Author’s Note: I do not own MLP or- Wait, do I need to do these at all? I don’t?! Ffffffffffffffffff-
Celestial Meeting
“This is soooo boring.” moaned Rainbow Dash, writhing in her seat, it had been two hours since they had all boarded the train and, although Alois was keeping quiet, internally he couldn’t agree with the prismatic pegasus more; These seats make me pine for cold granite.
“I am in full agreement with Miss. Dash.” he said as he tried to adjust his meager cushion for the hundredth time.
“See?! Even Alois agrees with me!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
“Oh Dash, stop overreacting.” said Rarity with a wave of her hoof.
“Excuse me?” asked Rainbow Dash indignantly, getting off of her seat and pointing a hoof at the prissy mare “ Aren’t YOU the one who fainted when you saw how dirty the bathroom was?”
Rarity huffed, “You have no idea how nasty that bathroom was…” she trailed off as she remembered it with a shudder.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and sat back down.
She sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to distract herself by looking at the passing scenery, but that got boring fast, so she decided to see what the Cutie Mark Crusaders were up to, but they were too deeply engaged in their own little world, so she decided that she would further question Alois, who had been, at least to her, a total mystery for the entire time that she had spent with him.
“Hey Alois.” she said, the human inclined his head towards her, “You say you come from… France, right?”
“Yes?”
“And that’s like Prance, y’know ‘Zey talk like zis’.” she imitated a foppish Prance accent complete with ridiculous laugh and fake mustache-twirl.
Alois snorted, “I don’t recall too many of my associates sounding *that* stupid, but yes, some of us talk like that.”
“Then why don’t you?” asked the blue pegasus, “You sound more like you’re from Trottingham.”
Alois raised a brow, “Trottingham? Is that like Britain?”
Rainbow Dash shrugged, “I dunno, ‘mmmdo they talk like this’?” she put on another accent, this one sounding like one of Rarity’s fashion heroes: Hoity Toity.
Alois snickered, “Yes, they do sound a bit like that. To answer your question I was born in France, but I was raised in England; my father sent me there to study the complexities of owning a big business and how to deal with any foreigners of high standing who wanted to do business with us.”
Rainbow cocked her head, “Huh?”
Alois sighed, “ My father owned-owns the biggest bank in France and I had to go to school to learn how to run if when he retired.”
“That sounds even more boring than being on this train!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, throwing her hooves in the air, Alois frowned briefly before sighing and resuming his original slumped position, but Rainbow Dash was still intent on conversation.
“Do hyoomans have racing?”
Alois nodded, “Some people race on foot, but no one has wings in my world.”
Rainbow looked somewhat put out by this, but then she perked up when another question popped into her mind, “Hey, do you guys have Daring Do? Because that would be, like, the most awesome thing ever!”
Alois shook his head, “I have never even heard of Daring Do, is she a pulp hero of some kind?”
The other ponies all groaned as Rainbow Dash began a very, very long rant about the entire Daring Do series, complete with voices for the various characters and sound effects; it was a rant that kept getting longer every time she read a new book... and there were 14 books in the series.
When the train finally arrived at the station in Canterlot the speedster pegasus had told Alois every detail about the first 12 books and was right in the middle of the 13th, at the part where Daring narrowly evades capture by the wicked and depraved Coltstapo only to be captured by the equally wicked- but- somewhat- less- depraved Ahuizotl.
The conductor’s yell of “Okay everypony, get yer flanks off of mah train.” was sweet music to their ears and they obeyed him without a seconds thought.
Just before they got off Fluttershy stopped Alois.
“Ummm…. Alois?”
“Yes, Fluttershy?”
“I saw that you were having some trouble getting around and I made this for you.”
She reached into the bag that she had brought with her and produced a long wooden pole with a grip made from a piece of foam that Fluttershy had found in her attic.
“Is this a cane?” asked Alois, feeling the grip and giving it a few experimental taps on the ground.
“Yes….. do you like it?” asked Fluttershy hopefully.
“Yes, yes I do” said the human with a smile, “thank you very much.”, he bent down and hugged her. Fluttershy blushed deeply and returned the hug with gusto.
As expected the Canterlot ponies gave the group a wide berth, Alois could hear their frightened mutterings
“What IS it?”
