Chapter 6: Blob Is Green, Leave It Be
It had been a long day since their return from the edges of Ponyville. Celestia sat upon her throne in wait for the news of the operations that her captain was having to go through. He had been teleported along with half the medical ponies that were part of the royal guard, so as to keep him alive long enough to reach the capital for better treatment of his injuries. The creature that had caused the severe wounds to Shining Armor had been hold off to the dungeons as soon as the carriage keeping it contained had touched down within the castle grounds. It had been stripped once again of its possessions to insure the safety of her ponies, she wouldn't give it the chance to harm her little ponies again.
Though she wished she did not have to, Celestia had responsibilities as one of the rulers of Equestria and was forced to open the day court as usual for her little ponies. There were always problems that needed her attention and though her sister had recently returned, Luna still needed to adjust and learn the new laws that had been passed in her thousand year long imprisonment. There had been many changes since Luna had last ruled and though Celestia knew Luna tried to hide her discomfort from her older sister, her hesitation in her actions spoke for her. Until Luna had regained her confidence to rule like she once had, Celestia would just have to continue overseeing the day court like always.
Try as she might Celestia could not stop her mind from wandering off during the hearings, her hopes riding on Shining Armors recovery and with luck return to station after a lengthy vacation. It was only after Celestia had to have the question a pony had asked her twice before, once again repeated, did she finally call things to an end. With the courts closed early there was nothing for her to do but wait for word to reach her.
The sound of gentle clopping hooves brought Celestia back to the present with her sister, Luna, just a few hooves away. A look of concern was etched on her face as she asked, “Is there any word on Captain Shining Armor’s condition?”
“Not yet Lulu, but I think we shall hear of his condition soon. He has been in surgery ever since his arrival earlier this morning. At the moment all we can do is hope that our little ponies can do their best and get him back on his hooves quickly.”
“I fear Tia, that even if our prayers are answered and Shining Armor does recover, he won't be able to continue to serve as the Captain of the guard. You and I have both seen injuries like this before and know what lasting effects they have on the body.”
Celestis let a tired sigh escape her lips, a rare sight that she only let Luna see, before saying, “I am just as much to blame for his situation as he himself is. I was aware of his instability but chose to ignore it in hopes that he would keep it in check, I have been proven wrong as you can see. There are few ponies who can command the guard as he does, not even his second in command can control them like him, except for us of course. His inability to control his own emotions makes me only fear about what would have happened if he was not there and I had replaced him like I probably should have. Is there another who could have done better or worse. These are just some of the many unanswerable question floating in my mind as I now sit and wait.”
“There is another matter, Lulu, that I wish to discuss with you later however. Its something that we will need to be alone for.”
As it was Luna’s turn to finally speak there was just one other thing that concerned her, “And what of the creature, what are we going to do with it and its weapons?”
Celestia looked into her sister’s eyes as she spoke, “As far as the creature’s weapons are concerned, nothing. We shall simply lock them away and be done with them, they are just too dangerous for the public to know of. The creature, from what Twilight’s notes have told me that it is a female version of its kind, will remain in the dungeons so that we may study her and learn of its kind. From there we can see what kind of threat they can pose to us.”
Luna snorted in frustration towards her older sister’s decision and voiced her complaints, “It is simply a waste to lock away its weapons. If we could give those to our scientists they could improve our guard’s combat abilities far beyond any other nations. With this technology we can prevent the gryphons to the west from ever again attempting to take our territories for their own. They would come to fear our might once again like in the years of old.”
Celestia was firm yet not unkind in her response to her sister’s complaint, “No Luna, we will not exploit this technology for our own gain. We will not bully the other countries with it either just because they once thought of taking what is our ponies land. We shall show compassion towards them and treat them as equals, otherwise we are no better than Discord during his rule. So the weapons will remain locked away until they can be disposed of without bringing harm to one of our little ponies.”
Seeing that she wasn’t going to convince her sister to reconsider, Luna changed target, “Fine, then what will become of the female after we have learned what we wanted? She has hurt and killed many of our beloved ponies and must pay for its crimes. I think I speak for all when I say that justice must be done.”
Luna watched Celestia’s face sink down towards the floor in sadness before she finally responded, “I fear Lulu, now that I have had the time to read over all the reports, that our guards may have provoked the creature and it simply acted in self defense. We cannot act against the creature and still call it justice, not at the level you wish. It is only after we have learned about her can we truly judge her for her actions. In the mean time she will remain there until then, for her safety as well as ours. Luna I know this is not what you want to hear but this is how it must be if we are to rule this land justly.”
Celestia was right, that wasn’t what Luna wanted to hear and was not going to stand around as her sister did nothing. Turning with a huff Luna stormed out one of the side doors. If Tia will not make use of the weapons confiscated, then I will just have to speak with the scientists myself.
After her sister had left the room did the doors leading into the throne room, as if on cue, opened and who came trotting in was none other than the chief surgeon in charge of Captain Shining Armor’s operperation. Celestia’s hopes rose as he made his approach but felt them come crashing back down at seeing the hesitant manner at which he took each step. Whatever news he carried, she sensed it was only going to be the end of Shining Armor’s carrier.
----
There was nothing left. No matter how much Twilight wished to cry, there was just simply no tears left to shed. She had finally been allowed to sit in her brother’s room after waiting for the operation to end. They had him hooked up to many different monitors as he laid there in the bed under heavy sedation. Twilight had been told that he still wouldn’t wake for a few more hours and when he did, she had been told to be very careful around him and not stress him out. The more he could relax, the faster he would recover from his surgery.
Their parents were also there to see their son but had stepped out to get some food, only after being informed that Shining would not wake for several more hours. They had asked if Twilight would like to come with them to the cafeteria but she had declined since she didn’t have any need to eat. She just sat there in the seat next to the bed staring absentmindedly as she was deep in thought, thinking about what had transpired earlier that morning. The events over the past day had scared Twilight but it wasn't just what the creature had done but it had been what she had done in response. When she saw Shining fall, her anger had taken over. She had very much intended to crush the life out of the creature and she nearly succeeded, if it hadn’t been for Princess Celestia intervening.
Sitting in the chair in silence, Twilight was unaware of the door opening and a maroon armored pegasus stallion entering the room. The stallion walked half way towards her before stopping in the middle of the room, glancing between her and Shining Armor. He let out a deep sigh before trying to get Twilight’s attention by clearing his throat and waited a few moments for her to react. He was not surprised at her lack of a response so he tried another approach, moving right next to her and asked, “How are you holding up squirt?”
Nearly falling from her seat, Twilight whipped around to face the intruder in the room, only to find him standing right next to her. She felt her heart jump up into her throat before slowing back down as she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly again. Taking a moment she finally lectured, “You know you shouldn’t do that Charge and I’m fine. And on top of that stop calling me squirt, I’m not five anymore.”
Blind Charge didn’t believe in the slightest that Twilight was fine at all, but decided not to say anything on the subject. He instead chose to strike up a conversation with her to keep her as distracted as possible, “Have you spoken with the doctors yet, did they say when Shining will wake up?” He knew the answers already from Princess Celestia but he wanted to get her talking about anything.
“They said that he could wake in a few hours. They also said that he should make a full recovery too... I just have the feeling that he wasn’t telling me everything though.”
Not wanting her to explore that thought, he interrupted her thoughts changing the topic, “How are your friends doing? I thought that they would come up here with you, I mean I’m pretty sure the princesses would let them stay in the castle again.”
“My friends are fine too, and many of them said they would come up later this afternoon. Applejack has to get everything ready at the farm while Fluttershy is getting somepony to watch the animals while she is away. Rainbow Dash said she would talk to her weather lieutenant and would catch the train with Fluttershy, while Rarity couldn’t come at all until they find a way to cure Sweetie Belle. Pinkie Pie wasn’t allowed passed the door by the nurses so she is sitting in the waiting room right now.”
