Peaceful Solutions to the Stranger with One Eye
With a flash of blinding blue light, the dense clouds of smoke exploded into hundreds of small, sparkling particles that twinkled and shone as they slowly dropped to the ground before disappearing.
Princess Luna hurriedly looked around the now clear marketplace, hoping to catch the stranger before it left the area, but ended up finding nothing. She noticed that there weren’t any ponies clogging any of the main entrances, not even a trace of the guards she ordered to look after them. To her, this meant they’ve all gotten out of the marketplace just in time before everything went at its worst. This made her feel a relieving wave of warmth that melted away those worries in that moment, knowing that her subjects were safe and getting escorted back to their homes.
Unfortunately, all of those thoughts quickly changed once she got sight of the guard ponies who tried to capture the unknown biped, earlier. They were all laying on the ground, wincing and groaning in pain from the beatings they received from their very target. Besides the discomfort of being hit and thrown, Princess Luna couldn’t see any injury that would be life threatening.
“Your highness,” addressed one of the two guards who stayed by her side the whole time. “Are you alright? Did the smoke have any ill effect on you?”
“No, Private, I am fine, but have any of you seen where the creature went?”
The loud sounds of trash cans falling hard to the ground echoed from somewhere in the marketplace, immediately making Luna and her two guards to turn their heads to the direction where the commotion came from.
Just not too far away from them, was the biped creature climbing up a section of the brick walls enclosing the marketplace. Despite the surface of the bricks being rather smooth, it still managed to grip onto them without much difficulty, easily scaling up the structure in a speed that surprised Luna and the guards watching. In only a few seconds, the biped already reached the top of the wall, and heaved it’s entre body to the other side, no longer in sight for the lunar princess or her guards.
Princess Luna quickly turned back to face the two royal guard ponies close to her, wings flared open and ready for flight. “I want you two to get the injured out of here and into the closest infirmary.” She caught sight of the guards still in front of the nearby entrance, who looked back at her in full attention. “All of you shall help them, too.”
Before any of the guardponies could say something, Princess Luna made a mighty flap of her wings and instantly soared up high into the night sky, and darted towards the biped’s direction. She quickly caught sight of it making a sharp turn on a corner of a building, and continued to fly after it as she remained high up in the air, using this as an advantage for the large field of view of the city below.
To her surprise, it ran fast. Not nearly as fast as ponies in the Wonderbolts, but fast enough to be a challenge to the most athletic earth ponies in Equestria, or possibly outperform them. Despite having a heavy load strapped to it’s back, there were no signs of the large bag impeding the carrier’s speed in any way as it continued running and swiftly turning corners leading into alleyways, something that got her curious and astonished.
After some time closing the distance between it and herself, Luna lowered her altitude to get even closer to it. For obvious reasons, she still kept some distance away from it, and remained two stories high in the air as the passageway it was running in was too narrow for her to fly in.
“Stop!” she commanded, loudly.
The effort was fruitless, as the one-eyed biped began to run even faster as a response, slowly going farther away out of Luna’s reach.
“I command you too. . .” Luna started, irritably. Her horn covered under a bright blue light before it instantly grew large enough to engulf her body immediately vanishing in thin air.
“Stop!” she finished her command with rising anger, as she suddenly appeared no less than six meters in front of the escaping biped, blocking it’s path further down the alleyway, and catching it by surprise as she saw it stop running and recoil backwards a little.
The biped quickly reached to the side of it’s large backpack and gripped onto a smoke bomb. It brought it’s arm in the air as it was about to throw the metallic cylinder on the ground, but before it did so, Princess Luna grabbed a firm hold of it’s hand through the use of her telekinesis; covering the stranger’s palm in the same magical aura that was being emitted from her horn, which slowly spread throughout it’s arm.
It attempted to pull out the pin with the use of it’s other hand, but as soon as it came close to touching the object, the lunar princess reacted quickly by grasping the once free palm under her magical grip, and yanked it back to the opposite side. The biped swung it’s arms in random directions out of desperation, trying to break free out of the Princess’s grasp with a surprising amount of strength that she didn’t expect to come from it.
Luna kept a hold of herself as she continued to hold on to the one-eyed biped under her telekinesis. She gritted her teeth in anguish as she jerked her head from side to side, like as though she was legitimately pulling it, with beads of sweat starting to drip from her forehead. It kept trying to reach for the pin on the smoke bomb, forcing her to put most of her mental focus on that one arm for a split moment just to yank it away, causing it to become more agitated and use more strength in fighting against her grasp.
