Chapter XXII
I waited until I was certain that the two alien ponies had left the room before turning towards the thing I had created.
From Robert’s remains.
That makes it sound so much worse, I thought as I kneeled down in front of the metallic cat. “Bob, I got some… bad news.”
Robert just looked up at me, those crystal globes he used as eyes strangely expressionless. “What is it?” Though his face was expressionless, I could tell that he still felt, if the worry in his voice could be trusted.
I just shook my head a little. “You aren’t… you.”
The cat blinked, but otherwise didn’t show that he had even heard me.
“When you’re original body died, you… you’re only…”
The cat just looked at me expectantly.
I took a deep breath to steady myself, then just dived in. “Bob, your soul passed on when you died. What’s in front of me is little more than fragments that got left behind.”
The cat looked down at that, then back up at me. “Okay.”
“Okay? Bob, aren’t you the least bit upset about this?”
“No,” he said blandly. “I… I don’t think I have the capacity to feel upset. It was one of the things I wanted to see if you could fix, but…”
I just shook my head at that. “I’m sorry, Bob, but if I could fix you, I would. I don’t even know how I got you into that body in the first place.”
We just sat there in an oppressive silence for what seemed like forever. Several times I tried to meet that crystalline gaze of his, but I found that that was next to impossible in terms of difficulty. He was a reminder, a brutal symbol of not only what had happened to us, but also of my inability to save him.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” I whispered quietly.
“...What?”
Again, I tried to meet his gaze, but found myself staring at the floor instead. “When… when you died… when all of you died, I could hear your last thoughts, your last gasps of air. I know this isn’t really you, at least not all of you, but I won’t get a chance like this again.” Finally, I lifted my gaze, and with a lot of effort on my part, I was able to lock gazes with my creation. “I’m sorry for not saving you on that day. More importantly, I’m sorry for dragging you back into this.”
The cat shook his head. “Alex, don’t be. We were all dead men anyway. It’s not your fault that we ended up like this, nor should you feel bad about ‘bringing me back into this’. I chose to take this body,” he said as he put a single paw on my knee. “We could all feel you working on something, some kind of vessel that could give us some semblance of life. When it was completed, we decided that it would be me to deliver our message.”
“What message?” I asked quietly.
“That you’re not alone.” I could feel the sincerity of his voice. The determination, the courage, everything. “Not only that, but our job isn’t over. We set out to make sure that they couldn’t do anything like what they did to us, and we intend to see that through.”
I looked away for a second, then back into those crystal orbs. Somehow, his words breathed new determination into me, giving me hope for the future.
This wasn’t just about defending our new home anymore.
No, this was something entirely different. It wasn’t justice, or vengeance. Those words, at their core, meant retribution for some past wrong. Don’t get me wrong, vengeance sounded pretty good right about now, but that wasn’t what I wanted.
What I wanted was to ensure that my past wasn’t repeated.
* * *
“Luna, we have a problem.”
Princess Luna looked up from her quiet conversation with the young Twilight Sparkle. “What happened?” she asked, worried about the sound that had drawn away her sister a couple of hours ago.
Princess Celestia quickly approached the two, her golden-shod hooves sounding ominous against the quiet that had befallen the lounge that adjourned the labs. “The sound from before? It was another alien ship, crash landing in Canterlot.”
Twilight gasped at that. “But Princess, The only reason that the other one didn’t-”
“Fortunately, this one was much smaller, and did not require our intervention to keep it from destroying us all,” Celestia clarified. Her voice grew much more somber, however. “But, because we were not trying to slow this craft down, it crashed into the downtown residential area.”
Both Luna and Twilight looked horrified at that. “Sister… how many?”
“Luckily, it seemed that most of the ponies in the area were at work, or school, at the time, and managed to avoid the crash. However, there were casualties, though I still do not know how many,” Celestia said grimly.
Luna bit her lip at this, while Twilight looked shaken. “What of those that piloted the craft?” the Lunar Princess asked.
Celestia shook her head. “From what I could see, the craft was unmanned.”
Luna gave her sister a knowing look at that. “But you do not believe that.”
“I do not. I believe that whomever piloted that craft also abandoned it before it landed, and could be running amok somewhere in Equestria. The craft survived the crash with barely any damage to the inside, which leads me to believe that it is designed for that kind of thing.”
Princess Luna opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the door behind her creaked open, revealing a determined-looking ~human~.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked uncertainly.
“Yes. Okay am doing, just had clear thing with Bright Fame,” he said, his tone business-like. “Evening, can work on calculation device? Have get weapon ready.”
Twilight nodded at that, her face breaking out into a smile. “Sure, just make sure you don’t push yourself, okay?”
