The pelican flying above the snow covered plain was carrying very valuable cargo. Ale was currently being annoyed by Twilights incessant questions about how the vehicle worked. He was currently pondering if the cockpit would look nice with a new red paint detail. A distant gleam on the horizon caught his attention.
“I think we’re here.”
Twilight stopped studying the dials in the cockpit and looked out the windshield.
“That’s the Crystal Empire alright. I’m shocked that we got here so quickly!” She looked at Ale expectantly, but he simply ignored her. He knew she was fishing and he wasn’t biting.
Ale flew above the outer city walls, causing mass panic below as the ponies thought that Sombra had returned. Ale couldn’t help but smirk at their reaction, wishing he had a tractor beam to pick up cows with. Celestia pushed into the already super crowded cockpit and pointed to a clearing by a massive crystal spire.
“Over there. You can leave your machine there after we have landed.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Ale gently set down the bird and turned off the systems. He watched as a crowd of crystalline soldiers came pouring out from the castle. He ignored this and pushed the ramp release, startling the soldiers enough that one of the newer recruits fell over. Ale stood and exited the cockpit into the cargo hold. The three princesses and their detachment of ten guards exited. He watched as a unicorn adorned in a red officer’s jacket greeted the princesses, going as far as to hug Twilight. While they were conversing, Ale checked that all the equipment within the pelican was stored away. He had just finished when Luna called out to him.
“Ale? Is everything alright? We would like you to meet somepony.”
Ale stepped out from the shadows of the cargo hold, the pelican bouncing up slightly with its heavy occupant removed. The unicorns eyes widened in shock, before they narrowed and his face scrunched up in disgust.
“Ale this is Shining Armor. Shining, this is Ale.”
Ale held his hand out in a friendly manner, only to drop it after a few moments of inaction from Shining. The stallion refused to acknowledge Ales handshake and instead sniffed loudly.
“A pleasure I’m sure,” the disdain not only dripped, but flowed from his voice.
Ale was shocked that he was being so racist. He didn’t even know who he was. While Ale would normally ignore this from his superiors or anybody for that matter, he was not going to give any respect to this pompous unicorn.
He turned to Luna and replied bluntly, “I don’t like him.”
The unicorn recoiled in anger. “You better learn to respect your superiors monster.”
“Monster?”
The unicorn nodded while smirking.
“You’re a colorful horse that talks and can wield magic. You’re the embodiment of a little girls imagination.”
Ale smiled as the unicorn began to turn red in rage. The princesses and their guards looked unsure of what to do, especially since they knew the power of Ale. Shinings guards however looked like they were about to spill blood, their leaders face showing the same intent.
“Why you li-“
“That’s quite enough!”
Both crowds spun around and watched as a pink alicorn walked through a doorway. Her species and her air of authority convinced Ale that she was the other ruler. She glared at Shining causing him to cower under her gaze.
She turned to Ale and bowed her head slightly, “Please forgive my husbands actions. He didn’t know that you are Luna’s rescuer as well as lover.”
Shining and his guards looked shocked while Luna and Celestia looked calm. Ale wasn’t sure if he should be confused or embarrassed. He was however thankful for her intervention.
“It’s fine. We all make mistakes.”
“Indeed. Come, I expect you’re tired from your journey and would like to rest. We have a meal prepared.”
Twilight ran out towards her, Cadence just noticing her since the guards height hid her. They performed a weird greeting that would have made government officials vomit due to the amount of unprofessionalism. Twilight then went on a tangent about Ale and how his machines could advance pony technology into the space age while they walked towards the spire. Shining sulked alongside Celestia who was doing her best to comfort him.
Ale leaned towards Luna. “How come she knew about us but he didn’t?”
Luna smiled knowingly as she responded, “Her special talent is love. She can feel it in others and inspire two ponies to fall in love.” Ale nodded, not surprised given how strange this world was.
They continued walking until they reached a massive dining hall. Everything was made out of crystal and was shining brilliantly. Ale was certain he would get a headache if he looked upon it with his own eyes. Cadence ushered them to their seats and gestured waiters along the wall to serve them.
She looked at Ale and asked, “Forgive me since I don’t know about your eating habits but what would you like? I’m certain the royal chefs have whatever you desire.”
Ale thought about the steak he had imagined the other day. He wasn’t going to request that however since he was certain that the ponies would be disgusted. After all, he was in the presence of royalty.
“I’m fine thank you.”
Cadence looked at Ale sternly like a mother would a child. “I’ll have none of that. Surely there must be something you desire?”
“…”
Cadence’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “I will force you to eat if I have to. And trust me when I say that you would much rather prefer to feed yourself.”
Ale began sweating under her gaze, surprised that she could get such a reaction from him. Ale decided he would take her advice and gambled his metaphorical dice.
“Do you happen to have steak?”
While Twilight, Shining, and the waiters looked disgusted, Luna merely had a curious look on her face. Celestia and Cadence looked surprisingly calm and nodded, “We do. Do you have a preference as to how it’s prepared?”
