I’ve seen Artyom writing in what looked like a journal on the ship, which made me think. How long had he been keeping it? What was he writing about? Was it even a journal? Maybe … maybe I should keep one, just so somepony would actually believe this crazy story. Though I doubt that they would believe my writing any more than what I say. Though, if swaying the Emperor’s mind is possible, which Quintus said it is, than maybe there might be others who would believe this adventure.
To Sway an Emperor’s Mind
~~~~~
(Thirty minutes after Entering the Palace)
Perspective: Shining Armor
“Currently the Emperor is in a meeting with a local merchant who has brought forth an interesting proposal to his attention, though you don’t want to hear about that, do you Prince Armor?” Quintus asked his usual rhetoric question, and I didn’t even bother to answer as he continued on anyway. “He’ll be ready to receive you in a few minutes. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable on one of the fine couches here?”
The moment Quintus finished gesturing to the couches behind me, he turned on his back paws sharply before heading through the large doors to the throne room. They shut as soon as his tail cleared the doorway. I wonder how many times a tail had gotten caught thanks to the guards who closed the doors.
It was a slightly humorous thought and I couldn’t help but lightly chuckle at the possible absurdity of such a thing happening to Quintus. That gryphon would chew the guards out shortly after his cries for help were heeded.
Sometimes I didn’t give Quintus enough credit, and I knew that too. He had worked hard to become an advisor to the Emperor, and not through shady political means either. Despite his natural affinity for playing the political undertaker role, Quintus was once much like me, a soldier in their nation's Legion. We had even been stationed at a joint outpost for roughly a year before the outpost was shut down, and it was there that we had become friends quickly.
Back then though, he had shown much less honour and tact than he did now, but even gryphons have to change for the better. Celestia knew, I was much more different now than when I was fresh out of Officer’s training. I was eager, excited to change the world, a true go getter, and a pony that would have never been so wary of new ideas…
That was a cruel joke to play, mind. Yet the truth would always hit like a train, and it would always leave one full of emotions. Guilt was the only one, and I couldn’t deny how big it was. I had treated Artyom like complete shit for the first little bit, and no matter my reasoning, I was stepping far past the line of being wary, and into the territory of downright hostility.
My ears drooped as I continued to contemplate how I had acted for the most part. Sure there was moments of me shining a more positive light towards him, but overall the message I had been sending was quite clear; I didn’t like him. But that wasn’t right anymore … now that I had actually taken the time to get to know him, despite it being a ‘suggestion from Cadance.’ Maybe, if I returned to my true roots, I could come to think of Artyom in a truly positive way, and maybe earn the right to say that I understand the magic of friendship.
“You still alive, Prince?” Quintus’ voice spoke up from beside me, stirring me from my thoughts.
“Yeah … just thinking about something,” I said, trailing off at the end, which Quintus picked up on.
“You sounded wistful there, something on your mind?” He asked, a concerned look on his face which caught me a little off guard. I didn’t vocally respond, instead shaking my head to answer ‘no.’ “Despite what you might think, Shining, I do care for those who I consider friends, so, if you need to talk, you know where to find me.”
That, was not something I expected from Quintus, but then again could I even say that I expected something from Quintus in the first place? His calm demeanor hid his true personality, and he was a wild card at best; always unpredictable.
“Thank you, Quintus. Now let’s go see the Emperor,” I said, hopping off my seat, and proceeding to walk past Quintus. He just nodded his head, for once not having anything to say in return. I didn’t care though, for I had more important things to worry about.
I had to steel my mind for what was about to happen, since the next few moment would be the deciding factor in what happens with Artyom, as well as general relations between the Gryphon Empire and the Crystal Empire. Emperor Galba was a cunning Gryphon and would undoubtedly have ways to try and influence my stance on what would happen to Artyom, so I needed to plan ahead of him. My first step had to be to find out what the hell was happening that the Gryphons even knew what Artyom was.
