Chapter III: Seeing the Hidden
To be clear, I hit a guy on the head with a rock because he tried to borrow a book and this makes me qualified to join the time police?
-Terra Mason
Terra Mason had enjoyed a summer of relative peace. She had spent the last few months relaxing at home, reading history books, and occasionally visiting history, including checking in on her old enemy, Hanns.
Every now and then, she would go out into town. She had a chat with her high school history teacher, Mr. Smith, about the causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution. “Learning doesn’t stop when you graduate,” he had always said.
Many of her classmates were also back home for the summer. Hannah in particular was excited to see her. Not because they were friends or anything.
They really weren’t. Hannah for some reason just attached herself to Terra and declared themselves rivals. Terra didn’t really care about competition and so she usually just let Hannah win everything, even valedictorian. Especially valedictorian.
She had even stopped by the quarry a few times. It wasn’t her quarry anymore―she had left it behind when she joined Alya.
All good things had to come to an end, of course.
She was in the middle of reading about the failed Reconquista of Continuum Zeta and the resulting changes that caused it to split from Continuum Theta when the doorbell rang.
Opening the door, she came face to face with her former strike team members, Hikari and Roland.
Sir Roland Delmare was a knight, but that was all Terra knew about his past. Every time he told his origins, he told a different story. He once claimed the actual story was boring, but Terra could always see through his lies. He had told Terra that he always took the path of least resistance, much like a flowing river. His sword skills though were genuine. Overall, he was the least chivalrous knight she had ever met, though he was also the only one.
Urashima Hikari was a Japanese girl who believed honor was for the weak. She was probably the most competitive person Terra had ever met, and she had to deal with Hannah when she was in school. Hikari was beautiful and could easily befriend anyone she wished, yet she chose insults over compliments. The closest thing to a compliment she had ever heard come out of Hikari’s mouth was her admitting that she had met her match. If Roland was a flowing river, Hikari was a raging fire. Terra had no idea where in time Hikari originated from, only that it was a violent time.
Next to them, Terra’s only notable trait was her determination. She was a boring, dull, rock in comparison.
At the moment, both were wearing regular 21st Century clothing.
“Hikari, Roland, what are you two doing here?”
“Blunt as always, I see,” Roland replied.
Terra crossed her arms. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I thought that we should find you so you can join us for training,” Roland said. That made some sense.
“I would like to cross blades with you again,” Hikari added. That made more sense. How Hikari considered her a rival, she still wasn’t sure.
“Also, may we come in?”
“What are you, a vampire?” Terra said.
“Jehovah’s Witness, actually,” Roland replied.
“I’m surprised you know what those are.”
“I’m not illiterate, you know.”
“They have little historical significance. There is no reason you should know–”
“Terra!” her dad called as he came up from his workshop in the basement. “Who’s at the door?”
“Greetings,” Roland said with a little bow, “I am Sir Roland Delmare, and this is my comrade Hikari.” Hikari didn’t didn’t even so much as blink.
“Are you two friends of Terra’s?” her father asked.
“Friends? I suppose we are. We met at the Academy.”
“Well, come on in! I’m Fred, Terra’s dad.”
They did. Roland kept flattering her father while Hikari mostly looked around at things. Terra had to explain how some pieces of technology worked. Hikari wasn’t nearly as into reading as Terra was, and she was from before the Meiji Restoration, so it stood to reason that she wouldn’t be up to date on technological advances.
She stopped by the living room to grab her Reconquista books, then she and Hikari joined her dad and Roland in her dad’s workshop.
“…and that's not the only weapon I’ve learned to use. I could show you how to use a mace, if you'd like.”
Terra sighed.
It felt like several hours had passed. Roland was still talking to her father, Hikari had begun bouncing a ball off the wall, and Terra was bored out of her skull.
“I want to get out of here,” Hikari suddenly announced.
“Oh, yes, let’s go somewhere,” Roland agreed, putting down a battle axe he had carved in ten minutes.
