Equestrian Landings

by qwefg

Letters

Mort

‘Doc’ or Doctor Mort was a unique pony… or that’s what he liked to think of himself. The autumn brown unicorn with chestnut curly hair and beard had graduated from Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns and had studied a large and wide variety of species and various forms of magic and magically induced ailments.

Of course that didn’t mean he was without his own faults… or mistakes that landed him in trouble. So maybe a few individuals tended to pay more for a good doctor with a wide degree of biology and healing talents than going over three similar biological templates.

Maybe it was a bit… foolish to have joined a less than friendly group of individuals and ignored just how they earned the bits to pay him. It also might have been a bit foolish to also not question how those unique individuals helped supply him with the necessary medical equipment or how the ponies that bought his medical supplies always seemed a bit shifty.

Mort had simply ignored most those pesky details in the past as he always figured the bits he made to improve his research would then go out to help improve the lives of other ponies and races in this world. If helping one questionable individual allowed him to help a hundred regular individuals by sending his findings to other doctors than who was he to question the results?

Maybe if he thought about those minor details a couple of months ago he wouldn’t have ended up in his current mess. He took a deep breath as he was no longer stuck underneath the dark tunnels of Canterlot Mountain with an ancient centaur that could break out and suddenly try to drain them all of their magic.

Now he was currently in one of the outposts of New Terra as various humans walked around as everyman… everyhu? Every-ien? Mort couldn’t think of a proper species term to label a group of humans.

From what he could tell New Terra and it’s outposts were mostly made up of humans or had either grown tired of Equestria not believing that they were former humans… or they saw the wide open area and just wanted to play around or make something with it.

He looked up in the sky as one of the pegasi water shipment teams pushed the rain clouds and sky carts back towards the city of New Terra as he overheard one of the former humans say “But where do they get the water?”

He glanced at the two former humans standing watch as the second one rolled her eyes “The ocean. You just simply carry a lot of ocean water and bring it back to the settlement. Then you heat it up and have the pegasi make it into clouds as the remaining salt is left within the containers.”

She stretched her wings out “The job pays well, but it's a lot harder than you think to carry a few gallons of saltwater across all of Equestria.”

Brass bumped her hip against his side as she whispered “Less playing tourist and more unicorn magic. Do any of them check out?”

Mort sighed as he replied “Their normal… well as normal as a race that’s been magically transformed into another race can be.”

Brass didn’t look pleased. Mort on the other hoof was a little bit annoyed that he couldn’t visit the main city… sure the outpost was nice as they even had a small pond that a pony could refill their canteens with, but the place looked like a boring old outpost. Alright maybe an outpost that looked like it had been made out of clay but the posters on the walls showed him what was being shown in New Terrera.

Sure some of human culture and inventions had started to worm it’s way into Equestria, but it was subdue… either it was a gimmick or an attempt to adapt or modify what they knew to fit Equestrian terms. The ideas with the “planes” didn’t make much sense as they wanted to mix clouds with steel when apparently the first flying aircrafts humans made were made out of wood!

His horn glowed leaving a blue magical aura around flyers as he looked at it. The art style was a bit… cartoonish in a sense but “Star Wars A New Hope” sounded interesting.

“Why are they starting at episode four instead of episode one?” Mort muttered out loud.

Brass chuckled “Because that’s how it was produced… and episodes one through three sucked. I still can’t believe that no one seems to have spilled the beans.”

Mort shrugged “It just comes down to a combination of Ockham's Razor and Habeas Corpus.”

Brass raised an eyebrow at that “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Mort felt a small shiver down his spine as he continued “For the most part at least. Let’s say that roughly… half of those fallen here want to stay and half want to leave… that would roughly leave about fifty percent of your race that might tell the truth.”

Brass nodded as Mort went through the statistics again “From there let’s just assume that half of that percent manage to find a group that would listen to them instead of simply dismissing their actions. Say what you want, but currently every human that ‘landed’ in Equestria have the same biological body and functions of every other Equestrian… for the most part.”

Brass rolled her eyes “Yes I know… I’m the alien of the aliens around here.”

Mort nodded “So that’s where the second problem comes in… where’s the proof? You don’t have anything out of the ordinary… strange armor or weapons designs… but swords, shields, bows and arrows for the most part. Then you add in memory loss or… replacement by the use of the menu and it could be seen as the possibility of thinking you’re a race that doesn’t exist in Equestria as a delusional side effect brought on by the strange magic that brought you here and ripped out a few of your memories.”

Brass grunted as she didn’t like that answer. It helped explained why a lot of them wouldn’t tell the truth or if they did tell the truth than it was simply shrugged off. The former humans weren’t exactly seen as normal or sane in some cases.

She shook her head and pointed at the play “Alright then explain that.”

Mort sighed as he would have liked to see the play “It’s a story with unicorns properly using a series of illusions to help recreate the effects while they use a more Equestrian based cast. Still none of you are walking around with glowing sticks or flying around in space ships.”

He flipped the flyer over “I mean technically if I went to earth I could say we have mastered golem craft and have golems do all the hard labor in Equestria as I simply copy a few lines or ideas from your Robot novels. Technically you wouldn’t know if I was lying or not and while I could fill in a few pieces of Equestrian lore to help change some of the words or show a new idea… it wouldn’t be enough to convince your government if all of my medical tests showed that I looked like a red blooded American citizen.”

Brass slowly nodded “So you're saying… Equestria’s thick headed.”

Mort face hoofed as she wasn’t completely wrong “Let me put it to you a different way. The magical “menu system” has yet to be detected by normal magic. The only reason I was able to detect your menu was because you are also currently infected with chaos magic and we were trying to find the menu.”

It also helped to constantly watch pony after pony enhance their power by sacrificing a few memories to the system. He was able to have a better grasp of detecting it now… but he was no closer to understanding it much less seeing the magical menu from when he had just started.

“If not for some of the bizarre stuff I saw…” Mort remembered all the strange and weird things that he saw “I still have a hard time believing some of it.”

