• Published 4th Jun 2012
  • 12,681 Views, 322 Comments

Echoes of the Ancient - Wandering Axioms



The story of a forgotten creature and his adventures in an odd, yet familiar world.

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Act 1.5

1.5

Even though my eyes aren’t open, I can feel them looking at me...

Aiden awoke sitting. As his vision cleared, he noted his few surroundings. He was sitting in a metal chair, in front of a silvery table. On the other side of the table sat another metal chair. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, were all white; an absolute kind of white that seemed to make the room look like it stretched on for eternity. Aiden noticed that his gas mask and helmet were missing. Looking down, he ran his left hand through his dirty, brown hair, trying to collect his memories on what had happened to him.

“Regards, Aiden,” a voice came from in front of him.

Aiden jumped slightly as he looked up to see a man sitting in the chair across the table. He appeared to be in his mid to late forties, possibly early fifties, due to the noticeable wrinkles that creased his face and a bald spot amidst brown hair. He wore a white suit with a black tie, which helped him blend in with this room.

Aiden had thousands of questions pounding against his skull as he gazed at the middle aged man who smiled from across the table. He failed to let them out in an orderly fashion.

“Where am I? Who are you? Where’s Lyra!?”

“Calm yourself,” the man said in a gentle voice as he raised his hand. “You are safe,” he smiles and chuckles to himself. “And so is your little filly companion.”

Aiden sighs with relief at hearing that last part. The man motions for him to sit, and he obliged. “Where am I?” Aiden asked.

The man sighs. “I doubt you’d believe me if I simply told you,” he paused for a moment as he raised his left arm slightly. “So it is best if I show you...” He snapped his fingers, and a rectangular, metal box suddenly appeared on the table, making Aiden jump slightly. Aiden eyed the man with suspicion and amazement.

“How did...How can...”

“Does this look familiar to you?” The man asked. Aiden looked down at the metal box, as he noticed the point where it opens. “It is a footlocker, Aiden. Your footlocker to be precise.” He pushed it towards Aiden with a reassuring smile. “See?”

Aiden looked down at the nametag just below the lid of the footlocker. Aiden R. Marsh. Aiden’s jaw dropped as his eyes went back and forth from the smiling man sitting across from him and his own footlocker. “How did you get this?” Aiden asked as his mind still tried to process everything that was occurring.

“I have my ways,” the man calmly said as he opened the footlocker and removed a large, yellow folder. “Take a look!” He encouraged. Aiden looked at the man suspiciously again before taking the folder in his hands. Inside he found pages upon pages on him and his career in the Network; profiles of his teammates and their background reports, mission reports, photographs of their families, and even personal journal entries. He didn’t even know that any of them kept journals.

“You’ve had quite a history in the time you’ve spent on Earth,” the man said smiling. “Especially in the last five years: you’ve joined the Network; a worldwide, privately owned military and intelligence corporation dedicated to the protection of the innocent, you’ve become the leader of a team of seven soldiers, including yourself,” he paused for a moment. “Not to mention that you’ve saved the world not once, not twice, but three times from three separate entities.”

Aiden frowned. “Okay, this is getting a little too weird for my tastes...

“Alright,” Aiden said, slapping a page from Logan’s biography on the table. “What is it you want from me?”

The man put a look of the utmost seriousness on his face. “I am only here to help you, Intervention.” Aiden’s head lifted after hearing that last word. “Your dreams-no, your memories hold the keys to this world’s destruction or salvation. I am here to simply offer counsel and help you make sense of the memories you relive. The decision of whether or not you take my advice is left entirely up to you.”

Aiden could say nothing else, as he felt fatigue coming over him yet again. The man continued speaking. “As for now, Aiden, Forerunner of the Equinox, we must say farewell. Your name is inscribed in the Obsidian Halls of Abitrath. All I can say is that the future of this world rests on your course of actions.” Aiden’s eyes closed again, yet he felt the sensation that he was on the verge of waking up. The man spoke one final sentence.

“For your sake I hope you make the right choices...”

---

Aiden awoke with a unicorn guard standing over him. In his magical grip was an empty bucket; Aiden shivered from the cold water that had just been poured on him. He was missing his helmet, gas mask, and gloves, and his wrists were bound together by iron shackles.

“Her Majesty will see you now,” the unicorn stated flatly as he threw the bucket to the side of the cell they were in. Aiden got up and followed the unicorn guard outside of the dungeon. He wanted to ask where his missing apparel was, but refrained at the thought of giving the guard reason to distrust him. The stairwell leading upstairs was only illuminated by the occasional torch.

