Today We Summon Unity!

by Chemtest

Something Old

Twilight suddenly stops, bringing the army behind her to a halt. She looks up, only to see a cave entrance. She shakes her head, “This isn’t the Hive... but the magic leads back to here. Something important must be here.”

Atreyos moves up, “An ancient cave? A bit cliche. You sure your magic is working right?”

Harry moves up, “There is a strong magic coming from inside here. Perhaps a portal to the Hive? We had better investigate.”

Joseph draws his sword, “Our armies can’t fit inside, we had better go alone with our helpers.”

Atreyos nods, “Spike, you’re in charge until we come back. Set up a camp, make sure no one does anything stupid.”

Spike nods quickly, “Of course, we’ll be waiting.”

Atreyos draws his spear and shield, and moves into the cave, “Come on ponies, I take point.”

Robin draws his bow, and puts an arrow in, “Come on, Lady Rarity, it is sure to be a lot cleaner inside.”

Joseph walks carefully, hand staying near his sword, “This place doesn’t feel right. Everyone, stay cautious.”

The group walks further in, moving at a pace very annoying to Rainbow. She growls, “Why are we going so slow? Come on, Atreyos, we don’t have all day!”

Atreyos growls back, “Quiet, fool.”

Harry places a hand on her shoulder and whispers, “We don’t know what’s ahead, we need to conserve all strength. Just... be slow for a few minutes.”

Rainbow nods, and looks forward again. She still glares slightly, and taps the ground impatiently, but it’s a lot less than before.

Atreyos spots a light ahead, and raises his shield back up, “Everyone, get ready.”

Atreyos slides his feet forward, his sandals not making a single sound. He ducks lower and lower down, covering his body with his shield. Then, he breaks through into the light, and prepares to attack.

He looks around in confusion, seeing nothing but a closed room. He lowers his shield a bit, and stands straighter, “We’re good!”

The rest move in, with Harry instantly looking to the walls, “Oh, magical torches. Whatever this place is, it was expecting to have visitors. I can only hope those expectations weren’t those of violence.”

Twilight looks around, and spots something, “Wait, these walls, they’re doors. There are symbols on them as well.”

Rainbow jumps up, “Oh, is this going to be just like a Daring Do puzzle? Let me see!”

Twilight ignores her friend, and looks closer at the doors, “They seem to be slots. Here, this door, it has an arrow and a gem. This one, it has a sword and a hoof. This one, a wing, and a staff. And this one has a circular one, and a little hole.”

Rainbow smiles, “Well, it seems obvious. These doors are designed for a pair of us to travel down. Harry, put your staff in this door.”

Harry walks closer, and hesitantly puts his staff in. It fits perfectly, as does Rainbow’s wing when she puts it in. The door makes a clicking sound, both of them withdrawing their own, and the door opens.

Twilight smiles, “Well, let’s just all go down this one, then.” She takes a step closer to the door, only to have it close in her face.

Rainbow shakes her head, “Come on, Twilight, the ancient ponies who built this as a trial for us obviously wouldn’t have us do it together. We’re supposed to travel in pairs, come on. You go over and stick your horn into your boring door, Harry and I will be going through our more awesome door.”

Twilight sighs, “Fine, since the old ponies apparently couldn’t comprehend us wanting to stick together. No, let’s split apart, that’s always a great idea!”

Twilight looks at Rainbow, only to see her and Harry have already gone through their door. The door closes behind them, clicking again.

Twilight looks around again, only to see everyone else has also gone through their own doors.

Atreyos shoves his shield into it’s slot, “Come on, Sparkle, we don’t want to fall behind Harry. I swear, if you make me catch up after him, then I will throw you at our enemy personally.”

Twilight sighs, and shoves her horn into the hole. The door opens up as she withdraws, and she shakes her head, “Of all I could be paired up with, it’s you. Of course it’s you. I’m sure I’m going to get a friendship lesson out of this.”

