Equestrian war

by Blackdust

Second Encounters and First Impressions

"... And that is how the runes are made." Johnathan said. finishing his explanation on how the runes were made and inscribed onto their skin.

"It... sounds tenuous and painful..." said Luna, after a moments hesitation. The three alicorns had put the elements of harmony in six bags, each one having it's own bag, and had helped Johnathan out of the underground cavern that used to be part of Twilight Sparkle's scientific study. (Wall break! The room that she hooked Pinkie Pie up in the episode Pinkie Sense is the one I'm talking about.) They were currently in route to a small human settlement in what had been Sweet Apple Acres and a part of the Everfree Forest.

"Not especially. It's just highly uncomfortable because you gotta stay still for the entire process." Johnathan said, trying to shrug off the comment.

"If you say so." said Twilight, who had taken a particular interest in how the runes were based on ponies cutie marks.

"Really! It was seriously uncomfortable for me. Dunno why, don't really care." Johnathan said with a smile and a skip. This caught Twilight's attention and caused her to trip over a root that had been exposed, and start to fall. However, Johnathan was suddenly there and caught her before she even had the chance to fall all the way down.

"Be careful Twilight. We don't want the embodiment of friendship to get hurt, now do we?" He said, all sense of joy and fun gone from his voice and face.

"R-Right. But what was with the skipping? Do the runes also interpose a bit of the personality of the pony the cutie mark belongs to on you humans?" She asked, a little shocked by both the sudden change in personality and his burst of speed.

"No. Not unless they are dark runes. Why?" he replied in the same cold tone.

"Because you were acting a lot like Pinkie Pie... And now you're acting really weird..." Celestia said before her student could even start to get the words formed.

"Sorry..." The cold, emotionless mask he had put on quickly melted away and was replaced with sadness. "I get like that a lot around others... Especially-"

"Especially those that pose a threat to us!" shouted a voice filled with disgust from the treetops, hidden by the leaves. "Where did you find these monsters, Johnathan? You know they are the reason why we must run so much!"

"They are the alicorns, Argon Rowshield! They can help us! Please, they have the stones of harmony..." Johnathan called out to the trees, hoping his friend would listen to him.

"Who is this Argon Rowshield that thou speaketh of?" Luna asked, slowly approaching Johnathan to whisper her question.

"He's the leader of the Exile Legion... A group of humans that use dark runes carelessly and without a second thought to their own safety or sanity. He wasn't this heartless long ago... He used to be the most peaceful human you would've ever met. He was supposed to be the next heir to his family's fortune's and runes, but that all changed when the demons attacked his home and killed his family and most of our village... Now he's filled with loss... And a lust for their blood.

"After he inherited the family runes and wealth, he spent and used those gifts of the dead to create his organization. It would've been hard enough for you to gain his trust as it is, but since you're not a human, it's next to impossible. I don't get why he's this far from the village..." Johnathan replied in a hushed tone that he hoped Argon couldn't hear.

"Now tell them our story, John..." said Argon from the treetops.

"Argon... You know as well as I do that I can't do that." Johnathan replied in the cold voice he had earlier.

"And why is that? I don't think we can trust some human that's hiding something from us. What about you Celestia?" Twilight said taking a step back.

"I agree. I don't think he'd harm us, but I find it hard to trust him now. What do you think, sister?" Celestia asked.

Luna stood there and stared at him for a few moments then turned to face her sister and Twilight. "We believe he shalt tell us when he is ready. We feel that we should not push him for information that he may volunteer to us later." She said in a calm voice.

This sudden trust coming from the alicorn that had wanted to turn him into the contents of an overturned ash tray barely even four hours ago. "What's with the sudden trust fall, Luna?" Johnathan asked without looking back at her. Instead, focusing on one spot in the treetops.

"Because if thou truly had meant to harm us, thy would've struck thou blow by now. We don't know what thou had done in the past, but we feel that ye are trying thy best to escape that past." Luna said, then looked at the ground with a solemn look on her face. "We understand that struggle better than thou could ever comprehend, Johnathan."

He turned to her, the cold mask he was wearing gone, and fell into a knights bow and said, sobbing slightly, "Thank you... For your kindness, you shall have my eternal servitude, Princess Luna..."

"WHAT?! YOU WOULD SWEAR YOURSELF TO THOSE CREATURES, INSTEAD OF YOUR OWN LEADER?!" Argon shouted from the trees, utter disgust plain in his voice. "You are a traitor, John. A traitor and a hopeless child. Just like back then."

"But I would never have found you back then Argon..." Johnathan said, but he knew Argon had already left them, gone to finish whatever mission he had set out to do, or back to the village to gather more followers.

Author's Note:

So how am I doing so far...? Terrible right? Also, if this is the last chapter, check rainbowtiger00 for the rest/reboot.