The main palace hall was about as majestic as Aiden had pictured; The stained glass windows painted images that seemed to draw out Equestria’s history. One window had the image of a six colorful gemstones on it, others had the image of what he guessed was the princess. Guards stood at their posts, unmoving, with the exception of casting the occasional suspicious glance in Aiden’s direction. They certainly seemed on edge, for obvious reasons.

He was led into what was obviously the throne room, given the fact of the very large pony sitting on the throne at the opposite end of the rectangular room. Everything about her seemed to radiate with regality; her golden crown, her horn, her wings. Even her green, blue, and pink colored mane had an otherworldly elegance to it as it flowed in a non existent breeze.

As he and the guard approached the steps before her throne, Aiden gulped as her eyes opened; she looked at the guard for a brief moment, and then her eyes fell on him. She raises an eyebrow, showing curiosity.

“The unknown creature, your Majesty,” the unicorn guard said as he bowed in respect for his princess.

She looked at Aiden for a brief moment, and then nodded at the guard, motioning for him to leave; she then does the same for the two guards standing by the enormous doors at the entrance of the throne room. The majestic doors echo as they shut, leaving Aiden alone with the princess.

For a few moments, an awkward silence dominated the throne room, until the princess smiled at her visitor. “I think this discussion will be much more pleasant if your restraints are dealt with,” she said as her horn begins to glow a mystical white. The shackles around Aiden’s wrist glowed slightly and vanish with a pop that sounded somewhat like a firecracker. Aiden rubbed his wrists as the blood flowed through them, unrestrained. “Is that better?” The princess asked as she descended the stairs.

“Much better,” Aiden replied as his nerves began to calm down. “Thanks...”

“Think nothing of it.” The regal alicorn princess replied as she stops right in front of him; Aiden was taller than her, with the exception of the horn which made her taller by a few inches. This seemed to catch her off guard at first, but she immediately regained her composure. “I am Princess Celestia, the...lone ruler of the Kingdom of Equestria.” She formally introduced herself. “Now that we are alone, I have three important questions for you.” A serious look overshadows her smile.

“Very well,” Aiden meekly responds. “Ask away.”

“Question one: What is your name?”

“Aiden Marsh, your Highness,” Aiden bowed his head. “Sergeant Aiden Marsh.”

“Question two: What are you exactly?”

“I’m a human,” Aiden replies. “Have you heard of them?”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed I have, but only in stories; they haven’t been seen in Equestria; or any part of the world for that matter; for many millennia.” She paused for a brief moment. “Question three,” Her face turned to a look of slight anger, and her voice held the utmost seriousness within it. “Are you going to harm any of my little ponies?”

“Never, your Highness,” Aiden shook his head. “Only cowards attack the innocent.”

“That is good to hear,” she said as the seriousness lifted from her tone and the smile returned to her face. “My most sincere apologies for the aggressive questioning, Mr. Marsh, but when it comes to the safety of my dear subjects, I tend to let my temper get...out of hoof.”

Aiden waved a hand. “That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, your Highness; that means you show genuine care for your citizens, something that a few leaders on Earth seem to lack...oh and you can just call me Aiden.”

“I appreciate your kindness,” Celestia smiled at her visitor. “Now if you have any questions for me, feel free to ‘ask away’ as you put it,” she says with a giggle.

"You seem to be rather liberal with who you place your trust in," Aiden began. "Why is that?"

The Princess still smiled, but raised an eyebrow. "Should I not trust you?"

"No," Aiden replied. He shook his head. "I mean; yes?" Celestia giggled.

"You need not worry about it; judging by the condition you were in when I first saw you, you don't seem capable of doing much damage...no offence."

"None taken..." Aiden quietly replied. "One more question."

Celestia acknowledged him.

“Why did you bring me to this place?” Aiden asked.

The princess raised an eyebrow in response. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You are the one who brought me here to Equestria...right?” Aiden asked, hopeful for a resounding ‘yes.’

Princess Celestia frowned. “For the past few days, I have sensed something was different with Equestria; that something completely foreign was hiding amongst my pony subjects. I honestly had no idea it would be a human...” she paused and trotted up to a stain glass window, that painted an image of her, surrounded by six gemstones, and shooting what looked like a beam of energy at a black alicorn of similar size. Aiden walked up and joined her, looking out at the setting sun over Canterlot.

“I am sorry,” she said, turning to face him. “Whatever it was that brought you here, it was not me...”

Aiden sighed and stared at the stained glass illustration of Celestia and the second alicorn for a few moments. “Who is this other alicorn, Princess? She...she looks a lot like you.”

