//------------------------------//
// Chapter Thirty-One 
// Story: Unity 
// by Kieva Lynn 
//------------------------------//


Unity
Chapter Thirty-One


Disguised in the form of a breeder, dusted with fairy magic so she would be able to talk with them when needed, Xix-xax moved cautiously through the Tyrathca settlement. She was accompanied by Twilight Sparkle and Nigel, who were kept invisible by the unicorn's magic. All around them were Tyrathca of various forms, going about their business in a methodical way. The town itself was small; perhaps a dozen dome shaped mud huts, a water wheel, and cultivator Tyrathca plowing crops by hoof, or whatever the Tyrathca had in place of hooves or hands or claws, the Changeling wasn't quite sure what to call them.

In the distance, the peaks of more advanced buildings could be seen: The Tyrathca city originally brought here by the storms. These were clearly a very strange people. They possessed incredibly advanced technology, but didn't use it until it was needed. The Tyrathca in this settlement made due with mud homes, and heavy labor even when they knew perfectly well how to build much better alternatives. Which, Xix reflected, was why they had her trying to blend in. Talking with a few Tyrathca might reveal an explanation for how their minds worked, how to coexist with them.

Seeing none of the aliens in hearing range, Xix whispered "I'm not sure this will work. It seemed like a good idea, but how can I strike up a conversation when there aren't any diners or bars or anything?"

"There has to be some kind of meeting place." Nigel's voice whispered back. "Try that extra-tall hut at the center."

Xix gave a barely perceptible nod, and headed that way. The first problem, upon arriving at the destination, was the absurdly complicated door mechanism. Xix had no idea how to open it, and smiled in thanks when a brief shimmer of violet flowed over the lock, undoing it. She stepped inside, and was surprised by what she found, or more accurately didn't find. There was no furniture, no decorations, nothing but a wide single chamber, empty save for breeder-type Tyrathca. Most were standing with thier backs against the circular interior wall, apparently asleep on thier feet. One stood at the precise center, facing the door. Upon seeing Xix, it spoke.

"This one is Yanthere HUX." It said. "Who comes to the settlement of Hesparit CX?"

"I, erm..." Xix started to say, but she felt Twilight's horn poke her in the side.

"Refer to yourself as 'this one.'" The unicorn whispered. "Try to follow thier syntax."

Xix tried again. "This one is lost." She said. "This one was traveling when a storm came, with much lightning. When the storm had passed, this one was here."

The Tyrathca facing Xix cocked it's head. For a moment, Xix was certain she must have said something wrong. Then the Tyrathca answered "City of Formault KW was also transported to this place by elemental storm. When storm was over, these ones find new territory to conquer. Does that one wish to settle in this place?"

Concluding that 'that one' was a reference to herself, Xix answered "Yes."

"That is goodness. Much breeders are needed to make many soldiers. This land has occupants."

"Soldiers? No peace with occupants?"

"Occupants are elemental!" The Tyrathca exclaimed, showing the first emotion Xix had seen in one. It continued "Elemental, like Sleeping God, like returned Tyrathca! Elementals must be destroyed!"

"I suggest you agree." Nigel whispered.

"Yes! This one says death to all elementals!" Xix proclaimed.

"Except for Sleeping God."

"Um, yes, except for that." 

There was silence for a moment, and both Xix and her invisible compatriots were certain that the Tyrathca had tumbled to the fact that it was being lied to. After all, knowing nothing of the species' customs or ideas, Xix's performance must have been terrible. But then the alien simply said "That one bring that one's mate. Produce many soldiers, for conquest of land." It turned and walked away.

"Okay... Let's get out of here..." Twilight whispered. Xix heartily agreed...


XXXX


Back in Sylph Hollow a couple of hours later, everyone met together. "So what do you suppose 'elemental' means?" Bert asked.

"I'm wondering if it has something to do with magic." Twilight said. "But the problem with that is, Yanthere didn't just call the fairies elemental. It called the storm elemental too, and there was no magic in the storms."

"That could be simple misunderstanding." Rarity suggested. "If these creatures have no magic of their own, and don't understand the storms any more than we do, they might well mistake the storm's actions for a form of magic."

"Hey, yeah!" Reginald agreed. "It's like Clark's Law: 'Any sufficiently advanced technology will be mistaken for magic by those who don't understand it.'"

"That makes sense." Belle agreed.

The Yilane, Eisha, said "Yes, but it still fails to explain why they are so determined to destroy us."

Applejack said "It sounds t' me like they don't have any magic of their own, and ran into something bad that did. So now they think anything that does have it is also bad."

"Anything except this 'Sleeping God.'" Fluttershy said.

