Chapter 15: The Train to Canterlot
Johan was slow to wake up the next day. He always was after-parties. They always kept him up super late. The deer struggled to get up out of bed, the struggling came only worse when Derek opened the blinds with a content sigh. The sun beamed directly into his eyes like it was a laser made of hatred and spite.
"You ready Johan?" Derek said, his voice overly giddy, like a child on Christmas day.
"For?" The deer asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was 7 in the morning.
"We are going to the Equestrian Capital! The global council is meeting and we are front row center to meet the people in charge of basically the entire planet!" Derek cheered as he rushed to a nearby closet, fetching out a special suit, one Rarity had made for him after styling for her back on their fifteenth day in Equestria.
It was a navy tuxedo-like overcoat over a greyish blueish undershirt with a similarly colored tie. The suit also included a navy blue pair of dress pants. Both the pants and the coat also had vine-like embroidery sewn in a darker blue shade of clothes that stretched across them in intricate patterns. Derek was visibly giddy as he held the suit, finally a chance to use it!
"Hate to burst your bubble or anything Derek," Johan started with a sigh, looking out the window as Derek got himself all dressed up. "But they probably just want to talk to you, not me."
"Actually," a voice said, causing them both to spin around to see Spike standing in the doorway. "They want to talk to both of you."
Johan almost did a double-take. "W-wuh... really?" He cried, eyes wide. A sudden feeling of childish giddiness filled him for a second before he shook his head.
'No, no. Stay calm. Don't act like a little kid.' He thought, breathing in for a second.
"Ok then, I'll get ready... sucks that I don't have a suit like Derek." He mumbled as he quickly got out of bed, rushing towards the bathroom to take a quick morning shower.
"Do you know if I should pack anything? Not that I have much..." He said as he closed the door behind him.
"Beyond your toothbrush? Nah, your probably good." Spike replied, avoiding direct eye contact with Derek. Despite living in a world where everyone was naked, he was still quite uncomfortable watching a dude getting dressed or undressed... no clue why.
Spike shook his head, waiting for the two former humans to get ready outside the door until, eventually, it was time to head out. The walk through the castle was a short and quiet one, Twilight, Starlight and the rest of the elements were apparently already on their way to the train station. Throughout the entire walk through the castle, Johan would occasionally shoot a glance over to his friend before shaking his head and looking away.
When they finally left through the front door, he looked at Derek one last time and spoke up.
"So uh..." He trailed off. "Ah never mind, it's a stupid question.
"So what?" Derek replied with a smirk. "Ask away."
"When what's his name takes over," Johan asked, tapping the side of his head with a hoof as he walked. "Do you like... see what your body is doing? Cause like, honestly being unable to control your own body and watching it do stuff sounds absolutely nightmarish."
Derek shook his head. "Nah. Instead, I get stuck inside this weird 'inner realm' where I basically just sit around and wait for him to give my body back. Though that place gets freaky when he's in charge. Like all my... magical whatever is splashing around like the sea during a storm." He said, staring up at his horn. Johan noticed the slightest shiver of discomfort run down Derek's spine. "Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"
"Hmmm..." Johan rubbed the back of his head. "W... well he said something to me... about stallions or something, that part doesn't really matter."
Johan looked down, towards his chest. "It's just that... when he said that, I felt something... something deep inside." He paused again turning to Derek with a frown. "I think... I might have someone in me too."
Derek's eyebrows raised in concern. There was a pause as the two friends turned their eyes back to the path. The alicorn was the one to break the silence.
"There is definitely something weird going on here."
Derek threw his head back with a groan. "Seriously man? What's with the wait!?" He cried. He, Spike, Johan, Trixie, Starlight and the elements were all waiting at the Ponyville train station, alongside a rather sizable contingent of guards still waiting to get back to Canterlot after that whole battle business earlier.
Johan was sitting on a bench squished in between Derek and a rather large grey unicorn in golden armor - the standard issue for 'sun guards' for some reason - while Spike and the Elements were all sitting across from them, three per bench - though four in Spike's case as he was little.
It was now 9 am, and the train wasn't scheduled to arrive for another hour at least. The alicorn was visibly getting irritated the longer and longer he was sitting there. Suddenly he perked up and stared over at Twilight.
"Hey, quick question," He said, sitting up. "Is teleportation magic a thing here?"
Twilight let out a small chuckle and lit up her horn, there was a flash and suddenly she was standing next to Derek, who quickly turned to look at her wide-eyed.
"I think I can guess what your thinking. It sure is but," Twilight said flapping her wings slightly. "I can only teleport so many people at a time, and long-distance teleportation is exhausting. I could only really manage three trips from here to Canterlot on a good day."
