Part 23: When in Roam...
Somehow, the Doctor had managed to hook the trio of time-travelers up with a place of lodging in the city. Actually, to be honest, it wasn’t that hard really, considering it seemed Flash Magnus was all too happy to make guests to the city welcome, especially when Ironhead told him that one of the guests was Emperor Nero himself.
“Huh, so the grand emperor himself decided to come out for my wedding…?” Flash asked, quite surprised as he along with ‘Nero’, Rainbow and Twilight trotted through the city center, right through the marketplace. “Never thought he’d be interested in a simple slave’s wedding, despite who I’m marrying.”
“A slave?” the Doctor inquired curiously, eyebrow raised. “You seem to be fairly well treated for one, I mean look at all the ponies pointing and whispering about you, and your great deeds!” he exclaimed, gesturing around the square where toga-clad ponies were whispering all about Flash Magnus and the killing of the leopard that had just occurred by his own blade in the arena. But he also noticed something else, ponies casting nervous glances at other ponies, and anxious whispers exchanged.
Flash made a noise of disgust. “And if it weren’t for my ‘great deeds’ I’d just be another face in the crowd, probably forced to clean out the toilets or something. I mean, sure I’m in the Royal Legion and I’m one of the top gladiators of the Coliseum, but in this place your superiors never let you forget any shit you may have pulled. Ironhead’s a walking example of that.”
Rainbow made a hissing and then a spitting noise, and puffed herself up like a cat at Ironhead’s name even being dropped. For one, calling Earth Ponies mud-sloshers, she had friends that were earth ponies for crying out loud! Bet Ironhead called Unicorns something like hornhangers or something equally crude. She wouldn’t put it past him. Then there was calling her a consort, she really hated that one. Rainbow was a proud mare, and even implying she was a slave or a whore of any sort really rankled her.
“...Clearly I’m not the only one who’s not a fan…” Flash noted, observing Rainbow’s behavior.
“Buck yeah, calling me a consort!” Rainbow hissed out. “The nerve, by Celestia I’d like to punch him in the face a few times and show him just what this ‘consort’ can really do when all riled up.”
“Sadly, that’d be a bad idea,” Flash advised. “Look, I share the same respect for mares, but punching a high-ranking member of the legion in the face? Not a good idea really. ...Sorta what got me into this mess in the first place really…” he muttered in self-disgust.
“Oh?” the Doctor asked, playing dumb. “Please, do tell your emperor what exactly got you into the slave life as a gladiator in the arena, and a servant to Ironhead.”
“Irondick, you mean…” Rainbow muttered in the background.
“I don’t like talking about it really, hell I don’t even know why I’ve said as much as I have to you my emperor as I have already…”
“Ah, just got one of those faces,” the Doctor said, waving a hoof dismissively. “I’m that sorta guy. Now, please, oblige a curious emperor.”
“Okay, might as well tell you the full story really…” Flash sighed, and sucked in a breath. “A few years back, Ironhead -Love that nickname by the way, ma’am!- came into the city, this Kirin in tow. Just watching her, I could tell she hated every minute of her time with Ironhead. He likes to put on this nice guy facade, you must understand, be all friendly-like with the Legion. And for the most part, they believe in it. Probably partially the reason why they don’t mind rutting with him after a successful battle,” Flash explained. But truth is, the guy is a dick. Real bastard. Now this Kirin, one Summer’s Flame, I can see why Ironhead liked her. She was as stubborn as a mare could be and quite beautiful with this silky white fur. But Ironhead, he treated her like she was less than garbage. Barely gave her basic amenities from what I heard from Ironhead’s servants. Slice of bread here, maybe an olive. Barely even spoke to her outside of their weekly ‘funtimes’. Starting to get the picture yet?” Flash asked, with a disgusted look on his face that all three of his compatriots shared. Twilight, in particular, didn’t look that far away from burning Ironhead’s home to the ground. She definitely seemed to be thinking it over at the very least, judging by her expression.
“Bastard… Where is he? Just where is he? By Celestia, I’d like to…” Rainbow trailed off, her voice turning into a growl about halfway through.