In less than one hundred years they had went from sailing across oceans taking weeks… to less than twenty four hours to travel around the entire planet and even plant a flag on the moon. Why did they travel to a lifeless rock circling their skies they couldn’t inhabit? Simply because they wanted to show that they could do it.

He shivered at the almost insane idea of creating a contained explosion resting underneath one’s flank to go off in not one explosion, but a series of explosions just to send a small metal device with the prisoners/pilots in fragile suits to protect them against the harsh and cold void of space where a single crack could horribly kill everything on board the shuttle… and then simply fall back to earth and try to ensure that gravity or the force of reentry didn’t kill anybody who survived the trip into space.

“Which part? The power we had?” Brass spoke out “Our Creativity or possibly our insanity?”

“I was going to go with… difficulty.” Mort gracefully replied “To have no defense against anything that might hit the planet… if an asteroid or dangerous outer space object came towards Eques than we’d move the sun over a few degrees to protect us. On earth… well the dinosaurs already showed you what happened. Do you even have the technology to stop one if it slowly came towards your planet?”

Brass shrugged “Back to the main issue Mort.”

Mort sighed “Well combine memory loss, lack of evidence, and a certain lack of credibility to prove you are not insane and that leaves a small percentage left of people who won’t give up and leave it to somebody else to spill the beans while everyone else simply gives up or moves to a human centric town or group.”

Mort shivered a little as he felt a little bit strange being surrounded by so many humans. The ones in the tunnels were either simple or they were off in a sense you could clearly tell they weren’t from Equestria. The outpost that he was walking through had various races walking in and out of it as they acted like normal ponies.

Brass could tell who was human and who wasn’t simply by looking for ‘Titles’ but it was a little bit unnerving to him since he would have to stop and cast the spell each time to check if they were human… and that’s only worked if they had their menu out.

Mort took in a deep breath as he tried to focus on his current task. Brass was easy to pick out from the crowd as she looked like an earth pony… but any normal Equestrian unicorn who studied magic would be able to tell with just a glance she wasn’t an earth pony.

The crowd around him only made him marvel more at the amazing work that had been done to humanity. According to Brass they had managed to learn how to walk in a completely different body within twenty four hours… very few of them ate something that didn’t mix with their biology… and if not for the lack of cutie marks or the unusual talents then it would be hard to tell them apart from a normal pony or whatever they currently were.

Currently most of Equestria did believe they weren’t from Equestria… but the farthest they gone to believe is that they came from someplace else on the planet… maybe they would go so far as to believe they came from the opposite side of the world or something, but certainly not space aliens or beings from an alternate universe.

Mort sighed as he didn’t seem to find any others like Brass “Just out of curiosity what do we do if I somehow manage to find Gaichu?”

Brass rubbed her chin “Maybe sit down and have a nice cup of coffee… See how she is doing and try to convince her to work on a plan that doesn’t involve brainwashing people and turning them into real life puppets.”

Mort groaned “Let me rephrase that… what do we do if I somehow manage to find Gaichu?”

Brass rolled her eyes “She wants the Elements of Harmony. I managed to convince Luke to at least let me check this lead while Swift deals with some old contact method about a griffin with an Element of Harmony… Honestly I didn’t understand most of it.”

Mort rubbed the back of his neck as it did sound kind of strange. Essentially a client would hire a group by sending out a message or request at a certain place where the method would reach the group in question. Nopony really asked how it happened… but when you’re a mercenary going by word of mouth you didn’t tend to care how they other clients figured out how to contract you just as long as you got paid.

Brass glanced at him as she continued “Celestia has four Elements of Harmony. She might have one… and when Swift comes that leaves Six Elements found which makes the anti Discord plan a lot safer and more likely to succeed than the power drain play Luke is starting as he’s… preparing the weapon.

Mort shivered as currently they were feeding Tirek magic to get him to a strong enough level to ‘fight Discord’ and yet make sure that Tirek didn’t break free to try to have his revenge against them. That was just another reason why he was happy to be outside instead of in the tunnels underneath right now.

Brass nodded as she saw his reaction “You don’t have to like her… We just have to let her know where the other Elements and keep them in one place.”

She took down a poster from the wall and smirked “And I think I just figured out where she is.”

Mort glanced at the poster. There was an armored covered Stallion with his fore hooves in the air as the ground was dark. Behind the stallion looked like some sort of green cloud or fog behind him as the title read ‘Fallout: Equestria” in big bold letters.

“I don’t get it.” Mort spoke out loud.

Brass grinned as she explained “She’s looking for wielders of the Elements of Harmony… The Mane Six was not the only story that had a group that could wield the Elements of Harmony.”

Mort shivered “You don’t think she is…”

Brass shrugged “Either it’s a creepy puppet show or she is hiding in the crowd and doing a little bit of window shopping. Besides what’s the worst that could happen?”

Mort shook his head “And now you just tempted fate… You know I could always go back and try telling Celestia what you’re doing.”

Brass turned around as her tail ran right underneath his chin “But you won’t.”

Mort sighed for two reasons. The first reason was that for some idiotic reason he wouldn’t betray her. Brass just had some sort of charisma that swept everypony up as they followed her lead. The second reason was that even if she failed… Equestria would be end up better than before Brass had tried her plan.

The diamond dogs kept following her as more seemed to be joining as if she was their version of Celestia. The griffins were following her as they knew they would fall apart the moment Swift’s Uncle Herald died. Celestia would take pity on them and while they were temporally together as a race or a group… Celestia would be able integrate them into Equestrian society or fix their fractured nations.

That two groups that didn’t have a stable society either falling under Celestia’s wise rule… or having their society fixed and become allies of Equestria making any short term problems outweighed by the future benefits. It also might be just the blow needed to make Equestria wake up to the issue of humanity around them.

If Brass succeeded… Mort shook his head as he knew Celestia would succeed, but if she didn’t… Brass would concede to her judgment and form a counsel of leaders… Equestria would greatly change, but it would still end up being for the better or that’s what he kept telling himself.

