> Pierce the Heavens > by The Truth of Chaos > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Episode 1 Part I - Open your eyes! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The darkness of eternity was not easy on the eyes. Drifting through the the abyss of shadows, the Leader of Dai-Gurren could do nothing as he felt nothing, saw nothing and heard nothing. He let out a spiritual sigh to somewhat relay his disappointment. 'So, this is the afterlife, huh?' He thought, surprised he could even think at all. He expected peace, or a paradise, or perhaps a dark fire set aflame. 'But this? This is a fate worse than death. An eternity of boredom.' His thoughts drifted back to his final moments, before he relieved himself of the world and his duties as Leader to his one successor. 'I'm a pretty selfish person, aren't I bro? Leaving you in a situation like that while I'm allowed to relax for eternity...' He laughed at his own foolishness, making conversations with people that were no longer with him within his mind. As his mental laughing died down, his soul became troubled. His thoughts drifted to his last moments. The great Dai-Gurren Brigade, a collection of the most tenacious humans to ever walk upon the surface world and rival the beastmen that lived there. The creatures crushed humans under their boots with giant pilotable mechs, known as Ganmen. Humans lived underground, never knowing the surface world, until he and his brother in soul, Simon, reached the surface world with a young women by the name of Yoko and obtained their own mechs, embarking on a journey that spawned the mighty group of humans piloting Ganmen. All of it from the influence of him and his bro's will to drill towards tomorrow. Sadly, during a raid on an enemy battle ship, the Dai-Gunzan, there was but a single moment in which he let his guard down. Kamina was hit by a surprise tactic by the enemy general trying to annihilate him in a single blow. While the blow did not end his life, it struck a mortal blow and his life slipped away with every moment. But before he passed on, he remembered to give his brother one last inspiring speech before taking the enemy general with him to hell. Such a burden indeed. He hoped the pilot of Lagann would be up to the task. No, he didn't hope. 'I believe you can do it, Simon. And you need to believe it too.' He finally began to truly relax in the darkness, the soul of the great man beginning to find peace in the loneliness of the abyss. An interruption was inevitable. A grand light shone throughout the darkness, the point of origin felt directly before Kamina. He felt himself flinch, though he knew he had no eyes. However, the universe seemed to have another opinion, as his own spiritual energy began taking shape, creating a chest, legs, arms, head and face. Gasping in shock and confusion, Kamina glanced at his etheral hands and body. Looking up, he had seen the energy even formed into his hair as well. "What is this?" "The beginning." The void of shining white replied. "You still have a lot to do, boy." Kamina's eyes widened in surprised as he thought his ears deceived him. "That voice, it couldn't be!" "Now go and live once more!" Kamina felt something push against his back awkwardly which made his tense, before the awkward push turned into a tidal wave of power smashing the soon not-so-dead man into the light void, while he screamed all the while. Opening Song - Minna no Piisu/Everybody Peace Upon the surface of the perfect green grass, a creature laid there unconscious but breathing. It was a creature of nor scales nor fur, with the small exception of the amount of blue fur on it's head and even smaller strands of the fur covering it's body. It was shown bare skinned, it's primal colour on of a sandy tan, while blue makings dotted it's collar and arms. Wearing naught but a pair of long brown pants and bandages wrapped around his forearms and waist, the bare skin looked completely vulnerable. "Hey, over here!" Kamina's mind fell from sleep and into reality with those few words. As his eyes flashed opened, he flinched at the blindness of the light, but that did not stop him from jerking his body upwards as his arms pressed against the ground and launched him off the ground floor and into a fighting stance. As he tried to open his eyes, all he could muster was a blurred squint. His sight completely useless except for distinguishing two dark grey figures amongst a pastel background. However, his other senses kicked in immediately. His taste was working, as the flavour of dirt and grass was fresh in his mouth. Spitting out the grime, his smell also began making itself useful as he breathed deeply through his nose. Here, the air was fresher than anywhere else he had been. Finally, he halted his inhale, and quickly exhaled as he grasped his chest and fell to one knee. His eyesight, now more focused, glanced upon his chest. A scar, recent looking, spread across his upper body like an bush fire during summer. Marks of his previous battle adorned him as a constant reminder of that day. Looking back up, his eyes focused on the creatures once more. "Beastmen?" He said in surprise, making sure his body did not make any sudden movements. He was in no condition to fight. He did not know the extent of his enemies. They could be extremely cunning, witty, and intelligent! "Can we eat it?" Or perhaps not. Either way, he hated to admit it, but he was no condition to fight. Examining the strange creatures, he saw many differences in both, but knew they were of her same species. Like overgrown dogs, they creatures could have been beastmen, but the feeling of it was different to them. One was a large, bulking mass of muscle, adorning heavy iron armour to cover his brown fur hiding his shoulders, chest and head, with his tail forming into the shape of a spiked club and his arms holstering his upper body from the ground. The second one was slightly smaller, though sleek and straight, his fur grey and his eyes glaring, not armour but a leather vest donning his upper body. His arms did not touch the ground as he stood up tall, but thy reached his knees in length, and his tail was not as large as the brutes, but the spikes were certainly longer. "No, you iron head! We can use this guy!" The grey one said, pointing towards Kamina while shouting at the bigger dogman. "See those things on his hands? Those are fingers!... Well, I think they're fingers, but with them this ugly ape thing could dig faster than any of our ponies!" "Hey, who're calling ugly, ugly?!" The blue haired interrupted, gritting his teeth as he stood tall and tried his best to ignore the pain in his chest. "I'll have you know that I'm fifty times more good looking than you, dirt face!" The brute snickered, while the thinker growled and twitched his left eye in anger. "Oh, a funny guy are you? Think you're better than me? We'll see who's laughing when you wake up! Tigs, give it to him!" "Wait, wake up?" Kamina asked confused, before widening his eyes as the brute charged at him, and before the human could react, one of the fists from those extremely bulky arms was sent into his face. The pain was utterly unbearable. Upon the icy lands of the north, as a blizzard rushed like herd of bulls and covered the snow with more snow, a darkness crept from underneath the ice. A black horn with a crimson tint upon the edge rose to the top of the frozen water. It was not long until darkness seeped out of the horn, swirling in a small abyss of shadow, until it concentrated into a form. Four limbs along with a head adorned with the very same horn, the shadows turned into colour. A pony, black as night with a mane which screamed darkness, opened his green tainted eyes as a purple mist spread from the glare. The pony screamed in rage, not yet knowing the reason just yet, but he would remember soon. First, he needed