...And the Start of a New One
The warmth of a crackling fireplace, the comfort of a sturdy old couch, and the memories only her favourite tea could bring. The mare could be at no other place than home, not one of her usual haunts.
At least it hadn't been for the past half year.
Ambassador Windy Leaves was enjoying the very last moments of her short, well-earned vacation. Or at least she considered it well-earned, since being sent to a tiny, overpopulated island halfway across the Eastern Sea did ask more of her than she ever bargained for.
Sighing contently, she glanced outside and saw the Sun still hadn't breached the horizon.
Princess Celestia seemed to have delayed her duty by yet another minute. Very unusual, but welcome nonetheless. The mare just smiled, enjoying not being responsible for once in awhile. She thanked the princess for her consideration, as it gave her some extra time to gently finish her cup.
Leaving the warm comfort of her couch, Windy made her way to the kitchen and started making work of cleaning her cup. She liked everything tidy like that.
She took a look through the window in front of her. It being dark outside made it that she could see her own reflection above anything else. Windy tisked, noting that she looked rather tired, unbefitting of an Equestrian Ambassador.
A faint, orange glow started filling the abandoned street, drawing the mare’s attention. The glow brightened, and as Windy Leaves craned her neck to take a better look, a deep set of knocks sounded on her front door.
The mare jolted back and frowned. She couldn't recall having any business with anypony, certainly not at this hour, and they were carrying torches, something a regular visitor wouldn’t be doing.
The whole situation had her on edge. Not two weeks before, she had laid eyes on some disturbing reports. Those of enigmatic ponies in white armour.
Another pair of knocks, this time harder.
Windy approached the door, orange torchlight eerily shining through the little matted windows.
She pulled a straight face. Hay, she was a Canterlot official! She hadn't done anything wrong so surely, whatever it was on the other side of the door, it couldn't possibly be what she feared.
She inhaled deeply as if about to jump in water, and her hoof twisted the handle. The door creaked open, revealing three armoured ponies.
Windy released her breath. The armours were golden, not brilliant white.
Before she had a chance to, the midmost stallion spoke up with a gentle voice.
“Ambassador Leaves?”
Windy nodded, “Yes.”
The guard seemed relieved, though continued rather hastily. “My name is Jet. We're with the Royal Guard. You'll have to come with us at once, there isn't much time.”
Windy frowned at the guard and looked him over, searching for anything that would signify any rank. She found nothing, and concluded he was but a lowly Royal Guard soldier. She responded accordingly. “Not before I know-”
“That's the thing, Miss,” Jet interrupted. “We're taking you to Ponyville Pond. Don't know for what exactly. You should bring all of your gear. And I was told to empathise all,” the last word sounded more as a question than anything else.
Windy's eyes widened, only just starting to tie ends together. “Truly?” she half-asked. Jet simply nodded.
“Right, one second,” she managed to answer before running back inside. She bolted upstairs and quickly made her way into a little storeroom stuffed with her more unusual gear.
Strap after strap, she took way more than the requested one second, but after looking herself over in the mirror, she deemed herself ready to go.
On the way back her new ensemble jingled with every step. She could definitely feel the added weight on her frame, but being an earth pony, she could take it. It took some time for it to sink in, however; she was wearing armour.
The soldier named Jet looked her over as she neared them, and Windy saw him crack the smallest of smiles. “Alright, now just follow us, Miss,” he ordered.
Windy Leaves obliged, following the guards into the silent Canterlot streets. Her eyes took in the sight of Canterlot Palace, rising well above the surrounding buildings, sitting on that mountain slope way to quietly.
Jet followed her gaze. “The palace is completely locked down,” he spoke. “Princess Celestia has assembled the Wall, so we know this isn't just an expensive drill.”
Windy nodded in understanding, though felt a twinge of fear hearing Jet mention the Wall of Light. She knew next to nothing about the ponies clad in white armour, though having read a few reports, she felt more than safe to assume they were a far cry from your average guards.
The mare continued following the group until eventually arriving at an empty marketplace. Five golden flying chariots stood there, complete with pegasi strapped on and ready to go. Three other ponies, armoured as she was, were each standing on a chariot, accompanied by a guard. Windy realised that these were ponies just like her, being taken by the guards for whatever purpose.
“You're taking the left one,” Jet spoke. “Wisp will join you,” he continued, gesturing to the guard next to him, who nodded eagerly. “The rest of us will escort you in.”
