Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVII
“Um… what is he doing?” Akitesh whispered under her breath.
“I’m not entirely sure,” Hazalk answered as he stared at the offered appendage.
Alexander looked down at his hand, then back up at the two visiting aliens, as if realizing that he had done something wrong. “Oh, uh... It’s called a ‘handshake’. It’s the formal greeting of respect among my people,” he said, that odd, shaky smile still on his face. “I… I know what your traditional greeting is, but my people don’t bow to anyone.”
“Why? Is it impolite?” Hazalk asked as he reached out and took the victim’s hand.
Alexander gripped the Krin’s hand firmly, then gave it two small shakes before letting go. “No. It’s just that, among my people, freedom is our most sacred treasure. Bowing kind of feels wrong, like I’m betraying that ideal. Or, if we do bow, it is almost always in a mocking manner.”
“Ah, I understand. An odd custom, but I will keep it in mind,” Hazalk said, folding his hands behind his back.
“Defending One, what is do?” The White Queen asked under her breath, though Akitesh could still hear her.
Alexander said something to her, something strange, in a language that was unfamiliar to the priestess, though whatever it was that he said seemed to leave the White Queen flabbergasted. “But… true?”
The victim nodded, then fixed Akitesh with his soulless gaze. “Well, since you’re the one calling the shots, what happens now?”
“We’re only here to repair the damage that has been done, and protect you and your allies from further-” Akitesh started to say, but was interrupted by Alexander.
“No.”
Akitesh looked worried at that. “I… I assure you, we’re only trying to-”
“And I understand that. I believe you, but...” Alexander trailed off, then shivered in fear. “But there is no way that I’m going under one of your two species’ knives.”
“I understand if you-”
“I believe you when you say that you mean us no harm, but that doesn’t mean I trust you. At least, not fully,” Alexander said, turning his back towards the two aliens. He then looked over his shoulder at Hazalk, an uncertain expression on his face. “...um, about those… well, nevermind.”
Alexander then started walking away, his head bowed as he made his way towards the doors of the hall.
“Wait! Defending One, what being wrong?” The White Queen said.
She only got a brief, clipped reply from the creature, but there was something wrong about the quality of Alexander’s voice. Akitesh couldn’t really be sure, since he spoke in his native tongue, and she was unfamiliar with his species’ social norms, but it almost sounded as if he was crying.
“I’m sorry, did we cause offense?” Akitesh asked with a slight bow.
“...No, no. It fine. No wrong, just… need time. Thank coming, for explaining thing, but time,” The White Queen said with a wave of her hoof. “Maybe come tomorrow, explain more, talk more, but now need think. Need talk sister, tell of thing. For now, will take vessel, let leave.”
Akitesh looked at her in shock. “I thought you wanted us to leave and never come back?”
The White Queen raised an eyebrow at that, then turned to leave. “I not know Defending One see. Not know make trust. But he hate that much, then turn? That people give chance.”
“I see,” Akitesh said as she slithered to follow the equine. To be honest, she really didn’t see. She was just glad that no one was shooting lightning at her.
“What’s going on? Where are we going?” Hazalk asked, having not understood most of the conversation, or indeed, most of what had happened.
“We’re being escorted back to the landing craft, but we’ve been welcomed back to continue our discussion,” Akitesh answered.
Hazalk’s antenna twitching thoughtfully. “So… things went better than we hoped? Whatever Alexander did must have really made an impression…” Hazalk said thoughtfully. “Though, I must ask, how did he know that title of mine?”
Akitesh thought about it for a second, then shook her head. “Not now. I’ll explain once we get to the shuttle...”
* * *
I needed a place to think, someplace that wasn’t here. A place I could be alone. The concept of alone seemed to drive out all other conscious thought, even going so far as to make me completely miss the guards that were standing outside the doors.
