//------------------------------// // Equestria // Story: For Justice and Peace // by Clawder //------------------------------// The vast meadow beyond the Everfree forest was as peaceful as ever. Birds were chirping and the sun shone brightly above the vast extension of land. The cycle of nature worked as usual: Predators hunting, critters gathering food, plants and trees cleaning the air; and of course, sentient creatures doing sentient stuff. Living a life with a few ups and downs, but nothing that would shake their world on an existence-threatening scale. A squirrel was collecting acorns around it's home tree when a sudden rush of energy ran trough it's body. It felt weird, as if something was interrupting the natural order of things. Led by curiosity and instinct, the animal let go of the acorn in it's paws and sprinted towards the source of the energy. Upon arriving to what seemed to be a perfectly normal spot just about anywhere in the meadow, the squirrel noticed it wasn't alone. Many other animals stood forming a circle around the exact same place. Whatever it was, it had gotten the attention of every nearby creature. Then, another wave of energy made the animal's senses increase immensely, their biological alarm tingling like never before. Many of them screeched in surprise while others instantly ran away. The squirrel, for it's part, was paralyzed in shock. In an instant, a strange figure had appeared in front of it, with no fur and wearing metal as if it was it's skin. Gideon watched as a tiny squirrel let out a 'kuk' and left quickly. To his surprise, many animals where also leaving at top speed from there. Evidently, no other planeswalker had come to this plane. Not in this part of it, at least. Fortunately and unfortunately, this meant Emrakul wasn't close to where Gideon was right now. He cursed his luck for this and looked around. A clear sky, a vivid field, wide fauna variety, beautiful landscapes in the horizon, and everything he considered admirable from the previous planes he had visited. This was easily the most colorful and peaceful world he had been to. Another reason to hurry up. He thought. As much as he wanted to take the first step, the view was just too great to simply ignore it. Zendikar was wilder and had similar looks, but the danger of exploring it made it a perquisite to concentrate on the task at hand. Here, however, it felt like one could have a picnic and forget about society. Or civilization in general. There was literally no threat at sight- “GRRRRRR,” Gideon heard a groan behind him. He turned around and saw a huge hydra staring down at him. Why did these things exist in every plane? He cursed his luck yet again and assumed his fighting stance. Apparently, only one of the heads was paying attention to him. It's eyes were big. Very, very big. The hydra's head had an almost anthropomorphic head. It could even frown and make more gestures than the other hydras Gideon knew. What really called his attention tough, was the other heads; one was chewing on a random bone and wasn't even looking his way; another was also staring at him but with curiosity instead of hostility, something it's facial features allowed; the last head was sleeping and smiled, probably because a good dream. It was really comedic. If Gideon hadn't encountered hydras before, he would've lowered his guard and laughed about it. The first head roared at Gideon and waited... then waited some more... then raised an eyebrow and turned to see the other heads not giving a living fudge about the situation. The head rolled it's eyes and angrily bashed against the sleeping one, which's eyes shot open to identify the aggressor. Realizing it had been one of it's brothers-in-body, it grit his teeth and glared at the attacker. Both heads started roaring at each other and Gideon simply scratched his head. He had never seen so much disarray on the behavior of a hydra before. He decided it was a good chance to flee and, with caution, slowly walked towards the forest. The inspecting head lowered and groaned, as if warning Gideon he shouldn't move. This made the planeswalker stop for a second and check the other heads again. They were still arguing. Good. He ignored the warning and kept moving. At this, the only focused head tried to move it's body, but was stopped by the other two, which were now also mad at it. They roared in complaint and the gesture was returned. Now, there were three displeased brothers. The last head shut it's eyes closed, trying to numb the rants of the others. When they were too loud to ignore, it joined the discussion to shut them all up. In the safety of the canopy, Gideon smirked in disbelief of what happened back there. Maybe that was just mere luck and not every predator was as clumsy as that, but something told him there would be no problem concerning his safety. He walked with fast pace through the trees and spiked bushes of the forest, fast enough to avoid every single danger the Everfree had to offer... and without even trying. A manticore saw the rare human passing by, and hid behind a bush to catch him. Oblivious, Gideon kept walking straightforward until he was right in front of the manticore. Then, he felt a crack beneath him, and the earth below collapsed almost instantly, making him fall into a muddy pit. The animal, for it's part, had leapt at Gideon with it's muzzle wide open right when this happened, making it crash headfirst into a tree. “Gah!” Gideon yelped when he hit the bottom of the pit. He rubbed his nape and looked up. He was at least ten feet down under. “Great,” he muttered. From behind, a stone crocodile lurked in the shadows, precisely waiting for something to fall. The crocodile approached silently and watched as the new prey jumped helplessly, trying to get a hold of a twig or branch he could use to get up. After a few