To her, she was no longer trying to hold it in place, but was now wrestling with it. And with all of her focus on preventing it not to activate the smoke bomb in it’s hand or simply run away, it was hard for her to extend her magical grip to the rest of it’s body.
“Let me go!” it shouted in a mix of desperation and rising anger. “I promise I’m not here to hurt your people! I’ll stay away from them! I’ll leave! Just let me go!”
“I can’t allow that, as your presence could still jeopardize the safety of my subjects throughout the kingdom,” Luna replied, trying not show too much strain as she still wrestled with the biped in her magic. “If you are completely sincere with what you’re saying, then stop trying to run and come with me, so my sister and I can understand the situation going on!”
“I will not be locked in a cell and be treated like a criminal!”
“We will do no such thing unless you prove to hold ill intent!”
“If you’re anything like the guards attacking me, I see nothing good to turn myself to you!”
As Luna was about to protest against it’s statement, she caught sight of a small group of pegasi from the Royal Guard flying above their location. They were signalling to other groups that were too far for her to see, but in just a few seconds, more pegasi began to join them, increasing the size of the group as they prepare to attack the biped while it’s unaware of their presence. Seeing this added more worries into Luna’s mind, causing her to look more distressed than ever.
“Stay where you are! Send somepony to get my sister!” she shouted to the amassing group of pegasi, surprising them.
Finding out about the Royal Guard ponies flying above them caused the biped to become more desperate on getting free, resulting in it using more strength as it’s resistance became much more frantic and aggressive.
Luna continued to hold on and increased the strength of her magic, but with the biped’s movements becoming more frenzied, she began to feel tired. With the signs very obvious, she knew that the guards looked at her with immediate concern.
“But, your highness-!”
“Stay where you are, and get my sister! That’s an order!” Luna shouted to the guards again, looking at them with tired eyes filled with agitation, which turned into fear as she realized she shifted her attention away from the biped.
As she returned her focus on restraining the one-eyed being, it was too late. It lashed it arms in a random direction one last time and finally freed itself from Luna’s telekinetic grasp. The magical aura that once covered the biped’s arms were left as mere sparkling clouds drifting in the air, before immediately dissipating into nothing.
Luna flinched and recoiled in discomfort as she felt a rather sharp pain inside of her head and horn, an after affect from having her magical hold be violently broken. She quickly shoved the pain aside as she regained her focus and was about to use a different spell on detaining the biped. However, before she could even look at the thing, a small explosion was heard and she was immediately surrounded by the same thick smoke that engulfed the marketplace.
Reacting quickly, she cleared the alleyway with the same spell used in the market, emitting a very bright blue light from her horn which caused the smoke around her to burst into sparkling particles. With the alleyway cleared, she frantically looked around the narrow area, shifting her head and body in all directions in hopes of catching sight of the biped before it could escape again.
“Oh no. No, no, no, no. . .” Luna muttered to herself anxiously as she failed to find any trace of the stranger for the second time.
Finding nothing in the alleyway, she stretched out her wings and immediately soared back in the air, stopping when she got high enough to have an entire aerial view of the passageway, along with the other buildings and roads close to it. She tried to keep herself collected as she looked down into the areas below to continue looking for the biped.
“Your highness!”
Luna turned around to see the royal guard in charge of the large group of pegasi flying towards her. His group staying behind him.
“Are you-“
“I am fine, Corporal, but did you see where it went?” Luna interrupted worryingly.
“No. No, your highness. None of us did,” he answered quickly.
Princess Luna came close to let out a roar in anger and stress, but immediately stopped herself from actually doing it as it would look like she would be screaming at the guard, and she knew none of them deserved anything like that. Instead, she took a brief moment to take some calm breaths, which did work on relieving some of the stress that was building up inside of her, and helped soothed the strain she was feeling from trying to hold down the biped.
“Alright, did you send somepony to alert my sister?” Luna asked in her regal demeanor.
“Yes, I sent the fastest in the group to inform Princess Celestia. He should reach her any minute, now.”
“Good. In the meantime, I want all of you to fly to every checkpoint in Canterlot to tell them to not attack the creature.”
“Pardon me, your highness?”