Celestia deeply frowned at the mentioning of the second alicorn. “This is my...my younger sister, Luna. She was in charge of raising the moon every night.”

“Was?” Aiden asked. “Did something happen to her?” This question caused Celestia to gaze sadly beyond the illustration towards the city of Canterlot. She sighed, and it’s clear that Aiden touched a sensitive nerve. “Sorry,” he quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean to pry at a touchy subject...you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”

“No, no,” Celestia quickly replied. “I think it’s best that you know about this; a full explanation of this tale might take awhile, so please get comfortable.” Aiden obliged by sitting Native American style on the marble floor, ready to intently listen to the Princess’s story. Celestia was caught off guard slightly by the human’s eagerness to listen and understand her tale.

Celestia sighed and began: “The history of this world stretches deep, Aiden; even deeper than that of Equestria, and the latter is a nation that is more than two thousand years old. It is common knowledge amongst the Royal Family and the Council of Mages that the civilizations of ponies, griffons, dogs, minotaurs, and so on are based on the wealth of knowledge and the ruins that our human precursors left behind. It is unknown what has happened to the human race, and the common public regards humans as mere myths and fables; some ponies have not even heard of the word before.”

“Before Equestria was formed, the three pony tribes; Earth, Pegasi, and Unicorns, were constantly fighting; they were torn apart by hatred. A fierce winter storm killed off the crops that the Earth ponies were growing, and they blamed the Pegasi, who had control over the weather. The Pegasi claimed it was the doing of the Unicorns and their magic. Bickering continued, and the tribes moved to find a new land to grow food and raise families. As it turns out, the three tribes traveled and all happened upon the same region. The winter storm followed them, and it turns out it was the doing of Wendigos; ethereal beings who fed on disharmony. When the three tribes united, the Wendigos had no disharmony to feed on, and vanished forever. This was how Equestria was founded.”

“For a millennium, my two parents; Queen Rising Dawn and King Descendant Night ruled Equestria side by side. My sister, Luna, and I were just beginning to start learning of royal duties when...” she choked slightly, but continued. “Alicorns live for millennia, up until the point they have offspring; then the sands of time fall against them. They begin to age and wither at a faster pace. My parents had a short span of just two decades to teach Lu Lu and I on how to rule a nation.”

“After they both passed, their duties of raising the sun and the moon fell upon my shoulders, and on those of my sister.” She paused to see if Aiden was still paying attention. To her surprise, he was enthralled by her tale.

She continued. “As years passed, Luna began to grow resentful of me; our subjects were awake and joyful in the sun of my day, but they slept through and shunned her night. One evening, she refused to lower the moon to make way for dawn. I tried to reason with her, but...” She shook her head. “Something was wrong with my sister. It felt like something had taken over her mind; something corrupt; something that was pure evil...” She looked down at her audience of one. “I had no choice but to use the Elements of Harmony; the six gemstones you see in this illustration; I used their power to seal my sister inside of the moon for a thousand years, thus she became the legendary being known as Nightmare Moon. I took upon the responsibility of both day and night at that point.”

“How long has your sister been imprisoned?” Aiden asked. “You said for a thousand years?”

“The imprisonment was meant to last for a thousand years. Now only ten short years of the seal remains, and my sister will break free. At that point, the Elements will choose six wielders to defeat my sister and restore her true form, where she will resume her duties of the night.”

Aiden’s mind tried its hardest to process all the information it was just fed. “Wow,” was all he could say. “I, uh...I honestly don’t know what to say...” A period of silence fell over the two of them. At this point, Aiden noticed that her horn was glowing, and that he could faintly see the moon rising over the Eastern horizon through the window on the other side of the room. “Does it take a lot of concentration?” Aiden asked the princess. “Moving the sun and the moon?”

“At first it did,” Celestia said, blushing. “But keep in mind that I’ve been doing this everyday for over one thousand years, my friend.”

Aiden smiled at the princess and turned to look at the rising moon; the prison of a ruler more than a thousand years past.

---

She felt the same sensation of vertigo she felt everyday for the past thousand years. That could only mean one thing: her sister was performing her nightly duties of continuing the lunar cycle.

This alicorn had a name once: Luna, her parents and sister called her. Now she was imprisoned inside the celestial body she held dominion over, and reduced to the status of an old mare’s tale. Nightmare Moon was her name now. The actual interior of the moon surprised her on the first day of her imprisonment; she expected the interior of the moon to be a maze of caves and tunnels. In reality, she spent the past millennium stuck in place in a pitch black void. She could occasionally look up and see the blue orb of the world she once called home; so close yet so far away.

