• Published 15th May 2013
  • 4,264 Views, 217 Comments

The Princess of Themyscira - iowaforever



Soarin' meets Diana, daughter of Hippolyta and Princess of Themyscira

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Leaving Manehattan

Leaving Manehattan

Soarin’ smelled food. At first he thought he was dreaming again, but when the smell failed to go away, he rolled over from his spot on the floor and saw Diana sitting against the far wall surrounded by several plates of fruit and baked goods. Soarin’ blinked a few times before sitting up, Diana looking up at him and smiling.

“I assume you slept well?” she asked.

“As well as I could.” he stretched and turned his attention to the food. “Where did this all come from?”

“Funny that you should ask.” Diana smiled a little wider. “This building has a function called ‘room service’ and I was able to procure these various pastries. It's much more efficient than anything on Themyscira.” she reached over and picked up a plate. “I believe these are called scones. Would you like one?”

“Uh, how much did all this cost?” Soarin' asked as he got out of bed.

“I’m not sure. I saw that the initial serving was a little sparse, so I gave the colt most of the gold you had in that pouch and he was kind enough to give me an extra helping.” Soarin’ blinked a few more times, his mind slowly piecing together the fact that Diana had just spent almost all of his money on breakfast. He sighed and stood up while Diana helped herself to a bowl of blueberries.

“Next time, do you think you could order a little...” Soarin’ looked over the multitude of food. “Less?”

“I suppose so. I would have asked you first, since I do not know your eating habits, but you were asleep and I did not wish to wake you.” Diana turned her attention back to the blueberries. “So? Where do we head next?”

“Uh... Well, I guess the next best place would be Canterlot." Soarin' said as he took a seat across from Diana. "Maybe the Princesses could be of help.”

“I have no doubt they will. My mother hosted Princess Celestia several times during her travels and-” she stopped. “Do you know of Mi Amore Cadenza, Daughter of Luna?”

“You mean Princess Cadance?” Diana nodded, popping another hoof-full of berries into her mouth. “I met her at that wedding a few months ago, but other than that-” Soarin’ found himself pulled in, Diana eye to eye with him.

“Cadance got married?” Diana cried before letting go of Soarin’. “Why didn’t she tell me? We grew up together... I helped make her an Amazon!”

“... Cadance is a Amazon?” Diana seemed to calm down, looking away and taking a few deeper breaths.

“Technically... she is not a full Amazon like me or my mother, but she has undergone most if not all of the training necessary to be an Amazon.” Diana raised her foreleg and pointed to the bracelet that adorned it. “This is the mark of our service to Athena, and of our sins in our past lives. If she were Amazon, she would bear identical bracelets.”

“Couldn’t she have just taken them off?” Soarin' asked.

“Removing an Amazon’s bracelets is very dangerous and foolhardy, unless you wish for us to go into a rage and kill everypony we can find.” Soarin’ sat in shocked silence as Diana shook her head. “That’s not important, what is important is why Cadance did not tell me of her wedding.”

“Nopony’s ever heard of Themyscira before and your invitation didn’t get delivered?” Diana glared at Soarin’.

“Cadance is the daughter of a goddess. I think she would have been able to contact me than simple invitations.” Diana looked away for a moment. “... Perhaps I am overreacting. I shall have to contact her as soon as Ares is defeated.” She continued eating, pushing a small plate towards Soarin’ with her free hoof. “You best eat. It should be a long trip to the next town and I don’t want to have to carry you the rest of the way.” Ignoring the insult to his stamina, Soarin’ pulled the plate in closer while Diana finished off the last of the blueberries.

“You know, if you’d saved a little money we could have just bought a train ticket to Canterlot and saved us a few days of travel?” Diana paused, looking at Soarin’ and raising an eyebrow.

“Why would I want to do that? I wish to learn more about your culture here, and I doubt I’d learn anything if I am contain in some... machine..." she shivered before continuing. "And before you ask, I did a survey flight last night; I know what these trains of yours are and, to be honest, they’re rather off-putting and wasteful.” She grabbed another plate of fruit. “Trust me, walking and flying is better.”

“Uh... Okay.” Soarin’ looked down at his food before looking up at Diana. “Wait, you said you did a surveillance flight last night.”

“Yes.” Soarin’ blinked.

“No one saw you, right?” Diana paused for a moment.

“Well, aside from the mare of the town watch and the criminals I had arrested I don’t think anypony saw me. Is there a problem with that?” Soarin’s mind short-circuited for a moment.