“Oh it’s dreadful, whatever it is!”
“And do you see the ponies with it?”
“Why, I do believe it’s that Rarity brute who got us in trouble with Fancy Pants.”
Rarity groaned as a familiar stallion and mare pair sauntered up to the group, distaste permanently plastered onto their overly made-up faces: the stallion was a grey-furred unicorn with a golf polo wrapped around his neck and a set of teeny-tiny glasses perched upon his muzzle, the mare was yellow-furred, with blue and white hair and a frilly saddle.
“Oh hello, Jet Set, Upper Crust.” said Rarity, nodding her head at each of them with a grimacing smile.
“Well if it isn’t Rarity and her hick friends.” sneered Upper Crust, not noticing Twilight’s wings.
Sweetie Belle growled and moved forwards, but her sister held her back with her magic.
“And let’s not forget this…. thing that’s with them” said Jet Set, “What is this creature, a pet?”
“I am not a pet, sir.” said Alois, straightening his back and adjusting the suit that Rarity had made for him, “My name is Alois Racine, I happen to come from distant lands and I am also several dozen times your superior in terms of intelligence and I think I can remember my fencing lessons enough to teach you a lesson in manners.”, here he brandished his cane like a rapier, drawing circles in the air with its tip.
Jet Set and Upper Crust balked and stammered, Twilight drove the terror home by emerging from behind Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy with her wings out.
To their credit the two unicorns put two and two together quickly and bowed low, apologizing profusely, Twilight scolded them and sent them on their way like a couple of foals.
Not five minutes later they came across a trio of rather greasy-looking pegasi who immediately set upon them with jeers that would make any schoolyard bully proud, “Hey freak! Why d’you have that blindfold? Are ya some kinda jester or sumthin’?”
Alois turned on his heel and removed his blindfold, the bullying trio let out a collective yelp at the sight of his hollow sockets and bolted.
Once they were out of sight Rainbow Dash burst into peals of laughter, “That was awesome! A little gross, but still awesome!”
Alois gave a dramatic bow and then gestured ahead of him, “Shall we go? We wouldn’t want to keep Princess Celestia waiting, would we?”
The speedster pegasus smiled and nodded, Alois managed to keep a good pace with the others, he adapted to using his cane very quickly, keeping a good pace with the others.
Soon the ponies could see the royal castle growing bigger in their vision, Twilight nervously fidgeted with her wings, wanting to make a good impression, even though she had been practically raised by the princess.
Fluttershy kept her eye on Alois, checking for any sign of agitation, to her surprise she saw that he was totally calm, I hope that he keeps calm she thought as she trotted beside him But something’s telling me that he’s hiding something, something besides his reason for asking to see the princess.
Alois wished he could see the inside of the castle, going by the way the 6 ponies with him gushed about the decor and atmosphere the place must have been more beautiful than even the most luxurious of his father’s estates, he was glad that they were enjoying themselves and briefly wondered how the Crusaders were doing, as they had been shepherded off to another part of the castle.
He heard the sounds of armored hooves on the tile, signaling the arrival of Celestia’s guards.
“Princess Sparkle, it is an honor to meet you, I am Captain Storm Weaver, Princess Celestia has sent me to make sure you and your friend are looked after.”
Alois was impressed: the captain’s voice held no fear at all. It was such a new experience, not hearing somepony start or stammer in shock when seeing him, it made him feel….happy.
The second that they entered the throne room Alois felt a comforting warmth steal over his body, it was the kind of warmth that one would feel as they lay on a beach or relaxed in a field when the day was clear and the sun was at its zenith; it brought back memories of a time before all of this madness.
Then he heard the princess speak.
“Hello my little ponies…. and my not-so-little human.” she said in a voice that carried both a tender kindness and a powerful authority in its tone, in short it was the voice of a true ruler, Alois had met a few minor vassals and even a marquis, all of whom had made their voices overly-bombastic and grandiose in an attempt to be impressive; every single one of them looked like children playing at being kings in comparison.
Alois bowed, managing to keep his dignity by not falling over, he heard Celestia chuckle, “There’s no need for that, Alois Racine of Earth.”
Alois rose, “I wish that I had my sight back so that I could actually see you, if your visage is as majestic as your voice then you must be like an angel.”