Only ten years remained of her sentence. She was eager to see Equestria again, for surely it drastically changed in the thousand years that had passed. She was eager to see her sister again, and make her suffer for what she had done. She wanted her sister to suffer...

“Oh my,” a deep voice came from behind her. “Such sibling rivalry between you two...”

Luna felt herself tense up as she felt a presence at her side. A presence that she very well recognized. She sighed. “What do you want, Discord?”

“I just wanted to talk with my old buddy, Nightmare Moon!” The draconequus wrapped his bear paw around her shoulder, causing her to yell out.

“You will not call me that!”

“Sheesh,” the chaos abomination backed off. “I was just trying to cheer you up!” With a snap of his fingers, he pulled up a large concrete wall out of nowhere, and started inscribing tally marks onto it with a claw. “How long has it been; nine hundred and ninety years?” Discord paused for a moment. “Do you think your sister would’ve let you out early for good behavior?”

“Enough of your petty games, Discord; what do you want?”

“Oh don’t tell me you didn’t sense it!” The chaos god laughed. “Only three days ago, a new being entered our little world! And get this: it’s a human!”

A small gasp escaped from the alicorn’s lips. “But...they were all-”

“Dead? No, apparently that is not true.” Discord snickered evilly. “But wait, it gets even better! This human is also a Forerunner!

“Then that could only mean...if the Forerunners are returning...the end of days are upon us...”

“Eh, Armageddon, the Apocalypse, Judgement Day, Ragnarok, or even the Absolute End if you’re feeling really dramatic; whatever you wish to call it. It doesn’t matter. I think the next few years will be very interesting!” The draconequus yawned. “Well, at any rate, that’s really the only thing I needed to tell you. You know the timeline from here on out, so I think I’ll be going now. Ta ta!” The chaos god vanished with the snap of a finger, his laughter still echoing through the void.

Alone again. Luna felt the corruption overtaking her mind subside for a brief moment, enough for her to look up at the world. Her world. As a single tear was pushed out of her eye, she whispered for her sister to act in the best interests of the Equestrian citizens.

---

Aiden’s attention was drawn from the rising moon to the throne room doors. He looked back at the throne room’s entrance to see that the door was cracked open slightly; and a small lavender colored pony peeked in.

“Um, Princess Celestia?” The filly unicorn asked as she stepped further in. Her eyes immediately fell on Aiden standing next to her beloved princess. Like a flash, she hid behind the door, in fear of the odd creature that she perceived to have invaded the Royal Palace.

Celestia smiles at where the unicorn is hiding. “Twilight, there is no need for fear; come and say hello to our guest!”

Reluctantly, the filly named Twilight peeked her head out again. She took in a noticeably sharp breath before beginning to close the distance between her and Aiden. It is a moment that seems to last for hours, but really doesn’t last more than ten seconds. The foal didn’t even come up to his waist. She looked up, deep into his eyes, and she returns a smile that he had been giving her for the entire time she was approaching him. Cautiously, she extended her left forehoof.

Aiden replied by gently extending his own appendage, and wrapping his fingers around her hoof. It was clear that his appearance was completely alien to her, but the friendly gesture seemed to help her relax.

“Aiden, this is my personal student, Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Celestia stated. “She enrolled in my own School for Gifted Unicorns no more than four weeks ago. She showed great magic potential, and I took her under my wing to see her talents grow.” She looked over at the filly. “Twilight, this is Aiden Marsh. He is a human, if you remember some of the stories your parents may have told you.”

“N-nice to meet you,” the foal nervously said as the hand/hoof shake ended.

“Likewise, Twilight,” Aiden smiled at her.

“Now then, Twilight,” Celestia said. “What did you come to see me about?”

“Oh, um...it’s nothing important, Princess.” The foal looked towards the ground. “It’s clear that you have more important things to worry about.”

Celestia cast a confused frown at her student. “Are you certain, Twilight? You can tell me anything, you know.”

“Yes, I know that, Princess! It’s just that...it can wait for tomorrow. I’ll be in the library if you need anything.”

After saying goodbye to Aiden, Twilight left the throne room, apparently in a hurry. Aiden looked at Celestia with a confused face. “Is she always in such a hurry?”

Celestia shook her head. “No; she was clearly concerned about something...” She sighed. “I will ask her about it later.”

“You said you have a School for Gifted Unicorns?” Aiden asked her. “I wonder if...” A sudden realization hit him. “Lyra!”

The princess alicorn gazed at her visitor with surprise. “Is something wrong, Aiden?”

“Lyra! Did they bring in a unicorn filly? Where is she!?”

