My Little Warriors

by DisgruntledBrony

Chapter 4

A loud thump echoed through the library. The source of the thump was none other than a lavender unicorn’s head slamming against the table she sat at. Across from her sat a bipedal being, his eyes locked onto a sheet of parchment in front of him.

A muffle voice wormed its way out from underneath the unicorn’s head. “One more time?”

The next voice is hard to describe. Its tone was somewhere in the middle, with a slight gruff sound to it, as if it had just finished screaming and the throat attached to it was a little sore. The most noticeable thing about it, however, was how badly it was butchering the basics of the Equestrian language.

Twilight sighed as she lifted her head. “Spike, take a letter, please.”

“On it.”

“Dear Princess Celestia, I regret to inform you that, after three days of trying, I have come to the conclusion that Zeke’s vocal cords are unable to replicate the sounds required for our language. The best he can do is decipher basic words when someone else speaks to him. This one way form of communication will make it difficult to merge him into the pony population. I am trying to think of alternatives, but unless we can spare another dragon to follow him around as a translator, I don’t see an easy answer. Signed, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight looked to her assistant before frowning. His quill was not moving.

“Did you get that, Spike?”

“Reh…pleh…kate?”

Another loud thump echoed through the library. The source of the thump was none other than a lavender unicorn’s hoof slamming against her face.

“Never mind, I’ll do it.” Twilight said, levitating the quill and parchment from Spikes claws.

As the quill moved to make contact with the parchment, Zeke stood straight up. The force he had used to lift himself was enough to send the chair he was sitting on skidding across the floor. The sudden movement startled Twilight, which by extension, caused the quill to tear a long gash in the parchment.

“What did he do that for?” Twilight turned to Spike, awaiting his translation.

A short conversation of growls and hisses ensued, before Spike turned to Twilight and spoke. “He said he has a solution to the language problem, but he needs to borrow one of your dictionaries."

“Then, by all means, let him. I’ll even offer him my favorite one.” Twilight levitated said book over to Zeke, who pulled it out of the air. He then turned on his heels and walked to the basement stairs.

“Just ask him not to lose my spot.”

Spike gave her a sarcastic look. “I thought you already read it.”

Twilight smiled innocently. “I was bored and thought it be just as good the second time…”

Zeke stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at Spike, who simply waved and smiled nervously. Zeke then descended the stairs, shutting the door at the top as he did.

Twilight and Spike stood there, staring at the door.

"Did he happen to say what he needed it for?" Twilight asked, suddenly worried for her book.

"He said it was for a ritual to allow communication. He needed a source of information to base the ritual on."

"Wait, so he can use magic?!"

"Well yeah, didn't you see...Oh...right...you were unconscious for that." Spike rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly at his lapse in thought.

"So what did he do?" Twilight moved her face to right in front of Spike's, excitement slowly beginning to dominate her worry.

"Well, you saw what he did to Princess Luna. He levitated me for a few minutes...I think that's all...Oh! He also had wings, but no one could figure out where they went, so we assumed it was more of his magic."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? There could be all sorts of things he could teach us!" Twilight whipped around and ran towards the basement. "I'm gonna see if I can help with anything. He might even teach me something while we're at it!

As Twilight reached the door, she felt a tingling through her horn. It almost felt like she was using magic, though there was no glow, and she had cast no spell. The feeling gave her pause, but she disregarded it and continued into the basement. She hit the bottom step just in time to watch the last embers of her dictionary die out. That gave her much more pause.

"What did you do?!" Twilight ran towards the small pile of ash. Zeke held out his hand, and Twilight's running came to a complete stop. It was as if she had run into an invisible pillow. It was soft, but would not let her pass.

"Let me through!" Twilight sent a shockwave at the wall. The wave dissipated almost as soon as she cast it.

Zeke's outstretched hand closed into a fist and Twilight was forced to the ground. She watched, immobile, as he began shifting through the ash of her beloved literature. Her eyes began to tear up.

Finding what he was looking for, Zeke lifted one of his rings from the ash. The metal band was glowing, though from heat or arcane means, Twilight could not tell. It must have been the latter, because Zeke slid the band onto his finger without any sign of discomfort.

As soon as the ring was in its place, the pressure holding Twilight disappeared. She immediately ran towards her book, sobbing lightly. "Why would you do that? I let you borrow it because I trusted you to return it..."

"I'll get you another one."

Twilight froze. Part of her mind kept telling her that she shouldn't have understood that. But the other part of her mind definitely understood it. She slowly turned her tear stained eyes towards the direction the voice came from. As she suspected, Zeke was the only one there.

"Did...did you just...talk?"

"No." Zeke replied.

Twilight couldn't help but giggle at that. Then she remembered her book. "Why'd you burn my book?"

"It was part of the ritual. Burning it released the knowledge stored inside it. I used the ring to absorb the knowledge."

"That doesn't make sense. How would you know about the rules of grammar?"

"That was actually a nice bonus. It was probably because of the emotional attachment you had with the book." His expression softened. "I am sorry. But it was clear that it was the only way."

Twilight nodded, wiping her face with a fore-hoof. "Fine. But I want you to promise me that you'll never use magic against me like that again."

"That was for your own good. It's not smart to run into a ritual. The results can be...unpredictable."

