At BroNYCon 2013, an ancient power transforms, then sends a lot of MLP fans to Equestria.
When a large group of bronies gather in New York it really annoys someone. Someone powerful. And they take it upon themselves to deal with it. By sending them to the very land they love, Equestria! After arriving, not sure where they are, and wondering how it is that they've all changed. (And not all into ponies) They immediately gather into an organized force to defend their beloved ponies from any outside threats. Including themselves.
Man, Sarah was sick of it. She got it already, there were full grown men who liked My Little Pony. Good for them. No reason she had to see it all the time on the internet. Everywhere she went they butted in. 4Chan, Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, DeviantART, Google! She couldn't remember how many times she'd search the site for some innocuous thing and to find some brightly colored pony with a "funny" caption. Or a gif of another doing nothing more than smiling and moving it's head back and forth. She sighed, looking out the window of her cab. A poster hung on a bus stop.
BroNYCon Saturday September 21st, 2013 Pineview Center Worth & Broadway
Uggh. Did there really need to be an entire convention? For one show? It didn't bug her that they enjoyed the show. Only that they enjoyed it SO MUCH. She wished they'd all just die. No.. that was too harsh. They didn't really deserve death. She just wanted them either gone, like, off the Earth, or just calm. For them to just chill out already.
"Here you go" she said to her cab driver as she handed him her fare and tip. She got out of the cab and grabbed her handbag. She took a brief look at her apartment building. Three stories high and a kind of clay red. A metal door stuck in the center and pushed in from the cigarette butt laden sidewalk. A black fire escape criss-crossed the front the building. A landing in front each window. An air conditioner buzzed quietly, poking out of the window of her downstairs neighbor, leaking the occasional water droplet. 'I should get one of those', she thought.
She pulled her keys out of her handbag. "Darn it!" She cursed under her breath when she accidentally knocked her Book of Shadows onto the sidewalk. She wasn't worried about anyone seeing. With all the new-agey stuff and people over this city, it actually blended in well. Picking it up she thought of it's ancient past. Well, technically it was only as old as her, but it was ancient in it's own right. Sarah had come from a long line of very powerful witches. One of whom was even blamed for the Black Plague that hit Europe in the mid 1300's. They had moved to the Americas with the Pilgrims in the 1600's. And subsequently went into hiding after the Salem witch trials.
Magic worked similar to whatever energy was in that show "Highlander". It was spread evenly among all those humans who could wield it. Meaning, there more who had it, the weaker each person's individual power was. And as of September 2001, Sarah was one of the two last humans on earth who had magical ability. Making her very powerful indeed. She didn't know who the other witch was, only that they were older than her.
Lifting the surprisingly hefty tome back into her handbag, Sarah smiled at the weight. When a witch or warlock dies, Magic's flow carried his or her knowledge to every Book of Shadows in existence. And the BoS that belonged to the deceased would turn to ash and blow away in the breeze.
Sarah got her keys back out and opened the door. And noticed a BroNYCon poster beside the apartment mailboxes. Lord, there was one in her own building! Sarah decided she'd had enough.....
A/N: I'm not familiar with New York City as I've never been. So I have no idea what's at Worth and Broadway, I Google mapped the location. Essentially throwing a dart with the target being somewhere in lower Manhattan. As that is all my story called for. I doubt I've even got the right date for the BroNYCon in late 2013. For the sake of continuity This story and it's sequel take place in an alternate earth. Very similar to our own, but with minor differences. Like Magic and locations.
By the way, I want brutal honesty when it comes to this story. Especially when it comes to spelling and grammar. I'd very much appreciate it.
"HEY!!" I shot up like a freaking rocket out of my bed.
"Damnit Mandy! I hate it when you do that" I said to my next door neighbor, who had just screamed into my open window. She cackled loudly, always enjoying freaking me out.
"I'm coming back in a half hour, I better not be coming back to wake you up again." Recovering from the shock, I fell back onto my very, very comfortable bed. Having been out of work for about a year now, I was no longer used to waking up involuntarily. Despite my body's demand that I go back to sleep I was glad that she woke me up. Today would be the start of a very awesome weekend. I struggled to maintain consciousness. It was a tough battle, but I won. Moving like a zombie, complete with moaning and everything, I managed to get a change of clothes and get in the shower. The warm water combined with the efforts of spreading soap and shampoo served to wake me up further. As I dried myself off I glanced in the mirror. I wasn't all that great looking, consciously, I knew that, but sometime in my late teens I gained a bit of a narcissistic streak. "Damn, I'm sexy" I said out loud. And I spent about a minute admiring myself. I was about 5'11" with long black hair that fell below my shoulders, I had started to develop man-boobs, My eyeglasses sat on top of a large nose and my beer gut was a good four inches closer to the mirror than the rest of me. Staring at the mirror was less self attraction and more early morning zoning out. It occurred to me that I had called myself sexy and then stood there staring at the mirror, the ridiculousness of that combined with nerves and excitement caused me to crack up laughing.
"Yo, Steven, you alright? What's so funny?" My roommate and best friend Max asked, calling from the living room.
"Not much man, don't worry about it" Max was my greatest friend from High School. When I fell on hard times he took me in. And he's barely lifted a finger since. Beyond work, I mean. Not wanting to be a burden I stay out of the house for the better part of the day, coming home usually when he leaves for work. I didn't really do much, just job hunt. Walking store to store right around our neighborhood submitting, or checking on, applications. Then coming home and grabbing the car to check sites further away so as to use as little gas as possible. When I got home I usually just cleaned what little mess Max had made during the day before making myself something quick to eat and settling down onto my computer to chill for a few hours on the internet. Provided Amanda or Tony don't feel like socializing. Which they do. Often. I'm not complaining... much. I'm just not the socializing type. I prefer to spend my time alone in my head, or with fictional characters in either text or video format. A lot less stress. But Mandy and Tony are really nice people, and I get along with them well. So I try to get over my social anxiety and spend time with 'em.
Amanda and Tony were brother and sister. They moved in together next door to Max about two years before I lost my job. And they've been friends with Max and I for two and a half years. It was a strange coincidence meeting them. In our small city in Tennessee our kind were not common. Our kind being geek/goth hybrid types. Well, Max and Tony were only geeks. Nothing gothic about them. Now, if your reading "gothic" and your thinking "emo", Mandy and I have one thing to say to you. 'Fuck you. And kiss our pale asses.' Being older goths we're A: Subtle and B: Not from a time when "emo" was a thing. As far as we're concerned they are a stain upon the color black. ...Not that we care. We just hate that we're mistaken for those depressing tween pukes.
I dried myself off and put on some simple black clothing. Even my underwear and socks were black. Not that anybody'd see them. Heck no one would see my belt either. I chuckled a little at the thought. I put on my leather jacket sprayed some cologne on and walked out into the living room.
"I can't believe we're going to New york to attend a convention... for fucking ponies." Max said as I plopped down onto the couch.
"Hey man, you don't need to come"
"And miss a free trip to New York? Yeah, right. I can deal with your ponies long enough to check out New York."
"Why do you even wanna go? The only reason I'm going is the convention. There is literally nothing else to do there" Max lifted an eyebrow, then, sighing, said "Just because you lack imagination doesn't mean I do. Besides, it's something I can check off my bucket list"
"Bucket list? Something you wanna tell me?" I said, suddenly a little worried
"What? No. I mean like.. it's one of those things you gotta do at least once in your life, like getting laid or riding a rollercoaster" It was my turn to raise an eyebrow "When did you get laid?" I asked. Max's face fell into a very neutral expression "It's a long list" he said flatly. There was a knock on the door and our heads swiveled to the front door. "Who is it?" I asked.
"Who do you think?" Replied Tony's deep voice. Normally at this point he would've just walked in. Instead he said, "You comin' or what? We need to be on the freeway in a half hour if we wanna stay at a hotel. Otherwise it's going to be a long, unbroken drive. And I'm not doing-- Well, glad to see you're ready" He smiled as the door opened.
-||-||-||-||-
Sarah had just finished buying the ingredients for her spell. It wasn't going to be as accurate as she'd hoped as a result of some of the ingredients being either extremely rare to the point of bank account breaking, or just non-existent altogether. But that was only a few ingredients and their substitutes would work well. Just not as well. When the spell was cast a violent and sudden electrical storm would build over New York. Lightning would hit randomly all over the city and "somehow" cause or ignite as gas explosion at the convention.
In doing her research like a proper witch she had found out that the land that the characters from the show that the bronies were so fascinated by was indeed real. This astounded her and, curious, she learned more. Apparently there was a thin connection to that universe and the one they currently occupied. The original creator of My Little Pony had been a witch. He was able to catch vague and brief glimpses of the world and it inspired him to make a line of toys for girls. She also discovered that Lauren Faust was the other witch in the world and having half the magic left, was able to get a much clearer sight into the world of Equestria. Sarah hazarded a guess that a lot of the cartoons that Lauren had made were either based off of, or loosely guided by, real alternative universes. It was curious that Earthly Magic had two ties to Equestria already, and would soon be getting a third. Because it was Sarah's intent to send every brony attending BroNYCon there. Even if they didn't want to go. She still felt they didn't need to die. She knew a few bronies. They were nice guys. Just heavily annoying in a group. Or on the internet.
She tried to find a spell that would lessen their group impact but failed. She guessed if that spell existed the burnings at the stake wouldn't have taken place. What she did however find was a few wish fulfillment spells. She combined them and tweaked them along with a trans-universal spell, created by Einstein in the 40's, to make a spell that would change each bronies physical appearance to match that of their fantasy selves. (Not really understanding geeks very well, Sarah assumed all bronies wished to be MLP: FiM style OC ponies.) After that happened a portal would open and drop the bronies in the center of 'Ponyville'. Just after the portal activation she would create false, charred, bodies. One for every person in the building, covering her tracks entirely.
She figured this would solve her problem in three ways: 1: Large sum of bronies removed from her plane of existence. 2: The apparent explosion would be difficult to explain, and murder would be considered to be highly probable by the public, thus quieting the brony community for fear of violent retaliation. 3: With bronies calmer, the "haters" would also calm down. And the internet would be free of the intrusive presence that is the MLP fandom.
We've been on the road for two days. A very boring two days. We've played a number of road games, sung Smile Smile Smile 5 times and Winter Wrap up twice, Much to Max's chargin, although I coulda sworn I saw him silently singing along a few times. The memory draws a smile to my face. But now we're here! New York City. Where the smog is heavy and the muggers abundant. I really don't get why Max wants to be here.
The hotel we're staying at is nice. One of those four star deals I don't get to stay at very often. I'm glad Mandy and Tony are paying for this. Although I think they know that they can hang this over my head for a few years. After we check in and get our stuff put away I start bouncing up and down excitedly, "We're here! We're here! We're here! Omigoshomigoshomigosh!" Imitating a Rainbow Dash/Pinkie Pie Crossbreed. Annoyed, Mandy puts her on my shoulder and in an excellent Applejack impression says "Whoa, nelly. Calm your boots there sugarcube." Of course I'm still excited. Annoyingly so. So hearing an applejack impression immediately following my own combined impression only makes me start in on a giggling fit as I roll on the twin bed nearest the window. It wasn't that funny, but I was in a really good mood and excitable.
"You're acting just like Pinkie Pie, cut it out" says Tony. He really doesn't like Pinkie. Which I just don't get. I mean, she's Best Pony. His favorite is Applejack. Although, I guess that makes sense, him being a southerner. And in case you're wondering I'm native to New England. Max and I moved to Tennessee in 2008 with our families when the company that employed them moved a lot of jobs down south.
Mandy's favorite is Rarity. Which also makes sense. Mandy frequents a chatroom program called IMVU. A 3D Chat program where you can create clothes and buy pre-made clothes from others. She's amassed a very large collection of digital clothing for her avatar and a network of friends all over the world that she exchanges stuff with through the mail. I never really got into IMVU. I tried, so I can hang out with her. But it's not my thing. Like at all. Although IMVU did teach me that being popular flat sucks. Useless drama everywhere. I don't know why people desire that status.
"Oh yeah? Well you're acting like...." I pause, looking at the floor in concentration. Trying to think of a character that would accurately reflect his actions, but would insult him. Too much time has passed, so I come up with something very clever and highly original. "..an ass." Tony raises his eyebrows at me incredulously.
"Yeah... okay then. Anyway, we gonna go? I didn't come to New york to be poorly insulted in a hotel room" Mandy said "Finally!" and we exited the hotel room.
"Hey, Wait for me!" yelled Max just as the hotel room door closed. The sound of a toilet flushing could be heard through the door.
"Where you going?" I asked him
"I'm.... I'm coming with" I stared at him.
"I thought you hated ponies"
"I don't hate them, not really, I just find the fanbase annoying"
"You find the fanbase annoying, and you wanna come with us, to BroNYCon?"
"I don't actually have any other plans right now and I'd rather not be alone." I narrow my eyes at him, slightly confused.
"Whatever. Let's just go."
*****
Sarah was set up. All ready to go. Just a few more minutes until the peak of the convention. She wanted to get the most bronies she possibly could.
*****
The crowd was enormous. So many people who love the ponies as much as I do! I saw a group of guys who are arguing with someone that, yes, Equestria was real, and yes, they could totally 'make it' with the Mane 6. '..and a few who love ponies more than I do!' I thought smiling. It was quite refreshing. Until today I'd only met two people who were bronies. And I turned them myself. Now I was in a room with thousands.
"Hey guys, I'm gonna check out the Fighting is Magic panel. Find out if they're finally gonna add Derpy or not. Wanna come with?"
"Sure" shrugged Mandy and Tony. Max, however, decided he'd already had enough. And it turns out he did have plans for the the day. He was gonna wait in line to 'get inside lady liberty, giggity'. "I'm out, peace" max said turning and giving a quick three fingered wave. I just shrugged and made my through the crowd.
Sitting in the back of a large room with tons of dudes with the panel distant and small was not quite how I pictured this going. I'm used to watching these things on YouTube. Now it was just bad smells and seemingly disembodied voices.
"Hey, you catching any of this? I'm a little hard of hearing." said some random guy to my left. It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me.
"Nah man, sorry"
"Name's Snake, by the way" said snake, extending his hand. I shook it.
"Snake?"
"Yeah, it's my alternate name. I prefer to call everybody by their chosen names. No birth names here."
"Oh, well my name's Soulless."
"Nice to meet you dude," Snake turned to the guy on his left "Hey, Arrow, wake up." snake pushed him lightly a few times.
"I'm awake! I wasn't lulled to sleep by the sound of droning electronically enhanced voices or anything" 'Arrow' said groggily while yawning and rubbing his face.
"Really? Looked like you were asleep to me. Anyway, meet Soulless" Arrow looked at me with half lidded eyes.
"Yeah. Cool. What's up man?" He asked reaching over Snake to offer handshake. I look at his hand.
"No offense, but I saw where that hand was just now. No thanks." he retracted the hand but I thought I heard him mumble "Your loss, lots o' people wanna touch the arrowhead."
The Mane6 panel concluded. And I wasn't sure if I liked the planned updates. Except of course for the addition of Derpy! That was awesome. As we left the room I caught up with Mandy and Tony and introduced them to Snake and Arrow. Noting Snake's name penchant I used Mandy and Tony's alts.
"Snake, Arrow, this is Tragedia, or Tragedy," I pointed to Mandy "And her big brother PinkDeath, or Pink" pointed to Tony. I had thought about it and I wondered why I had stopped that practice myself. Referring to someone by their chosen name instead of their given name. I figured it's not too late to start showing that respect again.
"Pink, huh?" asked Arrow sniffling, eyes still half lidded despite it being a good 15 minutes since Snake woke him up "Pinkie Pie your favorite?" Pink glared at Arrow.
"No, actually. I came up with my name in 2009. You know, before the first season even aired?"
"Chill brah, it's cool." I could tell Pink was annoyed, he was a no nonsense kinda guy, and I was beginning to suspect Arrow was a total stoner. But Pink was a reasonable enough man, and knew the guy didn't know about Pink's rather odd dislike for Pinkie, which, now that I think about it, I guess I understand. Everyone suddenly thinking you like Pinkie Pie because of your name.
"Whatever, hey, we're going over to Tara Strong's spot. Gonna get a couple of things signed. You guys wanna come with?" Tragedy asked Snake and Arrow.
"Yeah, sure" as we walked through the massive building holding the convention I noticed it begin to shake a little with the storm that had been building. A sudden gust rocked the building a little, causing a few lights to flicker and some plaster dust to fall from the ceiling. Some people let out a startled gasp followed by nervous laughter.
"That was something." I said.
"It's just the New York layout. The tall buildings making narrow pathways, funnel and enhance the wind." informed Snake.
"That makes sense" Tragedy said. Another gust of wind and the building actually shook. One of the lights didn't come back on and Arrow was picking himself up. The only one to lose his footing. A lot of the people milling about were becoming animated in their movements. That had me on edge. I was sure most of these people were locals. "That is A LOT of lightning" I heard someone shout. I moved towards a window, where a small crowd had gathered. Looking up I saw one of the most spectacular lightning shows I'd seen in a long time.
Bang!
"What was that?" I whirled around and saw one of the exits that had been opened, was now closed. No big deal, except that all the exits had followed suit. In order. Including the windows. 'Huh,' I thought '...odd.' I no longer saw the outside world. But I really wanted see that storm. So I attempted to open a window. To no avail. I saw a mass of people trying to get out of every exit. Not that everyone was trying to get out. Most were content. But the locked doors made the occasional leaving brony group up with the other occasional leaving brony.
"It looks like we're locked in!" someone called out. I looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was... Overture! Overture was one of the latest YouTube MLP stars. Noted for creating one of the greatest fanfics since My Little Dashie in early 2013. And then it was discovered his musical talent was even better than his writing. And I had favorited probably half of his videos. "So I suggest you sit your flanks and wait out the storm" Those of us piled at the door turned and began milling about. I tried to find my friends but I had apparently lost them in the sea of people when I went to look at the lightning. "Buck me.." Another shaking of the building, There were a few screams and a lot of people lost their footing, some falling outright. A lot more dust fell this time.