more tries, the human sighed and knelt. The crocodile thought of this as a sign of resignation and took the chance to attack, launching itself at Gideon; but the latter didn't kneel to accept defeat or even think what to do, it was to take impulse and jump higher. He sank his fingers into the muddy dirt in a vane attempt to stay attached, but the wall was too wet and broke up too easily. Before he fell down again, Gideon felt something under his foot. A solid toehold. Even though he didn't know what it was, he used it to jump again and got out of the hole. Below, the crocodile munched on mud while grimacing. It was bad enough that the prey had escaped by stepping on it's head. A few more minutes of walking later, Gideon entered a zone of carnivore plants. Not a big deal considering most of the plants didn't dare make the first move because this was a new creature. Was it poisonous? Even if it wasn't, it was covered in metal... and biting metal was painful. The plants which had the courage to attack were either out of range or took a lot of time to make up their mind. One of them stretched as much as it could and bit forcefully, missing Gideon's hair by an inch. The other plants sighed and one even shook it's mouth while covering it with a leaf. Apparently, human wasn't in the menu of anything today. After a pretty uneventful hike, Gideon arrived to another field. There was a village just a mile away from there. An oddly familiar village. Taking his time to analyze it, his mind finally made the connection and a flashback invaded him: this was the place of his vision. This was the victimized village he saw. Since it was still complete and free of any signs of eldrazi presence, Gideon breathed in relief. He still had time before the attack. He took firm steps with his head on straight. It wasn't long before he got to the first building of the place: A store decorated with hearts, diamonds and other details Gideon considered too cheesy. There were also a few natives wandering around, so he could finally identify the type of creature they were. It seemed like this plane had given sentience to a few animals, which were now the main inhabitants of the world. Gideon didn't mind that much but it was still weird not to see another humanoid there. “Hello, stranger!” a voice cheered behind Gideon. The pupils of the warrior shrank and his battle reflexes made him turn around immediately and clench his fists. Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's self-proclaimed 'official greeter' jumped back and covered her face with her hooves “AH! Please don't hurt me I didn't mean to disturb you I swear I'll leave you alone if that's what you want in fact maybe we can talk any other time when you don't feel like harming innocent ponies such as myself sir!” Gideon lowered his stance and tried to process all of what the pony just said “Sorry, I just...” he left his sentence like that, unsure if he should apologize or ask what was that sneak-up about. “Oh, you're sorry?” Pinkie stopped covering herself “Well no harm done then! I was passing by to visit my friend Rarity over there-” she gestured the nearby store “-when I saw you and I was like-” she gasped “-what is that?! And then I realized you weren't an animal, or well, at east you didn't look like a regular animal,” she clarified “Then I looked closer and you were dressed and I thought: Oh! that thing must come to show off his clothes to Rarity!” The fact that the pony was referring to him as 'thing' really ticked Gideon, but it was hard to care when he didn't even understand the topic of conversation. “So I wanted to say hello and I did!” her excitement diminished and she looked down in shame “I'm sorry if I startled you, it wasn't my intention.” If there's one thing an extra-planar traveler appreciated, it was hospitality and gentleness. Gideon smiled and opened his mouth to respond when... “By the way, why are you wearing an armor? I mean, it's not like there's a war going on, is there?” “No... I guess not...” “Then again, maybe you did come to speak with Rarity,” Pinkie rolled her eyes “Silly me, of course you didn't come to speak with Rarity, I mean, Duh! She would've talked to us about you if she knew who you were!” Gideon began feeling a little harried by the situation. Who's us?! Is Rarity a name now? Maybe it was for the best if he didn't find out “Alright, alright, calm down,” Gideon put his hand in front of her, as a way to politely ask her to shut up “First of all, where exactly are we?” “This is Ponyville! the friendliest place in Equestria!” “Ponyville?” Gideon raised an eyebrow. “Yup!” Pinkie nodded with excitement. “Equestria?” he double-checked. “Yupperoni!” “And your name is...” “I'm Pinkie Pie!” she tapped her chin “Well, technically that's my nickname but it's how everypony calls me, so you can call me Pinkie Pie too.” Gideon took a moment to see the pony in front of him more clearly: Pink mane, pink coat... even her hooves were pink. Now he wore an expression that said 'are you kidding me?' “Is everything's name supposed to be a pun?” Pinkie giggled “That's a funny one!” “...It wasn't a joke...” “Tell me, what are you? I can't wait to show you around and introduce you to my friends! I can tell you everything you want to know!” Gideon wasn't sure if he liked the idea. This... pony... was like a more energetic yet more polite version of Chandra. And one Chandra was more than enough to deal with. On the other hand, he needed someone to show him around and the pony was eager to do just that. “I guess it's okay to give it a shot. Just one thing though, just tell me what I need to know about Equestria. Skip details, skip introductions, skip everything that's not vital information.” Pinkie's ears lowered “What? Skip all of that? But that's the fun part of the tour!” “I'm in a hurry. Believe me, you'll