“Is finished?” One of them, a white unicorn with a mane of alternating dark and light blue stripes, asked, bringing me back to reality. I briefly remembered that Sun had used that translator spell earlier on him, but that hardly mattered to me at the moment.
“I need to go somewhere. Somewhere I can be alone for a little while. Is there any place like that?” I asked the unicorn.
He looked thoughtful for a bit, a hoof pressed to his chin, before his face lit up. “Think know place. Follow.”
I fell in line behind the unicorn without even thinking. I distantly registered that his armor was quite a bit different from the others that I’ve seen, but I didn’t really care.
I honestly had too much on my plate at the moment.
* * *
Everything was in place. The guests were all here, the food was ready, music was already playing, and decorations were set up. So many ponies thought that party planning was easy, that anyone could do it.
They were wrong. Party planning was a science. And a hard one, too.
For example, if there were more than twelve guests, that automatically called for a pinata. Though if one of the guests had brought a friend, then that meant the pinata had to go on the back burner, just in case the new arrival had a fear of pinatas.
However, as carefully as she planned them, as precisely as she orchestrated the events leading up to these things, Pinkie Pie couldn’t plan for everything.
I mean, how am I supposed to plan for royalty scooping away the guest of honor? Pinkie thought to herself as she sighed into the table. That’s not fair! I mean, this will be the second party I’ve planned for him that he’s missed! That’s a first! A FIRST!
“Is… is Miss Pie going to be alright?” Pinkie heard Luna ask somewhere nearby.
“Honestly? I don’t know,” Pinkie heard Rainbow answer. “She’s… uh… very dedicated to her parties. ~Alex~ not showing… well, she can understand why. It’s just that, this is sort of the second party he’s missed.”
There was a pause at this. “Well, that is not quite true. He’s only late. He may still come.”
Pinkie’s head shot up at that, her face full of hope as she stared at the Lunar Princess. “Do you really mean that?”
Luna was about to answer, but something about the look in Pinkie’s eye gave her pause. “Um… Yes, I really do. But Miss Pie, I don’t-”
Whatever Luna was about to say, however, went unheard as the pink pony dashed away in a flurry of activity. Balloons were added, more streamers were thrown, and Luna was fairly certain that a pinata of that size had no business even existing.
Seriously, the thing was bigger than she was. She was sure that it shouldn’t have been able to fit through the door.
In fact, Luna hadn’t seen it pass through the door. It just seemed to… appear.
“What did I do?” Luna asked, completely confused.
“Uh, you probably want to go get ~Alex~ now, Princess,” Rainbow said uneasily. “Pinkie can go a little overboard, and if he doesn’t show…” Rainbow gave an unpleasant shiver.
“Come, now, it cannot be as bad as… what…” Luna started to say, but trailed off when she noticed Pinkie wheel in a heavy piece of artillery and started loading it with confetti.
“I’ll be right back,” Luna said as her horn started to glow.
* * *
After what had happened with the alien creature earlier, even though the ~human~ had proven extremely capable in managing the situation himself, the princesses still felt it prudent to make sure there was a way that ~Alex~ could be easily located. Whether it was because he had been foalnapped, or, more likely, if he had accidentally teleported himself during one of his magical surges, it would probably be a good idea to have a way of finding him.
Dream magic was useful for this, but flawed. Luna couldn’t get an exact location through the aether, so it made the process more akin to finding something by nose, rather than sight, which made it inadequate for this task. No, what they needed was a quick way of pinpointing his exact location.
To this end, when the medical staff had proposed an implanted biological monitor, Luna had insisted that they also implant a magical beacon. This made it easy for those with scrying devices tuned to that signal to locate and teleport to his exact location. In fact, a scrying device was completely unnecessary, provided whomever was looking for it knew the signal’s wavelength, was sensitive enough to the frequency, and was close enough to feel its pulse.
No, finding the ~human~ wasn’t a problem, though Luna was confused at his whereabouts. “Why are you in the castle library?” She asked as she disappeared in a flash of light.