“Thats good to hear. Its always nice to have your friends close by.” A sly smile grew across his muzzle as he jokingly asked, “You wouldn't mind introducing me to any of them would you, I have heard a lot about them and would really like to meet at least one of them. Maybe you could put in a good word for me?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at his request, “Aren’t you married to Sunny Days?”
“Yes we are, and happily I might add.”
Wishing to be at least a little bit polite to her brother’s best friend she asked, “And how is she doing?”
“Oh you know, pregnant as usual.”
“Thats good to hear--- What?!”
The sly grin only grew in size as he nodded his head in confirmation that she had indeed heard him correctly. Seeing the shock that now replaced her previous sadness told him that he had succeeded at last. Taking this opportunity he filled her in saying, “We found out about three months ago, and have been keeping it a secret from a few ponies.”
Twilight was confused at the secrecies about the pregnancy and chose to voice her curiosity.
Blind Charge chuckled and leaned in close to Twilight’s ear so that he would not be overheard by others that might enter. Speaking just loud enough for her to hear he announced, “I want to ask Shining to be my foal’s Godfather and I wanted it to be a surprise.”
Jumping from her chair in excitement, Twilight shouted out, “Oh, Shining is going to be so happy to hear the news. This is very good news. Do you-”
Charge cut her off by shoving his hoof into her mouth, not wanting her to cause any more noise that might disturb her sleeping brother. Once she seemed to have calmed down again did he remove it and allowed her to continue. He took a moment before he continued with what he wanted to say, “Sunny would be more than happy if you came by during your stay here in Canterlot. She has become a little stir crazy from being forced to stay home from weather duty, the doctors said that she couldn’t work as the weather captain during her pregnancy.”
Twilight gave him the first true smile he had seen since entering the room and replied, “I would be more than happy to. And with Shining’s luck, he’ll be back on his feet and serving as captain of the guard again soon.”
Blind Charge had to force himself to not reveal what he had learned from Princess Celestia, he couldn’t tell her that Shining Armor would be forced to retire and that he would take Shining’s place. All he could do was put on a forced smile and sit in silence with her as they listened to the steady sound of Shining Armor’s heart beat.
----
The Lone Wanderer had been in worse places than a windowless dungeon, its not like there were giant radroaches that threatened to eat her or anything. Sure she had to hunch over so as not to slam her head on the ceiling and the only thing that lit the room was a single candle, that was set out of reach of her in the corner of the room. The only thing stopping her from getting it was the shackles that connected her to the opposite corner of the room. In no ways would she have normally found being chained to a wall odd in her line of work, but what perplexed her was how they did it. The manacle attached to her leg were similar to the one that connected her to the medical bed before and had even caused the same dilemma for the horse creatures, that is until one of them that had a horn, began to glow and the manacle shrank down to the needed size.
Now that they had locked her away there was really little for her to do. There were not any windows for her to see through and the only other thing in the room besides the candle, that was out of reach, and herself was the cot and blanket. In no time at all she had turned said blanket into temporary clothes again, she may have been a prisoner but that doesn’t mean she has to walk around naked.
Having no way to keep track of the time, the Lone Wanderer was surprised when a flap at the base of the wooden door opened and a tray, of what appeared to be food, slid in. Making her way from the cot, she picked up the tray to see what they were giving her and wasn’t surprised with what she saw. Sitting on the tray was a pile of hay, a green gelatin blob and a wooden bowl of water. The hay she couldn’t eat and wasn’t quite sure about the green blob either but decided to be cautious and would slid everything back through the flap, except for the water. Bending back down, the Lone Wanderer fit her fingers under the flap, just enough to get a good grip on it and lifted it up to the hall on the other side. Placing the tray on the floor, she slid it back out and let go of the flap.
She was shortly rewarded with the sounds of a shout of surprise and the sound of the tray crashing against another wall. Opening the flap again, she was greeted with the site of one of the armored ponies moaning on the ground and on the opposite wall was a splattered mess of what was her meal. A fit of laughter racked her body at the expense of her capture’s situation, through the door the guards could be heard bickering about something and the sound of a faint growl, that she suspected was directed at her. Having had enough of the little show, she stood back up and went to stretch out on her cot for a little sleep.
----
Quietly stepping out of the hospital room and closing the door behind him, he started to make his way back to the throne room. He needed to report back to Princess Celestia and get his next order, if she didn’t have any for him, he had something else he would like to do. Namely paying a little visit to the creature that did this to his childhood friend and if there wasn’t a guard looking, maybe even buck it into the wall.
Having spent most of his career walking the halls of the castle, he had learned the fastest routes to take, making this walk just like any other. As he walked into the throne room he noticed that everything was just as he had left it earlier, there was only one exception however, floating in front of Celestia’s face was one of the many papers that Twilight had sent her pertaining to the creature. He also saw that sitting in a neat pile next to her were the reports made by the guards who participated in the first contact with the creature and the subsequent chase.
When he approached the throne he watched as first the princess's ear flicked in his direction, due to the sound of his hooves clicking on the floor, her eyes going back and forth over the page before she finally stopped and turned to face him. She hid the stress she was under very well, even from her own guards but they all knew what she had to deal with each day. This wasn’t like those normal days either.
“Did you ask her?”
Her question broke his train of thought and brought him back to the present. He dipped his head before he replied. “Sorry ma’am, I couldn’t ask her. Its just something I couldn’t force onto her so quickly.”
A sad smile formed on her muzzle while she gave a slight nod in agreement.
“I too do not wish to ask this but this situation has forced me to do so. I do apologise for putting you in that situation as well, I know how close you are with the Twilight and her family. I should have been the one to ask her.” As if to emphasise her point, Celestia stood and gathered energy to her horn.
“Would you like for me to accompany you ma’am?”
It took a moment as Celestia thought it over but eventually replied, “That will not be necessary, you may go. But Captain Charge.”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Pass word that nopony is to go near the creature unless given my permission, and that includes you too. If we are to get the information we want from it, it is best that it hasn’t been injured any more than it already has.”
Blind Charge hesitated, having to bite back a retort for a second before he finally agreed and saluted. With his reply she cast her spell causing a brilliant flash of light that indicating her departure to the guards outside the room. With his orders, Blind Charge reluctantly left to spread the word to the other guards.
----
Celestia appeared in front of the closed door leading to Shining Armor’s room, the doctors around having been surprised by her sudden arrival were just now kneeling before her. She quickly told them to rise and see to their other patients before entering the room.
Glancing around the room, Celestia found whom she had been looking for, asleep with her head lying on Shining Armor’s bed, Twilight sat waiting on her brother to wake. Taking her time, Celestia walked around to the other side of the bed, looking her former captain's lying form on the bed up and down. If she hadn’t known better, it would have been hard to tell that anything bad had ever happened.
Unfortunately there were many signs of his injuries, from the constant beeping of his heart monitor to the uneven breaths that he had to take due to his injuries. Lifting the clipboard from its resting place at the foot of the bed Celestia decided to read it over for herself while she too waited for either of them to wake. There was always something that could be learned from reading the reports yourself rather than have them being told to you and this proved no different. From reading over the sheets, she could see the comments the doctor had made about the path of slug of metal had taken when passing through Shining Armor’s chest.
The pages went into detail the extent of the damages to his right lung and the steps they were forced to take in order to repair it. They had removed a large portion of damaged lung in order to close the wound and salvage the rest of it.
He is lucky that the creature had been kneeling when it decided to fire its weapon. If it had fired down on him instead, I doubt he would have lived long enough to realise what had happened. Small blessings I guess.