Atreyos moves in, seeing the hallway in front of him filled with torches, “I’d prefer if you were to not include me in anything titled a friendship lesson.” He looks down the hallway, “Although it looks like we’ll have a long time to talk. That reminds me of a question. Who the hell are you, and why were you the diplomat sent to us?”

Twilight nods, “I suppose you never actually learned about who I am.”

Atreyos looks over at her, “Yeah, and unlike you, I actually like to ask people who the hell they are. If I wanted the exaggerated game of telephone backstory you have, then I would’ve asked that white one Robin was hitting on.”

Twilight smiles, “Well, I don’t actually get to explain my past to many now, so many just already know it. See, ever since I was a filly, I was very good at magic. I eventually made it to being Princess Celestia’s personal student, her protege. I was a recluse, always focusing only on my studies and on Spike. Then I read some tale in a book about Nightmare Moon coming back, was sent to Ponyville for celebration preparations, and ended up meeting my five other friends.”

Atreyos nods, “And what an odd group they are. A coward, a spaz, a seamstress, a farmer, a fighter, and a mage. I don’t know how you even managed to approach that yellow one, she seemed terrified even with you there.”

Twilight looks over at him, “Please, try not to insult them. Harry told me about how your people see insults as compliments, but we don’t. But yes, Fluttershy was very hard to approach. Eventually, the six of us were working together in order to stop Nightmare Moon. We found we were the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”

Atreyos smiles, “I recognize those. Yes, Luna wielded them until she fell to darkness, and Celestia made them inactive. If you are it’s carriers, then which do you all represent?”

Twilight smiles, “Well, Fluttershy is Kindness, Pinkie Pie is Laughter, Rarity is Generosity, Applejack is Honesty, Rainbow is Loyalty, and I am Magic. We’ve only used them twice. Right before you arrived, only a month ago, we fought the Spirit of Chaos.”

Atreyos nods, “Discord, previous Unruler of Equestria. Who created a paradise that ponies did not appreciate and so Celestia and Luna rose up against him. Believe me, already read a lot about him.”

Twilight looks at him again, “You? You read about Discord?”

Atreyos shrugs, “What? I like books! I’m a warrior, not a savage. My ability to think and read is why I am the King of Speartons, everyone else was too stupid for the position.”

Twilight raises an eyebrow, “You like to read?”

Atreyos looks down at her, “Yes, I love to read! I read every book in both Spearta and Magika! History, Oliver Twist, Shakespeare, Tolkien. I just never let my reading get in way of my fighting.”

Twilight smiles, and laughs a bit, “Wow! Not even Harry had read that much! Oh, what’s your favorite? Perhaps we could swap later on, read each other’s favorites?”

Atreyos smiles, “You want to talk about books? Now this is something I can respect you over. I always had Aesop and his stories as my personal favorites. They are short enough to memorize, and yet have enough depth that you can always find something new.”

———

Joseph still walks carefully forward, making sure to keep his footing. He always keeps his hand near his sword, even as Applejack walks so casual next to him.

Applejack looks over at him, “What’s got you so wound up, Joseph?”

Joseph looks ahead still, “There’s just this feeling in my gut... something is wrong. I’ve only felt it once before, when King Jack died.”

Applejack raises an eyebrow, “King Jack? Who was he?”

Joseph lets up for a bit, looking at her instead, “The second best swordsman ever in the Swordwrath. Somehow, we found out near our founding that swordsmanship was passed down through genes, with each king being better than the last. We also always named our Kings after the best swordsmen in history, just like the Archidon with archers. Our first King was named Minamoto, his son was Johannes, his son was Fiore, his son was William, who was father to Jack.”

Applejack nods, “So, Jack is your father?”

Jospeh nods, “He was, until he was slain by the damned Order. Their King, Keeser, carries some dark power in him. So much that he was able to best Jack in single combat, and I felt it five miles away.”

Applejack raises an eyebrow, “Some guy from a place called Order did this? That doesn’t seem very orderly of him.”