Although Flash Magnus looked a bit confused by the pegasus using Celestia’s name like that, he gave her a warning look. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing, I’d advise against it. I really would. Listen, when I found out about how Irondick -so calling him that from now on, if not to his face- was treating Summer’s Flame, went right up to his house at around midnight and freed her from her chains with this axe laying around,” he continued. Sadly, Ironhead caught me just as Summer escaped out the nearest open window. Got into a bit of a scrap, I was younger and managed to mess up his face fairly badly, but his experience got the better of me in the end and the next thing I knew I woke up in prison, with Ironhead giving me a choice. Become a gladiator and work for him or face execution. Both options were sorta the same thing really in retrospect, only with fighting in the arena and serving with the Legion for several years I had a chance to actually fight my fate and maybe, just maybe escape the life.”
“So, how’s that worked out for you?” Rainbow asked.
“Well, haven’t been killed yet and I’m about to marry the current ruler of Baladi so…” Flash answered with a wistful smile. “Once I marry, I can officially break the chains holding me here, and live with her and flip a feather to old Irondick. Probably do it on the boat leaving the island back to Somnambula’s homeland, really. I know Ironhead will be seeing her off. Can’t wait to see the look on his face…”
“So, about Somnambula,” Twilight asked curiously. “I admit, I’m a bit of a sucker for romance, how’d you two meet?”
“Look, it’s getting late, and I don’t think the Emperor would want to be kept up all night by me telling stories, so I’ll-”
“No, no, quite the contrary!” the Doctor replied. “I love a good story! I honest to Celestia do, so please regale me!”
“Actually, you and your friends get your rest and in the morning I’ll do you one better. When Somnambula arrives, I’ll take her to meet you all as she’s bound to be charmed by you three, and I’ll let her tell the story. More hers to tell anyway.”
“Well, I can’t possibly pass down on the prospect of meeting a queen, from one ruler to another…” the Doctor trailed off, and Flash smirked.
“Thought you wouldn’t be able to,” Flash replied with a nod. “Never did catch your two friends’ names though.”
“Midnight Velvet,” Twilight said, using her mother’s name and something close to her own so she’d be able to remember it easily. “And this is Firefly.” she continued, gesturing to Rainbow. Good, Twilight thought to herself, no unneeded awkward questions down the line now.
“Well Midnight, Firefly, it’s been a pleasure,” Flash said, kissing them both on their hooves before bowing to the Doctor. “I’ll see you three soon.”
Twilight sighed in content as she leaned back in her bed and propped her head up against the velvet cushions, taking out a blood orange -Neither the Doctor nor Rainbow could understand what she saw in the fruit- from a nearby bowl and nibbling it. “You see? Now, this is heaven…” she moaned.
“What, the bed or the fruit?” Rainbow snarked. “You’ve got a problem Twilight, you really do. Seriously, you have a shrine to Blood Oranges or something tucked away in the library or something?”
Twilight’s expression said it all, really. Rainbow had to fight back a snigger, she was so telling Rarity about this when they got home. Rainbow then sighed to herself. “Home…” she thought. “Where everybody knows of the Sonic Rainboom. Here on the other hoof…”
“You know,” Rainbow remarked. “I just can’t believe it, really. The Sonic Rainboom! Back in our time, nobody bats an eyelid when it’s mentioned. Here, everyone just gives us bewildered looks! I mean, I thought the myth originated here for crying out loud!” she exclaimed. “All stories have to start from somewhere, right? Twilight, back me up on this! You said something about the Jackalope to Applejack when she dismissed it as just ponies drinking too much ‘Shine right?”
“Ah, yes, the Jackalope,” Twilight said, getting up off her bed. “While the creature exists, in a sense, it’s not exactly a mythical beast. They’re just rabbits, and other members of the leporid family infected by the Shope papilloma virus or SPV in the shorthand, which basically causes cancerous bone growths that sometimes look like antlers. Not pretty in the slightest, but that’s where the myth probably came from.”
Twilight bit back a laugh, remembering Applejack replying with: “Don’t use your fancy-smancy words to muddy the issue!”
“But what about our myth, the Sonic Rainboom?” Rainbow protested. “How do you explain that?” she exclaimed, throwing a hoof up in the air in frustration.
“Rainbow,” the Doctor put in, stepping away from the balcony window where he’d been watching the stars. “I think we’ve got bigger problems then some myth. Can’t you feel it, the anxiety in the air?’