to find somewhere less cold where he could concentrate. Heading through the blizzard, he began to use his dark magic to create a dark bubble around him that disintegrated any snow and ice in his path. He immediately dropped down five feet into the snow, landing upon ground and practically digging a hole through the ice. Walking forward, he soon found himself before a rock wall. Moving around, it took him more than half an hour until he discovered a hole in the wall, leading into a dark cavern. He knew this place would do for the moment. Sealing the way behind him in an illusion so no one knew the place even existed, he sat down, and began to concentrate on one thing. "Crystals...." He muttered, as the dark, tainted thing rose from the ground slowly. He waited patiently as it formed, and grew outwards like a dead tree within a full day's time. Once down, he sighed and glanced upon his creation. Stirring him from his sitting, he walked up and touch the thing with his horn. Instantly his old power started to return to him, his cloak and crown materialising onto his form. Sighing in satisfaction, he began to remember. How foolish he was the first. But then again, he was not patient, he would not wait. Realising his mistake, he decided this time he would plan far more carefully. "I... Will not be beaten again." He muttered, as his magic swirled and created more and more crystals of shadow within the cavern. The former ruler of the crystal empire began to laugh as he felt his old personality and intelligence return, along with his ultimate power. This time the ponies did not stand a chance. -BREAK- > Episode 1 Part II - Awake in Hell > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BREAK- "Ugh...." Several hours had passed through time before the man of blue hair finally began to wake. The floor he had slept upon was hard and rough, small jagged edges spiking and pressing against his body. The loud noises ringing in his ears were not helping him easy back into his slumber, as the constant annoyances continued to wake him. The muttering of many filled his eyes as his eyes opened to a blurry dark, dirty and enclosed area. Rocks were being shuffled from the other side of the small place he resided in. The blur began to fade into focus. The walls of stone and rock surrounding him, other than the iron bars upon his left which provided a sight into a hallway of entrances into more barred up spaces. Staring upwards, a completely familiar sight filled him with dread. He groaned in agony as he discovered he was underground. The one place he hated most, and he was a prisoner here. He saw a lumbering creature, familiar of those who had been the first he met when he awoke before, patrol the hall of underground cages. The canine beast turned to Kamina's own little prison, and growled at him. "Dig." He stated in such a deep voice it sounded more like fat toad than a fat dog. Before the human shouted back, the large oaf pointed towards the other sound of the barred up cavern, where rocks came rolling from. His eyes widened as he saw three dirty equine like creatures digging into the wall with nothing but their bare hooves. He turned to yell at the beast for every reason he could think of, but the idiot had already left his captivity and was nearing the end of the hall where he arrived. "What the hell is going on here...?" He asked himself, bringing his hand up to his forehead, pulling back his hair and crossing his eyesas he wrapped his mind around the million thoughts that crossed his mind. Opening his eyes once more, they drifted to the equine, continuing to did. The creatures were pastel of colour, two bright hued. One was pink with a mane of blue, another green with a crimson man. The final one was older looking, with a grey brown coat and a mane as white as an old man's beard. "I'm in prison with a bunch of horses." He muttered to himself, snickering at the madness of it. "Perhaps this is the paradise of the afterlife. Life's a joke and death's the punch line! With heaven being the laughter." "Be quiet back there! You'll only draw attention to yourself." Something said from within the walls of the prison in a low gruff voice. His eyes opened wide as he looked around for the bearer of the voice, but only saw the equines. "Who said that?" Kamina replied said with hesitation. The old looking small horse turned to face him, his eyes large and human like, which indeed caused the previous leader of Dai-Gurren to look on with a puzzled expression. "I did, you... Hairless ape." The equine answered, frowning at the human. His eyebrow arched as Kamina's eyes only grew wider and more confused than before. "What's the matter, never seen a pony before?" Kamina began to open his mouth, but shut it again just as quickly. Ten seconds later he took a breath, before opening it again. "No." He answered plainly, relaxing a bit. "But I think I have now." The aged pony glared at Kamina, and the other two stopped in their own digging and turned to face him as well. One seemed frightened, the younger girl of the group, with a horn adorned on her head, while the other was older and more stern and protective. Kamina saw a familiarity in the eyes of each one. "Are you... A family?" He asked, curious. The male nodded, and looked back at the two other ponies. "I'm Autumn Dawn. That's my daughter, Harvest Moon, and my granddaughter, Corn Chip." He stated, before returned his sights on the human, his eyes now carrying a sadder tone. "We were vegetable farmers." "Were?" "I think we're diggers now. And there's not much we can do about it." "Diggers?" Kamina asked, before turning back to the iron bars. "What are those... Things out there?" "Diamond dogs. A bunch of greedy canines that care only for the jewels beneath the rock and stone." The pony known as Harvest Moon replied in place of her father. "What about you creature? What do you call yourself?" "I'm a human, of course." Kamina answered immediately, frowning at the thought of them not knowing. But quickly he grinned and stood tall, placing a fist over his beating scarred chest, towering over the ponies being twice their height. "And as for me? I'm the tenacious demon, paragon of masculinity, Kamina, leader of the Dai-Gurren Brigade!" He exclaimed proudly before them. His smirked turned into a distracted grit of his teeth as his looked down upon his chest. While the large scar spread from shoulder to waist and across his chest, it was no longer swore. "SWEET! I feel so alive!" He shouted with a wide grin, clenching his fists in a personal victory. Blinking, his eyes returned to very confused ponies. "Ah, sorry. You see, I had a near death experience recently, and first time I woke up my chest was sore as hell." "How'd you have a near death experience? Did you get into a fight?" The youngest pony piped up, the two older ones looking at her with a tad of scorn. Kamina, however, was all too happy to answer. "Why yes, Corn Ship-" "Corn Chip." The grandfather pony corrected. "Why yes, Corn Chip. In fact, it wasn't just a fight, it was a battle of epic proportions. We were out numbered three to one, but still we-" Before he continued, he glanced at the mother, who was looking at him in much displeasure. He sighed and smiled sweetly at the young pony. "I was a big fight. We won, but I was very, very hurt. Next thing I know I wake up in a patch of grass, and then here. Speaking of which..." Kamina glanced back at the iron bars. "Why are we digging for them?" He asked, rather pissed now that he realised the 'diamond dogs' were making the prisoners slave away and work. "Because if we don't they'll kill my husband..." Harvest Moon answered in a sorrow tone. Kamina's fighting spirit rose, but his will to keep it at bay increased. "They have him captive and said they'd release us and him if we collected fifty gems for the dogs." Kamina growled and