//------------------------------// // Chapter 28: A Grand Entrance // Story: The Ultimate Sacrifice // by DarkWolf //------------------------------// Chapter 28: A Grand Entrance Alexander slowly made his way towards the large, moveable boxes that were currently sitting idle upon the timber and iron road. Chatter and shouts could be heard from the platform to his right. The human stuck to the shadows of the surrounding buildings and shrubbery as he neared his target. “All aboard!” A shout called out, drowning out the residual chatter. “The train for Canterlot leaves in two minutes!” “Hmm…” The human thought to himself. He once again eyed the mountain city the loomed over the plains that surrounded its perch. “Canterlot... so that’s what you are called…” He turned his attention back to the monstrosity before him, which he could only assume was called a ‘train’. Another whistle from the ‘train’ brought him back into realty. After a quick glance up and down the platform, Alexander quickly made his way across the small space and into the back of the train. The inside was quite cramped and dark, but he could still make out his surroundings. Boxes, bags, and other items were strewn about in what could only be described as ‘ordered chaos’. A final whistle blew as the whole box gave a lurch as it slowly began to move forward, taking the human by surprise as he grasped at the walls for support. After a few moments, everything began to even out again. Only the occasional bump caused the box he was in to move. “Hmm… interesting…” He whispered to himself as he glanced out one of the two windows. The ground passed by his eyes at a rapid pace, causing him to feel slightly uneasy at the new feeling. “What a strange contraption…” “Hey, you can’t be… huh?” A voice called from behind him. The human turned quickly, already feeling the magic beginning to form in his hand. A lone earth pony stood inside the room with him, near what appeared to be a door that would lead to the others parts of the train. “Who… err… what are you?” The pony stuttered as he slowly shuffled towards the door behind him. Alexander quickly lunged forward, grabbing the pony by the neck and slamming the door shut behind him. “AHH! I… I don’t w… want any…” The pony tried to say, but was interrupted as Alexander slammed himinto the nearest wall. “Now, listen here…” Alexander demanded coldly as he pushed harder, causing the pony to begin flailing in a desperate attempt at escape. “STOP MOVING” The human screamed as he sent a punch into the pony’s ribs, causing a sickening crack to pierce the air. “AHH! Pl…please… I…” “QUIET!” Alexander bellowed, slamming the pony even further into the wall, resulting in a few cracks to appear over its wooden surface. After a few more stuggles, the pony stopped his movements, tears leaking from his eyes as he looked back up in horror. “I have a few questions that need answering…” He stated in a chillingly calm voice. “You are going to answer them.” “Please… just let me go… I… I won’t tell…” The pony blubbered. Another punch to the ribs sent him over the edge as he began to sob into the wall. However, his flailing ceased. “YOU are going to answer them.” Alexander stated again, staring it in the eyes. “If you don’t, I am going to crush your skull against the side of this wall. Do you understand?” The pony didn’t give a response. “Do you understand!?” The human nearly shouted, causing the pony to flinch and shiver. “Y... yes…” It muttered, holding back its sobs. “Good! First off… that mountain city there, what is its name?” “Ca…Can…Canterlot…” “That is our destination, correct?” “Yes…” “What is the name of this land?” The pony looked at him oddly. Another shove into the wall extinguished all other thoughts. “AHHH! Ah… Equestria…” “Hmmm…. Who rules this place?” “Pr…Princess Celestia and… her… sis… sister… Luna...” The pony's answer made Alexander pause, visibly paling. "Princesses you say..." He pondered, a scowl forming on his face . "Tell me, are they Alicorns?" "Y-Yes..." “Do they have a guard? An army? City defenses?” The pony stared back in horror at his last question. Alexander shoved him again, but it didn’t relent this time. “No… no… I wo… won’t tell you anything! You monster!" The pony screamed as best as it could. Alexander sent another punch into its already shattered ribs, causing it to cry out in pain. ”You WILL answer the question or… well..." He chuckled menacingly. "I already told you what would happen.” The pony sobbed quietly beneath him, coughing up some blood onto the floor. “I… I won’t…” It whispered quietly, hiding his face from the human. There was a pause, the only sound being the rattling of the train and the pained breathing of the injured pony. After a few tense moments, Alexander merely shrugged. “Very well." He raised his fist. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey, wake up." A unicorn mare commanded, slapping the hat off of a sleeping pegasus. "Ugh..." The pegasus groaned, sitting up from the chair he was reclining in. A few audible cracks came from his back and neck. "How long was I asleep?" He asked. "About an hour." The unicorn answered. "You are lucky the shift supervisor didn't walk over here." "Oh come on, Shade. The supervisor never comes over into the western storage room. And besides..." The pegasus chuckled, standing up. "You would of covered for me, right?" Shade merely laughed at the question. "I dunno, Swift, you getting fired might finally let me have some peace and quiet around here!" She jested, picking up his hat and throwing it back at him. "Anyways, the train is here. You gotta get back to work for a change." "Yeah, yeah...." He grumbled, putting the hat back on. The duo exited the storage room and walked out onto the platform just as the train pulled into the station. Ponies began funneling out of the passenger cars as workers began pilling into the storage cars, unloading whatever goods were supposed to be dropped off here. "Ugh, I don't get why they had us to come in today. Ponyville hardly ever sends anything up to Canterlot." Swift complained, opening up the rearmost car. "Yeah well, at least we are getting pai..." Shade started, but cut herself short as she gazed into the back car. "What are you looking... at...?" Swift asked, taking a peek inside. "Oh my Goddess..." He mumbled to himself as he saw what had caught Shade's attention. In the far back lied a pony, or at least what was left of one. Blood stained the back wall and bits of flesh lay mangled nearby. However, what truly frightened the pair was that the pony had a distinct lack of a head. "We... we need to go get the guard! There's been a murder!" Shade shouted as she began to back out of the car. However, a hand shot out of the darkness and pulled her into one of the far corners with a scream that was quickly silenced. Before Swift could react, the same had went out and grabbed him as well, the door shutting behind him. There was a moment of struggle, then all went still. A few seconds went by until the door opened again. A lone human peered out across the platform, searching for an exit. His eyes settled on the very same storage room the pair had just previously walked out of. In a flash, he was out the back and into the room before anyone could ever bat an eye. The room was mostly uninhabited with the exception of a few workers on the far end stacking crates of random goods. Directly across from him, there was a door leading out behind the train station. Seizing the moment, the human leapt across the open space and slipped through the door, being careful to not make any sounds. He found himself on the side of a large stone laden street with buildings on every side. Numerous ponies made there way to and from the train station with some entering or exiting the nearby buildings. However, across a few intersections to the humans front, a road lead directly up to the castle that towered over the city. The human, fearing that he may be spotted, ducked to his right behind a stone wall seperating the town from the platform he has just came from. He didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention before he got the castle. Although he figured he could easily deal with whatever forces came to stop him if he were to reveal himself, he would rather not have the Alicorns aware of his precence until it was far too late for them to so anything about it. He had heard of Alicorns before, long ago, and he knew that they were very powerful. Perhaps they would be the only ones who would stand a chance in challenging him. Regardless, he would deal with them when the time came. Shaking away his thoughts, he lurched forward, dashing across the street with remarkable speed and into some alleys hidden from plain sight. Slowly but surely, he made his way towards his destination. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Princess!" A guard rushed into the throne room, bowing low as he approached Celestia's throne. "I have urget news!" "You may rise." Celestia commanded, standing up herself. "Now, what is it?" "There has been murders on the train that has just arrived from Ponyville." "Murders? What are the details?" She asked, stepping towards the guard. "Platform workers found two dead bodies in the rearmost storage car. One was a train operator and the other a platform worker herself. Both of them had sustained horrific injuries." The guard undid a sachel attatched to his armor and removed a piece of parchment from it, offering it to Celestia. "However, there was a third pony who had survived whatever had attacked them. He was taken to a nearby hospital, but he told us what he saw." "And what did he see?" Celestia asked, taking the parchment from the guard, a sinking feeling beginning to form in her gut. The guard looked up at her with fear in his eyes. "A... a creature the likes of which he had never seen." The guard pasued, gulping audibly before he continued. "A creature that stood on two legs..." He paused once more, looking Celestia in the eyes. "A creature that could wield magic..." Celestia nearly lost her magical grip on the parchment. "Are you sure of this?!" She nearly shouted, causing the guard to flinch. "I-It is what the s-surviving po-ony said." The guard stammered. "O-Of course, he was in shock and badly injured. It was h-hard to make sense of..." Celestia wasn't listening anymore. She marched across the throne room, shouting orders to any guards nearby. "Assemble the guard!" She shouted. "I want double sentries on the walls! Send the rest into the city proper! If any of them see anything that matches that description with the exception of our current guests, they will seek me out immediately! Is that clear!?" "Yes, your Highness!" Numerous guards cried out as they galloped off. Celestia turned towards a pair of regally clad guards standing next to her throne. "Gather my personal guard. Send a detachment to protect the elements. The rest come with me. I must speak to my sister." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the outskirts of the castle walls... Alexander slowly surveyed the towering walls that surrounded the castle. It truley was a magnificent piece of architecture. It shone in the sunlight, beautiful statues and etches carved into its stone masonry. It aslo lacked any form of visible weakness. No cracks or lose bricks blemished the fine stone wall as far as the eye could see. It is a shame that he would have to tear it down. Clearing his head, Alexander began to scale the part of the wall closest to him. However, he had barely gotten a few feet up when he heard shouting from above him. He looked up to see numerous guards running along the walls as well as similarly clad guards running into the city behind him. No doubt they would of found the bodies by now, but it was of little consequence. Now, perhaps, they would spend their time focusing on the station rather than the castle itself. Of course, now he had numerous guards blocking his path from scaling the wall. While they posed no threat to him, he still did not wish to revel himself just yet. Dropping back down to the stone streets, he began to circle the walls, taking care to keep himself in cover the entire time. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he found a gap in the guards patrol. Using as much speed as he could muster, Alexander rushed his way up the side of the wall, watching carefully for movement along the outer edges of his peripheral. A few seconds later, he was over the wall and scaling his way down the other side, jumping into nearby trees and shrubbery to conceal himself. Seeing that nobody had been made aware of his presence, he sprinted across a small grass field up to the base of the castle itself, just below a stained glass window. Carefully, he peered inside into a grand, although empty, hallway. In one quick movement, he had smashed a small portion of glass away and slithered inside, diving behind a marble pillar in the corner of the hall. At the end of the hall was two massive doors. "The throne room, I assume." He thought to himself. There, he sat for a moment, gazing down both directions and listening for any movement. To his surprise, nothing came dashing down the halls in alarm. In all honesty, it seemed rather deserted. However, just as he made to move, footfalls sounded from his side. He dashed back into hiding just in time to see two guards and a very familiar human walking with them. "So what the hell is going on!?" Grinch shouted as he was lead down the hall. "There has been two murders down at the train station" A guard spoke. "A third pony was also attacked, but survived. He stated that the thing that attacked him was something that looked a lot like you and your friends. Celestia isn't taking any chances, so she is putting the castle and the city on a temporary lockdown." "Wait... you aren't saying that..." Grinch slowly spoke, trying to process the information. Suddenly, his face turned into a snarl. "That son of a bitch!" He screamed as the group passed by Alexander's hiding place. The two glanced at him nervously. "Are you telling me that asshole that Sandman and Frost ran into is here?" "I am certain the Princess thinks so." "That motherfucker killed Frost..." He seethed "I swear to god, if he shows his face I am going to feed the fucker his teeth!" "Unlikely...." Alexander calmly spoke as he walked out of his hiding place. Startled, the group turned, only to be met by a large burst of flame that engulfed a large portion of the hallway. Screams echoed down the hall, no doubt alerting anyone remotely nearby to his presence. One of the guards flailed about to his right, half of his fur alight with flame. The other guard stumbled up to his hooves, readying his spear as Grinch desperatly tried to douse the flame that had spread on his vest. The guard launched his spear straight at Alexander who merely stood still as it flew through him, chiping a marble column behind him as it bounced harmlessly to the ground. In one swift motion, he was face to face with the guard before he could draw his sword. Alexander grabbed the pony by the neck and launched him into one of the nearby pillars with such force that the pillar itself cracked. As the pony slumped to the ground motionless, Grinch ripped his vest off of him and threw it towards the intruder, who merely watched it fall to the ground. In an instant, Grinch had his M9 unholstered and fired blindly towards the human, watching in surprise as each bullet phased through the man and embedded themselves into the walls and pillars. "What the fuck?!" Grinch shouted as he desperately attempted to reload. However, it was of little use. Alexander dashed forward and smashed Grinch into the wall, throwing the gun down the hallway. Grinch cried out in pain as he felt his ribs crack and the air leave his lungs. Before he had a chance to retaliate, a hand had wrapped itself around his neck, cutting off his cries of protest. "I must say, you are hardly a challenge." Alexander sighed as he conjured up a familiar magic in his right palm. "F-Fuck you!" Grinch yelled out between sputtering for breath. In one swift motion, Alexander raised his hand and smashed it into Grinch's face. There was a sickening crack as Grinch fell limp in his hands. He let go, allowing the corpse to fall to the floor, motionless. "Hmm...." Alexander grunted as he looked back at his handywork. Hooffalls echoed down the halls as guards raced towards the sound of the commotion. Turning back to the large ornate doors, he sighed as he walked forward. "Time for my grand entrance..." He murmered to himself as he pushed them open.