"And how many would it take to get all of us there?" Johan pitched in.
"About four trips, at least." She said with a shrug. "Though my math might be a little off."
Derek suddenly lit his own horn, staring up at it with determination. "I betcha I could do it." he chuckled. Twilight merely giggled in response.
"I'm sure you could if I taught you, but teleporting blind is extremely dangerous, you'd have to be able to at least visualize where you are going, but you've never even seen what Canterlot actually looks like up close. You might end up accidentally teleporting yourself inside a wall, or worse. I've seen what accidentally teleporting something into another thing looks like, let me just say, it isn't pretty." The alicorn said, returning to her seat.
Johan himself let out a sigh when he suddenly noticed Applejack staring at him. He blinked a couple of times before he returned her gaze. She stared back at him and opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by the screeching of metal and the loud blow of a horn. All eyes turned to see as a large pink and purple train started to pull into the station.
"Oh finally! I was going insane!" Derek roared, quickly hoping to his feet and rushing towards the edge of the platform. He was quickly joined by Twilight, Spike and Pinkie who all seemed just as eager as he was. Johan could only hazard a guess as to why Twilight and Spike were so excited, but Pinkie and Derek were obvious.
The deer threw one more glance to Applejack before he stood up and started heading towards the platform too.
Boarding the train was a rather quick affair, apparently, Twilight had been given VIP tickets at the front of the train... she was one of four Princesses of Equestria so that only made sense. Unfortunately for Johan, however, he was one of the last people to get a chance to get aboard.
He quickly noticed that each little alcove of the train consisted of two booths across from each other with a table in the middle and that they could only fit four people at a time. He also quickly noticed that Spike, Twilight, Derek and Pinkie had already taken all four seats of one area of the train, leaving him unable to sit next to the only people he really knew. He also noticed that Rainbow, Trixie, Starlight, and some random equestrian guard had also taken up another booth.
That left him with the last two alcoves to choose his seat. One was occupied by three unicorns wearing black tuxedos with yellow undershirts, alongside sunglasses with glowing neon yellow lenses. Johan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he noticed that, aside from having different colored coats and manes, they all otherwise looked exactly the same. The second they noticed him staring at him, all three turned their gaze towards him, instantly giving him the creeps.
The other alcove was occupied by Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack who were having a rather quiet conversation with one another. Deciding to take the seat not next to total strangers, Johan quickly approached.
"Did you get a chance to see Derek?" He heard Rarity say with an extremely happy tone. "He's wearing the suit I made for him!"
"Yeah, he does look pretty good in it..." Fluttershy said, her face turning red for a second. Johan rolled his eyes and spoke up when he was close enough.
"Hey, do you guys mind if I sit here?" He asked, towering over them for a second. All three quickly snapped their gaze to him. Rarity smiled up at him, while Fluttershy merely hid behind her bangs and Applejack looked away for a second.
"Of course!" Rarity replied, patting the space next to her.
"Thanks," Johan said as he took his seat, propping his head upon a hoof on the table as he settled in. He felt the train's wheels start to churn as it started pushing along the track towards Canterlot. An awkward silence passed over them for a second, the longer it went on the more out of place Johan felt until Applejack cleared her throat.
"Hey, Johan... I wanted to say..." She started rubbing the back of her head. Johan turned his head, staring at her as she sheepishly froze up.
There was a pause as Johan raised an eyebrow until eventually, she sighed. "I just wanted to apologize. I realize I never said sorry for what I said to you when we first met. You know, about the pears."
Johan let out a sudden laugh. "Oh, that? That was fine. Don't worry that is not the worst thing anyone has said to me, even here." He said sitting up with a smile. "You can ask Fluttershy here what she thought of me when we first met."
Fluttershy went red as the other ponies turned to stare at her. After a second of hiding behind her mane, she spoke in a quiet tone; "I thought he was Derek's pet..." She said. Rarity's jaw dropped while Applejack couldn't help but snicker.
"It's all fine of course. I do understand the mistake. After all, if I saw say... an intelligent dog, I'd think he was a pet too up until he talked." Johan said with a shrug. "Plus, she's not the only one who thought as much." Fluttershy gave a small smile in return for his forgiveness.
"Well, I am very glad that you aren't the Canterlot nobility sort. They rarely let people off the hook for that kind of thing, I should know!" Rarity said, looking at Johan. "Speaking of which if you need to know anything about Canterlot... and Twilight isn't around... I am your go-to mare!"
"Oh yeah, I probably should figure something out about the place huh?" Johan said, sitting up and turning his attention to Rarity. "Anything I should know first and foremost? I read a little bit about the place when I was trying to figure Equestria out. That's your capital right?"