My thoughts were halted as what looked like the ‘merchant’ from before hoof walked through the doors to the throne room, the look on his face a curious one at that. It was a mixture between a scowl of displeasure and a cowering face filled with fear. Whatever happened during the meeting wasn’t something I wanted to see in pony, whatever it was that happened.
I noticed that Quintus had a small smirk on his beak while watching the merchant make his methodical retreat from the palace. Undoubtedly Quintus knew what had happened, or even had a part in the result of the little discussion.
“Your turn, Prince Armor,” Quintus said before stepping into the great hall. “Announcing Prince Armor, Co-regent of the Crystal Empire.”
I had done this enough with Cadance, that I knew what should happen after being announced. My legs moved without having to add in a second thought, propelling me forward at a nice even pace until I was at the foot of the throne. I swept my right foreleg across my left one, forcing me into a deep bow as a sign of respect for the Emperor, though I wasn’t done yet. To finish the little show of respect, I gave him a sharp salute before lowering myself into a sitting position in front of the throne. It was a show of submission to the Emperor, one that made sense, yet was a degrading thing to do for me.
“Ahh, Shining Armor, it is nice to see you again,” Galba started, speaking in a rather elated tone. “How is your wife doing? Not worried about her precious husband, galavanting across the world?”
Galba sound very amused today, and perhaps that was a good thing for me … or perhaps not. As per the status quo with Gryphon Emperors, Galba was the standard by which gryphons were judged. His feathers were the purest of white or the perfect colour of brown, with neither of them having any sort of discolouration or odd tinge to them. His feline half was a exact mix of gold and brown, while his talons had an almost shimmering yellow hue to them. His steely golden eyes watched over the room like a bird of prey, which happened to be the perfect descriptor for the Emperor.
Now, despite his pristine look to him, the Emperor was not one of those elitist types that was brought up with a silver spoon in his beak. No, he had come from a line of Emperors that had only gained their throne via proving themselves worthy of succession. To do that, they always served in the military, starting from the lowliest of ranks which forced themselves to prove to others that they should be a leader. Galba was no different, and though he served before my time, I had heard many stories speaking about some of the acts he had done while in duty.
Galba though, had not been the successor of the throne originally. His brother Altair had passed suddenly, leaving Galba as the next successor in line for the throne. A rumour had been spread around that Altair had been murder by Galba, but their was no definitive proof of that ever having happened, so it was shortly dismissed, even though a few of Celestia’s ‘inside’ sources had adamantly stated it was the truth.
That was the past though, and I had more than a few things that needed to be dealt with in the present.
“Emperor Galba, it is a pleasure to speak with you again, even if it is under undesirable circumstances,” I said evenly, not showing much emotion aside from a false smile. “Cadance trusts me to return home safely, and hopefully with company.”
Galba smirked slightly before leaning his head on his right talon, that was balled up, while the rest of his arm was positioned on the throne’s arm rests. “Now, now Shining Armor, we are both of a common status, why not drop the honorific? Though you may keep trying to flatter me if you wish.”
Oh, he knew why I was here, but he wanted me to show my hoof first and I refused to fall so easily into his trap. “So, Galba … I assume Quintus has informed you as to why I wished to have a meeting with you.”
“Aww, so direct, Shining. Whatever happened to the small talk? Has it truly become a forgotten art?” he asked, feigning displeasure for a moment before a smug grin grew on his beak once more. “Well, Shining, your assumptions are indeed correct, though I fail to see as to what importance the human is to you.”
I was going to interject, but Galba had only started, and I knew that he was going to come down hard with his next statement.
“It’s not like a valued ally brought an enemy of state into our lands, and trying to smuggle it in no less. Now, if you were perhaps unaware of such a thing aboard the ship, than maybe we could just leave it be and have the human executed for both of our pleasures but that is not the case no is it?”
My right ear flicked at that, as I refused to let him gain any significant ground against me. “Galba, while you are right that the human was in under my presence, I fail to see how he is classified as an ‘enemy of the state.’ In fact, he has never set foot outside of Equestrian borders until this day.”
