//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Long Live The King // Story: 117 The Eternal Guardian // by Nanofield //------------------------------// ^Equis^ {50AD} 16:30 [John] For the remainder of the week, each day went about the same as the last. I get up, exercise, eat breakfast, then learn equestrian culture and how to read and write with Doctor Whooves. After that I eat lunch; then learn about the war and such with the princesses. Once done with that, I eat dinner. When dinner is done, I go outside and exercise; then I go to sleep. I had six days of that. It did have its benefits though. Now I can read and write Equestrian. I also know more than enough about what’s going on in this world. Apparently, Equestria has a Diarch principality for a government. It is uncommon, but it did happen on Earth a few times in the past. Now that I can write, I can communicate with the princesses outside of yes or no answers. I told them that I would like to be referred to as Master Chief, The Chief, Sierra 117, or as Spartan-117. I tried to ask them if they knew how I got here, but they insist that I wait till after the griffins are handled. We are in the war room again. Now that I can communicate, I keep a pad of paper and an enchanted quill with me so I can write. Magic is still a surprise to me. I inform the princesses that I want them to contact the griffin king and ask for a meeting to discuss peace. They both look at me with surprise, then look at the paper again to make certain they read it right. After a few seconds, Celestia speaks up. “Are you sure you want to try for peace? It has been ten years of war; I don't think they will accept.” ^I understand that, but you now have me. Tell them that if they will not allow peace, this war will end in under a fortnight.^ “Do you think that is that the best course of action? If we anger the griffins with threats, it would only hurt us. Do you even have a plan for if they still continue the war?” ^Yes. With the king dead, what will happen with the war?^ “It would most likely cause a shift in the Monarchy; they would have to stop the war until they can crown a new king. Also, whoever they crown might not want to continue the war. Why?” ^If the king still does not accept peace, tell him that you have made extraterrestrial contact with a race that can defeat the entire griffin army with one warrior. If he still does not relent I will head to the griffin kingdom and kill the king in his own castle. That way no one would call you a hypocrite and say that you killed him while trying to make peace.^ “We will not allow you to go all the way into the griffin kingdom to perform an assassination. It is too dangerous.” ^I have gone to whole other solar systems to do the same.^ That one definitely caught her off guard. She and Luna both backed up a few steps and looked at me with a small hint of fear. Maybe I should have been more careful with what I say. Luna is the first to speak. “You traveled the stars just to kill someone?” ^Yes. I understand that this planet has underdeveloped technology, but where I'm from, we would travel from one star to another rather often.^ “Wow, I don't really know what to say to that. You said that you went on assassination runs; are your people at war like us?” ^I will tell you and Luna about it when you tell me about how I got here.^ “Very well. I will send a message to the king to request a meeting.” ^Thank you. I plan to attend this meeting.^ “I wish you wouldn't. Not at first anyway. Is there a way you can observe the meeting without being seen by the griffin king?” ^Yes, I am rather good at staying hidden. Not even you will notice me.^ “I doubt that, but still, thank you Master Chief.” Princess Celestia then took a paper of her own and writes the letter to the king of the griffins requesting a meeting. After finishing the letter, she uses her magic to send it to him. Since it is now time to eat, we all head to the dining room to have dinner. The two princesses are having their usual fruit and salad mix; I have another chicken, and another baked potato. While eating, there is a quiet popping noise and a small flash of light. Looks like the king has responded. Celestia opens the letter to read it. “To Princess Celestia. I have received your letter, and I decided that I will meet with you to discuss your surrender. I shall meet you at your castle in three days time. I will be bringing my guards so don't bother trying anything. From your future ruler, King Zoran.” “Sister, didn't you tell him that we want mutual peace, not to just surrender?” “Not exactly, I said that I want to end this war peacefully. He must have misinterpreted my meaning.” ^Well then, he is in for a rather big surprise.^ “Yes, he most certainly is.” ***** 12:00 It is the third day since the king agreed to meet with us. He should be here in a few minutes. I am in the meeting room with the two princesses. They appear to be rather nervous. I don't blame them. They have been at war with the griffins for ten years and are about to meet with the one responsible for it all; it would be like if I met one of the prophets. Oh, never mind, I did. Let’s hope this ends differently though. It's not long until I hear the sound of distant wing beats; it looks like the king has arrived. While the two princesses are distracted with the arrival of the king, I move off to the side of the room and activate my active camouflage so I can watch them without being noticed. ***** [Celestia] 12:10 King Zoran has arrived; I hope Master Chief knows what he is doing. He only agreed to help us if we did it his way. Luna and I head forward and greet the king as pleasantly as we can. I do notice that he has brought 12 guards with him; maybe I should be the one worried. Relax, focus, it's OK. If anything were to happen he would stop them. Wait, where is he? He was here just a second ago but now I can’t see him. As quietly as I can, I talk to Luna to see if she knows. “Luna, do you by chance know where the Chief went?” “No. I don't see him. Did you try scanning for him? He said he would watch.” “No. I didn't. I'll try.” I send out a quick pulse of magic undetectable by non magical beings to scan for him, but I find no trace of him. I start to worry but it is time to start negotiations with the king. Luna, King Zoran, and I sit at the large circular table and begin. “Princess Celestia, now you wish to surrender? It has been ten years; don't you think this meeting should have been done sooner?” “Indeed King Zoran, this should have been handled sooner. Although, We did not contact you so that We can surrender. We contacted you so We can make peace through a treaty. We will not simply surrender after ten years of war.” “And what makes you think that I would accept a peace treaty after trying to win a war for ten years? Or did you forget that I am winning?” “We did not forget. However, We assure you that if you do not make peace today, this war will be over in a fortnight.” “How can you say that with such confidence? You