Ale was, the least to say, shocked at how smoothly she had accepted that. His mind soon caught up with him however.
“Er… medium rare?”
Cadence smiled and nodded at a waiter, the earth pony disappearing behind a door. She observed Ales armored form, noticing how tense he was.
“Is something wrong?”
“Well, I guess I’m just a little surprised that you’re taking this in stride.”
It was Cadences turn to look confused. “Why wouldn’t I be? We have had many diplomats that eat meat. Besides, the meat isn’t from sentient creatures. While there are intelligent wild and farm animals they do have their unintelligent counterparts. The steak you ordered is actually from Griffonia.”
“Oh.”
Cadence nodded, setting Ale at ease. The other occupants of the table began conversing with one another, the topics ranging from politics to how their personal lives were going. Ale put forth his two cents every now and then but was content on learning more about Equestria’s government and getting to know the other ponies better. Their banter was soon interrupted by waiters arriving with salads, soups, and sandwiches. Ales attention was drawn towards a large covered silver platter. The waiter set it down gently in front of Ale, whipping off the lid to reveal exactly what Ale had been daydreaming about.
The steak was perfect in every shape and form. The grain of the meat was perfect with little to no fat in it. Juices poured out of it and pooled in the plate with trace amounts of red in it. Ales sense of smell was overloaded in joy at the smell of fresh seasonings. Ale felt a string of saliva attempt to leave his open mouth, prompting him to suck it back in lest the inside of his helmet become a mess.
Meanwhile, Cadence watched in amusement at Ales silence as he stared down at the steak. She became confused however, when Ale stood up and grasped either side of the platter. He picked it up and stared at the group sitting at the table.
“…”
“…”
“Uhh… you don’t want to see this.”
And with that he moved swiftly towards the door before stopping again. He gave a pointed look towards Celestia and moved two fingers to his visor, turning them around and performing the same gesture at her. He then bolted out of the room, screaming and loud clattering emanating from the hallway.
Luna looked at Celestia in confusion, Celestia simply smiled knowingly.
Twilight spoke up, “Ooookaaay. Now that that’s over with shall we eat?”
The others quickly nodded and began eating, falling back into conversation. Cadence questioned Luna privately as the others continued chatting.
“So, how’s it going?”
Luna looked confused. “How’s what going?”
“You know, Ale. You guys doing okay? Anything you want to tell me?”
Luna, failing to catch on, blundered a response. “W-well, we only just recently got together. We haven’t really gone on a date yet. With both of us being so busy we haven’t talked much either.”
Cadence gave an exasperated sigh. “That’s not what I meant. Do you need me to spell it out for you?”
Luna scrunched her face in confusion, “What do you mean?”
“Have you and Ale, you know, done it?”
Luna’s face turned a fluorescent red as she became extremely flustered. “N-n-no! Why would we? We only just admitted our feelings for each other. We’re not even married. I’m not even sure Ale would be comfortable with that.”
Cadence brought Luna closer to her with a hoof. “Listen Luna. I don’t know how relationships work back where Ales from, but it’s an inevitable part of loving somepony and should be expected to happen at one point. Plus, you’re an immortal goddess who’s lived for thousands of years. You’ve probably mastered the art of seduction and bedded many stallions before.”
Luna just got redder and redder as Cadence talked. She eventually began hiding behind her ethereal mane in such a fashion that it would have made even Fluttershy proud. Upon noticing this, Cadence paused and looked at her closely. Her eyes suddenly widened upon realization.
“Wait, you’ve never… you’re a…”
Luna nodded meekly, causing Cadence to gawk in surprise. “B-b-but how?”
Luna spoke quietly, “No stallion has ever really made me feel loved. They always looked to improve their station in the world. As to intercourse, I never really felt comfortable with it and I wanted to save it for somepony I really loved.”
Cadence was stunned. She would have never thought this would be possible in a million years. She knew that even Celestia had participated in the ‘dirty’ in her lifetime. Celestia was the one who had given Cadence advice about Shining. Also, there’s a reason Celestia has been known as Molestia. Cadence shook her head and smiled as a plan hatched in her head. It would be relatively simple.
Luna became frightened at Cadences smile as she could see the gears turning in her head. She was shocked that Cadence was talking about this in such a public place, much less so casually. Ale in the meantime, had just walked back in looking like nothing had ever happened. He saw Cadence smiling evilly towards him and a heavily blushing Luna.
“Uhh… am I interrupting something?”
Cadence continued smiling at him, unnerving him further. Celestia sighed, knowing exactly what was running through Cadences head judging by her looks alone. She decided that she should break this up before things became awkward.
“Cadence. We’re all very tired and would appreciate being shown to our rooms.”
Cadence shook her head as if she was in a trance. “Oh, but of course. Follow me.”
The group walked through the halls until they reached a stretch that had doors lined on either side. Cadence opened one of them and gestured for Celestia to enter.
