//------------------------------// // Preparing to Rise // Story: War of the Fallen Race // by PegasusKlondike //------------------------------// One hundred and twenty-five thousand Equestrian soldiers shook the very Earth that they walked upon, their march to Stronghold going as planned. The scouts had lost the trail of Aaron and Legion for a while, though his course never deviated the army still had to follow the roads. Coming upon their royal highway on the western border they picked up his trail again in the most obvious way. Princess Celestia and her dear sister Luna now looked on the destruction that he had caused at the border. "It is odd Celestia, before he never destroyed anything that got in his path. Now this." Her night blue hoof nudged over a piece of the gate that had once separated Equestria from the buffalo territory. It was not charred, rather the wood just stopped where it had been destroyed, utterly vaporized by a magical blast. "It is possible he was provoked dear sister. My best trackers did find a small amount of blood in the dust with his footprints around it." Luna looked at the vaporized outpost and the remnants of what used to be a mountain on the other side of the border. The buffalo were going to be very angry if they didn't already know that he had leveled one of their mountains. "What could possibly provoke him to do this?" The pair sighted one of their royal scout pegasi coming in for a landing. The grey pegasus stallion in light armor landed lightly and bowed to his Princesses. "What is your report, corporal?" asked Celestia. "M'Lady, we have found the lost guard that was assigned to this post. He appears to have gone completely mad! Two of our earth pony trackers are bringing him back to the main army. I would not advise speaking to him." "What is the cause of his madness?" "We think it has something to do with the words printed in bold letters on his skin m'lady. We questioned him about them and he confessed everything he had ever done wrong, he wouldn't shut up for half an hour!" "Take us to him, corporal." The trio took wing, the scout leading his Princesses back to the still marching army. A pavilion had been set up at the forward reaches to accommodate their lost guard. They entered together, the guard twitching and muttering to himself, not wearing the armor of his station. A high ranking commander stood questioning him about the one they pursued. Celestia nodded to the commander. "That will do commander. My sister and I shall question him further." "Yes my Princess." The commander did not leave the tent, rather he took a position in the corner. They took a look at the crazed creature that sat before them. He shivered on the pillow where he sat, eyes darting back and forth as he muttered incomprehensible rants under his breath. But what struck them as the most disturbing were the words printed in bold letters on his skin that depicted heinous and horrible crimes. Regarding the armorless and crazed Royal Guard, Celestia began her interrogation. "What is your name soldier?" He muttered to himself, neither Princess understanding him. Suddenly he spoke aloud, his words garbled and odd. "They won't come off, dirty freak, he made them! Torture him, he tortures me!" "Who did this to you?" "That freak! Two legs and eyes like fire! Yes, talks to himself he does." He began to wring his hooves, feeling like the demon might leap out of the shadows to finish the job at any moment. Luna and Celestia turned away, leaning close to one another. "Why would he do such a thing to a Royal Guard? I understand getting them out of his way, but this is pure torture!" Luna whispered to her sister, she turned back to the guard. "Why do you have those words printed on you? Why do you not wash them off?" He cried out in mental anguish, both alicorns felt a rise in magic when they asked him. "When I was seven I beat another colt up for wearing glasses! When I was thirteen I sexually assaulted one of the fillies in my class! I run a criminal syndicate that ambushes Royal caravans! I burned down an entire village of buffalo homes to keep them quiet! I beat my sisters until I left home to join the army! When I was ten I stole a pie from the old ponies home, I didn't even eat it! I tried to kidnap and rape six mares in the desert with my gang! I murdered the old guard at my post so I could have his position!....." The rantings continued on, the Princesses stood back in horror as he confessed his crimes. "By all that is sacred, he isn't torturing him, Aaron is punishing him!" "I think I know what set him off, he tried to do horrible things to your student and her friends Celestia." Celestia spread her wings in anger, her eyes glowing with rage that this cretin had dared to touch her beloved Twilight Sparkle with ill intent. "Guards! Take this wretch back to Canterlot, throw him in a prison cell," she yelled to a pair of soldiers stationed outside the pavilion. "NO!" The prisoner dove to her hooves, desperately he began to