"Is everyone alright?" Overture again. There was some grumbling but most voiced their overall well-being. "Some storm, eh?" The building shook again. This time everyone fell. I hit my head pretty hard the floor. "Ow" I held the back of my head and rolled onto my back slowly "That... really freaking hurt!" Satisfied that the universe was thoroughly chastised and it had learned it's lesson, I looked around: It was mostly silent. Only one of the lights had returned and it was in a hallway off to the side and as such it didn't provide as much light as it probably could have. Some wires had come loose in the ceiling and were dangling through the tiles, sparks dancing off the linoleum and causing the occasional flash. It was like a broken rave. The strobe light was bought at flea market set up suspiciously next to a junkyard and the E made everyone sick.
The makeshift walls and other stands that had not been properly secured were strewn about the room. I called out Pink's name, hoping to regroup with the others. As I do it starts a cacophony of others calling out. I begin to stand and a brilliant white flash of light and warmth flows over me. I feel myself.... changing. My arms lengthen, my legs lengthen, my eyes feel dry and my vision blurs. My back itches like crazy. I look down and see my clothes changing. Shrinking in some ways, lengthening in others. It hurts my stomach, and then, my stomach recedes. I see the weirdest thing.... my toes.
I look around and see nothing but a field of white. White above, white below, featureless white everywhere. I'm just waiting for a weapon rack to come zooming at of nowhere at 80 miles per hour. The only thing I see that's not white is everyone from the convention. A few were just lying still, but most were twisting and changing. I see someone fall down on all fours as he starts screaming. I watch as his arms shorten, his skin grows red, his hair lengthens to his back... I don't know what's going on, the sight is revolting. Looking away I spot a larger female as she thins out, her breasts engorge, her hair becomes silkier looking. Her face transforms, her mono brow tweezed and separated. Her acne vanishes, her facial hair disappears. I'm glad she's unconscious because I get the feeling I'm watching a private moment. Everywhere I look I see people changing. Some into merely attractive versions of themselves. Some into something wholly unrecognizable. The itch in my back suddenly grows out of nowhere into an unbearable pain, I scream out and vomit. Then, the light vanishes as quickly as it had come. Feeling very weak, I collapse into my own vomit, to weak to move, but aware enough to think 'Eeeew' The last thing I see before slipping into unconsciousness is the world around me splitting apart. Like everything was actually made up of tiny particles and the slightest movement would potentially ripple those particles.
And someone threw a freaking boulder into that sea of particles.
*****
Birds. I hear birds. Many species of songbirds. It must be morning already. I sit up, groggy.
"Ow my head" I moan as I rub said head. "Eeew, my face" I cringe as my hand becomes covered in vomit. I wipe my hand on the grass, and, remembering where that hand was when it got covered, I wipe my face on the grass. Careful not to rub the same place twice. I look around me and see a mass of people. And creatures. All moaning and waking just as I had done. The phrases "Ow my head" and "What happened last night?" were uttered more than the entirety of a single hotel in Vegas on New Years morning. I looked at my surroundings. We were in no hotel. Nor, for that matter, were we even inside a building. Guess I should have figured that with the grass and all. But hey! I was disorientated, alright? Wherever we were we were in.. a jungle? What? Last I checked the nearest jungle was.... South America? And the fresh vomit suggests I wasn't out long. Unless.... did someone puke on me to confuse me? Eeew. Those bastards. I think I might break my no killing rule.
"Hey man, you alright?" A man in what appeared to be the best Green Arrow cosplay I'd ever seen asked me.
"Yeah, I'm fine" I noticed the pot leaf emblem on his chest..... "Arrow?"
"Yeah man, how'd you know?"
"I just... you look very different." Which is saying something. Arrow was kind of a fat man. Not quite fluffy, but getting there. Now he was fit.... and blonde. How do you do that in the span of a minute? How the hell did I recognize him? Obviously someone puked on me. Yup, definitely gonna have kill someone.
"You do too man" he produced a joint out of his utility belt, he lit up, breathing in the smoke "Nice wings, man" he said, obviously holding it in.
"I'm sorry, what? I thought you said 'wings'"
"I did man. Here, look." He put the joint in his lips, squinting against the smoke as he reached behind me. And he grabbed my wing, hard
"Ow, motherfucker....." I trailed off and looked behind me. Wings. MY wings. The ones I always imagined myself having. Not avian, like an angels or a pegasus' but mammalian, or reptilian. Like a bat, or dragon's. Mostly a deep black with some beautiful brick red pattering on the 'fingers' of the wings. The membrane had holes in it. Like I had escaped a fire. I felt them connect to my back. Right between my shoulder blades. I found I could move them with ease. However, I wanted to know more about our situation, so I disappointingly folded them on my back. The tips poking above my shoulders, the bottom most part ended just above my ankles. Even folded they were pretty as hell. Oh, I really wanted to test them out. I turned to continue my conversation with Arrow but he apparently had other places to be.
There were a lot of strange things going on. I went around the crowd, as it would seem everyone was doing so too. Everyone eyeing each other up. People calling out random names, Most of which were obviously screen names and the like. I saw a short green kid with monkey tail. I was about to talk to him when he changed into a green cheetah and went after someone. In a corner of the group I saw a trio of look alikes. Each built like a brick shit house and wearing the same red and blue outfit. I went up to them, mouth agape.
"S-s-superman?"
"Yeah?" All three of 'em looked at me with the same face. And spoke in the same voice. The middle superman, seemingly annoyed, glared at me, and shot me with freaking heat vision!
"Holy shit dude, I didn't mean to do that! Sorry! Good thing I missed." I looked at my feet. right in front of them was a spot of steaming, scorched earth. I looked back up at the trio. Middle Superman's face seemed to reflect his change in mood. Accepting his apology and not wanting to be around a freaking Kryptonian, let alone three, I continued to mill about the crowd. As I looked around I saw more famous superheroes. as well as some superheroes I had never seen before, If my own body was any indication, these were probably made up heroes or mutants or what have you. I saw humans. Just regular, but attractive, humans forming a group together. I saw ponies... wait what? Ponies. A large herd of 'em. OC's. I could tell they were OC's because their coloring was more commonly darker than those of the show. In a group it was kind of unnerving actually. Like Rainbow Dash covered in blood. It was dark and unnatural.
"Everypony! Everyone could I get your attention please?" The voice was Overture's. It was coming from.... Discord?! What the hell? He was standing on a fallen tree on the edge of the crowd, forming a kind of impromptu stage. As I looked around I noticed there were a lot of fallen trees around. All of them seeming to have fallen away from us. "It seems we're no longer in New York City"
"Duh!" Someone yelled from the crowd. This was greeted with light laughter. I guess with everyone changing into something, seeing Discord talk to us, with Overture's voice, wasn't enough to freak people out. Although my jaw was having a hard time getting off the forest floor.
"Unless of course we are still in New York" His yellow eyes scanned the crowd. There was murmuring throughout at that ridiculous comment. "To be honest, I'm not ruling out time travel. This could very well be a prehistoric, or a vastly advanced New York." Someone shouted back "We in the fucking JUNGLE man, how is that advanced?"
"I don't mean technologically advanced, but the animals could be highly evolved forms of animals we know" That same voice spoke up again "I don't believe in that evolution shit, I am not the offspring of a monkey that had sex with a retarded fish-frog" His friend spoke up next, and I silently vowed to one day end their lives "You mean to tell me my cat might've banged my pet scorpion, and now we have to deal with a Manticore?" This brought a lot of laughter that was very quickly silenced as everyone's head began twisting, trying to get a better look at their environment. ...........
"Anypony see any blue flowers?" someone asked quietly.
"Okay, so it is possible, but highly unlikely, that we're all in Equestria. The Everfree forest to be exact, if fanfiction is to be any indication.." Overture, already seven feet tall, was given that extra height on the log. His voice carried beautifully. I guess that's to be expected when you sing that well. At the sound of someone actually saying 'Equestria' aloud people kinda started freaking. The more rational saying simply, 'well that's just not possible'. Some of those rational people said this while scratching their chins with hooves. The average of us were simply cheering mildly. However, the obsessed, ran from the group. More than likely in search of Ponyville, If indeed that's where we were. But there was no confirmation of that. It was nothing more than far fetched speculation by a bunch bronies and geeks that had just undergone a very strange event. But given said event, no one was really counting it out.
"Someone with speed, GRAB THOSE FOOLS!" yelled Overture, pointing towards the obsessed who were running away.
"Alright, time to try these babies out" I said, giving my wings a short extension and flap. Here's hoping they don't just look as awesome as I had imagined them, but they work as awesome as I had imagined. I gave a quick run and jump, extending my wings and flapping them. And to my mild surprise, they worked! Focusing on my targets I gain speed, flying through branches with acrobatic skill that would make Rainbow Dash.... laugh. Frankly I think I hit every freakin' tree branch in 'Everfree'. The cheetah boy I had seen earlier was right behind me and gaining. He pushed by easily tackling one of the obsessed to the ground. Becoming a green gorilla to keep him pinned. I grab the other one underneath his armpits and fly up. He crosses his arms and pouts. Bottom lip pursed. I fly him to the clearing we were in and settle him in front of Overture. Feet planted he again tries to run. Not actually wanting to chase him I clothesline him before he can get two feet. Overture looks at me quizzically "The other?"
"He's being held in place by green gorilla." I said. Overture looked at me with one large fuzzy white eyebrow raised
"Okaaay... anyway," he looked back at the crowd as the green gorilla lumbered back in, carrying what I could only describe as an Argonian. "No matter where we are, it's zombie apocalypse rules" That one jack-ass had to speak again "What's that mean?" there was an audible moan from pretty much everybody. "It means, stay in a group. Do not go out on your own. Bring a partner to go to the bathroom, that kind of thing."
"I ain't doin' that. Nuh uh, nigga. No way."
"Can I kill him?" I asked no one in particular, far louder than I thought. Everyone was staring at me. Then someone said, "If you don't I will. Ever since I got here all I can think of is blood." Looking for the source of the question the crowd turned to a geeky looking dude, with fangs in place of incisors and pure black eyes. He stood there leaning against a tree and shrugged, half smiling.
"As much as I'm sure a lot of us want that moron dead, there will be no killing. Absolutely none. Until we're absolutely sure we're not in Equestria, nopony will be eating meat either." Groans. Even I was upset. Now I really wanted to go home. The one kid who offered to do my job spoke up at this. "I'm a freaking VAMPIRE! How am I gonna survive?" That was met with a lot of agreements from other carnivorous creatures. And very hungry humans.
One woman, dressed in a frilly gothic dress that Tradgedia would probably salivate over spoke up, "What makes you think we're in Equestria? That's a bit of a ridiculous assumption"
"I'm not sure." He stated simply. "But have you ever read any mlp fan fiction?"
"Well, no. I watch the show. And I attended this years convention. That's as far as my pegasister conviction goes." Addressing the crowd Disco- I mean Overture asked, "Show of hands, how many of you have read human in Equestria fiction?" just about everyone rose their hands. "Okay," Overture continued "Keep your hands up, and lower them only if you have not read this framing device: Human plus mysterious event or death equals sudden appearance in the Everfree forest." I saw one hand go down. The rest, an uncountable number of hands, remained. "Okay, now for my own curiosity, put your hand down if this never happened: Person in Everfree is attacked by a Manticore." No hands went down. "Yeah, that's what I thought, okay, you can put your hands down now."
"Okay," someone in the distance yelled, trying to get his voice heard. "But us being in Equestria is very far fetched. As weird as all of this is, whose to say we're not part of some government LSD experiment?"
"No one's saying we're not. As I had mentioned time travel and all that before, I'm open to many possibilities. Equestria is one of many, but takes a large portion of our collective emotional processes to, well, process. And as a result it becomes the primary possibility that we need to either confirm, or rule out to get things done. And maybe find a way home." That seemed to quiet people down as they thought about it before the forest was quickly filled with the dull roar of a crowd speaking to one another.
"Hey, what was your name again?" Overture was speaking quieter. And looking at me. I turned quickly once I realized he was talking to me. "Oh, sorry. I never actually said. It's Soulless"
"Hmm, it fits" he says, giving me a once over. Feeling self conscious I do the same, and realize my wings aren't all that's different. My leather jacket, is now a Devil May Cry style black trench, my black boots are combats, I have a new necklace. An inverted cross. Seeing my toes I'm reminded of the change. Curious, I lift my shirt. Sweet Celestia I have a fuckin' six-pack. Must rub. Rubbity-rub-rub. Mmm. That's some some good muscle tone. Sweet. I touch my face and realize my glasses have changed shape, pulling them off to get a better look at them I'm blinded by the unbelievable brightness of the world. My eyes work fine, and my eyeglasses have become round lensed black sunglasses. Which I immediately return to my face. It seems I'm highly photo-sensitive now, but my vision otherwise is now perfect. Might even be better than normal. It takes a second for my eyes to re-adjust. When they do Overture is staring at me, a smile on his face. "You done?" Overture asks. Scratching the back of my head I reply sheepishly, "Yeah".
"I have a ... mission for you, Soulless"
"Yeah?"
"So far you're the only confirmed flight capable being," I eye the trio of Kryptonians "Like I said, only confirmed flight capable. Fly up, get an aerial view. Find something that either confirms or denies the Equestrian Hypothesis."
"You got it, sir" Giving him a mock salute and frown. Smile clearly showing through it, though. I extend my wings and hear someone whisper "Beautiful!" only to realize it was me. Slightly embarrassed I flapped my wings hard, flying straight into the air, clearing the canopy. I see nothing but forest, I do a slow 360 spin and.... My breath catches, there it is. A small town probably a mile and a half away, on the edge of the forest. I try and make out what form of life lives there. My brain saying it's not possible, but part of me is really hoping to see colored horses. It's too far, I can't see anything. Noting the position of the sun I glide back down.
"There's a small, medieval looking town, about a mile and a half that way. West." I add. "It's looking possible, but I couldn't make out what the locals look like. Also, it's going to be nighttime soon. Assuming your 'Equestrian Hypothesis' is correct, I don't want to be in this area for very much longer" Overture nods, listening.
"Okay, fly over to that town, but be discreet. We don't want you scaring anyone. I need confirmation or denial. We need a plan of action. As you said, it's getting late. Be quick" Overture doesn't need to tell me twice. I flap my wings and I fly straight into the air. Once I'm above the canopy I fold my wings in and lean backwards, making myself horizontal, but upside down. I rotate so that my stomach faces the ground and extend my wings back out, catching a thermal and keeping myself aloft. Facing the direction of the small patch of civilization I had spotted earlier, I flap my wings a little harder, directing the air behind me. It only takes me about 30 seconds what might have taken 15 minutes on a sidewalk, or half an hour through the forest. I struggle to quietly slow myself, not expecting my own speed. Barely managing to land quietly on the edge of the forest I peer through the leaves at the town. No one's walking around. But it does looks a lot like Ponyville. I think I even see what could be Rarity's Boutique. I hear some feminine voices, and I duck down beneath a bush. Just beyond one of the buildings, moving into view I see.... Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie freaking Pie.
Overture was in dismal mood. Without intending to he had become the unofficial leader of a couple thousand misplaced and transformed fans of My Little Pony. On top of that his own transformation was jarring. Wherever a different animal part met there was dull pain. He looked at his hands, his left was the talon of an eagle. His right the paw of a lion. He sighed, even if this was Equestria, there was no way he'd get to meet the Main 6. He thought about it and realized he'd probably not meet them anyway, even if he was his normal self. Humans were not meant to co-mingle with ponies. Or rather, ponies were not meant to even know the existence of humans. It always ended badly. Especially for the ponies. As they were akin to children. Innocent to the core. His yellow eyes scanned the crowd. They were still talking amongst themselves. So many varieties of creature! He noticed groups forming within the crowd. Some grouping with friends, others forming along specieal lines. There was group of vampires, many different types, forming around the one who had spoken earlier. They weren't getting along very well with another group. Looking closely he recognized the other group's species: Lycanthropes. He smirked. A few angels were talking amongst themselves, giggling frequently. Another group he had seen milling about were what he could only describe as mutated humans. Not ugly tentacle spouting kind of mutants, more like a group of decent looking original X-Men, or something. They were near three other groups. Smiling, he named the groups. Avengers (The ones from the movie, minus a hulk), Justice League (three supermen, a Wonder woman, an Arkham City Batman, and a Flash), and other, actual X-Men (Storm, Cyclops, and two Wolverines). We geeks are not that original, are we? He thought to himself. Then, looking at his own form, the smile he had at that reflection fell into a frown. Well, I guess I can't fault them, can I? A group of grim reapers, or were they dementors? Floated through the crowd. Watching them, his eyes fell on the most organized group. While their many uniforms didn't match, he recognized them for what they were. Soldiers. Standing at attention, 5 x 5. They were something to behold. Among them modern, american military, Halo Spartans, Gears of War meat heads, etc. All united by a little girls cartoon and a possible PTSD inducing event. All these people, and he had barely scratched the surface of the many creatures present. Looking up, Overture saw the one he had been waiting for. Soulless, who he would not hesitate to call a demon, flying back down he landed gracefully. One knee bended, same side fist pressed against the ground, his other arm splayed back behind him. It looked kind of cool. If not for the smirk on his face that showed quite clearly that he enjoyed that far too much.
-||-||-||-||-
'That was awesome!' I think to myself. The last word clearly in Rainbow Dash's voice. I've always wanted to land like that. "My liege," I said, mock bowing to Overture "I bring word from the west." I had to fight back laughter. This shit was too ridiculous and my mind had begun to fray. But I was giddy too. Clearly taken aback Overture leaned backward quickly, lions paw brought across his chest defensively.
"What?! I'm not your liege. Get up. And why are you speaking like that?"
"Sorry," I apologized "Somehow, it just seemed fitting." He looked at me, clearly waiting for something. I looked at him. Transfixed by a freaking draconequus looking at me.
"Well.....?" Overture drew out the word.
"Oh! Right, yeah. We're in Equestria. The town I saw was Ponyville. I saw Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie-" The crowd, which had grown silent after my return, erupted into massive cheers.
-||-||-||-||-
"Eeep!" Fluttershy said, quickly returning to the safety of her cottage when she heard a thunderous noise from Everfree.