"Yep, it's the capital of Equestria and our most important center of culture and refined living." She said practically swooning. Johan took a second to scoot a little farther away from her on their shared bench. "Buildings of marble, golden embroideries along every wall, rich purple rooves-"
"The smuggest ponies in Equestria." Applejack suddenly interjected with an eye roll. "Like Rarity said, the city is flooded with them fancy rich types, the ones who look down on a hard-working country farmer like me, even though I literally feed um."
"Nobility right? I didn't think you ponies had a feudal system... you seem a little too uh... Laissez-faire for that kind of thing." Johan said. Rarity instantly sat up.
"Oh? I didn't know you spoke Prench!" She said, her eyes filling with wonder.
"I don't it's just a phrase..." He said, with a groan at the pun. Why was everything a pun here? Rarity sighed before getting back onto the topic.
"Well... we don't actually have 'feudalism' and Equestria never really did for that matter. The nobles in Cantlerlot are just the descendants of the old Unicorn Aristocracy before the three races united... or that's what the Hearth's Warming play always says." She said, her gaze returning to the window. "My old... 'crush' as Rainbow Dash would say, Prince Blueblood, is the living descendent of Princess Platinum, the original Unicorn leader. That's why he is still a prince, despite not being an alicorn."
Johan nodded along as she spoke. Then he turned to Applejack. "You think any of these nobles are going to be there for this... global council?"
The farmer shrugged. "I don't know myself, but probably, considering most of Princess Celestia and Luna's advisors are nobles."
"So beyond that, who else is coming? The name makes me think of the leaders from other countries." Johan asked.
"Well..." Applejack started, rubbing her chin. "Prince Rutherford and King Thorax are probably sure to come, they are from Equestria's two closest allies, Yakyakistan and the Changeling Empire."
Johan sat up. "How did that even happen? You guys becoming allied to the Changeling Empire? Seems those guys ain't exactly friendly."
Rarity waved her hoof. "It's a long story, suffice to say Chrysalis used to be their queen until Thorax took over and we became their friends."
Johan nodded. "Continue."
"Dragonlord Ember may show up. She's technically our ally, but the dragons are an... odd bunch to say the least. Very independent and not into cooperating." Rarity said nodding. "Though she is a very nice dragon once you get around her prickly exterior."
"And then there is Grandpa Gruff..." Applejack started, her face taking on an expression like she had just bitten into a sour fruit.
"Grandpa?"
"That's just what the gryphons call him. To be honest I doubt he is even going to bother showing up. He, alongside most gryphons, at least of the Gryphonstone variety, are... grumpy to put it politely." Rarity said with a frown. Johan took a second to process this all in.
"Thank you guys, this is all great to know. It means I can plan accordingly." Johan said, nodding his head while focussing on nothing in particular. Then his eyes caught a glimpse of one of the unicorns with the neon yellow sunglasses. He raised an eyebrow before he gestured to one with his head.
"What about those guys? They give me the creeps." He said. Rarity and Applejack both turned their heads non-suspiciously.
"I don't know, but their clothing is simply ghastly," Rarity chuckled.
Johan turned to her and frowned. "Speaking of clothing, how come you made Derek a suit, but not me?"
Rarity laughed. "Well, I believe that is a sin I have to rectify, how about when we get back to Ponyville, if you model for it, I'll make it."
"Sounds good to me," Johan replied. And then the conversation drifted off into random directions, Johan laughing along with the three as they took the time to randomly chat.
While doing that, however, they failed to notice one of the sunglassed unicorns poke his head out to stare at Derek and Twilight's table, before rapidly retreating.
"Two more Alicorns... that might complicate things," he said in a monotone voice. Another shook his head.
"Negative. We picked this moment precisely because the Alicorns would be there. More guards in the meeting chamber mean less elsewhere." He replied in the same monotone.
The third spoke up last, still with the same drone. "Remember the plan, the VIP will not be happy if we fail..."
Derek gave a very long stretch after he stepped off the train onto the platform. He really hated being confined in a sitting position for so long, even if he was now stuck on four legs. He turned to Twilight as she, her friends, and Johan stepped out.
"So where to now?" Derek asked with a smile.
Twilight pointed to the massive castle in the center of the city. "I think they are waiting for us at the castle, we should hurry there now."
"Looks like more of a palace than a castle, I mean, where are the fortifications?" Johan asked, throwing his forehooves up in the air. "Why does no one here know the difference between those two!?!"