“Ah,” Celestia smiled. “Of course, that green one; she really did a number on that pegasus guard, but he is fine.” She giggled. “Do not worry, your friend is safe as well. One moment please...” The princess closed her eyes; a loud crack of thunder from behind startled Aiden. Turning around, he saw the green unicorn filly, dazed, and looking around, confused. Next to her stood the unicorn captain from the previous night.

The guard immediately bowed once he saw the princess.

“What were you thinking, Captain!?” Celestia yelled at the officer, who shook at his ruler’s anger. “Throwing a nine year old filly in the dungeon!”

Lyra turned and smiled from ear to ear when she saw her friend. With a cry of “Aiden!” the filly ran up to him and embraced him with all her strength, which was surprisingly enough to make him stagger slightly.

“B-but your Majesty, she attacked one of our guards!” The captain tried to defend his actions.

“In order to protect her friend!” The princess replied. “And the guard is perfectly fine!”

Lyra blew raspberry at the captain, who in turn growled and glared at her. The stallion then sighed. “What penalty must I sustain for this offense, your Majesty?”

“I believe that two weeks of restroom janitor duty will be sufficient,” Princess Celestia said calmly.

The officer looked up. “But, your Majesty! Who will serve as Captain of the Royal Guard?”

“I believe Shining Armor will be an excellent temporary replacement.”

The officer’s jaw nearly hit the floor, much to Aiden and Lyra’s amusement. “But, he hasn’t been with the guard for a year! He’s inexperienced!”

“I’ve made my decision,” Celestia said. The stallion hung his head; he had accepted his punishment. With a glow from Celestia’s horn, he vanished, presumably to the janitor’s closet.

Celestia turned her attention to the two friends, still embracing. Aiden looked up at the princess, smiled, and whispered a thank you to the alicorn. As the two released each other, Aiden introduced the unicorn to her ruler.

“Lyra, this is the Princess Celestia! The one you said gives day and night to the world!” The filly timidly extended a hoof to her Princess.

“I-it’s uh, v-very nice to m-meet you, your Highness.” The princess smiled and returned the gesture.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Lyra,” Celestia said as their hoofs met. “Care to tell me a bit about yourself?”

Lyra stammered slightly, and then began blurting out basically everything there was to know about her, from her fascination with the human legends, to her birthdate, to how she ended up here; even to details about Aiden.

“Uh, Lyra,” Aiden interrupted. “I think that’s all that the Princess needs to know.” He said with a laugh. Lyra giggled a bit as a blush began to show through her mint colored cheeks. Celestia shared their laughter.

“It seems we have much to learn about the two of you. Lyra, after hearing that you managed to incapacitate one of my guards to protect your friend, I’d like you to enroll in my School for Gifted Unicorns!”

Lyra’s jaw nearly hit the floor. The filly looked up at Aiden, as if looking for approval. Aiden smiled and gestured towards the princess. Works for me, she thought as she stepped forward and bowed. “I would be honored, your Highness.”

“Splendid,” Celestia smiled at the foal. “As for you, Aiden, I’d like you to live here in the Royal Palace. I will alert my guards and the palace staff to not admit your presence to anypony outside this place’s walls. Maybe someday, when the world is older, we may reveal you to the public.”

“Will we get to see each other, your Highness?” Lyra asked.

“Of course, my little pony,” the ruler smiled. “I will schedule visits every now and then.”

“Thank you, your Highness,” Aiden bowed his head. “You have no idea how much that means to us.”

“You are very welcome, Aiden,” the benevolent princess returned the bow. “But before I let you two go, I have one important question for both of you...”

The two friends looked at the princess, waiting for what her question might be. She smiled widely before asking. “Chocolate, vanilla, or marble?”

To say the least, Lyra and Aiden were confused.

In response to the puzzled looks on their faces, Celestia laughed. “Both of your birthdays are the second of November right? That’s tomorrow!”

Lyra and Aiden exchanged looks before turning to their princess. With smiles as wide as the Western horizon, they both happily voiced their decisions.

“Well,” Lyra said putting a hoof to her chin.

“When you put it that way...” Aiden continued her sentence.

As the two friends exchanged smiles again, they happily shouted together:

“Marble!”

End of Act 1

Author's Note: I'll be honest; I didn't expect this story to become that popular, let alone be featured. Just thought I'd say, I certainly appreciate all this positive feedback I've been getting for the work I put into this story. Also, apologies for inconsistent updating; I've been working on a...*gulp* summer project that's due on the first day of school...Honestly now, who's the idiot who came up with summer projects!?

At any rate, I just wanted to say that seeing people enjoy this is the only motivation I need to keep writing.

Best regards,

A Horizon Settler