“Well, of course, there’s going to be anxiety in the air!” Rainbow shouted. “I mean, there’s this huggggggeee wedding between Roam’s prized fighter and the Queen of Baladi coming up or haven’t you heard? Plus, now the Emperor himself has just shown up out of the blue!”
“No, it’s not that kind of anxiety, not the excited kind or the kind where everyone’s afraid something might go wrong. No, it’s fear, paranoia. I heard ponies in the streets whispering not to trust your neighbors, that something’s off about a few of them. Yes, fear. That’s what it is. Fear covers this city, and I have a feeling that whatever people are afraid of we’re going to meet it, and soon. Yes Rainbow, something’s about to happen and more than likely we’re about to be caught up in the middle of it. So I’d advise you and Twilight to get some rest,” the Doctor said, going for the door.
“And what about you?” Rainbow shouted. “Where are you off to?”
“Back to the TARDIS,” he shouted. “Run some scans of the city, see what’s what. Stay here, don’t do anything!”
With that, he took his leave. If he’d been paying attention, or Twilight for that matter as well, they’d have noticed Rainbow dart out the window and take flight into the night sky…
Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor had set all scanners on full range, just searching the city for anything out of the ordinary. He had his suspicions, but he couldn’t just go up to Ironhead and order a mandatory evacuation of the entire city without concrete proof. Not like Ironhead would have probably believed him anyways, the stubborn old sot. Wasn’t like he wasn’t name calling, he could smell the booze on Ironhead a mile away! Romans, no matter the planet loved their wine after a good battle, another one of those many curious constants and variables he’d found throughout the universe that he so loved.
Idly nibbling on a pitaya as he watched the TARDIS’s sensors do a full sweep, the Doctor sighed to himself. Maybe he was being overly paranoid, years of dealing with monsters like the Weeping Angels and various other denizens of the universe tended to do that to a Time Lord he supposed. Maybe Rainbow was right, maybe the only reason for the city’s anxiety was the wedding and him showing up claiming to be Nero himself. Well, maybe not claiming exactly as Ironhead just read what he wanted to see off the psychic paper. In everyone’s eyes, Ironhead’s word was law, and so to everyone, he was Nero in essence.
He chuckled to himself, remembering an old story about how his Nero fiddled while Rome burned. What a load of bull that was really, never mind the fact the fiddle hadn’t been invented yet, Nero had actually gone back to Rome to help while it burned. Completely not the Doctor’s fault this magma creature just got loose. Nope, not his fault at all. He’d blame that one on the Rani in one her many, many attempts to kill him over the years. He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d actually did to earn her ire really, he’d just disrupted her mad science experiments like any passing do-gooder would have done! ...He’d still had yet to figure out how she and the Master had managed to escape a fully grown Tyrannosaurus Rex in her own TARDIS. When he got back to the present day, he’d have to ask the Master about that one. Probably made one Hell of a good story.
The Doctor shook himself back awake with a self-induced slap to the face, as he felt his eyelids began to grow heavy, and his body began to grow drowsy. No, he couldn’t afford to drift off now, not while he was in the middle of important work! This needed to be investigated, every last inch of it. Maybe he was being overly paranoid, seeing monsters where there weren’t any, but then again maybe he wasn’t. It never hurt to be too careful after all.
“Of course!” the Doctor cried out, not caring nobody was around to see his genius right now, as he got up from his seat and began adjusting his sensors. “I should have compensated for the residual Equestrian pegasi-borne magic in the air! That’s what’s probably throwing everything off! Now, it’ll take the whole night for the TARDIS to account for this new variable and readjust her sensors, but you Old Girl, I can wait. You’ve never failed me yet, and I’ve got faith in your that you never will.”
The TARDIS hummed, almost as in response to this. The Doctor smiled. “While you do that…” he said, letting out a yawn. “I need to get some sleep. See you in the morning, Old Girl,” he said, kissing the console before blushing. He must never let Celestia know he did that. Then he’d never hear the end of it really.
Meanwhile, Rainbow searched the city streets from a perch atop a high tower for anything strange, anything out of the ordinary, training her eyes like an eagle’s to the streets below. For the most part, nothing seemed to be out there, just ponies walking the streets in really ludicrous costumes that probably only Rarity would love.