He just hoped she didn’t get the two of them killed before it happened.

******

Valkyrie

I took a deep breath as I was resting in the hospitable as the last few moments were kind of a blur. One moment I was fighting Brass and then suddenly Celestia was forced to restrain me because I nearly attacked one of the ponies close by as they had just finished de-petrifying me.

Now I was being treated for the injuries I had sustained during the fight as the doctors tried to make sure that I was alright. They didn’t find the original cockatrice Brass used on me so they had to work some sort of magical work around to save me.

I sat back in my bed with my arms… well forelegs crossed in front of my chest as I stared out the window. Not only did I feel useless, but the dull pain in my body only seemed to remind me of my failure.

I didn’t know what the people who kidnapped Tirek would do next… other than wait for “Discord’s return” or whatever they meant by that. I fought another human… who sucker punched me by turning me into a statue.

The flaming salamander… gecko creature was out of my league. Apparently it was left to Steel Halberd to lure the monster into the trap. Meanwhile I lead my group straight into an ambush… despite all my stronger than average powers… it didn’t matter as I lost.

I couldn’t stop Stardust from being kidnapped… I couldn’t stop Duran or whatever the crazy person when we tried to escape the Everfree Castle. I had to be rescued after my fight with Brass.

Did I simply need more training… should I have spent a few points to give myself an edge during the fight… or was I simply just deluding myself? I wasn’t a skilled fighter back home. I was just a normal girl who’s closest attempt at fighting was video games and tabletop RPGs.

Was I just simply deluding myself into thinking things would be different simply because I was in Equestria?

I glanced over to the door as Steel Halberd was doing his best to ferry ponies in and out of the room. After Celestia cured me from petrifaction and transferred over to a hospitable to get my injuries treated and word must have gotten out because there was a line of people waiting to see if I was okay.

Back home I would be visited by maybe a few close friends or my immediate family that lived nearby. What got me was that a lot of people came to visit me… the members of the Solar Guard including a couple I barely knew… Steel’s sister and her assistant… Some former humans that I knew or helped rescue from the Everfree Castle… even a few Night Guard ponies I didn’t know.

I’ll admit that it did bring a small warm feeling in my heart knowing that a lot of people visited and yet it also felt strange. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought as people visiting me because I was injured was stranger than flying talking ponies in a world full of magic and rainbows as the sun and moon revolved around the planet.

“Do you have any idea where Lockheart is?” I asked Steel as he brought the next group of people into the room.

Steel lead the next group of Royal Guards into the room as he looked a little bit uneasy at my question. Was he just busy or was I still being treated to make sure some magical screw up didn’t happen. I know it sounds silly but I was a statue a couple of hours ago and all I can think about was a couple of Twilight Sparkle ‘Oops’ moments like accidently turning Fluttershy into a vampire fruit bat pony or making parasprites devour the town.

One of the guards from the group visiting me spoke up “Is there a reason why you wish to see him?”

I shook my head “I guess we weren’t as close of friends as I thought… I mean since Remedy and Midnight visited me and he didn’t…”

Steel sighed as he seemed a little bit less uneasy now, but not by much “Lockheart went missing just a few days ago. There are searches for him, but… things have gotten out of hoof.”

“In what way?” I couldn’t help but ask.

The other members of the guards seemed to gather together with worried looks as they left Steel to break the bad news. He didn’t seem any better as his body was a little bit rigid as his wings clenched to his sides. He wasn’t exactly afraid… but I couldn’t imagine a way for a pony to look any more nervous than he currently was right now.

Steel took a deep breath before he summoned the courage to speak “Well the public opinion suddenly changed as everything about the entire situation feels… off.”

The bat pony groaned out loud “After our alicorn gets foalnapped some snob pays off a bunch of ponies to start insulting him as they try to sweep his disappearance under the rug! If that doesn’t show foul intent I don’t know what does!”

One of the Solar Guards sighed “You don’t know if that’s true.”

The bat pony muttered out loud “Of course there is nothing strange with how Lockheart suddenly disappeared one night only to have a bunch of random ponies the very next morning spreading a bunch of rumors and insults about him.”

Steel glanced out the window as he continued “All we have been informed is that… something happened… a monster escaped from Canterlot… and this may sound a bit strange, but… we found notes left behind by Lockheart hidden in a box.”

He pulled out a letter from his saddlebag and placed it in front of me “Apparently he wasn’t expecting to stay this long in Canterlot as he made a few letters addressed to a couple of individuals should he be forced to leave Canterlot.”

“Or go missing.” One of the ponies muttered out loud.

I heard the familiar clang one guard hitting another guard in the back of the head.

I held the letter in my hooves as I felt a little bit uneasy “Was he expecting something bad to happen to him?”

Steel shrugged as it was clear he didn’t seem to know what to say “We don’t know… some of the nobles are claiming this is a confession stating that he was a false imposter who fled when a... ‘real alicorn’ appeared.” He replied in bitter distaste “Of course there are a few…”

“A lot!” the bat pony raised his voice.

Steel shook his head “A large amount of ponies who think that he was looking into something and these letters were left behind should anything happen to him.”

“What’s this about a ‘real alicorn’ appearing?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Steel sighed “It’s more of a rumor, but apparently some ponies claim that a new alicorn is coming to Canterlot. I wouldn’t put much faith in the rumor.”

A part of me couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. Lockheart went missing as another alicorn might have appeared? If this second alicorn was real then why didn’t they appear sooner… or come to Canterlot when everyone was panicking? Celestia found ponies when they ascended to alicorn status so she would have informed everyone if a pony suddenly became an alicorn. I mean she found Cadence and Twilight pretty quickly.

Everyone seemed to be watching me as they wanted to see what exactly was in the letter. I pretty much held one of the last messages Lockheart had written before he suddenly disappeared.