"What was that?" asked Twilight. Annoyed at whatever it was that had caused Fluttershy to go back inside. Twilight and Pinkie had come over at Fluttershy's request when she said she need help dealing with a sudden influx of animals form Everfree.
"I don't know, let's go find out!" Squealed Pinkie hopping towards the forest. Twilight held out a hoof.
"No Pinkie, we came here to help Fluttershy, and that's what were gonna do."
"But-" said Pinkie, a bit of sadness coming to her face, "What if that creature is the reason all the animals are running away? Then we could help Fluttershy by making it go away?"
"No" Twilight said "Whatever it is, can wait. Fluttershy needs us now." Snapping right back to her peppy self, Pinkie replied, "Whatever" and continued her bouncing in place. "Fluttershy, the big bad noise is gone! We came to help with the animals. You gonna let us in or what?" Timidly, Fluttershy opened the door, barely sticking her face out. "A-are you sure?" Twilight spoke for Pinkie Pie, "Yes, we're sure. Can we get this over with? I've had a long day and I want to go to bed."
-||-||-||-||-
Before, when Overture had mentioned Equestria as an unlikely possibility of our whereabouts, roughly 15 obsessed had run off. Monkey boy and I each returning one. A superman had returned 10 while others had manged to grab the the rest. Now, with my casual confirmation that that was where we indeed were, a staggering amount rushed off. This time all in the direction of Ponyville.
"Damn it get back here!" yelled Overture, clearly angry. Those of us that could rushed off to bring back the obsessed. Not quite sure why we were stopping them. Only that it seemed right. Conveniently the obsessed were the slowest of us. Being mostly the ones who had become ponies. The pegasi and unicorn were the most difficult to contain. I took down mostly pegasi. But one of the Kryptonians had learned to fly, albeit awkwardly, and was helping out. Although he seemed to be having trouble actually holding the pegasi. I guess super strength was something that comes later. The sky was filled with pegasi and other flying types. And I preceded to knock as many unconscious as I could. So far it seemed I could fly the fastest. Using my speed I punched pegasus after pegasus in the head. It was a cheap move but I wasn't really a good fighter. Despite my inherent need for violence which I had always managed to keep squashed. I valued my freedom and was confident that if I ever let my anger loose on anyone, they would die. And CSI taught me nobody got away with murder. So I kept myself weak and avoided confrontation. But now I was loose upon a whole new dimension. And I was stronger than I'd ever been. Time to knock some heads. A fist came flying at me form nowhere, landing right in between my wings. I momentarily lost control as the pain shot through my spine. I fell through the tree layer and impossibly hit every thick branch in range. I landed on the unforgiving forest floor which had decided that air did not belong in my lungs. I gasped for air for probably a full minute before I finally managed to pull myself off the ground. Looking up at the gap in the canopy my body made, I tested my wings. Luckily they worked fine. Though I was sure the right one would develop a bruise. I gave my wings a final stretch and limbered all my muscles. Still looking up I flapped downwards and flew straight up. Faster than I had previously done, determined to knock out whoever had hit me. Surprise was on my face for a moment when I saw that an angel was the culprit. Not really all that fond of angels I pushed up harder, slamming into their stomach. With the wind knocked out of them I brought my elbow over the back of their head. He fell to the forest floor as I breathed a sigh of relief.
Flying above what I now knew was Everfree was breathtaking. Despite the dangers below it was beautiful from above. Lush greenery extended for few miles before it terminated at what I could only assume was a beach, because I saw a thin line of blue on the horizon. To the west there was far less forest. But it a whole lot prettier. A mountain range framed by the setting sun, setting the sky on fire and painting the mountains purple. Sitting snugly on the face of the largest one I could make out a city that could not have existed on Earth. Looking like giant had picked up a breathtakingly gorgeous medieval city and slammed into the mountain. In the show it appeared a lot closer, here though it's color was filtered light blue with distance and could fit in my thumbnail if I held it in front of my eye.
As beautiful as it was I had a job to do. I pushed the air behind me, going ever faster I air-tackled a dark blue pegasus "Hey come on! I just wanted to see Rainbow Dash! What's the harm in that?"
"I'm not quite sure" I responded truthfully "But Overture doesn't want any body messing with the ponies, and I'm sure it's a good reason." I responded less truthfully. Not entirely knowing what it was he didn't want them doing. "Remember, Zombie apocalypse rules." Flying back to the clearing, which was obviously artificial, created by our entrance. I noticed a small metallic gleam. Once again I dropped an obsessed at the feet of Overture, who was handling the return of the other obsessed. Looking at me he stuck his thumb out and pointed behind him. "Put him in there" My eyes widened. In the air I had seen it but thought nothing of it. Now that I was on the ground I was shocked. In the middle of the forest stood as tall as my one story home, wide as a mobile home was long, and about quarter football field long. A cage of polished metal and full of pissed off looking bronies.
"What the-?" I whispered.
"I'll explain in a minute, just put him in there. For now." at the words 'for now' I felt more inclined to accept. Overture knew what he was doing. At least I hoped so. I opened the door to the cage and thrust the pegasus inside.
About an hour passed and the retrieval of the obsessed was complete. Luna's moon had risen and I was struck by the size of it. In comics and cartoons, even some live action movies, the moon was frequently shown to be bigger than it was in real life. In actuality our moon takes up a very small portion of our sky. But here in Equestria I could hazard a guess that it took up an entire eighth of the sky. If you were watching us on a television or looking at us in a comic you'd think nothing of it. But here, it was huge. And no one was not looking at it. If you'd seen us you'd thought us a moon worshiping cult. And, I guess some of us were, the Luna fanboys were drooling knowing just how that moon got there.
"Okay, everypony!" Overture clapped. Bringing our focus back down to Earth. "I think it's time we lay down some ground rules. Once that's done. Maybe we can let you weirdos out of that cage." he said eyeing the people in the cage "Speaking of, thank you, Pink, for creating that beautiful thing for us." Hearing Pink's name I swiveled my head. Beside the cage was tired out looking man with a long blonde beard, robes, and knotted staff. Looking like a Nord Wizard he smiled "No problem" he said in a southern accent that was jarring from his appearance. But as soon as I heard the voice I knew that that was my buddy. 'Finally,' I thought 'I missed you guys' I made my way through the crowd.
Unlike me, Pink could easily recognize me. My features hadn't changed much. I recognized the people he had grouped himself with. The woman with the gothic dress, the beast boy (Oh, now I get it), and Arrow. Arrow's back was on the cage, legs out, Robin Hood hat tilted over his eyes. And he was snoring.
"Hey man, where've you been?" Pink asked
"Haven't you heard? Equestria!" Pink, annoyed at my response, rolled his eyes.
"You know what I mean" now I was annoyed. I grabbed his arm lightly and pointed to the densest part of our group in front of Overture who was trying to get people to shut up so he could talk. "I was there, right there, alright?"
"Right, sorry man. It's .. there's a lot o' weirdness today. I guess it makes sense you'd get lost."
"You saying you four have been together this entire time?"
"Yup. That's what I'm saying."
"So...." I said, drawing out the word looking past Pink at the cage. "You wanna tell me what that's about?" Turning to glance at the cage he saw what I was talking about. "Oh right. Turns out I'm a wizard."
"A wizard." I repeated, having trouble taking that in.
"Yeah, well, to be more precise a summoner. Check this out" Pink put his right hand a few inches above his left and closed his eyes. A light glew brightly between his hands before once again retreating into darkness. Pink, looking winded, leaned back onto the cage. He smiled, tiredly, holding.. a Nintendo 3DS.
"A Nintendo 3DS? Huh, neat. That could be uh... useful." Pink frowned, examining the device a little closer
"3DS? That sucks. I guess I need to practice. I wanted a DS." But it'll be a while before I do that again. Summoning really takes it out of me." Pink slid down the cage into a sitting position. "And," he yawned "The more complicated the object.... the more it takes outta me."
"SHUT UP ALREADY!!" I turned, the crowd had fallen quiet save for Arrow's light snoring. Overture was clearly the one who had shouted. Composing himself he said, "I said we need to lay down ground rules.
"One, no contact with the locals," everyone in the cage and several out in the crowd moaned. "Ah ah ah, I don't want to hear it. No way in hell do we expose them to our evil" a few people were ruffled by being called evil.
"Hey!"
"Hey, nothing. You're human, you're evil." cries of 'I'm not human' were heard throughout.
"You were yesterday, so shut it. If I'm any indication no one's brain changed. And some of you are even predators and carnivores now." a Predator and Xenomorph, who had been playing rock paper scissors, sunk low at that. Though no one was looking at them.
"The ponies here, even the ones in their military, are pure. They are innocent. Childlike in that innocence. The very knowledge of our presence could irrecoverably alter them for the worse. Does anypony here want that?" No one spoke "I didn't think so. Compared to humanity, most of us here are decent beings. But compared to them.... you get my point.
"Two: Protect the ponies. At all costs. If we could get here, so could others. And they might not be as 'nice' as us. Protect them from ourselves. This cage here," he pointed in our direction "Will serve as a prison for those who attempt to either harm the ponies, or any of one us. Or willingly allows harm to befall the ponies. As long as we're here we will safeguard Ponyville, Canterlot and any other place we can from all threats. Be it another dimensional shift, more people from our own world, or even Discord himself! If we do our job, Shining Armor's will be useless!
"Three: Find a way home. This isn't so much a rule as it is a guideline. It is our secondary objective. But it ties in well with our primary one: Keeping the ponies safe. If we can leave. They won't know of us. And we will have been successful." He started walking towards us, or rather, the cage.
"You, weirdo's, do you accept these terms?" During his speech they had been quietly nodding in agreement.
"Yes!" they all said. At once. And very loud. Right by ear. Bastards.
"Whoa, what the-" Arrow, flipped out a little.
"Glad to see you're awake, Arrow." I said
"Huh? fi- five more minutes, I don't feel like going to school today." He mumbled and was out again.
Another two hours had passed. The obsessed had calmed down and the cage was empty. I hoped it would stay that way. As Overture couldn't be more right in my opinion. A group of soldiers from various games and several modern type soldiers had aided Overture in organizing the group of into manageable sections. I had been tasked to scout the area and flew for roughly an a hour and a half. Memorizing the lay of the land. When I came back I used a stick in the dirt to draw a quick map. Overture and the soldiers combed over it. I couldn't hear what they were saying. Then the soldiers started directing groups. All of them headed towards Ponyville. The entire group was suddenly heading west. I sped up, walking in step with Overture. "What's going on? I thought we were avoiding the ponies?"
"We are. We're just moving in closer before fanning out. We'll be encircling Ponyville and Canterlot. We would've protected Appleoosa as well, but five thousand or so beings can only cover so much."
Princess Celestia was uneasy. Visibly so. As she paced the width of the Throne room the royal guards picked up on her anxiety. Soon the whole of Canterlot was on edge. Unsure why. Celestia was unaware that here unease was causing the city stress, ironic given the cause of her own. Being thousands of years old and bearing magic powerful enough turn the planet, giving the illusion of raising the sun she had developed a strong connection to the Earth. And taking the mantle of protector of her citizens, she had honed an aspect of that connection. She was able to perceive, and accurately predict danger. Though she had difficulty pinpointing the source, the severity and timing was easy enough. And as such was able to direct the Elements of Harmony in the correct direction. If not for this connection, Discord may very well be sitting her throne right now.
Like the background radiation that permeated the cosmos, there was a constant underlying sense of danger. A base level threat that would not cease to be. It was a simple culmination of possible threats from neighboring lands, dangerous wildlife that may at any moment poke it's unruly head out of Everfree, simple scuffles between ponies, etcetera. All these things could be felt on the most peaceful of days. Today, her sense of danger went wildly out of control. It gave her a splitting headache just thinking about it. If she could graph that sense of hers in real time the lines would be both frightening and confusing. Everything was fine until late afternoon, then a threat had risen and plateaued for a solid hour. Then it spiked before falling again to the levels of the plateau. Then, just as Luna was getting ready for her turn to give the Earth a good hard turn, there was the largest spike of danger Celestia had ever felt. It had actually caused her to cry out, startling those around her. But, as weird as all this was. It was nothing compared to happened next. The background radiation of danger, dissipated. The danger to her land was the lowest she had ever felt it. There were no threats against Equestria for the first time in millennia. Whatever was happening, it was foreign. It was powerful. And, despite the greatest peace felt in as much time, Celestia was very uneasy.
New York City 10:00pm EDST
Max was bored. Out of his damn mind. Maybe he should have stayed at the pony convention. He looked at the line ahead of him. Glad that it had been cut short when many abandoned Liberty Island due to the freak electrical storm. But there were still a good hundred or so people in front of him. Tapping his toes impatiently he cocked his head up, and blew out a quick breath. So boring. When he heard a buzzing noise he looked up as the lowest, fastest helicopter he'd seen blew right past. The wind from its blades stirring up his gelled hair and blowing leaves and garbage around on it's way to the Manhattan island. He watched it curiously as it switched on a searchlight and hovered in place in the distance. Where the helicopter hovered others joined. Some also spilling light into the city. A soft orange glow emitted and reflected off the buildings beneath the choppers. Smoke billowed from the city. Another terrorist attack? Max thought, deciding he no longer wanted to be in side a very tall, very famous, symbol of The United States. And he wasn't the only one, people were leaving the line and piling into the tourist boat. There wasn't a scheduled departure for another fifteen minutes, so Max leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
On the tourist boat, a few seats in front of him, a few people had gathered around someone holding a phone. The soft white light casting shadows on their shocked faces. They were whispering to each other in apparent horror. Curious if this was about the flames in the city, he asked what was going on.
"Haven't you heard?" a heavy set man with a eagle trucker cap asked him.
"There was another terrorist attack!" said a shrill woman next to him.
"Yeah, come here. Look!" their normal seeming teenage son said, inviting max to view their smartphone with them. Max got up bent over the back of their seat, staring into the view screen of an iPhone as an anchorwoman was giving the details of the story in that same voice that all reporters have. Next to her was a man holding a microphone, lit in front by a camera light and framed by emergency vehicles and a blazing building. The ground covered by a familiar gray dust.
"..... continue to battle this frightening blaze." the reporter turns to emphasize the fire.
"Any clue as to the origin of the explosion?" The anchorwoman asks.
"It's still too early to tell, however, talking to witnesses has confirmed that it was an explosion. The entire building appears to have been rigged with powerful explosives. I viewed some footage someone had caught on their phone and I have to say," he turns to the building again, returning to look at the camera he continues "it's a miracle the bottom half of this building has remained intact."
"Speaking of that footage I do believe we have received a copy here," The anchorwoman fiddles with the mic in her ear "Warning: what your about to see may be disturbing to some viewers" The anchorwoman and reporter are switched to a shaky image that makes Max's jaw drop. The building is the Pineview Center. Hundreds of people are spilling onto the streets. Lightning fills the sky, not a single frame appears to be missing an image of electric fury. The sound of wind against microphone can be heard alongside a garbled voice
"Wah-ha-HOW!! THAT, is A LOT of LIGHTNING!!!" The voice, obviously belonging to the owner of the camera screams, trying to be heard over the fierce winds. Lightning strikes, creating a brilliant flash that overwhelmes the cell phone camera. The thunder created drowning out all sound for a moment.
"-Y SHIT! Let's get inside!" the camera pans away from the sky to a young man wearing a Luna shirt.
"We can't! Someone locked us all out!"
"What? Why would they-" the shouting is interrupted by a boom, the camera swivels quickly as the building detonates, A series of explosions cascade down the side of the glass covered skyscraper. The windows on neighboring buildings shatter as each explosions shockwave blasts the area. "Run!" Luna shirt yells, the camera starts moving. Whoever's holding cares little for recording images. All that can be seen is alternating ground and street. Panting all that can be heard. They are running. The image fogs over as vaporized building envelopes the duo. As things quiet down the sound of car alarms, screams, and the roar of a fire are all that can be heard.
"Such a terrible tragedy, how could it --" the voice trails off as Max pulls away. His face white, he sits back down. He puts his head in his hands and begins to cry.
The Pentagon Monday, September 22nd 3:00 AM
"Sir, you might want to take a look at this." Brigadier General Stone handed a manilla folder simply labeled 9/21/13NYC-W/B to his commanding officer General Jameson. The general swiveled in his chair, carefully taking the folder from his subordinate. Opening the folder his eyes ran back and forth, his face fell, though that seemed impossible.
"Please tell me this is some kind of a joke." The General glared at Stone. The General was the picture of a high ranking military official. In his late 40's he stood about 6'4". His neatly trimmed graying beard framing his wizened square jaw, His uniform was the most decorated Stone had seen in his life, and it looked like he just bought it. The mahogany desk was spotless and reflected the rest of the room. The American flag in the corner, neatly folded in on itself. Mirroring the flag in the framed picture of his son who had recently joined the Marines. Pictures of F-22 raptors and modern aircraft carriers accented the walls. If Stone had been 10 years younger he would've pissed himself receiving a glare like that, from a man like him, in a room like this. But 10 years of the military had caused him to grow a pair.
"I'm afraid not sir" Stone would've been happy if it was a joke. Unfortunatly.. "We have confirmed radiation at the site, Sir."
"Dirty bomb?"
"It's very possible, but the radiation is unlike anything we've ever seen. The closest thing we could find to match was in obscure file in the Hadron Super Collider's database. And even they only managed to create this in a small amount. Whatever this is, it powerful. And new." The General seemed lost in thought for moment
"I'm ordering a full evacuation of southern Manhattan."
"Sir?"
"You heard me, get on it"
"Sir, that's about a million people!"
"Your point, officer?" The General growled. Stone snapped a salute "On it, sir"
"Oh, and Stone?" Stone halted, turned "Yes sir?"
"I'm ordering a full investigation of the site. Find out what's causing the radiation. We need to know it's effects on the populace and, most importantly, who the hell set off those bombs!"
"Yes sir!" Stone ran off, hurrying to follow his orders. Meanwhile Jameson was scratching his head. Who would be advanced enough to make a bomb that leaves a new kind of radiation, but stupid enough to use that bomb on group of nerds and an otherwise useless building? Jameson's fingers rhythmically tapped his desk Unless this was just a test run? With that thought Jameson quickly picked up the red telephone that sat on his desk next to picture of his son.