“You heard me, Corporal. Tell any guard you see I’ve posted it as a standing order to not attack the creature. If anypony stationed in a checkpoint sees it, stand firm and don’t allow it to pass through them. To those out on patrols, try to herd it deeper inside the city, but absolutely no attacks. But if it attempts to harm any of you, then you are allowed to fight back under self-defence.”
“And what about you, Princess?”
“I’ll continue searching the city for it, and once Princess Celestia joins me, we’ll attempt to catch it together.”
“Do you require an escort?”
“Not this time. And if anypony manages to see it, report it to me and my sister directly. Now go!”
“You heard the Princess! Everypony scatter throughout the city and spread the word!” the Corporal ordered all of pegasi flying behind him.
In response, they all nodded, and immediately flew into different directions, leaving Luna all by herself.
She turned around, eyes focused, and ready to fly around the whole city to search for Equestria’s unknown visitor as soon as possible.
“Luna!” called out a familiar voice in the distance, stopping her before she was about leave the area.
The blue alicorn turned to the direction to where it came from, only to see her older sister flying towards her.
“Sister!” Luna reacted rather excitedly, and flew to Celestia so fast, she was already in front her in barely a second. Most creatures would be scared or utterly shocked by something nearly crashing in front of them, but the white alicorn remained calm and looked worried for her younger sister. “Am I relieved to see you!”
“I’ve been told on what happened in the marketplace, and you were close to catching the very thing responsible for the flash. What happened?”
“It escaped and is somewhere in the city. I’ll explain everything that has occurred while we search.”
“Do you have any idea where it could be, now?”
“No, but I’ve sent ponies from the Royal Guard to spread word that I’ve made it an order to report to us if anypony catches sight of it. Again, I’ll explain everything once we help in the search.”
“Very well, Luna. Lead on, I’ll be by your side.”
With that conversation over, the Royal Sisters started fly around the city as they begun the search. Luna took the lead while Celestia stayed right beside her. They did not fly under any specific route, or had a destination in mind, the two just flew through the sky above Canterlot, eyes focused on the areas below, utterly focused on finding the strange and bizarre visitor in Equestria. They passed by many different districts in the city but found no signs of anything out of the ordinary, resulting them to fly to a different location to resume the search.
While they flew throughout Canterlot, Luna held her promise by telling Celestia everything that occurred since the situation in the eastern marketplace. She didn’t leave anything out, and told her about the biped being able to speak fluent Equestrian, including it’s pleading to be left alone during her attempts to capture it back in the alleyway. Just remembering about it pleading her to leave it alone made her feel guilty but she tried pushing those feelings aside as she needs to maintain a clear head in that moment, and still unsure if it really had any peaceful intentions.
Celestia said nothing but listened to Luna as she explained her story. She did not utter a single word but only listened and gave the blue alicorn concerned glances, seeing evidence that she was still a bit strained and tired from the struggle she had with the biped.
“Besides with what happened in the alleyway, it never tried to harm you?” Celestia finally asked.
“No, it only focused on running away. If it really is sincere with it’s pleading, then it really doesn’t want to harm anypony, unless it’s life is directly threatened. . . whatever it is.”
“It’s some kind of golem,” Celestia replied, causing her younger sister to look at her with widened eyes in surprise. “I had some of my lieutenants collect information for me on what’s going on. From what they’ve gathered by the other officers, our mysterious visitor is some sort of advanced golem.”
Luna struggled to reply as she tried to contemplate that answer. “I find that hard to believe, sister. That thing acted far too alive to be a golem. It pleaded. It begged. It conveyed emotion.”
“Were you able to feel it through your magic, Luna? Ensure it really possessed feelings instead of acting it?”
“No,” Luna said in a defeated tone. “I was so focused on capturing it, that thought didn’t come to mind.”
“Don’t burden yourself on this, my sister, we’ll get to the bottom of that later,” Celestia said as she went back to monitoring the city blocks below them. “If our visitor really does mean no harm, then there is still a chance for it to come to us peacefully, and answer our questions.”
“I worry it’ll think we’ll hold it in for interrogation.”
“That’s because we will.”
Luna looked at her sister with eyes of shock, utterly baffled by what Celestia just said.
“I know you disagree with my decision, but an advanced golem of unknown origin and design just appeared in Equestria through a blinding flash,” Celestia began calmly. “Not only that, but it’s completely self-aware; an artificial lifeform. Such magical practice has rarely been done before, and under Equestrian law. . .”