"That is an interesting exception..." Twilight agreed. 

"Can we stay focused?" Bert asked. "What matters here is if we can get them to stop attacking their neighbors."

"I very much doubt it." Belle said. "Everything we've seen so far says that they don't, maybe even can't, understand working together with others. And even if they could, they're not going to deal with magic users. That much is clear."

"I hate to say this, but maybe you guys should evacuate after all." Rainbow said.

"She's right. Having to rebuild is better than not being alive to do so." Nigel agreed.

Pinkie said "It's too bad they can't just move to our part of the planet. The meanies would still be here, but we would all have time to be ready if we had to fight them."

"Maybe they can..." Rarity said. "We're on our way to find the source of how we were all brought here. Perhaps we'll discover that it can move Sylph Hollow, and the other settlements hereabouts, to a safer place."

"Under the circumstances, I doubt anyone here would have a problem with that." Terrance said. 

Eisha said "Yes. But, before you continue on I would be most relieved to find some way of delaying the Tyrathca advance."

"Maybe we could distract them." Bert mused. 

Twilight nodded. "I've been thinking about that... Xix, did you notice anything about how the Tyrathca responded to you? In particular, something they didn't seem to notice?"

"I did." Xix replied. "I was nervous, because knowing nothing about them meant that I couldn't really tailor my lies to be believable. The whole time, I was sure they were going to catch on, but they never did! I don't think they even had the slightest suspicions at any point."

"We're already getting the feeling that the Tyrathca don't have much imagination or creativity." Twilight said. "What if they simply cannot lie at all?"

Reginald said "Deception is a skill that takes practice to develop. That's why little children tell such terribly transparent lies. And, the ability to detect deception is also a skill, connected to the first skill; the better you are at lying, the better you are at detecting it from others, and vice versa."

Xix nodded in understanding. "They didn't know I was lying because they can't lie themselves and thus have no skill at seeing lies!"

"Which means-" Twilight started to say, but she was interrupted when a trio of Lyrick stumbled into Sylph Hollow, calling for help.

"Tyrathca soldiers... In our camp..."

Bert grabbed up his gun. "Let's go, we'll figure out the rest of it later..."


XXXX


Even if no one else had come, the Harmony's crew would have had no difficulty finding their way to the Lyrick town; the glow of fires and rising smoke were like a beacon leading the way. The group, consisting of all of the humans, all of the ponies save for Fluttershy who had stayed behind to tend the wounded Lyrick, Xix, Guttrix, and a large contingent of fairies, reached the edge of the town in half an hour.

The amphibious Lyrick had abandoned their original town, which arrived deep in the jungles, in order to rebuild along the shores of the sea. Buildings, mostly wooden though a few were stone or brick, stood lined up along the beach, all with their front doors facing the ocean. Perhaps half were on fire, and Tyrathca soldiers were meticulously demolishing them. Of the Lyrick themselves, none could be seen.

"Where are they?" Rainbow whispered.

Belle said "Remember they're amphibious. I'd guess most of the Lyrick took to the water, where the soldiers wouldn't follow."

"Will they have left? Or are they still out there?" Applejack asked.

"Probably still there, just out of range, just below the surface, waiting for an opportunity."

"So..." Bert said, "If we were to attack from the land side of town, they might see and join in from the water..."

"Pincer attack." Guttrix said. "Good brainworkings."

"Only if they're really there." Applejack said.

"It could still work." Obereon said. "We don't think the soldiers can swim well."

Belle added "Just remember, you can't expect the soldiers to be taken by surprise no matter how sudden the first attack is. They're made for war. They won't suffer any confusion or shock or delay."

"Then let's hope the Lyrick are really still here. Okay, huddle, I've got a plan."

Everyone gathered together, agreed on a plan of attack, and scattered to take their positions...


xx


The fliers went first. Tyrathca soldiers were flightless in spite of the small wings on thier backs, so only those carrying guns could pose a threat. Rainbow Dash flew just out of reach of the soldiers, trying to get their attention, while the fairy guardsmen swooped in from higher up to attack with spears and bows. As Belle had warned, the Tyrathca weren't fooled for long; It took less than a minute for the soldiers to ignore Dash in favor of the actual attackers.

The reports of gunfire echoed about the area as rifle carrying Tyrathca opened fire, and several fairies dropped out of the sky as the bullets hit their marks. Watching from cover, Twilight was horrified. "How can they hit targets so small?"

"We knew they were good at this." Bert said.

"Yeah, but it's doesn't bode well for us. If they can bullseye something as small as a fairy at range, what are they gonna be able to do to us up close?"

"Just keep us shielded." Bert said. "Hopefully that'll buy us enough time."

