A Realm Of Strange Creatures

by Delvius

Chapter 5 -- Ordained Meeting

CHAPTER 5 -- Ordained Meetings

So this was Canterlot? This... oversized balcony? This flat, semicircular foundation of cement and brick and marble, upon which was built a city of towering spires and glimmering white, saturated here and there with stripes of red and gold and purple? Hmph, well... for a capital city of such strange and inefficient creatures... it was grand. Grand in many ways, actually -- to my experienced mind, having lived for such a long time, I could imagine a grand gathering of architects and monarchs in order to plan the construction of such a structure. I could also imagine a grand labor force, all snaking their way up a narrow dirt path to create the foundation. And then also I could imagine a grand vision -- a vision to create a monument to last the ages. And where better to create such a kind of monument as atop a mountain plain for all to see?

It was quite the view, in any case. In fact, I would gladly have enjoyed the sights if my neck hadn't been held stiff by the magic of the pony prince Shining Armor. Prince he was, of course, for he had been addressed as such by his fellow soldiers. My brethren and I could easily have broken free of his magical grip and laid waste to him and his guard detachment, of course, but that would have created open hostilities with these creatures. That went directly against why we were sent here: to act as sentinels until the Great Fleet could arrive to pacify all evils and to establish a permanent base on this planet.

After momentary circling above the tallest spire our stiff bodies were brought to a surprisingly soft landing on a large, pristine-white balcony jutting forth from the structure. By Shining Armor's magic our bodies were made perpendicular to the ground, and our feet touched the floor. At once the pacifying sensation of his spell shifted and concentrated on our hands, bound tightly in front of us. The angle they were being held in was... not comfortable.

Velian was the first to voice his disdain in his typical overly-flattering negotiation voice (which never worked). With a loud exhale he said, "Ah, what a lovely capital city you have here! Nice white floor, pristine ceiling... if only we could view it all with less discomfort. It would be a grand little treat if you let us free of these restraints." He looked to the nearest guard and pushed his shackled arms forward, giving him puppy eyes.

"Oh, do shut up," Justinian grumbled, not at all pleased at having been handled so roughly (by his standards). "The last thing we need now is to be thrown into another sandpit because you failed at talking our way out."

Velian looked at him with upraised eyebrows. "Yeah? Well, there ain't no sandpits around here, and our suits can withstand snow and fire alike. I highly doubt anything they can do could harm us in any way." That right there was, of course, the reason he failed at negotiation: after any single obstacle, his flattering tone turned to one of condescending superiority.

"Just shut up," I growled, fixing them both with a stern stare. "Justinian, this is kind of on you. If you had told me of that talk... let me prepare... this wouldn't have happened. I could have planned for this, just like I did everything else."

Justinian gave me a roll of his eyes but nodded. "You're right," he said insincerely. "I'm sorry, sir."

Before I could once more lecture him on the usage of the term 'sir' to address me, his Knight-brother, as inappropriate, one of the golden-clad guards stomped over and declared in a loud, authoritative voice, "You three, follow me. No funny business, no escape attempts. Our spears have been sharpened and our training has been harder ever since the Changeling attack, so don't even try anything."

We looked off to the sides and spotted a circle of spear-wielding pegasi, all pointing their weapons at us. My suit automatically scanned the nature and make of their armament and armor: steel, level 1 industrial metal, weak. Those spears wouldn't even pierce the first mono-molecular layer of my protective suit, and their... 'armor' wouldn't even be able to withstand the pressure exerted by 0.001% of my suit's strength enhancement mechanism.

Justinian, as he often did when flummoxed, then scoffed and started pointing out just that. "You mean those oversized nails? Why, those wouldn't even-"

"Silence," the guard stomped, and trotted behind us before shoving us along down the hall.

"Rather rough guest treatment," Velian murmured, and almost went on another of his overly-flattering rants when one of the guard escorts shoved him hard enough he lost his balance and almost fell to the ground. After that, he didn't try anything else.

And we didn't either, especially me. Justinian expressed his disdain through eye expressions, but I kept a level head as I thought of various scenarios the day could turn into and how to escape them should they occur. The one thing I did not think of at all in my imagination was going hostile to these creatures. Not only would we fail in our mission if they hated us, we'd also lose a planet to the ambient corruption of the Evil powers. That and I didn't want to go on a slaughter; these poor creatures wouldn't have stood a chance.

Still, my concentration was disturbed by the questioning gazes and awed looks that the denizens gave us. The guards, of course, had never seen anything of our like. Such was the awe to be inspired by our presence, though we'd been trained back in our academies to restrain our pride. We'd also been trained to regain our concentration quickly, allowing our minds to utilize their natural affinity for psychic energies. Still, even with my mind at... 98.2% capacity (according to my suit's neural scans), I couldn't help but wonder then just how the many younger races I'd encountered perceived us, and the Indaari race as a whole.

At last the guard escorts brought us down a hall with walls punctuated with colored glass windows, each depicting various scenes of ponies defeating creatures of terrible look. Discord, in particular, stood out to me. Mostly because he was the manifestation of a great many Evil powers on the planet; chaos and laziness, especially. Suddenly before us were two large doors, carved with gold and with doorhandles of ornate metal. Clearly this, if anywhere, was where the ruling monarch of this kingdom would stay.

