(So some people have been talking about how they see Inventor, I was quite interested by the different ways people viewed him as I didn’t really have a comparative I could say I thought of Inventor as. Anyway, this brings me to the request I wanted to ask of the readers, if any of you more artistically oriented people reading this would like to draw some cover art I would more then happily replace the current cover art with a more 'Inventor-esque' one. I will, of course, give you credit for the work. -N64Fan)
After Inventor had escorted Crimson back to her shop he and the rest of the group that was left after the party formed up at a small hotel for the night in Canterlot, all except for Trixie that is, she went to go talk to her parents for the first time in the several years that she had been gone. They had sent her letters occasionally telling her that they missed her but she never returned any messages and figured that they must be worried sick about her.
Inventor had no plans on sleeping this night though, he still had something he needed to correct and fix in the city, things he had done that he now regretted. So as the moon moved slowly across the sky the man waited patiently as one by one the rest of the companions. Each of whom were spread across a cluster of rooms on the same floor of the hotel, fell asleep.
When all of them had fallen asleep the man slowly raised himself from the bed, fully clothed as always. With a smile to the sleeping bodies of his companions the man left the room carefully as to not disturb the sleep of Scootaloo who lay on a separate bed with her music box playing its peaceful tune into the still night air as the orange pegasus lay curled on her bed in a peaceful sleep.
The man walked quickly and quietly down the stairs of the hotel and out into the chilled night air that greeted him as he exited the building. He briefly stopped to inhale the cold clean air that composed the atmosphere of the town as he smiled to himself as the simple act brought peace to his heart. There were other things that needed doing this night by the man however and he picked up his pace as he began to head in the direction of the castle.
On the approach to the castle doors the man noticed several guards who were beginning to shuffle as he closed the distance between himself and them, with a shake of his head and another smile the man slowed his pace and calmly approached the gate, the guards eyed him cautiously as he approached but made no attempt to stop him as he arrived at the gates.
“I just need to talk to Celestia.” Inventor said as he looked to the two armored ponies who stood as still as they could manage. Both of them were scared, Inventor could see, they had seen what he had done to a single one of the guards with a single glare and they were afraid to death of what he could do if he actually tried.
One of the guards, a unicorn, raised a hoof in hesitant objection before he was cut off by the man. “It’s to apologize to her.” he said with a smile in the direction of the guard who had raised his hoof, the guard couldn’t quite place it but he felt that this man wasn’t lying right now, and so with a silent nod to him his magic activated and opened the door to the castle grounds.
The man entered with a thankful nod of his head and the heavy door was closed behind him, the man silently walked through the dark garden in the freezing night air, the ponies who were still out and about were protected by their coats from the cold night air but Inventor felt the chill cut through his worn clothes, he had never found time to switch into the clothes Rarity had fixed and now he was paying for it, as he once again brought his mind to the matter at hand however the chill was forgotten and Inventor continued his journey into the castle.
As he stepped through the castle doors he felt the warmth from the castle drift lazily over him and heat his cold body and he continued on his way at his brisk pace, his heels clicking loudly against the stone floors. Occasionally he would stop and ask a guard where Celestia’s chambers were, the answer would come hesitantly if at all and Inventor would smile and thank them for their help before he set off again.
Despite being almost completely lost in the castle Inventor managed to make his way to the rooms of the celestial princess. With a deep breath the man hazarded a knock on the solid white stone that composed the door to the room. Only a second passed before a yellow aura surrounded the door and it opened without a sound. The white alicorn sat within behind a small desk that faced in the direction of the door.
As the door opened Celestia’s face took on a bemused expression when she saw the man standing on the other side, he waved slightly as he entered the room with a his usual smile on his face once more, the man saw the confusion in her eyes and the small amount of fear that was hidden behind her carefully composed expression.
With a sigh the man sat down in front of the royal princess as the ticking of his arm kept the time as the sparse moments passed without words, Celestia remained composed realizing the man had something on his mind that he needed to talk to her about and he was composing the words in his head.
“Celestia,” The man said then paused “I just, I wanted to apologize for yelling at you all that time ago, I... I wasn’t myself. I understand, now at least, that you were only doing it for the protection of your citizens, something that I envy, I really do. I just, I’m sorry.” Inventor said as he hesitated every now and then in his words to even it out.
Celestia was about to nod but Inventor continued, “But if I find out that you suddenly became corrupt and you begin to do things that are more for yourself then the ponies you care for now I will find you and we will talk.”