Equestria 3:00AM
"Ugh. This took far longer than I thought. I haven't stayed up this late since the Summer Sun Celebration" moaned Twilight.
"I know! It isn't it great!" Squeaked the ever awake Pinkie Pie. Bouncing in place. "It's like a sleep over... BUT WITHOUT THE SLEEP!"
"Pinkie, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, but could you.. maybe... please.. calm down? The animals are trying to sleep." Fluttershy barely managed to be audible.
"I'd really not have to spend all day rounding them up again," an exasperated Twilight placed a hoof on Pinkie, willing her to stop moving "So please, for the love of Celestia. Go to sleep."
"A sleep over, with sleep?!" a visibly confused pinkie tilted her head. Twilight was about to speak again when Pinkie said "Okay!" and laid down so fast it would have busted the knees out of any other pony. And fell asleep just as fast. Snoring and everything. Fluttershy's cottage was the quietest it had been for hours. And after the longest day Twilight had had in what felt like forever, she laid down on Fluttershy's couch and fell asleep almost as fast as Pinkie did. Fluttershy looked at Pinkie and Twilight and a little moodily said "I never said you guys could sleep here..." but a smile replaced her small frown and she said "I guess it's alright though. You guys did work awful hard today" and she pulled out some blankets from a small closet. Using her teeth she tucked in her friends before making her way up to her own room. And collapsed. Tired out herself. As she lay down she muttered "I wonder.." yawn "..what scared all the animals so much?"
A/N: I had this story's skeletal structure planned out and would be adding flesh as I wrote. However, the current skeletal format of this story focused far too heavily on the humans. And I feel I need to include a LOT more ponies. So I will be taking a break for a while while I get ideas for what is essentially a freaking re-write. (What's been written so far will not be changed) I need a reason for the ponies and people to interact. Frequently at that. I already know how the first contacts will go. But it needs to happen faster, and pony involvement needs to be more active than originally planned.
"Holy Celestia, I wanna go home." I moaned. The others looked at me with pained expressions. All except for Pink. Who hit me upside the head.
"Holy Celestia," he mocked "Shut. The. Fuck. Up." he dragged his wizardy hand down his face in exasperation. "You've been saying that all month! Everyday! You don't even use original colloquialisms anymore. Every day it's either sweet, or holy Celestia! If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a member of Overture's 'Holy Order of Harmony'."
It had been about two months since we came to Equestria. And very little had changed. In the first two weeks we had formed two circular perimeters around Canterlot and Ponyville. The outer circle contained the more violent, aggressive and carnivorous people, the inner circle contained the more 'civilized' individuals. This mostly consisted of The Holy Order of Harmony, a religion that the obsessed had formed. When they crowned Overture High Priest he quickly changed his mind about joining. They went from 'weirdos' to 'faithful followers' in an instant. It was kind of disturbing, actually. Others in the inner circle, were OC ponies not part of the religion. Myself and my friends who had unknowingly proven loyalty to Overture in the first hours of our presence in Equestria. And a few other paw chosen individuals deemed worthy enough to be acceptable first contacts if the occasion should ever arise.
"Are you saying you don't want to go home?" I asked Pink.
"Of course I do! We all do! This gargles donkey balls and you damn well know it. But annoying each other with the same phrase everyday will not magically open a portal home. We've looked all over, there's no way home short of the Princesses. And you know we can't do that. So while we're here, we have a job to do. Even if that job is boring as hell." Being our only summoner and been an unfortunate position for Pink in the early weeks. The first things that he was tasked to make were shovels and port-o-potties. Because quite frankly, it had gotten really gross, really fast. And Pink could only make so many a day. So it had continued to be gross. For weeks on end. Only just last week had the smell gone away. Either that or we'd collectively gotten used to it.
After the first month food had become scarce and it was once again Pink's job to provide. And creating food was surprisingly a great deal more difficult than port-o-potties. He created a single cooked turkey and passed out for two days. But Overture wasn't having it. Two weeks and five meals later and I had chewed out Overture. Explaining in a very loud manner that what he was doing was stupid, and kinda morally wrong. This of course landed me a day in the cage. But he was no longer demanding free lunches from Pink. So it was worth it.
Wallowing in our own filth, hungry, tired, bored, forced to stand guard by an increasingly belligerent cult leader that we had lost all respect for had predictably worn us down. Even the Superman that had super strength had trouble supporting his own weight at times. (Turns out they each had only one power, heat vision, flight, and super strength). High ranking members of the HOH were probably the only ones happy. The only thing that kept us going was the knowledge that we were protecting our beloved ponies. But even that was wearing down as everyday at sunrise and sunset the HOH would turn to face Ponyville and utter prayers to Celestia and Luna. Bowing in a way that was not unlike muslims praying to Mecca. That show of devotion almost made me wanna kill Rarity, just so I could watch them cry.
We had gotten reports from the outer circle about once every two weeks. Every time at least one death was reported. Succumbing to manticores, timber wolves, inedible plants, cockatrices, poison joke, illnesses, and accidents. The members of the Outer Ring were dropping like flies. It saddened me everytime the Outer Ring's messenger made his way inward. The last time the messenger had come it obvious someone had perished before he even opened his mouth. We only had one messenger. And this guy wasn't it. Our condition coupled with the deaths was nothing short of a sobering experience. But Overture would only call them necessary sacrifices. And go on with his day. I had begun to visualize the Mane 6 sending a rainbow up his ass and turning him to stone.
A high ranking member of HOH, an OC pony by the name of Lightning Cloak, was the only one given the honor of making 'contact'. He had been sent into Ponyville to live amongst the ponies and spy on them. Coming into the Everfree once a week to report that our presence had remained mostly undetected. But that the Everfree had become even more ominous since our arrival. Strange sounds and foul smells had put the residents on high alert. Fluttershy had been taking care of more animals than even she knew how to deal with.
Apparently our presence caused large amounts of local wildlife to flee. Which would explain why the predators were attacking us. Their normal prey gone they had to resort to new prey. And unfortunately for them we were kinda bad ass. Unfortunatly for us, so were they. Our interference into the natural order of Equestria, which was evident even without that report, had inspired an eco-terrorist that had been attending the convention to try to assassinate Overture. Which is why Batman's Poison Ivy was the only occupant of the cage. A cage which had been a bitch to move from the old clearing. The old clearing that now housed a stone temple to the Mane 6 and the Princesses where every Saturday afternoon the HOH would gather.
And thankfully it was Saturday. I loved Saturdays. The HOH got on my nerves like you wouldn't believe. The unicorns especially as they were Overture's remarkably effective muscle that had rendered every coup d'état attempt moot. When they were worshiping on Saturday afternoons it was the best few hours of the week. Not only were the HOH elsewhere, but we could stand guard without having to actually stand. We could talk to each other without whispering and more often than not a card game would break out. Not counting the five to six hours of sleep we were allowed a night this was the most relaxed we could ever be. Some people chose this time to cry, having been forced to keep their emotions bottled up all week.
This particular Saturday would serve to be a strange one, if the panicked expression on that green cheetah was any indication. As he sped towards our Uno game he shifted into his normal, monkey boy self. Hyperventilating he tried desperately to tell us something. Something that we couldn't hear over his own breathing.
"Snake. Calm down. We can't understand you" Tragedy held out her hand in a halt motion to emphasize her words.
"I said" he gulped some air "I saw a weird military machine pop out of nowhere, it looks like an EOD robot. I think we've been followed. Which means there might be a way home!"
-||-||-||-||-
New York City November 29th 2013
"Sir, we're... we're getting a signal sir" Stone looked at the screen. Shock evident on his nearly frozen face as he stared at the images and scrolling data.
After the terrorist attacks back in September and subsequent evacuation there had been a lengthy investigation into the site. There had been absolutely zero progress on the evaluation of the strange radiation. Instruments behaved strangely and it was discovered that a magnetic field surrounded the ruins of the building. Clocks in the building moved at irregular rates when observed from outside the building. The few scientists stationed had been heard saying that time itself had been altered. Though why they chose to call it spacetime made no sense to Stone. After all, they were on Earth. Not in space. And wasn't time the same everywhere?
About two weeks ago construction crews tasked with removal of debris and rubble uncovered the strangest thing anyone had yet seen. It was a floating midnight blue sphere of darkness. Coating the outside of it was the occasional arcing plasma of miniature lightning. After a full week of tests which wielded no results, as though the object wasn't even there, a genius scientist performed an experiment out of frustration none of the other scientists had even considered. He threw a rock at it. When said rock disappeared in a flash of light, he threw two more. When they also disappeared in the same flash he bumped up his experiments in a way that only 30 years of school and a PhD could dream up. He grabbed a long stick and slowly poked the sphere. A white light glowed where the stick and sphere made contact. When half the stick was submerged, he pulled it out. Amazed that the stick was completely unfazed.
A week later he had managed to convince the military to send a bomb defusal robot attached with a myriad of sensors into the sphere. He had expected to collect data on the sphere itself. To say that what came back was unexpected would be like saying getting run over by a monster truck kinda hurt a bit, and would you kindly get off. The camera that already comes with the bot was an unexpected blessing. Instead of darkness, there was an honest to goodness forest. The GPS unit wasn't reporting it's location. Meaning that wherever the bot was, it wasn't Earth. In trying to uncover a simple crime, they had discovered alien life! Which was amazing on it's own, plant life, remarkable similar to Earth's own, filled the screen. The sensors were reporting an atmosphere of 25% Oxygen, 70% Nitrogen and zero pollutants. Meaning if there was sentient life, they were pre-industrial at most. As wonderful as this was, what came next early made the scientist orgasm on the spot. As they turned the EOD, they spotted a humanoid creature with a tail. Everything about it was green. 'Of course,' the scientist thought 'We find aliens, and they're green! At least they're not Roswell grays.' The alien took on a very human expression of fear and wonder before becoming a cheetah and bolting away.
While the humanoid alien concept was tough enough to digest for the scientist, the transformation into a green version of a very Terran mammal made his head spin. It went against everything he knew about physics and possible alien life. Excusing himself, the scientist went outside into the snow and retched. Inside, if you could call it that, the team had successfully returned the EOD. Scientists poring over it while Stone talked to his superiors on the phone.
-||-||-||-||-
"I'm telling you, it was right here" Snake had shown us where the supposed EOD bot was. There nothing there save for the slight smell of ozone. I was about to turn around when Arrow spotted something on the ground.
"Hey, guys. Look at this." He pointed at the ground. There were two tracks, side by side. It was obvious that they belonged to a small vehicle that had tracks like a tank. Too small however, to house anything larger than a toy dog. (Toy here is the style of breed, like a shih tzu, bulldog, chihuahua etc)
"Well I'll be..." said Tragedy. "I guess you weren't wrong, Snake"
"Have I ever been wrong?" he said smugly.
"Yes." we all said at the same time.
"Okay, okay. So those berries were natural laxatives. But they weren't actually poisonous."
"You never said they weren't poisonous. You said they were perfectly safe. I happen to violently disagree with that." I said. "And if you ever cause me to have diarrhea that bad again, I'll make sure your swimming in the pit underneath the toilet I'll occupy that day."
"God, you really are a demon" he said, smiling so I knew he knew I wasn't serious.
"You know it."
"So," Pink interrupted. "They followed us, and it seems obvious that they got their machine home. How does that help us? It looks like we're still stuck here. However they managed to get here, that way is long gone."
As we sat there, a little depressed at our failure. A midnight blue sphere appeared covered in lightning. Before we could react two humans stepped forward from the sphere. On in military forest camouflage, carrying an M4. The other in a labcoat. Their backs were facing us so they didn't react to our presence at first, and we were too shocked to do anything more than gape. Then one spoke
"Hey, where's Davies and the others?" asked labcoat. They spun around, apparently looking for Davies and the others. When they spotted us The M4 was raised at me (Really? Me? Fuck you too, guy) and the scientist lookin' dude just started stammering.
"You gotta problem, man? I don't feel like getting shot today" I asked. The scientist looked like he was gonna have a seizure.
The soldier's face briefly flashed with confusion and surprise before he steeled himself. "You speak english, alien? How are you doing that?"
"With my mouth," I respond. "You see, there are these things," I point to my throat "called vocal cords. They vibrate, making a base sound and I use a combination of cheek, tongue and jaw moveme-"
"I don't care about your freaky alien biology, I want to know how you know our language!" He was getting really pissed. And the gun pointed at me was not exactly improving my mood either.
"Well, obviously we've been spying on your filthy monkey species. Duh" Now, I may be fit. Sexy as hell, and a kick ass flyer. But I was not, in anyway, intelligent when it came to social situations. So I was not expecting what came next. Though my much smarter friends were as Snake moved with amazing speed towards soldier guy. And kicked his side throwing him off balance and saving me from the flurry of bullets that came next. I stood stock still, mentally assessing any damage I'd taken. Finding none I noted the silence that had followed the gunshots. Snake was in his Gorilla form, holding the soldier down next to the unconscious form of the scientist who had fainted when I said I was spying on his species. I was about to kick the soldier in the head when I heard a scream of emotional agony behind me. Turning I found Pink over the motionless form of his sister who lay in a pool of blood.
If I was pale before, I was snow white now. Tragedy was undoubtedly dead. A single neat hole in the center of her forehead and several, less neat holes covered her torso. Her eyes open wide and unblinking. She was being cradled and rocked by Pink who was balling his eyes out. When I approached he pulled out a 9mm glock and pointed it at me.
"Don't you dare come any closer! This is YOUR fault! I should kill you where you stand!" His voice was cracking and heavy rivulets of tears flowed down his face. I raised my hands in a surrender motion and backed off. Moving toward Snake I removed on of the two blades Pink had made for me from it's sheath at my waist. Spinning it once in my hand to get rid of some of my nerves I crouched next to the pinned soldier.
Sensing my intent, Snake asked "Shouldn't we wait and give him to Overture?"
"Screw Overture. That pompous ass. Besides, I think he'll agree with my actions."
"He may agree, but I doubt that he'd like that you didn't ask him first."
"I look like I give a shit? This fucker just killed one of my best friends and because he lacks any sense of humour at all, I lost another." Gripping my knife so the blade face downward I stab the soldier's hands. Then cut his calves. "You can let him go now, he ain't going anywhere. And I'd like access to more cut-able flesh"
After I had finished with the soldier I was about to start interrogating the scientist when he disappeared in a flash of white light.
-||-||-||-||-
Celestia had gotten used to the unprecedented lack of danger. It barely wavered these last two months. So when she felt it spike to about Discord levels she felt genuine fear. Fear she hadn't felt in ages. She literally couldn't remember the last time she had. With that fear evident in her voice, she called her guard into the throne room. And they rushed to her side faster than they ever had. As they had never heard that voice with fear in it before. Obviously whatever was happening, it was bad. Really bad. Just as they completed the emergency formation that they had all practiced in drills but never actually expected to use, a dark blue sphere materialized directly in front of the guards. One of whom urinated on the floor in fear. Just as fast as the sphere appeared it disappeared. Leaving behind three bipedal creatures. Two had green-brown skin, probably to hide from predators in wooded areas, and the other had long, loose white skin. It hung all the way down to it's hooves, and was quite revolting. Obviously this one was elderly. the pigment vanishing from it's skin and gravity taking fierce hold.
Her Guard reacted immediately. A semi circle of spearheads surrounding the necks of the three creatures.
One of the things spoke, surprisingly it wasn't the elder. Or, that would have been surprising if she had thought them capable of speech in the first place.
"Whoa, nelly. Spears? Really? Oh, the General's gonna love this!"
"You there, creature! How dare you enter the castle uninvited? What is the meaning behind your presence here?"
The creatures stared. Apparently shocked that she could speak.
"Um... would you believe, exploration?" asked the old one.
"You wish to explore my castle? I'm afraid I cannot allow that"
"Um... you misunderstand. We want to explore... your planet."
"Our what? Planet? You mean to say that you are extraterrestrials?"
"Yeah, we're aliens. I guess." The other green one stated. At this the guard who had earlier shamed himself, jerked forward. Accidentally piercing the flesh of the old one. It would seem the young ones respected their elder a great deal. It was evident because the way they reacted could only be described as overkill. They brought out misshapen black spears of their own and, in a series of flashing light and booming sound, proceeded to murder her guard. Only one managed get close enough to damage the beasts. With a quick motion of his sword he decapitated the shorter green one. The taller one, saw that and screamed
"You will pay for that! You will all pay for that! I will kill you all, you bug-eyed demon horses!!" as he was about to create more deadly light and sound the blue ball came back, enveloping him and he disappeared in the same flash of light that him and his kind had come in. The elderly one was bleeding profusely from his neck wound was making gagging noises on her floor.
Looking over the carnage with wide eyes, she took it all in. She was the only one left alive in the room. 30 guard lay in pools of their own blood. The elder creature of evil finally succumbing to his wounds. As the shock set in, she screamed. A continuous scream of pain and misery that could be heard at the farthest reaches of Canterlot. The scream didn't let up for a full ten minutes. If the scientist had been alive and had adequate ear protection he would have been extremely curious as to how she managed to go that long without breathing.
-||-||-||-||-
New York City Just as Celestia began screaming
The scientists waited eagerly for the three soldier and two colleagues to return. They were surprised when, instead of two happy scientists carrying specimens and three bored soldiers, a single unconscious botanist returned. How he returned while unconscious was a mystery that was soon forgotten as a screaming soldier, firing his weapon into a defenseless wall appeared out of the sphere.
A/N: I want to thank those of you who have commented so far. Believe it or not Overture was originally going to be a good guy. When someone saw him as other I thought it worked beautifully. Far better than my original idea. And with this new direction my writers block was shattered. I'm glad you guys are liking this so far.
The higher ups in the Inner Circle closest to the temple were having an impromptu post worship meeting this early Saturday evening. The Outer Circle's messenger along with 10 of their toughest were also in attendance. I'd say we were also attendance, but unfortunately I already said that when I said the higher ups in the Inner Circle were here. Pink had made a very obvious effort in avoiding me, standing clear across the floor from me, casting the occasional scowl my way. Snake and Arrow were standing with me, near the altar. A stone platform covered in a cloth that was half white, and half midnight blue and framed with the colors of the Mane 6's body colors. They were occasionally attempting to inform me that Tragedy's death was not my fault. However, I was inclined to agree with Pink. If I hadn't egged on that moronic jarhead she'd be standing with us in the forest.