When she reappeared, she immediately noticed that the castle library was a lot emptier than it was normally. Sure, it was a private library, but Celestia would more often than not have students from her school come here to study.
Instead, all Luna found was Captain Armor and one of his troops, guarding ~Alex~ as he sat, staring into the magical fireplace.
“Princess Luna!” Captain Armor said with a salute. “I apologize for not-”
“At ease, Captain,” Princess Luna said as she drew closer, her eyes locked on the huddled form of the ~human.~ “I can already guess as to why you did not return once the meeting was over. I take that it did not go well?”
“I actually don’t know. He was in there for a very long time, but once he left, he said he needed some alone time,” Shining Armor said as he dropped his salute. “He’s been staring into the fire ever since we got here. Hasn’t even moved an inch.”
“I’ll take it from here,” Luna said as she moved closer. Once she was beside the ~human,~ she settled down on her belly next to him, briefly taking the time to scan him, to ensure that the translator spell was still active. As soon as she was satisfied that it wasn’t going to fail anytime soon, she cast the same spell on herself.
If the ~human~ had noticed her, he did not show it. He didn’t even twitch when her wing gently brushed his side, his attention completely glued to the flickering light that danced on the logs before them. The two just sat there, neither willing to break the silence that had fallen.
However, no matter how profound or deep something is, all things must eventually end.
“Tell, Moon, do have any monsters in history? Any pony monsters?” ~Alex~ asked, his voice oddly neutral.
The question caught Luna off guard. She was briefly tempted to hide the darker aspects of her species from this alien visitor, but quickly discounted that notion.
After all, he would find out eventually.
“Well… yes, yes we do. Our worst monster was King Sombra, a unicorn who enslaved an entire empire, and was bent on further expanding his influence to the whole world. But even then we have others; thieves, brigands, murderers. My sister and I try to stamp them out, but it is doomed to be an endless conflict.”
~Alex’s~ gaze didn’t waver from the fire as he listened, but once Luna was finished, he let out a sigh of relief. “Moon, I…” he started to say, but seemed to think better of it. “No. Moon, let tell story. Story of Greatest Monster in He Who Knows history.”
Luna wasn’t sure where the ~human~ was going with this, but she was careful to pay attention. While ~Alex~ had been open about many aspects of his homeworld, he had been fairly close lipped about things like history and culture. Anything she could learn would greatly increase her understanding of him.
“There once was nation, who people feel powerless. They just lose war, lose war bad. Not conquered, but force pay debt for war. People become poverty, feel crushed. But person come. He talk, he tell he make people strong if take power. Make enemies rue day they hurt nation. Rally people behind flag, make promise for better day.”
“I take it these were lies told to the desperate?” Luna asked. She had heard similar speeches from despots before, and she had a feeling she knew where this was going.
“No. Was truth, make people strong. One problem. He make only him people strong.”
Luna looked at the ~human~ curiously. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“We… we not have horns, wings, like you, but still different people. Different color skin, different color hair. Different jawline, different eyes. Silly differences, small differences,” ~Alex~ said, a little hesitantly, but plowed on through. “But enough for small people. Small people, small minds. Hate different, hate people. This man, he decide his race best race. Decide superior race. Decide all other race serve master race.” He took in a deep breath, then let it out explosively. “...Or die.”
“That seems… incredibly silly, and incredibly petty,” Luna said after a few seconds of thought. “When his people found out that was what he wanted, did they throw him out of power?”
~Alex~ just gave a mirthless chuckle at that. “Wish did. Would have stopped much death. Much destruction. Unfortunate, some agree. Some not, but want power. Others? Scared. Follow along, because minor. The rest? Not care.”
“Oh… Oh my…” Luna said after the full weight of what ~Alex~ was implying struck her.
The ~human~ didn’t pause in his depiction of this horror. “This monster, he start war. Big war. War cover whole earth. But that not all. While war against whole earth, also war within. War against own people.”