“I hope the room is to your satisfaction.”
The room was relatively simple. There was a large extravagant bed placed towards the back wall. Pink drapes covered the window to a large balcony with other pieces of artwork scattered over the room. There was a door to what Ale presumed was a bathroom on one wall while there was a decent writing desk on the other. All in all it seemed to be a very nice room.
“It’s just fine Cadence, thank you,” Celestia replied. She stepped in before turning around. “Good night Luna. Ale.” She nodded before shutting the door with her golden magic. Cadence walked to the other door and opened it.
“Here’s your room Luna and Ale.”
Both Luna and Ale stopped and looked at each other awkwardly. They stood in relative silence before Luna spoke up.
“You go in Ale. I will have Cadence take me to another room.”
Ale shook his head. “No. I will go to another room. I don’t want to intrude.”
Luna began to insist on him staying before Cadence interrupted. “Ale, would you please go inside? I must have words with Luna.”
Ale looked hesitant, but after an encouraging nod from Luna he relented. Cadence shut the door and looked at Luna sternly.
“Luna, what are you doing? Why are you fighting this?”
“Cadence, we’re not ready for this step. You must understand.”
Cadence huffed. “I must say I really do not. You should be in there jumping his bones, making him yours.” Luna flushed, but did not respond. Cadence leaned in and whispered in a cheeky tone, “You know, I’ve always wondered what bagging a predator would be like. Just imagine, their sharp pointy teeth brushing against you. Don’t even get me started on how his fingers must be like.” Both Cadence and Luna shivered.
To Luna’s credit she still refused to budge. When Cadence noticed this she just snorted. “Fine. But couples are meant to spend time together and this is the perfect time for you to catch up.” With that, Cadence shoved Luna into the room before shutting the door, clicks ensuing as she locked the door.
Luna stared at the door for a full minute before slowly turning around. Ale had his helmet off and was looking at her with an incredulous expression. They stood there and stared at each other for a while. Ale silently observed as Luna circled a hoof on the floor. With a sigh, Ale spoke up.
“So, I’m assuming Cadence isn’t letting either one of us out?” Luna shook her head. Ale nodded and gestured towards the bed. “Well, why don’t we make the best of this and get some sleep? We’re going to need it for the meeting tomorrow.
Luna nodded and stripped off her royal regalia. She hopped up into the bed and lied down comfortably. She watched as Ale looked at the bed before glancing to her. Deciding to be the initiator she spoke.
“Don’t worry Ale. I don’t bite.” Ale nodded while placing his helmet on the nightstand. He approached the bed before Luna interrupted him. “If you think I’m going to share the bed with a cold metal giant you’re sorely mistaken. Take it off.”
Ale recoiled a bit. “W-what?”
“You heard me. Take off the armor.”
“Luna, I’m not sure-“
Luna explosively sighed. “Ale, you’ll sleep better without that hulking thing on. I’ll sleep better without it on you.”
Ale leaned side to side as he debated what to do. While she did make a good point he wasn’t really comfortable with taking his armor off. Deciding it wasn’t worth it he began the grueling process of peeling off his armor. Luna smiled happily as she watched him make his decision. Her smile disappeared as time began dragging on, Ales armor proving to be far more complicated then she thought.
Ale had just finished taking off his chest harness when a purple glow encased him. He watched as Luna’s magic probed his armor, clicks sounding out as she began pulling it off of him far quicker than he could. Luna was sweating with exertion as his armor was resisting her magic. With two loud clicks, Ale pulled his feet out of his armored ‘boots.’ His armor floated over to a corner of the room before Luna began observing Ales form.
He was wearing a black over suit that seemed to be scaled in nature. She had no doubt that it was very strong. She smiled faintly as she admired his sculpted form and his surprisingly attractive muscle tone. She stopped staring when she noticed Ale was smirking at her with a knowing look. Luna blushed while looking away. She felt the bed shift as Ale slid in next to her, lying flat on his back.
Taking a chance, Luna slid closer to Ale and placed one of her hooves on his chest. She was reassured when Ale put his arm around her. With a happy sigh she turned off the lights, rapidly falling asleep.
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Ale woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed. It had been a while since he had last slept without his armor on. He felt a warm breath on his face. He looked down and saw that Luna was practically on top of him. She was sprawled out on his chest with her face inches away from his. Ale smiled gently at this, waiting patiently for her to wake up. He began stroking her mane, receiving a happy groan while he did so.
Ale began thinking about his current relationship with Luna. This was the first night he had spent with her and he wasn’t sure how he felt. He hadn’t known of any Spartans that fell in love. This didn’t encourage him. Ale closed his eyes and let his thoughts roam rampantly. His mind began creating a list of pros and cons to this relationship. After realizing that he was viewing this like a tactical situation Ale banished his thoughts. He knew that a soldier’s mindset was ill suited for this situation. With a silent sigh he simply cleared his mind and let his emotions do the thinking. Almost immediately, a rapid warmth flowed through him. With this as his confirmation he smiled. He opened his eyes to find Luna’s teal ones staring right back. Acting on impulse, Ale leaned forward and gave her a light kiss. Luna’s eyes were lit up with surprise. He pulled back and smiled.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning to you too. Did something happen while I was sleeping?”