I opened up the letter and glanced at the message “I know it may not sound like much, but don’t feel down. It sounds foolish to think I know everything or how you might even be feeling, but I’ll just say this. Your decisions are your own and we don’t owe each other anything. If you’re happy with where you are at then just be happy. If you’re worried about your strength then train with others… after all it takes more than a single character to make up a party. Most of all… treasure your memories as they are what makes you who you are and each day we live only adds to them. So make sure you don’t forget them… and if trouble comes in the future? Think smarter and rely on your friends.”

I sighed as I didn’t exactly know what to make of it. Still I guess he was trying to figure out a way to make me feel better about Brass’s surprise cockatrice attack.

Steel glanced at me as he looked uneasy “What did it say?”

I shook my head “It’s kind of a sappy… Don’t beat yourself up and rely on the friends speech. I guess he wasn’t sure who I would react after having been turned to stone.”

Steel seemed to look a little more at ease as I passed the letter around for everyone to see. I pushed the person who had turned me to stone out of my mind and tried to focus on the present. Something happened to Lockheart and now a new alicorn just happened to arrive shortly afterwards. Maybe it was Lockheart in disguise… or something bad was about to happen.

Hopefully I would be out of this bed before it happened so that I could see just where the rumors came from.

******

Celestia

Midnight Vixen dropped of the new reports along with the rest of Lockheart’s old belongings. The Lunar Guard mare seemed to have lost her smile since Lockheart’s disappearance. Celestia was now searching through his old belongings in an attempt to make sense of that night.

She shut her eyes as the scene always was played back in the back of her mind. He was practicing an innocent spell only to have it mess up… then after the reveal of their memories he fled from her in fear for his life. Celestia didn’t know what bothered her the most. Was it the alien like appearance his body had transformed into as the ponies mistook him as a monster or was it the look in his eyes.

She had fought many races… captured thieves, stopped tyrants, defended her kingdom against countless threats. Tirek was defiant even in the end as his hate filled eyes watched her even when he was last seen being placed within the depths of Tartarus. Discord was almost openly mocking her even as the Elements of Harmony struck him turning his body to stone… the rage in her own sister’s eyes when she was banished and her hate filled shout filled the air when she was banished to the moon. None of them ever looked at Celestia in terror… that Princess Celestia was the creature they were frightened of.

The solar princess muttered to herself “Why didn’t I just tell him I wasn’t going to harm him? Why didn’t I just stay on the ground and let him calm down as he would have realized that I didn’t blame him?”

Celestia sighed as she rubbed her aching head. The same ‘What If’s’ she always tried to avoid kept popping up. What if she spent more time with Luna or tried to make a Luna appreciation day before she turned into Nightmare Moon. What if she spent more time with delegation talks with the Centaurs to prevent Tirek’s rampage or to spot the problem before it grew into a problem?

Her eyes glanced across the book that talked about the lost Crystal Empire and how obvious it would have been to have easily solved Sombra before he took control of the empire only to make it disappear. How easy it should have been to solved her current problem before it suddenly spiraled out of control.

Celestia looked back at the rest of Lockheart’s notes and his belongs. There were notebooks filled with random plans that he was thinking over… or toying with to see if they would have actually been of any use to Equestria.

Celestia shook her head as there wasn’t anything wrong with the plans or ideas he had… sure some of them could have been written better and there were a few ideas that just needed a little bit of refinement or a softer touch applied to them.

What bothered the solar princess the most was that Lockheart had multiple wills. Every few days he seemed to have updated his will as he even left instructions on how to continue the tasks Celestia had given to him should he disappear from Canterlot. The more she looked at them the more it hurt her as it was obvious that Lockheart never planned to stay in Canterlot.

She glanced over the series of letters addressed to certain ponies as sort of an apology for his actions or to try to give them one final piece of advice. None of his letters talked about what he would do after he left Canterlot. If anything it looked as if he was expecting all of his ties to Canterlot to have been cut when he left the city.

Celestia closed her eyes as she muttered “And in some ways that is exactly what I did to him.”

Celestia took a deep breath as she had did her best to deal with that problem as she went over Lockheart’s ‘Emergency Plan’ once again which looked more like a check sheet.

1.Find a method to deal with the vines.
2.Find the spell to recover or at the very least share memories.
3.Star Swirl’s unfinished spell.
4.Look for a spell on linking two books together.
5.Find gem inscribe or enchant method.
6.Find reality bubble/restoration spell.

Celestia stared at the list as she couldn’t tell if it was written in code or if she was simply missing the pieces needed to make sense of this list. She didn’t understand what vines meant much less a spell used to link two books together. The most troubling item on the list was Star Swirl the Bearded unfinished spell.

Did he simply cross it out because he gave up on it or did he find the spell? If he found the spell then why was he looking for it? Was it an attempt to win her praise or help try to secure a place in Canterlot… or was there another reason for that spell. She would have known if he casted the spell… but why would he want the incomplete spell instead of any of the countless other spells made by Star Swirl the Bearded? Why was the unfinished spell placed on this list!

Celestia glanced back at the reports about their attempts in finding him… key word was attempt. As soon as he disappeared false reports suddenly flooding in and the sudden surge of insults or rumors stating that Celestia had banished him for being an imposter, throwing him in jail, or currently hunting him down to make him pay for his crimes. It filled Celestia with an unspoken dread.

Equestria had grown since Luna’s banishment as they no longer feared alicorns. They didn’t even know about Luna’s existence… but there were some the new foreign ponies and races that were suddenly dropped into Equestria that might know about Nightmare Moon. Then of course there was Boulder Dash as he found out from the extensive records of Thunder Peak which proved there were some factions outside of Equestria that knew that Nightmare Moon was not only real, but they also knew of Luna’s existence and her fall from grace. Lockheart’s past also seemed to be filled with other races or nations that were out to get him.

Was it possible one of the citizens from a nation that he ran from had also appeared in Equestria? Did an enemy from his past see the chance to get rid of him or was there a group nearby Equestria that feared he may be a descendent of Nightmare Moon? That for some foolish reason he would try to bring about an eternal night like Nightmare Moon?