Celestia finished her nod slowly before smiling kindly back to Inventor, “I would want it no other way.”
An awkward break in talking filled the air as Inventor rose to his feet, as he did so the white alicorn stood as well in respect and Inventor grinned at her, “Its been a pleasure.”
“Indeed it has Inventor, indeed it has.”
As Inventor turned away from the alicorn a unicorn opened the doors and burst into the room, he wore different armor from the others and Inventor raised an eyebrow as he looked at the unicorn, something about him seemed, familiar.
“Your highness, I heard about an intruder that made it past my guards and I was immediately worried for you, I will dispatch of this creature quickly enough and he will regret ever arriving and making his way past the guards.” He spoke quickly, a spell began to form at the tip of his horn and Inventor reflexively grabbed a small ring from his pocket, just before he was about to make his dash and cancel the spell a voice interrupted both of the males.
“That won’t be necessary Shining Armor, my kind acquaintance Inventor just came by to finish some business that he hadn’t taken care of last time we talked, I assure you that he is here with only the best of intentions.” She said as she looked at both of them, she noticed a glint of metal as Inventor pocketed the ring when the man saw Shining Armor begin to stop his spell, but she decided not to press the issue.
“You’re Inventor?” The captain of the guard replied incredulously, “The creature that stared one of my most trusted guards into submission? It’s nice to meet you.” The white unicorn held out his hoof in offer for a shake,Inventor smiled at the unicorn but ignored his offer as he nodded once more to Celestia in parting before he walked out the door.
He hadn’t gotten very far when Shining Armor ran upon alongside, and then in front of the madman, “Here, let me escort you out.” He said as he slowed his pace and began to lead the man to the exit. Inventor didn’t say anything, didn’t even pause a moment to indicate he had heard what the unicorn had said, he just walked on.
Neither of them spoke as Shining Armor led the way to the exit, the man following slightly behind, occasionally a curious gaze would be drawn to the duo but they were largely left alone by the various other members of the castle staff. Inventor seemed to be lost in thought as he followed the guard captain down the hallway.
Eventually they reached the exit to the castle and moved onto the opening of the castle grounds. Inventor paused briefly as he looked out into the gardens that were shining under the crescent moon that hung above the scene. Shining Armor took only a few steps before he realized he was no longer being followed, he turned back to the human and stood by his side as he looked into the distance.
“What do you see?” Inventor asked, surprising the captain who took a few moments to calm himself before gazing out into the garden that was spread out in front of the duo.
With a hesitant, unsure voice Shining spoke “I see flowers, it reminds me of Cadance she loves to walk through the flowers when she doesn’t have to be doing anything else, she says its calming and I have to say I agree with her there.”
The guard was smiling as he turned his gaze back to Inventor who looked lost in thought.
“And you?” Shining asked “What do you see?”
“I see ashes and tinder, fires that are trying to be hidden under bushels of dry leaves and I see death and devastation that follow me wherever I go. I see that this world will end simply because everything had to end and in the wasteland that follows there will only be one leaving thing, me. I don’t know why the universe refuses to let me die, regardless of what I try.” Inventor looked once more at the guard captain whose smile had quickly disappeared and was replaced by worry.
“But, I also see firefighters, i see men who would kill themselves to protect this world. I see ponies such as you who would trek through all the fiery pits of the eternities to protect the ones they loved, so even though this world will end someday I know one thing for sure, there will be more survivors, and it may take them awhile but they will recreate this world and the planet will prosper once again. That is what I see.” Inventor said and the captain looked into the man’s eyes. He thought that for the briefest moment he saw flames flicker behind his eyes but it was gone as quick as it came and Inventor smiled.
“That’s enough rambling for me tonight though I think that I should ge-” The man was interrupted as a scream pierced the air, without a word to each both man and stallion were off in a dash, as they approached they saw a black winged creature that had somehow made its way past the outer walls of the castle grounds attacking a helpless mare.
Without a word to each other both males sprung into action, as the creature swooped in low to attack it ran headfirst into a shield that had been conjured up in between the predator and its prey. The surprise had just faded from the beast’s face as a metal fist connected with the jaw of the beast, it was sent tumbling backwards as Inventor landed on the ground, his metal hand exposed. The creature feigned death while both males approached, at the last second it launched its attack, aiming for the stallion.
Shining Armor gasped as the creature scraped its claw along his side, opening a large shallow wound across the length of his body, it raised another claw and was about to repeat the attack when a loud bang echoed through the air, Shining Armor’s head was ringing from the loud explosion. The beast fell to the ground, lifeless, with blood running from a circular wound in its head.