kiss her shoes, begging for her favor. "Kill me Princess! Cut my wings off, castrate me, drop me off of a cloud, feed me to a dragon! Anything but life!" Celestia withdrew her hoof from his reach. "But I do not owe you a kindness." Two pegasi guards chained him and began to tow him back to Canterlot, his maddened laughter filling the skies. The unicorn commander left his corner position to speak to the Princesses. "How can we stop them? Are all of his race powerful enough to do such magic?" "No Commander, our quarry is an oddity in the fact that he can even sense magic, much less use it with such efficiency," Celestia said to her unicorn commander. "Do you think we can beat them, Princess?" "A battle hardened human soldier is worth any five of your normal troops commander. Many of your troops have never even seen combat, every one of the humans we will be fighting is a veteran of an ancient war. Their technology is unmatched at a distance, and they are clever. They always have some trump card in their hand when it comes to conflict. If you believe in something greater than yourself, start praying that the humans go easy on us." ********************************************************************************** Aaron woke up in his lumpy bed in Project Lazarus, the snores of his roommates telling him it was still early. Standing up he stretched out the various kinks and aches that came with the two thousand year old mattress. Looking to his friends he noticed that they were once again ponies, the magic spell having worn off during the night. They looked so peaceful, Twilight had a pile of books by her equine head, probably dreaming about reading them. The Gameboy had never left Rainbow Dash's hooves when she fell asleep, her diligence at an old Pokemon game having tuckered out the poor dear. Rarity and Dr. Mcentyre had fresh polish on their nails/hooves and an archaic issue of Vogue open. Most of the others had fallen asleep while watching old movies on the portable DVD player. The title screen for Casablanca replayed endlessly. "Aw, it's like one of those fru-fru girly sleep overs." He turned off the DVD player and went to the washroom that came attached to every apartment in Lazarus. He enjoyed a quick, warm shower before any of the other 150,000 people used it up, drying himself off he heard a knock at the door. He panicked, hoping some jarhead didn't open the door to see his technicolor guests. With only a towel covering his shame he cracked open the door. "Yes?" It was indeed a soldier, but he didn't look like he was here for surprise inspections. "Sir, we had a few noise complaints from your neighbors last night. Could you tell your roommates to please tone it down a bit?" He squinted a bit at the dampened man. "Oh! Lt. Patterson sir, my apologies. Didn't recognize you with wet hair." "Um, that's perfectly fine. Is there anything else you needed?" The soldier bit his lip and ground the toe of his boot into the floor. "Well, there is one thing sir. But it's really not that important." "Well spit it out man, I need to get dressed before I catch a cold." The nervous young soldier ran a hand through his hair. "This is kind of a personal note, but do you think you could introduce me to your friend?" Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Which one?" "The one with flowing pink hair, she is absolutely beautiful sir," he said with admiration in his voice. "Yeah, no, I don't think that's gonna happen. Flut...I mean, Fiona is not really into military types." "She even has a beautiful name," he said dreamily. "That's alright I guess, I just feel so different lately. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I should grab life by the horns. Ask out pretty girls, help old ladies cross the street, good stuff like that." "Well we all have days like...wait, what? How would you describe that feeling soldier?" "I don't know, when I woke up this morning I realized that every other morning I opened my eyes to feel just a little bit afraid. And today, I don't feel that. It's like some part of me has calmed down or been filled. I just feel more...whole." On the outside Aaron remained deadpan, but in his head he was cheering. It's working! It's actually working! "Well, breakfast for this block is in half an hour Dr. Patterson, have a nice day sir." He snapped a salute and left with a bounce in his step. Aaron shut the door to see his pony friends waking up slowly. "Come on ladies, time to put on your make up. Breakfast is in half an hour." Applejack yawned. "Y'all are gonna let us eat with the other humans?" "Sure, you have to eat sometime, and you better start getting used to us." Eve groaned from her bed and looked at the half naked man that was still standing around in nothing but a towel. "Huh, must be my birthday or something. Which one of you ordered the stripper? And could you get me a more handsome one next time?" The six ponies giggled and Aaron blushed as he grabbed fresh clothes and stalked back to the washroom. By