Colonial Rite Chapter 1
COLONIAL RITE.
SEQUENCE 1.
EQUESTRIAN INTRODUCTION.
Twilight Sparkle stood in a dark room with the only light available coming from candles on a large table in front of her. The young princess was wearing a pair of jeans, lavender sneakers and a sleeveless lavender sweater with a white long sleeved undershirt. A hot pink star with five smaller white stars surrounding it was sewn onto the part of her sweater that covered her left hip.
She suddenly heard the sound of boots hitting the floor and saw the outline of a man appear at the opposite end of the table. "Do you swear to uphold the principles of our order and all that for which we stand?"
The young woman took a deep breath. "I do."
"And never to share our secrets nor divulge the true nature of our work?"
"I do." Twilight glanced around the table, seeing a few of the current members of the organization she was about to join, including a certain silver haired magician, who had a lavender feather, which happened to be a romantic gift from the most recently crowned Equestrian princess, braided into her hair.
"And to do so from now until death – whatever the cost?"
The young woman nodded. "I do." The man then walked around the table and over to her.
"Then we welcome you into our fold, sister. Together we will usher in the dawn of a New World. One defined by purpose and order. Give me your hand." The young princess held out her hand and the man slid a silver ring onto her ring finger. Emblazoned on the ring was a simple insignia, a red cross pattée. "You are a Templar. May the Father of Understanding guide us."
Those gathered put a hand over their hearts. "May the Father of Understanding guide us."
Five weeks ago.
Princess Twilight Sparkle was sitting her castle's library. This evening she was reading the latest edition of Daring Do, Daring Do and the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. It had been a year and a half since she and her friends had defeated Tirek and she and Spike had settled into their new home quite well.
Through the open window she could hear the sounds of a struggle, followed by the angry shouts of two of her friends. She put down the book she was reading and ran out of the library, through the halls of her castle, and eventually ended up outside. There she saw Rainbow Dash and Applejack, surrounded by eight men, two of which were pointing swords at the women.
Rainbow was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt with a rainbow colored lightning bolt in the center of her chest. She was also wearing a pair of blue track shorts and blue sneakers, with her wings flared out in anger.
Applejack was wearing an orange short sleeved shirt with a trio of red apples over her heart, along with her trademarked Stetson, as well as a pair of blue jeans and brown boots. She rushed forward but stopped when she saw Twilight.
"Ladies, we don't want to cause any trouble, all we want to do is meet the person who's in charge around here." The man who spoke was pointing his sword at Rainbow Dash, and he looked like he was ready to defend himself. "This could all be over in a few seconds, just tell us who the person in charge around here is."
"That would be me! Now stop threatening my friends!" Twilight threw a fireball at the ground in between the man who spoke and the man that was pointing a sword at Applejack, only to have the magic ball of flames change course and hit the ground next to the town fountain. "What in the...?"
The man standing in front of Rainbow Dash sheathed his sword. "It seems that your Shard of Eden deflects their magic, just as it deflects musket shot, Haytham."
"Yes, that does seem to be the case, Shay." The man standing in front of Applejack sheathed his sword and turned to two of the other men. "Please put your pistols away." The two men looked at the guns in their hands before returning them to their holsters. "Thank you." The man then turned to face Twilight. "Madame, we need to discuss something of dire importance, but may we discuss it inside, away from prying eyes?"
Twilight narrowed her eyes at the group of eight men, she didn't trust them, but she wanted to hear what they had to say. She also wanted to know why they had attacked Rainbow and Applejack, as well as how they had managed to deflect her spell. "Very well, we may speak inside." Rainbow and Applejack were shocked to hear Twilight would even consider speaking with the men who had attacked them mere seconds ago. "But there are two conditions."
The man who had asked if they could speak inside raised an eyebrow. "And what would those conditions be?"
"I get to bring my friends with us and we get to ask you questions." The two men looked at their companions and received affirmative nods, showing they were ok with it.
"Very well then, we accept your terms." Twilight smiled and asked Rainbow and Applejack to get the others while she made sure their 'guests' were not going to do anything to harm them.
Twilight Sparkle's castle library,
30 minutes later.
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity entered Twilight's castle library ands saw the young princess carefully looking at the men, some of which were reading books.
Pinkie Pie was wearing a pair of sneakers with a white front and pink sides, along with pink shorts and a t-shirt with three balloons in the center of her chest. Fluttershy was wearing yellow sandals and a yellow sundress with three pink butterflies on her chest. Rarity was wearing white high heels, as well as a white business suit that had three blue diamonds over her right breast and a skirt.