have no army, no strong military leaders, and you have no chance! We will not make peace until Equestria is conquered and becomes part of the griffin kingdom! You were foolish to think that I would end this war with a treaty!” “This war will end and here is why. We have made contact with a race of sentient beings from another planet. We now have their best warrior here to help us. This race is so powerful, that just one of them can overpower the griffin army. If you do not end this war, he will!” “Are you so insane that you talk of aliens!? I am ending this war now, my way. It was unwise for you to allow your enemy to enter your castle with 12 soldiers. Guards, attack the princesses!” Before Luna or I could do anything to stop the advancing griffins, 12 beams of light came from behind me. All 12 griffins then drop dead after being struck through the head by the beams of light. I turn around just in time to see Master Chief with one of his weapons raised. I turn back to the griffin king and see a terrified look on his face. “So, who is it that's insane? You're lucky he didn't kill you too. If he wanted to, he would have and We couldn't do anything to stop him. So, do you want to make peace now, or will you continue this war?” “Mm...Mm...MONSTER!!! Get it away from me! I am leaving and I will bring my whole army so I can burn this land to the ground and that monster with it! I WILL BURN IT ALL!!!” After his screaming, he runs off and flies away. Well, I guess I shouldn’t have expected that to have gone any better than it did. Now that the king is gone, Master Chief walks up to me. “Thank you. If you didn't stop them, I don't know what would have happened. How where you able to hide from me like that though? I sent a magic pulse throughout the room but I did not find you.” ^It does not matter. The king must be handled first. I will head out to the griffin kingdom tonight at midnight. That should give him enough time to make it to his castle. I will kill him and return by six in the morning at the latest. I will be gone for only six hours if all goes according to plan.^ “It will take you days to walk there. I could use my magic to teleport you, but I don't know how accurate it will be.” ^Don't worry, I can manage on my own.^ ***** 23:59 It is midnight. I am worried about him. How is he supposed to make it all the way there by himself. I see him getting ready. Maybe I can talk him out of it. “You don't have to go.” ^Don't worry Princess. I will be fine.^ “Very well, it's not like I can stop you.” He then walks over to the platform that pegasi, griffins, or any other flying thing would use to take off. Why would he come here? My question is soon answered when he starts running to the ledge. It's as if he is going to jump off. He isn't going to jump, is he? I restrain myself from trying to stop him from running off the ledge; he knows what he is doing, probably. He gets closer and closer to the end of the platform, and he jumps off. He actually jumped. My surprise from him jumping is soon replaced with an even bigger one when two streams of bright fire shoot out of his back propelling him higher into the sky. “So, he can fly. I wonder what else he is good at.” “If you are referring to the bedroom, We suggest you not think of such things. He is an alien, and he won't be happy when he finds out that we brought him here but can't send him home. But still, if you find him that attractive, good luck.” “LUNA! That is not what I meant!” “If you say so.” She says with a smirk. ***** 02:20 [John] If my calculations are correct, the griffins should be just over this mountain range. It's a good thing that my jet pack was redesigned along with everything else. Now I can manage long distance flight at subsonic speed, or short range flight at just above sonic speed. I will need to land on the top of this mountain for a while to let it recharge. Flying at nearly 300 miles per hour for 2 and 20 minutes while cloaked did drain the armor's energy reserves quite a lot. It might have endless energy, but it can only use so much at a time. I reach the top of the mountain and find a nice, flat piece of land to rest on. Once on the ground, I set the armor to wake me up in 35 minutes so I can rest. I also activate the proximity sensors to wake me if anything comes too close. I lie down, and relax. ***** 03:00 Time to go. I get up off the ground and check my power reserves. They’re fully recharged; good. I then take off; I should be there soon. I fly over the mountains and see the castle and the city surrounding it. I land on the edge of the city but keep my active camouflage on; I don't want them to see me flying around so I will stay on the ground. The camo may hide me but it won't hide the jet smoke. Once inside the city I make my way to the castle wall. After about 20 minutes I reach the wall. It is about 20 feet up; a short pulse of my jets can get me up there. When I reach the top of the wall, I see that the castle is not too far in. A few short jet jumps from roof to roof gets me to the top of the castle. Careful with my footing I walk along the roof looking for an open window. Finding one, I slip inside. Once in the castle, I activate my Promethean vision to find the king and any guards patrolling the castle. Sneaking past the guards in the halls is easy enough, but the doors to the king's room are guarded by six guards. knowing that I can't get past them without being noticed, I stop for a second to think. I can kill them all with no problem, but i want to keep the casualties down to one; the king. I could try to lure them away; but I know that not all of them would leave to check. Perhaps I could scare them away like the chef. Maybe. I could just ignore them and walk through. Both ways, they would alert the king and the other guards and I'd have to fight them. Perhaps I could find another way in. There should be a servant's entrance from the kitchen or something. Activating my Promethean vision again, I see that there is a hallow area of the wall that a servant would use. Following the pathway, I find that it does in fact lead to the kitchen. The kitchen itself is empty because of how late it is and i have no problem getting into the passageway. When I reach the door to his room, I scan it with my vision again, and confirm that he is the only one in the room and the guards are still in front of the door. Opening the door quietly, I head inside. Activating my blade arm, I kill him with ease. He never even woke up. A painless death, if only we could all be so lucky. Now that King Zoran is dead, this war should die with him. I open the window in his room and fly away. Now that my mission is complete, I begin the long journey back. I make it back to Equestria by about six in the morning. The sun is starting to rise and the sky gets brighter as I go. I head inside and go back to my temporary room that I am using while here. Once in my room, I pass out. Flying over 600 miles is rather tiresome I must say. I will deal with the princesses tomorrow.