looked back at the wall they had been digging at. They had made progress, but they were so dirty it looked like they'd been doing this for a day or two. He was about to shout in protest when yelling was heard at the other end of the hall. "And what's this?" The warden dog asked to another prisoner. This one looked like a mix between a feline and a bird. The creature looked weak and days without food. "Please sir... It's the only thing I've managed to dig up!" "Then dig deeper! I can't eat this can I?" He said, before starting to walk off. He chucked the object behind him, and it bounced along the floor, resounding clinging and clanging as if a coin had been dropped. The object shimmered and bounced towards the end of the prison hall and stopped right in front of Kamina's cell. And his eyes widened in surprise as he dropped to his knees and reached out for it. His arms did not come to length of it sadly, but yet he continued to try, and the other ponies walked up to the iron bars to see was he was grasping for. "What is it?" Corn Chip asked looking at the object with puzzled interest. "Our way out. Now if only I could just.... Reach....." Kamina replied, doing his best to stretch his arm to the object. Moments later however the object was adorned in a pink aura and lifted from the floor and into the cage. It hovered right in front of Kamina, which was bewildered by the sight of the floating object. Corn Chip smiled as the object continued to hover, the same pink aura surrounding her horn. "Are you doing that?" Kamina asked baffled, as he slowly took the object from the air, at the pink aura around it disappeared. "Yeah. Unicorn magic, like my dad. I'm not that good at it, but I can still lift a few things." She said, before looking towards her mum, who smiled at her daughter. "He says I'm more earth pony like mum though." The Autumn Dawn smiled at the filly, before turning to the human. "So what is that thing?" He asked, examining the thing in his hands. "It looks like a horn." "It's better than that." Kamina said, his attention immediately focusing back on the object, forgetting about the magic ideal. "It's a drill." The small, silver spiral drill rested in his hands attached to a small necklace chain. "But not just any drill, if I'm right." He said, before standing up and walking around the cell. When he stopped towards the wall they were digging towards, the drill started to glow and fade slowly, like a dying beacon. Kamina grinned towards his fellow cellmates with such a look of victory it actually seemed to inspire them. "This drill is a drill of the soul. A core drill." -BREAK- > Episode 1 Part III - Hero of Freedom! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BREAK- "Come on guys, a little deeper! It can't be far!" Kamina said to his equine cellmates. As he dug away and pierced the rock with his drill, the unicorn of he group removed the loose chunks, while the earth ponies moved the rest. They came across the occasional gem or two, in which they chucked into a pile, but the thing Kamina was digging for was far more priceless. He turned away with his tiny drill, doing his best to find the softest spots to strike and dig. He was no where near as good as his bro, but he had learnt watching Simon you need to be gentle with a drill for it to become fierce. Another crack spread across the rocky tunnel they had dug, and more rocks continued to fall from the wall. The drill's beacon hum and glow was going faster, the rhythm of the signal now happening every second. But as they continued to dig, he looked towards the pony that was the youngest of the three. "Uh, Corn Chip? You said you were a unicron or something?" He said, trying to remember what she had been called. "Unicorn. I'm a pony with magic!" She said happily with a giggle. "Along with two other pony earth ponies and-" "How do you do magic?" The question caused the unicorn to look at Kamina, who's eyes were on the wall as he turned his drill into it, but his attention was focused on her. "We can do magic because of our horns." She stated, pointing towards the blunt spiral spike on her head. "It builds up our magic and let's us concentrate it into form from what we want it to do." "A horn, eh?" He repeated, before looking down at the drill in his hand. Pulling it from the wall, he held it by the slim chain that would form a necklace. Pulling the chain upon the back of his head, he tightened it with his drill sitting upon the forehead, pointing from the place it faced. Holding his hands up high, he lowered them and pointed at the wall with a strong glare. "MAGIC HORN, DIG OUR TUNNEL!" He bellowed in a commanding voice. All of the ponies stayed silent, but collapsed onto the ground from the sheer stupidity of it*. Kamina stayed silent, his eyes on the wall, before his smiled sadly and took the drill from his head after releasing the tight chain. "Damn, magic would have been useful. Guess only natural horns work." "Ugh... You must be more stupid than I though." Harvest Moon groaned as she climbed back on her hooves. "Come on, let's get back to digging." The other ponies nodded as Kamina sighed and resumed his drilling. The wall continued to fall apart, and the signal began to get a little faster. It wasn't long before the signal had become so intense that it pulsed twice every second, and piece of rock came away from the wall, revealing a crimson colour metal. Kamina grin grew wide as he pressed his hand against the revealed material. With a large inhale, he turned to the ponies. "Yup, I can feel it in my blood. This is a Gunmen!" He exclaimed proudly, and pressed his ear against the metal, frantic with excitement. "We dig up this baby and we can get the hell outta here, no hassle!" But before anyone could start removing the rock and stone, the sound of footsteps came by the bars. The large diamond dog warden walked in front of their cell, and glared at the group. Kamina immediately jumped in the way of the revealed metal, keeping it away from the diamond dogs eyes, and hid the glowing drill behind his back. The brute frowned, looking at the family and human, before his eyes moved to a pile of gems they had dug up and smiled. Licking his lips, he turned to the group and snickered. "You get food for good work." He stated, and turned away. Kamina frowned at the odd statement, but the ponies looked hopeful and hungry, their stomachs rumbling with the wish to be filled. Kamina's own tummy couldn't help but join them, causing the tenacious demon to snicker and shrug. The warden returned with a small cart, placing it just by the iron bars, and glanced at the group. "Fill cart, get food." He stated and walked off. The ponies, and Kamina (reluctantly) began picking up the gems and placing them into the cart. Kamina glanced at the Earth ponies and squinted. "Hey, Autumn and Harvest?" He asked for their attention, which they gave to him out of kindness. "How are you picking up the gems with your hooves. Aren't they flat?" Autumn snickered, looking down at his hoof. "Well, first you place your hoof over the gem, and..." With a flick of the hoof, the old pony held the gem upwards in his hoof. "There you go!" "But how does it lift like that? Does it connect to your hoof?" He asked. Autumn grinned and raised his hoof to answer, only to fall short and glance at the gem in his hoof. "Uh... You hold it with...Hmmm..." He began to examine his hoof, looking at it like he had seen it the first time in his life. Harvest sighed and shook her head, going back to putting the gems in the cart, with Kamina going to join her. Autumn however chuckled the gem into the cart and moved onto a rock, and picked it up with his hoof, only to drop it and pick it up again and repeat the process again and again. The gems filled the cart to the brim. The large diamond dog came back to the cart and held out a key in his right