Windy nodded as well and looked at the small crowd watching from a distance, undoubtedly wondering what was going on. She could sympathise; they probably knew just as much as she did.
Several minutes later, high up into the still-dark sky, the five chariots had begun flying in a wedge formation. Being in the middle one gave Windy Leaves the opportunity to take a good look at the other three ponies.
Two males, one female, all of them unicorns. She didn’t recognise the stallions from anywhere, and even though she had seen the mare in Canterlot Palace on a few occasions, she didn’t know her by name.
The sultry red unicorn noticed Windy looking over at her. “My name is Saffron,” she spoke calmly, but confidently.
“Windy Leaves,” the earth pony responded in kind, visibly nervous.
Saffron smiled kindly at that. It was the prettiest thing Windy had seen that day. “Windy Leaves, do you have any idea why this is happening to us?”
Windy shook her head. “No,” she answered, eliciting a nod from the other mare. Her training kicked in and she systematically started asking questions. “Think,” she started, seizing the unicorn’s attention. “What do we have in common?”
“What do you do for a living?” Saffron asked.
“Ambassador,” Windy answered, followed by her subrole. “Judge of Intent. You?”
“Ambassador,” the red mare smiled wryly. “Courtier.”
“Ah,” Windy uttered, only slightly surprised, taking the mare’s looks. Undoubtedly there was some dangerously sharp wit in that pretty head of hers. Taking the current situation, Windy suspected the other mare to be lying, as Canterlot Courtiers mostly doubled as spies, but of course the unicorn wouldn’t tell her that.
“I’m a biologist,” the white stallion on the leftmost chariot chimed in.
From the other side, the pale yellow stallion joined the discussion. “I’m a linguist,” he added.
“So we are scientists and politicians,” Windy concluded. “Gather them and fly them somewhere, where to would that be?”
“I’ve participated in government mobilisations before,” The biologist said, “preparations for certain scenario’s-”
“Is that what this is?” Windy Leaves asked.
The stallion shook his head. “No, whatever this is, it’s not a game.”
Windy bit her lip nervously, and took a look around. They hadn’t even left Canterlot yet. This was going to be a long flight.
The remainder on the trip was done in total silence. Nopony spoke a word, not even the guards themselves did. Windy could smell the fear and feel the tension, which both only grew stronger as they neared their destination. Just above the horizon, Celestia’s Sun had finally started its ascend. Below them, she could see the quaint little village named Ponyville, and noted that they had started to descend.
“Over there!” Saffron exclaimed, pointing a hoof. Windy followed her direction, and saw it as well.
It looked as if the whole village had gathered near the lake, complete with little stalls seeking to profit from the little excursion. Windy feared the crowd would make this situation, whatever it was, not all that easier.
The three chariots circumvented the whole site, looking for a place to land. Windy could make out the golden sheens of armour near the middle of it and could feel the situation was bad. If things got out of hoof, the great mob of ponies could become an even bigger problem.
“Just land!” she heard Jet exclaim, “They’ll make room for us.” And like that the chariots began landing. Below, she could hear the startled shouts of ponies and the bellows of guards as the mob was forced to part beneath them. Windy pressed her lips together, not approving of how the guards were handling this, though understood the necessity.
The landing was rough and clumsy, a testament of their haste, and Windy was glad that they were on solid ground. As was the case with most earth ponies, she never liked flying.
“What took you so long, Jet?” a voice asked. Windy looked and noted that they were already surrounded by guards. The lead one walking up to the chariot to her left.
The older guard didn’t wait for Jet to answer, and turned to the mare in the back. “Apologies, though you must understand the dire haste of this situation, Ambassador Saffron,” his stiff expression softened as he looked at her.
“But it’s quite alright,” Saffron answered with a flashing smile, and the guard seemed to melt on the spot.
The red mare said something else, though Windy didn’t hear it. She snorted and turned to step out of the chariot, where another guard greeted her.
“Good morning, Ambassador,” the guard spoke. Much to the mare’s agitation, he didn’t call her name, most likely because he didn’t know who she was.
“It’s Ambassador Windy Leaves,” she corrected calmly, yet sternly. “What is going on here?” she continued.