The stallion glanced to his side to see Inventor with a device that had smoke drifting from the barrel, he looked between the beast’s wound and the device Inventor held and all thoughts that the wound may have been caused by something else fled from his mind, he heard a scraping as the mare they had saved got up from the ground and ran away from the scene as the crimson liquid of the dragon-like monster pooled on the normally pristine cobblestone of the streets.
With a scary amount of familiarity Inventor spun the device and placed it in its hidden holster under his cloak, after it was in place his hand swung around to grab something from behind his right shoulder, something he didn’t find. Closing his eyes briefly in sad memory Inventor instead pulled an orb from a pocket that had been sewn into his jacket. The orb glowed toxic green and Inventor placed it on top of the chest of the dead creature.
The orb clicked loudly twice before the top began to spin. Several seconds passed while it spun, neither male speaking during the time. Eventually the top stopped spinning and a third click was heard, a small click emanated from the device and the corpse turned into black dust that was blown away on the wind, as the corpse disappeared the blood began to bubble and evaporated into the air. With a brief pause Inventor looked into the wind as the dust was taken away in the wind before he picked up the still spotless orb from the ground and slid it back into the pocket of his jacket.
Soundlessly the man leveled his gaze off into the distance once more before he spoke to the pony who lay on the ground behind him, “You going to heal yourself or do I have to take you to a hospital, because honestly, hospitals are getting very cliche for me.” He said over his shoulder to the wounded unicorn who was still looking at him slack jawed.
Shaking his head to break himself from his stunned silence Shining Armor channeled magic for a brief moment before casting his healing spell on himself, the shallow wound healed from the magic and the unicorn stood from the his laying position. He glanced at the man standing silhouetted against the horizon that was just beginning to brighten with daylight.
“You killed it, you didn’t even hesitate you just killed it with whatever that strange contraption was, you didn’t even flinch, you just killed it immediately. There was absolutely nothing it could have done to save itself from dying.” The captain of the guard said as worry leaked into his voice. This man had just killed another creature in the blink of an eye and now there was nothing left to prove it, he had disposed of the body quite quickly and there was nothing left of it, what frightening power that was to the guard of the castle as he realized that the man could have done that to anypony, anypony at all and not even the princess would have been able to stop him.
“You’re wrong, there is one thing it could have done.” Came the voice of the man as it intruded on Shining Armor’s thoughts, “It could have never shown up here, it could have never threatened a pony’s life, it could have stayed deep in the dark forest of the Everfree or wherever it came from and not have tried to kill a helpless mare.” The man turned to the captain of the guard and in his eyes the captain saw what had made such a trusted pony as his guard flee.
In those eyes he saw fire and death reflected over their somewhat glossy surface as he looked at the man, “Tell me Shining Armor, can you feel the heat?” Inventor said before turning his gaze away. “Two things changed about my body when the radiation flooded over me, the most devastating of them was that it burned the image of the apocalypse into my eyes, every time I’m angery my vision is flooded with the fires and the death from the end of the world.”
The man fell silent and Shining Armor released a breath he hadn’t realized he had been keeping, the captain slowly gathered the courage to speak again in the interlude of the man’s words, which was somewhat difficult after what he had just seen as he wanted to ask a question that he feared the answer to. “And the second thing, what was that?”
The man didn’t respond to the question but instead changed the subject, “Let’s get you back to the castle before they start worrying that I’ve killed you and skinned your leather for book covers.” He said, his words sending shivers down Shining Armor’s spine, the stallion nodded in return and the two made their way back to the castle. “Of course if I did do that, I guess Twilight would really be able to read you like a book eh?”
The stallion looked at the man with morbid horror scrawled across his face, Inventor quickly recovered what was left of the stallion’s relief by continuing, “Look, Its been like seventy-five years since I last told a joke to someone who wasn’t me, and even then it was a skeleton that I had found leaning against a wall, made a stupid diet pun, not important.”
The stallion smiled at the madman’s words, if only because of the weird way he spoke, “I was meaning to ask you, just what exactly is that device you used to end the life of that creature?” Shining Armor asked.
Inventor paused as he looked down at his hands, “I killed it Shining Armor, no need to dance around that subject. Regardless though, It was an old invention, I always did have an odd obsession with old tech, my co-workers called me insane for it but I didn’t mind, by that time I probably already was. It was designed as simple as possible, point and kill.” the man said as he reached under his jacket to touch the gun that sat there, “I used to have two of them, but I destroyed one recently so all I have left is this one. I hadn’t used it to ‘end a life’ in about twenty years now I suppose.”