paw. "Good ponies, and... Thing. Now put on chains." He stated, chucking a set of four balls and chains into the cell with his left paw through the iron bars. The ponies glanced at them and sighed as they began to adorn the ball and chain of their own while Kamina groaned in annoyance as he dropped to his knees. The clasp however didn't fit around his right ankle, but he would not notify the dog of such a thing. He hid the slaps under his long dirty pants, and stood tall once again. The warden examined the other ponies, and grunted as the key slipped into the lock, and opened a set of the iron bars. The ponies dragged their own ball of metal, though Kamina found his ball of metal didn't weigh more than a heavy rock. He dragged it along the rocked ground and found it was easier to move than he anticipated. However, he wouldn't take any risk in revealing himself due to the fact that these canines held his pony friend's family member hostage. Playing the part, Kamina dragged his feet along with the iron ball, along with the other ponies as the warden began leading them away from their cell. The cavern before the group was larger than ones seen by them as they made their way through the winding tunnels and long walkways. The inside was packed with a crowd of diamond dogs, each one with a pile of gems that they feasted on. Kamina's eyes widened in shock, as he watched the beasts devour what he thought were unbreakable gems. Shuddering to think of the power of their jaws, Kamina followed the ponies in suite, until they stopped and stood, as the warden had knelt before his slim, cunning leader. Which Kamina thought looked awfully familiar. Beside him stood a large brute, who glared right back at Kamina as he stared, licking his lips. "Alpha," the warden began, before taking a breath, "ponies work hard to give us gems, thought such good diggers can't die yet. Should feed them, yes?" The leader brought his paw to his chin, scratching it, and grinned in delight as his eyes set upon to human. "Ah, the prize catch from yesterday. Already you seem to impress." He stated, bearing his canine teeth in a grin. Sighing in satisfaction, he stood. "Tell me, ponies and... Ugly ape. What do you want? Other than food." He asked, smiling sinisterly. Kamina frowned and grit his teeth, wanting to punch the mutt in the face. "I.. We would like to see my husband." Harvest Moon stated, the other two nodding in agreement. The leader thought for a moment, then crossed his arms. "I can grant you this, but it means one of you will not eat for tonight. And you know how long it takes before you can earn the right to feast." The others looked to each other in worry, before Harvest looked down and sighed. "I will sacrifice my hung-" "No my dear," interrupted her father, and smiled sadly at her, "I shall be the one to stay hungry to-" "I'll do it." The three ponies looked towards Kamina, surprised at his words of generosity. He in return gave them a manly grin. "What kind of man watches a family starve while he himself eats?" "Very well." The leader said, before turning to his own personal servant. "Tigs, get the unicorn from the deep cells and tell him his family have requested his temporary release." The large brute nodded, and walked from the Alpha's side and passed the group to enter the long maze of tunnels. He stood a foot taller than the warden, and looked twice as strong. "You are very selfless, ape. That will kill you one day." The alpha snickered. However, he looked at Kamina strangely, as did the three ponies and warden, when he stated laughing. "Well, it already did." He said with intimidating smile, before looking down at his scars. "I thought it did, anyway." "Trying to be funny, ape?" The dog said, rolling his eyes. "You aren't funny." "Stupid ape is funny." He warden butt in, making the Alpha frown and growl. The warden only snickered. "He is joke all by himself." The alpha's frown turned into laughter which was joined by the warden. "Pata, you always know how to make me snicker." He commented, before looking up. "Ah, here comes Tigs now." The group turned to glance at the large brute, as Harvest let out a groan of agony and Chip a whimper as they saw the stallion they wished for being dragged along, barely conscious from the several showing bruises and cuts by Tigs. Kamina twitched at the sight, his fist clenching as the bodyguard dropped the moaning body before them. "Stardust!" Harvester cried out as she rushed to her husband, only to trip over her heavy iron ball, her face inches away from her husband. She shuffled forward and wrapped her hooves around hee husband. Chip began to cry freely as Autumn pulled her into her chest to comfort her as she sobbed. During the whole event, the alpha was laughing. "Nothing better than a family reunion right Tigs?" He asked, the bodyguard grinning and cracking his knuckles. "... Ha... Harvest?" Asked the beaten unicorn, his eyes opening slightly to gaze upon his wife. "You look better than I feel." He joked, his wife smiling sadly. "You idiot..." She said before resuming her sobbing. "How could they... How..." The alpha and his brute laughed, to be followed by the warden. Soon all the dogs in the room glanced at the prisoners and laughed away. "... You're all bastards..." The dogs cut their own laughter to gaze at Kamina, who was now looking at the ground, a rage burning in his heart. "What did you say, ugly?" The alpha growled. "I SAID YOU'RE ALL BASTARDS, YOU UGLY PIECE OF CRAP!" He yelled, running up and bringing up his right leg into the face of Tigs, the iron ball following after to smack the large brute right off his feet and into the cavern wall. Everyone was left speechless before the raging man, who furrowed his brow in fury towards the alpha. The room was silent as the dogs that were feasting on piles of gems grit their teeth ready to pounce. Kamina then smirked a snarky way, before leaping to the warden and kicking him in the face with his other foot. The brute fell backwards, and Kamina used his other leg to kick him square in the jaw, knocking him out cold. He bent down and shifted through the dog's odorous armour, before pulling out a set of keys. After glancing at them for two seconds, he choose one and slot it into his ball and chain, unlocking it. He then turned to the group of ponies, who were all looking at him stunned. "Corn Chip, here!" He said, tossing the chain of keys to the teenaged mare. She quickly grabbed with her magic, holding it in midair, before already sending it into her own ball and chain, and the other three in mere moments. "Go back to the cell and dig the rest of the Gunmen up." "But how will we find out way back? It's a maze out there!" She cried, before she found a small drill collide with her face. "Use that. It will glow whenever you get closer. When you finish digging it up, I need to use it!" "But how will we know where you are?!" "I dunno, yell my name or something!" He said, before pointing to the exit. "Now go. I have to have a little chat with Alpha here." The pony nodded, and she ran out the cavern, also with Autumn and Harvest, who had picked up and holster stardust on heir backs during Kamina's little chat. Kamina grinned, and turned to the diamond dogs in the room. "Tell me, ape." The alpha started. "What is a Gunmen?" Kamina simply chuckled. "A better question is, why didn't you attack?" He asked, avoiding the topic. "I like it better when my dinner is running." He said with a dark and sinister smile. The alpha took a few steps towards Kamina, before glaring at his legion of dogs behind the man. "You will not interfere with this. I want the pleasure of ripping this man limb from limb." The dogs bowed down and backed away, reaching the wall before they began making bets among themselves. "What is you name, ugly?" "Heheheheh, I am the man with unbreakable fighting spirit, my strength rivalled by none. A warrior of all with good in their heart, I am the mighty Kamina of Dai-Gu-" He stopped and thought of the title, before shaking his head. "No, not of Dai-Gurren. I am Kamina, hero of freedom!" He stated proudly, before glaring at the alpha diamond dog. "What about you, ugly?" "I am called Chomp. Now, are we done chatting?" "Well, you know what they say!" Kamina grinned, loosening his hands before raising his fists and readying himself in an offensive stance. "Real men talk with their fists." It was straight after that they began to clash. -BREAK- > Episode 1 Part IV - To the Surface! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -BREAK- Kamina felt another claw brush against his skin. The cut was insignificant compare to the others though. His body already had a tally of twenty cuts, five of which had inched a few centimetres deep. He started to pant, his stance turned defensive as the diamond dog Chomp proved more than match for the man. "Not bad." The alpha commented, before shrugging. "But not good either. I'm starting to think this is all you have Kamina!" He said with a sinister smile as he pounced forward with his paw outstretched. Kamina quickly side stopped, narrowly missing the attack, and curved his elbow into the back of the moving dog, sending him into the ground. After landing, however, the dog used his powerful paws to lift himself within a moment with the momentum after the collision with the floor, and sent his foot right into Kamina's face. The blue haired devil took the powerful punch full force, and fell backwards. Before he hit the wall, however, there was the surrounding diamond dogs, who simply lifted him back into the improvised arena. The hero of freedom struggled to stand, but a man never backed down, no matter the circumstances. "You don't give up, so you?" Chomp commented, before snickering. "Why do you persist?" "Because I can't stand a person like you winning this fight!" He answered, his glare as strong as his words and he ran up to the alpha and sent his own fist flying into his face. The dog took the blow as his head turned from the force of the blow, but after taking a single step back, he did not inch. He started to laugh. "You know..." He started, daring to stand in front of the man without even bother to defend himself. "You took Tigs by surprise, then again, he is a stupid fool. And that ball of iron you used did help with the force. As for Pata, well, he always was a fatso." He stated, before poking Kamina's chest, the man unwavering as he held eye contact with the alpha. "I however am in a totally different league. I had to defeat ever dog in this room and more to achieve this status. You did well to fend me off this far, but you can't win." "Say what you want!" Kamina shouted back, slightly startling his opponent. "But I will not lose. Because I can't. There are a few people I need to see before I die, you see..." He inched forward, the finger on his chest bending, but it still left a cut, blood starting to seep from it. "And no matter how much blood you spill, it isn't going to matter. You will never break my will." The dog smirked, and sighed. "Finally, a challenge." He grinned and pushed Kamina away, giving him time to ready himself for the second round. "Let's see how long your will holds out..." He then raised his claws and took on a very predatory expression, the sadist smile from before turned into a insane grin. "BEFORE I RIP IT APART ALONG WITH YOU!" He pulled back his fist and sent it right into Kamina's chest. The man grunted and took a few steps back, before slingshotting back and sending his own fist right into Chomp's chest, making the dog jump back. Kamina then turned, running at the wall of Diamond dog, and grinned. They looked at him oddly as he turned around and fell towards them. On instinct, they grabbed him and sent him back into the arena, like a thick piece of rubber string. Kamina used this momentum to come running back, and before the dog could react, he was close lines by the force of Kamina's outstretched arm. If there was one thing Kamina could do right, it was improvise. As the dog was down, he took a few steps back, walking near the warden's body. He glanced down, and as he saw the dog fluttering his eyes open and groaning, he raised his foot and slam it into the dogs head, knocking him out once more. Chomp began to rise, grunting as his paw covered his face, blood dripping from his muzzle. Kamina took this time to kneel down, and picked up two very valuable things. "Why you... Huh?" Chomp looked at Kamina, stunned, and then grit his teeth at this new problem. "You know, you were right. Fighting you one of one does seem like a one sided fight. But..." He said, spinning the chain of two iron balls in each hand, both of them gaining speed as they twirled around his hand. "... With this, I think it would be a much fairer fight. Iron balls versus tooth and claw, right?" He stated with a grin, before letting out a battle cry, as he ran towards the canine, spinning the chains more rapidly. It was now that he went on the offensive. Chomp, now worried about the power of each of his weapons, now did his best to avoid their hit. Kamina did not relent, as the weight of the iron spheres carried him closer and closer to the dog. It was then that the first stuck hit, colliding with the dogs left arm. The alpha knew that if he did not raise it, it would have likely crashed into his chest, and that could have been fatal. But after hearing a loud crack, he wished he never even needs to make the choice. "GUAAAARRRRRGGHHHHH!" He scream, as the painful sensation of his arm breaking tweaked through his nerves, the many diamond dogs int he room flinching in imaginary pain. He alpha's arm dropped to the side, gritting his teeth as he could no longer feel his hand. Looking down, he saw it bend slightly downwards, making the dog's eyes flinch at the sight. Glared at Kamina with newfound rage, he lifted his finger and pointed at the smirking human. "GET... HIM!" He cried out, and every diamond dog heard the call, each other of them readied to pounce. Kamina looked around, his grin turning upside down as he glanced around with wide eyes. He was surrounded, and he knew that even with his weapons, this fight probably couldn't be won. But even so, he held up his weapons, ready to fend off the attackers, when a small sound reached his ear. "KAMINA." He looked to the entrance of the cavern, and grinned widely. As he looked around, he saw everyone else was looking there too. 'Right right, they're dogs. Excellent hearing.' Kamina thought to himself, before dashing towards the tunnels. Two diamond dogs instantly jumped in the way, and Kamina began to spin the iron balls. "GET OUTTA MY WAY!" He shouted to the high heavens as he smashed the balls into the dogs, denting their helmets and knocking them out, both of them falling to the ground. He ran outside, and turned to the cavern, seeing a herd of the dogs running towards him. He span the chains and iron balls, before throwing them into he oncoming force. They smashed into the first few, and created a domino effect. As the crowd of dogs collapsed on each other, Kamina reflected the call. "CORN CHIP?!" He called out, using each inch of his voice to call to her. It wasn't long after he heard her reply. "KAMINA!" Smirking, he heard he voice echo from the tunnel on his left. "KEEP CALLING CORN CHIP!" He stated, racing down the tunnel, before glancing back. The diamond dogs were starting to pick themselves up and chase after him, in which he simply laughed. "Let the games begin!" He stated, picking up the pace. Looking down, he saw the majority of his cuts and did not feel a thing. 'Must be adrenaline.' He thought to himself. 