“It’s illegal. . .” Luna added, somberly.
“Exactly. And I’m not letting go of the chance of something possibly dangerous following it and appearing somewhere in Equestria,” Celestia continued somewhat sternly before calming down. “But, I will not have it confined to a cell in the castle. I’ll set some accommodations for it, as long as it remains compliant and prove not to be a danger to our subjects.”
Luna nodded in response before diverting her attention back to the grounds below. It was apparent she didn’t like the notion of having it held for interrogation, but she agreed with her older sister’s points; with everything that’s happened, they needed answers. A strong tinge of irony struck her mind, knowing that she would be the one rushing to those kinds of ideas in most cases. Not this time though, and she felt comfort in hearing Celestia giving it fair treatment if it holds no ill will.
“Your majesties!” shouted a voice in the distance.
The Royal Sisters stopped where they were and turned to the direction where the voice came from, only to see a royal guard pegasus flying towards them in a hurry.
Princess Luna recognized him as the Corporal she ordered to spread word to the rest of the Royal Guard in Canterlot to not actively attack the biped.
“Corporal, what’s the matter?” Luna asked, looking concerned for the worried look on the pegasus’s face.
“There’s a situation, your majesty. Two of our patrol teams in the western districts found the bipedal creature and attempted to capture it by force.”
“I made it a standing order to not actively attack it!” Luna nearly shouted in anger.
“I know, your majesty, but we’re still in the process of spreading your orders throughout all of Canterlot, so not every pony in the Royal Guard has received them yet. Especially to anypony stationed in the farther reaches of the city,” the Corporal said quickly, eyes wide in slight fear from the Princess of the Night’s outburst.
“Easy, sister,” Celestia said to her younger sister in a gentle voice and placed a reassuring hoof on her back.
Luna immediately realized her action and came close to putting her head down in guilt in shame, but didn’t and maintained her regal posture. She took a second to take in a breath of air and made a calm exhale, feeling her body relax, and her mind receiving some much needed clarity. “I apologize, Corporal, that outburst was unnecessary and you did not deserve it.”
“It’s fine, your majesty, but you’re presence is needed in the western districts. Captain Azure Strike and his garrison are locking it down to prevent the creature from escaping.”
“And what of the patrol teams that were attacked?”
“His men are treating them as we speak.”
“And anything else on the creature?”
“It’s best you ask the Captain, your majesty, he’ll have some details to share with you.”
“I can teleport us to them, just tell me the location,” said Celestia.
“Emerald Gleam Boulevard.”
Celestia closed her eyes as her horn became enveloped under a bright gold aura which radiated with a warmth that many would compare to the sun’s rays. Before any of them even blinked, the whole group was engulfed in a flash of light that immediately dissipated into nothing a second after.
Suddenly, they found themselves hovering in the middle of a street just a few feet above the ground, no longer high up in the city’s skies.
Not too far off in the distance, Luna saw a large group of Royal Guards in what she quickly recognized was a defensive stance. They all stood beside each other in a line-like formation, elaborate shields placed in front of their chests, appearing like a mighty wall that blocked the rest of the boulevard from the area behind them.
“That’s his contingent, your majesties. I will lead you to the Captain, and return to spreading the no attack orders to the rest of the Royal Guard,” the Corporal said as he began to take the lead of the group towards the fortified ponies ahead.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Luna replied, causing the Corporal to stop just as he was about to fly ahead. “My sister and I will find the Captain ourselves, you can return to spreading my word. Thank you for your help, Corporal.”
“Obliged, your majesty,” he responded with a quick bow before flexing out his wings, and with a single flap, he darted towards the sky and flew away in a new direction.
With her sister by her side, they both flew towards the wall of armored ponies ahead in a brisk pace. It was a short flight, nothing grand about it as the street was empty and devoid of anything to watch out for. In mere seconds, they were already in front of the guard’s shields, resulting in all them to salute in their presence.
“Your majesties,” greeted a Sergeant in the middle of the formation of Royal Guards. He was a unicorn, and used his magic to place his shield on his back as he walked few steps closer to the princesses and made a quick bow.
“Sergeant Hardened Light, it’s good to see you and your stallions are alright,” Celestia said as she and Luna slowly descended their hooves on the ground.