“Town watch... criminals... Diana, what exactly did you do last night?”

“I was flying along and saw a mare being assaulted by two rabble rousers. After defeating them I traced them back to a griffon who seemed to be in control of quite a few organizations, and although there was a brief struggle I managed to overpower him and bring him to local law enforcement, and I am sure they can handle him properly.” Soarin' sat there for several moments, doing his best not to let his jaw drop open.

“And... the idea that somepony might be freaked out by a flying Earth Pony never came to mind?”

“Soarin’, it’s not like I turned into some demon and began ripping ponies’ souls out." Diana looked up at him. "Your kind needs to know of what else there is in this world.”

“Well... Okay, but don’t you think you should take it a little slower?” Diana finished eating and stood up.

“Perhaps. If you object to something I am doing please rein me in before I do something foolish.”

“You’re a flying Earth Pony with a lasso that makes ponies tell the truth." Soarin' said, ears drooping. "What chance do you think I’d have at reining you in?”

“You’d be surprised.” she smiled. “Finish up; I want to start out as soon as possible.” Soarin’ watched as Diana exited the room and stepped out onto the balcony, looking out over the city once more. For whatever reason, Soarin’ found his vision drifting towards her flanks, but another mental image of being stabbed repeatedly by Phillipus forced him to shift his focus to the back of Diana’s head.

Maybe Firefly will take it easy on me if I say there’s someone who hates me more than life itself... Soarin’ sighed and looked away from Diana, unaware that she had looked back at him only a moment before.

“So... You and Princess Cadance were friends?” he asked, hoping to move on to something that might make Diana a little less urgent.

“Oh yes.” Diana said, re-entering the room and sitting down in front of Soarin’. “I met her when I was three. I snuck away from Phillipus during one of my trips down the the beach and I found her... examining tide pools or something. I convinced her to help me raid the armory and go kill a chimera, but my mother caught us before we’d even made it out the door.” Diana chuckled. “Of course, Cadance didn’t know she was there because a helmet had gotten stuck on her head, and she ended up knocking a pile of spears onto my mother and almost set the building on fire.” Diana’s chuckle evolved into a full laugh. “My mother... You should have seen the look on her face as me and Cadance stumbled out. You’ve met Celestia; have you ever seen her angry?”

“Kind of?”

“Celestia herself was freaked out by my mother’s initial reaction... Although she did end up laughing about it a few years later.” Diana gave a content sigh. “Cadance and I didn’t stop there; we used to cause so much trouble, Phillipus called us ‘Themyscira’s Little Terrors’. Admittedly I tended to drag Cadance into my schemes more often than not, but Cadance was far from innocent; she did actually set the armory on fire at a later point, just before she got her cutie mark... Well, that story can wait: it’s funnier when both of us tell it.”

“Oh..." there was a pause before Soarin' asked his next question. "So, you drifted apart?” Diana's face dropped as she looked away.

“She left Themyscira about twenty years ago... We did send a few letters, but after awhile we stopped communicating with one another.” there was silence as Diana stood up and returned to the balcony. Instinct told Soarin’ to go out and comfort her, but he was unsure if she would accept this or get angry at him because of some Amazon tradition.

I admire you for many things, a voice at the back of his mind said. Your indecision is not one of them. Soarin’ frowned, his ears flattening against his head. It seemed like he had suddenly become a plaything of powerful cosmic beings, and the possibility of one rummaging around in his head was very unnerving. He made a mental note to ask Diana about it as soon as possible, and to brush up on keeping his mind to himself once he had a more definitive answer.

As he looked down, he missed Diana looking back at him again.

...............

They said it required a toll to cross the River Styx and enter Tartarus. That was true for mortals, but Ares was a god; he would not be limited by the superstitions of petty weaklings.

He stepped through the gates and into the realm of the dead, foregoing his avatar for his true form of an armored-plated alicorn with glowing red eyes. With a quick glance around at his surroundings he walked further into Tartarus, armored boots clicking against the stone. Part of him expected to see tortured souls or a few monsters, but all he saw were fields of broken rock.

No matter, he thought. That will change once my plan is complete. “I know you’re here, Hades.” he called out into the shadows. “You can stop hiding from me.”

“You mistake my observation for cowardice,” a voice called from the gloom before a gaunt alicorn in a black robe stepped forward. “I have often wondered about your confidence; I never would have guessed that it translated to such disrespect.”

“I am not here to exchange pleasantries, Hades. I need your help.” the Lord of Tartarus made no reply, and Ares could not tell what expression he hid behind his robe.