Right now Celestia wanted Lockheart back in Canterlot so that she could explain her reaction to his memory… it still filled Celestia with unease as she had checked on Discord’s current state making sure his prison was holding him and that he didn’t somehow slip out in between the cracks made in it. What frightened her was that when she just checked up on the statue… she had discovered that it had been moved various times without her knowledge.

The fact that Lockheart even had a letter written to Discord bothered. If Luna had a child the foal would have been born after Discord had been sealed. He had been sealed right in the Canterlot hedge maze for all these years right within her sight.

Was the seal not as strong as she originally thought? Was somepony moving the statue or perhaps some of Discord’s chaotic magic still drifting about? Was the Draconus manipulating more ponies without her knowledge?

The letter Lockheart had written to Discord was confusing and there were no hidden words or spells attached to the page. No special ink was used or hidden magic woven into the words itself. There wasn’t even an anagram or secret message made by the words written inside… something Celestia had spent a couple of hours wasted trying to figure out.

All the letter said was “It was fun while it lasted.”

The letter Lockheart had addressed to Princess Celestia rested on the desk unopened as Celestia had yet to open it. Her reasoning had been sound as she wanted to quickly find him before he disappeared. She wanted to explain her actions and make sure he was safe rather than open up the letter that he had left for her. Still her eyes would gaze of the hidden letter from time to time as her mind began to wonder what final words he had left for her.

Would they be comforting words to a dear friend? Did he write about his regrets or state his heritage… or had he written down one final curse as he blamed her. That he was fed up being neglected by the perfect princess? That he had grown tired of being the center of the blame while Celestia herself received all the praise! That deep in his heart he hated her!

Celestia stared at the map again as she tried to narrow down the locations again. Anyplace claiming to have seen him was a lie. He would be running around in a new disguise impersonating a unicorn… or a ground bound pegasi… maybe an Earth Pony with a top hat and cape?

Celestia shook her head “Of course that only works if he is still in Equestria. For all I know this might have not been his first trip to Equestria and he already had setup a means to escape from Equestria.”

The badlands were rough… but there have been times when somepony had crossed them. The frozen north was dangerous, but even the yaks would seen friendly in comparison to a ruler that he thought wanted to kill or seal him away. Then of course was passage by sea or running to the edge of Equestria’s map before plunging head long into areas unknown.

Celestia started to pace about the room as she felt restless before she stopped in front of a mirror. She stared at herself in surprise as she didn’t recognize herself for a moment. Her normal well groomed mane seemed to have a few mats in it. Her own mane seemed to look a little bit dull as she noticed the tired look in her own eyes. With one deep breath her horn glowed as she freshened herself up making her look alright.

“Okay…” Celestia told herself “Let’s say I find him and bring him back to Canterlot… what happens next? What do I say?”

She knew his secret as he felt responsible for the missing Elements of Harmony. He knew that she had personally banished her own sister… he knew that she had banished Luna and then held a Celebration on the day she was banished each year!

Celestia’s felt her heartbeat quicken as she began to worry before she tried to reassure herself “He knows the reason for why I had to banish her. I had to do it for the good of… Equestria.”

He had an Element of harmony and technically that was more important to Equestria than him.

“Pony Feathers.” Celestia muttered under her breath.

The more she thought about it the more her stress continued to grow as she gave the unopened letter written to her as she couldn’t take it anymore. She carefully picked it up with her magic as if it would suddenly try to bite her before slowly opening it up.

“If history has taught us anything… it’s that you must prepare for war if you want peace. Nations will only respect equals as those with power will take from those without… or that’s the rules other countries have lived by. I say this not to demean, insult, or reject Equestria’s beliefs but to give an informed opinion and hopefully a better understanding of those who now inhabit your lands.”

Celestia felt a little bit better as it didn’t sound that bad. In truth she would rather prefer a business memo than curses or insults.

“For me to judge your nation would not be fair as one can only judge their nation by watching those around them. While I may have traveled far greater distances than most of your subjects what I know about your lands tells a different story. I see a nation that had went from a band of vagabonds that managed to put aside their differences to create a better future. I see the lands around your nation face different obstacles as some suffer poverty by their inability to work together… paranoia of outside cultures… struggles of internal conflict… and of course hostility towards anyone different from them.”

Celestia felt a small bit of pride and joy at that small bit of information.

“While you may have created a great nation all I can warn you is that some people like myself… we have seen other nations, histories, joys never thought possible and horrors that should never have been allowed to be made possible. Take joy in what you have built, but remember that those who have visited your land during this time will react in different ways as their version of common sense simply differs from yours. In ten or twenty years it will properly have been long forgotten, but for now things will be rough… and I apologize for any problems that I may have caused.”

Celestia stared at the letter with mixed emotions as tears formed in her eyes.

“I may not agree with some of your actions, but I can at least try to understand the reason behind it even if I’m probably wrong about it. I may not have been the pony you were looking for, but hopefully I will have caused more good than harm before I was given my notice to leave this place and if not… then hopefully you may understand why I did so.”

Celestia shook her head as it hurt.

“To quote a good writer… “The oldest and strongest emotion known to us is fear and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Sadly it is this very fear that makes us do stupid things.”

Celestia put down the piece of paper as she didn’t know what to say. Was this letter an apology for his actions or had he expected that eventually Celestia would try to get rid of him? How long ago had this letter been written or had his feelings changed from then?

She sighed as she could tell that he at the very least… respected her. The only problem was the divide between them now. The rumors and insults spreading throughout the land would certainly give him second thoughts about returning. Then there was the fear he felt towards Celestia… the sick joke Discord had played which kept a painful sliver of doubt in the back of his mind.

To make things worst that same painful sliver of doubt had now nestled inside her own mind as she knew she would have to answer that single nagging question before she talked to him. What would Celestia… The Princess of Equestria and former wielder of the Elements of Harmony do… if Lockheart actually had an Element of Harmony… trapped inside his body?