Gently placing the clipboard back, she looked over to her sleeping student and was barely successful at suppressing a chuckle at the expense of Twilight. In Twilight’s sleep, she had formed a rather impressive pool of drool around her muzzle, drenching the surrounding blanket. Using her magic once again she proceeded to bring a small towel into existence, knowing Twilight and her habit of overreacting to small inconsequential things, it was best that she didn’t wake to this mess. Taking great care so as not to wake up Twilight, Celestia went about dabbing at the mess.
Celestia's endever was for not as the contact eventually woke Twilight from her sleep. She woke slowly, her eyes trying to adjust to the level of light, her body not wanting to awaken until Celestia came into focus. With the realisation that her mentor was sitting patiently across from her did her mind kick into panic.
Acting quickly Celestia tried to calm her student, “Its alright Twilight, I didn’t mean to wake you. If you are still tired I will return later so you may rest.”
Making a move to stand, Celestia was interrupted by Twilight sputtering, “No no no no no no, I’m awake. Thank you for visiting.”
Celestia could only give Twilight a sad smile as the bags under Twilight’s eyes told her otherwise, the ordeal that she had gone through for the past couple of days added with the level of magic she had used within the past six hours left her spent and on the verge of collapse. It pained her to ask Twilight to handle this important task but there was few who could match her abilities. This was one of the drawbacks that Celestia had to deal with as part of the diarchy and one of her least favorite duties.
Gathering her resolve, she pushed that pain to the back of her mind and went forward with her plan. Looking her beloved student in the eyes she asked, “Twilight, I have a favor to ask of you, but before I ask you, you have to know that I would not trust anypony else with this task. This is a very important task and it may demand more than what I should ask of you. Do you understand?”
Twilight gulped at what Princess Celestia was telling her and it made her afraid. Hesitantly Twilight nodded her head, confirming her understanding to her mentor and received the same sad smile again.
“Very well, since you understand I’ll now tell you. What I need is for you to learn everything you can from the creature we have contained. Anything you learn could prove useful to us in many ways. Do you have any questions?”
There was only two questions that won out over the others in Twilight’s mind, “How am I suppose to get it to cooperate with me, and why shouldn’t I just buck that thing into the nearest wall? After what that thing has done to my friends and family, it should just stay locked up in that dungeon.” By the end of her statement Twilight hadn’t realised that she had been screaming and quickly stammered out a stream of apologies.
Celestia had feared that Twilight would have reacted negatively but she had underestimated had badly, which only pained her more. There was just simply no choice in the matter and had to push forward with her plan.
With a firm tone she started, “Twilight, while I understand your anger towards the creature you must also consider that we were just as in the wrong as it was. From your own reports and that of the other guards, we were the original aggressors and the creature just responded. What we must consider that while this one creature did a lot of harm to both Ponyville and the Royal guard, what would happen if another came here? If this creature has friends, will they come looking for it and if so how did it get here to begin with? If you can uncover the answers to these questions then we can prevent more harm from coming.”
Twilight couldn’t come up with anyway she could answer these questions from her own observations of the items she saw or from the creature. She just hadn’t had enough time until everything went to tartarus. She took pride in knowing that her mentor came to her for such an important task but at the same time she resented being asked so quickly after the fight. There just wasn’t any helping it and she could only give a final sigh of defeat.
“Very well, I’ll do what I can but you never said how I could accomplish this.”
With the return of Celestia’s motherly tone she replied, “The fastest way I can possibly think of, to coxe this being into talking with you, is to befriend it. If you can become friends with this creature, like you did with Discord and Trixy, then I can see things becoming much easier for you. And do not worry, you will not be forced to do this alone. If you wish, you may ask your friends for assistance with this task. I’m sure they would be more than willing to help you.”
Celestia’s reply had obviously irritated Twilight, but chose to ask, “Is there another way to gather the information?”
Shaking her head Celestia answered her student honestly, “Though there are other ways this one has the least risk of backfiring and without it causing more harm than good. The best path to take is not always the easiest one to follow.”
Lowering her head slightly, Twilight looked over Shining Armor’s body before she conceded, “Very well Princess Celestia, I’ll do it, but may I spend some time with my brother while he is awake before I start? My friends should be here by then too and I can ask them for help.”
"That is fine, just let me know when you wish to begin and I'll have the creature moved to better accommodate you and your friends."
With nothing else to talk to Twilight about, Celestia said her farewells before leaving the room, there were a few other things she needed to get done before she could call it a day.
----
The sun had moved far across the sky since last he had seen his master. She had told him to stay there and wait for her return and that is what he would do. Dogmeat had lay hidden in the undergrowth as he watched them take his master, but he did not fear that she would not return, she had made it back to him before. Once they had his master none of the armored creatures stopped to search the forest for him, he didn’t seem to be a big concern to them, which was fine by him.
From where he lay, Dogmeat watched as the kind creature went about her home taking care of many different animals. Her kindness reminded him of his master, but without the courage and everything else. There didn’t seem to be many other creatures like it in the town down the road from the forest. He could smell the different animals’ scents off of her unlike the other creatures who had their own scents, hers was masked. He couldn’t think of any reason for it until she brought him into her home and he saw all the different animals living in and around her home.
They were all at different stages of recovery and it confused him. He had never seen such care being given to another creature like this before, not at this extent anyways. Sure when he was hurt his master would do what she could to help him get better, but he hadn’t seen another of her kind do that to other animals. The only things he had seen most of her kind do was kill and consume them. He kind of liked her, she didn’t seem so bad.
As he waited he had passed the time observing her as she went around her house feeding the small animals that he would have been more than happy to call food himself, but decided that might not be the best of ideas. One of the creatures that he had seen from the first chase visited four separate times over the passing hours. She had the scent of rain, sweat and adrenaline, it was different compared to everything else he smelled from the creatures he had met. He didn’t like this one.
He had seen her stand on the clouds and strike with a blinding hot light, hurting his master severely and damaging her armor. There were few that got away with causing him or his master harm and those that did, didn’t get away with it for long.
Everytime she came by and spoke with the kind-one, she spoke very excitedly while waving her hooves in the air. This had the effect of causing the kind-one to shrink down, smaller and smaller, until the aggressive-one would shoot off back towards town. He was always on edge afterwards as the kind-one would look over the forest, her gaze lingering on where he hid. He was sure he could not be seen from where he was but just in case he moved each time, never too far from his original position.
After the fourth visit did he hear one of the trees rustle and a bird take flight towards the small home landing on the kind-one’s back. She seemed to listen to it for a few moments before speaking with it. Once she had finished the bird took flight again and flew back into the forest canopy. To Dogmeat’s surprise, when he looked back at the kind-one he saw her making her way towards his hiding place. Crouching lower to the ground, he hid himself as best he could, if he moved from where he was now would reveal that he was there to her and he didn’t want that.
He lay in wait hoping that she would pass, he would prefer not to have to fight the kind-one. She eventually came to a stop roughly six yards from the edge of the forest, her eyes never turning away from where he was.
“You can come out now, I’m not going to hurt you. I actually want to help you and be your friend.” She seemed to shy away for a second before continuing, “That is if you don’t mind.”
Dogmeat could not understand a word she was saying but the tone that she spoke with gave him the feeling of comfort, something only given by another caring creature. He wanted to go out but yet at the same time he didn’t. He was conflicted.
“I-i-i-if you don’t wa-wa-want to come out, then I’ll come in there i-i-i-if that will make you feel better.”
Slowly the kind-one started making her way closer and closer to the forest. The very act seemed to be a daunting task to her, he could smell the fear radiating from her shaking body. She had made it halfway to the forest before he finally made up his mind. Standing up to his full height, Dogmeat left his small sanctuary behind and stepped out into the open, he could be seen by any that chose to walk near the kind-one’s home and it made him uneasy. If he was forced to flee it would make it harder for his master to find him again, making him very tempted to just turn back and return to the forest. Glancing back to where he had just left, he was having a hard time deciding. This place was just not like his home and nothing acted like everything did at home.