“I do not wish to be involved in one of your schemes, Ares.”

“At the very least hear me out.” Ares stepped towards Hades. “I require the services of a few of the creatures you have lying about here. Just... a little stimulus to make the mortal realm more interesting.”

“And why would I care if the mortal realm is ‘interesting’ or not?” Hades asked.

“Come now, Hades, be creative; do you know what a good sized army of monsters would be capable of? If I can establish a foothold, I can start a war that would bring hundreds if not thousands of souls to your realm.” At this, the Lord of the Dead scoffed.

“All souls enter my domain eventually,” Hades turned away. I am not the kind of pony to rush their arrival.Ares frowned. He knew that Hades could be stubborn, but this was getting ridiculous. He quickened his step and managed to end up in front of Hades.

“You see, this is why nopony admires you," Ares said. "You are so set in your ways that you let opportunities like this pass you by.”

“And I suppose your impulsiveness has done wonders for you. Please leave me, Ares; you are wasting my time.” Hades made to leave, but Ares cut him off once more.

“Just give me a chance to show you that my plan is beneficial for both of us.”

“I understand what you wish of me, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to assist you. Now leave me, and remember to pay your toll before crossing the Styx again; Charon works too hard to be ignored, even by gods.” Hades managed to slip around Ares and disappear into the blackness. Ares’ frustration had risen considerably, his eyes narrowing and his boots digging into the rock beneath him.

“I knew I should have asked Poseidon for help; at least he enjoys a little wanton destruction.” Ares prepared to leave when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face the threat, drawing upon every combat spell he could think of, but hesitated when he saw it was only a smaller pony watching from behind a broken pillar. “Show yourself!”

“Okay...” was the only response Ares received. From behind the statue stepped the smaller pony, and now Ares could see that it was a cream colored alicorn mare with a flowing red mane. Realizing that the pony was of no threat, he lowered most of his defenses and stood a little taller.

“Persephone, I presume?" Ares asked. "I’m surprised to see that you have not succumbed to the dreariness of this place.”

“Oh no, I don’t think it’s that bad.” Persephone assured him, but Ares was not convinced. He walked towards her, the younger goddess shuffling around as he neared. “I, uh, could not help but overhear that you and my-”

“And why would I care to know what you heard?” Ares snapped, causing Persephone to flinch. “That discussion was strictly between me and Hades, not you.”

“Oh... okay.” Ares raised an eyebrow. Persephone was hiding something, and doing a poor job at concealing it. She noted his curiosity and took a step back. “I-is something wrong?”

“Many things.” Ares leaned in closer. “What do you know?”

“Know? About what?” Ares' eyes narrowed.

“Don’t play innocent with me, child. You know something that might aid me, now what is it?”

“I-I really can’t say...” Persephone mumbled, nervously shuffling her hooves.

“What is it?!” Ares barked, once more causing the mare to flinch.

“Okay... There’s a...”

“A what?” Ares’ patience, never too substantial to begin with, was beginning to run thin.

“An... an amulet. I think it was called the Alicorn’s Amulet. Y-you can use the amulet to open a portal to Tartarus and...”

“Yes, I can see where this is leading.” Ares smiled; why waste trouble trying to convince Hades of his plan when he could just take the demons for himself. “Where is it?”

“Um, somewhere in Equestria.” Ares glared at Persephone. “I-I don’t know where it is exactly! But you should be able to find it; it’s very powerful...”

“And how do I know you won’t just go and tell your husband about this?” Ares asked.

“Oh, I won’t.” Unconvinced, Ares glared at Persephone again. “I-I won’t! I promise I won’t, and you know-”

“Gods are bound to their promises.” Ares rolled his eyes and turned away from Persephone. “Why are you helping me, anyway?”

“Oh, um...” Persephone shuffled around a little more. “It does tend to get a little quiet around here, and I do wish to see my husband happy... it’s a lot of work to make him happy...” Ares groaned and continued walking, shifting back into his avatar as he approached the Styx.

At least something from this journey bore fruit...

Author's Note:

The whole "Naïve Newcomer orders more food than expected" bit was actually an older idea from one of my non-pony stories.
And now we get a glimpse of what Ares' big plan is, as well as backstory.
Next chapter: Diana and Soarin' arrive in Ponyville, cast members are met... and there may be a fight scene; still working on that.
I don't own Ponies or Wonder Woman. Likes and comments are appreciated, and if I screwed something up please let me know.