Celestia felt a lump in her throat as she thought about it. That piece of magic could explain the connection she had with him… the reason for why some of the Canterlot doctors has suggested the possibility of him being her offspring. It would help explain a few things as the Element of Harmony simply gave false positives or false leads as some of his actions…

“Would my actions suddenly change now that you know who I am?” whispered Lockheart’s voice in the back of her mind.

Suddenly Celestia felt ill… she felt disgusted at her own train of thoughts as a small taste of bile filled her throat. Did the possibility spoken from a lying, manipulative, deceitful creature really be trusted? For all she knew Discord had said those very words just to ensure Lockheart would never be at ease with her. That until the Elements of Harmony were found he would always have to lie or hide a part of himself out of fear… out of the possibility that it would change everything.

She couldn’t tell which could be worse… If he truly was a fake as the Element of Harmony was only making her believe that he was a real alicorn and possibly Luna’s son… or that she would commit a dreadful act believing that he wasn’t an alicorn only to find out that Discord had lied. That she had placed her faith in Discord instead of Lockheart as Celestia would be the one responsible for shattering the relationship between them and any trust he once had for her.

That she would become the monster that he had feared.

Celestia looked at his letter… a letter written by a pony who was frightened at what his fate could have been. How he felt that one secret he tried to keep from Celestia could ruin the only place that seemed to welcome him if not tolerate his presence.

Celestia stared at the old Everfree forest selection of spell books that she had yet to finish checking up on as it became obvious at what she needed to do next. She needed to find out how Discord was able to communicate with Lockheart… and she had to find a safe way to remove an Element of Harmony from him if there even was an Element of Harmony hidden inside his body in the first place.

It might not even be that hard coming up with a spell to detect another Element of Harmony that might be close by as she could use the other Elements she had gathered to help find and detect the missing pieces.

Celestia looked back in the mirror as she saw herself now. She looked like her old self know but more importantly she knew what to do right now. Sadly the door opened up as Boulderdash came into the room.

The earth pony glanced at Celestia as he said “Is this a bad time?”

Celestia took a deep breath as she prepared herself “I take it you want to know what really happened with Lockheart.”

Boulder Dash rubbed the back of his head “You know how it is and quite frankly the last time an alicorn stormed off in a rage we ended up with a tale to frighten foals with.”

Celestia nodded as she tried to keep her emotions in check “He’s been looking into some of Brass’s allies and… we had a disagreement.”

Boulder Dash hung his head “I take it he planned to do something you didn’t agree with.”

It was stretching the truth if not twisting a lie to fit her needs but she nodded “I just want to make sure he doesn’t do something he will end up regretting. Is there anything else?”

Boulder Dash sighed as he pulled out a scroll “Apparently there has been talk about something strange happening near a city made up by the Travelers that came to Equestria near the badlands. I don’t know if it’s related to Lockheart…”

“I’ll send a group to check it out.” Celestia finished.

Boulder Dash smiled “Sorry to impose.”

Celestia she unrolled the scroll and said “It’s politics. I understand how annoying they can be sometimes.”

The new town set up in the badlands was called New Terra. Technically it stayed outside of Equestrian borders and it was set up in a region that nopony or any of the other nations owned. The only problem was that it had gained a sizeable population of the races and ponies that suddenly found themselves lost in Equestria.

Normally this shouldn't be a problem, but apparently some ponies and griffins thought otherwise.

“Oh what exactly was the problem that the griffins in Thunder Peek want me to check on?” Celestia gently added.

Boulder Dash shrugged “Either the fact that an entire group of Travelers have a town built in the middle of nowhere without any connection to anypony or that some of the residents have been showing odd behavior.”

Boulder Dash left the room as Celestia glanced at the scroll again and sighed. Why did life always seem to get in the way of her plans?

******

Swift Wing

Swift sat in the Tavern of the Battered Mare. He never actually understood how the name for the Tavern came about, but it was one of the few Taverns that solely rested in the roads of Equestria without being near a town.

The residents in the Tavern weren’t that much better. It certainly wasn’t a den of thieves, but most of these ponies looked down on their luck. A pony with a pallet and a paintbrush was currently washing mugs as a Pegasus was stuck cleaning the rafters as he had checkered flags for a cutie mark. He didn’t know much about Equestrian ponies, but these ponies looked as if they had their own personal rain clouds pouring water over their heads.

He shook his head as this place was a dump. Still it was a useful place to talk shop because nopony would listen… they were too caught up in their own misery to realize what was going on around them.

A black griffin walked up to his table as he growled “Move to another! I’m waiting for someone as dis table!”

Swift glanced at the griffin. The top part of his body resembled a normal griffin if not for the pitch black feathers. The lower half of his body was covered in a dark cloak as in a poor attempt to ‘hide’ himself. With how the griffin kept looking from side to side as if expecting the Royal Guard to come crashing in. It was obvious this was the idiot Swift was waiting for.

Swift sighed as he said “I’m Swift Wing… I take it you’re the client.”

The griffin stared at him for a moment “How do I know you’re not a changeling?”

Swift pinched his brow and as he replied with a sigh “Because I’m a griffin and I’m waiting for you?”

The nervous griffin pulled out a small flask snapped “Take a sip den! If you’re a changeling den you won’t be able to, but if you’re a griffin like you claim you are den you’ll be okay!”

Swift rolled his eyes not only was he dealing with a paranoid griffin, but he was dealing with a tribal griffin that seemed to be having trouble speaking Equestrian if the constant ‘de’ instead of ‘the’ were a sign. Hopefully this wouldn’t be more annoying than that one rhyming zebra client.

Swift stare straight into his possible client’s eyes and bluntly replied “And how exactly do I not know if it’s poisoned or if you are a changeling in disguise?”

The griffin grunted as he took a large gulp of the unknown liquid before wiping his beak “I drank! You drink or no deal!”