Derek ignored him, too captivated by the city around him. He took to the air, hovering a dozen feet in the air to try and get a better view of both the city and the castle in the distance. Then he smiled. "Hey, Rainbow! Race you to the castle!" he shouted down to the group before rocketing off in the direction of the city.
"Oh, you're on!" Rainbow said, bracing for a split second before taking off, rapidly closing the distance with Derek. Twilight grimaced when she saw them take off.
"Those two have no sense of propriety." Rarity said with a sigh. "Besides, it's technically illegal to fly without a specialized license here in Canterlot."
"Not like anyone is gonna stop them though." Starlight said with a shrug. "One's an element of harmony, and the other's an alicorn."
"I think we should hurry up though, the Council might be waiting for us," Twilight said, and the group quickly rushed off.
The council room was a large, open room, with high ivory white walls and a domed purple ceiling. A single circular skylight stood open at the top, and with it being high noon at the moment, the room was bathed in light. A donut-shaped table sat in the middle of the room atop a brilliant checkerboard pattern floor of black and white tiles. Johan found himself sitting in between Celestia and Derek, the feeling of sitting between the person who apparently controlled the sun and a guy who just single handily saved a town while he was... a normal deer was rather... awkward. The elements, Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor - who he hadn't met quite yet - were all also sitting at the table. The meeting hadn't started yet, as they were still waiting for the last guest.
What really caught his attention were the... people... he hadn't met yet.
First, there was the massive hunk of hair and muscle - but not much brain - called Prince Rutherford. The Yak was sitting next to Luna his forehooves crossed over his chest. He was flanked by two, somehow even bigger, black-furred yaks. The yak was rather aggressively tapping one of his back hooves on the floor waiting for the meeting to start, the sound more akin to banging as he was seemingly putting all of his strength into it.
Next to him was a rather slender-looking winged lizard with turquoise scales, navy spines along her back, and blood-red eyes. Dragonlord Ember, if he had to guess. She was clenching onto a large scepter with a ruby embedded on the top as big as Johan's head. Johan shrank under her predatory gaze as it glanced over him. She blew smoke from her nose before leaning forwards.
"A new alicorn? Really? Weren't four enough?" She groaned, propping her head upon a hand. Derek frowned at her while Johan merely gulped. There was something about her extremely sharp teeth that really intimidated him... probably because he was a deer who was no doubt a prey item to dragons... probably.
Finally, next to her was someone who stuck out like a sore thumb... probably because of his colors, neon green, and orange. King Thorax, by process of elimination. Just the mere sight of him made Johan uneasy, though if that was because of his earlier meeting with the platinum guard - who was the same species as this guy - or due to some deep down prejudices he didn't know. The king looked haggard, with deep bags under his eyes, nervously glancing between Ember and Celestia. Johan saw the bug shiver when his gaze lingered on Derek... the deer couldn't guess why.
The chair in between him and the first of the elements of harmony was empty, probably because it was for the guy who was still yet to arrive.
A sudden commotion outside the door caught everyone in the room's attention. There was a sound of a slight scuffle before it slammed open to reveal a bird-lion, aka a gryphon. He had black fur and feathers, with a dark grey tuft of fluff around his neck. His head was nearly sparse of feathers, only enough to give him 'eyebrows' and some around the back of his head. He looked blind in one eye, with a red and yellow fez on his head, his overall coloring made Johan think of a vulture and considering this guy's age, he would probably end up in one of those thing's stomachs in a half-decade or two.
"Out of my way you fannies!" The gryphon roared as he pushed two Equestrian guards, who had been outside of the door, out of his way. The gryphon took a couple of steps forward, before stopping to brace himself against the door frame, coughing and hacking into a fist. After a couple of seconds, he continued stomping forwards before taking his seat, giving a death glare to both Thorax and Rainbow Dash, who were next to him.
"Grandpa Gruff, nice of you to finally arrive," Celestia said with a smile, only to be met by the same one-eyed glare.
"Yeah yeah yeah," Gruff said... gruffly. "I debated whether I should even show up at all. You know that Equestria isn't the center of the planet right? We also have stuff going on in our nations as well, stuff more important than some random ball or children's party that you horses throw all the time."
Rutherford nodded. "Almost dead bird is right!" He almost roared. Gruff's frown only deepened despite the agreement. "Yaks have ten-thousandth year anniversary of Yakyakistan Independence to celebrate!"
"Yakyakistan is only seven hundred years old..." Shining Armor said quietly with a frown.
"As much as I hate agreeing with Gruff," Ember said with bored eyes. "You have brought us here for some stupid stuff in the past. Like when you invited us all for that alicorn foal's first birthday. I'm fine showing up for the occasional 'Gala' to promote cooperation or whatever but that was just ridiculous."