The Princess giggled bashfully, “Thank you very much; you have quite the honeyed tongue.”
Alois blushed slightly, “Thank you for the compliment, it’s good to know that something in me still works.”
“Please don’t talk like that, Alois” said Fluttershy, patting his leg, “You’re good at lots of things.”
Alois gave the yellow pegasus a reassuring smile, “It was a joke, don’t worry.”
“Oh…. I see, I guess that was funny….. hehehe”
Alois heard the sound of shodden hooves draw near as the warmth intensified, he then felt something soft and feathery brush his face.
“May I remove your blindfold for a second?” asked Celestia, Alois nodded slightly and waited patiently as he felt Celestia’s wings gently tug the blindfold off; the princess of the sun sighed sadly and Alois felt her lay a hoof on his shoulder
“I am truly sorry for what has been done to you, nopony deserves this and neither do you, I wish that I could give you back the sight that you lost, but I cannot, so I shall give you the best that I can. Tell me, are you a reader, by chance?”
Alois nodded, remembering his love of reading, “Yes I do, your Majesty.”
“Good, then I think that you’ll like what I have to give you, but first I’d like to know what troubles you, after all you did request an audience with me and I was told it was urgent.”
Alois nodded, “Yes, it’s something that, on my world, would probably get me lobotomized or at the very least imprisoned in an asylum for the rest of my natural life.”
Silence fell; he had their attention.
“Yesterday I heard a voice in my head, I’d heard the voice before, in my world, just before I died and came here.”
There were gasps of horror from everypony, Alois winced as he realized that he hadn't told them that little fact.
“I thought that it would end in this new world, but yesterday the voice returned, I felt that it wasn’t some part of my subconscious, it mentioned a shadow and it told me to talk to you, but I have no clue what it is or even what to call it.”
He heard Fluttershy sniffle off to his left and then felt her hooves on his leg.
“I see” said Celestia, after a tense silence had passed, “I would like to perform a spell that would search the deepest parts of your mind, do I have your permission to do this?”
“Yes, please.” said Alois with a relieved smile.
“Wait here while I get my sister, this spell requires us both.” said the Princess as she cantered away.
The silence that she left in her wake was painful.
Finally Fluttershy spoke up, “Y-you…..died?”
Alois sighed and then said, “Yes I did, I was killed by a man named Malo De Vigny, a psychopath if ever there was one.”
“Why did he….. kill you?” asked Twilight, obviously not used to the concept.
“He was…. greedy, he wanted Justine for himself.”
“Who the hay is Justine?” asked Applejack.
“Was she your special somepony?” asked Rarity.
Alois swallowed hard and then said, “She is the one who did all of this to me.”
He heard more gasps.
“W-why?” asked Fluttershy, sounding on the verge of tears.
“She is-was sick, sick in the head: she seduced me, Malo and a carpenter named Basile and we became her devoted Suitors, we would have done anything for her, but all she really wanted was to make us her personal guinea pigs. After she got bored of her charade she did this to all three of us, I still don’t know why.”, Alois felt a lump in his throat as he fought back tears, but, with no eyelids, his battle was quickly lost.
The next thing he knew all 6 of the ponies had wrapped him in a massive, warm hug, Alois felt the guilt way him down even more, I didn’t tell them that I tried to kill Basile and that I hunted Justine like a feral beast .
“Are we interrupting something?” asked Celestia, sounding a bit worried.
Alois gently broke the group hug off and said, “Nothing that will interfere in your spell-casting, at least I hope it doesn’t.”
“Nay” said Luna, “It will not hinder us at all, shall we begin?”
Alois nodded and approached the two, the sound of his cane tapping the floor was the only sound besides the panicked breathing of Fluttershy.
Celestia bade him kneel and he did.
He heard a strange sound that reminded him of electricity crackling, then his consciousness faded to nothing in a heartbeat.
Celestia and Luna stood in the swirling void that made up the deepest part of Alois’s mind, all around them they could hear fragments of speech as loud as thunder or as soft as a whisper, they saw millions of tiny thoughts and memories raining down from above to collect in a patchwork lake of pure emotion.
