//------------------------------// // Alliances / Arrival // Story: MLDC Next Generation: Love Conquers All! Avarice Takes It All! // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// The journey back to Minotaurus was long but eventually they arrived. Per some instructions given to them before the start of their journey, the Avalon was to land at a designated spot and from there King Fist would greet them and stipulate any further instructions regarding their investigation into the Long Road. The airship landed near barren terrain a little outside of Minotaurus Proper, the Gates of Volkan, the entrance into the Long Road, several miles behind them, the mountain range visible even from this distance. Annie, the Troublemakers, and Twilight waited near the Avalon’s bay ramp, waiting for the king to arrive. Their wait wasn’t long as they soon saw large chariots come rumbling towards them. The chariots were pulled by two very large and angry looking razorback boars, with long goring tusks, dark brown fur, and gleaming eyes. The chariot skidded to a halt as the two boars came to a stop. Two more chariots thundered behind the first, coming to a stop on either side of the king’s chariot. King Fist hopped out of the chariot, followed by his personal guard. He wore a mauve cape, clasped with the royal seal of Minotaurus. The king stopped before Twilight and Annie, the Trio readied themselves in case something happened. Twilight and Annie gave respectful bows to the large minotaur. “King Fist, on behalf of Equestria and its citizens, I’d like to say thank you for permitting us to investigate.” King Fist grunted as he folded his burly arms across his chest. “Your thanks in unnecessary, while I trust the griffons’ word that the attack on me, my son, and you, was the work of rogue factions, the point is that we lack the means to quickly travel through the Long Road to find out how they got here in the first place. Your airship will ensure that there are no further surprises waiting for us, griffon or otherwise.” “Still, thank you,” said Twilight. “Just know that if you encounter griffon forces while in there you will receive no support from us. If you fall in there then it is your own undoing, our hands are clean of this. Is that understood?” King Fist asked while staring at Twilight with a level gaze. Annie and Twilight couldn’t help but feel small – stature wise the minotaur was bigger, but as far as intimidation was concerned, he had the high ground – but they nodded respectively to his terms. Once that was out of the way, the five ponies reentered the Avalon and set forth on their journey ahead. The Avalon soon appeared before the entrance to the mountain range, a long chasm just big enough to fit their airship fortress. The captain and Twilight knew that the ship would not be able to fly at a higher altitude for fear of the strong winds smashing the ship against the jagged peaks, and to be able to turn around they had to find a wide enough area to do so. All in all, if they were attacked from behind it would really mess up their day. So with that in mind, the captain had all the crew members on standby at their battle stations, all guns and weaponry ready to be deployed at a moment’s notice, and by order of the captain, the Avalon entered the passage. Tension was high within the ship, Annie for one stuck close to her friends on the bridge. She knew all her training with her friends was to prepare her for the moment when they would need her power to fight back against the griffons, but Anthea still had doubts about herself. The unicorn mare was not by any means a soldier, she wasn’t trained to fight, to take the life of another for Princess and country. She was a pacifist, and if anything the violet light of love symbolized that, but like a double-edged sword, the light also showed her resolve to protect those whom she loved. Annie noticed Twilight glancing at her from her command post, she then smiled at Annie, telling her in her own silent way that she needn’t worry. [Detecting multiple life forms. Distance: 500 meters.] “Wait what?!” Hot Head shouted. “All crew members prepare to engage, I repeat, prepare to engage!” The captain yelled. The alarms were sounding off one after the other, signaling all ponies within the ship to make ready their armaments, but just before the first cannon could stick out from the flying fortress, a trail of white smoke shot into the air some distance away. The trail went higher and higher till it burst in midair, releasing a white cloud of smoke. “Wait captain, belay that order! That smoke is white, their signaling for non-aggression.” “Um, Princess, maybe they're trying to lull us into a false sense of security, I wouldn’t put anything past them,” said Hot Head. Annie moved closer to the window of the bridge, her ring shined as she focused its energy to create a pair of binoculars that hovered over her eyes. The pink unicorn then gasped at what she saw, turning her head to her mentor and friends. “They aren’t griffons, they’re