He returned the smile, then looked up at the other two, finally noticing that the Sun Princess had returned. “What was thing?”
Celestia just shook her head, however. “We’ll tell you later. It’s more important that you stay focused on the task at hoof.”
The ~human~ gave her a grim look at that, then nodded, as if he saw something that no one else could. “I understand. You worry, I work. Together, get both done half time.”
Celestia returned the nod, then turned to leave, her sister close on her heels. “Why did you not tell him?” Luna asked curiously.
“Because, not only has he probably already guessed what happened, but at this point it would be redundant,” Celestia said once the door behind them had closed. “He already knows that the aliens are going to attack, and he knows their capacity for violence and death far better than we possibly could. Anything we tell him about them at this point would be a distraction, one that we cannot afford.”
Luna thought about this for a second. “True. But what should we do about this new development, then?”
“What can we do? The best I can think of is to increase the alert status of Equestria, as well as to give the Bearers constant-” Celestia started to say, but stopped herself when one of her Solar Guard trotted up to the two princesses.
“Your Highness, some kind of craft has been spotted headed straight towards Canterlot,” he said with a gasp.
“What?” the two sisters said in unison.
“It is moving far slower than the one that crash-landed a few hours ago, but its course is unmistakable: It’s headed right for us,” the sergeant said grimly.
* * *
“Begging your pardon, Priestess, but why are we here again?” Kivalt asked, her panic rising as she eyed the armed warriors and the lone Krin that shared the shuttle’s storage space with her and her brother.
“Calm yourself. Did you not want to see this planet’s wonders?” the priestess said. “Besides, you know why you’re here. Do not worry. If things become… heated, you are not expected to fight. The only thing expected of you is to keep us from biting our own tails as we try to communicate our reason for being here.”
“C-Can’t you just do that yourself?” she asked, quickly glancing at her brother to help back her up on this.
Her brother, on the other hand, seemed completely unperturbed. In fact, he was practically hopping with anticipation. “Oh, I hope I brought enough sample jars…” he said as he rummaged through his bag.
“I beg your pardon, Priestess, but i am in agreement with the young lady,” Captain Hazalk said in perfect Qual-kek. “These people, while a bit… primitive, are still quite dangerous. Should this turn into a firefight, the two scientists would prove liabilities, rather than assets.”
“I am aware of that, captain, but I do not think it will come to that,” Akitesh said stiffly. At least, I hope it won’t come to that.
Captain Hazalk gave a perturbed twitch of his antennae, but otherwise did not press the issue.
The strange group spent the next several minutes in relative silence, only broken by the sound of the shuttle’s engines, as well as the sound of Lokar rummaging through his bag, muttering to himself about the various supplies that he either forgot, or misplaced. Finally, as if to break the tension, the pilot’s voice came through from the cockpit. “We’re through the Mesosphere. We should be arriving in about ten minutes. Priestess? I’m picking up a lot of spiritual activity from their city on the mountain. I would assume that we’ve been spotted.”
“Thank you, mentor. Slow us down, so that we appear less threatening. They’ve already had one piece of flaming metal hit them, I doubt they would appreciate it if we made ourselves appear to be a second,” the priestess joked.
Hazalk twitched an antenna at this, but otherwise did not show any emotion. In fact, the captain exuded an aura of extreme calm, despite knowing the fact that he was more than likely going to be used as a peace offering.
It wasn’t her idea, either. Hazalk himself had suggested it, as a way to at least open negotiations with the natives.
“Tell me, Hazalk, why are you so willing to throw your life away for this?” Akitesh asked suddenly.
The captain looked at her for a second, then switched his gaze back towards the far wall. “Do you know anything of the oaths that we take as soldiers, priestess?” he asked quietly.
She shook her head at this, to which the krin gave a knowing twitch of his antennae. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was stopped when the pilot’s voice echoed from the cockpit again. “We will be landing in a minute, priestess. Be careful out there, you’ve got quite the welcoming committee, and none of them look happy to see you.”
Hazalk raised one of his antennae at that, then looked back at Akitesh. “If we both survive this, then I’ll be happy to tell you.”
Akitesh nodded her head, then slithered to the back of the shuttle to where the door was. “Remember, we are not here to start something. Stay in the shuttle until you are either called for, or they start attacking,” she reminded her warriors. “I will not have the total militarization of this culture on my head, nor will I have the slaughter of any innocents. We are here to save lives, not take them.”
The soldiers gave a nod at that, then slithered back a bit, allowing their priestess plenty of room.
Breath in, she thought as she reached for the controls. Master your spirit, breath out.
She then opened the door, and with it, invited Fate to have his way with her.
...That is a lot of spiritual energy… she thought as she surveyed her surroundings.