Before he could change his mind however, he felt something gently stroke his neck. The sudden contact brought him back to the present with a start, causing him to jump back with a yelp of surprise and a small growl. The kind-one seemed to be very sorry for startling him but did not retreat from her place. She tried to repeat her actions again, this time with him watching but before she could pet him again the wind picked up and bringing with it a faint cry.
Looking around to locate this new sound, Dogmeat only narrowly found the aggressive-one, charging him from the sky, in time to jump out of the way. The ground seemed to shake slightly from the impact as she now attempted to stand between him and the kind-one. She crouched low as if ready to pounce on him, her eyes glaring daggers at him. He was unimpressed as he returned the gesture but gave a deep menacing growl back at her, he was ready for her if she decided to press the attack. This was a fight he was sure he would win.
As the two stared each other down, Dogmeat prepared to make the first move when a looped roped went in front of his eyes and around his throat. A sudden pull tightened it before he could begin to even try get it off. Turning his head to get a look at his other assailant he saw that it was another of the creatures but this one had a strange hat on its head, similar to the hats he had seen back home. This creature also smelled of sweat and adrenaline but instead of clouds she smelled of fruits that master had eaten on occasion when visiting the people of the forest and the talking-tree. As he observed her he saw that she held the rope that looped around his neck within her teeth.
His efforts to identify his second opponent was just what the aggressive-one needed to strike. The next thing he knew a sudden impact sent him on to his side, hard. He could feel the weight of the offending creature on top of him trying to pin him down, while the one holding the rope pulled on him. He wasn’t one to take this lying on his back and he was going to make sure they knew it too. Kicking out at the aggressive-one, he made sure to sink his hind claws into her soft flesh. She gave a cry of pain as she was fell off of him, blood dripping from the scratches on her stomach and left inner thigh, a pained look on her face.
Quickly rolling over to be on his stomach again, he grabbed hold of whatever rope was slack from his maneuver and gave it too a tug of his own. To his dismay it only temporarily unbalanced the other creature for a moment but she instantly righted herself. It soon turned into a struggle for dominance through strength, his confidence was dropping faster than his own strength.
The two of them were locked in an effort to overpower the other, neither gaining advantage over the other. The sound of faint cries could be heard but were ignored by both parties. Their eyes met and he could see the stubbornness and determination, the same that she would probably see in his own.
Neither saw who would be the winner as the kind-one stepped in between shouting, “ENOUGH. STOP THIS NONSENSE.”
The aggressive-one seemed to take offense to what the kind-one said as it walked over, a slight limp in her step shouting back, “NONSENSE? That monster’s pet was about to attack you and you say what we are doing is nonsense?! We are trying to help you Fluttershy.”
The kind-one replied not in an unkind tone, “It was not about to attack me, I had just startled it from suddenly petting him. He won’t attack unless you show aggression towards him, like you have been. Now stop it.” Turning back towards Dogmeat she slowly reached out towards his throat causing him to flinch away. She continued again when he did not move any further away, partially due to his restricted range, and began to untie the rope saying, “See a little kindness is all that is needed.”
The determine-one collected the rope and placing it upon her back, her eyes never leaving him, not trusting him. Once he was free of the rope, Dogmeat jumped away from the three of them keeping an eye on them for anything suspicious. He began to back further and further away from them, slowly heading back towards the forest.
Realizing what he was doing the kind-one stepped forward lifting a hoof towards him saying, “Wait. Don’t go, I only want to help you. Come with me.”
He wasn’t sure what stopped him from turning around and fleeing into the forest like his inner voice was telling him. He could not understand what she was saying to him but the tone at which she spoke was very reassuring as if he could trust her. He halted where he stood, his gaze never leaving that of the kind-one. She was a curiosity, she seemed to hold no ill intent against him, he couldn’t say the same about the other two however, but she seemed to be able to reason with them. He could hear them argue behind her.
“How in tarnation do ya plan on helpin’ this thing? It almost seems wild.”
“Yeah, how do you plan on helping something that only wants to hurt us?”
The kind-one turned back around to face her two friends looking at each in turn before replying, “How many times do I have to say it, if you don’t try to attack or harm him, he won’t try to do the same. He is far from wild and is just as intelligent as any of our pets. I’m going to take him with me to Canterlot.”
The other two responded negatively to her response shouting back for her to reconsider, but they fell on deaf ears, the kind-one had made up her mind. The kind-one began walking back to her home then stopped alongside Dogmeat and smiled to him saying, “If you come with me, I will take you to your friend. Stay with me and nopony will try to harm you.”
And with that she gathered her saddlebags that lay at her door, ready for departure and looked to him for his decision.
Glancing over his shoulder to the forest where his master had told him to wait, he had never left a spot he was told to stay at before. This would be his first. He had the urge to follow the kind-one, as if she would take him to what he wanted. Turning his head away from the forest he raced up to the kind-one’s side standing taller than her, ready for departure. His master was waiting for him.
The trip back into town was less confrontational than he thought it would be. Most of the creatures just kept their distance rather than test his ability to fight, though this didn’t stop them from either glaring at him, fearing him or being in awe of his appearance, generally the former of the first options was what they seemed to prefer. Most of the creatures females that they came across were generally shorter than him by just a few inches while the males were taller than him.
That isn’t to say that all of them stayed away, there were a few of the armored ones that stopped them and began readying their weapons, but it seemed that the kind-one carried some weight as far as influence went with them. It only took a short discussion between the two groups before the matter was resolved and the armored ones left them alone once more. The aggressive-one and the determined-one said little during their trip until they reached the edge of town, it was then that the determined-one left, taking another path away from town again. The aggressive-one never left him or the kind-one, in fact she kept exceptionally close to him, watching his every move for signs of an attack. He was liking her less and less, which wasn’t saying much.
The three of them finally came to stop at a station that was all too similar to the ones back home but above ground. He recognised the purpose of the metal rails running along the ground, but he had never seen how they were used until today. The large wood and metal beast that sat upon them rumbled with life, unlike the giant metal ones he was used to.
A familiar voice caused his ears to flick back, it was the voice of the determined-one but she was not alone. A glance back over his shoulder proved him right as he saw one of the three young ones that had come to see them in the forest. This one was the one that had escaped, the one with the bow on her head. She seemed to want to take the approach of the kind-one when dealing with him, that is to walk up very slowly until she is able to reach out and pet him. Not having any ill intent he allowed the contact, slightly enjoying the petting, which showed from the slow wag of his tail.
It was after this petting that he was introduced to the one-that-will-not-stay-still. This one had more energy than master’s kind hyped up on all those chemicals her kind used so much. She scared him. Though he could not understand a word that came from her muzzle, the rapid rate at which she spoke told him that even to the others in the group, she could be a hand full. She had not remained still for more than a couple of seconds after she had been introduced to him, or at least thats what he thinks had happened, he saw a lot of gestures pointed towards him from the kind-one, none of which didn’t seem to offend the others. She had spent a couple of minutes bouncing around him, looking up and down before going over to the bowed-young-one.
The group broke into discussion over something, whatever it was had distracted them from another smaller group approaching them. This group consisted of two armored creatures and another of the young ones. It was the winged one of its kind, with its legs still encased in stone, she lay on the back of one of the two armored ones. The armored creatures were much different than the ones he had seen throughout the town. While the others seemed to shine in the light of day, these seemed to absorb the light, as if they were trying to remain within the shadows. Each had the same symbol on the front of their armor, the crescent moon on their chest seemed to give off a slight glow. These armored ones were much more fierce looking than that of their shinier counterparts.