Rainbow gave a grimace in disgust, looking at her own attire. She had to wear one of these damn things as well, so embarrassing and so not cool. She then spotted with her eagle-eye vision, Ironhead wandering the streets, seemingly avoiding the main roads and the like sticking to the shadows.
“Now, what’s up with you…?” Rainbow wondered to herself. She was having to force the urge to just drop from the skies above like Batmare and pummel this bastard to a pulp for the shit he’d pulled, remembering the warning Flash had given her and the fate he’d suffered after he’d done something similar.
Silently jumping off the roof and breaking into a glide, she flew above the rooftops and then landed in a bale of hay, peeking her head out of the pile if only just so Ironhead wouldn’t see her.
“Ooh, feel like I’m in Assassin’s Creed now. Shame I don’t have a blade, and shame killing this asshole would cause chaos, because if I could, I would. Celestia knows he deserves it after what he did to Flash, Summer’s Flame amongst how many others.” Rainbow thought to herself, watching Ironhead’s movements very carefully. She eyed him approaching another stallion, one much younger than him with light blue fur. Soon both began discarding themselves of their armor. She groaned in disgust, oh she did not need to see this! She so did not need to see this.
However, she was caught off-guard when Ironhead and the other stallion started to chuckle.
“They don’t suspect a thing, do they?” the younger of the two remarked. Rainbow raised an eyebrow. Why would anyone care that two stallions were rutting like rabbits, even with the age difference? This was ancient Roam, such a thing was practically commonplace! Sure, she may have found the age difference thing to be a bit disgusting -Okay, more than a bit- but why the need for such secrecy? Was Ironhead or his lover married or something? If so, an alleyway probably wasn’t the best choice. I mean, she could see them just fine, how did they not know someone peeping through a window couldn’t? Plus, chances are when things got hot and heavy they’d be heard anyways.
“Not in the slightest,” Ironhead replied, a snake-like tongue flicking out of his mouth. Rainbow’s eyes widened, okay that was odd. “And good, I’d like to keep it that way… Until it’s far too late for them.”
“Yes, quite…” the second stallion replied before in a flash of green flame both he and Ironhead transformed into massive black bug creatures, sorta like horses but with chitlin wings and insectoid eyes. Not to mention unnaturally curved horns and holes in the legs.
“What the buck…?” Rainbow whispered, and suddenly both creatures turned to face her before Rainbow swore quietly and all went black.
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Changelings!!!
Doctor, get the bug spray.
aww so we have Changelings.
yep this is a simple bug problem a bit of pyrethrin will solve this problem really fast.
9167600
I know. Just a dumb joke I came up with.
9167676
I've made worse, so you're not alone.
Changeling, eh. Is Chrysalis gonna be invold ? If so be careful to not mess the timeline with Rainbow or Twilight meeting her way too early.
As for the SPV, yes very nasty. I was actually already familiar with it before this story.
[edit] Oh, I just realise. you're mirroring the events of the Canterlot wedding. Pretty ironic and clever I must say.
Mistakes found:
Emperor
9166799
I personally think it's possible the Geodes are the Human World's version of the Elements. And if you notice, a seventh color was added to the rainbow that defeated the Dazzlings.
But let's be honest, Legend of Everfree had so many problems. One, Timber Spruce who was a bit of a creep and honestly the plot could have progressed better without him as more screen time could have been given to her sister and without a brother, Gloriosa could have been even more desperate, and then there were the Geodes themselves which to this day have barely been explained.
And then there was Twilight, who for whatever reason got wings when she ponied up despite having not really earned them, unlike her counterpart. Only reason she got them in my mind, was because she was 'Twilight'. Make no mistake, I love Sci-Twi to bits, but that just grates on me.
This is going to be the Canterlot Wedding over a thousand years earlier ain't it? If so Chrysalis really needs to update her plans
9172706
Gloriosa being more desperate? How? She basically lost her childhood home to a rich asshole using it purely for profit. She tried every concievable way to stop that before going demon mode, too. It was healthy escalation, instead of going from 0 to 500 in 0.2 seconds.
9688295
Ah, but she had her brother then. Now imagine what it would be like if she was doing it alone...