Chapter Ten: Repentance Has A Price
Chapter Ten: Repentance With A Price
“I still do not believe this is a good idea...”
“Luna. Now is not the time for this...” Celestia stated. “Again.” The two sisters had started walking side-by-side through the halls some time ago, making their way steadily towards the entrance of the Dungeon.
The Princess of the Night snorted. “This isn’t going to work. Not by a long shot.” Sighing, she shook her head. “Why did we decide on this?”
“Because we didn’t have a choice in the matter.” Turning a corner, Celestia nodded towards the guards whom bowed respectfully towards the diarchy. “You heard the Earthling’s guardian. Diplomacy is truly the best (and only) course of action here. We cannot have a repeat of what nearly occurred...”
“The fact that we’re trying to negotiate with someone who threatened both ourselves and our kingdom is ridiculous and infuriating,” was the swift complaint.
“The fact that you’re still arguing against it is ridiculous and infuriating. We will discuss this later.”
A tired breath of air left both sisters as they approached the doorway. Deftly motioning towards a guard, Luna watched as the key was levitated into the keyhole and turned. In the quiet of the hallway, the audible click of the lock giving way was nearly deafening, but nopony paid much heed to it as the diarchy began descending the steps.
Celestia scrunched her face as they proceeded. “We really should invest in fixing up this cavern after we examine the budget. It’s rather filthy, even for a prison.”
“Is there really a point, though?” Luna commented, glancing neutrally across the stone tunnel that led on. Without much effort, her horn ignited with a significant source of light to guide them. “Aside from this Earthling, our kingdom has not had to deal with a prisoner on such a national scale to even use the Royal Dungeon in decades.” A few seconds passed by in thought. “Or have the records I’ve examined been falsified?”
A hum left Celestia. “I do not recall this place being used in over sixty years. Then again, many minor things still sometimes escape me.” How she was able to shrug while walking was a mystery ignored. “Perhaps.” After their conversation, there was silence (save for the echo of their hoof-falls). Celestia’s steps progressively slowed, and before long she stopped completely. Luna soon ceased moving a few paces ahead of her sister. “Luna...” she trailed off as her sister stared knowingly back at her.
“Getting cold hooves?”
Celestia grimaced at the teasing tone. “No... not exactly. It’s just... maybe we should’ve brought the Elements of Harmony with us. They know the Earthling best, and perhaps they could help with negotiations.”
“This is a rather strenuous matter that they shouldn’t be pulled into,” Luna began as she turned around and began walking once more. Celestia, after a few brief moments, decided to follow as her sister continued. “Besides, the Earthling is more than aware of the betrayal he suffered. Bringing them now would possibly only complicate things.”
“‘Betrayal?’”
A nod caused Luna’s ethereal mane to wave more than usual. “Yes. He was essentially put in a position where he was going to be forcibly interrogated under the premise of a... ‘sleep-over.’” A considering look crossed her face as she went down the second flight of stairs. They decided that keeping their visitor in the most secure cells at the bottom would be best, regardless if it made a difference or not. “While his Spirit Guardian has assured us several times over, I cannot help but wonder if all of that anger he showed during his rage stemmed from the curse that befell the Earthling...”
“The Earthling had a point, you know,” Luna said abruptly. She didn’t sound too happy to admit it.
“About what?”
“We should not have jeopardized the Elements when we could’ve dealt with this ourselves.” Their eyes glazed over the many sparse and unoccupied prison cells as they walked. “After our experiences with the last Earthling, we should have known better than to send Twilight and her friend to deal with the matter.”
“I am not so sure of that...” Celestia trailed off for a few moments in thought. Only the echo of hoof-falls sounded. “If we had approached him directly, the curse would have plagued him regardless. We would have still been in jeopardy.”
A thoughtful sound left Celestia. “But at least then, the Bearers of Harmony would not have been in harm’s way.”
“Would they, though?”
A nod accompanied the response. “I believe so. The Earthling’s quarrel (at least during his cursed state) was with us, not Twilight and her friends.”
Luna released a breath. “Then perhaps I am wrong.”
Another flight of stairs was traversed, and at that point some activity was starting to become visible. Towards the end of the hall they could see four diligent guardsponies standing watch near the Earthling’s door. Upon hearing the Sisters’ arrival, they all bowed deeply before resuming their stoic stance.
“Princess Celestia. Princess Luna.”
They nodded in kind to the gruff Sergeant approaching them. “Sergeant Steel Wind. How is our... ‘guest’?”
A shrug left the soldier. “The Earthling hasn’t moved since we hung him up. Haven’t been able to wake him neither. We keep trying to feed and hydrate him, but the docs keep saying he doesn’t need it. Somehow, the Earthling is sustaining himself in his unconsciousness...” Confusion began etching itself onto Steel’s face. “Did you come down here for interrogation, Your Highness? If so, I hope you’ll have better luck at waking him.”
“This is not an interrogation, Sergeant. This is a diplomatic meeting.” Celestia stated as she approached the door. Sgt. Steel Wind fell in step on the other side of Luna. As they reached the door, she glanced quickly through the sally port. The biped still hung from his bindings, apparently still unconscious. ‘But for how long...?’