the time he was out and dressed they were already circled up and halfway through the spell. They finished like they had before, with nothing on except what Mother gave them. "And Eve thinks she gets a show. Ha!" ******************************************************************************** There are always political procedures to recognize when moving armed forces into hostile territory, even if you are the invader. Princess Celestia and Luna had moved their army into buffalo territory, and they had to confront a delegation of the buffalo leaders to prove their non-aggression and possibly bolster their own ranks. Given the direness of the situation, the meeting was held as soon as possible for the expediency of both nations. The buffalo had no central government, operating more as a loose tribal confederation with chieftains and shamans acting as representatives in times of crisis. This particular delegation was constructed of ten chiefs and shaman from the most influential tribes. To show their peaceful intent, Princess Celestia made it a breakfast conference, a full belly always made for a more compliant politician. After two millenia Princess Celestia had politics down to an exact science. Plates full of flowers, the finest grains and fruits graced the table that Celestia had set up in a private pavilion. Though noisy with their table manners, the buffalo were nonetheless respectful. "Ah, fine Equestrian table fare, I thought I would never taste such delicate food ever again," said the leader commanding the most warriors, none other than Chief Thunderhooves himself. Princess Celestia began the talks. "Chieftain, I would first like to say that I am grateful for your willingness to attend this meeting of minds." The bison chief pushed away his plate and dabbed his food smeared face with a napkin. "You neglect to explain why you wish to march across our territory, Princess." "We are in pursuit of a very powerful and dangerous creature that has raised an army against us. Our goal is to avert a war if possible. But if we cannot stop our quarry, it is almost inevitable." "Hmm, war with an enemy of unknown strength. Are you sure this is the wisest path Princess?" "I myself would never have chosen it, but you may have if you knew that the creature was a Hunter." The buffalo representatives murmured to one another, obviously concerned. Several of the younger ones began to stamp their hooves and snort. "We have heard rumors of strange creatures roaming our land, how are you sure it is a Hunter that you pursue?" a medicine maker asked. "I knew the Hunters, long ago before they all died after the war. My sister and I believed them extinct until one of them was caught in Ponyville. We held him prisoner until he became too magically powerful and escaped from us." Chief Thunderhooves' eyes grew wide at the mention of magic. "This monster has magical power? A true plague upon us if what you say is true, the Hunters could rise again and be deadlier than ever." A painted shaman interrupted. "Nay great chief, this Hunter is different from the demon of legend told by the council fire. My warriors and I came upon him at one of our watering holes. He has power like no other, yet he did not use it against us. And more, he has the blessing of the Earth Mother! She Herself spoke to me and my warriors, threatening to take away our gifts of power if we harmed the Hunter." "You speak blasphemy Shaman Fire Heart! The Earth Mother would never bestow her grace onto a Hunter!" "He speaks the truth." Luna walked into the pavilion, her billowing mane and blue fur obscured by armor like that of her guards. "He has Mother's blessing and protection. She has given it to him for reasons beyond our understanding, but what we do know is that he succeeded in his task. The Army of Man walks the earth once again." The bison all bellowed their anger at the revelation. "If the Hunters indeed stalk our villages and hunt our kind, we must prepare our tribes for war!" Princess Celestia stood, maintaining self control despite the near chaos. "Chief Thunderhooves, please calm yourself. Though awakened, the Army of Man is not free. Our pegasus scouts report no sign of them at all except for the reemergence of their ancient fortress." "If they indeed live again, where do they hide? How large is their army that they can conceal it so completely?" "We estimate their army to be less than one hundred thousand, but it is their technological advantage that makes them so deadly. The humans are capable of acts that can be considered magical, but to them it is mundane and ordinary." Shaman Fire Heart voiced himself once again. "Then that is more reason to stay out of their way. If they have strength of mind and The Earth Mother's blessing we have little hope of victory. My tribe shall not fight the Hunters." Several more agreed with shaman. Only the most foolhardy stood in defense of their honor. But at the thought of a Hunter having The Earth Mother's blessing, eventually all the chieftains