“Thank you for the concern, your majesty. I wish I could say the same for the patrol teams.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Luna addressed. “We’ve been told that Captain Azure Strike requires our assistance.”
“Yes, that’s right, Princess,” Hardened Light confirmed with a nod. “The Captain is halfway down the road behind me, you’ll see him. I would escort you, but me and my stallions have to maintain this position.”
“That is fine, Sergeant, we can find him ourselves.”
Hardened Light gave the princesses a brief nod before turning around to face the wall of armored ponies behind him. “Alright, create an opening! Allow passage for the princesses!”
In response to the command, the Royal Guards walked out of formation in a brisk and organized pace. One by one, the wall of armored ponies dispersed as they all took spots and lined up at the nearby sidewalks, opening up the once blocked area with the rest of the street.
Luna and Celestia immediately walked in deeper within the rest the boulevard, which was filled with more ponies of the Royal Guard in Captain Azure Strike’s contingent. Some of them were marching around in groups, while most of them took up positions in the area and acted as lookouts.
As soon as she and Celestia were far away enough, Sergeant Hardened Light shouted another order to his group to get back to their previous position, which they complied without hesitation. When they looked back to watch, all of the armored ponies already took their earlier spot in the street, reforming their wall of shields that closed off this area to the entire boulevard, once again.
“What a night,” Luna said somewhat tiredly, as she and Celestia continued walking down the road. “Not even Tirek’s first few days of escaping Tartarus caused this much panic in the city.”
“Because nopony got word of Tirek’s attacks until a full week, and by then, it was already too late,” Celestia added.
Luna didn’t reply as she spotted a group of guards huddled amongst each other not far ahead of them. Out of the armored ponies there, she and Celestia quickly recognized Captain Azure Strike being one of them.
As soon they got closer, the Captain, along with the other guards with him, immediately made their way towards the princesses and did some quick bows.
“Your highnesses, I’m glad to see you,” he greeted in calm appreciation.
“Same can be said for you and your garrison, Captain,” Luna replied in the same manner. “We received the news concerning the patrol teams, along with your request of our presence.”
“That’s correct, Princess Luna,” he confirmed and began looking at Celestia. “Not wanting to sound ungrateful, but I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
“I’m not surprised,” Celestia replied with a bored monotone. “I took care of everything important back in the castle, and my aids are capable of handling anything else. Like Luna, I’m available to provide whatever assistance that’s needed.”
“Me and the rest of the Guard greatly appreciate that, Princess Celestia.”
“Returning to matters on hoof,” Luna interjected. “Where are the patrol teams? I don’t see any injured ponies here.”
“As soon as we arrived, I dispatched the unicorns in my contingent to teleport them to the castle’s infirmary,” the Captain explained. “They did not appear to sustain anything life-threatening when me and my guards looked them over, but it’s better to have them sent to the castle’s doctors just to be safe.”
“A wise decision, Azure Strike,” said Celestia.
“Thank you, your highness,” he replied with an appreciated nod and turned back to Luna. “As for the attacker, this. . . creature. . .”
“Did you or any of your guards see it?”
Captain Azure Light just shook his head. “No, we did not. By the time we found the patrol teams, that thing was already gone, but I doubt it has gotten far. I divided the rest of my contingent to spread throughout all of the western districts to reinforce checkpoints, close off exits, and try to make it harder for it to escape this part of the city.”
“A sound strategy, Captain, but what we’re dealing with here is something that’s proven to be very clever and intelligent on evading detection. There’s a chance it may’ve escaped to another part of the city.”
“That’s why I sent some of my pegasi to alert the nearby garrisons to do the same on their districts and increase their patrols on both the air and ground. If that thing really is in a different part of the city, we’ll get word of it immediately and have the time to react.”
“Captain!” shouted a frantic voice from the distance.
All of them turned to the direction to where it came from, only to see a pegasus Royal Guard darting towards them from the west. His eyes were wide open in worry while his wings were in overdrive, already giving Luna and Celestia that something bad has happened or was still happening. It didn’t take long to be in front of them all, every pony’s eyes concentrating on him as he hovered a couple of feet off the ground.
“Captain, we-!” he stopped himself as soon as he realized he was in the presence of the princesses, and immediately bowed.
“The gesture is appreciated, but now is not the time for it,” Celestia ushered. “Please rise and tell us what happened.”
