• Published 8th Nov 2013
  • 2,376 Views, 223 Comments

Harmony's Warriors: X-Questrians First Class - Avenging-Hobbits



The humble beginnings of one of the most important superhero teams in all of Equestria: The X-Questrians. Set in the Harmony's Warriors Universe.

  • ...
7
 223
 2,376

Act I - 01 - Innocence Lost

Act I:
“In the Beginning”

Chapter One:
“Innocence Lost”

The Village of Prospekt, South Griffinheim Empire, April, 1963:

“Mama! Look what I can do!” the bright yellow colt said, eagerly running up to the orange coated mare who was busy tilling the garden. Floating beside him, seemingly weightless, was a small metal screw that he had found in the garden dirt. His mother turned to look, taking a moment to wipe some of the sweat off her brow.

“Carrot what is...” she trailed off at the sight of the floating screw, her eyes widening slightly. “Carrot what are you doing?”

Carrot simply beamed. “This Mama!” he then floated the screw around his hoof, a large smile on his face as his mother watched with surprise evident on her face.

“Carrot how are you doing that?” she asked, unable to believe the sight of the screw floating around as if a unicorn were levitating it.

“I’m magic Mama!” Carrot answered, a slight giggle in his voice. However, his smile faded when he saw the look on his mother’s face. He tilted his head slightly.

“Mama what’s wrong?” he asked, wondering why her expression was so worrisome. To him, levitating the small screw was the single most amazing thing in the entire universe. His mother’s eyes darted about worriedly, seemingly scanning the other homes that surrounded them on their quiet village street.

“Carrot, please don’t do that, they’ll see you,” she finally spoke, her voice thick with worry as she picked the screw out of the air and quickly buried it. Carrot however, still didn’t understand why his mother seemed so fearful.

“Who’ll see us mama?” he asked, looking around to try and find whatever it was that might be watching them.

“They’re watching us,” his mother answered, motioning towards one of the water towers that could be seen peeking over the rooftops of the houses. Carrot had always wondered what those tall towers were for besides holding water, since he had often spotted griffins coming and going from them.

“The water towers? How can they be watching us?” he asked, curious as to how that was possible. He never saw any of the griffins looking directly at him, and had always assumed that the griffins he saw were just maintenance workers. However, with the way his mother was acting, he could tell that whatever went on in the water tower was most likely something mysterious and threatening.

“I don’t know how son, but they do,” his mother said, standing up and taking his hoof. “Let’s go inside Carrot, you have to wash up for dinner,” she added, glancing up at the water tower as she led him inside. She closed the door behind him, motioning towards the stairs.

“Now wash up, and I’ll start dinner,” she said, and Carrot nodded, already making his way towards the staircase, thoughts of the mysterious water tower far from his mind.

/////////////////////////

Meanwhile, peaking through a pair of high powered binoculars, was a griffin, who intently watched as the small colt and his mother stepped inside the house, with the mother closing the door behind her. Without saying a word, the griffin dropped the binoculars from his eyes and discreetly closed the hatch on the side of the water tower, turning to face his comrade, who sat at a table inside the empty structure, hunched over a large radio, headphones around his head.

“Have you got the bugs set up?” the first griffin asked, idly checking the coffee machine to see if there was any fresh coffee. His comrade simply put his talon to his beak, shushing the other griffin.

“Shh...I’m listening…” he whispered, as he furrowed his brow and listened closely to the voices of the colt’s mother, as she was apparently discussing their son’s unique abilities with someone on the phone.

Chiffon, please there’s no need to worry about Carrot,” came the voice of someone on the other line, and it sounded as if she was consoling the mother. “I’m confident that they won’t notice.

Oh, but Peppermint...he can’t keep doing what he did, I mean, what if they come for him?” the mother replied, her voice fretful. “You know full well they’ve probably been watching him ever since he first moved that fence at school...everypony saw him, Peppermint, and it’s not like he’s a unicorn,” the sound of a nose being blown came next, followed by a sniff. “I mean, we earth ponies aren’t supposed to make stuff levitate or move like that, it’s not in our nature.

The other mare, who previous surveillance sessions indicated was the sister of the mother, could be heard shushing her sibling, who was now apparently crying. “Oh Chiffon, you act as if he’s a monster,” she said gently. “Maybe he’s gifted somehow, and this is just a manifestation of that gift.

