Horse Play

by Alden MacManx

Chapter Two

It was a bright, sunny morning at North Shore, a mining town in the northern part of Equestria, about a hundred or so miles from the Crystal Empire. Two fishing boats were out on the Great Lake, the shift in the mine had just went down the shafts to dig out iron ore, the smelter already up and running, three pegasi aloft to ensure the smoke from the smelter stack stayed away from the town. Farmers were up, tending their fields and flocks. The school bell rang, summoning foals to class. All in all, another wonderful day. Too bad it was not going to last.

“What’s that?” Fair Winds, the junior member of the pegasus weather squad asked, pointing with a hoof towards a light in the sky, off to the east and north.

“I don’t know,” Altostratus, the second member of the weather trio said, looking at the light as it slowly brightened in the morning sky. “What do you think, Rain?” she asked the leader of the squad, Rain Maker.

The senior pegasus watched as a sound started to become audible, a sound like distant thunder, but it grew louder, and it didn’t stop. “Trouble, more than likely. Fair, head for South Shore and spread the word. Somethings not right here.”

“On it, Rain!” the just-out-of-fillyhood mare said, turning on a wingtip and heading off as fast as she could, which was quite fast, her cutie mark that of a cloud being blown by a wind.

“What should we do now, Rain?” Altostratus asked as the light resolved into a large semi-sculpted metal box, noise coming from it. Ponies in the town were coming outside, looking for the source of the noise.

“Watch and report, Alto. Let’s see what it is up to.”

The two mares headed up some more as the box landed on the shore of the Great Lake, the thundering noise fading. Ponies from town came out to look at it as it sat there, the metal pinging quietly as it cooled. The townsponies could see black spidery-looking marks on the skin of the metal craft, but it was unlike anything they had seen before.

For about fifteen minutes, the box just sat there, doing nothing as the townsponies gathered around the unusual object. Then, a door opened on one side of the box, a side door. Standing inside were four beings that walked upright yet were wearing black armor and helmets over their heads, helmets with long pointed snouts. The four beings pointed sticks they were carrying, and a brilliant white light sprang from the ends of the sticks, four ponies dropping silently to the ground.

The townsfolk on that side of the box started to run in panic. The four beings fired again, and four more ponies fell. A unicorn guards pony fired back with her horn, but the blast not only had no effect, she became the ninth pony to fall. The nine ponies were dragged into the box by the strange beings, the door closed, and the thunder started again before the box lifted off the ground, heading up into the sky, soon disappearing from sight.

Later that day, the four Princesses met in Canterlot to hear about the incident in North Shore. Several ponies delivered their eyewitness reports, a special train run having been arranged to bring the ponies to Canterlot Castle. After the debriefing, which included projected visuals from a unicorn filmographer who was there, the film needing developing, but Arriflex could project what she saw with her magic, the Princesses considered the reports.

“Whatever they are, they must be tracked down and severely punished for taking our citizens!” Luna shouted, clearly upset by the reports.

“First thing we have to do is find them,” Twilight said in reply. “Rain Maker and Altostratus followed that box as far as they could before they had to turn back. That box just kept going higher and higher. Any ideas?”

“Sister, the night skies are yours. Anything unusual that you have not known before?” Celestia asked Luna, using her level tones to try to calm down the agitated alicorn.

Luna stopped in mid-pace, a thoughtful look on her face. She looked up at the ceiling, her wings fluttering slightly. “I do feel something… two somethings…” she whispered, her horn flickering. “One good, one… a void. The good know magic, but not like we do. The void has our little ponies.”

“What do you mean by a void?” Twilight asked.

“Beings that do not know magic, do not know love, do not know joy. All they know is how to take. Magic, to them, is nothing,” Luna whispered, her eyes looking into the distance, seeing something nopony else could.

“What about the others?” asked Cadance.

Luna’s face broke into a thin smile. “The others are many in number, of many different types. They know of magic, but they do not use it like we do. They know love, but they also know hate. They hate the ones of the void and are out to remove them all from the universe. Their hate is given with just cause. Their love is given more freely than their hate,” she said in a whisper before shaking violently as she came out of her trance, her horn flashing once before going out.

“Sister, are you all right?” Celestia asked.

Luna nodded as she sat down. “I will be. That seeing was very difficult. Both parties are very far away. The void folk will try to return, but the others will stop them, for now. They will also return our little ponies. When they arrive, we should welcome them.”

“How will we know when they come close? How can we contact them?” Twilight asked.

Celestia answered that question. “They will call us, when they figure out a way. We will not have much time to prepare, but we will be fortunate that the good folk will arrive first. Let us welcome them when they arrive.

“Twilight, you will be the main point of contact with the others. They will want to offer friendship, and who better to respond to that than you?”

“What sort of plans should I make?” Twilight said, her eyes widening as she realized the import of Celestia’s words. “What sort of ponies are they? How can…”

Her rant was cut off by a raised hoof from Celestia. “Easy, Twilight. The others want to be friends. What can be said about friendship?”

“Friendship is easy when both sides want it,” Twilight said.

“See what we can learn from them, and them from us. After we meet, life will never be the same again.”

Author's Note:

This is what the ponies saw.

Comments

[Starscribe]

Is this a crossover story? The canon is so complex...

[Alden MacManx]

9420998
Only in the sense the ISA is a creation of mine from 2003. Found an unfinished story and decided to take the ball and run with it.

[harts fire]

a am liking this and how this is developing.