Swift took a small sip of the liquid as it tasted horrible… Almost as if a random griffin just scooped up a talon full of random plants with some mud mixed in and filled it full of cheap or strong alcohol. There was a strong bitter after taste in his mouth as the paranoid griffin continued to stare at him.

Swift put the flask onto the table and coughed “See… not a… changeling.”

He hit his chest as the paranoid griffin replied “You sure?”

Swift took a deep breath “Just not used to... whatever you used to make it.”

“It’s Vodka… lots of Vodka and de secret mixture used to de-change a changeling right before me very eyes!” He replied back one of his eyes nearly bulging out of its eye socket. “Can’t be too careful dese days… ponies not acting like ponies… changelings walk-in about… all dis talk about what is or what isn’t.”

Swift managed to recover from the drink as he replied “So what is it that you want from us?”

The griffin shook his head “Swift Wings right? Name’s Haberdash. Don’t blame for de name I didn’t get to pick it just like you didn’t get to pick yours.”

‘Haberdash’ kept scanning the room as if expecting some sort of trap to suddenly spring out at any moment. Only after ensuring that the Pegasus cleaning the ceiling wasn’t going to try to dive bomb him did he finally pull out a sack full of jewels. Swift kept his cool as the ‘reward’ was certainly worth the eccentricities of Mister Haberdash.

Haberdash leaned in and whispered “You know about dem weird rocks the ponies keep talk-en about? I found one of them… stuck somewhere safe for now… bugs keep walking about look-en for it. I feel de creepy crawlies just getting ready to nap me in de middle of de night!”

Swift nodded as he gently replied “You want help moving it to someplace safe.”

Haberdash shook his head “No you crazy fool! I want it gone! You work with de brass colored mare… stole something big. I figure if you lot take it from me then the bugs leave me alone and try to chase after you.”

Swift tried not to chuckle as this was much better than he initially thought. If this griffin actually had an Element of Harmony they were being paid to take it off his talons. Swift was originally planning on trying to steal the Element of Harmony in transit, but this also worked.

If the crazy griffin was smart he could have tried to use it to bargain with Celestia… then again judging from his tired expression a few good nights of sleep might also help. The griffin was terrified that a changeling was suddenly going to grab him and wrap him in a cocoon or something.

Haberdash shivered as an earth pony waiter came up and said “What will you be having?”

Haberdash nearly shouted “Two specials… and some ale! Dat’s it! Go! Go! Go!”

The earth pony shrugged as he walked into the kitchen. Haberdash pulled out his flash and took a large sip from it again before hiding it back in his pocket before whispering “Did you check to see if de chief was real?”

Swift nodded as he could feel a migraine starting to form “He’s the real chief… I checked him myself.”

It was a lie, but Haberdash just nodded a few times. All Swift had to do was simply ease the griffin’s worries and let him know that everything was going to be alright.

Haberdash shivered “I’m… just going to make sure our waiter comes back… count the jewels. I know I promised bits for de job, but dat’s the quickest amount of money I could bring with me to prove I could pay for de job.”

Swift nodded as he left the crazy griffin go as he inspected the payment. He couldn’t help but grin as it was a fine haul. There were a lot of jewels… valuable objects including a rather nice crown and a unicorn ring. Swift scratched his chin as he thought about the crown for a moment and if Brass would like it.

He shook his head as he muttered to himself “Curse you uncle for even saying that.”

Yes Brass was strong… charismatic… and after having half a dozen chicks from rivaling houses trying to align his ‘heritage’ with their house for when his uncle died… Brass looked a lot more attractive then he would have liked to admit right now. Maybe he really should try the double date with Doc as the stallion tried his hoof at the former vet he liked. Swift would see who the griffin mystery date was.

He groaned as he knew his life was messed up when he was happy that the crazy griffin returned. Haberdash placed the food down as he eyed the waiter suspiciously as if waiting for the earth pony to suddenly reveal that he was a changeling all along.

Haberdash muttered “Would take de sip… changelings don’t take de sip because dey know it’ll reveal dem.”

Brass picked up the crown as he said “I’ll take hold of the crown as a faith payment.” The crazy griffin stared at him as if he just snatched away a lollipop from a hatchling “I’ll give it back after the job has been completed and you pay us four hundred bits.”

Haberdash shook his head “It was dree hundred bits. Silk Scarf was very specific on dat.”

Swift raised an eyebrow “Silk Scarf?”

Haberdash quickly stared at Swift in panic as every feather on his body stood out. Swift couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked like a chicken who just realized what the stump with the axe was for.

Swift moved his talons over the bag and dragged it back over to him “Oh so that’s how you know. What exactly did she say?”

Haberdash sighed as he glanced around “Some deal went down and she’s wounded. She wants something to get back up and recover her lost fame… she…” He gulped “She… hypothetically said what might happen if de changelings found out about what I had.”

Swift grinned as this helped explain so much “You think she has some changelings in her pocket.”

Haberdash nodded “Four Hundred bits and not a word of this comes out. I was just robbed by a group of strangers dat I didn’t know.”

Swift sniffed the plates as there was pork chops… how long had it been since he had a simple decent meal? In the caves most of it was dry stuff. The ponies and some of the former humans could get some meat… but most of it was usually veggies and griffin military rations. The stuff was so dried and filled with preserves some griffins claimed the meat was older than Equestria itself.

He took a nice large sip from the ale washing out the bitter after taste of the ‘anti-changeling’ brew before sinking into the pork chops. It tasted a little bit off, but ponies didn’t tend to eat a lot of meat either. Besides it helped give him something to do as he listened to Haberdash going over the plans.

“Dere will be a key out by de front door hidden underneath de rock. If you can’t find it den just…” he flinched “just break down de door. Look underneath de rug in de living room and you’ll find de door… just try not to take too much or how ever your group does dese types of jobs.”

Swift nodded as he took another sip of his ale. It was a good thing he paid for a room already. The storm wasn’t letting down outside and he felt exhausted dealing with the paranoid griffin. This wasn’t the first time he had been hired to “steal” from a client’s home.