“Wait, that doesn’t make any sense. What do you mean he waged war on his own people? And how would he wage war on the whole world at the same time? I thought his people lost the last war, and were suffering under poverty,” Luna asked, thoroughly confused.
~Alex~ shrugged a bit. “Monster find allies. Allies to help, who think same. Want same. Become powerful, powerful enough not worry about enemies. Start war, think can destroy. Not only that, other countries ignore threat for time. Monster not attack all, start small, move on. When people realize he not stop at single country…”
“It was too late,” Luna finished for him. “What about this ‘war against his own people?’”
~Alex’s~ face twisted into a grimace. “His country… not complete filled with his people. His people called-” At this point, ~Alex~ said a word that could not be translated through the spell. Instead, all that Luna heard was what he originally said. It was a confusing mix of soft, light tones, ending with a hard, sort of humming sound. The closest approximation she could guess was ‘Aryaaan’. “-But other people live country too. He think they dirty. They threat. So, he try best stamp out. Make country pure.”
“That… That is horrifying… Why are you telling me this?”
“Because. Not everyone agree,” ~Alex~ said, a hint of pride creeping into his voice. “There many person, hide people be exterminate. One person particular. Person in government, but hate monster. Hate ideal, hate war, want stop. This person do best, hide people different from monster. Smuggle out country. Save many lives,” ~Alex~ said as he hugged his legs closer to himself.
Luna looked at the ~human~ closely, her suspicions raised. “...~Alex,~ was this person you? The one who saved those people?”
~Alex~ shook his head, tears coming to his eyes. “N… No. Not me. Person not me,” he said. He then hid his face in his knees, before finally answering. “No. Person my grandfather.”
Luna’s eyes went wide with this information. “Wait… how long ago was this war that covered your whole world?”
“Sixty? Seventy years? Long time. My people still remember. Still remember horrors caused by-” At this, the ~human~ said another complicated, untranslatable phrase, but it sounded like ‘naahtzii’. “-But we learn mistake. Not cause again. Not hate as much. World slowly heal, time go on.”
“So… why tell me this? I’m glad that your people were able to defeat their monsters, but how does this relate to the here and now?” Luna asked, still somewhat bewildered.
“It important, because met Bug,” ~Alex~ said with a shrug. “Bug not important. All bug clearly evil.” As he spoke, Luna couldn’t help but catch the self-mocking tone in his voice. “All bug surely hate. All bug monster. All bug monster…”
The ~human~ trailed off, then fell silent. They sat there for quite a long time, neither saying anything as ~Alex~ worked himself up to what he really wanted to say.
“...Except, not this bug,” he finally said as he let his face fall into his knees again. “I… I look into bug calculation device. I look evidence. Look for want do, to you world, to me, to all.”
There was another silence, which was only broken by the crackling coming from the magical fireplace. “Except, not there. They not here hurt, but stop their version Naahtzii. This bug… This bug…” He fell silent again, before finally looking at Luna for the first time since he started speaking.
Even with the odd, completely black nature of his eyes, Luna could still see the pain, the self-loathing, the fear. But more importantly than any of that, she could see a glimmer deep in there. A glimmer of something other than regret and terror.
“The bug exactly like Grandfather.”
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No no no! It is fine! The pacing was good, the "big" reveal at the end was well timed after a little build up. Sure it kinda sorta leaned into exposition territory, but it wasn't long enough to feel that way.
I loved this chapter! This is the first time I think I have seen WW2 described to the ponies, and it was great. Also, loved the internal conflict Alex had when he realized that some of the 'bugs' are of the honorable sort. The struggle is real. Internal conflict are my favorite, because they always build character and develope personality better for a story than say an epic boss fight.
Seems a little blind siding, but it still fits is fairly well, considering world war 2 was explained out of nowhere. But what about Stallin? He killed more people, even a couple countries worth.