Meanwhile, the griffin listening in jotted down the dialogue as fast as possible, being sure to note details such as the tone of their voices and any background noise. His comrade, having discovered that the coffee machine was in fact, lacking any fresh coffee, discreetly peaked over his friend’s shoulder, attempting to read the notes.

The other griffin looked up at his comrade for a second, before waving a free talon. “Go away Klaus, I’m working…”

Klaus meanwhile, rolled his eyes, looking around for a way to fill the coffee pot with water to brew a new batch of coffee. “Fine Fassbender, be that way. I’m pretty sure that it’s nothing special….maybe he’s just a unicorn whose horn hasn’t grown in yet or something…”

Fassbender sat up, turning to look at Klaus with a baffled expression. “Klaus, that is the single most asinine thing I’ve ever heard. Unicorns are born with their horns, and even if he was some kind of deformed unicorn, why haven’t any of the other agents noted a magical aura or something similar to that?”

Klaus groaned. “Alright fine, so I don’t have a degree in Equine biology...sue me.”

Fassbender meanwhile, rolled his eyes at his comrade’s ignorance, before refocusing his attention on the voices in his headset.

...what do we do if they do come for him?” the mother asked, her voice sounding as if she had just finished crying.

Just pray that never happens sister,” the sister said. “Now stop fretting. Everything is going to be alright,” she added, and the mother answered with a slight sniffle before the sound of hoofsteps greeted Klaus’ ears and they dropped out of range of the bug.

“Well? What’s the verdict?” Klaus asked, apparently having made himself a fresh pot of coffee, pouring the drink into his coffee mug. Fassbender leaned back, cricking his neck slightly.

“Call the General...” he said, walking over to the coffee machine and pouring himself a cup. “He’ll want to know about this one.”

/////////////////////////

Hoch Spitze, Southern Griffin Empire:

“General Le Shaw, I have something I believe you would be interested in,” the secretary said, sliding the manila folder across the desk. The griffin in question, a tall, lean fellow with a well kept mustache, took the folder in his talons and scanned through it. Inside were several dozen photographs, all taken by surveillance teams. Each photo showed the same young colt, a lanky fellow with a curly mane.

Along with the photos was a rather detailed report of an incident that the colt had been involved in at the local school house:

OBSERVER 24601 REPORT, APRIL 22 1956:

At 10:00 SUBJECT M was sighted at local school house. SUBJECT M was seen interacting with other students, situation normal. At 13:00, SUBJECT M was seen on school yard swing set. SUBJECT M was approached by an older student, who proceeded to take the swing set from him. SUBJECT M attempted to require swing set but was repelled by the other student. At 13:45, SUBJECT M was seen playing by school yard fence, when he was approved by the older students and three others of similar age. They proceeded to prod and hit SUBJECT M. OBSERVER 24601 suspects that SUBJECT M is target of bullying, as this pattern has been seen on approx. four other occasions.

At 13:46, SUBJECT M attempted to free himself from his assailants, and struck the eldest. The eldest student returned with a hit across SUBJECT M’s muzzle. Apparently, this attack provoked an angry response in SUBJECT M, as he proceeded to swing his hooves wildly and shout intelligibly. What followed presents much confusion to OBSERVER 24601. It appeared that the nearby fence began to move in accordance to SUBJECT M’s movements, and then proceeded to detach itself from its fastenings and swing towards the older students. The fence proceeded to inflict some visible injury on the older students, as one’s wing could be seen hanging limp at the student’s side as the student ran off.

SUBJECT M seemed to have not expected this development, and also proceeded to run into the schoolhouse and was not seen until the end of the school day.

END REPORT.

General Le Shaw set the folder and its contents on the table top, rubbing the underside of his beak slightly. “Interesting….” he said, “Was this all the information that Observer 24601 was able acquire?” he asked, arching an eyebrow slightly. The secretary shook her head, pulling out another manila folder from underneath her wing.

“No sir, Observer 24601 was also able to successfully able to acquire surveillance audio from the colt’s home. All evidence seems to confirm Observer 24601’s reports of the colt’s abilities.” she replied, and Le Shaw’s nodded, a dark smile spreading across his beak as he looked down at one of the surveillance photos.

“Well then...it seems I shall be making a visit to our little friend here,” he said, “A very special visit.”

/////////////////////////

Carrot Cake idly swung on the tire swing hanging from the large oak tree that sat outside his home. His mother was quietly rocking on her rocking chair on the front porch, watching him swing, as she always did on spring afternoons like this one. As Carrot swung back and forth lazily, he noticed a rather unique sight.