"So, it appears the defilers have finally followed us to our sacred land." said Overture. I held back a groan while the rest of the audience ate it up. Seems the HOH was not limited to the Inner Circle after all. "Five of our best were investigating reports of an American Military device about a mile from here into the Everfree. When they arrived, they found two of the vile Humans attempting to lay claim to Equestria!" The crowed booed. Pink continued to scowl, while I wore a look of confusion on my face matched only by Snake and Arrow. He had referred to us as some of the best of the inner circle, and then lied to his herd. I wasn't sure what I was more confused about. As much of a dick as he's been, he's been rather truthful. Snake had told Overture exactly what happened, so why would he lie? It didn't make sense for the prosecution to speak highly of the defendant. What was he going on about? "When Soulless confronted the vermin, it had the audacity to KILL ONE OF OUR OWN!" The crowd's boos became nearly deafening. Snake was trying desperately to cover his ears, his senses were the most sensitive of anyone in the room and was no doubt in some serious pain. Overture waited patiently for the small crowd to calm. When they finally did, Overture resumed "Luckily, these brave individuals had the stomach to do what was necessary, and returned the favor! They even sent the highly mutilated body of one them back as a message: Do Not Mess With Us!" The crowd cheered again causing Snake to flinch.
When the gathered HOH and others had calmed Overture spoke again, loving the reactions he was getting. "Which is why I'm giving them the honor of becoming priests in the Holy Order of Harmony!" Overture smiled while the crowd gave half-hearted cheers or spoke to one another in mild confusion.
"But, there's no such position. There's only you, High Priest."
I spoke up, "Not to mention we're not a part of your little religion." He gave me a quick death glare that only Arrow and I caught before resetting his features into an expression of jubilation.
"I just created the position, a position of brilliant power. You answer only to me and have free reign over all the souls in both circles. You don't even have to stand guard if you don't want to. I've heard you complain about your lack of sleep lately, Arrow. I just now created this glorious position specifically to give to you four brave souls." He turns to look at me while continuing to speak to the others "And while it's true you are not a part of The Holy Order of Harmony in any official capacity, you still hold our beliefs. You still took the oath to protect the ponies. As did everyone else in the Circles. Like it or not, you are an Harmonic. And you've been nothing short of excellent in your duties. You all four deserve these positions."
Pink walked towards the altar and on bended knee, simply said "I humbly accept your offer, my liege." Have I mentioned how comfortable Overture's gotten with that title? No? Oh, well it's very. As in very comfortable. So very comfortable.
"And what about you Soulless?" Overture asked, wearing a shit-eating grin. The fact that he was that pleased about Pink's acceptance was not making the offer any more enticing. However, the note Overture discreetly handed to me when he saw my look of hesitance won me over completely. It said:
This is a PR move, dipshit. Fall in line or I'll kill you slower an more painfully than you did that soldier. Your lucky I don't kill where you stand for denying me that pleasure. If that doesn't convince you, know this. The power I grant you is real. After all, you truly have proven yourself worthy.
But I still want to cut you, give me a good reason, Overture
Stammering momentarily I quickly got on bended knee. "I, also, humbly accept your offer, my liege."
"If it's alright with you, Overture, sir, can I have something with a little less responsibility? I don't work well under stress and I don't want to fail you, sir" Snake was shaking a little as he made his request. And Overture was obviously not happy about this turn of events. On one paw, Snake would be 'rewarded' for his actions with something he clearly didn't want, thus continuing the bad guy image Overture was currently trying to gloss over, or on the other claw, Snake got what he wanted but would not report directly to him. This would also cast him in a dimmer limelight than was needed for this bit of PR. Good going Snake. Now if Arrow-
"I'm with him. Not so much the stress part, but I don't do 'work'" Arrow yawned to emphasize his point. Oh yeah, Overture was not happy. So I was surprised when Overture made them both Monks of the HOH and to report to me. He then picked two high ranking HOH and promoted them to monks under Pink. "For symmetry" was the reasoning.
Overture, scowl barely hidden, pointed at Pink and asked "You. Who is your favorite Princess?"
Pink blinked before responding "Princess Celestia, Day Bringer, Life Giver" It would seem Pink had learned some of he honorifics that HOH used.
"Then you are the Priest of The Sun. Congratulations. You are dismissed. I will be talking to you later. Gather your monks and go." Overture turned to me. "You are now the Priest of The Moon. Princess Luna, Night Bringer, Rest Giver is your patron. You and your monks are to stay here. The rest of you may leave. this assembly is ended." The silent crowd became a little noisy as it piled out of the entrance of the temple. When the shoddily built stone building was once again empty Overture's small, fake smile disappeared. "The Priest of The Sun will certainly aid in my efforts to keep this half of the circles in line." His eyes scanned my face. Looking for signs of realization. When none came, he sighed in exasperation. "The Sun is the opposite of what?" He asked.
"The moon?" I responded.
"This half is opposite of what?"
"The other half?" Then it hit me.
"No! You can't!"
"And why not? If you'd like I could cut your wings off instead"
I blanched "NO! No, I'll... I'll go..." Overture was sending me to oversee the the other half of the Circles. The Inner Circle was about 10 miles across. The Outer Circle was maybe 12 miles. And we couldn't just cross from one side to the other either. Simply against the rules. No going inside the Inner Circle. And if that wasn't bad enough, the other half was in the mountains. Yay.
"If it makes you feel any better, not that I care, you aren't going alone. Congratulations monks of the moon. You're going on a quest with your new boss. Woohoo." The woohoo fell flat aswell as the raised arm shaking motions that came with it.
Snake and Arrow took this a lot better than I did. Interesting given Arrow's penchant for sleep. I guess the thought of being ten miles away from Overture was pleasant enough to negate the fear of exercise. When I thought about like that I perked up too. As we head out to get one more night's rest Spartan 117 ducked into the temple.
"Overture, my liege, Lightning Cloak is here to see you for his bi-weekly report from Ponyville."
"Send him in" Lightning Cloak glared at us as we walked past him into the clearing and in the direction of our soon to be former station.
As we began to settle in for the night Snake and Arrow, who had been whispering to each other all the way back to camp, broke out into song while waving around some long sticks:
"We're Monks of The Moon! We worship a cartoon! Oh, we a-void jail, So we tell a tall tale, And sing our monk-y tune!"
Despite all that happened I couldn't help but break a smile.
-||-||-||-||-
Twilight Sparkle could be described in many ways. And everytime someone would do just that the word 'Curious' never managed to remain un-uttered. This was why she was following the strange pegasus pony that had confessed his love for her after only a month and a half of living in Ponyville. He was a weird one, that was for certain. When he spoke, and he seldom did, his words were strange and off putting. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it. He didn't say anything weird, nor was his accent different. The best she could come up with was an emotional backdrop combination of awe, wistfulness, and a negative emotion she couldn't place. This "Lightning Cloak" had lived up to his name. He moved with a speed only a pegasus of near Rainbow Dash levels could muster despite remaining on the ground, and he blended into the background of Ponyville with ease. Pinkie Pie had only gotten around to throwing him a party two weeks ago, and it was small affair. He only managed to gain Twilight's notice when he confessed his love for her. This would have been the only encounter, but her curiosity got the better of her and she allowed him the presence of her company, curious to learn more about the new pony that seemed to know so much about her. But when questioned, he remained stoic and silent. Of course this only spurred Twilight's need to know further.
And this was why, on a late Saturday evening. She was discreetly following Lightning into the Everfree. A place nopony had ventured in months. About an hour after she had begun the surveillance the smell that had plagued Ponyville a while back returned. Whatever was causing it was near.
"Ugh, easily the worst part of coming here. Every time. Can he not summon some Comet and a rag? Sheesh" Lightning said just loud enough for her to hear. Summon a comet? How would that help? And who who would possibly be foolhardy enough to try? Thought Twilight. This Lightning was not doing her any favors by being mysterious. And it was beginning to get on her nerves. Just as she was about to rush over to him and demand answers, Lightning moved through a line of beings the likes of which she had never laid eyes on. Most were bipedal and wore the most unusual garments. Some were just ponies, though oddly darkly colored with cutie marks that made no sense. Some were entirely unique quadrupedal creatures. One that caught her eye seemed to be made of black, hardened slime and had a long oblong head. It's sharp tail swishing back and forth as it hissed slightly.
"Hhheeyy Liiiiightniiiing" it hissed "Beeeeen twooo weeeks alreeaaaady?"
"Hey David, how you doin'? Overture in? I want to get this over with and go home. I don't how you guys can stand the smell.
"Yooouuu geeeehhht uuuussssed tooo iiiit" Said the creature named David. A name so alien it was perfectly fitting for this strange, evil looking thing. "Yeeaaaahh, heeeee'sss iiin. Sssssoooomme cerreeehhmooohny fooor ssooome hhiiiigheer uuuuuups aaat theee teehmple ooof Hhhaaarmoooohny.
With the whispery, drawn out words it was tough to make out quite what the thing said. But she could have sworn it said "Temple Of Harmony". Twilight was the Element of Harmony, Magic. She was one of the smartest ponies in Equestria. (A fact she didn't often recognize. And never said outloud.) Surely, if there was a Temple Of Harmony, she'd know about it, right? So what was that thing talking about? Who or what were all these creatures that stood absolutely still with their backs to her?
Twilight's curiosity knew no higher point in her life than it did at that moment. Twilight cast three quick spells on herself. A spell of invisibility, intangibility, and inaudibility. Confident, she trotted to Lightning's side casting quick glances behind her to see the line of creatures that now faced her. Keeping pace with lightning she witnessed several casual conversations with the many beings that made an unbroken line as far as she could see. Every one of the creatures' voices had obvious undertones of sadness in them. She felt bad for these things. What could have possibly happened to make so many, so sad?
Lightning walked to a large metal green golem with a face made of gold. Lightning preceded to address it as casually as he did all the others. "Hey, John. I'm here to submit my report. Ponyville is still unaware of our presence" Our presence? Was Lightning one of these people? That actually makes a lot of sense, now that she thought about it. He was too weird to not be a part of this grouping of strange. She had to know what these things were doing. She resolved to remain until all her questions were answered.
"Oh, fantastic. Overture loves good news. However slight. And it's been a long day. Seems that we were followed. Soulless killed one of 'em. Tortured the other. Tragedy died in the conflict though. I overheard Overture say he was promoting them. To what, I don't know. Stay here, I'll go let him know you're here." The golem walked off into the clearing behind him. Leaving a confused Twilight wondering how a thing with no mouth spoke, and what could be so bad about the end of tragedy.
The golem returned and nodded slightly. "You can go in now. Great timing on your part. Whatever they were doing it's over now."
Lightning made his way into a crumbling stone structure. A ghostly Twilight silently phasing through the wall next to him. Three more creatures left just as she and Lightning entered. A black-clad hairless ape with a long black mane and severely injured mammalian wings. A green-clad ape of the same nature with a green hat, a short blonde mane and a goatee. And a short not so hairless ape with an actual tail. Twilight would've been happy to see that as it was almost close to normal, if it wasn't entirely green that is. Lightning had a slight frown on his face as he looked at them. But then made his way inside.
Twilight was blown away. On each of the two walls that ran perpendicular to the one with the entry way. Were three banners each. Each banner had a minimalist depiction of her and one of her five friends. The one that had her visage bore a single word: "Learn" Underneath her friends faces were the words: "Play" "Race" "Shine" "Strive" and "Love" for Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy respectively. On the far wall were two discolored red, blue and white posters depicting an image of an angry Princess Celestia looking down and an impassive Princess Luna looking forward. Beneath Celestia was the word "Obey" and beneath Luna was the word "Bide".
However, the next thing she saw made her blood run cold.
Discord.
In a moment of fear, her concentration broke. And her spells fell.
A/N: My original plan is to update about once a week. So don't always expect me to update this often. Because you'd be disappointed and I'd feel guilty.
Also, the Circles have thousands of bronies in them, so if you'd like to make a cameo, send me a PM with your name and design and I might work it in. After all, you guys are bronies too. Those of you who have already commented have a higher chance at making it in. Good luck! Three people have put their characters forth and I am currently hashing out details. I may later have room for more, but for now the invitation is receded. Thank you.
Also, there's a scene at the end that explains a little bit about Overture. While not graphic, the subject material is not meant for readers with weak constitutions. You have been warned.
Twilight barely managed to regain her composure, she quickly threw the three spells back on and slowly backed away from Discord and the building that was far more confusing than anything she'd yet seen today. And that was saying something. The fact that Discord didn't follow her, even bothering to act like he lost her, would have been one more thing that occupied her mind if it weren't already full.
With a voice quite unusual for Discord, he spun around a few times in an apparent panic and ask-yelled "Where'd she go?!" Then he pointed to Lightning and said "Find her! Get the entirety of the Harmonics to find her. And Celestia help us, please tell me someone considered themselves to be Men In Black. 'Cause we need a neurolizer." The questions that arose in her head, like 'Why would Discord invoke Celestia?' and 'What does the suffix -lizer mean? Neuro means having to do with the brain.... lizer, lizer... what other word ends in lizer?' were quickly cleared when she turned and trotted off in the direction she had come, out of the clearing she subconsciously tweaked her route to match that of the three who had left earlier. Twilight didn't care, she wanted nothing more than to put distance between herself and the spirit of chaos.........
Wait, Twilight thought, These ponies are obviously being led by Discord... but they are more ordered than Celestia's own guard. Not much more ordered, but a trained eye could see it. Though that was tough considering their odd body structures and garments. Why would Discord surround himself with such suffocating order? Order that even the Queen of Organization was having a small amount of trouble digesting.
It was also obvious that these ponies, a term she decided to use based on the obvious sentience they all shared, had been here for a long time. About two months judging by the refuse and damage to the forest. That of course was the nice way of putting it. It had been two months sense this foul smell had first appeared. The smell of unwashed ponies and poorly disposed of biological waste. And she'd seen Discord's statue only a week ago when her and her friends gathered for Luna's birthday. Strange that even immortal goddesses who stay forever young are uncomfortable delving their age. Twilight silently chuckled to herself, despite the inaudibility spelled that cloaked her sound waves.
So, if Discord was out, but he hadn't made a move other than to gain a very large group of followers. Did that mean he was planning? Impossible! Discord couldn't plan. Not really. It went against his very nature. Besides, Twilight knew from first hand experience that this was a very bad year for planning.
That only left one option: That wasn't Discord. Whoever he was just looked like Discord. He didn't even have the right voice. What was their game? Twilight was snapped out of her reverie when two of the people in front of her began singing.
"We're Monks of The Moon! We worship a cartoon! Oh, we a-void jail, So we tell a tall tale, And sing our monk-y tune!"
Monks? Of the moon? Did they worship Princess Luna? Why won't these ponies MAKE SENSE! Argghh!
-||-||-||-||-
After the impromptu song, I tried to lie down on the patch of ground I had been calling my bed for the past month and a half when Snake decided that bedtime could wait.
"So, what do you guys think it's gonna be like on the Mountain side of things?"
"Cold" I say simply. I really want to sleep. Please just go to bed. It's been a long day. And we've got a big day ahead I silently beg my green skinned friend.
"Does anyone remember all the different types of people there were when we got here? I've completely forgotten what kind of people are protecting Ponyville from the mountain baddies. I think I remember seeing a batman. Hey, you could get along with him Arrow. You're both from the DC 'verse."
"You know I'm not actually Green Arrow, right? I'm a Green Arrow inspired Bluntman from Bluntman and Chronic. And I seriously doubt Mr Forehead Wrinkles And Scowls, tokes up. Or allows anyone who does to go un-punched."
"Bluntman looked nothing like that. I've seen that movie. You have way more Green Arrow in you." Snake retorted.
"Yeah, well. I didn't like the original design of Bluntman. Plus I never really saw what he stood for other than smoking weed. And I wanted a more Robin Hood theme. You know, resist the Man.... man. At least I didn't get two feet shorter and grow a tail. What's up with that anyway?"
"You've destroyed brain cells, haven't you? This is like the fifth time I've told you. It's simple. Beast boy's my favorite hero. And I imagined being him a lot. That's my only connection to my appearance."
"Guys, we've got a long day ahead of us," I interrupt "Let's get some rest. Please."
"Okay, boss. Whatever you say, boss."
"Dude, not now. In fact, not ever."
"Whatever you say..... boss"
"Uggh" I groan, violently laying down as though I was on my bed back home, and immediately I was regretting it. "Ow...." I open my eyes and an OC pony was staring back with a very worried expression.
"Ahhh!!" I sit up quickly, flailing my arms before settling them into a defense position, confusion and fear coursing through me. "What- what do you want, man?"
The OC was panting, it would seem he had run to our camp. "Lightning Strike *pant* was followed *pant* by Twilight *pant* Sparkle."
"Twilight? Here? Do we get to meet her? Oh this gonna be so cool! I've always wanted to meet her!" Snake's favorite, of course he was excited.
After giving Snake a glare that stated simply, 'shut up'. The pony continued. "She's seen us. We're to find her, and kill her."
The five seconds it took the three of us to process what he just said felt like hours. And when those second long hours were over three voices rang out in unison.
"WHAT?!?"
"That son of a bitch! That goes against all we stand for! It's our job to protect them! How could he possibly allow that to happen?" I screamed, stomping in emphasis.
"Overture said that if whoever finds her doesn't have the stomach to do it themselves, to bring her to him and he'd do it himself."
"Get out of my sight." I say coldly, using my new authority for the first time. "I don't want to see your face again."
"Yes, your holiness." I cringe at the title. Turning to Snake and Arrow I take a deep breath. Steadying myself. It's been a long day, and it would seem the night would be far longer. And my nerves are so shot I'm actually shaking slightly. Heart going a mile a minute at the thought of Overture murdering an innocent pony. My deep breath fails to help and I collapse onto my knees. Putting my head in my hands and wrapping myself with my wings I begin to sob. I try to muffle my yelling but I'm pretty sure Snake and Arrow are hearing me curse Overture's name.