Ah... my grandfarther was in WW2... drove a tank. One time he saved a general. He was in the newspaper. His wife worried for him because they said he was MIA. Then the general got saved so they took a picture. Next to the general was my grandfarther. Thats how she knew he was alive so she did not have to worry anymore...
PS: if what i just said seemd weridly written its because of this story... the way alex speaks makes me type like this... :P
Very well written man
… Holy shit… Are you saying that… Oh, my God...
Was… Was his grandpa... Oskar Schindler?
Thanks for the chapter. :)
Pinkie is gonna start World War Party if she doesn't get her guest of honor soon...
… humans don’t bow to anyone. Is he serious?
Oooh.
Aww, Alex realized what’s going on. It’s interesting drawing parallels between the rogue(?) aliens and the Nazis.
This might just be my favorite chapter so far.
wait, epilogue? dont tell me you are going to separate the story AGAIN
7102745 you misunderstood. He didn't say humans don't bow to anyone, but his people. as in the american people, who, if you recall, don't bow to anyone unless it's as a joke, or if we're being respectful of someone from a different nation (usually buisnessmen visiting japan). Notice that he said freedom is their most sacred treasure? Yeah, he's an american through and through.
I loved it. So basically, the bugs lost a war against the lizards. They're pissed and desperate, following a mad hitler-like bug. Or lost a war because of said mad bug. This particular bug is similar to schindler eh?
Plot is thickening and getting darker. But the epilogue is coming?! What?! Still so much going on!
I take it he knows about the beacon... or some very unfriendly words will be exchanged when he does.
I'm not sure what argument was going on here... but you just lost it... apparently. Because somewhere down the line 'The Internet' decided that mentioning You-Know-Whats means you lose by default... no matter how relevant or valid the comparison. The Fraternal Order of The Holy Bucket can be wearing shiny 'double-S' pins in their lapels and 'bent windmills' on their hats as they murder individuals of Hebrew persuasion for daring to be of such a persuasion in the presence of members of 'best race' but don't you dare call them You-Know-Whats!!
Seriously, the internet is way over sensitive about that crap. I suspect pointing out the parallel between the Krin research team and Mengele is gonna bite ya here... no matter how obvious it was even before being pointed out.
...
Damn it! I mentioned Mengele! Now I'm wrong, just ignore everything I typed.
7102682 My grandfather was Vietnam, WW2 was great granddaddy's war. Artillery division, man was deaf as a post by the time I met him. Never could remember who I was... remembered the war plenty good though.
7102750 Could be maternal grandfather.
7102827 Everything will be fine when you realize that everything on the Internet is wrong.
...oh crap, I just wrote that on the Internet. WAIT NO-
[Universe.exe has encountered a paradox error and must be shut down.]
7102745
For the most part. The practice is a sign of fealty, reverence, and/or submission. As such, the practice of bowing has generally been phased out of casual culture in the West. This is not necessarily true in the East, but Alex is clearly from the Western Hemisphere. So, the statement holds true.
Actually, Hitler was not at all Aryan. He had black hair, brown eyes, and enough Jewish heritage that by Nazi rule, he should have been wearing David's Star on his arm.
Anyway, is Alexander's grandfather a specific person, or just a nondescript government official who smuggled Jews out of the nation? If it's the latter, I don't want to waste my time guessing.
Brilliant as always
loved the story
I think I will greatly enjoy hearing the story of how his entire system got hacked by Defender.
as in totally and completely Alex had complete control.
That should provide some soul searching for the bug aliens as in just what they messed with
But what if one of the guests is a donkey?
7102883 I know that, and you know that, but Alex? He's kind of stuck on an alien planet, a million billion miles from home, trying to retell world war 2 from memory. He doesn't have any material to reference, no internet to fact check, so he's trying to keep it simple with just the basic facts he remembers.
Cool story, bro...no really, cool story. Can't wait till the next book
This chapter was ...brilliant.
That is all.
DID YOU SAY EPILOGUE?! NO IT MUST CONTINUE!