'I need to do this quick!' "KAMINA!" He heard more than one voice this time, as he raced down the tunnel, but the ones he took all when the same way. Looking back, he saw that one of the more agile dogs had almost caught up with him. Quickly he looked in front of him and narrowly dodged a cart in front of him. As the next on came up, he smiled and grabbed the edges, and jumped into the air, stand on his hands on the cart. The dog crashed into it, causing it to carry it's momentum and blast forward. The blue haired man yelped as he dropped into the cart, before poking his head out and started laughing as the cart took a drop downhill and picked up speed. The dogs seemed to lose chase after him as he glanced forward. "KAMINA!" It was a collection of voices now, and close too. His eyes went wide as a dead end and a sharp turn right came into view. He began to brace himself and hopped out of the cart seconds before it crashed into a wall, tumbling along the rock hard ground and right in front of the turn into the cells. He felt his adrenaline leave him as pain shot through every inch of his body. "Kamina?!" Cried a familiar voice. Grunting in pain, the human managed to open his eyes and gaze into the cavern. Looking at him in shock were a group of creatures, ponies, unicorns, winged ponies and the bird lion thing from before. Each were dirty, and he already guessed they were fellow prisoners. Taking a deep breath, Kamina struggled to his feet. He felt the need to collapse, but before he could he was lifted up once more by the ponies he knew. Harvest and Corn Chip rested under his hands, and he smiled at the duo until he found the strength to stand. "Urgh... That was a rough ride..." He muttered, limping towards the rest of the group. "You're covered in cuts!" One of the winged ponies said, visibly shocked. "Don't tell me you fought the dogs!?" "Nah, just three. Tigs, Pata and Chomp. Well, I knocked two of them out easily, the third not so much." He stated with a grin, the group visibly paling. "We dug that 'gunmen' thing up, like you asked..." Corn Chip commented. Kamina's eyes widened as he stood tall, finding new strength to continue. "Where's my drill?" He asked, looking to Corn Chip. Using magic, she lifted it from the hoof of her grandfather, who was looking on in pride, and into Kamina's hands. His fist clenches around the item, and he dashed towards the cell room, eager to see his mech. Stopping right in front of the cell, he almost squealed in delight. Before him was a head. But unlike the powerful and smooth faced Lagann his brother Simon found, the head before him was more of a jagged skull. The paint of crimson, and the eyes closed in deep sockets, the large blood red skull had spiky silver teeth coming down from the upper jaw, the lower jaw missing entirely. The top of the head was covered in the same material that Lagann scalp was, but this material was silver, and a vertical beam of metal curved over the top of it's middle. As he grew closer, the drill began to hum, and the top of the mech came off, with the metal beam curving into the back of skull, and the divided protective metal came down on each side. He walked up to the mech and glanced inside. It seemed similar to Lagann's inside, but older and a tiny bit rusty. The spin on dashboard had a lightly cracked screen to boot. Grimacing, he began to climb to the top of the mech. As he climbed to the edge of opened skull, he stood tall on the narrow surface, balancing perfectly. "All of you!" He started, as everyone's attention was drawn to him. "These mutts took you from your home, your families, and your lives. But no more! For I, the mighty Kamina, shall liberate you from these hounds. They will know pain as you did, and know fear as you did! You shall return to the surface free, without chains or irons. After all..." He dropped into the cockpit of the mech, and raised his drill. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!?" He placed the drill into the dashboard. The machine roared to life, but it was momentary. It struggled to stay on, the power not reaching it' scull potential. The eyes were still glued shut. But Kamina would not waver. Thinking of the one thing that gave him confidence, he took a deep breath. 'Don't worry, Simon...' He thought to himself as he placed his hands on the drill. 'I'm coming!' Turning the drill once more, spiral energy surged from Kamina's will and into the machine. Rust faded into dust as the lagann class mech repaired itself in an instant. The dashboard crash sealed up, and the power bar span to full. The eyes of the mech opened. Clasping his hands into the mecha handles, he ordered it to move forward with his moving legs and arms. It did move, but not in the way he expected. The small mech leaped forward, his arms outstretched, as he jumped from the cell her was already in, over the group, and into the wall of the other. "What the hell?!" Kamina shouted, looking down at the controls. He pushed himself gently off the wall, but was sent flying when the gunmen physically punched the wall, launching itself and tumbling onto the ground. "Eh?" Kamina said, simply stunned, as he looked up at the group. Each of their expressions differed, but all held a degree of worry. They all looked towards the tunnel entrance with wide eyes as the constant barrage of incoming barking could be heard coming down the tunnel. Kamina instead used one hand to get up, and even then the mech lifted from the ground, bounced off the ceiling and landed on the ground upright. "This thing is out of control! How the hell did Simon-!" Kamina began to to shout, before a memory crossed his mind. Using his imagination, he created a size chart in different between the two brothers. He saw himself almost dwarfing the boy, and began to marvel his own good looks before the sound of barking broke his thought. "Alright..." He said with new found will. "Gentle... Slowly... Smaller...." He muttered to himself, readying his own figure gently into a defensive stance. The mech copied his slow movements perfectly, their synchronisation matching up with every gentle and small movement he did, with Kamina soon in complete control. A herd of dogs began rushing inside the cavern, one after the other, racing towards the group, until the small mech jumped in the way, Kamina grinning widely. "DON'T TAKE ME LIGHTLY, DIAMOND DOG PUNKS!" He cried, running towards the herd. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?!" The gunmen then jumped forward as Kamina pushed forward with all his strength. "ULTIMATE CRASHING CRANIUM... IMPACTTTTTT!" The lagann type mech leaped towards the group in a spinning headbutt launch, the heavy metal mech slammed into the dog. The heavily armoured diamond dog was sent spinning backwards, as were others, with the skull mech smashing them threw the tunnel. When Kamina pulled the breaks, the dogs did not stop flying backwards and dashed into a dead end with the tunnel, crowding up and lying unconscious. Kamina brushed off his mech, and smiled smugly. "Faito." He stated, patting the mecha dashboard. "That's your name, 'fighting spirit'!" "YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!" Kamina, along sigh every other creature in the room glanced up to the entrance of he cavern. There stood Tigs, holding up the wounded Chomp, who was gritting his teeth in angry and fear of Kamina's new weapon. "You will never find your way out of our maze, and the way to the surface is a couple of miles away. You'll never find a way ou-!" "Goddamnnit SHUT UP ALREADY!" Kamina interrupted, before he pointed to the ceiling. "There is no boundary that a man cannot pass! If there's a wall, I'll break it down!" He then grasped his fingers into a fist, his mech bringing it's own arm down and a fist clenched right in front of Faito. "If there is no path, I'll make one with these hands!" He shouted, before running towards the dog duo. "After all, just who the hell..." He raised his fist, and Chomp only narrowly jumped out of he way as Faito punched Tigs in the gut, carrying him along with the momentum, until he reached the cave wall. "DO YOU THINK I AM!?" He cried, before the arm began to spin, using Tigs as a cushion against the rock and dirt as it began to drill through it with the spinning, onwards and upwards. Chomp could only look on in shook, and the ponies in awe as he smashed a tunnel towards the surface. 