"I liked it... and you had fun too," Thorax said, turning to her with an almost betrayed look, causing Ember to bring her index and thumb to her brow.
"Not now Thorax, I'm trying to prove a point." Ember groaned.
Luna sat up, slamming a hoof on the table. "Yes, I know we have called the global council in the past for frivolous manners, but this is important." She said, then she turned her eye to Twilight, who nodded back.
The smaller alicorn reached into a saddlebag and pulled out a Tza'ak's green antler, and set it on the table in front of her. Then her horn lit up. A beam of energy flew into the antler, then a projector-like light shot from it to the center of the room, in between everyone.
There was a flash and then a holographic image of the platinum guard appeared. First, he was unarmored, then after a couple of moments, the holograph switched to show him wearing his suit and wielding his halberd. All eyes were on the hologram, before a couple of the other world leaders threw suspicious glances at Thorax.
"We have recently become aware of a new threat to Equestria, and some new ponies who might be able to help," Twilight said.
Chrysalis let out a growl as she trudged through the jungles of Southern Equestria. Since yesterday, U'val and her guards had been practically slave-driving the queen and her subjects southwards, and for what she didn't know. With a growl she took to the air, and shot forwards, landing next to U'val she growled.
"First you made us fly for hours without rest, and now you're forcing us to walk for miles." She snarled. "And you won't even explain why you are having us do this?!?"
U'val turned his head to her, continuing his walk. "Very well, if you are so averse to surprises. I am here to pick up a weapon that I will use to... collect something from Canterlot."
"Why not just sneak in?" Mandible suddenly said as he landed on the other side of Chrysalis. U'val smiled down at the smaller 'ling.
"Sneaking is more your MO. I prefer the... direct option." He replied.
"And you call yourself a changeling." Chrysalis hissed.
"No, I call myself a god, I thought we already went over this," U'val said with a roll of his eye.
"Well then," Chrysalis chuckled. "If you are a god, why not just go by yourself?"
"I may be powerful, but fighting five alicorns at once, three of them being descendants of Aeturnum, is a bit above my capabilities," U'val said coming to a stop. "Besides, we are here, and I don't want to waste all the effort we just did by going back."
Chrysalis raised an eyebrow, turning her head to see what was in front of them. She expected an ancient temple or some kind of gate. What she got was a regular cliff face, with absolutely nothing special about it. She snarled. "Seems like we already wasted the effort. There is nothing here."
"Take a step back please," U'val said stepping towards the mountain. Then he sat down. His antlers ignited to life as he closed his eye and spread his hooves.
Chrysalis took a step back only when pure white lightning started to dance across both U'val and the hill. A massive crack suddenly appeared along the hill that caused her forces to rapidly start backing up. U'val smiled as a massive stone hoof broke through the cliff face, slamming into the ground next to him. Then another. Then the wall gave way, throwing dirt, rock, and dust in every direction.
Chrysalis gasped as the dust settled. Standing before them was a massive statue, equivalent in size to adult dragons. It took the shape of an antlered changeling, a larger version of Thorax or U'val, only wearing armor that covered everything but its head. It was a deep grey in color and stood static as U'val stood up and turned to stare at her.
"This is the weapon. We referred to it back in the day as a Kes Eramassu. Close to unstoppable, save for some fatal weaknesses that ended up leaving them completely useless in the closing days of my people." U'val's antlers lit up once more and lightning streaked from him to the statue.
It started to glow as the color slowly seeped into it, the carapace on its head-turning cyan, its antlers turning white and its armor slowly taking on a silvery shine.
"Of course, that was fifteen hundred years ago, so no one knows its weakness anymore. Lucky me." He laughed as his eye glowed. The mech's eyes slowly opened, both platinum white. Then it jumped into the air, the ground around them for a mile shaking as if there was just an earthquake. Two massive wings shot from the statue's back as it took to the air, heading north, towards Canterlot.
Chrysalis couldn't stop herself from smiling. Things were about to get fun.
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Johann over here like Saitama in the S class meeting
qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-e5812be9f5234e04a2a8967f48a1e113
11047685
the irony being that if he ends up like I think he will eventually he will be Saitama.
11047685
nice
I think the descendants of Aeternum are cadence, celestia and luna. Also is it me but i think johan has something to do with the king of gods.
They were sounding like some of the observers till that point. Identical ponies in a monotone voice talking about a specific moment like it's already happened. Only other thing off is the bright yellow sunglasses.
Moar, plz.
Applejack is creeping me out.
Finally!
Aeturnum?
Can he bring balance to the Force?