"Promise me."

"What if a similar situation occurs? Would you have me just let you waltz into a dangerous situation?"

"Promise me!"

Zeke sighed, giving up. "Fine. You have my word."

"I'll hold you to that. Now, let’s go eat dinner. And while we're out, you can figure out how to get me a new dictionary."

A loud chuckle echoed through the library.

---

The initial hype caused by a new intelligent life form being discovered wore down fairly quickly. After their first language lesson kept suffering interruptions from nosy ponies, Twilight decided to go ahead and let them see Zeke and ask their questions. After everyone discovered that he couldn't talk, and after he refused any kind of medical examination, the general population gave up and moved on. However, there was an occasional reporter that thought they could get a little more out of him, such as the one following them to dinner, pelting Zeke with questions. Zeke, it seemed, was content to pretend he still couldn't talk.

Twilight decided to splurge in celebration of their recent accomplishments, and took Spike and Zeke somewhere rather fancy. She still had no clue as to his diet, but he ate fruits and vegetables fine enough, and never said anything to Spike about any other food types. Just one more thing to add to the growing list of things they could talk about now. Twilight was finding it hard to keep herself composed. The amount of knowledge she could gain from him...The amount of knowledge the world could gain...it made her giddy with joy. So giddy in fact, she almost didn't notice when Applebloom came running at her, yelling for her help.

"What’s wrong, Applebloom?" Twilight asked.

"It’s the farm! The farm is under attack! Applejack sent me to get you!"

Attack? What creature would attack a farm that the Apple family couldn't handle themselves? Perhaps a manticore?

"Spike, I need you to get Fluttershy. Tell her to go to the farm. Zeke, you remember how to get back to the library, right?"

Zeke nodded.

"Go there and wait until we get back. Lead the way, Applebloom!"

Twilight didn't notice the frown on Zeke's face has she galloped after the small filly.

---

"Fluttershy, what are these?" Twilight asked as she picked up the small green creature in her magic and chucked it back into the Everfree forest.

"I-I just don't know...I've never seen them be-EEP!" The yellow pegasus was hiding behind Twilight, her back against an apple tree. One of the creatures had somehow gotten into said tree and had dropped down in between the two, giving Fluttershy a good look at it. Had she been standing, it would have only come up to her shoulder. It was bipedal, and walked similar to Zeke. It stood on its hind legs and each foreleg ended in one of those "hands" that Zeke had. The things skin was green and lumpy. It held a weapon made up of pieces of metal held together by straps and welds. The worst part was its mouth. Its mouth stretched almost all the way across its face. It could open it up to the point where she couldn't see its face anymore.

It began advancing on Fluttershy, cackling and gnashing its teeth. It raised its arm to attack, but the attack was cut short by two small red apples colliding with the side of its head.

"Fluttershy! Git outta here!" Applejack yelled, before bucking two more apples at the group swarming out of the forest.

"Where are the other girls?" Twilight yelled out, covering Fluttershy's retreat.

"I dunno! I figured Rainbow Dash at least woulda seen this happenin', and helped us out! Maybe she got tied up?"

"By what?"

At that moment, a loud horn blew from the direction of the town.

"That's the emergency alarm! Are they attacking Ponyville too?"

"They're startin ta thin out. Me an Big Mac can take it from here. Go find out what that was!" Applejack called out.

"Are you sure?"

"Git along! The town is more important than the farm!"

"I'll send help as soon as I can!"

---

The town was in a state of chaos. Ponies were running around, trying to hide anywhere they could. Twilight followed the direction the chaos seemed to be coming from, and eventually ran into a friendly face.

Rarity, her coat stained black with ash and soot, was levitating a bucket of water over to a house that had caught fire.

"Rarity! What’s going on?!

"Oh, Twilight, it's horrible! These green...THINGS came out of the forest and starting attacking and burning everything they could get to!"

"Where’s Rainbow Dash?!"

"She's with Zeke!"

A loud explosion rocked the town, emanating from the direction of the chaos. The force of it knocked everypony in the vicinity to the ground. Gritting her teeth, Twilight forced herself up again and ran once more towards the attack.

---

As Twilight approached the edge of town, she noticed Spike, staring into the sky.

"Spike, what are you doing out here?! Get home now, before you get hurt!"

Spike's only reaction was to keep staring.

"Did you hear me?! Go home!" Twilight nudged him with her hoof

Spike raised a claw to the sky, pointing. Twilight, curious as to what held his attention, looked up as well. Her jaw promptly hit the floor.

It was late evening. There was just enough sun left to outline the thousands of large crafts slowly making their way towards Canterlot.

A flash caught her attention, and she lowered her gaze slightly. She immediately noticed Rainbow Dash. The form next to her took a bit longer to identify. When she finally had put a name to it, her jaw hit the floor a second time.

Spike spoke up in a quiet voice. "Told you he had wings..."

Author's Note:

At long last, I have updated.

I find it odd that the second chapter has less views than the third.
Wouldn't you want to see the second before the third?

Comments

[High Moon]

IT'S HERE!!!!1

[Cloverman The Purple]

I feel like epic battles and goblin slaughter will ensue. Can't wait for the next chapter.

[boulder_west]

Yaaaaaay!!!!! I am happy now.