Galba just proceeded to roll his eyes at me, lifting his head off of his talon and proceeding to stretch upwards slightly. As he finished his little stretch, he slowly descended from his throne, proceeding to walk down the carpeted steps before stopping right in front of me. After a few more seconds of silence, he spoke.
“You are trying to say that your Princesses have not heard of what has been happening in my lands?” he said, raising a claw to his chest.
Being this close to Galba, I only began to realize that during his tour in the Gryphon Legion, he had gotten more than a few scars. Multiple cracked lines traced his beak but also seemed to be downplayed a little, probably through some sort of makeup. The leg leading to the talon he had on his chest was cut up in many different ways, scars zig zagging up and down the leg. Undoubtedly there was more covering his body but I stopped focusing on his appearance, instead being forced to listen to his words.
“How dare you blatantly lie to my face, pony!” Galba shouted nearly at the top of his lungs, which, luckily, didn’t have the same capacity as Princess Luna’s. Now, proper protocol dictated that if one party started shouting, the other party could shout as well. “How dare you walk into my home and start demanding things, when all of this time, you and your Princesses have been keeping a tighter watch on us than your own country!”
“I’m not part of that anymore, Galba! I rule the Crystal Empire with Cadance and you know it, so don’t loop me in with Equestria’s spy network. I was a soldier like you, I don’t deal with that shadow crap and you know it! I respect my Princesses’ wishes, but I don’t get involved in whatever they do! I have my own Empire to run! You took my companion and now I want answers, Galba!”
“You, want answers? You, the hardly experienced Prince, want answers? You expect to walk in here and start demanding answers for things you don’t even understand?” he asked, raising his eyebrow in the process. The minute he finished speaking, silence fell across the room for a few extremely tense moments, which was quickly broken by a loud guffaw coming from Galba himself. “You have some gall to demand such things from me, Prince, but I can see that this one human means a lot to you, in whatever fucked up way. While I am a cruel hearted bastard, I do honour comradery and the bond that is formed.”
One thing that most others didn’t know was that Galba was known to have a rather … distasteful vocabulary. His crude language was one which was handed down from his old days in the Gryphon Legion, and fostered by his love to confront others. I would easily admit to using swears in my daily life but Galba went straight from ‘tasteful’ swears, down to the bottom of the barrel in a split second.
“Now, you said that this human has been with you inside Equestrian borders the entire time … hmm, and armed as well. Maybe this can work to my advantage indeed,” Galba said as he walked over to the guard stationed on the right side of the throne, in front of one of the three doors in the room. He spoke briefly in a hushed whisper before the guard saluted and proceeded to hustle out the door he was standing in front of.
“While your Princess’ policy of sticking her nose in other beings business is only a small step away from committing an act of war, I think your presence here might actually stop one, let us walk,” he said, motioning me to follow him. Despite the arguing that had just transpired, I dared not to refuse his ‘offer,’ another one of the many cultural standards of the Gryphon Empire.
“You see, Shining, while the Gryphon Legion is proud to bolsterer the most talented troops on all of Equis, we can be outmatched; though not by weak ponies, no offense,” he said in his arrogant tone, looking to get a rise out of me once more. Galba was a gryphon after a gryphon’s own heart: direct, blunt, and always looking to pick a fight.
“Offense taken,” I deadpanned.
“Aside from your princesses, there is currently only one other race that has bested our Legion, and that is how your friend ties into this play. Your friend’s race has decided to take it upon themselves to annex one of our towns, a town that is of rather large significance to us,” he said, continuing down the hall. Just like Canterlot, the halls of this palace were decorated similarly, with intricate murals, paintings, and statues but those weren’t as peaceful as Canterlot’s.
“Woah, woah, woah,” I said, halting in my steps. “His race? Galba, are you sure you aren’t going senile? Artyom told us that he wasn’t even from anywhere we knew of, let alone this world! How could his race have invaded?”
“While I have many answers, I do not presume to know all of them, including whether or not you have been lied to,” he said with a casual flick of his claw. He was trying to force me to turn on Artyom, I just knew it. “Either way, others that look remarkably like your friend have taken a town of ours.”