thank me when you know what I mean.” Pinkie smiled “You remind me of a certain donkey who just wanted to be left alone when he first arrived to Ponyville. Then, after we spent some time together he softened and now we're friends!” “Yeah, well, I'm not here to make friends. Also, could you stop speaking so loud? I mean no offense, but it's like you're screaming all the time.” Pinkie giggled “I'll try. Anyways, you didn't tell me what you are. Or your name, for that matter.” “Name's Giedeon Jura. A human warrior who fight's for justice and peace.” “Well, mister 'human', why don't you come with me so I can show you something more valuable than whatever has you in a hurry?” “I don't think that's possible, Pinkie. What the future holds is something that has to be dealt with today.” “How can you deal with tomorrow when you can't live today?” “Huh?” Gideon was slightly taken back by the question “What do you mean?” “You see, Giddy-on, if you stop enjoying what you have right now because you might lose it, you've already lost it.” Some birds landed on carousel boutique, directing their attention to Pinkie and Gideon; and proceeded to sing together in a coordinated rhythm. “I used to look out the window, And wonder 'what I'm gonna do?' Starlight's visiting tomorrow, It's Pound and Pumpkin's birthday too! My worries kept me up all night, How could I fail a compromise? But then I saw another side, It's better still to improvise!” Pinkie sang at the compass of the melody provided by the birds. It was a spectacle, really, and it made Gideon stand still; thinking it was all staged. “How... Wha...” the planeswalker shook his head and inferred the pony was just messing with him “You can't live always improvising. A bright future is determined by thinking ahead. Strategy and planning,” Gideon looked over his shoulder “Besides, what I'm about to encounter is no laughing matter.” “I've had to face dangerous situations too, I'll let you know. I was afraid, just like you, but there are certain things you can't expect to go as planned. That's when you have to rely on your friends and trust your heart! It's okay to think about the future, not to worry about it.” The birds were still singing and a few crickets joined the chorus. “If you think of scary monsters Scary monsters will appear, Think instead of pretty flowers, And you'll have nothing to fear!” As she was singing, Pinkie bounced from side to side of Gideon, making him shift uncomfortably. Clearly this pony had no idea what personal space was. “Yes, it's good to have a plan; Yeah it's nice to know what's next, But don't let tomorrow take Fun that you could have today!” Pinkie finished her verse with a wink. The song was catchy, Gideon had to admit. Although it still was obviously rehearsed “How about when you know the type of danger that's coming? Do you sit down and watch it happen?” “Nuh-uh! You get your friends and tell them about it. Together, I bet you can overcome anything.” Gideon sincerely didn't expect that type of answer. He was all about how the war wasn't over and Zendikar shouldn't celebrate, but he didn't ask for help either. But that's because they had bled enough... Right? He wanted to protect the inhabitants of every plane, that much he was sure of. What he didn't know is if he was willing to make Zendikar fight again, no matter the plane. Sure enough, unlike his fellow planeswalkers, the army can't leave their home; but if they could, they wouldn't fight for another plane. Much less if the attackers were the eldrazi. And the reason he left Chandra and Nissa out was because he wanted to keep them safe too. Altough it was risky and probably a bad idea. “What if you want to protect them?” Gideon asked. “What better way to do so Than standing by their side?” Gideon instantly thought of his battles beside his Irregulars, the Boros Legion and most recently, the Allies of Zendikar. For a creature who lived in a seemingly harmless plane, her words held great wisdom. Something that caught his attention. While he was recalling those battles, the wind played with the animal's melody, changing tones and making the rhythm even easier to get. “I realize now, thanks to your words, That in my rush I was indeed wrong.” Wait... Did I just...? Had he spoken to the compass? No, mere coincidence. Pinkie smilled almost maniacally at this. “No matter if the tempest comes, You'll be fine if you remember: That it's good to have a plan; It is nice to know what's next, If you don't let tomorrow take Fun that you could have toda-a-ay!” On the final sylable, an ending tune signifying the end of the song ran through the place. The birds flew in circles and flew away afterwards while the other animals dissipated, heading towards their respective lairs. It had been a short number, but it had been breahtaking nonetheless. The beauty of the scene was something unlike anything he had ever seen, and it made him smile and feel a peace of mind and spirit he had never felt before. At that time, Gideon allowed himself enjoy the greatness of life for once in a very long time. “It's incredible...” he whispered. “Isn't it?!” Pinkie beamed... Then, after a moment, she scratched her head with a hoof “Uh... What is?” “This place. Equestria,” he said with enthusiasm “From the scapelands to the clean air. It's... It's...” She's here. A familiar voice rang in his head, making him halt “It's...” She's here. His expression of happiness was replaced by a serious face. He looked at Pinkie, his fists now clenched “It's a place worth saving,” he finished. The pony wasn't sure what she did to make him angry; the human was clearly bohered by something. She didn't like when her victories were sort lived, but she'd do whatever she could to fix it. “Uh... Mister Giddy? Are you alright?” she asked with caution. “Righ now I am, Pinkie,” Gideon sighed “Right now I am.”