Arrow puts his hand on my shoulder, what little of it he can reach through my wings. "Dude, if we see her. We can just pretend we didn't. She'll make it to Ponyville and she'll be fine. I'm sure she's inside the Inner Circle by now anyway. She's a smart mare. She'll be fine." He smiles down at me. He's not known to do that so his small soft smile might as well have been a Pinkie Pie grin.
"Thanks, man. You're right. She'll be fine."
"Umm, excuse me? But... I'm lost..." said a very, very unfortunate familiar voice.
-||-||-||-||-
When the singing stopped Twilight began paying very close attention to the creatures she was following. Enraptured by thier conversation. She learned the following things in quick succession:
1. The beings extended into the mountains, the current destination of these three.
2. They consider themselves protectors of Ponyville. The strange just keeps getting stranger. Evil protecting good?
3. The one clad in black was a high rank in the group.
4. They worshiped her, and if that building was any indication. Probably the Princess and her friends aswell. They certainly were a creepy lot.
5. The worst fact she'd ever learned. And she's learned a lot of facts in her life. Their Discord shaped-leader wanted her dead. Obviously he was as vile, if not more so, than the original Discord.
What happened next took her by surprise. Despite such a violent leader. Despite Black-Clad's assumedly high rank. He and the other two reacted to news of her execution order worse than even she did. When the black pony with a red mane left, she watched Black-Clad break down in a sadness she had not thought possible. She listened as they planned to aid her escape, and comfort each other by talking as though she was already safe. And it worked! Many ponies cared for Twilight. Her Parents, her Brother, all three princesses, the other elements of harmony, Spike, and many throughout Canterlot and Ponyville. But never had she seen someone care like this. It was alien, it was disturbing, and strangely, it was heart warming.
She might as well head home before the spells wore off. A letter to Princess Celestia had to be written. If it was only one them, she wouldn't have bothered. New creature, whoop de doo. But thousands? That's too large an impact to leave unreported. As she turned to Ponyville a thought occurred. She had no idea where she was. She had rarely been this deep into the Everfree before and needless to say the terrain looked different than it did two months ago. Turning to the only three creatures she thought might help her. She uncloaked. "Umm, excuse me? But... I'm lost..." she nervously pawed the ground as they ever so slowly turned around to face her.
"Twi-Twilight?" Whispered 'Snake', "I -I love you..." and his eyes rolled up and he crumpled to the ground as Black-Clad rushed towards her, wings extended.
-||-||-||-||-
Overture's lion paw was massaging his forehead. This went so wrong. Lightning Strike would pay for allowing this. When Twilight dies. So would he. Overture was alone in the temple. His big yellow eyes glistened as he stared at the Lavender banner with the word Learn on it. His breath was ragged.
"It's for the greater good" he reminded himself. But he was still dreading the report. He only hoped that whoever found Twilight had the stomach to do it themselves. Someone like Soulless. He might have been a bit disagreeable but damn if he wasn't loyal. And he had some serious bloodlust in him. Overture did not want to the deed himself. But it had to be done. Twilight knew of the bronies presence. She would tell others. The human infection would spread, and they'd lose what they were fighting for. Even if Twilight could somehow remain silent (Yeah. Right.) She herself was already lost. And she would slowly spread human filth throughout all of Equestria. She could not be allowed to live. A single tear dropped down Overture's cheek. Gut clenched he moved to a pew and thought back to when he vowed to protect innocence.
17 Years Ago Brattleboro, Vermont
15 Year old Richard was relaxing on the couch watching Rugrats with his little 7 year old sister, Stacie. Most brothers his age with a sibling of her age would be hard pressed to find themselves willingly spending time with them. But Richard was no ordinary brother. He loved his sister with all his heart. And when Dad died he took on the role of a fatherly figure to her. He poured his heart into making her happy, and making sure she'd grow up with all the opportunities in the world available to her. When he wasn't playing or watching TV with Stacie he was poring into his studies. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to get a high paying job to help out his family. His mom had become a bit of an alcoholic after her husband's death and was in danger of losing her job as local radio station Disc Jockey.
Richard didn't have a lot of friends. But those he did have more than made up for that. Quality over quantity. Every Friday Richard and his friend Matt would hang out for hours. They'd play D&D, Magic The Gathering, football in the backyard, Mortal Kombat, and whatever else they felt like. Usually they'd drink a few beers aswell, though never when anyone else was home. It was Richard's one day off in the week. And he loved it. Matt was even good with his sister. He brought her candies and trinkets and all kinds of crap. And she loved him. Even so far as calling him 'Uncle Matty'
One Friday, Richard was babysitting Stacie when Matt pulled in hauling two six packs.
"No, man. Stacie's here. I told you, not while anyone else is home"
"C'mon, man. It's just a few beers. Don't be a pussy." Richard shook his head, it had been an especially long week so a few beers wouldn't hurt.
5 hours later
"HOW. FUCKING. DARE YOU!!! I LOVED YOU MATT! SHE LOVED YOU!"
Blood seeped from Matt's head where Richard had broken the bottle over his head. He was now punching Matt in the head hard enough to break his knuckles. But in his drunken rage, he hadn't noticed the pain. Matt wasn't feeling any pain. He hadn't felt any for five minutes now. Because that's how long Matt had been dead. The coroner would later remark that it was the most gruesome blunt force trauma he'd seen dealt by a fist. Richard was screaming, tears flooding his face. His sister was curled up in a ball in the corner. Expressionless. Tear stains lined her cheeks. The cause of her tears was not her brother. She had yet to even recognize her brother since the ordeal.
The windows in their unlit house flashed red and blue. A violent knock on the door proceeded the violent entry of a group of police that surrounded Richard and pulled him away from Matt's body. Struggling to pin the reeling, distressed, completely out of control teenager. Two cops slowly coaxed Stacie out of her corner and into a blanket.
Richard was found guilty of Manslaughter and Assaulting a Police Officer. And was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He got out 5 years early for good behaviour. But he was never the same. He vowed he'd never see the empty look of lost innocence again. He'd never allow someone to feel that pain. He'd never let anyone hurt an innocent under his watch.
It was no surprise when he latched onto the Ponies. Their pure innocence was something forever lost to him. He had found an outlet. He wrote a fanfic and poured his pain into it. He wrote and sung music and poured more of himself into it. Haunting Melodies and cheerful, masking tunes churned in his computer. He even latched onto a villain, if you could call him that. The ponies would never really know true evil. And he'd hurt any writer of the show that would seek to change that. But that wasn't likely. At all. The villain he attached himself to was Discord. It reminded him so much of himself. Overture, as he now called himself, was never allowed the luxury of self discovery. He didn't know himself. Was he a murderer? A protector? A brother? A friend? A son? A traitor? A musician? An author? So many parts thrown idly together. Sometimes when he looked in the mirror he even saw Discord.
Overture sighed. Not even the ponies were safe after all. If there was a God, Overture would have a few words with him when he died before he went to hell.
A/N: The "winners" of the cameos: Technia, S1nt4x, and Pascal. Pascal's character had me in giggling fits and will be a challenge to write for. And I look forward to tackling that challenge. However, he won't be seen this chapter. Edit: I guess Technia will also be introduced at a later time
"Ahh!" Twilight screamed as I wrapped my arms and wings around her, shielding her from view of anyone who might see her.
"Shhh! Please be quiet!" I stage whisper. Twilight calms down but doesn't cease shaking. I scan the forests looking for anyone who might see Twilight. Seeing none, I let go of her and let out a sigh of relief. Thankful that the 'sleeping camps' are a half a mile away from the Inner Circle.
"Why did you attack me? I thought you guys liked me?"
"Attack you?" I respond, confused. "Oh, no. I'm sorry. I was just trying to make sure no one saw you. The rest of my kind... well let's just say that you don't want to meet any of them. And by 'let's just say', I of course mean you seriously don't want to meet them."
"Wait, you thought we liked you?" responded Arrow accusingly. Twilight looked hurt.
"You mean you don't?" Twilight sat on her haunches and her eyes went a little large. Arrow and I could barely contain our d'awwws. Arrow looked flustered as he verbally backpedaled.
"No, no! Of course we like you! I guess what I mean is, how did you know that? And-- wait, shouldn't you be freaking out over our appearances?"
"I've already had my freakout. At least I think so. I could be in shock. Is this what being shock feels like?" She brought a hoof to her chin. Then, shaking her head she continued "Nevermind, you see... the reason I knew you liked me is.... I was sorta..kinda...spying on you guys" She looked down and appeared to be a little ashamed. I was admittedly a little uncomfortable having been spied on, but given the situation, I wasn't about to let on.
"Woo! Ammunition against Rainbow Dash!" Snake had apparently regained consciousness long enough for him to hear Twilight's confession. Twilight was not happy to hear what she considered to be a threat against her friend, and glared at Snake. Sitting up, he raised his hands in an internationally, and hopefully interdimensionally, recognized sign of surrender.
"No, I mean. When she eventually asks us if we're spies we could work it in that you were. That's all."
"That does seem like something Rainbow would ask. How do you know that? Why do you people have pictures of me and my friends in that building? Why do you.... Arrgh! You're all so confusing I can't even find the right questions to ask! Do you know how long it's been since I've failed to come up with a decent question?"
"Uh..... no?"
"Neither do I!" She practically screamed. Which freaked us out a little.
"Shhh, please calm down. We can't alert the others. As for your questions. Maybe we can answer them later. But right now what's most important is getting you back to Ponyville and your friends as safely, and as quickly as possible." Twilight pondered this and settled down.
"Alright. Let's get me home."
"Can you become invisible or anything? 'Cause that would be really helpful right about now." Ah, Snake. Where would I be without your genius? Oh right. Fucking dead, that's where.
"I only have enough energy left for an invisibility spell. But you'll still be able to hear and touch me."
"We can touch you?" Snake asked hopefully. Pervert.
"I'm not saying you have permission, because you don't. I'm saying everyone, as well as the enviroment, has the ability to touch me. I can't go intangible anymore."
"Anymore? You mean you could before?"
"I only have energy enough for invisibility. Can we go? I want to go home."
"Er.. yeah, sure. C'mon guys. We're going to the Inner Circle. Twilight, you probably want to cast that spell now." Twilight's horn gave a soft glow that briefly reflected off the trees before she disappeared from sight. "Great let's get going. Twilight, try and mask your steps with ours." We turned and faced a South Easterly direction and moved silently through the dark forest.
About 20 minutes later we arrived at the Inner Circle. Roughly three quarters of the guards were facing inward in a very deep bow. Seems It was sunset. That should help. One of the guards that was not bowing and was still facing outwards was going to be the one we met. I tried to get around him but he'd already seen us. He waved us over and I reluctantly made my way to see him. I had to act like nothing was wrong.
As I looked at his gas mask and German officers cap, I couldn't help myself, "Are you my mummy?" I asked in a lilting British accent.
"Um, what?" He responded in a voice clearly filtered through electronics.
"Are you my mummy?" I asked, doing a remarkably good job at keeping my voice the same dead, creepy, childlike tone as before.
"No..?"
"Are you my mummy?"
"Look man, I ain't got the time for this shit. I just wanted to know what you were doing out here. Shift change was two hours ago. Not to mention we're on high alert with Twilight having been spotted. Real shame, that."
"Twilight?" I asked, feigning innocence. "She's been spotted?"
"Yeah." The man had a long black leather trench coat, with sleeves that tucked into a hard plastic material that covered his forearms before switching into gloves at the wrist, a black combat vest and a pistol belt over the trench, slightly baggy black cargo pants tucked into knee high combat boots topped by knee pads. He was looking a little forlorn. His wings that were similar to my own but without the coloration or holes and a demonic arrow pointed tail sagged slightly, futher giving that impression. This guy looked brilliant. Except for the hat, I could totally see myself hangin' with this guy. That and he probably would rat out Twilight pretty fast. Not a good way to make friends.
"So, um.. what's the plan to catch Twilight?" I was hoping he'd give me the lay of the land and make it easier to bring Twilight home.
"We've set up her home as a trap. There are snipers positioned throughout the Everfree. If she so much as pokes a horn out the bush, bam. She's gone. The unicorns have set up an anti-teleportation magic shield around Ponyville. Aided by mages of other varieties. If she tries to pop home her molecules will scatter across the planet. To top it off there's a telepath roaming the woods scanning for her mind." At this he sat down. His wings stretched out and settled back into a more comfortable position. He looked up at me and asked simply
"Why do you have to kill her, Priest?"
"Um...." I didn't know what to say. This guy didn't want to kill her either. I was glad that not everybody was a heartless bastard. But I couldn't let on that I agreed with him. Many HOH were glaring at him. Some looking at me as though demanding that I publicly punish him for such blasphemy. I had to get out of there.
"It would seem you are unfit for duty, Harmonic. You will come with me." I began to lead him away and the HOH looked happy. Though some appeared dejected that I would handle his 'punishment' privately. I imagine if I could see this guy's face he'd look scared.
When we were far enough away I asked him his name.
"It's S1nt4x, sir. You can just call me Sin for short."
"Syntax, huh? Neat. I have a few questions for you: One, would you prefer Twilight lives or dies. Answer honestly, Snake can tell when you lie. And he hasn't eaten anything for three days." At this Snake became a green velociraptor and I could swear I saw him smile. Syntax just looked bored. Which freaked me out a little.
"Honestly, I want Twilight to live." as the words leave his mouth his face locks onto Snakes and he gets into a defensive position, clearly expecting a fight. When none comes, he looks my way, tilting his head in inquiry.
I smile and say simply, "We, also, want that." Twilight chooses this moment to reveal herself. And Syntax, in a motion quite unbefitting his appearance, fanboy squees.
Twilight, sitting down, is looking a little irate as Sin absentmindedly pets her like a dog. Earning a scowl from Snake, who's once himself again, and chuckles from me and Arrow. "You realize that Overture will gut you if he finds out?" Sin asked, a hint of disappointment lining his electronic voice as Twilight decided she'd had enough and moved away.
"I took the same oath as you. Protect the ponies, even at the cost of our own lives. That's what I'm doing."
"Good enough for me. What are we gonna do? She can't go back to Ponyville. She can't stay with us."
"Wait. Sin, you're a genius!"
"I am?"
"Overture sent us to the other half of the Circles, right? We just take Twilight with us. When we get to the Canterlot Break, we can smuggle her in. She'll go to the Princesses and... oh boy. Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, onto the Canterlot Break!"
"What's the Canterlot Break?" Twilight asked.
"Well, we erm.. Harmonics, have formed two circular perimeters around both Ponyville and Canterlot. However, given Canterlot's unique topographical location, we haven't been able to form neat lines there. What we've done in stead is place a few strong individuals with ranged abilities, flight, or advanced eyesight to adorn the face of the mountain that Canterlot rests on. There are also a few weaker Harmonics, spread throughout. If we can avoid being spotted, we can slink right past them into Canterlot. Hopefully they won't be expecting stealth attacks and we can slip in easy enough."
"Well," clapped Arrow. "This sounds like a plan. I say we start our little quest early. While the diurnal creatures sleep."
And so we set off, doing our best to stay away from the many sleeping former humans and from the nocturnal guard. About a quarter mile of woods and darkness on either side of us blocking our view from said groups.
-||-||-||-||-
Celestia had had a long day. The longest in a thousand years. Paperwork, cleanup and grief was the unholy trifecta that sought to drag her into the pits of Tartarus. Now that all but grief had been dealt with, she needed some company. Luna was busy training her own Night guard after the attack on Celestia. Celestia's remaining day guard, which she had successfully managed to loosen up after years of effort, were back to being the stony statues of vigilance and discipline that they were trained to be. She would get no comfort from them.
"Prepare a chariot to Ponyville, I think it's time I visited my favorite student." Besides, she hadn't written to Celestia today either. And she was usually so punctual. As good a reason as any to visit, Celestia mused.
Sitting in the Chariot Celestia sighed and visibly relaxed as the cool evening air rushed over her. Celestia closed her eyes an breathed deeply and slowly. Finding her center. She smiled as the Chariot touched down and her guards let her continue to meditate.
Now in a relaxed, serene, state she walked gracefully to Ponyville's one and only library, knocking on the door softly she called out to Twilight. However, it was a puffy-eyed little dragon that opened the door instead.
"What's wrong Spike? Is Twilight home?"
"No!" He cried, wringing his little clawed fist in one eye. "She went into the Everfree Forest! I told her not to go! That it was dangerous, but she refused to listen to me. Again!" Celestia knowingly smiled at Spike, Twilight was known to go on little adventures, this time would be no different. "But this time it's different," cried Spike "She'd be back by now. She's never been gone this long. And she'd never stay in the Everfree at night, not unless she absolutely had to like when she first moved here. And even then, she was in great danger! Please find her Princess. Please!"
Celestia smiled. She'd find Twilight, but not because of her assistants worries. Celestia was sure Twilight could handle herself. However, Celestia wanted to talk to Twilight. She needed a shoulder right now.
"Okay, Spike. I'll find her. Don't you worry." Celestia offered a warming smile.
"Thank you, Princess. I- I think I'm gonna lie down. Please have Twilight wake me when you bring her home" Spike yawned, heading up the stairs to where is basket lay in wait.
-||-||-||-||-
As Celestia flew over the Everfree, scanning for her student, she took notice of the changes apparent in the forest. The most noticeable of which was a large circular clearing of downed trees. In the center stood a shoddily built stone building. Whatever this was, it was new, and likely to have drawn Twilight's attention as well.
Celestia tilted her wings and descended into the clearing, landing right in front of the building. Carefully opening the large twin wooden double doors she called in for Twilight. Or anypony else that might occupy the small structure.
When her gaze took in the one roomed building, she stiffened. It was weird staring at a propaganda poster of herself that demanded obedience. It went against everything she stood for. It was also weird seeing the banners that held minimalistic artistic renderings of the six bearers of Harmony. As well as a younger looking Luna depicted with the same style propaganda poster.
Celestia's assumption of the structure having only the one room was quickly proven false as Discord walked casually out of the back room, cleaning his hands on a rag. When she spotted him, she yelled out his name and quickly began readying a spell.
Upon hearing this and spotting The Goddess of The Sun in his Temple, Overture quickly fell into a deep bow, practically kissing the ground, and yelled. "I swear my loyalty to you, Princess Celestia, Goddess of The Sun, Day Bringer, Life Giver. Also, I'M NOT DISCORD. I only look like him. I swear to you, my Goddess."