“Your Highnesses? Permission to speak freely?”
“You may.”
“Why haven’t the Elements been used to petrify the Earthling?” A surprised pause filled the air as the Princesses processed the query. “I can understand not exiling him, Your Majesties, but for your own sakes' we shouldn’t risk your lives to try and negoti-”
“No. We cannot,” murmured Luna. “We ruled that possibility out early on. You saw the havoc that the Earthling brought. There is little doubt that with the power that this Earthling possesses, escaping his stone imprisonment would hardly be an issue.” An almost amused tone grasped her next sentence. “Not to mention the diplomatic repercussions of such an act.”
“But, Princess Luna!” The confusion still hadn’t left Steel Wind’s face; rather it had intensified. “We were able to do such with Discord for several millenniums!” A hushed tone crept into his voice. “Is the Earthling more dangerous than him?”
“We fear so,” Celestia nodded.
A determination appeared on the Sergeant’s face as he stood between the door and the Princesses. His resolve was astounding as he spoke evenly. “Then for your own safety (and the responsibility of my own duty), I cannot allow you to be within harm’s way by communicating with the Earthling alone.”
A silent snort left Luna. They had been expecting this kind of loyalty. “We assure you, Sergeant; the Earthling will not strike against us. Celestia and I have made a deal with his Spirit Guardian to ensure such.”
It was painfully obvious that Steel Wind wasn’t convinced, but he relented regardless. He did have orders, after all. “Y-yes, Your Highnesses.” Glancing over to a fellow guard, he nodded. “Unlock the cell door.”
“Yes sir!”
As the Unicorn set about to undoing the varied amount of locks, Steel Wind turned back to the Princesses. “What do you plan to ask him?”
“Whatever we need to in order to decide that he isn’t a threat,” Celestia stated simply. A thought crossed her face as she looked back down towards the Sgt. “We will go in alone. Please, wait outside; make sure nopony interrupts us, and enter only if you hear struggling. This is a very delicate situation we are about to begin.”
Steel held his tongue as he nodded with a bow. “Of course, Your Highness.”
The final clashing and clanking of the magical barrier untying itself from the door brought the Princesses’ attention as they began trotting. Without delay, Guards automatically heaved open the iron-clad door, and allowed the alicorns entry. With their presence firmly inside the cell, the portal outside the cramped room fell shut with a resounding *clang*.
“Took you long enough, Your Highnesses.”
Both Princesses had glanced towards the Earthling to see the Spirit Guardian materializing on his Master’s shoulder. Ed gave a tip of his top-hat towards the royalty, and leapt off. Wings formed in a moment’s notice, which gave him the illusion of flight as he sailed easily towards the diarchy. “I know that the walk from your Tea Room to here is a bit lengthy, but that wait time was ludicrous.”
The Sisters deftly ignored the comment and motioned towards the suspended biped. “Has he awakened yet?”
“Just woke up,” the Earthling mumbled roughly from his shackles. Luna’s head drew back slightly in surprise, while Celestia resorted to a smile. Slowly he cracked an eye open towards the pair, snorting derisively. “Was it really necessary to hang me by my wrists?”
A moment passed before Celestia fully comprehended what Storm said. She hadn’t even considered how uncomfortable the bindings would be. “We are sorry about that,” Celestia murmured sincerely. “It was purely meant for precaution. Here, let me undo-”
Before she could even think about an unlocking spell, the cuffs briefly glowed and clicked open. The Earthling responded instantly as he contorted his body and landed on the bench underneath himself. Landing comfortably, he glanced back up with a smirk. “Don’t worry. I got it.” When neither of them responded beyond dumbfounded expressions, his smirk widened more. “What? You thought those bonds were secure? Oh, please.”
Luna snorted from her position to the side. “Told you we should have used the Minotaur-styled cuffs, Sister...”
“While those binds were a tad too large for me,” he continued as he idly checked himself for chafing. “The real kicker was that you didn’t even bother to enchant them. All I had to do was overload the tumbler-mechanism with arcane magicks and force the lock open.” A shrug left him as he reclined against the wall. “Guess it doesn’t really matter in the end, does it?”
Celestia shook off her recently-found stunned expression, and instead adopted a more diplomatic face. “Er, yes. I suppose it doesn’t.” Awkwardness began filling the room, causing both of the Princesses to have no idea what to say. Lamely, Celestia motioned towards the Earthling. “Are you... all right?”
His response was a confused raise of his brow. “Yeah. I’m peachy. And you?”
“Uh, good.” Internally, Celestia winced and face-hoofed. ‘Come on, ‘Tia. This is a simple diplomatic situation. All you have to do is ask him w-’
“How about you?” The alien’s focus drifted towards Luna, who had a neutral look on her face. “I hope my besting of you in our little scuffle didn’t wound you too badly.” A light, teasing grin appeared on his face. But neither Sister could tell if it was full of malice or not.
Luna’s eyes narrowed. “Was that an insult?”