The griffin glared at him “And I will keep track of what’s been stolen as dat’s coming out of de bits dat I pay you!”

So they weren’t allowed to steal eight hundred worth of bits and expect to be also paid four hundred bits. Considering the ‘faith payment’ was worth more than the bits he was offering Swift didn’t worry. The griffin was stressed and he wanted it to be over. Those types of people tended to allow them to get away with a few extra items just as long as the job was convincing enough to remove their unwanted attention.

His eyes felt a little bit tired as he glanced at his ale.

Haberdash continued “Try not to break anything either… but I will leave a list under de rug of items you can break… if you need to make it look more convincing.”

Swift noticed something at the bottom of his mug that had yet to dissolve. He stared at the griffin in front of him as he saw a flicker of green in his eyes. Haberdash grinned as something hit Swift in the stomach from underneath the table as he fell to the floor. Underneath the table he saw a rather large gem glowing as his mind began to wonder how old the pork might have been.

Why was his mind drifting back to those random thoughts instead of the fact his ale had been drugged! His mind felt sluggish as he tried thinking about all the oddities… or the questions he should have been asking instead of wondering if the owners of the tavern bought their pork or if there was a farm that grew pigs nearby?

Haberdash got up and continued “Took a bit longer than I wanted.”

Swift tried to fight as he could barely push himself off the floor. He stared into the griffin’s eyes with a mixture of fear and rage. Swift just noticed that the wings on the griffin were wrong. The entire griffin’s body seemed a little bit off balance now that he focused on the griffin as he tried to break through the random idle thoughts flooding his mind as his body was losing strength.

Haberdash placed a talon over Swift’s mouth as he spoke in a very calm voice “I’ll be blunt. I don’t give a…” Swift flinched as an alien sound came from the griffin’s voice. The word seemed to whisper, twist and warp the air around it before settling back again.

Haberdash rolled his eyes “Your bait, a hostage, and a decollation of war all wrapped up into one convenient package.”

Swift eyes tried to locate the others… Brass always made sure they didn’t travel alone… they must have noticed… he saw Tumbler and Mortar being dragged upstairs as both of them were unconscious.

Haberdash nodded “I figured the room you rented might as well be put to some good use so I put your friends in there.” He grinned revealing a set of razor sharp teeth “And don’t bother telling me some boring speech about how you’ll never talk or your friends will find you.”

Haberdash adjusted his cloak “Because I want her to find me and unlike the folks in Canterlot… I don’t care as much for morals as they do.”

Swift struggled to speak “Why?”

Haberdash stared at him like a hawk before a mouse as he said “Because I’m pissed. I’m not a saint and Brass is one of those ponies that pissed me off. Besides I’m going to need a bit more magic for plan B if I want to deal with the tree problem.”

This wasn’t an idle threat. Swift had heard that same tone of voice when his uncle talked about conquering another tribe. It was the same tone his uncle used when his father talked about taking the throne. It was also the same tone his uncle used when he explained Swift’s new position as he the guards took his father’s body because his uncle killed him.

His eyes shut as he had to warn Brass not to come rescue him.

******

Maxwell

The room was currently locked as I held the letter in my hooves. Lockheart had suddenly went missing and he had left a letter for me incase anything happened to him… why did he leave a letter for me? Just what exactly was happening?

I tried to wrap my head around only to stop and take a deep breath “Just calm down Maxwell. I’m sure everything will be okay.”

I opened up the letter as it read “Well I never thought I would be writing a letter to you, but here I am. I never felt comfortable around. Then again you didn’t seem comfortable around me either. May we just naturally clash or we just imagine each other as radically different people as we place our own self doubts and fears upon each other.

Either way it doesn’t matter. I’m not in Canterlot anymore as I’m either kicked out of the city… or dead.”

I dropped the letters as I broke out in cold sweats saying “What? What in the hell were you…”

I clenched my teeth a piece of the floor suddenly broke making me fall forward and hitting my face against the floor. I clenched my nose muttering in pain before getting back up and looking at the letter again.

I looked at the dead part as… that made me nervous “Still I guess I should say I had my reasons, but they properly don’t matter anymore. Here’s a bit of advice for the future. Don’t mess things up, believe in yourself, and try to stay calm. This next part might make you panic, but don’t do something stupid or work yourself into a crazed panic mess.”

I put down the paper and took another deep breath. I had the final words from Lockheart before he went missing. Something about the letter seemed strange as... Why didn’t Celestia read this or was there some secret hidden meaning that I would only understand?

I opened the rest of the letter as it read “The other five are closer than you think. Yes it’s super vague, but you should be able to figure it out when everything starts going to hell. So take one big deep breath and remember that if the vines go crazy.”

I dropped the piece of paper as it finally clicked as I shouted “That can’t be it! I mean he has too… there has to be…” I tried to grab my hair with my hooves as I nearly screamed in frustration “Okay… just think… maybe it’s a message referring to the Elements of Harmony wielders being in Canterlot… or that I should go out and check the Tree of Harmony or warn Celestia about the possible progress the plunder vines may have grown without her knowledge.”

I started to pace as I talked to myself “Or is there a second part of the message buried by the tree of harmony filling me in on the rest of the details to make sure nobody read the letter before hand and destroyed it?”

I groaned as I wished that Lockheart was still here if only to ask what did he mean in that letter and why he sent it to me of all people!

I shook my head “I need to see if Stardust or Valkyrie received a letter.”

Author's Note:

Another chapter up. Let me know if I missed anything.

Comments

[Backupo]

Question 1 is the Maxwell part supposed to be before the swift part story structure wise? Also why does his letter seem oddly written compared to the other letters? Who else received a letter? Is Maxwell's letter real or written by someone else because I can not see the point of telling him that he is an element of harmony candidate.

What is with Maxwell's letter!

Other than that I can't help but wonder just what Lock is doing now or why swift was kidnapped?

[Ocean Waves]

Interesting as usual.