Ale smiled. “No. I just realized how glad I am I met you.”
Luna smiled, “Me too.”
They lied there in peace until a light knocking ensued from the door. Before either could respond, the door unlocked and Cadence walked in. Upon seeing Luna on top of Ale with their faces very close to each other Cadence smiled.
“I’m not interrupting anything am I?”
“No!” they both responded rapidly.
Cadence giggled. “Uh huh. Sure.” She was pleasantly surprised at how handsome Ales facial features were. She also noticed that he wasn’t in his armor anymore, furthering her smile as certain implications ran through her head. Upon seeing Cadences gaze Luna came to the same conclusion. She quickly leapt off of Ale, jerking him up with her. She then slammed his armor into place around him, wincing as Ale let out a loud groan.
“Luna… don’t do that again.”
Ale went and picked up his helmet, gesturing for Cadence to lead. The three of them left the room and began heading down the hallway towards breakfast.
Meanwhile Celestia huffed in annoyance as she peeked out from her hiding spot in the hallway, disappointed that Ale had put on his helmet before exiting his room, further denying her a chance to see his face.
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After a very good breakfast, Ale once again excusing himself to eat sausage links and ham, Ale and the royal leaders were standing outside of the crystal tower. The mares were quietly discussing tactics for the negotiations while Ale stood deathly still, his armored figure very imposing to those that wished the princesses and prince harm. He simply ignored the dirty looks Shining shot him every now and then.
A dark speck was arriving rapidly on the horizon, prompting Ale to announce its presence. The mares studied it intently as a carriage being flown by two armored griffons approached. Four armored escorts also accompanied the carriage. With a gentle bump the carriage landed I front of the mares. The door opened, revealing a very pompous looking male griffon with a waist the size of a barrel. Scratch that, the size of two barrels when Ale got the full view. The griffon in question was adorned in medals and carried a ceremonial sword. He bowed before the mares and nodded at Ale subtly, a curious look in his eyes.
Princess Cadence greeted him. “Prince Sharp Talon. Welcome to the Crystal Empire. I trust you had a safe journey?”
“Indeed,” his deep baritone voice echoed. “However, may we speak in a more private place? I’m anxious to get the meeting underway.”
“But of course. Right this way,” Cadence responded. They navigated the halls quickly, arriving in a sizable room filled with chairs next to a large table. The griffon escorts stood outside of the doors as they shut, surprising Ale that they would just trust their leader to be fine, especially in the presence of an alien. The griffon turned around and frowned at Celestia.
“Where is the banquet? I expect there to be food after a long journey.”
Celestia smirked, “Because you look like you could lay off the sweets for once.”
Ale instantly tensed, expecting a conflict to erupt. He was baffled when the griffon smiled widely, embracing Celestia in a bone crushing hug. The griffon lost his powerful air and instead exerted a very friendly appearance.
“It has been far too long Cel.”
“I agree. Please, take a seat.”
They parted and everypony sat down. The griffon looked at Ale curiously.
“And who might you be?”
“Ale, Princess Luna’s personal guard.”
The griffon looked between Ale and Luna, a small smile worming onto his face.
“I see. He must be an excellent guard in order to become Luna’s consort. Now then, I…”
He was interrupted when Luna spluttered out, “H-h-how did you know that?!”
The griffon smiled, “Because you just told me.”
Ale smirked at the griffons cleverness, knowing a few Spartans to have been just like that. His musings were interrupted when Celestia spoke.
“How are things at home Sharp Talon?”
The old griffon sighed. “Not well Celly. I’m afraid the recent attacks on your border are being caused by an insurrection.”
Twilight spoke, “Have you talked to them? Maybe it’s all just a misunderstanding.”
The griffon eyed Twilight, “Your inexperience shows. If you are indeed Celestia’s prized pupil than you must know about Equestrias dark past. They are vicious and won’t stop at anything to achieve their goals.”
Celestia spoke up nervously, “Uhh… actually, we kind of erased all records of our history and replaced it with a publically accepted false hood. Most ponies didn’t want to remember the past and prefer our peaceful society.”
“… you can’t be serious?”
“…”
“Well then on with the problem at hand. The insurrection is gaining more power daily. Most griffons are being forced into it or are promised spoils of war.”
Celestia looked worried. “Is your guard enough to stop them?”
“Unfortunately, no. Many of them are from my guard. How they were corrupted, I’ll never know. While my remaining guards have the skill and training, the insurrection has the numbers. We’re currently outnumbered five to one. I do have military forces rallying to end it. It should be a swift victory with their expertise.”