minotaurs! And Prince Steel is there as well!” Everypony on the bridge of the Avalon couldn’t believe what she was saying. The ponies who acted as the spotters quickly looked through their own spyglasses, after a minute they too confirmed that it was Prince Steel and a contingent of minotaur soldiers down below. “The terrain is level enough for us to land. Set the Avalon down here and we will go and meet them.” Twilight ordered. Twilight was dressed her battle regalia armor, Annie was donned in her Star Sapphire uniform, and the Trio were fully covered in their experimental armor. Along with them were fifty Royal Guards, all marching behind the Princess and her protégé. The group of ponies stopped when they saw Prince Steel and his minotaur soldiers, keeping a sizeable gap between them. Twilight and Annie broke off from their group and walked towards the middle, and at the same time, Prince Steel and his lieutenant were walking to them. Both leaders met at the center, their respective forces at their backs. “Princess Twilight Sparkle.” “Prince Steel, why are you here, and with soldiers at that? Your father, the King, made it clear that we would receive no aid from your country, so again, what is your business here?” Twilight asked calmly. Steel snorted, but grinned. “Appearances can be deceiving, Princess. Whatever that attack was about, it was clear that they had some inside knowledge of when you would arrive to Minotaurus, and where you would be during your visit. Meaning my kingdom has a leak somewhere, and make no mistake, we intend to plug it up once it is found. But with that in mind, it also indicated that there might possibly be an attack on Minotaurus in our future, so my father and I decided to lend you some aid. Behold.” Prince Steel then gestured with his left to the minotaurs standing and waiting a few feet behind him. Each of them was donned in their bronze armor, carrying their shields which were bigger than them on their left arms, while holding a long spear in their right hands. Their capes flapped in the crosswinds of the mountain passage, their eyes each had a steely glare that seemed to pierce through whomever they laid their eyes upon. “My 702nd battalion, otherwise known as the Brave Horns, three-hundred of my strongest and most skilled warriors, ready to fight.” Hot Head felt the need to comment on the number. “Only three-hundred? We have an airship flying fortress, and five times that many Royal Guards on board.” Steel smirked at the comment. “Tell me, pegasus, what is your talent?” The others blinked in confusion, not many minotaurs took interest in a pony’s cutie mark. “I’m fast, and blazing hot in the skies,” answered “I see, and you former blind one?” “Oh! I-I’m able to calm others with my magic.” Steel nodded, “And you earth pony?” “Hun, you don’t even want to know.” Amber shot back. “I see…” Steel then turned to face his troops. “BRAVE HORNS, WHAT IS YOUR SPECIAL TALENT!!?” The three-hundred minotaurs raised their spears into the air and released in singular voice “HA-OOH! HA-OOH! HA-OOH!” The chasm echoed with their voices, ringing out all the way down one end and the other. Steel then returned his gaze to Hot Head and grinned superiorly. “Three-hundred yes, but each is worth fifty of your strongest soldiers. Only three-hundred, and yet I brought more warriors than you have.” Hot Head spread his armored wings and growled angrily at the prince, but Anthea quickly looked at her friend, giving him as stern a look as she could muster to halt any reckless move he was even thinking about doing. Annie’s stare seemed to stave off his fury, seeing the pegasus stallion fold his wings and look away, very much miffed, but Annie knew he would not do anything else. “Prince Steel, with all due respect, your country is neutral. Taking a stand with Equestria will paint a target on your nation’s back,” warned Twilight. “Who said I’m taking a stand? I’m just a prince out for a leisurely stroll with his personal guard. If we just so happen to be in the area during a possible battle between you and the griffons and they threaten my safety, then my guard would have no choice but to defend me.” It was quite a clever plan the Prince, and subsequently the King, were proposing, a secret alliance to help in the protection of both nations’ interests. The ramifications for the minotaurs were higher than for them. Minotaurus has remained neutral, and by taking a side they essentially mark themselves as targets of the Griffon Empire, now Twilight was wondering if this was their intention all along, forming a secret alliance in order for King Fist to assure the protection of his kingdom and people. There were many theories that Twilight could think about, but right now she was going to take a note from one of her friendship lessons, that being never to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Alright Prince Steel, then the alliance of the Avalon and Brave Horn 300 is made. We shall work together in order to repel any threat that we may encounter,” said