The answer was a shake of his head. “Not at all. Only fact, if I recall.” The Earthling’s eyes glazed over for a moment, before they cleared. “Well, I sense no lingering injuries on either of your persons’, nor your castle and its staff of poorly-trained guards.”
“We hoof-pick the guards and overlook their every moment of training for several years,” Luna replied annoyed. Celestia made no comment. Her thoughts were occupied on how the Earthling just ‘sensed’ their lack of injuries. How powerful was the being sitting before them? “If you seek to antagonize us, you are doing a poor job of it.”
He merely rolled his eyes in reserved amusement, something that neither of the Sisters’ had happened to them in their entire rule. Clearly, the Earthling cared little (if at all). He might as well have been considered Discord’s Earthling incarnate.“You misunderstood my jest, but I suppose that is my failing.” Some seconds passed in contemplative thinking. “I believe we should just get to the chase, here; I popped into your country unannounced, you locked me up after... the events that occurred, I’ve finally woken up, and now you’re in my cell.”
“Ed has informed us that you would be willing to ‘facilitate communications’ with us. We hope to achieve diplomacy through this.”
The Earthling regarded Luna with a quiet look. “As do I.” He leaned back against the wall, casually observing the two mares. “Did the repair spell I used before losing consciousness did its job?”
Celestia nodded reluctantly. That was one key point (among several) that was spinning in her head in regards to the Earthling before them. Whatever spell he had used was rather unheard of; neither she or her Sister had even considered that such an incantation could exist. “Yes, it did. To an extent.” When the Earthling motioned for her to continue, she obliged. “The physical structural damage to the Castle had been restored, however what few injuries our Guard had suffered did not.”
He merely nodded in kind. “Of course. The spell was meant to not mess with biological entities.” A faint yawn escaped him, which he politely covered with his hand. “Well, that’s good. Glad to know it worked. So, what would you like me to do during our little bout of ‘negotiations’?”
“We want answers to some questions, and for you to comply,” Celestia statement was loaded with authority, but she was still unsure of how harsh her commands would need to be. Who knew how more temperamental the Earthling was?
A sneer almost threatened to overcome the Earthling’s face, before he glanced over at his Guardian. One harsh look sent to the Earthling later, he let out a sigh and allowed his face to become neutral. The diarchy noticed that he looked exhausted, despite the week-long rest he just had. Looking up towards the pair, he nodded. “All right. I’ll answer as many of your questions as I can.”
“You will answer all of them-”
Without remorse, he cut off Luna’s threat. “No, I will not.” Surprised looks dominated both of the mare’s faces; had he just said ‘no’ to them? “I am not entirely sure if you’ve recognize this, but I am here of my own volition. I am still here to atone for the crimes that I am willing to admit to, and pay the price for them.”
“No more, no less. You don’t like it; tough.” The Earthling hunched over his knees, staring fiercely towards the Princess of the Night. Chills almost threatened to run up Celestia’s spine. It was a look that boded no further discussion. “If you expect me to roll over and let you assert any additional authority over my being aside from my sentence, regardless of what has transpired; you have been sadly misinformed.”
‘Somepony woke up on the wrong side of the cell...’ Celestia stated unconsciously in the back of her mind. Before she could contemplate speaking further, the Earthling actually let out a snort of laughter.
“Indeed I did. I awoke on the literal ‘up’ side of the cell. And that’s not good for someone’s mood.” The tone was tiredly joking, but Celestia’s brows could only arch in surprise. He could hear thoughts as well? She hadn’t felt any new presence in her mind. Celestia made a meager note to better shield her thoughts from projecting so loud.
After a few moments, the humor in his tone vanished. On the notable side, his next words were far less harsh from his previous declaration as he crossed his arms in a stretching motion. “Where are the others? The Ponies that I met before?”
“They are here,” Luna muttered. She shook her mane, and apparently let go of the Earthling’s behavior for the time being. She had to realize that his nerves were no doubt frayed (as were theirs). Starting a fight would serve neither party. “We had decided that it would be best that we established your plans and intentions before the Elements of Harmony had to be involved once again.”
“We had no plans,” the Sisters had nearly forgotten the Guardian’s presence. “Our arrival here in your country is purely coincidence.” Ed glanced towards his Master for confirmation, which he received.
“Indeed. I stumbled here by accident.” The Earthling tilted his head, eliciting a crack from his neck that caused the two alicorns to jump. “As for intentions... that depends precisely on what happens after our meeting here. Which then depends on several different factors after that.”
“Which are...?”
A few seconds passed as he looked up towards the ceiling. The dim mystical torch that hung suspended in its glass prism painted the room in a pale, somber blue light. His eyes watched the flickering flame, head unmoving as he spoke. “Well, for starters; depending on my diplomatic relationship with Equestria will determine whether I stay within your borders, or start walking until I hit another country to accidentally annoy.” A ghost of a grin appeared on his face. “And, of course, what you plan to do to me (beyond chaining me up) will determine whether the task is done, or I decide that it isn’t worth it and bail anyways.”
“That, conveniently enough, is actually why we’re standing here,” Luna said with relief. Finally, they could possibly get to the point of their little venture down into the Dungeon. She embraced darkness, but the one emitted from the Dungeon did not appease her as much.