Neither male spoke as the two finished the trek to the castle where, surprisingly, the mare they had saved earlier was waiting for them. As they approached she ran towards them and Inventor turned to the stallion at his side. “Have a good day, I would love to stick around and chat with the admirer but I really need to get going.” After saying these words the man waited until an object blocked the view of the approaching mare, in this case a pillar, and he ducked into the bushes at the sides of the cobblestone road before running quickly to the gate.
The mare continued her approach but slowed as she realized that out of the two saviors who had been there mere moments ago one was missing, “Where did the other one go? The odd creature?” She said as she stopped in front of Shining Armor.
The stallion smiled in response as he turned to look at the gate where he thought he saw the man slip out of the exit. “He has some fires that he needs to fight.”
“Oh well, if you see him again soon tell him to stop by my shop, ‘Bread Breaker’s’ on the main street. I would like to give him a few loaves of bread or something, to repay him for saving my life.”
“I’ll make sure to inform him madam.” The stallion replied.
“Alright well, thank you for saving me, if you would like some bread make sure to come by sometime and I’ll send ya home with a loaf or two, can’t have the captain of the guard starving now can we?” She replied with a smile before she left.
Shining Armor continued on as he entered the castle, he made his way back to the sun princesses castle with a purposeful stride, he knocked briefly and heard a call from within. Opening the door with his magic Shining Armor made his way back into the room and heard a polite call from the balcony, “In here Shining.”
He made his way onto the balcony to see Celestia resting after having just raised the sun for the day, “I just came by to do my usual check-up Princess Celestia, anything you would like to report for me to take care of?” he said respectfully as he bowed to the princess.
“I am fine, thank you for asking. However a minute or so ago I heard word about a wyvern attack inside the castle walls, apparently it attacked a defenseless mare?” She said with a curious tone.
“The mare is fine and I assure you that the soldier responsible for not being at his post will be severely reprimanded.” The stallion replied formally.
“Oh, did you fight off the beast? I saw a shadow head off in that direction before I rose the sun.”
“Indeed your highness, me and Inventor defeated the beast, the crisis was swiftly ended and nopony was hurt in any permanent way. Which I may have to thank the human for, he defeated it when it attacked me while I was unaware.”
“How did he defeat it?” The celestial ruler said as her voice took a keen edge to its tone.
“I’m not entirely sure how his invention worked but it seems to have killed it with minimal effort on his part.”
“He killed it?” She asked with a curious voice as her sharp tone fell away, wyverns had notoriously rigid scales that were more like armor then skin and he apparently had just ended its life easily. “We will need to burn it in order to prevent a spread of the wyverian plague or some other disease.” She made to rise but Shining quickly dispersed her worries.
“He already took care of that too, turned it to ash to let it float away harmlessly on the wind.” He said as he speedily reassured the alicorn.
“And then what happened?” she asked in response as she settled herself back into her previous resting position on the balcony. She was mildly surprised by the amount of power that Inventor apparently held and yet had never used, not even when he had been immensely angry toward the her when she had tried to work with Twilight to get him to fall into a trap.
“We talked briefly, mostly about how he easily ended the life of the creature, but If I may impose my opinion here your highness, It may have been easily physically for him to do so, but if you had seen him after he had done the act I think you would realize that he despises the power he wields.” The stallion said. Celestia nodded in response before speaking once more.
“Well, if that is all, I dismiss you to your activities for the day, recently Cadance came in and told me she has a gift for you, something about a magical set of armor.” The princess smiled as the guard quickly bowed before heading to leave the room as he rushed to pick himself up off the ground, the stallion had been awaiting this particular experiment from his wife for a few days now and he was beginning to grow anxious about the results.
As he was about to leave Shining Armor walked back out onto the balcony, “I almost forgot, we talked briefly about the gardens and what we saw when we looked at them. He said he saw ashes and tinder, Once again if I may add my opinion here, I think that he tries to avoid deaths at all costs, but if worst comes to worst that he will do whatever is necessary to protect those he cares for, regardless of the cost to himself and without hesitation.” The stallion nodded once more to the alicorn before he left to go see what Cadance had enhanced his next set of armor with, leaving the princess to think on the information she had received.
(You may think that I am setting up a plot for a later chapter that I already have planned out, maybe I am, maybe I'm not, guess you'll just have to stick around to find out. - N64Fan)