Haytham turned and looked at the five women who had just entered the room. "Please, sit down and make yourselves comfortable so that we start our discussion. I am sure you have many questions." The five women did as he asked and sat down, after, checking to make sure there were no tacks on their chairs. "Now I know you all have questions, but may I suggest we introduce ourselves to each other? I would like to know the names of those I am addressing." After the girls told the men their names the man called Haytham, who seemed to be the de facto leader, smiled and stood up.
"It is a pleasure to meet you ladies, I am Haytham Kenway and these are my associates." He pointed to a man examining a map of the Mild West, that showed which native tribes settled on which part of the land. "This man is William Johnson."
The man turned and nodded to the women. "Hello, it is an honor to be in the presence of such beautiful young ladies." He quickly returned his gaze to the map, and Twilight could have sworn she heard him say that half of the natives had signed their land over to him.
Haytham then pointed to a man who was sitting down reading a book on military tactics. "Next, I would like to introduce you to Johnathan Pitcairn."
The man looked up from his book and nodded to the women. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, ladies." He quickly returned to the book, quietly approving and disapproving the tactics described within.
Haytham then pointed to a man who was leaning on a wall. "This man is Thomas Hickey." The man stuck a finger in his ear and started twisting it, trying to remove some earwax. Haytham gave the man a small, disapproving frown. "Very charming Thomas, could you at least try to make a good impression? Especially since we are in the presence of royalty?"
Hickey simply looked back at the man who had addressed him. "An' why should I? I ain't a citizen o' this country!" As the two men glared at one another, the air in the room became so thick that someone could cut it with a knife .
"You have a valid point, Thomas." Everyone looked to a man that was standing up and holding a book on Equestrian economics. "But you should still show respect since the princess was kind enough to invite you inside her castle." The man turned and looked at Twilight before sweeping his arm down, placing it over his chest and bending into a bow. "My name is Benjamin Church. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, your majesty. And I mean no disrespect but, I believe that the Equestrian economy needs to undergo some serious changes."
"The feeling is mutual, and after we're done here, I'd like to hear your suggestions on how to improve the economy." Twilight glanced to the side and saw a man sitting at one of the library's tables reading a book on naval travel and warfare. "Who are you?"
The man closed the book, stood up and looked at Twilight. From the book he was reading, she assumed he was a sailor. "My name is Nicholas Biddle, it is an honor to meet you, your highness." Twilight smiled and nodded at the man, showing that she felt the same. "And this is-"
"I am Charles Lee, and I would appreciate it if you stopped glaring at me, Rainbow Dash." The rainbow haired girl felt the venom in his words, but could tell it was her actions that aggravated him, not her name.
Twilight was upset about the way the man had spoken to her friend, but said nothing. Instead, she looked at the man who had been pointing a sword and dagger at Rainbow Dash when she had first seen the group of men. "And that just leaves you."
"My name is Shay Patrick Cormac, and I am pleased to meet you, your majesty." Shay took Twilight's hand in his own and kissed it.
Twilight pulled her hand back and began to blush. "Oh um, I uhhhhhhh..." The door to the library suddenly burst open and seven men wearing golden armor, carrying swords and spears ran into the large library, followed by two women.
The first was seven inches taller than Twilight and she wore a bright white dress. She had a golden necklace and tiara with large amethysts in the center of each piece. Her hair was a mix of pink, green and blue that seemed to blow in a non existent wind. Thomas immediately started eyeing the jewelry, noting that they would fetch a pretty pound back home. The woman quickly ran over to Twilight and hugged her. "Are you alright Twilight?"
The other woman was an inch taller than Twilight and was wearing a dark blue dress. She had a dark blue, almost black tiara and necklace that had a silver crescent moon emblazoned on them, and her hair looked like the night sky and in blew in an ethereal wind. She stood in place glared at the eight men, a sense of pure rage emanating from her. "I don't know who you are, but anyone who threatens the Elements of Harmony are enemies of Equestria and- Are you really trying to scare us with L shaped pieces of metal?" Every single one of the Templars, excluding Johnson, had pulled out their pistols and pointed them at a soldier, as well as Celestia and Luna.
Pitcairn remembered the battle in the Colonies where he and his regiment had first spilled the Patriot's blood, and decided to try and get these soldiers to surrender, just as he had tried to get the Patriots to lay down their weapons in order to prevent a war, which he failed to do. "Lay down your damn arms! I said lay down your arms and do not attack ya' damned soldiers! Else we'll be forced to cut ya' down faster than my regiment cut down the rebels in Lexington!" This only got looks of confusion from Luna and the soldiers.