A mock frown of sadness appeared on the Earthling’s face. At least, the Sisters thought it was fake. “Oh, your words wound me. And here I was sitting thinking the Royals were caring about my well-being after putting me into their Dungeon.” A light shiver went through his body. “It’s positively freezing down here. Could you afford the place a fire, or something?”
Celestia shook her head in veiled amusement. From what she could gather, hope was still viable. The Earthling seemed fairly at ease in his predicament, and didn’t seem the slightest bit intimidated by both herself and her sister. Again, very similar to the mannerisms of a certain draconequus...
It had yet to be determined whether that would become a problem or not.
Jokingly, she waved a more calm hoof towards him. “Of course. We will be sure to get on that right away.” Things seemed to be going good. As long as they didn’t veer off towards the edge of disaster that nearly occurred some minutes previous, diplomacy was very probable to succeed.
The Earthling blinked in response to that. His eyes squinted towards the Princess of the Sun. Suddenly, his entire mood shifted. It was slight, but still noticeable. Abruptly, he stood and began walking towards the Princess. Luna flared out her wings in warning, and he stopped on a dime. Cheekily, he pointed to his nose. “Ya gotta little something there.”
Celestia’s eyes widened in surprise. In a vain attempt to see the offending material, she crossed her eyes to focus on the end of her muzzle. “Really? What is it?”
“Air.” When confused looks were shot to him, he shrugged. “I just wanted to see her go cross-eyed. I was hoping it would amuse me, and it did. I’m satisfied.” Sitting down on his bench once more, he waved towards the pair who was observing him oddly. “Now then. Onto diplomacy, and all that jazz.”
The Royal Sisters gave curt nods. “Right then.” With a brief burst of magic, an ink well, a quill, and a few spare pieces of parchment materialized in the alicorns’ grasps. Dipping said writing utensil into the ink, they stared up questioningly at the Earthling. “May we start with your name?”
A throaty chuckle left him. “Ah, yes. How careless of me. In all technicality, I go by many different names.” Idly, he started counting them off on his digits. “The Keeper of Neutrality. Mystic of the Southern Wastes. Jarl of Windhelm. Fury of the Beyond. Conqueror of the Final Gates.” He lazily glanced back up to address the two Princesses, who were regarding him with vacant gazes. “My actual name though, is Storm. A pleasure.”
The scratching of quill against paper quietly filled the cell. “Could you please fill us in on what exactly happened during the night you entered Canterlot?”
Storm cracked an eyebrow at his Spirit Guardian. “You didn’t tell them?”
Ed merely gave a shrug. “I told them a generalized summary.”
The Earthling merely nodded in response. “I see. Well, essentially upon being restrained and threatened with Veritaserum (or, as you Ponies know it as; Truthful Whisper), some foreign presence entered my mind and seized control of my body.”
“Before anything could be done about it, it entirely shut down my motor functions. Rendering me mostly unable to stop my body from breaking free of my interrogation.” A gloomy expression began forming on his face. “Thankfully, I was able to intercept a charging bolt that was aimed at Twiligh-”
“You did what?” Celestia’s head snapped up to stare daggers at Storm. “My Student said nothing about this.”
“I am not surprised. Maybe she was trying to protect me, just in case,” he shrugged. “In any case, I stopped the curse from using my own power to bring harm to your citizens. After the Truthful Whisper became injected into Lyra, my possesed-form at the time garnered the information about the order.”
Celestia’s jaded look softened, to a degree. Even with loss of control, he had continued to try and keep her Ponies safe. Even with the betrayal made by her hoof, and the restraining and interrogation about to happen; Storm ensured that they wouldn’t be harmed. “I am sorry about the letter I sent. But the safety of my Ponies was my top priority--”
“I know.” Both of the Princesses sent shocked looks at him. He was agreeing? “To be rather honest, had I been in your shoes, I would have done the same thing.” Yet another thoughtful expression appeared on Storm’s face. “Well, I actually would have confronted the danger directly and turned it into galactic space-dust, so technically I wouldn’t have done the same thing...”
Another shrug. “Semantics.”
Luna piped up. “If we could continue on with the recollection...?”
A look of realization dawned on Storm. “Ah, right right. Nearly forgot. Well, after the event occurred, I was essentially trapped in my psyche for the duration of my body’s rampage through your city. Thankfully, Ed had been able to restrict casualties when he predicted something was amiss, and then contacted the girls in Ponyville.” Nods of recognition and thanks were given to Ed by the diarchy. “After that, well... you kind of know what happened; I found an opportunity to sever the magical connection and freed myself, and then lost consciousness from the strain of dispersing the repair spell.”
“How were you able to free yourself?”
He regarded the question honestly. “When my body had been going off in its tirade, the barriers keeping me imprisoned in my mind weakened. I channeled my spirit and pierced its defenses, instantly destroying the remote control in the process.”
“Any idea on where it came from, what it was, or who placed it?”