backed down from action for fear of offending Her divine intent. "Then it is settled Princess Celestia, we will not join your army to fight the Hunters. But you may try if you so wish, though we will sing our songs of lament for you." ********************************************************************************* Breakfast was uneventful, the horrid food that been stored in Lazarus consisted mainly of healthy and nutritious experimental yeast colonies that were perfectly suited for human consumption. Another relic of Project Daedelus which had spawned Lazarus, the crappy space age food. After breakfast the civilian and military populations were assigned various jobs to be completed around Lazarus. Soldiers would complete more complicated tasks like reassembling the heavy ordinance. The six Apache gunships and four Blackhawks that lay in pieces needed to be assembled. The Bradley APC's and the row of Abrams tanks that would carry squads into battle needed engine work after two thousand years. Mortar shells had to be inspected for any flaws, missiles had to have their basic components checked and rechecked, and the lifts which would get these to the surface had to be cleared and repaired. The scientists and engineers took on a more necessary role, building their anti-magic micro Tesla modules. Miniature versions of what was used on the Day of Judgement, these small Tesla coils would protect the front lines from enemy magical attacks by randomizing the wavelength of magics that entered their range, rendering them harmless. Even smaller versions were being placed inside of missiles to prevent any unwanted "tampering" in mid flight, no mistakes this time. Civilians, including the six pony women, were tasked with general upkeep around the homestead. Clean up after meals, go down below and check for damage to any systems, general maintenance types of things. Those skilled in a trade were put to use, programmers and code writers were still trying to crack Lazarus's mainframe to open the Vault door. Doctors and nurses automatically had a spot in sick bay caring for those still affected by hibernation sickness. Farmers and botanists were in the botany vault trying to resurrect some of the preserved crop seeds. Humanity was preparing to come alive and establish themselves. Aaron with his doctorate in biology had been assigned to a similar unit to the botany vault, the zoological vault. Inside were the preserved embryos of all of humanity's livestock species, Aaron had to inspect for damage over the extremely extended cryogenic freeze. He now inspected a randomized sample under a microscope to see if any magic had leaked in and done any alteration. "Specimen #5079, species gallus domesticus, better known as a chicken, no flaws or contamination through omega energy" he said into a recorder as he wrote down the condition of the embryo. He placed the dish back into cold storage. "Specimen #2228, species canis familiaris, domestic dog, no flaws or contamination through omega energy," he reported. "Specimen #6012, species equus ferus caballus, domestic horse..." He sighed and turned off the recorder. He thought of his friends, genetically the same as the zygote that sat in a frozen petri dish in front of him, but so different. This embryo was destined to be a dumb animal, never to know friendship or love, yet it was the same as them. What would they think if they saw this animal alive? Would they consider it a member of the family, or an abomination? He had already told them they were once human work animals, but did they really deserve to see this? Which of them would be the better for humanity, the beast of burden or the loving, caring people that they became? He pressed record and began to speak. "Specimen #6012, flawed, embryo scheduled for destruction." The biologist next to him at the long inspection station was frustrated at something, he scribbled notes furiously and spoke very annoyed to his recorder. "Specimen #6635, species Meleagris gallopavo, domestic turkey, contaminated!" He flipped off his recorder and practically threw away the speaker. "God damn it! That's the fifteenth one in a row!" "Calm down, what's wrong?" asked Aaron. "This damn omega detector is saying that all my specimens are contaminated, piece of junk." He very angrily smacked the omega detector at his station, like hitting it would fix whatever problem it suffered from. "It could just need some re-calibration, I'd take a break and take it to the engineers if I were you." His neighbor scoffed. "Hmph, that's probably it, let me test it on you real quick, see how broken it is." Aaron realized that he was probably the source of contamination, the insanely sensitive detector was probably picking up his magic from across the workstation. His heart threatened to leap out of his chest as the other scientist aimed the detector. Instantly it began to whine and crackle like it would if aimed at a pony. "Holy shit....this thing really is busted. Someone must have left it