Twilight. The Prince nodded his affirmation and Annie let out a relieved sigh, happy to see that the minotaurs were indeed on their side in this matter. Canterlot, a few hours later… Turquoise was a little reluctant to go to Canterlot, although he had been there a few dozen times before, it was still a bit scary. Some of the ponies there still gave him looks of shock and distress, seeing a half-dragon pony like creature tends to do that to a pony. And the fact that the upper crust mostly populated the mountain city didn’t make it any better. But Nidra was insistent that Turquoise stay a few days in her home. Luckily he was able to get the okay from his mom and dad, and why shouldn’t they have said yes, he was going to be living amongst friends that treated him as if he were their own. Currently, Nidra and T were sitting in a private train car; both the alicorn thestral and dracony watching the scenery pass them by. T couldn’t help but still miss Anthea, he was so worried about what would happen to her with that ring. Granted she was a tough mare when she had to be, but Annie was not at all a fighter, not like his cousin Starburst, or like her friend Amber Lily. But then again the ring had the power to decimate an army and then some, so Anthea had more than a good chance of making it back to him. As the dracony stallion thought about that day he saw his fillyfriend transform in front of him, he felt his cheeks heat up at the sight of her uniform. How the fabric hugged each curve of her body and accentuated them all at once. Now ponies didn’t wear clothes, except for extra fancy occasions, sometimes to just express a sense of individualism, and other times it was…a fetish. The fact that everypony wore nothing, made the act of covering their more private area that much more alluring. Turquoise shook his head violently, trying to dislodge the naughty thoughts of Anthea giving him a come hither look as she posed in her uniform. Stupid sexy Annie! Don’t think about it! Don’t think about! We don’t need to create an awkward situation in front of Nidra! Speaking of Nidra, T’s eyes drifted towards the hybrid mare before him. Her normally intimidating look had softened, for some reason it always seemed to do that whenever Nidra was around him. The stallion also noticed the elegant curves of the mare’s body, compared to Annie the two were just a tad bit different. Nidra was a bit thinner and skinnier than Annie, and the curvature of her form was more defined, he wondered if that was due to her thestral heritage or her alicorn heritage, maybe both. Just then, the less than gentlecoltly side of his mind decided to chime in, his mind taking Anthea’s Star Sapphire uniform and placing it on Nidra. And, with a hint of guilt and embarrassment, Turquoise found that the outfit was just as alluring on her as it was on Annie. THAT’S IT! Turquoise then started to knock his head against the wall repeatedly. Stop! *Thunk*  Thinking! *Thunk* Dirty! *Thunk* Thoughts! *Thunk* About! *Thunk* Your! *Thunk* Friend!     “Um…T…are you alright?” Nidra asked. Turquoise ended his berating and smiled awkwardly at Nidra. “Y-Yeah, I’m good! I was just thinking about how pretty you look –” Turquoise immediately slammed both his hooves over his mouth. Nidra was blushing just as hard Turquoise was. The dracony stallion couldn’t believe he had just said that, of course it was true statement, Annie having had said the same thing to T about Nidra several other times before. But that was Annie, another mare, which, usually, meant something completely different from when a stallion said it to a mare. “No, no, I didn’t mean that – Wait no, I mean you are pretty but I didn’t mean it in that way! I…I…I’m just going to shut up now.” Nidra face was tinted red from hearing T say she was pretty. Nidra knew she was hot, that was nothing new, but to hear Turquoise say she was pretty…she wasn’t prepared for that. Nidra tried to put on her confident expression, but she was failing miserably at it. In the end she sighed and gave up on trying to hide her flustered look. “I-It’s alright T, I don’t mind, I know what you meant. Thank you, that was sweet.” Nidra then turned her attention back to the passing scenery before adding. “And…I think you look good, too.” Now Turquoise was the one looking more flustered and Nidra couldn’t help an impish grin from forming on her lips, knowing that she was the one who got Turquoise like that. How much you want to bet he was imagining naughty things about us? I don’t care, and even if I did, whatever he imagines in the privacy of his mind is his business. Oh, then you imagining that T would ravage you like a beast in this train car hadn’t crossed your mind? Nidra groaned loudly and, much to T’s surprise, the alicorn thestral began banging her head against the wall in much the same way Turquoise was earlier. *Thunk* You! *Thunk* Please! *Thunk* Stop! *Thunk* Talking! “Um…Nidra…are you alright?” Turquoise asked. The alicorn thestral stopped and looked at Turquoise; she then