Driving up, and painted jet black, was a large vehicle, its windows completely tinted and opaque. Carrot’s widened slightly with curiosity, and he pointed a hoof towards the approaching vehicle.

“Look Mama, it’s one of those automobile’s my teacher told me about!” he said, and his mother turned to look towards the oncoming automobile. Carrot noticed how her expression became fearful and she quickly stood up from her chair, beckoning for Carrot to come towards her.

“Carrot, off the swing,” she said, her voice carrying the same worrisome tone that she had had when she saw him levitate the screw the day before.

“But why, Mama? What’s wrong?” he asked, wondering what about the car had made his mother so anxious all of a sudden.

“Just get inside and to your room dear,” his mother insisted, and Carrot reluctantly hopped off the swing, walking to the front porch. As he did so, his mother started towards the car, which had come to a stop in front of their home. As she walked, his mother cast a worried look over her shoulder, motioning for Carrot to enter the house. Carrot, still confused as why his mother was so worried, stepped inside. Carrot sighed and started up the stairs, confused as whatever was so important as to warrant him going to his room. As he climbed up the stairs, he could hear the front door close behind him.

Once he reached his room however, Carrot was quick to scamper up to the window by his bed, peering outside in hopes he could see what was going on outside. He was greeted by the sight of his parents speaking with a tall griffin with a moustache. The griffin was dressed in a neatly pressed, jet black military uniform and wore a matching military cap on his head. Under his wing could be seen what looked like either a baton or a wooden cane of some kind. Carrot felt a pang of worry go through him at the sight of the griffin, as beside him stood two other griffins, dressed in military uniforms as well. His mother seemed to be placating with the griffin, who merely looked at them with bemusement.

He then opened his mouth to speak, and even though Carrot couldn’t hear the words, he could tell they carried some weight, as his mother was quick to stop talking and nod rapidly, before stepping aside and allowing the griffin to walk into the house.

Carrot heard the door open downstairs and a series of hoofsteps and footsteps enter, mixed in with a finely accented voice.

“You have a lovely home Frau,” the voice said, and by its self-assured and noticeably self-righteous tone indicating it was probably the griffin.

“Th-thank you General,” his mother’s voice replied, sounding as if she were walking on eggshells.

“Please, call me Gustav.” the griffin was quick to reply, before the sound of a chair being moved and someone sitting down greeted Carrot’s ears.

“Now, if you would please have a seat,” came the griffin’s voice and another chair was heard being moved. Someone, most likely the griffin, cleared their throat.

“Now, Miss Cake, I wish to inquire as to rumors I’ve heard regarding your son,” the griffin said.

“Rumors? What rumors?” his mother replied, and Carrot raised an eyebrow. They were talking about him? His curiosity piqued, Carrot started to quietly walk out of his room and to the top of the staircase, listening closely to what was going on downstairs.

“Well, I’ve had my ear to the ground as it were, and I’ve heard that you’re child has seemingly acquired some...unique capabilities,” the griffin said. Carrot stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Unique capabilities’? He quickly thought back to what his mother had said the day before last:

They’re watching us.

Carrot suddenly felt ill at ease, his previous curiosity replaced by fear. Had his mother been right? Had he been watched this entire time, someone or something always keeping an eye on him and waiting for him to do something?

“I ha-have no idea wh-what you’re ta-talking about,” Carrot’s mother replied, her voice evasive.

“Oh Fraulein, you don’t fool me. I read the report. We both know about the fence at your son’s school. Now, call your son down and we can calmly and quietly discuss this matter. I intend you no harm.”

Carrot paused at the top of the stairs, and he heard his mother get up out of her chair.

“Carrot, come down please. Someone wants to speak with you,” she called out, her voice wavering ever so slightly. Carrot hesitated, unsure if he should follow his mother’s request.

“Carrot. Come down,” she repeated, her voice a little more insistent this time. Biting his lip, Carrot started down the stairs slowly and quietly, not saying a word until he reached the kitchen.

“H-Here I am mother,” he said quietly, and his mother gave him a worrisome smile. Sitting across the table from her, leaning back in his chair slightly, was the griffin Carrot had spotted outside. Next to his mother, nearly dwarfing her with their size, were the two burley griffin soldiers, seemingly standing guard over his mother.