“Have fun out there!” Terra’s dad called as the three of them ascended the stairs.
Once they were upstairs, Terra opened and closed the front door.
“Why did you do that?” Hikari asked.
“So he thinks we left out the door,” Terra explained. She went upstairs to grab her things.
Upstairs, she pulled the pieces of her aeon edge out of her duffel bag and reassembled it.
She gave it a few test swings. Perfectly balanced and uncomplicated, just as she remembered it. The pearl white blade was simple and straight, which was in her opinion the best kind.
She quietly descended the stairs, and together with Roland and Hikari, left for Saturn City.
The three arrived just outside of Zone VI, the Convivium, not too far from Delphia.
Delphia was the first friend Terra made in Saturn City. She was about three years older than Terra, and was attending purely academic classes at Aevum. Delphia was with yet another boy. The first few weeks Terra was in Saturn City, Delphia had gone through at least six boyfriends, breaking up with each one for things as minor as a crooked nose.
Terra waved Delphia over. As predicted, Delphia ditched the boy on her way.
“The new squires have begun to arrive,” Delphia said to Terra. “I have seen a multitude of them around Tempus Porta and the Convivium, some have already entered Castra Legionis.”
Terra nodded, exchanged a few words with Delphia about their future living arrangements, then made her way to Zone XI, Castra Legionis.
“So you got yourself a girlfriend,” Roland said, giving Terra a smirk. Hikari raised an eyebrow at her. Terra didn't quite know why, but at that moment, her cheeks turned red.
“She’s just a friend who I’ve made an agreement with to pool our resources to get someplace better than what we could afford by ourselves.”
“So, a girlfriend.”
“Roommate,” Terra corrected.
Roland gasped. “And they were roommates,” he said in a strange voice.
If there was ever a moment Terra wanted to strangle Roland, this would be it.
“What does that even mean?” Terra asked with an annoyed tone. She had a pretty good guess, but she wanted to hear it from Roland himself.
“It’s Twenty-First Century slang from Continuum Lambda,” Roland explained. “You know, the time that you’re from.”
“I’m from the very beginning,” Terra said, crossing her arms.
“It means lesbians,” Roland explained.
“I’m not into girls,” Terra bluntly stated.
For some reason Terra couldn’t understand, Hikari suddenly looked disappointed.
A few moments of silence passed, then Roland said, “If you are from the beginning of the century, then what was your reaction to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001?”
“The what.”
“You know, the time when hijackers flew planes into the twin towers and the Pentagon,” Roland said with the tact of a salamander on Football Sunday.
“The WHAT!?”
“…it made the news?” Roland added with the confidence of a sasquatch in a coffee shop.
She really wanted to smack him. “Roland! Spoilers!”
“I don’t get what rotten food has to do with a terrorist attack,” Hikari said.
“That’s not what that–” Terra sighed. “Never mind. Let’s see if there’s an open salient.”
There was, in fact, an open salient. Or, more accurately, there wasn’t, until one of the legionnaires from Terra’s graduating class (Tacitus, maybe?) recognized Hikari and let them have the one his strike team was using.
The reason Hikari was so competitive was because her father didn’t let her play with the other kids. He had told her that since she helped him in the forge, she was a lot stronger than the other kids and it wouldn’t be fair for them. Since then, Hikari had desired someone to compete with. And strangely enough, that someone was Terra.
With a quick motion of her shieldwatch, Hikari changed their battlefield to the same location they fought at during the Trial of Blades, the top of a building surrounded by lava. The two assumed fighting stances. Terra drew her aeon edge and gave a quick salute. Hikari did the same.
Hikari rushed forward in a blur of movement. Terra did her best to block the oncoming blows. Hikari made an attack that Terra blocked, Terra missed her attack. It was the same as it always was, though Terra could swear that her blows were getting closer to landing.
Hikari moved into the aggressive. Terra was on the back foot, just as every duel with Hikari had ended. Hikari had to reload a clip first, which Terra immediately took advantage of. Terra knew that Hikari would press whatever advantage she had, so Terra would have to do the same.