The pegasus guard immediately stood back up on all four hooves, his eyes full of urgency as they darted between the Captain and the two princesses. “The patrols in the east found the creature, but there’s a problem!”
“They didn’t attack it, did they?” Luna asked worryingly.
The young guard immediately shook his head in response. “No, they received your orders and tried to herd it into the city. But it grabbed a guard and is holding it as a hostage, and is in possession of some kind of weapon!”
Every pony’s eyes widened in shock and fear in response of hearing the news.
“What kind of weapon is it holding? Is it one of those smoke bombs I keep hearing about?” Azure Light asked.
“No, sir, it’s some kind of baton! But there’s electricity coming out of the end! All of the unicorns present don’t sense any magic being used, at all!”
“Where is it now?” Luna butted in, urgency rising in her voice.
“It’s in the square east of here. Lieutenant Harken Fury and his guards are surrounding it.”
“I know the place, Luna, I’ll teleport us there,” Celestia said to the younger alicorn.
In response to that, Luna immediately walked towards her sister’s side and readied herself for the teleportation.
“Do you need any of us to accompany you, princesses?” Azure Light asked in concern for the Royal Sisters.
Luna responded immediately. “No, Captain. My sister and I desire to end this peacefully without any more incidents. Bringing in additional guards will make matters a lot worse.”
“Very well, your majesties. In case things go wrong, I’ll have my contingent ready.”
The two alicorns gave Azure Light a regal bow in thanks and farewell, while Celestia’s horn glowed under a wave in shivering light. A mere second later, they were enveloped in a golden flash and opened their eyes to be in a completely different area, entirely.
They both stood close to the center of the square that was east of Azure Light and his contingent. It was more like a walled-in park, with it’s ground almost completely covered in grass, and walkways made of elaborate stones led to the area’s four main entrances and exits.
However, they didn’t take more time to observe the scenery as they heard a lot of murmurings and movements very close by, making them to turn to see what was going on.
Before them was a large crowd of Royal Guards surrounding the center of the square in the form of a circle. Multiple rows of unicorns and earth ponies were the main forces on the ground as they stood side by side amongst each other in formation, while pegasi took positions up in the air. All of them starred coldly at the very thing they were surrounding and were in combat ready stances, stressed and ready to strike at any moment.
Luna and Celestia already knew exactly what their guards were looking down at, but that didn’t stop shocked expressions on their faces as soon as they looked at the commotion happening right in the center of the square.
Literally in the middle of everything was the one-eyed biped. Standing tall for every pony in the square to see, it held a lone pegasus in it’s left arm as a hostage and gripped on to an object in it’s right hand. Remembering what the other pegasus told them earlier, the princesses could tell that the object was a metal baton of some kind, but with bright blue streams of electricity coming out from the tip and almost spreading down to the handle. The biped held it’s weapon close to it’s hostage, the light from the streams of electricity reflected off the pegasus white fur coat in a blue-ish hue; giving a clear warning for the Royal Guards to not come any closer.
The captured pegasus in question had a look of pure fear as he tried his best to stop looking at the electrified baton that was not too far from his own head. He tried to struggle himself free but the attempt was worthless, leaving him more terrified than before, which made him stop squirming in the bipeds arms.
“Everypony clear a way!” Celestia commanded crisp and clearly for every pony there to hear her.
All of the Royal Guards present stopped their stern gazes at the biped and immediately turned to look at the two princesses in wide eyes of surprise.
“The princesses are here!” a random guard shouted in relief.
“You heard her, clear out a path for them!” shouted the commanding voice of a Sergeant in a row close by.
The rows of armored ponies in front of the princesses quickly moved away to the sides in a parade formation, making a clear path that was meters wide, leading directly to the small open area the biped was standing in.
“Where is Lieutenant Harken Fury?” Luna asked loudly.
Almost immediately, a Royal Guard from the front row came running towards the two princesses through the makeshift path. As much as he tried to hide it under the look of toughness and dignity, the Royal Sisters could clearly tell that he was stressed about everything that was happening.
As soon as he was in front of the two alicorns, he stood straight and looked at them in full attention. “I’m here, princesses, but we have an urgent situation. That thing is holding one our stallions as a hostage.”
“We can see that,” Celestia replied calmly as her eyes slowly gazed to the armed golem, which slightly tensed as soon as they made eye contact. A few seconds later, her eyes went back towards the Lieutenant. “I’m going to try and negotiate with it.”