They were buffered by emotions that came in great gusts that stirred the thought-water, creating massive waves that dissipated within milliseconds and sending ripples into the darkness.
“This place is…. interesting.” said Luna, looking around.
“Yes” said Celestia as a bit of the human’s childhood hit her wing before falling into the lake, “I hope we find the cause of his ailment soon, I must admit that this place is so alien to me, so disorganized, so…. chaotic.”
Then they heard it: the sound of a thousand growling beasts.
The Princesses turned and saw a red glow off to the far right, it was pulsing in and out, like a heartbeat.
The two Alicorns walked closer, their horns glowing with magic, the waters of the lake began to bubble and hiss as they drew nearer to the red glow, Luna flattened her ears to stop the sounds of the agitated memories.
Ahead of her Celestia stopped so suddenly that Luna almost ran into her, “Sister? What is it?” asked Luna.
“I… I don’t know.” said Celestia breathlessly, Luna blinked in surprise and moved closer to see what could have baffled her older sister so much; when she saw what it was she could only stare.
It was large, quite a bit larger than the Princesses, it was wreathed in the red glow, which now resembled a shifting mist. The thing was as black as pitch and seemed to flicker in and out of existence, almost like a ghost torn between the living world and the other world, the sounds of growling were issuing from it as it moved.
Luna stared at the shadow, her mind racing with questions, the most prominent one being: Is this creature dangerous or is it just some kind of apparition?
Then she saw the images resting inside of it’s body: a man with a lantern being chased by a monster with bulging eyes and no jaw, a man stabbing a woman through the heart with a ritualistic dagger, a live dog being dissected, the walls of a castle being covered by a fleshy membrane, a man with no eyes devouring a squealing rat; all of this was accompanied by a hate so powerful that it burned her eyes.
Luna looked away and stared at her sister, who was also looking away, Luna touched a wingtip to Celestia’s shoulder, the Princess of the Sun looked at Luna with anger welling in her eyes, Luna nodded, the message was very clear.
This abomination had to die.
Luna and Celestia activated their horns and fired at the shadow, their beams tore holes through it and caused the mist to dissipate, the shadow shot out a dozen tendrils and Luna cleaved them into pieces, then the two Princesses began to advance on the creature, their raw magical power tearing the creature to shreds and burning it with its heat.
In the end its hate was no match for their anger and it was reduced to less than nothing, its corruption was scoured off of Alois’s mind.
Luna turned to go and saw a glimmer of red and white, growling she fired again and snuffed the light out, just as she did she thought that she heard a faint voice saying “No, no no NO.”
Luna dismissed the voice as just a memory and continued on her way, she was joined by her sister shortly thereafter.
“That was horrible.” said Luna as her horn flared to life.
“I couldn’t agree more, dearest sister.” said Celestia.
“Did you feel the hatred that it gave off? What kind of creature could contain such roth?” Luna asked.
“I’m not sure” said Celestia, “But I got the feeling that it was alien, even more so than our human friend, and it was old, maybe even older than me.”
“And that’s saying quite a bit.” teased Luna.
Celestia gave her sister a playful shove and the two laughed, their anxiety turning to relief as they left Alois’s mind.
When they returned they were immediately set upon by the Element Bearers, all of whom were voicing their concerns and asking questions about their experience, Celestia managed to calm them down and allay their fears, “He is going to be fine” she said “He just needs some rest.” .
She called for her guards and told them to take him to one of the guest rooms to allow him to sleep the spell off in comfort and silence, she also told them to escort the Bearers and the foals to their own rooms to spend the night.
After they left Celestia sat down on her throne with a great sigh, Luna chuckled and followed suit.
“I’m glad we could help him.” said Celestia.
“Verily!” exclaimed Luna “I, for one, am glad that that beast has been destroyed, I hope Alois is at peace now.”
Celestia nodded as she felt her magic usage take it’s toll.
“I am glad to have finally been of some use around here, is there anything else that I can do to provide assistance?.” asked Luna, turning to her sister for an answer.
She couldn’t help but smile when she saw her sister curled up on her throne. fast asleep and smiling contentedly.
Luna got up as quietly as she could and conjured a blanket of stars, which she placed over Celestia, Luna gave her a quick peck on the forehead and headed off to perform her nightly duties.