The two were also of the winged kind but unlike all the male armored creatures, one of the two that stood before him was a female. She held the young-winged-one on her back, not seeming to notice the added weight but cautious of her movements so as not to cause the little one to fall, glancing back at the young one every so often. The male’s eyes never left Dogmeat on the other hand, he tracked his every movements in the same manner that the aggressive-one did. Dogmeat was regretting his decision to follow the kind-one more and more.
Male armored-one noticed where Dogmeat was looking and moved in between the two. He shuffled his wings in discomfort revealing something else to him. Their wings were also different as well. Unlike their shinier counterparts, who had feathery wings, their wings had a thin skin like membrane.
He was going to keep his distance from them, no sense in getting into another fight right now, it would only be trouble. He decided to get the kind-one moving again, the sooner he got back to his master the better. Dogmeat approached the kind-one from the side and with his head gave her a soft nudge. She took notice and gave him a gentle nuzzle and a smile before entering the wood and metal beast along with the others. He followed behind the them until they reached another door inside. Upon entering there was of little to note as there was only two seats facing eachother. The others took their places and sat on the soft cushions and continued their conversation.
Dogmeat just stood in the hall, he didn’t like the inclosed space of the compartment and lack of exits that it provided. The armored-ones seemed to be following as well as they too stood in the hall, the male still watching him. A sudden and loud whistle caused him to jump with a yelp of surprise. The sound didn’t seem to affect the other creatures in the slightest only looking to him with fear, confusion, worry and alarm. Everyone present eventually calmed back down and resettled back into their seats while the two armored-ones entered a separate compartment with the winged-young-one.
A few seconds passed before a jolt from the wood and metal beast caused Dogmeat to stumble and regain his posture, taking a low stance to keep his balance with all the movement. A quick glance out the window was all he needed to know where this thing was heading. The same place as his master.
----
The sun was close to setting, Twilight had done little beyond sitting by her sleeping brother’s side, being as patient as possible. The few times she was forced to leave was to eat or use the restroom, even those were much to her own annoyance. She wanted to be there for when he woke up, taking short naps every now and again after her visit with Blind Charge allowed her to remain more alert. Their parents would stop by throughout the day to check on his condition, after they had been told that their son would make a full recovery much of their worry had dissipated. With there not being much they could do for him there, they had set out to collect somethings to make his stay at the hospital as comfortable as possible.
Twilight had received a letter from her friends back in Ponyville telling her of their departure on the train. Rarity was the only one to not come along as she was waiting for her sister’s condition to be taken care of before leaving. There had also been a request, from Princess Celestia, that both Applebloom and Scootaloo both come along as well. Twilight could only guess that the princess had a few questions for them about the creature, they were the only ones to see it when it wasn’t being so hostile. Who knows maybe something they say might be of some use to her when she tries to ask it some questions herself.
While she had told the princess that she would talk to the creature and gather whatever information that she could, she still didn’t have a clue on how to actually get it to be friendly with her. Sure she had made several friends during her stay in Ponyville and had been able to befriend the spirit of chaos as well as the showmare Trixy, but this was out of her element. There just wasn’t enough time for her to get an understanding of the creature beyond the fact that it could and had been in many fights. Twilight might not have been unfamiliar to a fight but she had never seen such weapons of lethality before or had ever dreamed of somepony ever using such a thing let alone carry around with them several different kinds.
Thinking back to what she had seen sent a chill down her spine, her brother was a testament to the power that they wielded if in the wrong hooves. She had seen the blood and it frightened her, but what frightened her more was her own reaction to it. If Princess Celestia hadn’t of stopped her, Twilight knew that she would have continued until she had either a) used up all her magic and worn herself out or b) killed the creature in hate fueled rage. She had never come so close to taking another’s life before and the ease at which she could, scared her.
The sound of sheets rustling brought Twilight back from her dark thoughts, looking down confirmed that it wasn’t her imagination as the left side began to shift from his hoof moving slowly. She watched as her brother slowly raised his hoof to his face giving off a slight groan as the last of the sedatives wore off. From where she was she could see the look of confusion and disorientation on his face and eyes. Looking around the room he examined each thing as his eyesight focused again, adjusting to the level of light after being closed for so long.
His eyes finally came to rest on Twilight sitting next to him, a smile stretching across his muzzle.
“Hey there Twi.”
Twilight couldn’t stop the flood of tears as they forced their way out, wrapping her brother in a strong hug, she wept into his good shoulder. She was too overjoyed to him finally waking up to actually respond to his greeting, but he didn’t seem to mind as he returned the hug. It was Shining Armor who eventually pulled away from the contact, trying to push himself into a more inclined lying position. The use of his right foreleg caused him to grit his teeth in pain and frustration, the effort eventually left him panting. It seemed most comfortable for him to leave his limb lying across his chest as he took a moment to control his breathing again. Shining Armor’s expression showed that his condition left him perplexed and worried that such a simple action would have winded him like that.
“Twi, where am I?”
Sniffing a few times, Twilight wiped away the tears from her face before finally replying, “You’re in the medical wing of the castle Shining. Princess Celestia had you brought here for immediate attention after the fight with the creature.”
Shining’s face scrunched up in thought, glaring at the two hills that were his hind hooves under the sheets. He finally brought his attention back to Twilight and asked, “Did I win? The last thing I remember is drawing my sword to face that monster.”
She bit her bottom lip not sure exactly how to answer his question, she didn’t want him to get upset by saying ‘no’ but it wouldn’t be exactly true if she told him ‘yes’ either. The decision was ultimately taken from her as another voice answered it for her from the door.
“That depends on what you mean by winning, Armor.”
Stepping into the room Blind Charge made his way to the other side of Shining Armor, sitting in the same place as the princess hours earlier.
Shining Armor watched their pegasus friend with a perplexed look finally saying, “What do you mean, you either win or lose, there is no maybes.”
Blind shook his head then tapped his chin thinking of a way to explain, he never was one for words until it finally struck him, “Let me explain, while you may have beat it in combat with the sword, it won the war with tricks. After you disarmed the creature of its blade, did it reveal another weapon and attacked you by surprise. We just barely got you here in time, you had lost a lot of blood. But don’t you worry, squirt here was able to catch it before it could make a run for it. The thing now resides in one of the deepest dungeons below castle, waiting to be interrogated.”
He had ended that last sentence with a twisted smirk on his face that unsettled Twilight, she had never known Blind to hold a grudge towards another pony.
Shining gave a huff of approval saying, “Good let it rot there until I can go see it again. If it thinks that it could get rid of me that easily its got another thing coming. Preferably my hoof to its face.”
Blind went silent not willing to make eye contact with either Shining or Twilight, in fear of giving away the fact that Shining would not be able to return to active duty. This aversion didn’t escape Shining Armor’s notice however.
Quickly changing topics again Blind announced, “Hey Twilight, I have some news you might want to hear.”
Curious as to what news Blind Charge could have for her she asked, “And what news is that?”
An actual smile adorned his face that day as he said, “I have received word that your friends have finally made it to the castle and are currently waiting for you in the entrance hall.”
Twilight bit her lower lip in indecision, shifting her gaze between her brother, who lay crippled in bed, to the door, which lead her to her friends. Her wanting to see her friends didn’t escape Shining Armor’s notice either, he couldn’t force her to stay with him any longer, knowing her she had probably never left his side.
“Twilight, why don’t you go see your friends. I’m sure they would be more than happy to see you. I need to talk to Charge about some boring guard things anyways.”
With the consent of her brother, she gave him one last hug, while saying her goodbyes before trotting out the door into the hall. Now that his sister had left the room, Shining gave his long time friend his full attention. There was some questions that needed to be answered that he knew Twilight would have a hard time answering.
Gathering his courage, he forced himself to ask, “How bad is it?”