Justinian, as he also often did when flummoxed, was the first to voice his opinion of the situation and place. "So this is where your princesses stay? Well, the facilities are at the least adequate." And after a moment of silence he added, "Still, the walls should be made of tier 1 diamond-coated alabaster to give it that glossy, shiny look you people seem to be going for..."

I rolled my eyes. Count on Justinian to use his posh interior design skills to tell others how to make things look.

Not deigning to answer his query, the guard leading us on had two of his associates push the doors inward. And as the doors swung inwards, our eyes were met with a grand sight of a violet ceiling and a pristine white floor, in the middle of which was a long red carpet. Towards the end, the carpet climbed up a set of stairs to stop right before a large throne of white stone. It was a grand, regal sight; the kind of thing that the beauty-loving hearts of the Indaari race were so attuned to, and which gave our lives meaning in pursuing adventurous careers like that of a trooper's.

And it was all the more regal because of the tall white alicorn atop the throne. Clean fur, with a mane with the scintillating colors of pink and blue and green and the faintest aura of gold. Power emanated off of her with the intensity of a protostar. Appropriate, as she was blessed with the power to control the rotation of that world to bring the sun across the horizon every day.

"Celestia..." I murmured, heart and mind taken aback for a quick moment by awe at her regal beauty and prominent stature. Just then my mind drifted back to the few hours of seminar I'd had of her, trying to remember what her relationship with Commodus was. My fellow Knights, previously disgruntled and irritated, managed to gather up enough wits to rightfully be in awe as well.

As if sensing my word, she immediately looked up from the scroll in front of her face and, after her expression had turned into one of similar curiosity as I had on my own face, sat there in silence.

Shining Armor, the pony prince, then trotted over to her from behind, all the while accompanied by a guard contingent. He gave her a friendly, familiar smile and bowed. "Princes," he bowed.

It seemed as though she had to tear her face away from looking at us. When she'd regained her composure, she replied in earnest, "Good morning Shining Armor." She looked us over again. "Who are these you bring to me?"

He pulled his head up. "I don't really know princess," he said, "All I know is that Twily-Twilight! Yes, Twilight seemed to have gotten familiar with them rather quickly. I found her talking to them like they were friends."

Celestia had listened calmly for the most part, except for when Twilight was mentioned -- it was then that a small, surprised smile crossed her face. "I see," she said simply, looking us over again. "And you were right to. These are important people; people that I need to talk to." She looked over the chamber with a benevolent little smile and continued, addressing all present, "Alone, if you all don't mind."

The guards and most of all Shining Armor were absolutely appalled. "Princes, are you certain?" he asked. The guards gave her the strangest of gazes, as if they were trying to tell her of the weapons on our backs.

"I am certain," she said with a prim little nod. "But before you go out... kindly get me some cake for our guests, and perhaps a little tea?"

Say what, I thought. Not that I didn't appreciate the hospitality, but... was that something people just did for strangers with weapons capable of slicing through rock to get down to the very center of a planet? I don't think so.

The guards gave her the queerest looks, but complied. They trotted out tentatively, and after all had left Shining Armor came back accompanied by two unicorn guards. Atop their backs were several platters of white cake and cups of steaming green tea.

When they had placed the aforementioned material on a large circular table that they had also brought along with them, Celestia let out a relieved, deep sigh. Then she looked each of us in the eyes -- with just a bare hint of familiarity -- and stooped down to take a little sip from her teacup.

"So," she said, "He's finally fulfilled his promise."

"Promise?" I questioned.

She gave me a friendly look, then said, "I will explain, then."

Comments

[Mr101]

Interesting, looking forward to more!

[Delvius]

2363029 Glad to hear it, my good sir.

[Cavalorn]

Honestly, I wasn't expecting any update from this story. Will you update more frequently now?

[Delvius]

2364081 Yes, I shall. It's just a luttle difficult to find time when I'm writing 52k chapters for my other story.

[Pathfinder118]

and then explosions!

[Delvius]

2367841 Exactly!

[BurningRockBaka]

SO THIS FINALY UPDATED!

[Delvius]

2493215 Yes... I have a terrible habit of leaving unfinished business for long periods of time, especially this one since I have a huge other story I'm working on.

[Rutter]

YOU FUCKING SHITE! IT'S BEEN, LIKE, A YEAR AND YOU HAVEN'T FUCKING UPDATED IT EVEN TO "On haitus"
CHANGE THE STATUS OR CONTINUE!

I'VE WAITED FOR AT-LEAST 25+ WEEKS, LONGER THAN I'VE EVEN HAD AN ACCOUNT...
I'M DONE WAITING!
AT-LEAST UPDATE THE GOD-DAMNED STATUS!!!!!!!

[Delvius]

4133942 Eheh, yes, I suppose I did forget about this story... like I said, though, I did say it's just something for me to do on the side; not something I'd take seriously or give gigantic attention. No, all that is reserved for real life and my major story, New Roam Innovatus.

That said... I do have a lot of free time now that it's summer. I'd probably update this sometime, who knows?

And thanks for the watch and the fav.

[Rutter]

4137344
*Looks back and forth for a escape route*
"Ummm... heh heh.. whatchu talkin' bout' Willis'!?"

*You deadpan at me*

"Uhh.... Meow?"