“No idea on the where or who.” A slightly apprehensive look rose on his face, before he glanced over. Ed gave a nod. Storm gave a sigh. “As for what it was, I think it was some sort of distant mind-control device. The thoughts and logic of my actions being committed were not my own. Which means someone had it out to gun you down, Celestia.” Storm exposed a weak smirk. “And intended to frame me, and use my body as a tool to achieve it.”
The two Sisters shared a brief exchange of a look. Both were starting to think the same thing. Celestia lightly cleared her throat. “Tell us about Earthlings. The one we had encountered previously gave some short explanation, but no precise details.”
A snort left Storm. “First off, we aren’t called ‘Earthlings’. Whoever said we were is either a liar, a bigot, or probably both.” With a bit of grandiose flair, he motioned to himself. “I am a Human. Homo Sapien, if you wish to get all scientific about the matter.” Passively he began cracking knuckles. It was putting the Princesses on edge, but Storm apparently held no malice in the subconscious action. “As for where others are, I’m afraid I don’t have a clue.”
“Were you separated from your kind?”
He shook his head. “Not exactly. I haven’t seen any Humans since my arrival here in your country. Hell, I don’t even know if there are actually any living Humans on this planet. I just got here, you know.”
Celestia shot curious looks in Storm’s direction. “What do you mean by that?”
An amused sparkle appeared in his eye as he looked over towards the Princess of the Night. “Oh, you haven’t told her yet?” Turning back to Celestia with a grin, he held up two digits. “I come to your planet in peace. I would ask you to take me to your leader, but you two are already here.”
Her eyes widened in surprise as she glanced at her Sister. “Luna?! You knew he was extraterrestrial life? Why didn’t you tell me beforehoof?”
The response was an indignant shrug. “I was not entirely sure of my presumption! It was merely an educated guess; something I didn’t feel you needed to be bothered with if it ended up that I was incorrect.” Celestia turned to face the alien before her. This being just got more and more interesting with every passing moment.
“Indeed. I’m not from around these parts. I’m actually from a little planet filled with a lot of water, some several Universes away, on a separate plane of existence. Probably. I fell from the sky due to a miscalculation on teleportation coordinates.” Mirth danced across his features. “Point is that I have no knowledge to confirm nor deny the presence of other Humans that may or may not live on your planet.”
At that moment, neither Sister was sure whether that entire chunk of Storm’s dialogue held sarcasm or not.
Regardless, they pressed forth into the inevitable sea of insanity. “What do you do for a living?”
Storm raised a brow, mirth completely wiped clean from his face. “That depends; I am skilled in many different professions. My primary ‘living’, however, is... well, restricted data. Sorry ‘bout that.”
Luna seemed ready to dig into him about the matter, before Celestia halted her with a look. They did not want to fracture potential peace when they were doing so well. If there was one question out of several he did not wish to answer (especially if it was an asinine one as occupation), then that was what they had to settle with for the time.
“Actually.” The Princesses departed from their musings to examine Storm. He had one of his hind legs propped up onto the bench, and casually reclined against it. “If I may ask you two a question?” Both Sisters looked to one another before shrugging; it was supposed to be more of a give-and-take situation than an interrogation. “Exactly what documentation is there for Humans on this planet?”
Celestia blinked; out of all the potential questions she thought he would ask, he went to that? No wondering about the planet, or his fate, or anything of more significance? “Well... uh, to our knowledge there isn’t.”
“Liar.”
The open slander caused both of the Princesses’ heads to whiplash in his direction. Storm held a smirk, but it seemed less joyous. Quirking an eyebrow, a piece of aged, folded parchment appeared wedged between two digits. “I found this that states otherwise.”
Luna began lighting her horn, before she paused and sent a questioning look towards Storm. He nodded, and held the paper out. It was surrounded by pale cobalt magic, and floated over to the pair. They both silently began reading as Storm began fiddling with random rivets in his seat. Looking around, it took him until just then to realize how dingy his room was.
To start with, it was incredibly cramped. How him and the two large Alicorns fit in, he’d never know. The walls were ancient, and marred by grooves cut through them by water dripping in from the earth above. Nothing was in the room, save for the bench where Storm was sitting, and the shackles mounted on the wall.
Before he could silently criticize the cell any further, the two Princesses levitated the document out of their sight for a moment. “Where did you find this?”
Storm lazily pointed up. “Lyra apparently stole it from some ‘Archive’. I happened upon it when nobody was nearby, so it might’ve found some short lodging in my pocket. Feel free to take it back, or return it to them, or whatever.” Storm shrugged again; both Princesses were starting to wonder if it was caused by twitching, or general apathy. “It doesn’t really matter to me.”
’Yep. Definitely apathy,’ Celestia mused to herself. Storm shot her a grin, and she remembered that her thoughts could be heard. Furrowing her brow, she attempted to put forth some sort of muffler to her thoughts. He merely rolled his eyes.
Both of the Sisters returned to scrutinizing the report before nodding. “Well... we will question Miss Heartstrings about this particular piece at a later time.” Rolling it up neatly, Celestia transferred it to her sister’s grasp.
Storm clasped his hands together; an action that made both of the Sisters jump lightly. Everything may had been going very smoothly, but it could change in an instant. “Well, as much as I would love to continue chatting and rambling on about us, let’s get down to the business at hand.” A chuckle left him. “The suspense is killing me. Probably literally, if left untreated.”