The smile that once covered Blind’s muzzle slowly changed to a thin line, he didn’t have any good news for his friend and it hurt him.
“From what the doctors told me and Princess Celestia, you will recover from this.”
“I sense a ‘but’ in there.”
Blind grimaced as he continued, “But, because of the piece of metal the creature fired at you passed through the top right portion of you right lung, it is now about two-thirds its normal size.”
Shining Armor grit his teeth as he adjusted his sitting position again. The effort of moving his right foreleg again sent pain through his chest again. The limb itself felt slightly numb in comparison. There was more to be heard, he would have to just press Blind Charge for it.
“That would explain the chest pain, but there is something else. Why is my leg so hard to move?”
Blind broke eye contact from him again as he spoke, “There was a complication during the surgery. While they were trying to repairing your lung, a blood clot lodged itself in your shoulder cutting off the circulation to your leg for a minute. They were able to clear it but it caused some nerve damage while it was stuck.”
Forcing himself to look his friend in the eye again he continued, “The doctor did say that with the use of physical therapy, you would gain the full use of your leg again.”
“Yes, and then what?”
Blind hesitated for a moment from the bitterness in Shining’s reply. “What are you talking about Armor?”
“Don’t play dumb with me Charge, we both know I have had to release guards from service with lesser injuries. What am I to do after I’ve recovered and can walk for myself again?”
Blind sighed, “I’m not sure, but I’m sure your wife would love for you to go back to the Crystal Empire as her prince and rule by her side, like you two originally planned when you stepped down. But that is something you can ask her yourself when she decides to come inside instead of snooping around the corner of the door.” He made sure that the last part could be heard clearly enough outside to anypony passing by and was rewarded with a soft ‘eeep’.
Leaving her hiding place on the other side of the door frame, Cadance entered the room to be with her husband and his friend. As she stat down next to her husband however Blind stood and made for the door saying, “I'll leave you two alone, I know she’s been worried sick.”
Before he could make it out the door, Shining Armor called out to him, “When will it happen?”
Blind froze where he was, turning his head back over his shoulder towards his friend he started, “I don’t kno-”
“Stop, don’t even start that and just answer my question. When will you be made the next Captain of the guard?”
Blind made his reply short as he left, “Two hours ago.”
----
The sun pleasantly warmed Dogmeat’s back as he sat with his back towards the window of the cabin, choosing to face the only entrance into the room. He had to admit, the constant rocking of the room caused by the metal-wood-beast was slightly hypnotic. Many of the creatures he was traveling with had eventually quite speaking and chose their own ways of relaxing while they waited to arrive. Only one of them had chosen to actually venture outside the cabin. When the young-bowed-one chose to leave, he had made an attempt to leave as well, out of curiosity, but was stopped just as soon as he had started once the determined-one had seen him. She had placed herself between herself and the door, her expression showing clear to him that she was not going to let him follow.
He was interested, but not interested enough to start a fight, so he sat back down and continued his vigilant watch, sniffing at the air for the smells that occasionally wafted into the room from the open door.
The sun had traveled most of it path across the sky before they finally reached the other station and disembarked. He was little surprised to find that the young-bowed-one had joined up with the young-winged-one, as they too got off the metal-wood-beast. What he saw outside however was something he had never seen before in such perfect condition. The city before him spread out before him and towered over him. This was nothing like the towns-that-are-not-towns back home.
While he had seen nothing but rubble back with his master, this city was just the exact opposite to all of that. While you could not take a single step without stepping on some sort of collapsed building, here they stood tall and clean as if there was never going to happen to them. Sniffing the air revealed the scents of freshly made foods and the presence of many of their kind, too many for him to tell from smell alone. This would not be a place that he could get into a fight and expect to get away safely, he would have to be extremely careful around them.
The group he traveled with quickly formed a line in front of him and started walking into the heart of the city, the kind-one waving a hoof to indicate that he should follow with them. He chose to follow behind her, not wanting to walk alongside them but not wanting to lose sight of them, they were his only guides after all. The two armored-ones followed behind him, finishing their little formation.
Time seemed to creep by as they made their way further and further into the city, the twists and turns were like a maze, everything looked alike, the only differences were the smell. There was only one thing that was changing the farther they walked and that was the size of the structure just ahead of them now and it had a giant wooden gate blocking their path. Many armored-ones stood to each side of the gate watching all that passed with their expressionless faces.
There was a short discussion between the two groups until the armored-one that had spoken with them stretched out a wing and pointed to the others. A moment later and they stood in the shadow of building that he had never seen or heard of before. There seemed to be several smaller buildings that came off the sides and towers that sprouted from the top in different areas.
Having stopped to take in the sites around him, Dogmeat had to hurry along to catch up with the others. He could hear the soft sounds of the pads on his paws hit the ground, he wanted to hurry them along, but they seemed to just continue along at this leisurely pace. They finally came to a complete stop with the entrance hall, when their friendly banter turned into a more heated argument.
“Twilight is not going to be happy that you brought that monster’s pet here Fluttershy.”
“Ah’m afraid Ah’m goin’ ta have ta agree with Rainbow on this one, sugarcube. We all know what it’s owner did to her brother and bringing him here may just be rubbing salt in the wound.”
“B-b-b-but I couldn’t just leave him in that scary forest all by himself, he never hurt anypony. Why should he be punished when he hasn’t done anything wrong?”
“Come on sillies there is nothing that can be done about it now, and besides its a good thing we know where he is so he can’t hurt anypony with us around.”
These arguments went on for a time, not being able to understand what the topic was or being able to give voice to his own opinions, Dogmeat passed the time exploring the room they currently occupied. The room was large and had many halls and doors that lead away in multiple directions. Another maze to be explored.
While looking down each hall, he came to a halt when the sound of galloping hooves caught his ear. Another glance down the hall showed nothing until the sight of another horned-one came bolting around the corner right for him. Jumping out of sight, he was able to escape detection by the horned-one as it entered the hall and right up to the others. They all seemed overjoyed to see this newcomer and accept it into the group. It only took him a few moments to recognize the smell paper and books off of the one before him as another from the small village that he had left.
“Girls, I’m so happy you all could make it. How was the train ride here? Is Rarity ok, I know she couldn’t come along too with her sister currently turned to stone.”
It was the determined-one who replied to the new-one, “Of course we would come and give ya all the help we can, thats what friends are for. Rarity is doin’ fine, just waitin’ for Zecora to come up with one of her potions. As for the train ride well, lets just say it was interestin’.”
The new-one cocked her head to the side in obvious confusion, “What do you mean by interesting, Applejack?”
As the determined-one tried to come up with how to phrase her next statement, she was never given the opportunity to actually say anything. A firm smack on Dogmeat’s back forced a yelp of surprise from him, the one-that-will-not-stay-still had managed to get behind him without alerting him. He fought the urge to bite at her for sneaking up on him like that. His surprise also alerted the new arrival of his presence as well causing the air to fill with an uncomfortable tension, something the one-that-will-not-stay-still couldn’t seem to comprehend.
“Yeah, this guy made it a lot of fun on the train, well not that he did anything but we had a lot of stuff to talk about because of him. Fluttershy couldn’t leave him behind and Applebloom and Scootaloo didn’t seem to mind him being around either.”
The new-one stood with her mouth hanging open a mixture of surprise and shock evident as she tried to figure out what was going on. A third emotion won out over the others however, storming forward towards Dogmeat, he made himself ready for a fight with her. She stopped only feet away from him, point a hoof at him shouting, “Why in Celestia’s name would you all bring him HERE of all places. He is the pet of that monster in the cells down below, who knows what it will do when it finds out that we have its pet...” A light switch flipped in her head as her entire demeanor changed to that of excitement and gratitude. “Fluttershy you’re a genius. You might just have solved the problem I was having. This might turn out to be a lot easier than I thought. Thank you all so much for your help, I will meet up with you all for dinner, I have to get a few things prepared for what Celestia wants me to do. I’ll explain everything then.”