smiled sheepishly and nodded. “Never better…!” Thankfully, to the sanity of both ponies, they had arrived at their destination. The train’s brakes screeched as it came to a halt at the platform, letting out the hissing steam that created a fog for a few seconds before disappearing. T and Nidra, who was still in her Jet Stream disguise, left the train and proceeded to the castle. Turquoise had packed a single bag, he would’ve packed another but Nidra insisted that whatever he needed would be provided for by the maids at the castle. The thought of being waited on made the dracony stallion just a little uncomfortable, he wasn’t one to be waited on, since he was mostly the one helping others out, especially thanks to his ridiculously strong immune system, he was pretty much the go to pony when one of his friends was sick. When they reached the castle gate, as expected, the Royal Guards all took an aggressive stance at the sight of the dracony stallion. Nidra discontinued the spell that held up the illusion and revealed her true form to the guards. They immediately stood at attention; she then gave them a stern lecture about how Turquoise was the son of an Element of Harmony and the Royal Archiver, and nephew to High Princess Twilight. She then ordered them to spread that to the other guards so that Turquoise could enjoy his stay without worrying about some stupid Royal Guard ambushing him within the castle. After the two of them were further inside inner courtyard Turquoise turned to Nidra. “You didn’t have to do that Nidra, I’m used it.” The alicorn thestral snorted indignantly. “Well that doesn’t mean it’s alright! Just because you’re half dragon doesn’t automatically label you a monster! I mean, considering who your parents are, and who you’re related to, you’d think they’d treat their children with a little more respect!” Turquoise couldn’t help but chuckle at Nidra’s protectiveness. “What’s so funny?” “You remind me of Claire,” said T. “I-I do?!” Turquoise nodded. “Yep, she used to be super protective of me when I was a foal. I have this really faint memory of her promising that she’d protect me and keep me safe from others who saw us as monsters. And she kept true to her word, believe me. It was a task getting her to let Anthea anywhere near me, she kept thinking that Annie would try and bully me or break my heart in some way.” Nidra’s eyes widened slightly, she had no idea Claire was that protective of her sibling, she had always thought that Claire and Annie had hit off when they were younger, becoming instant friends. Apparently the reality was a far cry different from what she initially thought. “I wonder if she would’ve acted the same way around me…?” Nidra thought aloud. “Probably not, the moment she saw your wings she’d probably think you were like us, still cautious, but less hostile.” Hearing that made Nidra happy, knowing that if they had met sooner that she may’ve stood a better chance of becoming T’s fillyfriend and gain Claire’s approval probably quicker than Anthea did. “That’s good to know, wonder how it would’ve been if I met you first,” said Nidra, saying the last portion under her breath. “What was that?” “Nothing!” With that established, the two hybrids entered the palace. Many of the ponies inside bowed before the sight of Princess Nidra, but also shot worried glances between each other when they noticed a dragon flanking her. Luckily the word had spread to the Guards about Princess Nidra’s guest and the consequences that were to befall the unfortunate soul if any hostile or deferential treatment was shown towards said guest. Nidra brought the dracony to his temporary room she blushed a little. “Um, just so you know, my room is just down the hall and to the left in case you need anything or if you just want to talk.” Turquoise smiled at Nidra. “Thanks Nidra.” The alicorn thestral then made her way to the door and glanced over her shoulder. “So…ahem…you’re free to roam about the castle, you can go visit Nighty or Illusion anytime you want. If you want me to show you around town don’t hesitate to come and ask me, but I’m sure you know enough about Canterlot to find your way.” “Actually, my family moved out of Canterlot a little after I was born. Claire and my Mom and Dad know Canterlot better than me; I just know where the castle is and wherever Star or Anthea and her three friends take me.” “Oh, well duh, I forgot you didn’t stay here long, silly me!” Way to act like an airhead. “But I wouldn’t mind a tour, whenever you have free time,” said Turquoise. Nidra nodded to T and exited the room, a gleeful pip in her step as she did so. The stallion of her dreams was staying with her under the same roof, and maybe, just maybe, if luck was on her side, she would be able to show the stallion the kind of mare she was and how happy she could make him. Nidra shook her head at that last part. I don’t want to steal him from Annie; I want to cheer him up! That’s all! I know plenty of ways we can ‘cheer him up’ if you catch my drift? I WILL DESTROY YOU!