The Royal Sisters didn’t know whether the being standing before them was being legitimately serious or was making an excellent attempt to mess with their heads. Celestia was half-tempted to fly straight out into the Garden to ensure that Discord was still imprisoned, and not this ‘Storm’ standing before them.
Luna and Celestia looked to one another; it was then or never. Giving a nod to calm her nerves, Celestia addressed the Human sitting before her. “As is our rightful duty as Princesses of Equestria, we have the full authority to pass judgement on criminals who have violated the law.”
“As such,” Luna continued. “You have been charged with the following crimes: three attempted cases of murder (two cases involving Royalty), sixty-nine attempted cases of resistance against Royal Guard, trespassing on Castle Grounds, and Royal vandalism.” She regarded the neutral-faced Human quietly. “How do you plead?”
He shrugged. To him, the words being tossed around in front of him was nothing more than a formality. Regardless, he answered. “I plead guilty of all charges.” His Spirit Guardian nodded in the corner, although his face wasn’t one of happiness, but more one of begrudging acceptance.
The two Sisters nodded in sync. “Under normal circumstances, the cumulative sentence would be... one million years in the Dungeon.” A coy smirk lightly played at the Human’s lips. He couldn’t seem to care less. “However, there is an... alternate option.”
“And what may that option be?”
“As repentance of your crimes against the nation of Equestria, you may either serve your sentence in jail, or provide community service.” When Storm made no move to interrupt, Celestia continued. “This community service, in your case, is to provide military training to our Royal Guard.”
“You would be tasked in instructing over one hundred Royal Guards, teaching them how to efficiently combat any and all forces that would oppose our great country.” Another yawn almost threatened to spill out of Storm, before it was deftly silenced. “What is your choice?”
He stared at them with a stone-cold stare. “I’ll take one million years in your Dungeon.”
They nodded. “As we thought--” A few seconds passed before they both raised surprised brows at the Human. “Wait, what?!”
A delighted puff of amused air left the Human’s nose as he watched the duo. “I was joking. Prison ain’t fun. I’ll take training guards over that, ah thank you.” The diarchy merely shook their heads; Storm was a certifiable prankster. “I do have two conditions in order to complete this task, though.”
That caused both of them to stop. There was never anything in the agreement with Ed about conditions. The Spirit Guardian shrugged in the corner; he had no idea where his Master was going with it. Uncertain, Luna waved a hoof. “Speak them.”
A single digit protruded into the air. “One: During my attempts to instruct your Guard, you will not make any attempt to undermine my authority as their teacher and mentor. This includes having separate curriculum being taught to them, ordering them become unruly and unresponsive to teaching, and discrediting any information about warfare that I have implanted into their heads.”
The Sisters shrugged; it was a reasonable demand. “Very well. And what is your second condition?”
This time, a second digit joined the first. “I have unrestricted access to your libraries, armories, forges, barracks, and kitchen.” Before either mare could make a rebuttal, Storm carried on. “I need unrestricted because I will need to research subjects, evaluate supplies, build weapons, inspect troop space, and eat food whenever I please.”
The Sisters glanced at one another uncertainly. “Very... well. We will make sure that you have access to what you’ve asked for.”
A slight nod left the grinning Human. “Of course you will.”
“Do note, though, the repercussions of failing to instruct our Guard in an orderly manner,” Luna warned. Storm could only roll his eyes and stretch once more. Was he so emotionless because of exhaustion? Neither of the Sisters could tell.
“Don’t get your mane in a bunch, Princess. I’ll fulfill my sentence.” A curious face appeared on Storm as he peered at his fingernails. “I can only presume that you will at some point release me from my indentured service?”
Celestia tapped idly on the stone floor. “If what we’ve asked of you is done, and we are satisfied with the training our Guard has received; then yes, you will no longer be indebted to us.”
Storm nodded, then stood. “I’ll start immediately.”
Luna’s mane shook in a slow wave of calm serenity. “No. That may wait for tomorrow. For now, you should be fed, briefed by our commanding officers, and become reacquainted with the Elements of Harmony.”
He murmured her words quietly to himself, before shaking his head. “I suppose that is the smarter thing to do.” With a slight wave of his hand, Storm caused the two Sisters to step aside. Despite it being of their own will, they couldn’t help but feel that the Human had compelled them to on a more... base level. Perhaps he truly was a deceiver of minds. Or perhaps, his own will had enormous authority.
“Wait.”
Storm stopped to examine Celestia. She seemed to steel her nerves, before speaking further. “Why are you willing to do this? Why not flee, and escape having to serve us?”
Something forming along the lines of a frown graced his face. “Because, even with all that has happened to me in my life, I still know when to admit to myself when a mistake has been made. Especially if it’s my own.” He glanced down, and watched himself flex his claws. “I will admit that I am a rather proud man. I do not like submitting to the authority of anyone. I do not like admitting that I have made a mistake. But I do it now.” He looked back up. “Do you want to know why?”