Joseph shakes his head, “It is perfectly orderly of him. Order never fought like us, they never saw the necessity of our war. Our empires fought, we killed, but it was war in the name of peace. When humans get too much free time, too much time without violence, they make bigger and better weapons. We fought Spearta, we killed a few Magikill, but we never did so out of anger. It’s like eating or drinking, it’s just something that has to happen. You have to kill the weaker warriors in war, until every warrior is so good that no soldier would ever die in a never ending conflict. It must sound unpleasant to you, I know.”

Applejack pauses, “I ain’t going to say I understand it perfectly, but I can understand what you are saying. Whenever I’m angry, I go out and kick my trees, that’s just Apple tradition. After so long of us kicking our trees in anger, they’ve grown strong enough to not fall over when we do it. So now, when we kick it, we get out our anger and don’t damage the trees.”

Joseph smiles, “So, you do understand it. Replace trees with people, and you would have Inamorta. But, imagine someone didn’t understand this, and thought you were just being senselessly violent to the trees. Now imagine that they pick up an axe, and decide to chop down half your trees. Then, they decide to imprison every old pony, and force the younger ones to hold in their anger. You have what Order did. They saw our wars as meaningless, and decided to invade every one of us. They killed the Kings, all of them. Merlin, Leonidas, Jack, and William, the previous leaders. William was Robin’s father as well, and was killed the day after Jack. Robin and I are close, we were the only ones born into royalty, the ones who truly felt the loss of a King. Of course, Order couldn’t stop there. They decided to invade the peaceful places, where all lived in harmony. Westwind and Pertland, which held back the forces of Chaos.”

Applejack looks at him, “So, I imagine you survived all of this?”

Joseph nods, “Yes. Robin and I were the only royal blood left in Inamorta, still are, neither of us have had children. We found the wisest Magikill still alive, the Spearton Harry. Harry is special, but I’m not one for gossiping about other’s pasts, unless if it is Robin. Atreyos was the smartest and strongest Spearton left, and was well respected by most. The four of us united as one, rebelling together against Order. We gathered what was left of our loyal armies, barely more than three hundred. That number rapidly dropped when we encountered a very dark magic that brought back dead warriors every night we marched. We eventually managed to seize back Magika, where we numbered barely more than one hundred. As we marched once more, we encountered the Queen of Chaos known as Medusa. She wanted Inamorta to be destroyed again, and so she tried to constantly slaughter us and force our wars to stop. Her Empire is made up of the oddest creatures, brutish Giants, Harpies, crawling monstrosities. But, in the end, she opened a portal beneath us and sent us here.”

Applejack looks forward again, “They both sound horrible, Order and Chaos. I suppose you could name your Empire into Harmony.” She laughs a bit, but shakes her head, “Joseph, we we’re done here, I want to help you over in Inamorta. Your people might not be the best, but you are better than anybody else there. Perhaps with my help, and hopefully that of the Princesses, we could help you establish true Harmony.”

Joseph smiles, “I would love that, Applejack. But we are dealing with dark powers here, and I am a warrior. If something happens, please, keep Robin safe. The braggart might not seem it, but he’s my best friend, and he’s gone through the same troubles I have. If it weren’t for my honesty, he would probably be swept into one of his fantasies. He likes to escape, to womanize, to fantasize. The world needs that imagination more than my bluntness. I wouldn’t be able to find peace without knowing he is good.”

Applejack raises an eyebrow, “Are you planning to find peace soon?”

Joseph shakes his head, “No, I will only be at peace when my sword has cut through Keeser.”

Applejack smiles, “Okay then, Jospeh, I promise to look out for Robin.”

Jospeh looks at her, and nods, “Thank you, Applejack. Now, come on, Atreyos is going to beat us at this point.”

Applejack laughs, “If Twilight ain’t already torn his throat out.”

Jospeh also laughs a bit, “That’s a pretty big ‘if’ as well.”

Comments

[Gizmo Gear]

Hmmmm.

[BurningSkies]

Twilight sighs, and shoves her horn into the hole.”

You know, if this was a different kind of fic...