The guard pressed his lips together. “A new contact, most likely. But I really can’t say for certain.” The mare recoiled as if hit on the nose. Her lips felt dry as a desert all of the sudden, and she licked them nervously. She was excited, and also frightened.
She nodded and spoke, “Bring us there.”
******
“Is it really?” Saffron asked to nopony in particular. Windy glanced at her but didn’t answer, being lost in thoughts of her own. The group of four was being escorted by as many guards, apart from Jet. “Move, everypony, let us through!” Jet bellowed, successfully creating a path through the otherwise impenetrable mass of ponies.
Windy craned her neck in all kinds of directions, trying to see ahead, though all she could see were the nervous or otherwise impressed looks of ponies. Eventually though, they seemed to had gone all the way through, as at last the mass parted to reveal a sizable open space.
Her eyes immediately fell on the purple regal armour, with golden trimmings shining violently in the morning sun. She knew this one by name. “Shining Armor,” she spoke softly.
The large stallion spotted the group from a distance and walked up to them. Windy could tell by his stride that he was nervous.
“Celestia’s blessing,” the captain greeted with a nod. The surrounding guards made the sign of the Sun on their breastplate with their right hoof.
Windy nodded and was about to speak until Saffron stepped forward and made the sign on the breastplate of her own. “Celestia’s blessing,” she repeated, her voice beautiful as it always were, though it sounded stern, and she didn’t smile. “What is going on here, Captain Armor?”
Windy looked at her, and was reminded of the dangerously sharp wit. She nodded in respect, albeit nigh invisibly.
Captain Shining Armor stared at the red mare for a second too long, before snapping out of it. “We found something, a creature. It may be a new contact,” he spoke plainly and clearly.
“How can you tell?” the yellow stallion asked. Windy almost forgot about the linguist. “Good question,” she commended.
Shining Armor nodded, “Come. See for yourself.” He then turned started walking. The group stuck closely to him as he lead the way. “We’ve been here for hours, it’s been unconscious the entire time,” he explained before turning. “Be careful, we don’t know what this is or what it can do. We will stand back and be vigilant.” The four ponies nodded. “You will listen to any order I give you, it is for your own safety.” Having said his say, Shining stepped aside, taking his guards with him.
Windy’s eyes widened at the sight. She could hear Saffron gasp and the stallions murmur nervously.
She wasn’t quite sure what lay there, the shape was strange to her. It was large, whatever it was, and lay on its side. It also wore clothes, she saw. She pushed herself to approach it, and the other three followed her closely.
“Sweet Celestia,” she whispered as she noticed its head was drenched in dried blood. She looked over at Shining Armor, and beckoned him with a slight movement of the head.
“There isn’t any blood on the ground?” Windy half-asked. “Did you move it?”
Shining Armor shook his head. “No, of course not. We found it in this state and position.” Windy nodded at that and continued her examination.
Saffron spoke up softly. “What is it? I’ve seen the entire world, but nothing even closely resembling this.”
“It’s male,” the biologist answered, gaining everypony’s undivided attention. “Look at its head,” he directed, “Sharp jawline, squary chin. Just the overall look, actually, its face looks kind of rough.”
“Did he get a kill, then?” the linguist asked. “I mean, it could have eaten and made its way here afterwards.”
The biologist shook his head. “No, there’s no animal that get blood all over itself like it’s the case here.” He received a few interested glances from his company.
Saffron frowned at that. “So the blood is his own?” she asked with a twinge of uneasiness.
The biologist didn’t answer, too occupied with looking at the strange being. “It’s blood is red, it must have haemoglobin,” he finally observed, before taking a pair of gloves from under the plate on his left pastern. He quickly put them on, then scraped some of the dried up mess off the creature’s cheek and looked closely at the substance on his glove, simply humming in wonder.
Windy leaves followed suit. Without glove, though, she brought her hoof to the creature’s upper lip, and revealed blood stained teeth. “Careful, ma’am” Shining armor warned from a few meters away.
“You see that sharpie over there?” Windy asked to nopony in particular, letting loose of the lip. “Now we know what it eats.” Her comment was answered by nervous muttering.
“The blood patterns are all wrong,” Saffron commented. “It looks like he bled, a lot,” she lowered her head to look at the creature’s more clearly. “Yes, it suffered major haemorrhaging from the nose, as well as the mouth and ears.”
Windy, as well as the others, looked at the red mare intently, and nodded. The courtier may just have blown her cover somewhat, but as Windy glanced at the others, she realised nopony else really added things up.
