Unity: A Tale of Arcadia

by Kieva Lynn

Book Two: Chapter One

Book Two: Wizard Quests

Chapter One

The new morning dawned as bright as the one before, Sun streaming down through the clear blue sky, though far to the west clouds on the horizon warned of rain to come. The trolls had been settled back in their home, but the people of Arcadia, not yet accustomed to the existence of non human intelligence were wary. Which probably helped to explain all the looks the Doctor was getting as he trotted along Main Street. Arcadia was no larger than Fallow Meadows had been, and it didn't take long to find the place he was looking for. A small, red brick building, intact but not particularly well maintained, with a display window jammed too full to see the interior through, and a sign over the door that read "Stuart's Electronics."

"Gandalf, old friend, you're gonna owe me big time after this." The Doctor muttered, then opened the door and stepped through. Inside was a fairly narrow shop, the floor space between the front door and a counter at the back uncluttered but the walls jammed to the breaking point with antique electronic equipment: cathode-ray tube televisions, nineteen eighty's era boom boxes, L.P. Turntables that were not recent builds from the odd resurgence of that technology, and even radio sets that almost certainly had vacuum tubes instead of transistors. A voice arose from the back, saying "Be right with you!" followed by some whispering that couldn't quite be made out, and then the speaker appeared. He was, or appeared to be, a fortyish human man, slightly balding, paunchy, and wearing a red plaid bathrobe. "Well then! Welcome to Stuart's Elec-" The man fell silent, but only for a moment before exclaiming "Doctor!?"

"Hello Stuart. Interesting place you have here."

Stuart rushed to the front door, locking it and closing the venetian blinds over it. "What do you think you're doing!?" He demanded. "You'll blow my cover! If the people around here figure out I'm an alien-"

"They'll probably react the same way as they're reacting to trolls and ponies." the Doctor answered. "Not that I'd recommend discarding your human disguise. Durio's known as the smelliest planet in the universe for a reason after all."

"Touche Doc." Stuart admitted. "So, what did you need?"

"An interocitor if you happen to have a spare."

"An In... Inter.... An Interoci... Bwaa-Ha-Ha!!!" Stuart doubled over laughing. "Oh Doctor, you think I'd be here if I had a flipping Interocitor!?"

"Not a working one no." the Doctor answered, "But I wouldn't put a broken one I could salvage for parts beyond you."

Stuart shook his head. "Sorry... I do actually have something, but it's fried beyond repair. Some human scientist back in the fifties got ahold of it somehow and by the time all was said and done... Well, the metal might be worth something."

"Blast."

"Stuart?" A heavily accented voice rose from the back of the shop, and a young girl with braided blonde hair appeared around the counter.

The Doctor's eyes went wide in surprise. "Princess Aja Tarron." He bowed slightly.

"What!?" The girl exclaimed, producing an object that looked like a glowing translucent protractor until a large blade formed out of it, the girl dropping into a combat-ready stance.

Stuart ran to her side. "Whoa! Whoa! No Serrator weapons in my shop! It's okay, this is an old friend, he's from Gallopfre!"

"A Time Stallion? Lively!" Aja's eyes went wide. "What are you doing here!?"

"Engaging in an apparently fruitless search for parts to repair a Tardis..."

"Repairs? We should speak with my little brother! He is very good with technology."

"Well I don't guess it can hurt at this point." The Doctor said. "Lead the way Princess."

XXXXX

Unity. Twilight Sparkle grumbled as she walked next to Nigel Baker. "Ugh! I need to speak with Celestia, but Gandalf hasn't left the secure communications room since he found out we have a way to speak with the princesses privately! He's been in there all night and all morning!"

"What did he say, again, that has you so upset?" Nigel asked.

"Oh, nothing of great importance... Just that they've known about some horrible threat for centuries and didn't tell us!" Twilight grumbled.

"Well they are your rulers. Rulers have to keep some things close to their chests."

Shaking her head, Twilight said "I know, I know... But this..."

"This, after she also mislead you about Nightmare Moon and Discord?" Nigel suggested.

"Yeah, it's starting to get insulting. At least she didn't know in advance about Chrysalis. Or at least I don't think she did. Though honestly at this point I wouldn't be surprised."

"I guess the question, then, is do you still trust her?"