Of course this confused Celestia. Only one thing looks like Discord. And that's Discord. But this creature did not share his voice or mannerisms. And Discord would never bow to Celestia, much less give her grand titles that included 'Goddess'.
"My name is Overture. High Priest of the Holy Order of Harmony. Leader of a group of roughly four thousand souls ready to give their lives to protect you, your sister, and your ponies. And I am at your service." Overture finished with a graceful bow.
Celestia was confused. In all her long life she'd never met such strange beings. This 'Overture' was guiding her through the dark Everfree night, explaining their predicament to her as they went. She tried to pay attention but her eyes repeatedly stole glances of creatures she'd never seen before, not in her dreams, not in a storybook, not anywhere. Several had a very familiar, very disconcerting shape to them.
"...and that, Life Giver, is what's best for all."
"What?" Princess Celestia felt a little guilty at having tuned him out. She hadn't done that in a long time. But then again, there had never been anything quite like this to distract her before.
Overture smiled a small tight smile. "You weren't listening, were you? That's understandable. Here, follow me to where you might be less prone to the whims of ADD."
"ADD?"
"Nothing, nevermind. Inside joke."
"Sure, lead the way, Overture."
As they made their way deeper into the forest, Overture began to speak again, and Celestia resolved to hear every last word.
"At what part did you lose me last time?"
"I believe you had said that you were a race of creatures called "Humans" and that you had gathered for a celebration of sorts."
"Ah, yes. Seems you tuned out early on and caught some information after that. Well, unlike last time I can't go into great detail, as we're running out of time. So here's the short and sweet. One: we humans are evil, true evil. Two: we-"
"You're evil? And you dare speak to me!" Celestia charged her horn once more and Overture sat still, and held a single hand up.
"Yes, I am evil. As are my brethren, however we are not here to harm you, please hear us out before you defeat us. And if you decide to engage us, defeat us you shall, as not one soul will put up even a meager resistance. Even if they believe themselves to be more powerful than you and your sister combined."
Once again Celestia's horn's glow receded. Confusion seemed to be a common emotional state for her today. "That's not how evil works, I think you may be misguided, Mr Overture. You seem to me a decent being. Why call yourselves evil?"
"Where we're from, Good and evil isn't quite so black and white, oil and water. It's a cloudy gray. So while on our own planet, we may be relatively nice guys, compared to you and your ponies, we're the greatest evil you've seen."
"If you are so evil, why haven't you attacked me? Why haven't you tried to take over Equestria?"
"Ah, there it is. That's part of two. Two: On our world, we came to know of yours. We followed the adventures of your student, Twilight Sparkle, and those of her five friends. We came to learn much about your world. The purity of your joy and innocence lit within us a spark of hope and happiness many of us hadn't known in years. It was a beacon. A bright and warm beacon. And that beacon brought us all together to celebrate you all, even though we all thought you were fiction. However, for whatever reason, during our Celebration, something happened. Whatever it was brought us here. And we swore an oath to protect you and your ponies."
"I still don't hear any evil..."
"It's in our very nature, Princess. And it's a corrupting force. A very powerful corrupting force. I am happy that you are momentarily immune, Princess. But I don't believe you have much time before you succumb, which is why you need to listen to me."
"I'm listening..." Celestia was perplexed, but she had no reason to doubt this creature. If he spoke true then to ignore his words would have been met with catastrophic consequences.
"Twilight Sparkle has been spotted in these woods. Unfortunately, she is not an Alicorn, and thus fell victim to our evil. She has been tarnished by our presence and poses a grave threat to Equestria. She did not grow up in a world of darkness and she has lost complete control. She is in the woods somewhere, that much we know. And we are doing our best to save her. In spite of our best efforts, she has evaded our sentries with magic. We need your help, Princess."
Hearing that sweet innocent Twilight Sparkle had been corrupted by the presence of these things made her both wary at their natural evil and awestruck at their raw power. Though that was nothing compared to the worry she felt for her student. Poor Twilight, an agent of evil. When these creatures cured her she would be guilt ridden for weeks. "What do you need, Mr. Overture?"
"Just Overture is fine, Day Bringer. And all we need from you is some magic dampening fields on this net, and the cage on the edge of the clearing. But you must hurry. I fear we cannot protect Equestria against an Alicorn infected by our evil, much less the Goddess of the Sun, and you cannot have much time left."
-||-||-||-||-
"Hey man, how about a pizza and a fuck?" Arrow has been, for the last 15 minutes, trying to get in Sin's pants. And he's been met with failure everytime. I'd laugh. But it's getting on my nerves.
"No, man. I told you-"
"What's wrong, you don't like pizza?" Sin stopped walking, his fists clenched he leaned forward slightly, shaking. Obviously simmering in anger.
"For the last time, I ain't into you. You ain't my type. By a long shot. Hit on me again, and I'll make sure you sleep for a long time." at this his right arm changes shape. Other than the missing ethereal dark red glowy crap, his arm is now a dead ringer for Alex Mercer's blade. Pointing it at a very pale Arrow he said, "Keep your dick in your pants, and I keep my own sword sheathed, get me?"
"Yeah, man. Fine. Whatever. Shit, thought you were just playing hard to get. You don't need to get all screamy."
"You don't even know what I look like. Every inch of me is clothed. What possessed you to want to possess me?"
"What can I say? I got hot guy radar, Shit man! I wasn't hitting on you, calm down!"
"Would you two knock it off!? In case you've forgotten, we're on a stealth mission. Ya fuckin' idiots."
"I will ask later, what that was about, Mr Soulless. But what I want to know now is, just what stealth mission are we on? We're nowhere near Canterlot and we haven't seen hide nor tail of your kind in half an hour." whispered Twilight.
"Twilight, for this I think you need to sit down. You're probably not going to like the answer." Twilight sits, a worried look on her face. "Twilight, when was the last time you ate?"
"About fifteen minutes ago, why?"
"And you, Snake?"
"Three days."
"Arrow?"
"Two days."
"Syntax?"
"A week." Whoa, what?
"Excuse me, a week? How are you still standing?"
In a slight German accent he yells: "I HAVE NO IDEA!" Guess that explains the irritability.
"Ohhh- kaaay. Well, that aside. I think you can figure where this is going, Twilight"
"No. No I can not. Why would you choose not to eat?"
"We don't choose not to eat, our food is scarce. Do you understand now?"
"No there's food all over the place. Just eat already."
"We're carnivores, Twilight. Well, omnivores really. But the plant life here has very little nutrients and calories. They can't sustain us. We need meat." Goddamnit, Snake. For someone so smart you can be a little dense at times.
"Is that all?" Ummm... what? What does she mean, 'is that all'?
"Uhhh... you're okay with that?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I've read plenty of biology textbooks. Honestly, I figured you guys were carnivores. Your omnivorous nature was admittedly a little surprising"
"Wait, you knew? Then why did you say we should eat the plants around us?"
"I had you guys pegged. I guessed you knew that the ponies you worshiped were herbivores. You tread lightly on so many issues, I was curious as to how long you'd keep your diet a secret. Not too long apparently."
"I wonder how the other ponies would react to that?" Snake wonders aloud.
"Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash would be okay with it, Fluttershy takes care of all creatures and all diets. And if I remember right, Dash said she's even eaten meat herself-"
"What?!" All four of us respond.
"From what I remember of what she told me, in a bizarre moment of curiosity she ate some of Gilda's chicken during flight camp. Apparently it tasted odd, but was in no way worth the severe gut wrenching pain that followed that evening."
"Daammn" Arrow responded. "I knew she was brave, but... daammn."
"Really, as long as you don't eat in front of anypony. I don't think you'll have a problem. Just don't tell Pinkie Pie. I'm afraid of what she might do to cater your welcome party... what is wrong with you guys? Why'd you all stop walking at the same time? You guys look really scared. I've never seen you guys so scared."
"Um..." I swallow. "It's uh... nothing. Don't worry about it. Let's just uh.. go. I'm not hungry anymore."
"Yeah, uh.. me neither."
"But you guys haven't eaten in days. You said so yourself! I need you at full strength if I'm going to get home safely."
"Just.. no. Just drop it please."
We walked for the next hour in complete silence. Though we did finally manged to get a deer roughly forty five minutes in.
-||-||-||-||-
Washington DC White House, Oval Office November 30th, 2013 2:26 am EST
President Romney. The CEO of America. Was the happiest he'd been in just over a year. An entire planet of untapped natural resources at his country's front door. Sure it was a bit of a squeeze getting in, and there were some pesky savage natives to deal with. But they'd be dealt with quickly enough.
"Sir. I don't think that's a good idea. From what I gather from the report, the planet is occupied by sentient life. We can't just declare war on an alien species. It's not right." Romney rubbed his temples. Part of the problem with his position was dealing with the bleeding hearts. No matter how may times he's blatantly ignored them, they keep offering thier 'advice'.
"Jenkins, I read that report. They declared war on us. They killed one of our soldiers in cold blood."
"It could be a cultural misunderstanding, and.." the thin man in a suit flips through a few pages of the report in front of him, "it looks like they appeared in a throne room of sorts. He was killed by guards. Who's to say they didn't attack first?"
"That report," Romney offered. "That report is to say they didn't attack first."
"Oh, so now you care what the report says, figures."
"What was that professor, I didn't quite catch that."
"Nothing, Mr President. But, is it really worth it to wage war over one dead soldier?"
"They pose a great threat to this nation, Doctor. We must attack first."
"Uh.. no. They don't pose a threat, actually. They have spears. What they pose is an excellent opportunity for advancement of our mutual knowledge"
"I've had enough out of you. Go sell your unpatriotic drivel to someone else." Why this brainiac was trying to get in the way of God's work was beyond Romney. And it was obviously God's work. America had been in an enormous economic decline in recent years. And just when all hope is lost, A portal to an entire world neatly pops up in America's capital city. The sign couldn't be clearer. And this SETI worker would seek to explain it and diminish the rewards America deserved. Atheist filth.
-||-||-||-||-
Belly full for the first time in days I was dead tired. Every now and then I would stumble forward, flapping my wings to help regain balance. I wasn't the only one. Twilight wasn't known for physical labor and just moving had worn her out. We made camp in a tree, Arrow and Snake worked to create a hammock and tied the makeshift thing between branches so that Twilight could sleep with us. The dense foliage would hide us from Human search parties that would undoubtedly search for us when the sun came up. Seems we would become nocturnal. Fitting really, for the HOH's priest and monks of the the moon.
Staring through a small gap in the leaves I watched as a bit of extra-planetary rock burned up in the upper atmosphere. A shooting star for those less astronomically inclined. A childhood habit rose itself out of my mind and I wished upon a star, tweaking it to fit our environment.
Dear Luna, I wish with all my heart that we safely deliver Twilight to Canterlot. Where she can be kept safe from the rest of my kind who desire to kill her. And on a lesser note, I want to go home. It's not great, but at least I'd have food, shelter, internet, and indoor plumbing.
Yawning, I hooked my feet around the branch I lay on, instinct taking hold I let myself drop. Hanging upside down from the branch, I cocoon myself with my wings and fall into the best sleep I've had since I came to Equestria.
-||-||-||-||-
Given the events of the day, it was understandable that her night was a little lackluster tonight. Giving it a once over she let it remain with the dimmer stars and galactic cloud. Waving her hoof lazily her horn glowed as she briefly added some shooting stars and waited for what would undoubtedly come. Contrary to popular belief, she couldn't actually manipulate the stars. They were far too far away and far to large and took far too long to create and destroy. No, what she could do however was manipulate the exosphere, thermosphere and mesosphere's molecular density on a grand scale. Thus altering the way the star's light waves traveled through the planet's atmosphere. When she wasn't feeling up to it, the molecules would gather and thicken the outer atmosphere and dim the light of the sky. When an asteroid got close enough it took no effort to move it. Often times she'd drag it into the sky and create a light show. Ponies that saw this tended to offer prayers to Luna when she did. Often in wish format. And she chose to open her mind to those prayers every time. When Equuis passed through the tail of a comet she'd open her mind then too. But that wasn't as special. It was more public, less personal, and Luna could do nothing to stop the shower that would create the barrage of wishes that came her way.
"I wish being a fillyfooler was a taboo again. The sex was so steamy back then."
Nothing I can do about that, Lyra dear. Luna smiled.
"I wish for a billion bits!"
Aren't you rich enough, Filthy?
"I wish Spitfire would see how awesome I am and make me a Wonderbolt!"
Dash, all you need to do is the paperwork, I'll send you the application in the mail.
"Dear Luna, I wish with all my heart that we safely deliver Twilight to Canterlot. Where she can be kept safe from the rest of my kind who desire to kill her. And on a lesser note, I want to go home. It's not great, but at least I'd have food, shelter, internet, and indoor plumbing."
Luna's eyes went wide, her irises shrank. Where had that come from? Before it went cold she traced the line, ignoring all the other wishes for the night. Her minds eye flew over the country. Soundlessly speeding past building after building before leaving Canterlot. It flew in the direction of Ponyville before lurching right and delving into the forest. It twisted past tree after tree. A sleeping timberwolf pack was undisturbed as it flew within inches of them.
Finally, it rested on the sight of an overly large sleeping bat, two bipedal creatures resembling the ones that had attacked earlier, and a small green monkey. All sleeping around Twilight Sparkle, who was lying on her back on a net in the tree, appearing relaxed, but not asleep. Luna watched as Twilight wrote in a small notepad, occasionally glancing at the others. Luna slowly shifted her line of sight so she could see what Twilight was writing
"Hello, Luna. Seems I'm not the only spy these days," Twilight chuckled. Caught, Luna teleported to her sister's student.
"What is going on, Twilight. That bat thing had a very ominous desire." Twilight raised an eyebrow
"Oh?"
"He wished for your safe return. He believed you to be in danger. Is this true, Twilight?" Twilight chuckled.
"They're cooky, and on some level yes. I'm in danger. But I trust them to return me safely."
"Why not just allow me to return home with you?"
"These things are the most amazing things I've seen in all my years. I want to spend as much time as I can with them. I think that one and that one have a crush on me. I think the bat thing worships you. And they are masters of Theater. The old you would have been proud."
"How do you mean?"
"Every little thing sets them off. They fear me as though I were a sensitive parental figure that they need to appease, and quite frankly, that's hilarious. I can see why Celestia messes with her subjects sometimes. The whole meat thing had me going so bad it was miracle I kept a straight face."
"Meat thing?"
"They're carnivores, or I guess technically omnivores."
"Ah, I see. And they-"
"Yeah." Luna smiled.
"They don't eat sentients, do they"
"No, Luna. Hey wanna meet them? I think they might make the noise that Syntax here made when he met me. It was cute. Weird and mechanical, but cute."
"Eh, why not? I think I'll the wake the bat one first. Hey, wake up sleepyhead. Time you met the awesome Mare of the Moon.
-||-||-||-||-
New York City Worth and Broadway, Portal Location November 30th 4:20am EST
"So, what we've discovered is that the wormhole is stable on this side. However, the other side flits between locations. Using multiple sensors we've calculated that the area that the other side pops up in is roughly twenty five square miles. However. The portal remains stable on the other side in a specific location for nine hours and twenty three minutes a night. It's deep in the woods. About sixteen miles from Location Alpha."
"Wormhole?"
"It fits the mathematical parameters of an Einstein-rosen bridge to a T. I never thought I'd see one. Especially not one visible to the naked eye."
"When does stability occur?"
"10:16pm eastern standard time, sir."
"Hmm, that only gives us a few hours tonight." Jameson moved his arm in a motion that said simply, 'move out'. Teams of soldiers carrying ammo crates and stores of weapons moved through the portal. Followed shortly by teams with food and other necessities. A line of port-o-potties followed them. Humvees pulling trailers full of metal rode through the cleared ground before flashing white and disappearing. A single Abrams tank. The only one Jameson could requisition at this time of night was poised to follow. Before it arrived at the portal that was smaller than it, the driver got out and signaled that he was ready. A team of soldiers and a couple of vehicles proceeded to push the tank into the portal.
The scientist on station stared wide-eyed. The entire tank went. Not just the part that connected to the wormhole. Jameson was the only one left. With a wave he walked into the wormhole, leaving the scientist alone with his work.
-||-||-||-||-
New York City November 30th, 2013 4:27am EST
Two figures stood on the roof a short skyscraper opposite the ruined building with the portal to another world in it. One wore a long white trench coat with gold trim, the other wore a midnight blue trench with purple trim.
"Hmmm," said one
"Huh," said the other.
"Seems the Americans mobilized earlier than expected."
"You don't suppose it's because we-"
"I don't discount it. But it's possible they were supposed to go this early."
The other chuckled darkly "I don't envy those on the other side. It's about to get ugly, fast"
"Dark days ahead indeed for The Holy Order Of Harmony" The one smiled.
A/N: Holy shit, guys: FANARTS! Pascal created these fantastic images of Soulless, S1NT4X and Pink I think I'll even use one as the new cover art for IBDF. Hope you guys enjoy these as much as I did.
Princess Celestia was about to head back to Canterlot after successfully managing to place magic dampening fields on roughly 25 nets and one very out of place cage, confident that they would hold Twilight long enough for the creatures to purge her of their influence, when one of the strangely colored ponies burst into the clearing.
"Overture! Princess! Something terrible has happened!"
"Calm down, what happened? Has Twilight been found?" Overture asked with a hint of trepidation in his voice.
"That's just it. We found her. But she's being aided by the Priest of the Moon, his monks, and another we don't know of. They've turned traitor, sir."
"No. That's not possible. Soulless is loyal. Misguided, but loyal. He'd never allow human influence to stain Equestria." Overture stated simply, refusing to believe.
"That's not all, Her Majesty Princess Luna was seen aiding them. We don't know why. But I think Luna has been corrupted, I think she might even be Nightmare Moon again."
Overture did not take the news well. Soulless, a traitor. Luna, an Alicorn as mighty as Celestia aiding in their escape. She was probably the cause of Soulless' behaviour, after all, he was the Moon Priest.