Just as quickly as she had arrived, she was then charging down another hall leading further into the heart of the castle, leaving everyone present staring off after her more confused than they were on their own arrival.
It was the aggressive-one who would finally say what the others were thinking, “What the hay was that all about?”
----
It felt like days since she had last seen the sun, instead of the cold walls of her cell. The regular supply of food however told her that it was not in fact been any more than a day and a half, there hadn’t been any improvement on the food either, the same thing was brought to her each time. Of course the Lone Wanderer eventually tried to eat the green blob, only to find it too was not something she could eat. The only thing she got from the meals were the wooden cups of water that came with them, though they only gave her a few mouthfuls of water it was at least something. She had tried to make a weapon from one of the cups but it proved pointless as they were too brittle and would crumble when force was applied to them. She stopped trying to do it again when it failed and any other attempt would have been a waste of time.
In one of their many attempts to feed her, they had actually brought her something different from everything else, an uncooked steak. She had felt insulted even though she could take a guess at the fact that they might not have figured it as such, but just because she was a ghoul didn’t mean she would eat raw meat like any of those feral ghouls, she still had her sanity. She had even gone to the attempts to tell them as such, but any attempt she tried to make contact with the guards outside her door were ignored.
If this continued, with her not getting any sort of nourishment for extended period of time, then even she might go feral. She had listened to the many audio logs left behind, she might not have to eat as often but going too long would be very taxing on her and any of her kind. It was a constant fear of hers after hearing all the recordings of other sane ghouls who, after being locked away or trapped for long periods of time, became feral and gave into their most basic of instincts in order to survive. She had always traveled with extra rations for herself to alleviate those fears, but now she didn’t have any of those.
To top everything off, none of the guards had even bothered to replace the candle that lit the entire cell. In the corner where it stood was nothing more than an inch left of it, she was amazed to see it last as long as it had but it couldn’t last much longer. Soon not only would she be a hungry ghoul trapped in a cell, but a hungry ghoul trapped in a pitch black cell with nothing else to entertain herself with.
With all the free time she had, she had already counted every stone that made up her room multiple times over and when that got old she would stare at the patterns on the stones and imagine little pictures etched into them. Nothing lasted for very long even trying to keep track of time grew dull and unimportant. It wasn’t until after what she could only guess was the noon day meal, that she had discarded in the corner with the others, did her cell door finally open again. She wasn’t surprised with what came trotting into the room, from the looks of the group it was an entire squad of armed guards surrounding her with spears pointed at her.
Each guard that stood before her were a clone of the next, there was only one that stood out from the others. The winged one that stood in the front of the group and who did not have a weapon out, wore a maroon armor that matched his fur coat, giving him the appearance of being much bigger than he actually was. Unlike the others who had a blue mane and tail, his was a snow white with streaks of brown strands here and there. He seemed to be measuring her up with his violet eyes before reaching back into a saddlebag with his mouth and pulling out a set of handcuffs, all connected to form a giant ‘H,’ and tossed them on the floor at her feet.
Picking up the new restraints it was obvious what he wanted her to do and she wasn’t in the position to refuse his demands. Her regenerative abilities wouldn’t be of much help if they decided to use her as a pincushion. They waited for her to put them on and once she had did they remove the shackle that connected her to the wall. After they had made sure that she was in fact ready to move, they each formed a perimeter around her and forced her to move out of the cell and down the hall. They had been walking for sometime before the stone used on the walls changed to that of a more polished white stone. The floor eventually changed as well from the hard stone she had become accustomed to to that of a soft red carpet, it felt good on her bare feet. Paintings adorned the walls while vases were placed on pedestals beside every other window.
The amount of wealth out on display amazed her to no end. There wasn’t a sane person out in the waste that would dare show off this much money and valuables when there was the possibility that someone would go out of their way to kill you for it. The only person that she had seen with a display like this, but not to this scale, was the Courier in the Mojave and he had a military army that was stationed right next door to him, so noone would consider the thought. He had told her that because of his close relationship with the NCR, he never worried about someone coming to rob the casino he lived in, they didn’t need to since he would give them whatever they needed for free anyways.
Whoever lived here must have had a lot of confidence in their guards if they would be willing to do this. She wasn't too impressed by them, she had seen raiders fight harder than they did in the village and on top of that there wasn't a raider alive stupid enough to go one on one against her and expect to live. Which probably explained all the failed ambushes she had to deal with on a regular basis.
She was brought to a stop in front of another door. This one looked just like any other door that she had passed, she wondered how they could navigate in such a place without any visual markers anywhere. The maroon guard opened the door and entered followed by another three normal guards. The two behind her nudged her forward into the room and closed it behind her, never actually entering the room with her.
They must be standing watch outside the door just in case they might be needed.
With the four of them now in the room she stood there and took in her new surroundings. There wasn’t much in the room but what was there was interesting enough. In the middle of the room stood a table with a chair on one side and a group of five miniature horses on the other that the maroon guard was now talking to. The Lone Wanderer didn't like the fact that she recognized most of the creatures that sat there from her time in the village, there was only one that she hadn't seen before.
The three normal guards that had also entered the room with them guided her to the opposite seat and indicated for her to sit there. Not having anything else to do, she complied with their orders and took her seat, the shackles making movement a little awkward to do, but she managed. Most of the creatures that sat on the other side from her each watched her while making their own judgments about her, some of them seemed to make note of her use of the blanket again as clothes. The violet unicorn sat in the center of the group next to a stand that held a giant stack of papers that stood up vertically for all to see.
There was another unicorn that sat on the other side of the stand giving the Lone Wanderer fearful looks before returning her gaze back to the paper. This unicorn had a grey coat with what looked like smudges of ink on her face, while her mane and tail were a shade of dark green. The pink mini-horse that she recognize was like the orange one, who sat in between the violet unicorn and the winged horse, and didn’t have any unique parts other than the overly bushy pink mane and tail and the inability to stay still but instead chose to jump around behind the others.
Once the group had finished their conversation with the maroon one, who took a seat along one side of the table in between her and the group, did the violet unicorn levitate a stack of papers and a quill with a bottle of ink over to her. The Lone Wanderer just stared a them in confusion until the other unicorn sitting next to the stand began to draw on the large sheet of paper. On the paper she drew a sketch of the Lone Wanderer standing in front of a board writing something down while an audience of horses took notes. She received a blank look of confusion for her efforts, the Lone Wanderer didn’t know what to make of the picture. It wasn’t until she felt the quill and ink being pressed into her hands did it dawn on her what they wanted.
They want me to teach them something? What are they wanting to know?
A thought crossed her mind causing a mischievous smile to stretch across her lips, exposing her teeth, making many of the horses have chills run down their spines at the sight of the sharp teeth. Grasping the quill in hand she dipped it into the ink and began to draw her own very crude image. She took her time with her own drawing, wanting to make sure that it had as much detail as she could put into it. She was as much of an artist as a raider was an environmentalist. She had to throw out a couple attempts as she kept on getting ink blotches all over the sketch, never having used a quill to write before was a new experience for her and one she could have lived without.
When she finished her picture she smiled proudly at what she had done and presented it to the group. They all leaned in to get a good look at it and were confused with what they saw. In the center of the page, in defiance was a bold middle finger.
If they want anything from me, they’re going to have to work for it.
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HolySh*t this isn't dead
3863653
Nope just been occupied with work and school.
I had to up stay read this tonight
I wonder if Zecora can create a potion to regrow parts of a lung? She made one that regrew a knocked out tooth for Applebloom.