“Where are the rebels currently?” Luna asked.
The griffon frowned further. “That is another reason I have arrived with such haste. They were last seen amassing near the border of the Crystal Empire. We lost their position in the recent snow storm and currently have no idea where they are.”
“This is unfortunate indeed. Cadence, do you have soldiers prepared for a possible siege?” Celestia asked.
Cadence shook her head. “No, the soonest we’ll be able to rally and supply the troops would be in two days.”
Ale’s HUD lit up as a report came in from the pelican. He had programmed it to report any possible external tampering. Excusing himself, he stood up and walked out onto a balcony. He looked down below to see two unicorn guards probing the machine. Ale glanced around, finding a small rock on the edge of the balcony. He scooped it up and with precision a Spartan could only posses, chucked the rock, hitting one of the unicorns straight on the horn. The unicorn squealed in agony as he registered the pain coming from his sensitive horn. They both looked up, seeing a very large figure shaking a finger at them. With a cloud dust the only evidence of their presence, they disappeared.
Ale shook his head before looking out to the horizon. In the distance he saw a dark line. He magnified his cyan visor to get a closer look. He found a very large army of powerful and armed griffons approaching the city at a steady march. Ale quickly turned around and informed the leaders.
“What!?” they all replied. They swiftly walked out onto the balcony and confirmed for themselves that there was indeed a rapidly approaching army.
“Cadence! We need all your available troops assembled!” Celestia cried.
Cadence swiftly left to sound the alarm while Celestia and Sharp Talon quickly began discussing evacuation protocols. Twilight just stood there since she was pretty much useless in this situation. Luna simply watched Ale with slight confusion. He was standing in a very relaxed position and seemed to be studying the enemy with a nonchalant manner.
“Ale? What is it?”
Ale looked to the leaders and spoke, “Have your forces escort the civilians towards the Crystal Tower. I will go out and face them.”
“Are you crazy!” they all shouted. “You’ll be killed!”
The leaders couldn’t see Ales deadpan look.
“… Seriously? Guys, I’m a half ton space warrior that has fought foes hundreds of times worse. I’ve survived glassings, the flood, especially the flood, and only recently did you see me fall from space!”
The mares looked at each other worriedly while Shining and Sharp Talon looked confused.
“What’s a glassing?” Shining asked.
Ale waved his hand at him, “Oh, just a beam of super heated plasma that turns the surface of a planet to molten glass.”
The two males paled at this revelation. Celestia sent a telepathic message to Cadence to relay Ales orders. Soon enough, guards rushed about while directing civilians. The approaching army was almost at the city gates. Ale turned towards his friends and Shining.
“You’re welcome to watch the epic butt kicking ensue, but I must ask that you don’t interfere. I don’t want to accidentally hurt any of you.”
Shining spoke up angrily, “I will not be protected by an alien. I will blast the enemy away and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
Ale smiled as he pulled out a short silvery cylinder that had a hole through the center. He grabbed a small ledge on the side and pulled.
Sssshhhhhrrrrccccckkkkk!!!
Within ten seconds Shining found himself bound and gagged by the mysterious stuff. It was sticky on one side and after a minute of struggling proved to be very strong indeed. He attempted to use his magic but found that wrapped in the same material, preventing him from using it.
Ale smiled smugly at his handiwork, receiving a glare from Twilight. He turned to Celestia.
“If the enemy doesn’t back down I may be forced to use lethal force. I may be awesome, but not quite awesome enough to non-lethally take out the whole army.”
Celestia nodded. Luna just hugged him.
“Please be careful.”
“No worries! After all, what could possibly g-“
Ale stopped midsentence as he stepped back, finding that the balcony had ended and plummeted to the ground. Quick like a cat, he twisted in mid air and landed in a crouch, crushing the stone beneath him. He smacked himself in the head when he realized he had tested the universe with his statement. He quickly stood up and sprinted down the street towards the wall.
Ale arrived relatively quickly and scaled the wall. He grasped the ledge and vaulted over, landing on the other side. He looked up to find the griffon army not more than 100 meters away from him. They simply stood there and stared at him in confusion.
Ale turned on his external speakers.
“Leave now and you won’t be harmed!”
The griffons shuffled at his loud mechanical voice. Many looked upon him in fear. Soon enough their ranks split and a well decorated griffon stepped out.
“W know not what you are creature, but we will not give in to your demands. We have no quarrel with you and suggest you leave the premises with haste if you don’t want to be killed.”
“I’m afraid that’s not an option.”
“Then suffer the Equestrians fate.”
With a very slight nod, Ales attention was brought to a brief gleam in the sky. With lightning fast reflexes, Ale stepped to the side and flashed out his hand. After a second the griffons stared in awe as they saw Ale clutching a crossbow bolt. The leader soon broke out of his stupor and screeched. Ale glanced back into the sky as he saw a dozen more griffons equipped with crossbows pop out of the clouds. Ale simply pulled out his magnum and returned fire. The blue bolts of plasma quickly dispatched the air born griffons, some bolts had struck him only to be deflected by his over shield, even then his armor was more than enough to stop them.