Saffron grimaced, “Do you hear that?” she asked, though Windy heard nothing.
“I do,” the yellow linguist answered. “Stars, what is that?” The biologist started groaning.
Windy didn’t hear anything, but could feel it. The air felt icy cold all of the sudden, but Celestia’s Sun shone just as brightly. She felt a strange feeling inside, one of unease, like a presence of some kind.
“What is that damned drone?!” the biologist cried out. “I can’t hear myself think, I need to get away from here.”
The air around them grew increasingly cold and tense, and even though Windy Leaves didn’t hear anything like the others did, she swore she could feel the air vibrate in her chest. Was this connected to the creature still laying in front of them? Her eyes widened in pure shock. It was moving.
Shining Armor saw it happen as well. “Get back, the lot of you!” he bellowed. Windy complied, and started stepping backwards, Saffron and the two stallions followed suit. She saw several guards run up to the by now clearly conscious creature, and witnessed as they neared proximity, how some of them recoiled with a scream as if hitting a solid wall.
It dawned to her as a summer Sun. “It’s the unicorns!” she yelled, eyes wide in surprise.
“Get back, the lot of you!” Shining armor bellowed. His command was well received, as the four ponies quickly backed away from the unknown creature. It took only one gesture to have his guard running towards the possible threat, ready to respond accordingly.
As Shining approached as well, he saw three of his guard recoil in pain, their screams filling the strangely cold air.
“It’s the unicorns!” he heard Miss Leaves shout, and she was right. The ones hurting were, indeed, unicorns. The others, earth ponies and a couple pegasi, were startled by the sudden event, but otherwise unharmed.
This was something new, unexpected. He thought quickly, trying to figure out what to do. “Wisp, Vale, Falls!” he called the unicorns by name, “keep your distance!”
Shining Armor forced himself to near the still prone creature, which seemed to be shivering and shaking where it lay.
Suddenly, where the air was at its coldest, Shining felt it also; a piercing pain in the back of his head. It was nigh unbearable, but he bit through the pain and fear. He had a job to do, and had made Paragon Warden a promise.
“Keep your guards safe, Shining Armor,” Warden had said. “I’ll want every single one back, unscathed. Now go, I remember you saying you’re ready for this.”
By sheer willpower, Shining approached the creature, which was now surrounded by spear-wielding guards. It moaned, and seemed to be in very bad shape.
“It requires medical attention, somepony get a doctor!” Shining shouted. Behind him, he heard a vague acknowledgement and somepony ran off. The thing was now looking at him with little green eyes.
*****
Alex felt as if he backed over a hundred pints too many. He was barely able to see anything as the world was spinning before his eyes. The voices he heard were muffled and distorted, as if he had wool stuffed in his ears.
Cold.
He had never felt this cold in his entire life. The sensation was more than torture, but eventually he felt it starting to subside, albeit very slowly. With the cold also the dizziness was starting to decrease. He felt nauseous. He felt like he was going to..
His entire body cramped up as whatever was in his stomach was being expelled. He couldn’t taste it, but as everything did, it felt horrible. He opened his eyes and recoiled in shock as he witnessed a strange black goop. His mind suddenly a lot more clear, he wondered if that’s what came out of him. He rolled back over on the other side, and couldn’t believe his eyes as he looked up.
He was genuinely convinced now none of this was real, though the sensation of his stomach cramping up again proved him wrong. He forced the feeling down, and was glad that it went away.
Alex couldn’t quite make up what exactly was standing there in front of him. A small, colourful horse like creature, was the last thing he expected to see. Looking past it, Alex saw an entire mass of them. He blinked a few times but the sight remained the same.
He suddenly remembered what had happened to him that night, and felt like collapsing again on the spot. Instead, Alex made starts towards sitting right up.
“Don’t move, creature,” the thing in front of him spoke. Alex looked at it, and it looked back at him with almost fearful eyes. “Soldier get-up? I’m seeing things for sure,” he thought as he propped himself up.
The purple-clad soldier-thing didn’t have it. “Don’t. Move,” it repeated slowly, seemingly uncertain if Alex could even understand him.
“Heavy drug, maybe? Hospital? Lucid dream?” were all the thoughts Alex could muster to explain this. He brought a hand to the back of his head, feeling the dried up mess in his short hairs. He was never this confused before.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” the creature asked him. Definitely responding to Alex feeling his head. The man could do nothing but nod.