7102883
2+2=5. Orson Welles understood human capacity for cognitive dissonance like few others.
Ah, the story of the greatest monster in the history of mankind. Is it scary that we're getting a fairly accurate reverse translation out of the translated translation? Beat that, Bing!
He has the power to act very strongly here, if he so chooses. Maybe he'll embody his namesake in true pony fashion? That would be interesting...
Keep going! ;)
Well, that was quite an interesting chapter to read. It seems that Alex's time in Equestria is coming close to an end. He is going to miss everyone he knew there.
7103116 He's doing a book 3, it's just the end of this one.
7102745
Later on he seems to correct himself by trying to make it clear he's talking about the people of his culture, not his entire species. It's a bad generalization either way, but for explaining why he won't bow, especially his own perspective, it's fine.
7103316 Aryanne is just an OC based on the word Aryan.
Google that, because I'm too lazy to explain.
7103335
Oh dang, you must have replied before I deleted the comment.
Exposition heavy indeed.
But that ending. What a great way to explain the turning point in Alex's view.
Great job.
Now Luna just has to somehow find a way to convince him to get over to Pinkie's party. No pressure
7103187 Fuck yes
7102854 That's how Kirk and Mudd took down the androids
7103061
Not only that, but they seriously need to upgrade that translator spell! With the current version, it's almost as much fun and effective as trying to type a message in German into an Enigma and hope it comes out as English!
7102680 7103124 Yes, I know that there are quite a few people who rival and best Hitler in how many people they massacred, how cruel they were, and generally how terrible people they were. So does Alex. However, Alex also knows he's dealing with an alien creature, to which he can't even talk to correctly. So, in order to simplify matters, and to avoid confusion, or even greater horror, he's stating that Hitler was the greatest monster. Not because it's actually true, but because of simplicity, understanding, how familiar he is with the subject, and how Hitler is far more infamous for what he did than the other mass murdering dictators.
7103617
K
I was worried where you were going with that. I've seen a lot of stories decide to give The Hitler Lesson™ to the ponies for reasons that ranged from cringily misanthropic to bafflingly stupid to the just plain irrelevant. Nice to see it actually used for a good, situationally relevant reason for once.
7103061
7103128
Honestly, I thought it was rather common knowledge at this point in time. Hitler was a masterful manipulator, and used what he had (that is, the high population of fair-skinned people in Germany and their general distrust of the Jewish population) to get people moving in the direction he wanted them to. He says as much in Mein Kampf; if you want control, find something the people are passionate about, get them to go nuts over it, and while they're worrying over that, ebb away at their freedoms little by little until they're in the palm of your hand.
But yes, I can understand Alex simplifying the issue for convenience's sake, given that he's talking to someone about human history who hardly even knows that much about humans.
Well, shit...
That chapter really threw in things to think about. Nicely done.
What's going to happen with the party, find out next time on pinkie party Z.
I really like the story, but it's getting exhausting reading all that broken english... Are you going to have that translation spell "fine tuned" at some point, or are you going to keep that up through the rest of the story?
Damn it. I was on the fence about this fiction for the longest time. You pulled the one bloody string I can't resist though. Nazi bootstomping. Every hero I've ever loved since I was a kid always manages to bootstomp a Nazi in one form or another, before the tale is done. Every single one. Bravo.
Actually shaking hands is symbolic for I'm not carrying a weapon so I'm not trying to kill you.
So it's not that odd a custom for a race that has been a constant war since the start.
7103617 I'd argue that Hitler and the Nazis were the most horrible monsters we got by having systematized and even industrialized hatred and murder.
Mankind's history is full of very drak moment, massacres and such, but no other had that horrible cold planned quality.
The feels... Good chapter, Knight Breeze, keep up the good work. Can't wait to read the next and see where this story goes.
An excellent chapter. Well done.
Did he just compare the bug captain to Oscar Schindler?