'My journey... Isn't over yet!' The light of the surface burst into the recently made tunnel. Tigs fell off Kamina's fist and onto the green grass, his eyes spiralling as he felt dizzy and sick. Kamina smiled as he once again saw the light of day. The ponies from below marvelled at the sight, while Chomp stood shocked and stunned. Stardust piped up with a hearty smile. "Kamina... He's quite a guy." The hero of freedom sighed as the roof of his mech opened and the fresh air breezed against him once more. His journey was just beginning. Ending Song - TRUST (Original Mix) > Episode 2 Part I - My Name is Kamina! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opening Song - Minna no Piisu/Everybody Peace "Luna!" Celestia called from her chambers, during the early hours of the evening. She hoped her sister would move quickly, for she wanted her opinion of a very important matter. She was going throughout the Royal Mail, lifting each one with mild interest and reading the pleas of the many. The ones she read however were theses of the common ponies, leaving the pile of letters from nobility to the side. Most of the comers were very humble with their requests, and they were ones she could easily give. As she had read through each one, a single letter from a pegasus from the south had given her a letter of heroic recommendation. She opened the letter, and her mild interest changed to one of surprise. The story of a warrior who saved several commoner folk from the chains of Diamond Dogs, beating every one with strength alone. She read further into the story, as it told of a technological mobile fighter known as a 'gunmen' that far surpassed modern engineering, and a being known as a 'human'. Celestia thought she knew of such a creature, but had forgotten all about it. After all, she rarely had time to look into old myths and legends. This human, known as the mighty Kamina, freed the commoners from slavery, and even punched his way through rock and stone to he surface. Such a story would be outrageous, and she chucked it to the side, originally, until she read the next letter. It was from a young farmer mare, who told of the same story but in more depth and detail. How the hairless ape had obtained an item he dubbed as a 'Core Drill' and from that point on he constantly gave them hope for their futures. She described the human as twice a pony in height, with his bear skin showing, but wearing what he called pants, long covers of cloth that hid his legs. He bore a patch of spiky blue fur upon his head, and blue marks across the upper part of his body and was visibly scarred. His crimson eyes seemed to stare into the very soul of every being, but his smile gave all who listened to his strength. Celestia couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as she read the next lines, describing that he was an excellent motivational speaker, even though some things he said would have sounded ridiculous in any other voice. She then told of his bravery, facing down the diamond dog alpha in single hand to hand combat so that she and her family to escape unharmed. And even though he was covered in cuts and bruises once he had returned, he did not fall without getting up. It seemed that through sheer will alone he managed to activate the mobile fighter as well, as it did not seem to respond well to it's activation. It told of how he took all the prisoners back to the surface, as free ponies. It was then they parted ways, choosing a guide of his choice to lead him to the nearest city, and left the ponies with a smile and wave. The griffon he had chosen was all but happy to oblige. It was then that Celestia called for her sister, and the princess of the night did come. "Luna... Do you know what a human is?" She asked, frowning as she tried to remember. The name was all too familiar. "The creatures of old legends, yes. I do remember." Luna replied, raising a brow as she recited her memories. "Creatures that did not have the ability of magic, but had an almost unnatural skill for surviving anything, no matter the circumstances. It is said they can be killed, however, but it even then they go down fighting." She stated, then frowned at her sister. "Why?" "Read this. I have already read another like it, but I am unsure such a thing could be true." Luna hovered the letter before her eyes, and skimmed through it. She widened her eyes the further she went, and after a minute, she finished and looked up at her sister. "And there is another letter that verifies such a fable?" "It seems so." "Do you think this is a trick? Perhaps some... Practical joke?" "It's too detailed and creative to be a practical joke. Even Discord wouldn't bother writing such a lengthy letter." Celestia grimaced, and stood. Walking from her bed to the balcony overlooking Canterlot. "What trouble will come of this..." She said with a heavy tone of worry. "'P.S.'" Luna interrupted, Celestia turning to see her sister unrolling the bottom of the letter, revealing a part that she missed. "'My grandfather wishes to know how it is possible ponies can grasp things with their hooves.'" The sisters looked at each other oddly, before Luna dropped the letter onto the floor. She placed her right hoof on it and lifted it, her eyes widening at the implication of such a thing. "How DO we grasp things?" Celestia herself was baffled, opening her mouth to answer before closing it, unable to make any words come into her mouth without trying to think of them first. Immediately she took a quill and began writing a letter to her most faithful student. Within the minute it was finished, and she enveloped the letter in a green fire, transporting it to the Princess of Friendship. "Now, back to the topic at hoof..." She stated, taking a deep breath. "The previous letter was one of heroic recommendation." "Well... If this isn't fable... We should. He fought off an entire legion of diamond dogs just so the prisoners could all escape. And according to this letter, he fought an Alpha to keep this mare's family safe. In hand to hand combat. We both know that when it comes down to that alphas are rarely beat." She nodded slowly at her sister to answer her untold question. "This 'human' is a hero. And we should reward him for his efforts." "You're right." She said, smiling before taking another paper and grabbing her quill. Quickly writing down upon the paper, before taking the envelope and reading the address. She wrapped up the paper and hovered it over to her sister, "Take this to Commander Stormfront. He is to fly to the farm where this family lives and find the location of the Diamond Dog base. He is to bring them back to Canterlot in chains for trial." "Sister... Do you think this human will be trouble?" Celestia closed her eyes and Thoth on the subject. "We can only hope he will not be. Now go, swiftly." Luna nodded, and taking the note of orders, rushed to the barracks. Celestia sighed and glanced up at the star filled sky, her heart filled with worry before she trotted to her bed. "I'm so huuunnngryyyyy!" The mighty demon, hero of freedom and paragon of masculinity exclaimed, his stomach rumbling and captivating his mind with the thoughts of food. "Don't worry, sir. We're nearing on the city now. Once there, I'll buy you some food, and be on my way." His griffon guide said, chuckling at his temporary companion. "After all, it' she least I can do to repay you." "Thank you, my friend." He smiled back at the griffon. "So