//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Ponyblade Chronicles // by ZeroChill //------------------------------// A lavender-coated alicorn mare with a sapphire-colored mane and tail with a pink stripe running down their middle trotted into a dark room. Walking towards the center of it, she saw a boxed package sat on a table underneath a light. Her purple eyes picked up on a manila letter next to the box. Her horn flashing in a purple light, she levitated the note to herself. Dear Princess Twilight While I was journeying across the world for new material to write with, I found a strange object from some ruins in Zebrica. I don’t know what it exactly is, but it has existed since the beginning of the world. I leave this object inside of your hooves, since I know that you would be able to unlock its true potential. -A.K. Yearling Twilight Sparkle scanned the small letter several times, her jaw slightly dropping in disbelief with each scan. With her right front hoof, she picked up her jaw and stared at it, her eyebrow scrunched in confusion. “That’s odd… why would Daring Do send me an artifact? Why not go for an archeologist that specializes with Zebrican artifacts?” She asked herself. Using her magic, she lifted the top from the box. Within the box were layers of white fleece that formed a mound. Twilight Sparkle undid the layers, revealing something that raised her left eye in intrigue; it was a red ring, the border smoothed into a perfect circle and the split in the center resembled two pieces. She picked up the ring and carefully examined it. “This is one of the most unusual rings I have ever seen. Why would something like this be in Zebrica?” She asked herself, seeing a handle jet out of the ring. “Maybe if I…” She lifted the ring above her horn and slid it onto the base. For a few seconds, the ring stood stationary. However, the top portion of the ring lifted itself all the way to the point of her horn, streams of electricity connecting the two halves. Twilight Sparkle looked towards her horn, her mouth opened with a frown. “What’s happening?!” She shouted, her nerves freezing over. Suddenly, she felt a foreign force tapping into her magic, pulling it out into the ring. She grunted in pain. The lavender magic discharged itself from the bottom half into the top half. From the top portion, magic was welling up. The concentrated magic then burst from the tip in a beam, piercing the ceiling, the sky and the heavens. Slowly turning into a lavender color, the sky began cracking like a Dorito chip and spread throughout the entire land. The air was littered with the screams of ponies as reality began to break apart on them. Twilight Sparkle, who was seeing the sky break before her very eyes, began hyperventilating. Chunks of the sky fell apart, revealing nothing but darkness. Looking towards the ground, she saw that the same cracks ran along them. With quick action, she unfolded her wings and flew through the gap in the ceiling. Above the sky, she saw that the land was shattering into darkness, just as the sky was doing. Mountains and forests disappeared before her very eyes. Pegasi that were off the ground looked around them, their eyes and mouths open with fear. For some reason, their wings were stopped in their beats, causing them to plummet into the darkness like a waterfall. “Not even the pegasi can escape from this darkness?! What in the world is happening???” She shouted once more. She felt her wings stiffening with no explainable reason. She screamed as loud as possible, falling unconscious as she was absorbed into the darkness. A large lake sat within a mountainous region that was littered with verdant grasses. Upon the lake stood an entire town made of metal and stone. Three sectors of the town were connected through a series of bridges. Beyond the town within the landscape was a pocket within the rocks filled with scrap metal. Amongst the scrap was a fair-skinned young man with blond messy hair and blue eyes that radiated calm collectedness. He was adorned in a red vest on top of a gray shirt with long sleeves, red plated shorts and red boots with straps running up his knees. On his back was a long sword with a red-tinged rust on the blade. “A Mechon M71! I bet I can use it to align one of the Anti-Air Batteries.” He stated with a tone resembling a British accent. He rummaged through the pile of scrap with an excited smile on his face. After digging it out, his lips formed into a disappointed frown. He tossed a sheet of metal on the floor. “No good. It’s broken.” He despondently finished, tossing a metallic joint towards the ground. “The joint buckle… It’s completely useless.” He stretched his arms out and fell onto his back within the shade of a nearby tree. He looked towards the cloudy blue sky beyond the ring of rock, seeing a stone figure in the horizon. A green dragonfly flew onto his left arm. His eyes went over towards another dragonfly bathed in sunlight on a metal rod. His eyes wandered lower until he saw a black scrap of machinery. His mouth pursed into a smile. “An M69!” He shouted, standing up from his spot and rushing over towards it. He examined the shell of machinery, his smile widening with each passing second. “Its armour would be perfect for making a shield. If I can just get it off, I should be able to…” In the midst of pulling it off, the metal suddenly shook, causing him to fall back. In that moment, a tan-skinned large man sprinted towards him. He was adorned in an orange and silver sleeveless top with arm braces and plated leggings that were brown, orange and silver. A metal shield lancer covered his entire arm. “Shulk!” He shouted with an Aussie accent, bashing the metal with his shield. “Reyn!” Shulk responded, seeing Reyn defend him. The armor turned around, revealing the face of a brown crustacean within the black shell. “It’s not a Mechon! It’s just a Krabble! It was just using the armour as a shell.” He stated, pulling out his sword. “I’ll lure it away and Topple it!” Reyn said with heat brimming in his voice. “When it’s down, use