Applejack said "Speakin' of time, I think it's our turn. Look." She motioned to where the sword-wielding Tyrathca, unable to do anything to attacker still in the air, had returned their attention to the town's destruction.

"Right." Twilight agreed. She channeled power through her horn, casting a defensive shield around herself and the others in her group. 

With the shield active, they moved to join the battle, Twilight noting as they did that Rarity's team, also protected by a shield the fashionista was creating, moved in too.

The soldiers reacted with distressing speed. Before Twilight and those with her had made it even half way from their cover to the edge of town, four of the Tyrathca were surrounding them, screeching and battering their blades against the shield. Bert took aim and fired: once, twice, three times before his target fell. Unmoved by it's comrade's fate, the soldier nearest grabbed up the fallen's sword and attacked with two blades now.

Across from Bert, Applejack was trying to buck another soldier in the head. Even with all of her strength, the blows did little more than anger it. Howling, the soldier threw it's entire body at the shield, which seemed to quaver around the impact point. "Um, Twi?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know!" Twilight exclaimed. "That blow seemed to weaken my shield somehow!"

Seeing what it's fellow had accomplished, another soldier also hurtled itself bodily at the shield, causing a similar, but more significant, ripple.

"This isn't good!" Twilight shouted. "They're going to get through pretty fast doing that!"

"Fall back?" Applejack asked.

Bert shook his head. "No good. They'll just keep following us."

"Then let's plow through, take shelter in a building!" Twilight said. The group ran for the closest intact structure, hoping to buy time to come up with a new plan...


xx


Not far away, Rarity's group was having similar difficulties. They were facing only two of the soldiers, but as with Twilight's group both were ramming the unicorn's shield over and over. Worse, the guns Nigel and Herbert carried were smaller and less effective than Bert's. "I'm open to suggestions!" Rarity asked.

"You'd think all that ramming would leave them disoriented." Herb groused. "How long can you hold them off?"

"Not long darling. It seems their armor is made of something that is disrupting my magic more quickly than should be the case."

Taking a shot, Nigel said "Makes sense, if these guys have encountered magic before and had issues with it, of course they'd use whatever they had to block it with."

"Yeah, but it's damned inconvienent for us!" Herbert exclaimed. Stepping close to the inner wall of the shield, he rammed the muzzle of his gun right against the spot where a charging soldier would hit. When it did, he fired pointblank directly into the creature's head. It fell, and didn't get back up.

"One down."

"And more on the way." Rarity exclaimed. From the town came three more soldiers, accompanied by a Breeder.

"Elemental!" The Breeder exclaimed. "Elemental must be purified!"

"I don't like the sound of that..."

"Nor do I darling... I do hope the others make their move soon..."


xx


"What do you think?" Pinkie asked as she watched the battle from the jungle.

"Guttrix think bad bugs need stomped."

"Right, but how?" Reginald asked. "We're already two teams down."

"Pink Pony have trick?"

Pinkie's eyes narrowed. "It's me. Of course I do. Alright you three, stick close and follow my lead..."

"What are we gonna do?" Xix asked.

Pinkie grinned. "Chew bubblegum and kick flank."

Reginald favored the pony with a look of disbelief. "And you're all out of bubblegum?"

"No, here." Pinkie answered, handing over a stick of spearmint.

Reg chuckled and shook his head...


xx


Five minutes later, Reginald was staring with disbelief at what Pinkie had cobbled together with Guttrix's help. "Where did you even get the parts for a helicopter?" He asked.

"The usual place." Pinkie answered. "I just reach behind my back and when I pull my hoof back around there's whatever I need. Usually." She reached behind and produced a large bullhorn and a radio controller, the latter of which she gave to Reg. "Now, I'll be busy talking so I need you to work the controls."

"Well, if you're sure you want to do this..."

"It'll work!" Pinkie cheered. "So, you ready for your part Xixxy?"

"Not really." the Changeling answered. "How can I make myself look like something I've never seen?"

"That good point." Guttrix agreed.

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah... Okay, this could be tricky even for me, but let's see..." Reaching behind herself again, the pink mare seemed to rummage about for several moments, as if searching for something. She produced a can of Spam. "Nah." Trying again, Pinkie pulled out a six foot long party sub, which she ate in one bite, then went back to searching.  After several more tries, yielding results as varied as a gold ingot, a angry cross-eyed ferret, and something labeled 'Spacom' Pinkie declared "Ah-ha!!" and presented Xix with a small bronze model of some object unlike anything that anyone present had ever seen before. "It looks like this!"

"That could be tricky too." Xix said. "I can do it, but I don't know how long I can hold such an odd shape."