on infrared scan." Aaron thanked whatever gave thought to this astoundingly oblivious man. "Yeah, worthless piece of junk," he said as he sweated out his nervousness. "Guess I'm headed to the engineers, want a cold drink or something while I'm out? You look a little warm." "No thanks, I'm about finished here. You could probably take the rest of the day off, I'll redo your specimens while you're gone." "You're a real pal Dr. Patterson. See you tomorrow." The other biologist walked out of the zoological vault, carrying the heavy, perfectly functioning omega detector. Aaron very quickly gave the specimens a once over, none seemed flawed or contaminated, his magical sensitivity not detecting any trace of magic, harmonious or chaotic. Without warning the other biologist returned to his station. Aaron checked his watch to discover that half an hour had passed without his knowledge. "Well, what did the engineers say?" The other biologist had a puzzled look to replace his earlier anger. "Strangest thing, all the detectors have been acting funny. Every time they aim at someone they go off, no matter what exposure." "Must have something to do with the nuclear decay put off by the generators down stairs. That radiation does tend to show up in the funniest places." Aaron heaped on the bullshit, hoping to cover the fact that while the detectors moaned around other people, they screamed at him. "Can't be, those generators are shielded with six feet of lead. Besides, this is definitely Surge energy that they are picking up, all the detectors are on the highest wavelength sensitivity. One thing keeps bothering me, why did it act so strongly around you, Dr. Patterson?" Aaron didn't know whether he could trust the man or not, so he bullshitted some more. "I have a magnetic personality I guess." Suspicion laced the man's every movement and expression, then to Aaron's infinite relief he burst out laughing. "Good one man! I think I can mold that into a pick up line!" He continued to laugh, even after he left the zoological vault. ********************************************************************************************* Not bothering with the standard entry word of "Cupcakes", Aaron opened the door to his shared apartment. Inside sat seven tired, dirty and irritable women all decompressing from their day. "Honey, I'm home," he said with a monotone drawl. The six pony women stared at him, confused and slightly annoyed. He barely dodged a book that came flying for his head. "Who you callin' 'honey', buster?" Rainbow Dash had dirt smears on her face and lay spread out on her bed, she had probably been assigned to aiding with the lift cleanup. "Well not you anymore, Miss Vinegar. Maybe the actual ladies will appreciate my warm sentiments." Pinkie sat quietly staring at a wall, her eyes fixed on nothing. "I never want to see another dirty dish, forever and ever. Maybe not even a kitchen." Rarity lay curled up in a ball on her bed, rocking back and forth a little. "Me either Pinkie. And I most certainly never want to see yellow rubber gloves ever again. As Celestia is my witness, yellow and rubber are forever scratched from my creative list." "Why do you humans keep so much junk in your library?" groaned Twilight. "And how is it possible that none of it was sorted, by genre or alphabetically?!" "We looked into the future, saw a certain lavender unicorn librarian and said, 'Hey, you want to mess up the archives, just to screw with her?'" Twilight gave him a look of utter malice, then laid an arm over her face out of exhaustion. Applejack just lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, a small groan escaping her lips. "Who the heck knew that foldin' laundry could plum tucker out a strong gal like me?" Only Fluttershy seemed happy, she even stood up and gave her human friend a hug. "My day was really awesome! Thanks for calling me sweet like honey, if you don't mind that is." He looked Fluttershy over, she wasn't dirty or mentally scarred, as far as he could tell. "Okay, I give up. What did you do today?" "Well, when the army men started asking us what we did as a career, I said I didn't have one. So they asked what I liked to do, and I said I liked children and animals. Then they said something about how pretty I was and sent me to the maternity ward!" "Uh, there's only one baby there Fluttershy." "I know, and she is just the cutest little snuggly buggly creature. I fed her and burped her and sang to her. She was so adorable! More adorable than Angel Bunny. I think I want a baby of my own," she said with a smirk. Twirling a lock of her hair around a finger she took a step closer to the man. Aaron realized what she was up to and distanced himself from Fluttershy gently. "Uh, hehe, I'm sure you'll find the right stallion eventually." His eyes darted back and forth, his hands raised defensively. "You just have to be aggressive... which you seem to have nailed down." He was now backing away from the pink haired young woman, who approached with