your Arts to finish it off! Shulk nodded, leveling his sword to the Junk Krabble’s level. He dashed forwards and jumped towards it. “Turn Strike!” He shouted, striking the creature. The Krabble stumbled, losing its footing. Reyn smiled as he ran up to the Krabble. He readied his shield lance. “Wild Down!” He screamed, striking the Krabble with the point of his lance. The Krabble became knocked over, unable to move. “Now, Shulk!” Shulk ran behind the Junk Krabble. With his blade in hand, he leaped against its back. “Back Slash!” Shouting these words, he struck the Krabble. The Krabble screeched before it succumbed to its wounds. Both Shulk and Reyn sheathed their weapons. Shulk ran towards Reyn’s side, smiling. “You’re a life saver, Reyn.” He stated. “Don’t mention it Shulk. Next time, do be more careful. I can’t always be around to protect you forever, you know.” Reyn responded. In the midst of their conversation, the two of them heard a grunt of awakening beyond the wreckage. The two of them stood their guard, carefully walking towards the source of the noise. “What do you think that noise was, Reyn?” Shulk asked. “Beats me, Shulk. I’ve never heard a non-Homs make that noise before.” Reyn replied. Reaching towards the source of the noise, they found Twilight Sparkle, stirring awake from unconsciousness. As light filled her eyes, Twilight Sparkle saw two humanoid figures in front of her. Jolting backwards, she stood her stance defensively. Her horn flashed with light. Seeing this act, the lance portion of Reyn’s shield extended outwards, pointing towards Twilight Sparkle. “I've seen clothing before, and I've seen bipedal creatures similar to you, but I don't think I've seen that kind of clothing or creatures with your colors. Just who are you two?!” Twilight Sparkle hastily shouted. Reyn looked towards her, his mouth curled into a do or die frown. Shulk extended his right arm across Reyn, preventing him from advancing any further. Reyn looked towards Shulk, his eyes frowning with bemusement. “Hold up, Reyn. This creature, it can talk just like us.” Shulk reasoned. Hearing his words, Twilight Sparkle stood taller, the tension loosening from her body. “Wait, ‘creature’?” She slowly asked. She looked around her surroundings, foreign objects and land features sprawled in her vision. “Where am I?” She sadly asked. Shulk walked over towards Twilight Sparkle and knelt down to her eye level. “You don’t seem that hostile, just confused. You are at the Mechon Wreckage Site just outside of Colony 9.” He answered. Twilight Sparkle raised her eyes, mouthing the foreign words from Shulk’s mouth. “Mechon… Colony 9? I don’t think those are locations in Equestria.” She stated. Shulk brought his hand underneath his chin, rubbing it and humming. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of Equestria. Colony 9 is located on the calf of the Bionis. My name is Shulk. I am a Homs.” He said, standing up tall. “That’s an odd name, but it strangely sounds fitting for you. My name is Twilight Sparkle, a princess of Equestria.” Twilight Sparkle introduced. “Nice meetin’ ya, Twilight Sparkle. My name’s Reyn.” Reyn introduced, walking towards Twilight Sparkle and stretching his hand outwards. “The pleasure is mine, Reyn.” Twilight Sparkle responded, shaking Reyn’s hand with her hoof. “It’s strange; your voice sounds like a masculine combination between my two friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash.” “I don’t know who those two are, but I know that ya can’t spell Rainbow Dash without ‘Reyn’.” “Ummm… okay then.” She hesitantly stated, forcing a smile. Shulk looked towards the ring at the base of Twilight Sparkle’s horn. Its red color and design caused the cogs within his mind to turn. “Twilight, what is with that ring at the base of your forehead?” He asked. Twilight Sparkle’s pupils looked upwards towards the ring. A fiery stare became directed towards it. “Wait a moment, this ring! This ring is the reason why I am even in this world in the first place! How is a ring capable of breaking Equestria?!” She screamed in indignation, attempting to push the ring out with her hooves. “Great, it’s stuck in there as well.” “Twilight, I want you to accompany Reyn and I to my lab. I need to examine that ring more closely. It’s in the fortress sector of the Colony.” Shulk requested. “That sounds good, I guess. But, why is your lab in a Fortress?” Twilight Sparkle asked curiously. Reyn groaned, stretched his arms and shook his head. “Forget it, Shulk. She’s just going to be asking us questions the entire way back. She’s going to question why we use the weapons we use, why we are clothed strangely, what the Bionis is and all that sort of junk we already know. It’s bad enough that we are warring with the Mechon and stuff, and I don’t want to add annoyances on top of our current problems.” Twilight Sparkle’s eyes shifted towards Reyn, whose hands are placed behind his head. “I promise that I won’t ask many questions, Reyn. If Shulk knows anything about this ring, then it should help me figure out where my current situation is.” Twilight Sparkle reasoned. “Just please take me back with you guys. I don’t really know my way around this new world.” “Look, Reyn; she could help me with my research on the Monado if my assumptions are correct. Besides, she clearly shows sapience around our levels. We can’t leave any being like that out here to fend for his or herself.” Shulk pleaded. Reyn raised his arms into the air and looked away with a smile on his face. “You’re the intuitive one here, Shulk. I’ll allow you to make the call.” He stated, starting to walk over towards the path. Shulk faced Twilight Sparkle with a smile on his face. “Don’t worry, Twilight. We’ll help you in any way we can to bring you back home.” Shulk stated in a consoling tone. Twilight Sparkle nodded, the two of them running over to Reyn. “Slow down, Reyn! You got a head start!” He shouted. “Hey, you’re the fast one out of the two of us, Shulk! You can catch up with me!” Reyn responded in a mellow tone, bursting out with laughter.