"Then let's hurry." Reginald said.

Pinkie, bullhorn in hoof, took her seat in the small copter's cockpit. Reginald worked the controls, lifting it just off the ground, and Xix wrapped herself around the vehicle, carefully avoiding the spinning props, taking the form Pinkie had indicated.

"Me think crazy pony plan not work in million years." Guttrix said.

"Tell me about it..."


xx


Hiding inside a Lyrick home, Twilight was suprised by the sudden sound of spinning propellers chopping through the air. At the same time, there was a low hooting sound, and the soldiers pounding on the barricaded front door went silent. "What is that?"

"Dunno." Bert answered. "Bigger question is, are they really gone or just playing possom?"

"Well we can't stay here forever." Applejack said. "But let's try the back door instead."

They gathered around the door, and prepared themselves for a charge if the Tyrathca were in fact still there. But when Bert threw the door open, all was clear. Proceeding carefully out into the open, Bert spinning around as soon as he was clear of the door frame to cover the roof, they discovered that the soldiers really had left.

"...The hell?" Bert wondered.

Twilight said "That hoot sounded like what I heard a Tyrathca breeder do in their town... And then a bunch of other Tyrathca came running after it."

"So there's a Breeder here that called them away..."

"Yeah, that's my guess. So what should we do now?"

"I say we see what that spinning sound is." Applejack suggested.

Twilight and Bert agreed, and the group moved in the direction of the sound. As they rounded the corner of a building, a strange scene presented itself: Rarity, still standing amid a battered, weakened shield, with Tyrathca soldiers slamming into it and a Breeder shouting for the deaths of the 'elementals.' And then source of the spinning sound rose into sight from the jungle. It was a strange shape, topped by a concave dome with an amalgam of unusual geometric forms descending down, like a deformed metallic mushroom.

Upon seeing the object, the Tyrathca ceased their attack. All, Breeder and soldiers alike, turned to face it, and bowed down. And then a voice, Pinkie's voice, Twilight recognized, boomed out from the cap of the 'mushroom.' "I am your Sleeping God!" Pinkie declared, "And I am most displeased! Do not harm these people!"

"But Sleeping God!" The Breeder exclaimed, "These ones are elemental! And, also, shouldn't divine one be asleep?"

"Your Meanyness woke me up!" Pinkie's voice boomed down. "And I would appreciate it if you stopped so I can go lay back down."

"This one apologizes! But... Elemental! Divine One told these ones to destroy elemental!"

"Oh, forget about that, I was having a bad day." Pinkie answered. "Now, turn back. Go, and conquer other lands that no one lives in yet."

The Breeder bowed deeper. "These ones will obey. Has divine one any other directives?"

There was a delay, as Pinkie considered what she might say. Finally she answered. "Be excellent to each other."

The breeder stared up in confusion. "Very well divine one. These ones go now."

As the Tyrathca marched away back towards their home, Twilight and her team stayed hidden. When the coast was clear, she rushed to Rarity's side, making sure the mare was okay. The members of both groups looked up as the 'Sleeping God' descended, Xix returning to her normal form with a sigh of relief. "That... Was the hardest form I've ever had to hold..." She said.

"I don't believe that worked." Reg said as he ran to join everyone.

"Oh, was there ever any doubt?" Pinkie asked, waving a hoof dismissively. "It's me!"

"I'm just glad you didn't try giving them the entire quote." Nigel said, referring to Pinkie's final words to the Breeder.

"I wanted to." Pinkie said. "The look on it's face would have been epic! But, even I knew 'Party on dudes' would have been pushing our luck..."


XXXX


Sylph Hollow. The fairy's death toll from the battle was severe; Of the thirty that had went along for the attack, only eight returned. The Lyrick were also in bad shape. Though Belle had been right about them watching from just offshore, they had not been waiting for a chance to counter attack; There were just too few of them uninjured in the initial surprise attack.

Though the Tyrathca were, for the time being, deceived no one really thought that they were pacified for good. "Sooner or later," Bert had said, "Something will alter their behavior again."

Perhaps the biggest surprise to the Harmony's crew was the town's reaction to the day's events. In spite of their losses, the fairies were talking about throwing a party. "Sure, we're sad for those we lost." Belle explained when Fluttershy asked about it, "But, their sacrifice may have saved everyone else... We can't dishonor that by being all sad and mopey."

"So, party?" Pinkie asked.

"Party." Belle confirmed.

"PARTY!!" Pinkie exclaimed, leaping into the air amid confetti streamers, as the entire town was instantly decorated.

"How...?" Belle whispered.

"Pinkie." Reg said. "I've stopped questioning it after today..."