Githus, the ponies are divided into three different kinds. Earth ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi." "There's also the rare Alicorn, which serve as royalty, and the crystal ponies, the ponies of the crystal empire." Githus added, before smiling at the human. "What about you, human? Are you the last of your kind or something?" "No, not the last." He said with a shrug. "But I might as well be. From what you've told me, it seems that I'm on a completely different world." He took this moment to look up at the stars in the sky. "But someday, I'm going to find my way back. I still have a lot to do." Githus simply stared on before turning to the road ahead. "So, how did you find that gunmen thing anyway." Kamina grinned, and halted the walk. Pulling the core drill from the dashboard, he lifted it high for his friend to see. "You were the one that dug this up, right? Those diamond dogs wouldn't know a real treasure even if it smacked them in the face. Is thing emits a glow whenever you get close to the gunmen it activates. Thanks to you, we were able to find this mighty beast-" He took time to pat the forehead of the offline gunmen, "-and defeat our jailers." "So that's why you asked for the drill back then..." Githus said in understanding. "If only those mutts knew." The griffon glanced at the rising hill before them. Lifting himself upon his wings, he rose to the level of the low clouds, something Kamina still found odd. As he glanced from his height in the sky over the hill, he grinned joyfully, swooping down to the human. "Kamina, the city isn't far! You can see from the hill!" He said with excitement, Kamina himself grinning in delight and placing the drill back into the activation a lot, and the mech roared to life with a turn of the drill. "Kamina... What are you going to do once we get to city?" His griffon friend asked politely. "After we eat, of course." "Well, try and find out if I can get home. If not, maybe I'll go exploring. After all, there isn't any dark forces trying to take over the world!" Kamina paused and looked up in the sky to his friend. "... Is there?" "Eh, every year or so." Githus mentioned. "Mainly in Equestria though. And each villain falls one after the other before the Bearers of Harmony." "The what?" Githus looked at him strangely, but chuckling he remember how Kamina was new to the common world. " Well, the Bearers of Harmony are a group of ponies, a unicorn, two pegasi, two earth ponies, and an Alicorn, that use the magic of the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria from peril." He explained, before looking onwards as they reached the top of the hill. Kamina was utterly surprised. Before him was a place filled with tall blocky buildings, with large gravel paths and such light it emitted into the sky. He was impressed, thinking of the amount of work that must have gone into such a place, before his stomach once again churned. "Hehehe... I can't wait to eat... Wait..." He turned once again to his friend, now even more worried, his face caught in an expression of distraught. "Do they have meat?" Githus grimaced at the word, and shook his head. "No real meat, no. That kind of food as been bad in all the kingdoms due to the peace treaty from the princesses. But to make up for it, ponies have created an artificial version which tastes exactly the same. And it has no bones eight, so you have less chance of choking." "I see... Guess I have to taste it for myself." Kamina's mech then began dashing down the hill towards the city at full speed. Githus shrieked in surprise and dived after him. "Kamina wait! If the city guard sees something of this size running into the city, they might panic and think it's an attack!" With this, Kamina pulled the brakes, the mech pressing it's feet into the ground as it started to slow, the feet digging deeper and deeper as it lose it's pace, leaving a two parallel trails behind Faito* when it finally stopped. "You're totally right!" With that, he leaped off to the side, finding a small patch of bushes. He sat the mech down, and pulled out the drill, the machine offline and hidden. After that, he began running down the hill himself at such a speed Githus thought it should have been impossible on legs. "Wait, that's just as bad! Kamina!" This did not stop the human from running right into the city populated with ponies. Running along the path that joined up with a dead end street, he zoomed passed the buildings and into a heavily populated cross road. He glanced around, amazed. The buildings were much tall than anything he'd ever seen. The bright colourful lights glowed in the darkness of the evening, doing a much better job to lighten up the area than the full moon's pale glow. He glanced around, and saw ponies of every shape and size, wings, horn or just plain hooves, each one was unique in the pastel colour and brightly hued manes. After a few moments of staring however, he noticed everypony in the street had their head turned and was looking at him. "Hey! Do you guys know where I can find some food?" He asked, but the staring ponies only answered with stunned silence. "Eh, come on. One of you must know, right?" It was then Githus caught up. Puffing heavily, he looked at the blue haired hero in mild annoyance and frustration. "Kamina! Do you have any idea how many problems this might cause?" "It doesn't matter right now." Kamina replied, uninterested. He pointed someone out from the crowd, a unicorn. One of cyan coat and a cyan mane donning a white strip. Her yellow eyes were staring intently at the tenacious demon leader, not blinking once. "Do you know where I can find some food?" "Y-yes! I know the way! I can take you both there!" The unicorn replied, quite excited, before smiling nervously. "B-but could you answer some questions I have in return?" "What kind of questions?" He asked, raising his eyebrow in curiosity. "Just s-some stuff about..." She laughed lightly and embarrassingly and rubbed the back of her hand with her hoof. "...humans and all..." "Oh! That's it? Well, I'm sure I can answer a few things after I have some food in my gut!" He exclaimed with a hearty grin, before his stomach rumbled again. "So, what's your name pony?" "My name is Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings, sir." She replied nervously, trying her best to smile and control her behaviour. "What's you name?" Kamina grinned, and glanced around. He had father quite the crowd. It was time he made himself known to the world. Pointing towards the heavens, he closed his eyes and his mouth curved. "I am the man that wishes freedom for every being! A demon lord of power and mas-" "His name is Kamina." Githus interrupted, knowing just how long it took for Kamina to introduce himself. "Hey!" The holder of the core drill frowned heavily at the interruption. Stamping his foot down in annoyance. "So... Food?" The griffon reminded, completely ignoring the outburst. Lyra nodded, feeling a bit more confident. "If you'll... Um... Follow me." She said, and began trotting down the street that went north on the crossroad. Kamina sighed and caught up with the group, a bit upset. "Man, I had like a whole crowd of ponies hinging on my every word. Why'd you have to go and ruin that?" "Because by the time it takes you finish, I wouldn't be surprised if the city guard showed up when you did." Githus replied, rolling his eyes. "Let's just go eat, okay? Before we're all brought to the guard station." Ponies still stared, but not in silence, as they watched the trio walk off, their murmurs being of the mysterious human and his purpose here in the city of Manehattan. And this murmuring quickly spread throughout the city and was quickly caught by the guards of the city, which then sent messages of their own to the royal guard of Cantelot, while moving out to learn of the situation. -BREAK-