“Princess?” Harken Fury nearly shouted that question in shock, but kept his composure.
“From what Luna and I have learned about this stranger, is that it seems lost, confused, and tries not to seriously injure any of the ponies that confronts it,” she replied quite adamantly. “There’s a chance to end all of this peacefully, and I’m going to take it.”
“But what of the hostage?”
“I’ll have him released, Lieutenant, don’t worry. Now head back to the front and tell your guards to maintain a defensive stance. Princess Luna and I will be there momentarily.”
The Lieutenant looked at her briefly with an expression of confusion, before giving her a nod of acknowledgement and running back to the front row to do what she instructed him to do.
“Come, Luna,” Celestia said as she began to walk towards the biped.
“Sister,” Luna whispered to her older sibling’s ear as she walked by her side. “With my last encounter with our. . . ‘guest’, I don’t think it’s wise for it to see me with you.”
“I will handle the talking, but I will still need your help in case things go wrong.”
The two princesses continued their walk through the open path of grass, not another word was said between them, only hearing the sounds of their hooves crushing the grass below them. Not even the rows of guards beside them said anything, all of their eyes locked back to the one-eyed biped in a stern gaze, but some of them looked worried or concerned for the hostage still held in it’s arm.
As soon as they were a few steps ahead of the row of guards in front of the biped, they saw it’s stance tense up more, legs spreading in a more balance positioned, and torso leaning forward. It was apparent that it was preparing itself for an attack.
“Stop right there,” the biped threatened in calm voice.
The Royal Sisters complied and stopped in their tracks, no less than a dozen meters away from the biped. They stood tall and regal with their heads up high, stern eyes staring at the unknown being, giving a clear message that the two alicorns will not back down to threats, especially when the well-beings of their subjects were at stake. There’s one thing they’ll admit to themselves, the sheer amount of emotion coming from it’s voice, the mixture of fear and anger that’s close to becoming rage, sent shivers throughout the alicorns’ backs.
“I know what you’re about to say; you’re going to demand me to let him go, threaten me not to hurt him,” it said as it tried to keep a calm composure of it’s own, but there were obvious tones of pain, anger and desperation that proved too hard to hide. “Whether you trust my words or not, I won’t hurt him. Like I keep repeating myself, I’m not here to hurt anyone. But that does not mean I won’t defend myself.”
“I can tell you want to propose something,” Celestia replied rather sternly.
“Yes. Allow me to leave this city safely, and I will let him go. Simple as that and nothing else.”
“That is everything?”
“Yes, that is everything,” the biped said in an angry hiss.
The first row of Royal Guards began to look more irritated as they saw the biped respond to such a manner, all of them finding such an act insulting to their leaders.
Seeing this happen made the biped visibly more uneased, so Luna quickly reacted by slowly arching out a wing to the guards as a sign of warning and giving them a stern look to calm down, which they all immediately complied.
Celestia ignored everything happening behind her as she kept looking at the biped. “Very well. But I must ask a question, first.”
“I won’t hurt your subjects. I’ll stay away from them.”
“No, not that.”
Hearing that made the biped tilt it’s head a little, making the alicorns think as simple reaction of surprise.
“Where will you go?” Celestia asked as her looked soften, her expression becoming more sympathetic.
“Away from here. Away from you. Away from your people.”
“And then what?”
“I will keep that to myself.”
“If you really are not a danger to us, the least you could do is answer my questions.”
“If I do, will you let me go?”
Celestia let out a sigh before shaking her head. “No, I cannot. But I don’t want this to escalate in further violence, so please relinquish your weapon, release my guard, and come with me and my sister to the castle.”
“With everything that’s happened, following you will likely get me put in a cell.”
“I will not issue such thing, but we do want to know more bout you.”
“You want to hold me for interrogation,” it stated, coldly.
While the princesses maintained their dignified composure, they were both frightened by the shear emotion emanating from that response; unnerved by the sight of a golem act so alive as it portrayed something close to anger. They won’t admit it openly, but witnessing that sent shivers down their spines.
“Yes, to determine if you really aren’t a danger to ponies of Equestria,” Celestia replied, calmly.
“Again, I am no danger to your people.”