predatory intent. "Someone control her!" "Fluttershy, knock it off, dear. Don't violate the only source of testosterone in the room, it might come in handy if we need some heavy lifting done," said a nonchalant Dr. Mcentyre, reading a book on her bed. "Guess I owe you five 'bits' or whatever it was you called it." All six of the young women burst out laughing, breaking their facade of stoicism, Fluttershy included. "And you all said that those assertiveness classes didn't work, you all owe me five bits!" she continued her healthy chuckle. Aaron boiled like a kettle, they could almost see steam coming out of his ears. "If you ladies will excuse me," he managed to force out, "I'll be taking a shower and I will seriously consider moving in with the Marines. At least they have limits." He stood to go to the washroom, only to have a sharp pain on his rump as somepony gave it a pinch. "That's ten bits!" They all started their hyena-like chortle again, Pinkie snorting as she laughed. "I have never felt so outnumbered," he muttered as he grabbed a fresh towel. ********************************************************* Though their jest had humiliated him some what, Aaron maintained his residence. The six pony women and the older scientist had once again wasted the evening watching movies and chatting like school girls. Aaron took solace in music, finding his music player in his pack from Canterlot. He listened as Metallica sang about pain and loneliness, then as Mozart twirled his heart with his piano. He noticed that all the women had collapsed from the exhaustion of the day, so he mused out loud as he switched between songs. "What am I doing here? Where is my place in life? Am I doomed to be just a plaything for forces greater than myself?" A finger hooked around one of the cords to his music player and gave it a tug. "Well, those aren't really questions that I can answer, Mr. Patterson." He looked to see the lavender eyes of Twilight staring him down. "I didn't know you were still awake Twilight." "I didn't want to disturb you or anything, but from what everypony says, you talk to yourself a lot." He chuckled at her correct observation. "Have a seat, listen to some music with me." She sat next to him on his bed. "Human music? What's it like?" "That depends, our music covered everything, every type of sound and instrument. Music that could be considered harsh and hateful, but also music that stirred the soul and made people dance when they heard it." "Well, how about some piano?" He smiled. "It shall be done." He thumbed to an old piece by deBussy, Clair de Lune. Music filled Twilight's ear, beautiful, soulful music. "Aaron, you always seem like you are running from something. When you were with us you wanted to be here, and now that you are here, it seems like you want nothing more than to go back to Ponyville." He took in a deep breath, slowly letting it out as he considered the truth of what Twilight asked him. "It seems like my life has been defined by who or what I've been running from. When I was little, I was running from my friends because they hurt me. When I was in college I was running from my father. When the War started I ran from what I didn't understand. Then when I understood it, I ran from what I knew." "Why have you spent your whole life running? What are you afraid of?" "I don't know, maybe it's failure, maybe loneliness. Maybe I'm running from fear itself. It might have been why I was so happy in Ponyville, I knew I didn't have to be afraid when I had true friends like you. I saw how much love and good came from you, and I felt just a little closer to being in my place in life." Twilight laid her hand gently on his resting hand. "It's easier for us ponies, when we discover our place in life we have our cutie marks to confirm it. But humans like you just have to follow your hearts." "A very wise group of people once told me to follow my heart, but I never knew where my heart lay." "Who told you that?" Aaron cracked a small grin. "Legion did. All the souls of humanity told me to follow my heart, I thought they wanted me to wake up humanity and I would somehow be happy again. But my heart is still telling me to move on, that this is not my place of true happiness." "Where is it taking you?" "I don't know, it could be on the other side of the Earth," he turned his head to look at Twilight, "Or it could be right in front of my face." He gave Twilight a friendly tap on the shoulder with a fist. Twilight smiled, patting her friend on the shoulder. "It's late, we should probably get some sleep." She stood from his bed and meandered over to her own. "Yeah, maybe tomorrow will bring some answers to my ultimate questions. Goodnight Twilight." "Goodnight Aaron." ********************************************************************* I'll be the first to admit that this chapter is kind of tedious and serves no real purpose other than as filler to not make the war come too quickly. You all know the drill. Questions, comments etc. below.