//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Warframe: Rebirth // by REDMAMBA //------------------------------// Chapter 1 Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria. The elegant city is home to many ponies. Mainly a town of unicorns it is -by no means- simple. Sophistication reigns supreme. From the bakeries to the clothing stores. It truly is the town for the elite few. At the west end of town, overlooking the Ponyville Valley, sat the Canterlot Palace. Home to the prestigious and loved, Princess Celestia. The mighty alicorn stands at about six feet tall, her entire body is covered from head to hoof in pristine alabaster fur, her rainbow-hued mane and tail flowed in the invisible wind with elegance… and grace. On top of her head rested a long, spear point white horn and on her back in between her shoulder blades sat a pair of massive angelic like wings. Today, like any other, she wore one of her many white dresses, along with her famous tiara, gold necklace and shoes. On this day, just like many before it, the sun sat high in the sky. Birds sang their songs while ponies milled about the many shops and markets that populated the city of Canterlot. Celestia casually walked through one of the many outdoor markets with two unicorn guards at her sides. Both were clad in their famous gold armor while they each sported shields and spears with short swords at their sides. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her little ponies. She was a kind and gentle ruler. But crime in Canterlot did happen, it was rare, but it did. While she walked she casually greeted passing ponies and even gave out a signature or two. Stallions tipped their hats while off duty guards saluted. Many a time -especially with young fillies- children would come running up. Many of them would say, “When I grow up, I want to be just like you!” This would bring a warm smile to muzzle. It always made her happy to see her little subjects smile. Before they left to rejoin their parents or friends, she would give out a hug or two. Walking along, she idly surveyed the produce market for her next meal. It’s not like she didn’t enjoy the castle kitchen. Don’t get her wrong they make a delicious triple chocolate cake. But sometimes, simpler is better. After a few minutes she spied a good sized stand. Getting in line she waited for her turn like anypony would. After a few minutes she reached her turn. The pony behind the stall panicked when she saw the beloved ruler as her next customer. Thinking quickly, she did the respectful thing and bowed. This caused the princess to raise a hand to mouth and giggle. “Rise, my little pony,” she said while lowing her arm. The mare slowly straightened her back. “W-What can I d-do for you… y-your highness?” the mare nervously asked. “One celery stick please,” Celestia said with a smile while holding up a finger to accentuate her point. A loud, low rumble went off behind her, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. Looking over her shoulder, Celestia caught one of her guards looking up from his stomach with a very light blush while the others face was scrunched in an attempt not to laugh. She smiled and giggled lightly while turning back to the mare. “Make that two please.” The mare nodded before grabbing a paper bag and two pieces of celery. Placing both sticks in the bag she handed them to the princess. Celestia kindly paid the bill, thanked the mare, and took the bag. Walking away the mare went back to her customers while Celestia reached into the bag and pulled out her meal. After tossing the empty bag in a nearby trash can she handed the second piece of ripened vegetable to the stallion guard on her left. “Lancer, did you skip breakfast again?” she asked. “Yes,” he replied before taking his stick and taking a big bite out of it. “You didn’t need to do that your majesty.” “Nonsense,” she replied, “I need my guards in tip top shape if they are to protect me properly.” She took a bite of her celery stick. “Yes your majesty,” he replied before taking another bite of his snack. One celery stick and a few stops later, Celestia and her escorts exited her favorite perfume shop. She took a quick whiff of her favorite vanilla perfume before placing it back in her bag before deciding to call it a day. Heading back to the castle the small group entered one of the main intersections of Canterlot. But something didn’t seem right, no pony was moving. Normally when she was out and about ponies would gather around to see the solar princess. This was not one of those times. The gather crowd had their head pointed to the sky. Many squinted their eyes while others used their hands to shield the blinding light. Following the looks of interest Celestia and her guards looked to the sky. All three of them sat surprised and rather confused. High above Canterlot a dark black streak connected to a tiny dark dot hovered high in the clouds. From the ground the dot was the size of an ant. From what she could see Celestia could make out a pair of wings like a pegasus, but they weren’t flapping like they normally would. A second later Celestia felt a ping of fear shoot through her body. To their horror, the crowd gasped when the pony separated from its wings. It flailed around in a frantic attempt to slow its decent. Off in the distance the smoking wings exploded in a massive orange fireball. Without a second thought Celestia dropped her bag and flared her wings. Using the earth pony magic with in her she pushed off the ground with enough force to cause the ground below to crater inward. Her massive wings propelled her faster than she had ever gone before. She was determined. She climbed as hard an as fast as she could. The closer she approached the terrified pony the louder the screaming became. That voice was filled with fear. To Celestia her scream increased in volume. Time seemed to slow the closer she got. 30 meters. … 20 … 15 … 10 … 1 “Gotcha!” She caught the pony bridle style. While she hovered she with the pony she out a heavy sigh of relief and closed her eyes. Her brow was covered in sweat and she was breathing heavily. She couldn't even remember the last time she worked that hard. But all that mattered was that the pony was alive and that’s what mattered most. Opening her eyes, she looked down to see what the pony she just saved looked like. She gasped. The pony in her arms was indeed not a