“What are you?” the soldier asked, him. Appearing to be slightly more comfortable. Alex felt the same, the cold had mostly gone away, and he felt the sun warm his back.
“What are you?” Alex retorted, finding the creatures question to be absurd.
“I’m captain Shining Armor of the Royal guard of Equestria,” it responded with a twinge of pride, then added as if he almost forgot; “Ah, I’m a pony.”
Alex looked at the pony, unable to utter a single word anymore. What was going on? Did he go insane?
Alex shifted uncomfortably, his whole body aching. “I, uhh..” he stammered, “I am..Alex Mathius,” he said.
The pony’s head tilted to the side. “Where do you come from? Hossin? Splitpeak Island?” he asked eagerly. Though there wasn’t much time for an answer, as one of the other soldiers approached and spoke to his captain.
“They’re here. We brought help from Ponyville,” he said. Eliciting a nod from the bigger pony. “Good, bring them here. Let’s finish this up.”
The pony disappeared back into the crowd for a second and came back with two mares bringing a stretcher. One was white with a pink mane and the other was yellow with a blue one. Both of them had a cross on their sides.
As soon as their eyes found Alex, they were hesitant to draw any closer to him. “It is safe to approach now,” the captain explained, drawing Alex’s attention. “The strange effect has subsided.”
The two newcomers still didn’t move, though, and in response, a guard took the stretcher off them and laid it down near Alex.
“Levitate him onto the stretcher,” the captain ordered, his eyes transfixed onto the man.
As he commanded, one of the unicorn’s horn started glowing white, and Alex wondered what was going to happen. His already scrambled mind was unable to understand what was going on anymore.
The pony pointed his horn towards Alex, and the cold sensation returned. Alex could feel something in his chest, reminding him of the bass from the club he’d work at. As the pony visibly tried harder, it was as if the air around him started to tremble, and freeze.
Then there was a scream, and the unicorn had collapsed to the ground, hind legs kicking uselessly in its throes. Other guards ran up to their unlucky colleague. “He’s out!” one of them said.
“What did you do?!” the purple-clad pony bellowed. It’s horn had started glowing as well, and he pointed to towards the man.
Alex didn’t answer, instead looking in surprise as it all happened. He had no idea what was going on, let alone what he did, and more importantly; what he should be doing now.
Without any further warning, and with a whip-like crack, the captain’s horn erupted with a bright purple light. Something came flying out of the burst, and hit Alex straight in the stomach.
Alex cried out, feeling his body convulse and protest against itself. Whatever he was hit with, it hurt him. A lot. It reminded him of being hit with a taser, albeit a tad weaker.
After the shock, he laid there, but only for a second. He needed to get away from there! He scrambled onto his feet and rose to his full length. As he did, more guards came running to surround him, spears pointed, leaving him nowhere to go.
“Look at the size of that bastard!” one of the surrounding guards cried out. This sent the crowd into a panic. All around, frightened ponies started running away for safety. Only a handful remained.
Alex saw the purple-armoured captain’s horn light up again, definitely charging for another go at him. He turned around frantically, though saw no way out. He then turned back towards the captain. “Stop-”
But it came too late, another flash erupted from the pony’s horn, and it hit him square in the chest. This one was too much. As if flipping a switch, Alex lost consciousness once more.
From a distance, Ambassador Windy Leaves watched it all happen defeatedly. After the creature had fallen, she
approached the scene. She walked past the clearly shocked captain, she didn’t even deign looking at him, instead uttering one single word.
“Fool.”
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somethin something.....asshole
Well... Maybe they think it isn't his blood?
Heads up!
Last, definite rewrite incoming! Give it some time, though.
Hold on to your butts.
I will take a look at each and every chapter I've written so far, with the exception of the last three. (From "The Nuisance" and onward.)
Let's try and make this story worthwhile, I can do it.
2 foot 5 damn that's small even for ponies. I'm going to pretend they are 4 to 5 feet tall.
K.
no animal that gets blood all over itself
More pls
I was actually waiting on the OLD version to update. Not for a total rewrite.
The Old version was GOOD as it was.
He deletes most of the story and then leaves for another year 🙃
F.
pls continue
Shining and his guard never were the most competent....