In any case, going without food for a few days, the Wanderer is gonna get a little peckish and those ponies might start looking real tasty. Good thing Pinkie's there with cake, deserts, and other assorted party food supplies.
Cake is a universal constant in the multiverse you know, none of that e=mc squared crap mathematicians would have you think.
'Shakes first' Stupid fucking ponies...
And yea…. Twilight is one of the dumbest candidates for the ‘task’ of leaning about the 'creature' when there would be hundreds of fresh minds to put to it instead.
I honestly can’t believe Celstia is too dumb to not know this so I have to think she is up to something.
3863654 WOW they really think that gun is to proful is noting more than a cannon you think she know what a cannon is by now and there most of been other weapons like it
I like this story.
One thing though.
It's Trixie, not Trixy. I really hope no one bothers you about this.
Looking forward to the next update.
3863653
I was going to say the same thing
3863654
Retail+Christmas is a pain for me. I can understand you man.
3863756 I did the same
3864223 My god, last night that looked like a sentence, i re-wrote it like 10 times to make it clear.... HAHAHAA
I was just thinking about this story before I logged on today. I'm so happy right now!
3864004
You have to take into consideration that from what we can see from the show we can guess that on average they are in a pre-industrial era while the wasteland is well past that point by a good 300 years. While yes the ponies would have a simple canon, there are several technological advances that would be gained from examining the weapons that the Wanderer carries. This could make a weak army strong and a strong army unstoppable if in the wrong hands. Now if any country found out that the Equestrian government had and was exploiting this technology without sharing it, tensions would rise to breaking point.
So its not for the sake of not comprehending the weapons but more for the Pandora's box it would be.
3866114 True but think of the weak sometime the weakst of people can be the stoges.
If you think about it with out the gun we still be ruled under by kings and of a like.
Also made you that it's not the weapon that make the warrior its the warrior that make the weapon, if you give a rock to a warrior a very skilled one he could take out 5 sodilers with guns.
It's not the gun is powerful it that how to use it is an other, thinking about if they made this gun noting new happen the ponies with unicorn magic will have the eage on the battlefeild but in the end is more about the person than the weapon.
Sure we have robots but they will never replach the soul of a warrior
3866114 just look at this video and you see it's not the wapen its the warrior
3866375
3867496
Yes the warrior does make the weapon on the individual level, but on a large scale (which is what I have been talking about) even the best can be overwhelmed by it.
3868260 Let's look a few ecples ( hopeful good ones )
1 the making of the USA: the people of the new world was getting tierd of getting passe around by over texing and more and the felt they wanted to be free. They have the some weapons but there emeies the briest have better made gear better made weapons and have the man power to do so but in the end it was the little guys that won out in the end why becasue of planing and skills they have put in themself.
2 the vietem war: The US army gone up with the viet knogs and gusse who won out in the end it was the viet knogs, they use full auto weapons but in the end it was there skills that they put in to make ever round cont as a hit, they was low on ammo but they give them 3 rounds to work with ever day to home there skilles to hit there mark ever time where in fact all the need is 50 rounds to take out about 30 guys in the US army.
Also note that the viet kongs was out number by 50 to 1 there, and they know there home land inside and out and they mostly use traps made out of wood wacit in fact conut 40 or was it 30% of the guys have to be sent back home in body bags.
3 the iraq war: the usa army have ever tool they can use to win this war but the fail and have piss poor planing and weak minded warriors, the trailban basicly won that war becasue of there mind set and they skill they homed in there life time of useing left over guns and ammo.
If an army from the USA sent teacsno of man to fight with all the high end gear to fight them and not win wheil the emeime only have home made AKs and piss poor ammo than in turn it's the warrior in the end.
3868339
I'll go by the order that you present these in.
1. The USA was not alone in the war for their independence, the French gave a lot of support since they too were in the middle of fighting the British as well, so the British were fighting two wars. The British also had to send troops across a large body of water that took months to cross and left the men in the not so best conditions. The Americans who fought and those who lead them had knowledge of the lands that they could use to their advantage.
The USA might have won their independence from the UK (if you were to ask the British during that time, it was more like they took a break to focus on other things) but during the war of 1812 (many don't think about it) but they utterly destroyed the USA's military and even burned down the white house.
2. The Vietnamese had the support of Russia and were supplied with weapons and vehicles to fight the american forces and even went as far as to supply air support. On top of this aid from an outside force they also had the added bonus of knowing in great detail of the lands and were able to force the American troops to fight under their conditions. One of the big factors that forced the USA to pull their troops out was due to the lack of support by the general public and any president that wanted to see the inside of the oval office would have to have their support.
3. I wouldn't say that the USA has lost that seeing as how they have finished what they were there for and has replaced the past government with one they would prefer. The local military has even been trained on how to better fight the Taliban with the aid of American forces. Many of the leaders of the Taliban have been found and killed and much of the fighting has died down.
The Taliban was not in fact using left over weapons and are actually well armed for what they do.
I watch a LOT of military channel...
3868339
We have sort of gotten off topic here. Its not so much the difference in how humans fight but the fact that we are seeing a large multitude of both predator races and non-predator races that are living together. We can't quite use our forms of combat in comparison to their's, at least not entirely. Dropping some of our tech in the mix however could cause some nasty effects on everything, i,e. the balance that is being kept between everyone.
3868638 true but after all they have magic that could give the give more power than anything
3868638 Than agin what about race there are so low in the food cheat that they need weapons like those.
Sooner are later things will even out if our tech come in like guns. Sure giving them guns will make choicth but after that everthing will be ok i mean when we made guns that can fire 50 rounds a min emires and kingdoms have fellan becasue of it and now are run by new gorvement system that are way better than we have in the pass.
If anything i think it would caert a new age where ideals rule and not for a race like we have today we have type one gormvement where everone can live under a flag of a contry and live they way they want
3868768
And if those were to fall into another's hands? What would happen then? We are not talking about a steady progression of technological advancement like our own but a HUGE leap that would even surpass our own. The ability to develop and use laser weapons like the ones seen in Fallout are still just a fantasy to this day. Give that to someone who could possibly use them for their own gain could spell out disaster for everyone involved. Even the best kept secretes will eventually be known by all.
3868784 no i mean plan old guns like the AK beside like you say someone will know about that gun she hide, beside am sure somewhere someone made a macthlock gun.
Beside there not using computers to make guns so making an Ausslet rilfe will take days to make for tham, by the look of things there slow to new ideas seen in the ep where cider seson come and they didn't want to use tech sure the family get 30% but in the long run that 30% will make millons of bits for them and more giving the best they need to make more food for everone and make it cheaper for people to by.
So any if we give them guns it be yrs before they start making them at the speed we do today.
Btw we have Rail Guns now for people to use so........
3868794
Rail guns are different from laser rifles and not a lot of troops have access to them still to this day, but that's besides the point. Ponies might be slow to change but a gryphon might see it as an opportunity.
3868962 In the end chage will come, beside i think they have find ways aready to fire more than one arrow with a crossbow thx to magic
I forgot to tell you this; I hope that they actrually talk to the human girl sooner or later and get her story...the fact this hash' happened yet is a little upsetting.
And Luna wanting to use the weapons is a little...meh...
3868444 *Slow clap*
You sir, are awesome.
Yeah, syntax and punctuation in this are pretty bad. I'll pass.
5429222
Well maybe not everything, you can't forget about the two rulers who can literally move celestial bodies with their minds.
This story is very interesting.can't wait to c what happens next.
7017601
154w too late, mate.
He changed his username, so, I can't find it anymore.
I like Dogmeat's POV. It's child-like and I agree with Fluttershy in that Dogmeat should NOT be responsible for the Lone Wanderer's doings. Most characters in a crossover can't handle Pinkie anyway. I'm also guessing the ponies have NO concept of self-defense.
MOAR!!!!!!!
Is there more?