“Why hello my friend,” the griffin in the black uniform said, turning to look at Carrot. The griffin wore a warm, inviting smile, but his eyes seemed to carry the aura of a predator that had just cornered his helpless prey. He motioned for Carrot to walk up to the empty chair.

“Come now, sit and we can talk,” the griffin said, and Carrot looked at his mother worriedly. His mother gave him her best supportive smile, as the soldier next to her seemed to lean just a little closer to her. Carrot swallowed, slowly walking over to the chair and taking a seat in front of the griffin.

“Good afternoon my friend,” the griffin said, extending a talon in greeting. “I am General Gustav Le Shaw and I wish to ask you some questions.”

Carrot looked at the talon, taking note of how sharp the claws seemed to be. He looked back at his mother, who simply nodded her head slightly. Carrot tentatively took the griffin’s talon, shaking it gently. Le Shaw smiled a toothy grin, and Carrot could have sworn that the griffin’s eyes sparked with malevolence for a fraction of a second.

“Well, my friend, I wish to ask something of you. Is that alright?” Le Shaw asked, and Carrot bit his lip slightly, before nodding gently.

“Excellent. Now, here is my request” Le Shaw said, reaching into his uniform’s front pocket and pulling out a coin, setting it down on the table. “I want you, to try and move this coin. Can you do that?” He asked, sliding the coin forwards slightly.

Carrot looked down at the coin, and then up at Le Shaw. “Why sir?” he asked, “It’s just a coin.”

Le Shaw lowered his eyebrows slightly, his expression darkening ever so slightly. “Well my friend, I’ve heard about that little incident with the fence at your school, and I simply wish to confirm a hunch,” he steepled his talons as he spoke, leaning forwards slightly. Carrot bit his lip again, the full scope of the situation finally dawning on him. He looked at his mom, who simply smiled.

“Y-You can do it dearie, just show Mr. Le Shaw what you showed me okay,” she said, obviously sensing his stress. Carrot nodded slightly, taking a deep breath, looking back down at the coin on the table top. He stared at it intensely, imaging it moving on its own, just like he had with the screw the other day. However, the coin remained in place, not moving as much as an inch.

“Well? Aren’t you going to move it?” Le Shaw asked, his voice now more obviously threatening. His eyes narrowed and he glared at Carrot, who quick to look up at him.

“I-I’m tr-trying…” he said, fearful as to what Le Shaw might do if he failed. Le Shaw nodded slowly.

“I see...perhaps you need some motivation?” he said coldly, reaching under his wing to pull out a finely polished pistol, and, without turning away from Carrot, aiming it towards his mother. Carrot’s heart skipped several beats at the sight of the pistol and the sound of his mother gasping in fear.

“Now, my friend,” Le Shaw began, his voice losing all of its previous amiability, instead replaced with a cold, calculating tone. “We both know for a fact that you are perfectly capable of moving this little coin. We both know that you’ve moved much bigger things then this coin in the past. So, if you would be so kind, please, move the coin, or I shall have to dispose of your precious mother. Now, move the coin.”

Carrot took another deep breath, focusing all his attention on the coin in front of him. Le Shaw watched him coldly, his golden eyes darting back and forth between the coin and Carrot.

“One…” he said slowly, and Carrot saw him adjust his aim slightly. His mother could be heard breathing rapidly as well, apparently seized with fear.

“Yo-you c-can d-do it de-dear….j-just d-do wh-what General Le Sh-Shaw sa-says an-and ev-everything w-will b-be all ri-right,” she said, obviously trying to offer some comfort to Carrot. Carrot bit his lip even tighter, putting every ounce of his energy in focusing on the coin in front of him.

“Two…” Le Shaw said, and the hammer of the gun clicked back.

Carrot’s breathing was now short and shallow, his body seized in fear at what was going to happen if he didn’t move the coin in the next few seconds. In a last ditch effort, he lifted his shaking hoof towards the coin, and Le Shaw simply looked him directly in the eyes.

“Three.” And with that, the gun fired, sending out a deafening bang that shattered Carrot’s entire world. He heard his mother cry out in pain and something heavy slump down to the floor. He whipped his head around in a panic, eyes widening in horror.

There, lying on the floor, pool of blood rapidly forming around her, was his mother. Within an instant, Carrot had bolted out the chair and to her side, clutching her body tightly. He tried to speak, but all that came out was an unintelligible stream of half phrases and cries. His mother however, limply caressed his face, seemingly trying to give him some comfort. Her hoof then went limp, her last breath coming out as a burbled wheeze as the blood bubbled in her mouth. There was a strange silence as Carrot stared dumbly at the dead body of his mother.