The Sisters both nodded. Storm adapted a slim smirk. “Because I have wronged you two without cause, and nearly cost you two both your lives and your kingdom. I told myself a long time ago to try and fix whatever errors I would make in my life. This is how I will do it here.”
With that, he placed his hand on the door and exhaled.
A clattering rumble surged through the door as it unlocked itself and opened with ease. The opposite end of the portal was occupied by four stunned guards, each staring apprehensively at the Human. A yawn left Storm as he clenched his fists and spoke in a commanding tone. “Step aside. New General, coming through.”
As Storm walked away, unopposed with Guards standing in frozen befuddlement, Luna couldn’t help but lean over towards her Sister. “This... this is a bad idea, isn’t it?”
Celestia’s nod held more weight than her words. “Definitely.”
Islanta Tesaron
Planet Koriz IV, Koriz System
Unspecified Reality
To call this night a success would be both premature, and understated. The meeting between the foreign dignitaries had gone over smoothly, and by noon tomorrow, the ceasefire treaties would be signed, and the planet-wide war would be ended. Celebrations were abound across the city. Life could not be greater.
The door to a solitary office was kicked wide open as a man, in a dress and poorly fashioned wig, staggered in, humming happily to himself and swaying his hips and shoulders in time with the tunes loud enough to pierce the walls. Things were going better than he had originally planned. A night like this one was truly one for celebrating.
“Unhand me this instant, you insufferable buffoon!”
Then again, there was the small matter of the captive the man was dragging along behind him. The captor ignored his victim, though his humming dropped to a slower, less upbeat tune as he flung the other man he was dragging into a nearby chair.
“Do you have any idea who my father is?” The captive demanded, shaking his blonde dreadlocks out of his eyes. “I’ll have your head mounted on my wall for this!”
“Everybody knows who your father is,” the captor groaned as he tore the wig from his head. “So shut it.”
“I demand you release me at once!”
“And I demand that you shut up. See? We can play this game all night and it’s not going to get us anywhere.” He let out a sigh of annoyance. “Should’ve just slit your throat instead. Then you wouldn’t have been able to yap on the way up here.”
“When my father hears about this-”
“Your father won’t hear about this,” he snapped. “Now just sit tight, Your Princeliness. I’ve business to attend to.” The man patted his captive roughly on the cheek before turning toward the windows. “Such a lovely view tonight, wouldn’t you agree? Celebrations abound, the city’s alive with joy and jubilation and other positive adjectives. And we have such a lovely view of the palace gardens from here.”
The prisoner’s head shot up. To his horror, his kidnapper had a rather large rifle clutched in his hands, though it was unlike any rifle he’d seen before. The metallic casing of the rifle was welded from sharp, distinct angles. It was held together (at least partly), by energy fields, indicated by the sections of the weapon that floated on their own. Glowing, emerald green highlights were visible just before the binary-barrels of the weapon.
“I can even see your father, looking surprisingly healthy for a man his size.” The captor let out a low whistle. “He certainly doesn’t look like a man who’s barely held his nation together during a war. Such a shame.” The man smirked and pulled the trigger. The highlights on the weapon flared brightly as a pair of bright green beams of energy burst forth with a high-pitch ping.
“Boom. Headshot!” The madman cackled. He glanced back at his captive with reserved mirth. “My condolences.”
“You shot him!” the Prince howled. “You shot my father!”
“You’re right. How is that fair?” The assassin turned back to his rifle and fired another shot. “There we are! Now both your father and the man he made peace with are dead. Happy?”
“What?!” The captive’s mouth dropped open. “Why would you do that?! We were going to have peace!”
“Peace is boring. I have things to do and I don’t need attention drawn to myself. It’s very easy to get lost in chaos, but in peacetime? It’s too easy to draw attention. So, I need to make sure the war can continue.”
“What is wrong with you?!”
“Don’t open that book. It’s a terrible read. Trust me, I wrote it.” The murderer laughed. “Now, it’s only a matter of time before they trace the shots to this building.” The man pulled a small, folded piece of paper from the inside of his black overcoat and tucked it inside the Prince’s pocket. “And who doesn’t love a martyr for a cause?” He drew a military grade pistol and placed it on his lap.
“It’s been so long since I started a war. Oh, how does time fly.” The captor spun around several times, grinning widely from ear to ear as he faced his prey. “Now, my little puppet, pick up the gun.” Arm shaking, the prisoner obeyed. “Very good. Simple minds like yours are so much fun.”
“What are you doing?” The Prince demanded.
“Blaming you for the deaths of your father and his former enemy. Was that not clear?” The kidnapper grinned wider. “What did you think the note was for? It’s your suicide note, claiming that you couldn’t stand your father bending to such simple demands. So you took action and killed yourself to retain your honor.”
The murderer leaned closer to his prisoner and waved a gloved index finger at him. “Now, put the gun in your mouth.” The Prince’s eyes widened as his arm, refusing to obey his brain, raised the weapon and stuck it in his mouth.
“Please...”
The killer’s smile vanished. “Pull the trigger.”
A resounding crack filled the room and the captive slumped against the back of the chair. The man sighed and straightened up, casting off his cloak as he did so.