Ale looked down as his radar beeped a warning. The leader had retreated and ordered his first wave of troops to attack him. With the little time Ale had before they reached him he decided to play some tunes.
Ale charged head on with the griffons. He punched the first griffon, cracking his beak and spraying blood everywhere. Yanking the pike from the griffon, Ale twirled it around expertly, knocking griffons left and right. Some of the griffons thrusted their swords at him at the same time, figuring that he could only parry so many of them. Ale simply ducked and let them stab each other. They stood there for a second with shock and pain in their eyes before falling over. Ale quickly stepped over them and returned to his onslaught.
Out of the four dozen griffons in the first wave only three stood. All three of them bum rushed him. Ale held the pike in one hand while drawing his combat knife in the other. Time slowed down as adrenaline rushed through him. He was now in what they called ‘SPARTAN Time.’ With everything in slow motion, Ale lashed out his leg, contacting the first griffons head and effectively decapitating him. He lunged through the blood that was still slowly falling through the air and swung his combat knife backwards. His head turned as the second griffon was now flipping upside down in the air with two of his legs cleanly sliced. With a flick of his wrist, Ale held his knife backwards and slammed the griffon to the ground with his knife stuck down to the hilt in the griffons chest.
Time caught back up to him as he turned and witnessed the last griffon desperately trying to fly away. Ale hefted the pike and threw it like a javelin, spearing the terrified griffon. The pike carried the griffon all the way along its flight path until it slammed into the cities wooded gate, pinning the dying griffon to the door.
Ale noticed he had a small crowd watching him from the wall. The mares and Sharp Talon were watching with wide eyes at the destruction below them. Ale caught a glimpse of Shining lying on the ground, still bounded by the duck tape. Ale turned around and yelled.
“Had enough!?”
The dead griffons comrades shrieked in anger. A horn blew from behind their lines and prompted the very large army to press on with the attack. A few hundred griffons began charging across the grass towards him. Ale, deciding that a full on charge by hundreds of hostiles was a bit too much for his assault rifle to handle, felt the grooves of his SMG’s on his thigh armor. It had been far too long since he last used them.
A neural command swiftly unlatched them and Ale hefted them up into both hands. He also began charging across the field. As he neared he opened fire and concentrated his fire on a small section of troops in front of him. The plasma burned through their shields and melted their armor, cutting down the griffons in front of Ale. He simply tunneled his way through the ranks as griffons screamed left and right. Blood was spraying everywhere as many of the falling griffons accidentally stabbed their living brethren with their sharp weapons.
Ale stopped somewhere in the middle of the horde and began systematically picking them off instead of just randomly shooting. Swinging his arms around, Ale couldn’t help but wish he could see how awesome he looked. He pictured himself looking like a character from an old 21st century movie he had seen a couple of ODSTs watching.
‘What was it called? Oh yeah! Matrix I believe.’
The griffons, realizing that it was becoming increasingly difficult to charge over the wall of dead bodies between them and the alien, changed tactics. They all took flight and created a swarming half sphere that roiled towards him. Ale quickly noticed their plan and slammed one of his SMGs back into place. He pulled out a frag grenade he had pulled from the Pelican before priming and tossing it up into the cloud of griffons.
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Luna watched as Ale swiftly destroyed their army. He had pulled out two unknown weaponry that she had never seen from his thighs and was currently holding off the charging griffons that surrounded him. She wasn’t sure if she should be mad that he had kept secret weapons from them when they requested his surrender of arms or be disturbed and frightened at his fighting prowess. She grimaced as she watched piles of bodies build up, the griffons tripping in the shredded bodies of the fallen. While she understood war and was no stranger to death from her experiences in a pre Equestria world filled with horrific things, she still couldn’t help but feel sick at the number of bodies and with how easily Ale distributed it.
Her attention was drawn towards Ale as the griffons began flying towards him, encasing him in a half sphere. She lost sight of Ale and knew he couldn't fight them off from all angles like that. She spread her wings to disobey Ales order until a bright flash and loud boom reached her. She stared as the griffon sphere simply turned into a red mist. She looked on in shock as almost half of the army was gone.
The griffons stopped charging, realizing that their efforts were futile. Ale held one of his destructive weapons in his hands. He too stopped firing. They simply stood in silence eyeing each other. Luna thought that the battle was over until two very large and heavily armored griffons stepped forward. They both carried heavy looking war hammers and stood on their hind legs to look more menacing, their wings spread out to help them keep their balance. Luna smirked at their stupidity; surely Ales weaponry would be more than enough to take them down. She noticed black scarring on their talons and looked closer.
Her eyes widened she recognized the black scarring to actually be a very old, practically extinct form of black magic. The runes were protectorate charms that defended the wearer from magic. It was also known for stopping physical attacks. The two griffons placed their hammers on their shoulders as they pulled out one potion bottle each. The bottle was filled with a boiling black liquid.