pony. It was small, about the size of a preteen foal. It was fur-less, except for the top of its head, which was red in color. But it changed white or silver when the light caught it just right. Where its right eye should have been sat a dark black eye patch made of what appeared to be metal. Just above the patch sat a dark black scar. It had metallic implants on each cheek that were red in color. It wore a full body suit. It was black all around except for the red running down the center and the red metallic hood. Finally, on its hip sat a small metallic device. Something she had never seen before. It lacked the tell-tail signs of a pony. Small muzzle, ears located on the side of the head instead of on top, no tail, lacked hooves, and its body wasn’t covered in fur. After starting her descent, Celestia never took her eyes away from the mysterious child. Curiosity filled her mind as she examined every little detail of the foals face. Moving slowly, she took her time not to wake the unconscious child. Upon reaching thirty meters the crowd below celebrated at the amazing rescue. But Celestia chose to ignore the celebration. Landing on the ground both her guards ran up. Somehow they kept their composure throughout the whole situation. They waited for their next orders. Celestia looked up at them. “Castle… now!” *** The doors to the castle infirmary shot open and banged against the walls as a stretcher surrounded by doctors rolled through. On the stretcher sat the mysterious foal. Following close behind, Celestia followed the fast paced group, making sure to say out of the way. Quickly moving through the halls the group rolled through a final set of doors into the emergency room. Celestia stopped at the massive window that happened to sit next to the doors. Rolling the child up to the surgery table two doctors lifted the foal off the stretcher and onto the table. In the background nurses donned gowns, gloves and masks while the child was being transferred to the table. Rapidly switching places, the doctors went to their pre-surgery prep while nurses started to cut away the suit and take evaluations, which revealed more and more of the child’s body. Two doctors walked up to the table right as the nurses made their final cuts on the clothing. Peeling the suit away everypony’s eyes went wide. What they saw startled them… the child was covered in scars, bruises, and various cuts. Underneath the suit the child wore nothing but a single pair of white panties. It didn’t take any thinking to know the foal was indeed a filly. It also appeared that she was bleeding from a very serious cut in her side. “Alright, talk to me!” one of the doctors ordered. “Labored breathing, shallow heart rate, severe bleeding on the right-hand side!” a female nurse said. The doctor looked at the still bleeding wound. “Name, age, weight, blood type, allergies?” “We know nothing doctor!” the mare frantically replied. “Damn it…” he muttered, “I need a blood scan!” he ordered. The nurse giving the info nodded before she turned to grab a syringe. Looking down at the child he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “You’re in safe hands…” On the other side of the glass Celestia continued to nervously watch the doctors do their job. She knew they would do everything in their power to keep the filly alive. She trusted the castle doctors with her life. They were the best Equestria had to offer. “Princess?” A light voice knocked the princess out of her thoughts. Turning to face the voice she saw a blue colored female nurse in a white uniform holding a clipboard, standing nearby. “Yes?” “Are you hurt?” the mare asked. “No. Why?” The mare pointed to her majesty’s dress. Looking down Celestia noticed a rather large red spot drying on what used to be a snow white dress. Gulping slightly, Celestia looked back up at the nurse. “I saw blood… so I assumed…” “I’m fine… thank you,” Celestia said a little to quickly before turning to look back through the glass. Following the mare looked into the room. “She’s in good hands,” the mare assured. Celestia sighed, “... I know…” Tense silence filled the air in the hallway as both mares watched the surgery progress. “Princess?” the mare asked, causing Celestia to look back at her. “I need to know what happened?” “I-” “SHIT!” a muffled yet clear male voice screamed from the other side of the glass. Both mares watched in horror as the doctor pointed to one of the nurses before he put his surgical tools on a nearby table. “She’s flat lined! Shield, perform CPR! Syringe, defibrillator!” Nurse Blue Shield leaned over the young filly and placed her hands on her chest and started to perform CPR. Nearby Syringe grabbed the two shock pads of the defibrillator. Celestia took a horrified gasp and cover her muzzle with her hand when she realized what was happening. “Doctor?” Syringe said while holding out the pads. He took both pads from the mare while he said, “I haven’t lost a patient in fifteen years and I’m not losing one now! Shield, stop compressions!” the mare stopped her working and back away. He placed both pads in the proper areas. “You're clear, I'm clear, we're all clear!” The loud sound of electricity arching filled the air, causing Celestia to wince and close her eyes as the girl’s body violently convulsed on the table. “Shield!” Immediately the nurse went back to her compressions. All she could think about was the potential this child had. Sure she wasn't like anything she had ever seen, but she was a life and to a medical practitioner, all life was precious. Shield, like the rest in the room, were determined to save this young life. After another tense minute of compressions, she was ordered to stop. Stepping away the doctor repeated the process. “Clear!” The young girls back arched off the table yet again as the electricity coursed through her form. Repeating the process Shield stepped forward. “Wait!” The mare froze. Nervously they watched a nearby heart monitor. A loud *beep* filled the air before it was soon followed by a chorus of steady beeping behind the first one. Celestia, along with the rest of the nurses and doctors let out a relieving breath. “... Okay,” the doctor said, breaking the silence. “We need to stop the bleeding.” He started to go back to his bloody and used tools. “Princess?” the nurse asked, causing Celestia to look at her. “Perhaps it would be best to go to the waiting room?” “… Perhaps…”