“You said an important town?” I asked, pondering for a moment what types of towns would be that important, then it struck me, “A foundry town.”
“Rather astute, Shining,” he said, glancing back at me with a smirk on his beak. “The town of Usaaly is the one currently under … occupation. While one factory is usually not the biggest of deals for us, this one is especially special, you see,” he said, rolling his claw, hoping that I would pick up on it.
“Gunpowder,” I said in a mere whisper.
“Exactly. That town is the only one that currently can produce the stuff, what with a nice little mine being right next to it. Of course you already know that don’t you?”
“Cut to the chase, Galba. We’ve already established that we both have sources from within,” I said, a snarl threatening to break free from my lips.
He merely rolled his eyes at me, before stopping in front of a specific door, and from my guess, either it had something to do with what was going on, or Artyom was behind that door. Though that second idea was banished quickly, for the room behind the door looked to be more of a strategy room, but far from the one his Legion actually used. How could I tell? Aside from a map, a few drawings attached to a bulletin board, and two guards, there was nothing else in the room. Hardly an operations center, more like a room for visitors.
“Of course, we can’t allow you inside the Legion’s headquarters can we, Shining. No, that would be bad form for a gryphon of my position,” he said as he moved to one side of the map that was situated on the lone table in the room. Dear Celestia, the room was completely barren, the Gryphons really didn’t care much for making their ‘guests’ feel comfortable. “Now, Shining, while I would love to have your ‘friend’s’ head on a pike to give a nice rallying cry for the soldiers, I think there is a better solution to this. One that hardly involves Gryphon lives in fact.”
Yeah, that wasn’t a good sign.
“Now, it would be unfair if I was to disclose my ideas prior to going over it with my generals, but I figure I can leave you to view this information here. Just, imagine, Shining, you will be helping the Gryphon Empire kept its sovereignty intact, and strengthen the bonds between our nations. Of course, that is if this doesn’t kill you!” Galba said with a laugh before walking out of the doors, the guards following behind him before taking their positions outside the door. Hardly a moment passed before he looked back in, “oh, and when you are done, the guards will escort you to the guest room prepared for you. Feel free to take those copies by the way, we have better ones.”
I didn’t even have time to nod or get in another word before he disappeared once more, off to do whatever crazy work he had to do. Seriously, that gryphon was a psycho on good days; I couldn’t fathom what he would be like if he was ever truly mad. I shook my head slowly, trying not to go too deep into trying to figure out a being more mad than Discord.
I turned around, focusing on collecting the tidbits of information that Galba had left me, which from the look of it was hardly anything. First was the map, that would be my starting point.
The map was a complete representation of Usaaly from above, though the houses were nothing more than black shapes that most likely depicted general size. The town was surprisingly large, and would be closer to being labeled a city than anything. On the western side, the town was made up entirely of houses or stores, it wasn’t clear on what they were. There was a few larger buildings but they were most likely warehouses or something for storage. It was surprisingly close to how Ponyville was made up though, with each building having a small back alley road in between and behind them.
The town wasn’t extremely spread out but the spacing would be a problem for infiltration since there was so many opportunities for ambushes. The town would be tough to take, even with an army. All one would need to do was put in some key roadblocks and an entire unit could be boxed in easily. That of course was the west side; the east side was entirely different in how it was comprised.
The entirety of the east portion was made up of buildings that connected to a massive factory building. A massive rectangle, roughly five times larger than any other building, took up the middle of the complex. Connecting rectangular buildings surrounded it much like a parapet surrounding the top of a tower. The map showed lines connecting these buildings to larger one, maybe walkways, it would be tough to tell without actually seeing it.
After gaining a general understanding of the layout of the town, my focus shifted to multiple red circles and X’s that were scattered around the map. There was notes beside them written in Common, which was a written language that every nation used in order to keep common ground, despite most nations being able to speak Equestrian. The notes mentioned ambush points, encounters with the enemy as well as…
I felt a little bit of my breakfast coming back up, as I read one notes that was next to a circled X. My god, how could these other humans do such a thing?!