“I’m surprised he didn’t ask why a dude was wearing a dr-” His words were drowned out by the sound of music and singing coming from the gap in between his fake cleavage.
“‘Cause what you’ve got is what we need,
and all we do is dirty deeds!
We’re the, Spaceballs!
Watch out (watch out)!”
The captor pulled a small, transparent orb from the folds of his attire. Flashing blue, the orb continued to play the ‘Spaceballs: The Theme Song’ theme song. “Ha! And Creed said I’d never be able to keep all these things in a dress,” he laughed. “Though he was right about the breezes in places they don’t belong.” After several long moments of peering into the orb, his eyes slowly widened in joy.
“It’s about damn time!” He slipped the orb back into the dress and snapped his fingers. His clothes vanished, instantly replaced with a suit. “Pity I won’t get to follow through on my plans here now, but hey! This is much more important! Though, starting this war again was kind of pointless...” The man glanced at the prince’s corpse.
“Oh well. Bygones be bygones and all that.” He resumed his humming from earlier as he strode from the room. “Let’s hope that by the time I arrive, all the blood hasn’t been spilt yet. Eh heh heh...”
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Wow, was the guy at the end Steve?
I hope Storm dies.
He is an insufferable, arrogant, full of himself git.
Begrudging makes much more sense here
Is he
If I may, the thing you do with the parentheses could be done, with more flow by the way, using commas.
Hmmmmmm Interesting.
3879279 im leaning on a discord relative
CCCCCCRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDD
3880169 judging where he seemed to be my guess would be another editor or a manipulator, as it wasn't equestria or equis whatever the author names the planet. Possibly the "him" that gets mentioned every now and again.
3880429 i thought storm said that all of them are gone and he is the last?
3880429 From a previous reader who read the original, I'd rather not ruin this for you, but you were right on the fuckin' money!
3880434 Bro, you should always understand that when someone says that they "believe" that they are the last, they are NEVER the last. Trust me.
3879606
This. They were the ones to take the first hostile action, not him or the mind control thingy. Even if he was in control of his actions, he'd still have been in his right.
"Did it for my ponies" can be a valid reason, but it requires that you first consider the consequences of the immoral actions you're considering. If you want to know if an unknown is an enemy to your country, you should also weigh the possibility that the steps you take to find out could make you an enemy. It's criminally short-sighted at best.
i just realized CHP 1 M.L.P SCAN was that a pun...
3879300 The fuck are you reading the story for then?
3880673 Quite frankly i think i read to much. That seemed like the most obvious thing. When a mention of a nemesis pops up in thought of the protagonist at a constant rate no matter WHAT the nemesis will play some kinda role in the story. Even if said nemesis is presumed dead.
ALSO i have to wonder about the corporation producing these E&M(Editors & Manipulators). For Storm to be able to say that there are no more i have to assume that he took down the corporation or failed to save it. Then i have to ask if this corporation is outside of the universes (some kind of overruling god kinda thing) OR did it originate in a specific universe. In either case E&M would still continue to exist. With the theory of infinite universes there are more than just the one company, which means E&M will still be developed. In the case of a god like being producing E&M, it wouldn't even be able to be taken down.
interesting
3879992
You probably have a very valid point. Personally, I think that an overload of commas would grate on people's nerves. Then again, so would parentheses. I just try to mix it up, I guess.
3880889
Only the worst of puns, mate. Only the worst.
3880673
3880936
Interesting guesses. I like when people discuss WTIN-related subjects. More in-depth analysis of what happened will (as always) be provided in later chapters. Including what happened to Steve's "company", especially.
3879948
Thanks for picking out that mistake. It was 2 AM when I was editing that scene.
3879606
Good reasoning. Why would Storm end up taking the proverbial bullet and become indebted, when the original spell-caster does not? Well, in essence, it's mostly a sign of distrust. While it seems obvious something was critically wrong with Storm during the invasion of Canterlot, it is doubtful that Celestia and Luna would take the excuse of 'I-was-cursed-so-it-wasn't-my-fault' without a grain of salt (regardless of Ed's evidence and explanation to back the excuse up).
On Storm's side, however... Let's just say that Storm, on the inside at least, may not be the most... enthused about the situation he was in. But he does feel reproachful about what his body nearly committed. And with no other allies on the planet, and being unable to Warp out of the grips of political justice, Storm realized that earning the good side of the Ponies may be his only genuine option for survival.
1 MILLION YEARS DUNGEON!!
3879300 Welp, something like this was gonna happen eventually.
Oh I like this villain. It seems we would've had a God-off, how exciting~! ;]
But still. Writing such an asshole probably isn't easy - getting into the mind of a person who truly believes they're above literally every other existence... wow. I'm not sure I'd have that in me... though I clearly have shades of this, if I can play him in my mind...
The writing (specifically, the pacing) is shaky in this one, but seems to be slowly getting better. Too bad the Author has been offline for some 4 years now - I wouldn't have minded to see this continue.
Dam I was pissy, back when I was a screaming alcoholic.
I wasn't wrong mind you. But I could have said it nicer.