Of course, Terra’s advantage was immediately lost and she was forced on the defensive again. Her foot almost slipped off the side of the building, but Terra remained standing.
Terra parried another strike from Hikari. Copying something she had seen from Roland, she effortlessly flowed into an attack, forcing Hikari back.
Hikari stumbled on a rock. As she fell back, Terra caught her in a stasis field and pointed her sword at her face.
Hikari smiled, just a little. “Looks like you win.” As she stood up, she added, “I promise I’ll beat you next time.”
Roland, Tacitus, John, and a few others appeared to have been betting with pebbles scattered around the salient. All of the pebbles were in front of Roland.
“Having fun making money off of our fight?” Terra teased, poking Roland in the shoulder.
“Haha,” Roland replied, tossing the pebbles out into the salient as it reset, erasing them.
A few more legionnaires from their graduating class had also gathered around to watch. Terra recognized Javed from the Trial of War.
Javed came up to her. “Impressive,” he said, nodding. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” one of his strike team members agreed.
Terra wasn’t completely sure she liked the spotlight. Hikari, on the other hand, was enjoying every compliment she got from the others. She didn’t make it obvious, of course, but Terra had known her long enough to know what Hikari looked like when she was enjoying herself.
“Excellent showing, both of you,” said a familiar voice. Everyone turned to see Centurion Nikias walking up with a grin. Everyone saluted his arrival, even Tacitus. “I daresay that was better than Geres.”
Ever since the incident last year where Geres tried to take Hikari before she had graduated, Nikias had disliked the other centurion. In fact, he had managed to convince Praetor Lycus to use his influence to prevent Geres’s promotion to Serdar. Not that Lycus needed convincing, since Geres had absolutely no respect for the rights of the Academy to train tiros. Terra of course had seen Geres in action, and she didn’t think either of them were anywhere near his level.
“Maybe you’d like to demonstrate to this year’s tiros,” Nikias jokingly offered.
“No thanks,” Roland quickly replied.
“I’ll think about it,” Terra said.
Hikari said nothing and stared off to the side.
After splitting off from Roland and Hikari, Terra found herself by the Cohort 7 headquarters. Alya still had a little bit of time left to go before she could train Terra herself, so Terra decided to take Captain Chih up on his offer.
Terra walked up to the front desk to check herself in.
“I’m here to see Captain Chih,” she said to the receptionist.
“He’s out right now,” the receptionist replied, not even looking up from his holoface.
“And where is he?” Terra pressed.
“I’m not cleared to know, and even if I was, I wouldn’t be allowed to tell you.”
“Just tell me if he’s on a mission or running an errand.”
“Mission.”
“Let me guess, tracking Praetor Lycus’s killer?”
The receptionist paused what he was doing and looked up. “How did you know?”
Terra shrugged. “He told me a while ago he would try to do that.”
The receptionist nodded. “Strategos Orion came in here not too long ago saying that he just fought the rogue legionnaire while helping Captain Deucalion map out the new continuum. You’ve heard about that, haven’t you?” Without even waiting for an answer, the receptionist continued, “Everyone has. The Seekers have almost mapped out their entire history.”
The receptionist typed something out on his holoface. “Why don’t you take a seat and I’ll tell you when he comes in.”
If Terra hadn’t joined the Aeon Legion, she would have gone into either geology or history. Since she was a little girl, she had always been more interested in rocks than playing with other kids, and that made the other kids think she was weird. Rocks couldn’t hurt your feelings. Val could.
In elementary school, Val made it her life’s mission to torment Terra. She always got some boy to push her into the mud, calling her “Dirt Girl”. One day, she lashed out with a rock, and that was that. She was no longer Dirt Girl, she was Terra the Terror.
Ever since then, everyone besides her parents and teachers (and Hannah, for some reason) avoided Terra like the plague. She didn’t mind. She preferred the company of rocks.