"Of course! I mean, yeah, I'm mad. But, that doesn't stop me from believing with all my heart that the princess' motives and intentions are pure and right. And, I wish I knew just exactly what Gandalf was discussing with them. And then there's the whole 'Time-Whatever-His-Name-Really-Is is an alien' deal. I mean, what-" Twilight was interrupted by a loud scream, getting closer.

"Gangway!!!" A voice shouted, and Twilight and Nigel jumped back out of the way just in time to see a large Chocobo race by at full speed, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle clinging for dear life to its tail feathers. "Little help!?" the pegasus filly exclaimed when she saw Twilight, and then the flightless bird and it's unfortunate passengers were gone, followed by the rest of the Crusaders expanded membership chasing as quickly as possible and falling far behind.

"And then, of course," Nigel said, "There's also the everyday insanity of the town as well."

Twilight sighed deeply and gave chase...

XXXXX

Ten minutes earlier. "Are y'all sure this is a good idea?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Of course!" Scootaloo answered. "According to Flixbix, people on the Goblin's planet race Chocobos. It'll be a great cutie mark for Dinky!"

"Well about that, I know that you three have your marks in helping other ponies get theirs. But this still seems kind of dangerous." Paul said.

"Yeah, I'm a little nervous." Dinky agreed, eyeing the large yellow bird that was waiting for it's master, Flixbix's grandmother Brayflox, to return.

"Don't worry Dinky, we'll try it out first." Sweetie Belle assured the younger filly.

Gingerly, carefully, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle climbed atop the bird, which didn't seem to mind, turning it's head to look at them, giving a sound like "Kweh" in greeting. The two Crusaders sat in the saddle, Scootaloo in the front, and following instructions from Flixbix on the ground guided it back and forth across the road.

"This is easy!" Sweetie Belle said after a few minutes.

"Yeah." Scootaloo agreed. "You know what this means?"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!! CHOCOBO JOCKEYS!!! YAAAY!!!" They loudly exclaimed. And then the bird went berserk.

Frightened by the sudden loud shout, the Chocobo took off at it's full speed, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle tumbling out of the saddle and barely managing to catch onto the tail...

XXXXX

It didn't take long for the frightened bird and its even more frightened passengers to gather an impressive entourage of followers. The remaining Crusaders and their friends were joined by Twilight, then Rarity and Rainbow Dash, and over a dozen other ponies and humans. While the feathers Dash had lost two days before were beginning to grow back in, she was still grounded, and no other pegasus could fly fast enough to catch the impressively speedy Chocobo, which was gaining an ever larger lead. At least the walls around the town prevented it from fleeing into the dangerous forests.

"Doesn't this thing ever get tired!?" Rainbow exclaimed as they passed Sugarcube Corner for the fifth time in a half hour.

"Chocobo stamina most impressive!" Flixbix answered.

"So it'll never get tired out!?"

"No, no. Will. In hour or two."

Twilight finally realized "Maybe we should stop chasing it! It'll calm down."

"And leave Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!?" Rarity answered.

With a squeal Sweetie Belle lost her grip and was caught in a magic bubble by Twilight, who lowered her to Rarity's back.

"Scoots! Let go! Twi can catch you too!" Rainbow shouted.

"Yes, I'll catch you!"

Scootaloo took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and obeyed. A moment of terror at the feel of being unsupported and out of control, and then she felt the calm of the bubble surround her as she was lowered to the ground. With both fillies safe, the crowd stopped, giving the Chocobo room to calm down and stop. "What were you two thinking!?" Twilight demanded.

"We were just doing Crusader business!" Scootaloo said.

"Trying to help Dinky!" Sweetie Belle added.

"Well, I think the Crusaders are closed for business pending a very long grounding!" Rarity said.

Scootaloo was about to complain, but before she could speak there was a commotion from around the nearest corner. The crowd moved to see what had happened, and found a distressing sight: Apparently after the Crusaders had been rescued the Chocobo, still running, had felt the lack of weight and looked over its shoulder to see what had happened. Causing it to ram headlong into another small group, including Pinkie Pie and Bethany. The bird had stumbled and nearly fell but kept its feet and staggered to a stop nearby. Pinkie had avoided any harm, but Bethany was sitting on the ground, her back against a wall.

"Beth! Are you okay!?" Someone shouted.

The girl nodded. "I'm fine... It didn't actually hit me, I just tripped up and fell getting out of the way."