The two griffons pulled the corks off and downed the liquid as fast as they could. They immediately dropped the bottles and screeched in pain. Their bodies began to increase in size violently, loud cracks from their bones being broken audible. Their skin ripped and was shredded to pies as their muscles grew. Black hexagonal plating grew over their bodies, effectively creating a very powerful exoskeleton. Luna found them to look very similar to changelings. This thought only brought dread to her as she watched the mutations smirk evilly with a fang filled maw and pick up their magically larger war hammers.
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Ale watched with dread as the now mutated abominations rose. The transformation reminded him of the horrific alien parasite he had barely survived several times. He shook his head as he prepared for their inevitable charge. He was caught off guard as one of them summoned a black aura in its mutated talon. It rapidly turned into a light consuming black ball that was soon racing towards Ale. Ale braced himself with a foot behind him as he took the black sphere head on. The magic passed over him with a few crackles of black lightning. Ale was pleasantly surprised as only one noticeable change had happened. His external speakers had turned on and a random song that was absolutely appropriate blared loudly across the field.
With a roar of frustration one of the beasts charged him. Ale ran at it as fast as he could. They met halfway and the beast swung at him with its hammer. Ale side stepped it and let it slam into the earth. He ran up the handle of the hammer towards the hunched over animal. He leapt and with a mid air twisting summersault landed on its neck, neatly placing his feet on each shoulder. He crossed his now duel wielding SMGs and unloaded a torrent of blue fire at the crease between its head and neck. Ale quickly learned that it did little to no damage to its magical armor and only served to irate the monster. It roared and shook like a dog. Ale landed on his back with a huff.
The other monster took this opportunity to swing his hammer towards Ales prone form. Ale rolled out of the way just in time as a shower of dirt rained down on him. He stood up and turned to find the other war hammer speeding towards him in a swinging arch. Ale dropped his SMGs and opened his hands in front of him. He caught the hammers handle and was pushed backwards a few meters, his feet digging a trench. He yanked the hammer towards him, pulling the monster as well. Ale delivered an unmerciful uppercut with all his bodily and armor assisted might, the beast screaming as it and the hammer flew away from him.
Unfortunately, a Spartan can’t react quite fast enough all the time. The other hammer crashed into his side and launched him into the cities wall. The monster laughed cruelly as a massive hole was created. Ale meanwhile, groaned from his position on the ground.
‘That fucking hurt!’
Ale checked his systems and found everything to be green. His over shields were drained almost completely but his armor checked out fine. Kinetic force still pushed him through the wall however and Ale still suffered some injury. He pulled himself up and walked through the rubble and back out onto the field, stumbling slightly. The monster stopped laughing and roared in anger that the defiant Spartan still stood. Ale coughed up some blood into the bottom of his visor and glared hatefully at the monster.
“I’ll give that one to you. But,” Ale activated his thruster pack and was suddenly in front of the monster. He grabbed the hammer and pulled it away from the shocked monster like taking candy away from a baby.
“It’s my turn.”
The monster, breaking out of its stupor caused by the impossibly fast moving alien, registered its words and looked down to find its own hammer hooked around its front talon.
Ale pulled the hammer up causing the monster to stand up straight before flipping the hammer up in front of himself. He jumped and kicked the end of the hammers handle thus thrusting it into the abdomen of the monster. It huffed as it fell back a few meters and landed on its backside. The hammer however had done little to no damage. Before the monster could get back up, Ale ran at it and delivered another flying kick to the same area. The sheer awesomeness of a determined, battle hardened, angry Spartan finally cracked the black armor of the creature.
Or, it could have been caused simply by the force of a rapidly accelerating mass that weighed half a ton colliding with it. Ale would disagree with physics on the latter and prefer that the former be written in history books.
The creature roared in shock and pain as the cracks spider webbed from Ales power kick. Ale, remembering its ‘brother’ turned around to find a very pissed off mutant racing at him. Its face was cracked and dripping black blood from Ales earlier punch. Ale leapt from his position, causing the downed monster to yelp in agony as its abdomen cracked a bit further from Ales exit. Ale leap was at its apex as he began to fall towards the charging creature. The monster opened its mouth with glee, intent on crunching him. Ales thruster pack fired for a millisecond, veering him slightly to the side of the creatures maw.
Ale made contact by grabbing the side of its mouth and swinging upwards, the monster head being dragged along with Ales weighted momentum and almost causing it to trip. The Spartan landed on his rear and was straddling his neck facing forward. He reached forward and hooked his fingers over the edge of its mouth. He pulled back hard, almost breaking the creatures neck while doing so. The creature, practically immobilized in this position, shrieked in pain at its smashed face being treated so roughly. Ale ignored this and, with his other hand, reached behind him for his assault rifle. He leaned forward while pulling the creatures head back further, gazing down its throat. Ale brought his gun to position and fired the plasma down its gullet.