“‘Encountered completely burned bodies of civilians, burned alive,’” I read the first line of the note out loud before moving to the next line underneath it, “‘Civilians with dismembered body parts … hatchlings included.’”
I shuddered visibly, withholding the bile coming back up out of my stomach. What these humans did was beyond despicable, and these were the same that Artyom came from? I shuddered a few more times imagining the sheer barbarism that he must have saw each day. Was he like that? Was there a chance that maybe he would be capable of such things?
As much as I hated to admit it, I was starting to actually see him in a good light, the man not doing anything to keep my original hate. This though … no I couldn’t jump to conclusions, I had to find out the truth. Cadance had asked me to keep an open mind with Artyom and not be so headstrong regarding him, I would abide by her wishes.
I tore my eyes away from the map, using my magic to roll it up without even looking at it. I kept it hovering in my magic as I looked over to the portraits that were on a pinned on the bulletin board. They were sketches made up from who knows what, but they were nearly perfect representation of what others of Artyom’s kind would look like, at least that was my guess. Besides the three drawings of the human, there was a couple sheets that also had rough drawings of different types of gear. I somewhat recognised most of them but the one that stood out was a near perfect drawing of the weapon that Artyom had used back in the tunnels.
My face paled at that, maybe Galba was telling the truth after all. I needed to talk to Galba again, and Artyom as well. My mind was starting to piece together the idea that Galba had, and the direction it was headed was not a pretty one. I needed to think, but not here; but rather back in the room I had been given.
I took the pictures with me before walking out of the doors. The guards instantly flanked me and directed me down a hallway towards what I knew was the guest side of the castle. Things were horrifically wrong here, and I only hoped that Artyom could survive till I had a chance to confront Galba again.
So Artyom is going to go kill these people? If so please have him take the guns.
5120197
How could he possibly carry all of those guns?!
5120209 If he can't can he throw them into a smelter?
5120224
Think of all the impure metal! Oh, don't worry something will happen to them *cackles evilly*
Though you won't be able to guess it! Plot twists up the wazoo!
I smell a hint of sieg heil...
5120231 Don't let the Birds or the Horses get them, please!
PLEASE!
5120242
Maybe the Diamond Dogs get them? Maybe Dragons? Maybe more humans? Maybe no one get's them? Maybe Artyom finds a back to pack them all in and carry it on his back... okay the last one is a 100% no.
You'll have to wait... which is going to be a rather long wait unfortunately.
At first I wanted to despise Galba and his words. Then I remembered he was talking to one of the Celestial Sisters' obedient little minions, who just so happens to be the POV character. And then there were the crimes Yeah, he's justified.
Realization and regret, Armor. They taste like shit, don't they? I hope you drink up a fucking CUBE of it before shit settles down, you weak-minded asshole. I'll be laughing at your face when you take a bullet to the horn.
Now, gotta say Artyom is being extremely passive and only slightly reactionary. While so far it befits the plot, I'm gonna urge you to give your readers their fix of sneaky Ranger badassery. Shake this dancefloor up, DJ!
im starting to see the plot of metro last light
5120281
Woah now Jack, I think you are off your rocker! Well... at least with that second paragraph. Now I really want to know what you see coming next and where this came from!
I have a feeling it's either nazis or the reds that did this, or perhaps humans from those 'vaults' on the world they are in now. So many theories, so little time.
5120311
So many! Yet only one can survive!
WELP! NAZI SLAYING TIME! JUST LIKE COD! Unless it was the reds... or Hansa? That would be a twist, they never really did anything in the games. No... reds and Hansa would be like "The hell is with the talking griffons?" while the Nazi's would be all "INFERIOR RACE MUST BE PURGED!"
5120318 Holy hell, you finally update! Sweet.
5120462
Finally? Where were you last week??
well this was a stupid tern in the story
5120517
Oh?
5120318 indeed for it is the ultimate showdown, for the ultimate theory! As far as the mind can think, good, bad and dumb theories. I wonder which will survive?
