree sat back on the newly formed ground.
"...The Fall of Eclipstria."
Affairs of Darkness Department Clandestine Sect. Character Evaluation File #33012: Rarity (UNC)
Cultured, vain, and utterly obsessed with everything that is high fashion, Rarity is a bit of an anomaly in her current hometown of Ponyville. Whereas her borderline elitist personality would lend itself more to a up and comer in Canterlot, she seems to get along famously with the more agricultural minded folk of rural Ponyville, though records indicate that this may not have been the case at first. Recently, both she, and her boutique, have risen to prominence due not only to Rarity's new status as a bearer of the Elements of Harmony, but her successful entry into the Canterlot fashion scene.
Personally, Rarity is actually quite selfless at times, particularly with her family, which often leaves her to take care of her little sister, Sweetie Belle. She is also known to help others with little or no gain to herself, and can often be found cleaning up after others mistakes (primarily fashion mistakes.) Either way, for a mare with a reputation for being a bit stuck up at times, she seems to have made up for it with a heart of diamond.
Anomalous Energy Event Team Research And Development File #17-Z : Project Phoenix-Valkyrie
With the emergence of trans-dimensional anomalies here on Planet Earth, the Anomalous Energy Event Team, a newly formed bureau with these anomalies as its focus, has determined that the optimal speed that an aircraft can enter a naturally forming anomaly is Mach 3.1. This speed, though attainable by some of the more high performance military and experimental aircraft, is still beyond conventional aviation. For this reason the AEE has been working closely with the U.S.A.F. to discuss a possible partnership to build a small fleet of re-purposed transport variant of the experimental XB-70 Valkyrie bomber. The XB-70, a hypersonic cold war era prototype, of which only two were made, showed great promise at first, but technical, financial, and doctrinal limitations at the time as well as a tragic crash of the second vehicle quickly brought an end to its development.
Similar to NASA's now retired space shuttle fleet, the plan was to have three or four of these redesigned aircraft active at a given time to run various missions into the world beyond the anomalies, which at this point, has been photographed and heavily analyzed several times by AEE sensor probes. Though the project has been more or less sidelined due to the possibility of stabilized anomalies, the concept of a large, mach 3.1 capable aircraft for use in transporting personnel for emergency missions into destabilized anomalies is still on the table. In related news, Boeing's single use Shuttle Capsule concept based on the 747 may achieve this desired goal.
A/N
For once, I've actually got a chapter out relatively quickly. Good for me, right? In other news, I was delighted to check out the story's Tv Tropes page, which is now much, MUCH, bigger. If you like this story I would recommend giving it a look through. It's pretty neat. You can check it out HERE. Anyway, it's been fun as usual! Until next time!
-Lynolius.