The creature screamed in pain as its insides were melted form the super heated material. It shuddered one last time before falling to its belly, motionless. Ale released its head and placed his assault rifle on his back. A large shadow on the ground caught his attention. He looked up and watched as a tooth filled orifice engulfed him.
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Luna screamed as she watched Ale disappear. She immediately began sobbing as the loss of her lover hit her. She felt the comforting presence of her sisters wing on her back, Celestia whispering consoling words to her. Luna, not particularly paying attention to the fact that her soul bond was still intact and not shattered to pieces, began seething in fury. She looked up with slitted eyes at the laughing monster, her blazing teal orbs filled with hatred. However, before she could react the monster began screaming. It hunched over in pain and howled in agony. Everyone stared on in confusion.
A sharp cracking sound was heard as Luna spied a very large grey knife puncturing out from the cracks in its abdomen. She watched as the knife was jerked around violently before an armored figure burst forth in a sea of green gore from the massive hole in the monster. Said monster simply stared down in shock as it could clearly see all of its organs and the empty cavern within itself. It didn’t make a sound as it collapsed backwards.
Ale turned, his armor sparking as the over shield was taxed out from its punishment, towards the army of griffons. After a few seconds Ale stuck up both of his middle digits at the army, the gesture confusing everyone. The griffons then began retreating as they abandoned their posts. Luna watched as their leader screamed at them to return. With most of his army ignoring him and already in flight he turned around to find a very pissed Spartan looking back at him.
The griffon trembled as it too began to retreat. If Luna could have seen Ales face she would have found a very morbid grin as Ale calmly walked over to one of the dead monsters and, with a curse, struggled to break a tooth off. After succeeding he pulled out his pistol and shoved the tooth into the barrel. Ale aimed and fired, the tooth’s magical resistance to physical and magical forces allowing it to survive mostly intact from the super heated plasma. The crude projectile flew towards it target, trailing molten pieces of itself in a glowing arch. It struck the griffon and caused it to crash land with a scream.
Ale walked over to the griffon and looked down at it. The griffon had been struck in the spine and was paralyzed. It tried to speak but found that it couldn’t. Ale considered killing him for causing his armor to be coated in a rapidly drying green sludge until Celestia flew over.
“That’s quite enough. Sharp Talons forces will take care of the rest.” She looked down towards the griffon. “As for you, the dungeons will suit you adequately. You will not have the privilege of being healed by magic in the case of an attempted escape.”
Ale paused, genuinely frightened at Celestias new found harshness. He watched as Celestia teleported away with her charge. He turned around to find Sharp Talon staring at him with awe, Twilight was green, Shining looked ashamed, Luna was concerned, and most peculiarly of all, Cadence was fanning herself while turning red.
“…”
That in itself creeped Ale out and he tried to ignore it. He walked towards them, Luna rushing out to greet him. She was about to embrace him before he stopped her with a raised hand.
“Clean first, hug later.”
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Ale, Twilight, Luna, and Celestia were standing by the back of the Pelican. Sharp Talon had left after thanking Ale for his heroism that will forever be sung about in barter songs. Meanwhile the crystal ponies were cleaning up the mess Ale had left behind, Ale himself had been busy scraping clean his own armor. It had especially taken him a long time to clean out his own blood from the bottom of his helmet.The guards in the back of his bird whispered, irritated that they haven’t left yet.
Shining and Cadence walked out from the spire to see them off. Upon seeing Shining Armor, Ale played a short segment of a song that he felt was appropriate with describing Shinings current attitude.
(Not necessary to listen to the whole thing or even at all)
Twilight smacked him, prompting a chuckling Ale to turn it off. Cadence and her husband approached.
“Thanks for coming Aunties. I wish it was under better circumstances.”
“It was no problem. We’ll have to visit again soon.”
“That would be fantastic,” she replied while eyeing Ale suggestively, prompting glares from Shining and Luna. Realizing she was being glared at she cleared her throat. “Urmm… Shining has something to say to you Ale.”
Shining simply stood defiantly, glaring straight ahead. Cadence huffed and nudged him. When he didn’t respond she smacked him with her hoof.
“Ow! That hurt!”
“Served you right! Maybe you should listen to me the first time.”
“But Cadey…”
Cadence lifted her hoof again, Shining receiving the message clearly. He looked towards Ale and mumbled.
“What was that?” Cadence asked.
“I’m… I’m sorry monst- I mean Ale.”
Cadence was about to rebuke him for not continuing before Ale interrupted her.
“No, it’s fine. Someponies will never change and in time he may get to befriend me even. Thanks for having us over.”
Cadence nodded and waved goodbye. The other mares walked into the Pelican with Ale. Luna leaned over to him and whispered.
“If you ever come back without my supervision, I’ll know about it.”
Ale shivered in fright at the prospect of being on the receiving end of Luna’s punishment.