5121244
Yep, I did that back then.
That actually took me a second to remember
I'm going to guess the Reich or the Red Line
5121433 I would go the Reich, because of there hatred for mutants and such.
5120304 I know you know I know what's coming next. Don't play shrewd with me.
As for Armor, that's for several reasons.
• He has been nothing short of an asshole even when given no reason, as he himself realized.
• Khan's words ring true, but Armor hasn't reaped what he's sown nearly enough. One grapple-squeeze from Artyom's not even close to enough.
• I don't give a shit what he thinks of himself and the bunch of incompetent jobbers Equestria dresses in gold and calls Royal Guard, he is the inferior soldier here. All he is is an incompetent shrimp of an armchair officer that can't handle a real physical threat by himself, and needs Artyom to cover his ass. As such, he has no standing to think he's a Ranger's equal even in passing. Just the notion is insulting.
• He needs a wife to be reasonable for him, i.e. he doesn't watch for reason for himself. And he only does that because he has a promise of having holes to stick his dick into.
So you see, I have been given no inkling of a reason to like him. I only want him alive because he's that annoying little shitstain of a sidekick with an attitude that you need to open doors and explain foreign things for you that you can't recognize straight away, like Tatl the fairy in Majora's Mask.
5120473
lol I haven't been here in a while. I'm preoccupied with Alien Isolation:
The fact that these humans (or at least some of them) are described as having equipment just like Artyom's has me wondering if the Rangers are, somehow, involved.
Hear me out! Put those pitchforks down!
If they are, that brings up the questions of A) How? B) Why?
Did they pursue some other group? Maybe the Nazis are up to more of their shenanigans and the Rangers are there trying to stop them. Or maybe the Reds decided to extol the 'virtues' of communism to the griffons, who took offense and now have to be protected.
Did they themselves take the town? This one leads to other questions, such as :
- Why would the Rangers, people who seem to be genuinely interested in nothing more than protecting others, assault a community that, so far as we know at this time, did nothing to either them or the Metro.
- Why would Rangers massacre innocents like that, especially when such an action is so out of character?
- What could the griffons have done to possibly justify an op like this?
- Is it possible that we're dealing with rogues, somehow?
- - - Why would this group of Rangers have gone rogue?
- - - - - - Are they perhaps extremists; does 'not human' automatically mean 'hostile' to them, regardless of behavior?
Or maybe I'm way off mark and just rambling.
EDIT:
Irrelevant part removed to get rid of unintended implications. No idea what why I included it.
5122880 You forgot one very important question, definitely the most important of all:
- What if the invaders are not Rangers, but other factions with a track record of depravities and atrocities?
5123265
Oh shush, Jack. Let people hypothosize until next week.
5123339
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140604173645/s4s/images/b/b9/Topkeks.gif
5123265
I believe I did cover that:
I don't think the Rangers are the invaders. I'm sorry if my post made it looks I do; I probably should have worded it better (and will when I figure out how).
I do suspect that they're there, and in some way involved with the situation.
Like I said, though, I could be way off the mark, and the only Ranger at all involved is Artyom.
are the dark ones going to show up at all ?
5122499
Toy army with toy commanders and toy soldiers.
Two chapters in quick succession? I'll take it.
I've got a few hunches of what and where this is going, but I'll just have to wait and see.
mlpforums.com/uploads/monthly_07_2014/post-26748-0-21931600-1406731241.gif
The Red Line and Hansa aren't likely to do such brutal acts, which just leaves the Fourth Reich. Well you better don your best Nazi killin' gear, BECAUSE SH*T JUST GOT REAL!!
'Altair' has six letters, and there were two brothers. Six divided by two makes three. HλLF-LIFE 3 CONFIRMED!!!!
5124349 knowing them. The dark ones was the "Host" of Artyom's vision.
Nazis. DEFINATELY nazis.
5144340
5517157
*turns to the right* William.
On it!tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Me456b1c2e528e3900138008798201f0eo0&pid=15.1
Maybe theirs some rangers as well.