Well, until she met Alya anyway. And Hikari. And Roland. And... Zaid.
She reminded herself that Zaid wasn’t her fault. He had put more effort into training Terra, Hikari, and Roland than himself, which led to him being much weaker when they entered the Trial of the Beast.
Still though, without Zaid, Terra doubted she would have even made it through the Survival Test. And if it wasn’t for Lycus, she probably would have died in 1940s Germany.
Speaking of Germany, Hanns still hadn’t rebuilt the Zeitmacht. He had an unusual amount of honor for a Nazi and recognized that Terra won fair and square, that even though he had come so close to victory, he still failed.
She wondered what happened to the other leader. The Legion’s records showed that before he wound up with the Zeitmacht, he would have ended up in charge of a death camp. But no matter how far she dug into regular historical records, she couldn’t find a single trace of any Brigadeführer Emmerich Klein.
Her best guess was that after their drastic failure in 1940, Himmler erased all records of the Zeitmacht to prevent the Allies from getting any intel time travel (despite the fact that the British Time Service had already existed and registered with Saturn City), including Klein’s involvement, and Klein himself faded into obscurity.
“Legionnaire Mason, Captain Chih will see you now.”
It wasn’t long before she and Chih were standing by the Cohort 7 training salient.
“I recall you telling me that you would be training under the legionnaire who squired you,” Chih said.
“She can’t do it right now since Strategos Orion ordered her to take a break, so I’ve decided to take you up on your offer, even if only temporarily.”
Chih nodded. “So what do you want to do?”
“Teach me to become a better duelist.”
“I heard from Centurion Nikias that you recently won a duel against Hikari,” Chih said, a slight smile appearing on his face.
Terra looked down for a moment, then back up at Chih. “One, that was dumb luck, and two, I can only handle Hikari because I’m used to her style.”
“Well then,” Chih said, drawing his aeon edge, “Show me what you know.”
“Strategos, if you don’t mind me asking, who exactly was Praetor Corona?” Arad asked.
Arad and Orion were in a meeting room in the Cohort 2 headquarters after informing both Consul Prometheus and Captain Chih of the events that unfolded in the new continuum. Knowledge that there was another world attached to that one was kept between Orion, Prometheus, and a few trusted Shadow Cohort members, including Arad and Abhinav. Abhinav had already gone to Zone VI to relax.
“Why exactly are you asking?” Orion asked back while updating the holomap projection of Canterlot High School.
“Well, it says that one of the girls that Kairos was attacking was squired by Praetor Corona. I don’t know that much about her, just that she was one of the Legendary Blades a while ago.”
Orion paused his work for a moment. “Corona was a friend of mine from long ago. We fought together in the Third Temporal War. But after that, during the reign of the Kings and Queens of Time, she told me that she would be leaving Saturn City forever. I haven’t seen her since.” Orion updated the projection of the statue in front of the school, then continued, “Which one of the girls did she squire?”
“Sunset Shimmer,” Arad replied.
Orion pondered the thought for a moment. “Hmm. I’ll have to investigate this.” He opened his shieldwatch holoface and pulled up any file that matched the search “Sunset Shimmer”. “I see.”
“What is it, Strategos?”
“Above your clearance level.”
Arad watched as Orion deleted the energies projecting from the statue from the projection and sent it to Captain Deucalion.
“I still don’t understand why we’re doing that,” Arad said.
“The rest of the Legion isn’t ready for Equestria yet,” Orion replied. “It is better to keep it a secret for now.”
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Just finished catching up with all this after seeing it linked in the TWA subreddit and WOW immediately had to make an account here to comment! Have to say despite finding the tone shifts a tad too rapid and the dialog meme-y as hell, this is just awesome. Though, maybe I only say that because I'm starved for Aeon Legion content. We'll never know.
Anyways, this has me on my way to rewatch all of MLP and maybe even draw fanart based on it. (There's just a few moments I could oh so vividly see play out in my head while reading and GOOD LORD do I need to illustrate them.)