Johnson began to look between Celestia and his fellow Templars. "Please brothers! Have you forgotten that we only wish for peace!? And please call off the soldiers!" At that moment Twilight looked at the soldiers and closed her eyes.
"Stand down..." She opened her eyes and saw the soldiers and the men that she invited into the castle were still ready to fight. "I said stand down! Both sides will stand down this instant!" Celestia looked at her former student and frowned.
"Twilight, why are you protecting them? They attacked Applejack and Rainbow Dash!" Twilight's face twisted into a frown
"Princess Celestia, I'm protecting them because they didn't attack Rainbow and Applejack. Applejack and Rainbow attacked them!" The two women looked away guiltily. "So please, call off the soldiers..."
There was a snort and Celestia turned to see one of the guards had not obeyed Twilight's command. "Soldier, stand down. If Twilight says-"
"With all due respect princess, you are too forgiving and these men must pay for their crimes against Equestria!" The soldier drew his sword and charged toward Pitcairn, who happened to be the closest, only to get shot in the shoulder. The soldier quickly fell backwards and grabbed his wounded shoulder before crying out in pain.
Luna watched as Pitcairn put his pistol away. After he had done so, Luna slowly made her way over to the guard. "W-what did you do?" The Redcoat raised an eyebrow at the woman.
"I defended myself." The man walked over to the soldier he had shot and bent down so they were eye level. "I'll let ya' live since, I too, am a soldier and I understand that ya' want to protect your country. But if ya' attack me or my associates again, I won't be as merciful." The British Major stood up and walked back over to where he had been standing when he fired his pistol.
Twilight looked at the guards and their wounded companion. "Leave us. Take him to Ponyville General and then return to Canterlot." One of the soldiers opened his mouth to protest, but Twilight cut him off. "That is an order!" The soldiers reluctantly obeyed and left, taking the wounded man with them. Twilight then turned and looked at her fellow princesses. "Celestia, Luna, we were just about to have a conversation with my guests, would you like to stay and ask them some questions?" The two princesses nodded and walked over to a reading couch big enough for three, never taking their eyes off of Twilight's guests once. "Great, now I'll let my guests introduce themselves and we can get started."
The men quickly introduced themselves once again before the questions started, the first of which came from Twilight. "So, Haytham, how did you manage to deflect my spell? I heard Shay mention a 'Shard of Eden' what was he talking about?" The two elder princesses froze when they heard the word 'Eden'. This did not go unnoticed by the group of Templars, even though they remained silent for the moment.
Haytham raised his left hand and pointed to the simple brass ring he was wearing. "This, my dear Twilight, is a Shard of Eden." Twilight burst out laughing, not believing that a ring could deflect her spell.
"Pieces of Eden are not things to laugh about Twilight Sparkle." The entire room went silent as the women all looked at Luna, except Celestia, who was cautiously eyeing the ring on Haytham's finger. "Pieces of Eden are powerful artifacts. Some such as Haytham's Shard, are able to deflect projectiles, while others, such as Staves, can create flawless illusions, and Swords, can make people great warriors and leaders, as well as project bolts of lightning."
Luna took a deep breath before looking at Twilight and the other Element Bearers. "All six of you have already witnessed the power of eight different Pieces of Eden, those being the Elements of Harmony, Crystal Heart and the Alicorn Amulet."
The girls' eyes all went wide, apparently the ring Haytham was wearing could be grouped together with some of the most powerful artifacts made by Equestrian magic. "If that thing is so powerful, than how did they get it?" The women all looked at Pinkie Pie and raised an eyebrow. "I mean, shouldn't it have been hidden away like the Elements of Harmony?"
The girls suddenly heard Thomas burst out laughing. "Wot' are ya' serious? People 'ave been huntin' these things down for centuries in our world!"
Haytham coughed, managing to get the girls' attention. "I am quite interested in the Pieces of Eden that you mentioned... Is it Princess Luna, or simply Luna? Anyway what do they look like? What do they do?" After a few minutes he sighed. "I see that you shall not tell us simply because we asked you, so maybe we can workout a trade." Haytham took a deep breath and turned towards Celestia. "If you tell us about these Pieces of Eden that you have seen, we shall tell you the names of some nobles who plan to overthrow you and take control of your nation." The room went silent and the world around the men began to turn into pixels before vanishing.
COLONIAL RITE.
SEQUENCE 1 COMPLETED.
DATA SYNCHRONIZED.
LOADING NEXT SEQUENCE.