She seemed to be on some kind of primitive landing platform. She knew that these people had developed rudimentary flying devices, to allow those without wings into the skies, so the platform itself did not give her pause.
No, what caused that was the small army that surrounded her vessel.
Equines of all shapes and sizes surrounded her craft. Horns were pointed directly at her, crackling with energy. Stormclouds had been gathered, their bearers grasping them like they were loaded artillery, ready to unleash their electrical payload. The hornless, wingless ones, while lacking anything as flashy as their compatriots, nevertheless stood at the front lines. They looked quite ready to not only take the brunt of whatever assault was coming, but to also charge forward and tear their foes to pieces.
The force arrayed in front of her had an odd duality to it as well. Though it was clear that all of them were part of the same army, fully half of them wore golden, day themed armor, their coats a brilliant white. The other half were arrayed in dark, night-themed armor.
She was expecting the bat wings and curved horns, however. After the bombshell that the twins had dropped on her earlier, she had gotten the two to list, and describe, all of the known types of equine on this planet. Most of them had representatives here, though there was a noticeable lack of both striped equines, as well as the one that had the traits of all of the various species.
Token military my tail. These are highly trained soldiers, Akitesh thought as she slowly slithered forward, activating the translation rune she had inscribed on her neck with nothing more than a thought. The rune was imperfect, as the researchers who had constructed it did so without a perfect knowledge of the equine’s tongue. However, imperfect was good enough to at least get her basic message across.
“Noble warriors, I come in peace,” she said, her claws raised in what she hoped was a sign of peace.
The horned equine in front gave an almost imperceptible snort at that, distrust written plainly on his face. “Quiet face, snake lady. Can see bug in ship. You work with bug, help bug make us slave?” he said belligerently.
Akitesh shook her head at this. “No, I only want to talk. The ‘bug’ won’t hurt you either, I promise.”
The soldiers looked like they weren’t buying it, but luckily for Akitesh, she didn’t have to continue in her attempt to appease them.
Unluckily for her, that was only because someone much worse than the soldiers had appeared. “Standing is downwards!” a crystal clear voice called out over the crowd. Immediately, the glow around the horns, as well as the lightning crackling from the thunderheads above, dissipated, though Akitesh knew that that could change at a moment’s notice. Akitesh sighed in relief, but froze up again the moment that the ranks in front of her parted.
Just as the twins had described her, the white queen of this people stood head and shoulders above her subjects. Beautiful white coat, magnificent wings, piercing violet eyes, and a mane and tail that flowed and fluttered with the currents of the spiritual field of the planet.
What she wasn’t expecting was the second one.
She was shorter than the white queen, her coat and wings being a far darker blue color, but her azure gaze was no less intense. Her mane and tail also seemed to flow with the currents of the planet, but that was where the similarities ended.
In that mane, Akitesh was certain that she could see eternity.
“Business what have here do you?" the white queen asked. Her tone was smooth and level, but Akitesh could detect just the smallest trace of steel in her voice.
“I come in peace. I only wish to talk,” Akitesh said, well aware of how dangerous her position was.
“Yes, we hear. What about talking?” the dark one asked, taking a small step forward.
Akitesh swallowed uncomfortably, resisting the intense desire to slither back a little. “We’ve come to apologize, as well as warn you. A dangerous criminal has escaped onto your planet, and-” she started to say, but was interrupted by a cutting gesture from the white queen.
“You former mean slave that isn’t?” she said with a snort. “Lie it being, that bug feed. Know how slave act, know how you bug friend act, know not dangerous criminal.”
“No, I mean the one that fell from the sky and landed in you city today!” Akitesh said, desperately trying to regain control of the situation.
Surprisingly, this stopped the two equines, causing them both to look at her with thinly veiled concern. The blue one leaned over to whisper something to the white one, causing her to nod in the affirmative. “We are doing the listening,” the white queen said.
Akitesh sighed in relief at that. If I ever get out of this, I’m going to spend the rest of the year soaking in my tub. she thought to herself.
* * *
Ilisk looked around, making sure that he hadn’t been spotted. Luckily, it seemed that not a whole lot of those colorful monsters came this way, so he felt pretty secure in his hiding place. With nothing but a thought, he brought up his tracker again.
“They move quickly, I won’t have much time,” he whispered to himself as he watched the Quzin energy signature approach the city.
Without another word, he closed his tracking software, pulled out his plasma pistol, and pointed it towards the wall in front of him. With any luck, he’d be through the wall and on the other side without anyone noticing. He knew that that wouldn’t be the case, but at this point he was running on borrowed time.
...Just in case, set suicide clock for three hours. Constant monitor in upper right hand part of the screen, he thought, right before he opened fire.