“Please understand, this kingdom has been a victim of numerous attacks by evils who simply wanted to spread disharmony or devastation. So we have the right to be this cautious,” she explained. “And how you got here wasn’t exactly subtle, either. Before my guards found you, a blinding flash engulfed the sky, we thought we were being invaded, again.”
The golem did not make a reply, leaving everything uncomfortably silent. Due to the fact that the golem lacked a face, trying to study any visual cues by starring at it’s oddly-shaped head was downright impossible, which greatly infuriated Celestia.
As seconds passed, she couldn’t handle the tense silence anymore, and decided to speak up. “I can tell you’re lost and afraid. You. . . really don’t know where you are, do you?”
It shook it’s head as an answer.
“Sister,” Luna called out to her sibling in a whisper, retrieving a glance from her. “Have you noticed the damage on it’s clothes? All of the burning holes?”
Celestia never noticed it before, until she looked back towards the golem. She immediately became shocked after realizing all of the damages it had on the suit it wore, seeing all of the burns, tears, gashes and holes that were still emitting light traces of smoke into the air. She was so focused on the captured guard, she failed to even take note of the obvious wounds it had, and mixed with the entirety of the Royal Guards sent to capture it; Celestia couldn’t help but feel sorry for the poor thing.
“You’re injured,” Celestia said, somberly. “Please come with us to the castle so we can help you.”
Again, it didn’t say anything in reply, making everything uncomfortably silent as it made slight movements with it’s head.
“Please, I implore you to come with us,” Celestia pleaded. “I promise that you will treated fairly and be given accommodations to suit your needs, just please release my guardspony and put away your weapon.”
Again, another round of silence. No one said anything else as the golem’s white pupil repeatedly darted from the stallion held in it’s arm and back to the princesses.
“Alright,” said the one-eyed being, relieving all of the pent up tension for all of the ponies there. “I’m going to put him down, now.”
The biped flicked a switch somewhere on the baton, which caused the streams of electricity to fade away almost immediately. Next, it slowly placed one knee on the ground and gently released the pony it held as it’s hostage the whole time.
With frightened eyes, the pegasus glanced back at his former captor under expressions full of fear, before immediately flying towards Celestia and Luna as fast as possible, and gave them a bow.
“Thank you so, so, much, your highness,” he said to Celestia, shakily; trying his best to keep his cool.
“You are very welcome, Private. Now go back to your commanding officer and tell him I’ve made it a standing order for to get checked by a doctor.”
The freed pegasus complied immediately as he darted up into the air and flew out of the princesses’ sight. Celestia turned to look at the rows of armored ponies encircling her, Luna, and the biped they were in front of.
“Harken Fury!” she called out towards the horde of guardspony.
The Lieutenant came running towards Celestia in a hurry from being called, stopping just a mere meter away from her. “Yes, your majesty.”
“Send somepony to bring down a chariot, one meant for the Minotaur diplomats; we’re bringing our guest back to the castle.”
“At once, your highness,” the Lieutenant acknowledged before running back into the crowd.
“Sister,” Luna called out, garnering Celestia’s attention. “I’ll send runners to visit all of the other officers to gather information for us to investigate what went wrong.”
“Excuse me, your majesties. . .”
The princesses turned around, only to see two young stallions of the Royal Guard.
“Deeply sorry for interrupting you, but we were part of the patrol group who first came into contact with the golem,” said the guard on the left. “Despite whatever you’ve been told by the other officers, this golem did not attack first.”
“Is this going to be a long explanation?” Luna asked.
“Yes, your highness.”
“This is not the right place for it. Go to the throne room and wait for us there, you both can tell us the entire story once we’re done accommodating our guest,” instructed Luna.
The two guardponies gave the alicorns a short bow and immediately ran off to the closest route leading towards the castle.
Luna let out a sigh and looked to her older sister. “An interesting night this turned out to be.”
“’Interesting’, indeed,” Celestia replied as she turned to look at the golem, which Luna followed suit.
The golem stood still, completely motionless, it’s single blue-colored eye starring back towards the two of them as it placed the baton on the side of it’s bag. Whether it was studying them or not, they had no idea, but won’t be surprised if it actually was. The alicorn sisters were just glad that the situation was almost over, all that’s left was to bring their visitor back to the castle and investigate what went wrong when the scouting team initiated contact with it.
As Luna said earlier, it was going to be an interesting night, indeed.
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I love it!
8544693
Thank you very much for the comment! 8D
8544726
You're very welcome!