“Well,” came the voice of Le Shaw as he stood up from his seat at the table. “That was a wonderful waste of my precious time. Here,” Carrot felt something hard hit the back of his head, snapping him back into reality. He looked down to see the coin Le Shaw had given him to move come rolling into the puddle of his mother’s blood on the floor.

“A penny for your trouble,” Le Shaw said nonchalantly, tucking his gun back behind his wing. Carrot numbly reached for the coin, picking it up and holding it in his hoof.

“Oh, I feel you should know this, but that’s not an ordinary coin,” Gustav added, a sadistic smile on his face. “Take a look.”

Carrot looked back down at the coin, and, with a trembling hoof, tried to bend it. Without much effort, the coin broke in half, revealing its chocolate center. Carrot simply stared at the chocolate coin, only to hear Gustav chuckle again.

“See? It was just a test. This –” he pulled out another coin, and tapped it against the tabletop. “– Is a real coin. Here, take it,” he tossed the coin at Carrot, whose sorrow was now mutating in a burning, seething cauldron of rage. Le Shaw meanwhile, motioned for one of the soldiers to pull away Carrot’s mother’s corpse, which only caused Carrot to clutch it tighter.

“No! Leave her alone!” he growled, and there was the sound of clattering metal in the room. Le Shaw turned to see the cast iron pots in the sink begin to vibrate and shake. A dark smile slowly crossed his beak.

“Schmidt,” he barked, motioning towards one of the soldiers. “Liberate our friend from his mother if you will.”

The other griffin nodded, taking a step towards Carrot and extending a talon towards him.

“I said, Leave. Me. Alone!” Carrot cried out, swinging an arm wildly at the approaching griffin, which sent one of the large cast iron pots in the sink flying into the back of the soldier’s head with a sickening crack and the soldier dropped to the floor, apparently unconscious. A small stream of blood could be seen dribbling out of the soldier’s beak as well. Carrot took a step back in panic, as the other solider lunged towards him. In a panic, Carrot sent another pot flying, this time hitting the attacking soldier in the back with a loud clang, causing the griffin to scream in pain and topple to the floor. Carrot, still completely seized by fear, darted wildly towards the door, only to feel a talon violently grab him back the throat.

“Oh no you don’t little one,” Le Shaw growled, “You’re mine now.”

Carrot began to violently struggle against the griffin’s vice-like grip, and behind them a wild maelstrom of everything metal in the home formed, shattering windows and breaking furniture. Carrot thought he heard Le Shaw chuckle slightly, tightening his grip in the process.

“I knew it! You are a special one aren’t you?” he growled, before beginning to make his way towards the car, his talon still locked tightly around Carrot’s neck. “I’m very sure you and I are going to spend a lot of time together.” he added, which only caused Carrot to struggle all the more against his tormentor. He reached a hoof out towards the house, hoping that somehow he could break free from the grip holding him and escape. However, he was instead greeted by random pieces of metal flying towards his extended hoof, whizzing by at incredible speed and barely missing the two of them.

Le Shaw must have noticed the hail of metal around him, as Carrot was soon greeted by a violent punch to the back of the head, causing him to black out. The metal debris fell to the ground with a loud crash, and Gustav proceeded to walk around the back of the car, popping its trunk open. He unceremoniously dumped the unconscious Carrot into the trunk of the car, before reaching for a small, white box with a red cross on it. Popping it open, he pulled out a long syringe, filling it with a clear liquid. Carrot let out a quiet groan, which caught the griffin’s attention.

“Now, now, now, no need to fret. You’re going to come with me now, and everything will be just fine,” he stabbed the syringe into Carrot’s shoulder, and Carrot felt a numbness spread across his body, causing his eyelids to grow heavy and fade in and out of consciousness.

“Now just have a nice rest, my friend,” the griffin chuckled, before slamming the trunk shut and sending Carrot into darkness.

Author's Note:

Well wasn't this so charmingly dark?

So yes, Carrot Cake is my Magneto. I know. Weird casting. But by now you should all be used to my weird, off-beat casting ideas right? I mean that's what makes my stories so interesting right?

Anywho, if you're sharp and know your X-Men lore, you can already guess who our friend Gustav Le Shaw is right?

Next chapter, which hopefully will be posted within the next forty-eight hours, is going to focus on Cupcake and her beginnings.