"Fell!?" Apple Bloom blurted out, "But what about the baby!?"

One could have heard a pin drop.

"Beth? You're pregnant?" Rainbow Dash asked. Bethany nodded again.

"Oops. Sorry." Apple Bloom whispered sheepishly.

"It's okay 'Bloom. Wasn't staying quiet much longer anyway." Bethany rose to her feet. "And I'll get checked to make sure but there's a lot of padding around an unborn baby, and it wasn't a very hard fall. I'm sure we're fine." She looked across the crowd, fearful of the looks she might be getting. But to her surprise, for the most part Beth saw only smiles or expressions of curiosity. There were a few people who looked confused or conflicted by the news, yes, but there was no outright hostility from anyone.

"So does this mean I can throw the party now?" Pinkie asked.

Bethany could only laugh. "Yes Pinkie, it does..."

XXXXX

Unity Town Hall.Twilight paced back and forth as she waited, again, for Gandalf to be finished. "Come on come on come on..." She silently grumbled. The wizard had entered the communications chamber nearly twenty fours hours before and he still hadn't emerged. "What could they still be talking abo-" The thought was cut off as the door opened.

"Twilight, if you're going to pace so loudly just get in here." Gandalf said. "I can't hear over the clopping of your hooves."

"I need to speak with Princess Celestia privately."

Celestia's voice came from inside. "I'm quite certain I already know what you with to discuss my student, and it's nothing Gandalf isn't already aware of as well."

Grumbling again, Twilight brushed past the wizard and into the room. No sooner had he re-locked the door than Twilight blurted out "Princess, how could you know of such a threat and not tell us!?"

"My knowledge was vague Twilight." Celestia answered. "Our only source of warning was a prophecy left behind by our Mother, Queen Faust, over five millennia ago, describing only a threat in the 'distant future.'"

"Yes, there was no way for Tia or I to know the precise timing." Luna added.

Twilight nodded. She could indeed understand that logic, even if she still didn't like it. "But why not-"

"Why not tell everypony long ago?" Celestia asked. "You know better Twilight. Ponies cannot maintain an eternal state of high vigilance. A decade, maybe two, and those forewarned would have begun getting lax. And since 'distant future' is so vague, when would we have started? Ten years ago? A hundred? A thousand?"

Gandalf said "I am sorry Miss Sparkle, but your Diarches are correct. It truly was better to wait until there were signs and portents to act on."

"Signs?" Twilight asked.

Luna said "Signs, like the prophecy you knew of. In context, it seems certain that the 'Dark Queen' of Starswirl's twenty-seventh prophecy is Chrysalis. Ever since you reminded us of it, we've had the Changeling Valley under surveillance. There's been no activity. Indeed, we are both beginning to wonder if Chrysalis and her hive are even still there, though given the magic blocking properties of the area no expedition has been sent in yet."

"Not that Chrysalis herself is the major threat." Celestia said. "Mother's prophecy was clear that that threat would come from outside our worlds."

"So, what...?"

"Sit down my student. We will tell you all that we know..."

Author's Note:

For those who don't recognize the reference, the 'Interocitor' is from the 1955 movie (From an earlier book) 'This Island Earth.' It's a very advanced piece of alien technology with countless functions, described as being able to "Lay a four lane highway at the rate of a mile a minute." And for those who have seen the film, yes, Stuart's wreckage is what's left of the one from the movie.

Comments

[Herald of Opera]

Sure, let's throw another alien princess into the mix. (Celestia is technically an alien princess)

[Jlargent]

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!! CHOCOBO JOCKEYS!!! YAAAY!!!" They loudly exclaimed. And then the bird went berserk.

Weekly Chocobo races!

[badninja]

So who was Chrysalis impersonating in Ponyville or the griffin place when they where sent over? I hope they have can deal with her before she stirs the pot too much.

[Venerable Ro]

Now that I think about it, I'm surprised that we've never seen The Doctor get up to some MIB shenanigans. I suppose his reputation would get in the way of casual mingling, given the kind of trouble that tends to follow in his wake everyone and everything probably stays as far away from him as possible.

[Cross Lament]

The Doctor is obviously craving some hot chocolate. What else would you use an interocitor for?

[A.P.O.N.I.]

9732288
You now have me imagining her crossed with Dejah Thoris.