"L-Luna? Dear sister? Corrupted? Nightmare Moon?" Celestia was stammering, visibly upset, her eyes glistened in fresh tears. "NO! We just got her back! I won't allow her to go again. Even if I have to hurt you creatures to get her back." with that Celestia galloped into the woods. Before she broke the treeline, however, Overture shouted.
"Wait! I won't stop you, Celestia, but I won't allow you to go alone." Overture turned and shouted "Pink! Get your Nordic ass over here!" A shirtless man with long blonde hair and a braided beard ran into the clearing. "Princess Celestia, this is Pink, Priest of The Sun. Pink, you know who she is. You're to aid her in finding and subduing Princess Luna, the Moon Harmonics, and Twilight Sparkle. And you, random pony, where were they seen last?"
"They were that way. Two Harmonics were fighting them, but I doubt they'll last long." The pony pointed in the direction he had come, the very direction Celestia had already been headed. Pink summoned a 21 speed mountain bike and joined Celestia. However, they were stopped before entering the forest again. "No.. wait... that way" The pony pointed in a wholly new direction. Sighing, Celestia and Pink changed direction. Gaining momentum they stopped again as the pony pointed in the opposite direction they had just been moving in. "....or was it that way? Actually... I think I lost 'em. Sorry." Pink shrugged and moved off into the forest, followed closely by Celestia. It may take longer than they'd like, but they were confident they'd find their quarry. Hopefully before any real damage could be done.
-||-||-||-||-
The Present
I had been asleep for maybe an hour, I may not value it as highly as Arrow, but I still value it. So when I felt someone try to jostle me awake I felt justified in making death threats. "Unless your name is Twilight Sparkle, if you keep that shit up, I'll cut you into neat little cubes. Good. Day."
"What if my name is Princess Luna?"
"I'm supposed to believe the Princess of the night is here in our humble tree? Right, and the space pope isn't reptilian."
"I do not know what a space pope is, but I assure you I am indeed Luna."
I open my wings a little to get a good look at whoever's doing that admittedly really good Luna impression. If they say 'Made you look' then this will be over and I can go back to sleep. Who knew I needed to hang upside down? However, instead of Snake, Arrow, or even Syntax's face, there in the little gap in my wings with a cute little smile, was Princess Luna. Shocked into attempting to right myself, I lost my grasp on the branch and fell. "Oh, right in the jewels." I mutter as I land in an unfavorable manner on one of the lower branches. Spinning on the branch I continue the fall, head first again towards the ground. I hit the ground in a heap. "Ohhhh.... That sucked." My left wing hurt. A lot. I tried extending it and it spasmed. Guess I wasn't gonna fly anytime soon.
"Oh, I apologize. I had not meant to frighten you, beast." Luna gracefully glided down from the foliage where Twilight and the others remained hidden. Her face betrayed her apology as insincere as it looked like she'd break into laughter at any given moment and was trying not to.
"Okay, one. My name is Soulless, not Beast. Two, you didn't frighten me. You startled me. There's a difference."
"I am sure."
Pushing myself off my back I finally manage to bow to Luna. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Soulless, The Holy Order Of Harmony's Priest of the Moon, Protector of Ponies."
"Holy Order of Harmony? Priest of the Moon? What do these things mean?"
"Well, basically, since coming to Equestria my people have formed a religious organization based around the Elements of Harmony, their bearers, and you and your sister. I've been named Priest of the Moon. Which basically gives me authority over all, mainly those in the west. But, despite my position, I'm not actually a member, if you can believe it. Anyway, why are you here? Are you taking Twilight back?" I ask hopefully.
"No. I'm afraid I cannot. Whatever is preventing Twilight to teleport herself, also prevents me from teleporting her. Though I believe I will accompany you and your friends on your journey to aid in her safe keeping."
"I can't say that's what I was hoping for, but that's better than nothing. Thank you, Princess. We could use all the help we could get."
"Really? Luna's here? Where? This is awesome!" A mechanical voice screeched from above. Soon after Syntax landed neatly next to me. Followed closely by Snake and Arrow. Snake and Arrow, in what could only be a choreographed motion, mirrored each other perfectly as they unfolded their makeshift dried vine hammock and extended it between themselves. Once it was unfolded, Twilight jumped into it and was carefully lowered to the ground. Once everyone was on the ground they gave a quick, but deep bow.
"Will you be taking Twilight home?" Snake asked.
"No, but I will be traveling with you for some time."
"Sweeet." Arrow and Snake high five each other.
"Should we get moving?" asked the Princess.
Before anyone could answer, I chimed in quickly "Aren't you Nocturnal, Luna? The day just started, can we please get some sleep? It's better if we move at night anyway, less of a chance of getting spotted."
Luna was about to say something when an unknown voice called out to us. "You there! What are you doing-- We've found her! Get her, bring her to Overture!" Two ponies and a Jedi appeared from the bush, yelling and pointing in our direction. At this we all assumed defensive stances. Syntax's left arm once again became Alex Mercer's blade, his right hand held a very large gun. A Desert Eagle, I believe. I pulled out my twin blades, Snake transformed into a tiger, Arrow pulled out his bow and lined up an arrow, Luna and Twilight's horn began to glow. "Brick Build, get to Overture, tell him what we've found!" The Jedi yelled to a red pegasus pony that was a dead ringer for the steroid junkie from Hurricane Fluttershy. Brick Build ran away from the fight. Once he was out of sight the Jedi glared at us menacingly. He switched his lightsaber on and made towards us.
In the middle of his swing, however, he stopped moving, twitching and foaming at the mouth he fell to the ground. Revealing a unicorn mare with bright green eyes, a dark grey coat and a red-grey messy mane. She had a red cutie mark of the uppercase greek letter Phi. She was holding a taser in her magic. "Uh. Hey guys. Mind takin' a chill pill? I ain't gonna hurt ya." Sensing the danger was gone weapons were holstered, bodies were reverted and magic was dampened.
"Why'd you do that?"
"Do what? Taser this scumbag? You're welcome, by the way."
"Um.. thank you? I thought all the OC ponies were loyal to Overture?"
"Fuck no. Once that little shit said 'Kill Twilight Sparkle' I became his enemy. Fuck Overture. Twilight Sparkle is Best Pony." When the mare said "Kill Twilight Sparkle" she tilted her head and her voice deepened to almost demonic levels.
"What's your name, friend?"
"Technia." Said the unicorn.
"I'm not 'best pony'. I don't hold a candle to Celestia." Twilight was again confused.
"To each their own. Personally, I'm a Luna fan." I respond, giving the air that Twilight was an MLP fan with her own favorite pony, enjoying the look she gave me. And if I didn't know any better, I'd swear Luna blushed.
"Well, Technia," started Luna "No doubt this position has been compromised. And you've outed yourself with your attack on your partner here. Would you like to travel with us?"
"Travel with Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna? Is this a trick question? Of course I will!"
"I feel like I'm in an RPG. Our group keeps growing. This will make stealth difficult." Snake commented dryly.
Once again we made our way southward. Trudging through the the thick underbrush everyone but Syntax was getting scratched by multiple thorns. Though Luna was healing so fast she might as well not have been. Arrow and Snake were arguing about the potential of black hole enabled time travel, Syntax was having a conversation with Technia about the positive and negative effects of industrializing Equestria, a conversation Luna was discreetly paying a lot of attention to. And Twilight and I were talking about Humans. Specifically Human's lack of magic.
"Well, then, how did you get here?"
"No idea. A portal is the best I can say"
"But that's magic."
"Maybe someone opened it on this side, then."
"You need magic on both sides."
"Maybe it was a top secret government technology that went haywire, or was tested on us."
"But, how do you live with out magic? It's unfathomable."
"Technology." Technia answered for me, briefly interrupting her own conversation to do so.
"Hey guys, it's about midday, how about we rest a bit? Heal up some wounds, gather strength, I think we're far enough away that they won't know where we are." Arrow said.
"Sounds good." said Twilight, still not used to this much exercise.
"I'm down." put forth Syntax, promptly planting himself where he stood.
"Whatever." I say and sit down as well.
Syntax produced from his back a small white box with a simple red plus on it and passed it around. "Take what you need, I've used it twice and it refills itself."
"Speaking of medicine that refills itself," Arrow fished around his utility belt and pulled out a joint. "I'm already covered." His other hand fished around and he came back with a lighter. Lighting up he inhaled, his voice strained as asked "Anyone else wanna hit? I'm tired of smokin' alone." He blew out a stream of smoke and he slumped a little. "Anyone?"
"Holy shit. Is that what I think it is?" asked Syntax
"You know it, want some?"
"Yeah, man!"
Arrow began handing the joint to Syntax, but pulled back. "How you gonna smoke with that on your face?"
"I can take it off."
"Oh." Syntax took the joint and put it up to a port on his mask.
"I just choose not to."
"Okay then."
"Anyone else?"
"Eh, sure, why not? It's been a stressful few weeks" replied Technia. The joint glew bright green in Technia's magic as she brought it to her lips. She coughed a couple times before passing it Snake. Who then passed it to me without partaking. I took a hit and passed it to Luna, not thinking. Everyone's eyes went wide as Luna took the drug and inhaled deeply, copying our motions. She blew out and smiled lightly.
"What? This is not dissimilar to some early dealings I had with the Buffalo tribes to the north. Twilight, would you like to participate in this human custom?" Of course she had it word it like that. Now she'll be curious. Twilight took a hold of it in her purple magic and eyed it curiously. It was burned halfway and was slowly getting smaller as she eyed it. "Twilight dear, either take your turn or pass it. It won't last like that." With wide eyes and jaws we all stared at Twilight as she slowly brought it to her mouth and inhaled deeply.
The coughing fit that followed was drowned out by our laughter. "I can't believe," cried Snake "That Twilight just smoked weed!" tears in his eyes went unabated as he was too busy holding his abdomen together.
The tears in Twilight's eyes were caused by her coughing/choking, and she was having trouble stopping. "I don't -cough- understand -cough- why you -cough- would -cough- willingly do -cough- that to yourself -cough, cough-"
"Eh, it's an acquired taste."
"You mean to tell me--"
"Shhh!" I cut Twilight off, and everyone shushed. I had thought I had heard a twig break, as though we were being watched. We stood still for about five minutes straight before Technia spoke up.
"I don't hear any-" before she could finish, a timberwolf sprang out, knocking her onto her back and pinning her. Tree sap served as drool and poured onto her face as her eyes went wide. The timberwolf growled and snarled, gnashing his teeth every now and then. I pulled out my blade to deal with it when it's head exploded.
Twilight glared at Syntax. Whose gun was pointed at the corpse, a line of smoke billowed from the barrel. "What?" he asked, "It was gonna eat her."
"No, it wasn't. You didn't have to kill it."
"What do you mean, it wasn't gonna eat her? It was all like..." Snake asked, turning into a green timberwolf and mimicking the other's actions before returning to normal. "Oh, I see." he stated simply.
"What am I missing?" Arrow asked.
"Did you notice how the timberwolf looked, physically, I mean?" asked Twilight, full on lecture mode. Complete with the sudden appearance of half moon glasses and a bun hairstyle.
"Yeah, it looked mean, and hungry. And kinda in mah face. Not cool." Technia answered.
"Did none of you notice that it's hollow?"
"So, what then? It can't eat? Then why attack? And how does it live?"
"You ponies-"
"People." I chimed.
"...people.... ever heard of Changelings?"
"Yeah." we all respond, heads nodding.
"Well, then you know that Changelings feed off of love. Timberwolves, are similar to Changelings in that they feed off of emotional energy. However, their food of choice is fear." We nodded, that made sense, actually. "Most of the time they're harmless, only needing to stalk, growl and snarl to get a reaction. But occasionally they'll resort to violence if they're hungry enough. Very rarely will they actually inflict pain. Not because their sentient and have morals, but rather it is simply a high risk/little reward scenario that they evolved not to engage in."
"I just got a lecture from Twilight Sparkle." whispered Arrow, "I feel like my I.Q. just rose 20 points."
Three more timberwolves emerged from the thicket. "Remember," said Twilight, raising her voice just enough to be heard over their growls, "they have no need to hurt you. There is nothing to fear." I cooly gazed at the wolves. Trying to drink in as much detail as I could. Nothing like clinical detachment to wipe away fears. I noted the knotted style of the branches. The bio-luminescence of their yellow eyes, the row of canine teeth shaped wood in it's jaw. The way the wood flexed and retracted as a muscle would as they circled us.
"Okay, I'm goin' to sleep. This is boring." Arrow remarked.
"No, we've rested long enough. Let's move forward." said Luna. Arrow groaned but stood up, ready to leave. As we seven made our way south through the woods, the wolves followed us, hoping to catch us off guard. But nobody was scared. It was a beautiful moment when we ran into a patrolling group of Wolverines. They saw us and cried out for our blood, they must have been a little fearful going into battle because the timberwolves saw new targets and made the Wolverines simpering cowards crying in fetal positions.
"The more a timberwolf feeds the scarier it's perceived to be by it's victim. Creating a cycle that can incapacitate someone, this is a wolf's true power. If an especially hungry wolf is left to feed on a single victim until it's satiated, the victim can lapse into a fear induced coma. Luckily I doubt those three will get that bad. The wolves were not hungry enough to attack physically, after all." Twilight pushed the glasses she had been wearing since lecture one up.
"Bwahahaha! Wolves attacking Wolverines! Priceless!" cried Arrow. Syntax's right hand twitched over his gun.
"That's the second battle today that was fought and won for us. I'm developing an itch on my trigger finger." I ignored Syntax and hoped that the itch would not get out of hand, and that a situation in which he could scratch the itch would not arise.
Stepping over the wolves and X-men, we continued our way south. All of us returning to the conversations that were held earlier, albeit quieter as we remembered we weren't alone in the Everfree.
-||-||-||-||-
Sixteen miles south west of Canterlot, known to the Americans as "Location Alpha", a military force Equestria had not seen moved into a heavily wooded area that was very similar to the Everfree, but wasn't the Everfree. Soldiers began unloading the trailers that were pulled by the humvees. Most of what it contained was metal of varying shapes and sizes. They moved the metal into position and the brilliant light of welding lit up the surrounding woods. Buildings began to take shape from the metal and a small network of narrow dirt roads interlaced the building frames. Within a few days of arrival thanks to the expedient work from trained soldiers and pre-built parts, a forward operating base would be established. Complete with mess hall, armory, barracks, motor pool, a security office, and an officers office.
A/N: Hey guys, how you doing? I don't feel too awesome about this chapter. Certainly not my greatest work. But I hope you guys like it. If not I may redo it. If you missed it in the previous chapter or did not see it in my blog post some fanart has been made of IBDF. Click 'Previous Chapter' and check it out. Also, I made a shitty map in MS paint. I'm no artist, but I thought some of you might want a visual aid when it came to the lay of the land.
It has been a relatively uneventful past few days. Luna had promised to make the cover of night even darker and had gone back to Canterlot so it was just the six of us again. While Luna's darkened night aided our evasion of the others, it also greatly hindered our navigation, as the Everfree was already very naturally dark, the thick canopy blocking almost all sunlight. It was miracle that the forest floor was as lush and green as it was. This of course made what might have been a day or two long trip, into much more. I was glad for my improved eyesight, and Snake overcame the darkness easily by becoming an owl. But it was still a struggle trying to help the others find their way. Our sleep during the day was almost as troublesome as moving during the night. Each day seemed progressively brighter than the one before.
Twilight had begun to freak out during the dusk, dawn, and nighttime hours, as storms began to build up. But it wasn't a pronounced freakout. Just the occasional shudder or eye twitch followed by the soft muttering of the words "Everfree" and "Unnatural". The storms added length to what was already a daunting trip. Technia, it would seem was adept at creating tools from crap she found in the forest. And by tools, I don't mean a sharpened rock on a stick for poking things to death, no, I mean she easily hefted minerals and metals from the ground and created devices that you could find in your local RadioShack. Explains the taser. I had watched as she pulled a huge chunk of tin, copper and iron, separated it and molded it as though clay. Sand swirled and coalesced into glass. Copper into wire. A black sludge seeped from the ground, poring upwards, dragged from it's place deep down in the crust of the planet by Technia's magic. If you poured a liquid and filmed it in slow motion, and played the video upside down, that's how the sludge looked. We had seen her mix the sludge with an off smelling yellow rock and air. It coalesced into a ball of filth and crackled with energy. It wobbled to and fro while leaking excess material. It settled into a kind of rudimentary plastic. The metals, glass and plastic came together to create..... a digital barometer. ... Well. That was anti-climactic. All that power, for that. If all the unicorns possessed that much raw power no wonder Overture is still alive. At least the instrument helped calm Twilight.
We had found that the air pressure was in a stable kind of flux. The barometer hit the same points of measurement at the same time, every day. And be we, I of course mean Technia, who besides Twilight, was the only one who cared. Basically the day saw high pressure, and the night low. So when the sun set or rose, we would be faced with a storm. One that appeared to be getting worse each day. The forest canopy was no longer keeping us dry. In fact it made what droplets that did find their way down thicker and heavier than normal. And recently the drops had become nearly as frequent as open air rain.
On a particularly brutal Wednesday morning, as we neared the edge of the forest we found a cave and hunkered down for the day.
"Hey guys, come check out what I found" Snake had come back from the recesses of the cave and morphed out of his owl form, turning he motioned for us to follow. Arrow and I followed, curious to see what had gotten him so excited. Turning left and right the cave narrowed and snaked downward. When it got to be almost too shallow to continue without crawling the cave opened up to an area about the size of a two car garage. Other than the occasional stalactite and water droplet echo the area was featureless. Unless you counted the small family of rats in a corner.
"What are we looking at?" I asked, annoyed.
"I thought I-- Ah! There they are!" Snake pointed at the rats, grin wide.
"The rats?" Asked Arrow, as dumbfounded as myself.
-||-||-||-||-
"Ahh, that's better." moaned Syntax happily, rubbing his stomach in satisfaction. The fire in the cave had begun to die down along with storm. The sticks with scraps of rat meat and tiny rodent bones that littered the cave floor were brushed aside as we settled down for the remainder of the day. Our stomachs weren't full, but the deer had run out days ago and this was the first food we had had in as many days. So we were going to sleep without the pain of hunger we had been dealing with. The cave we were in also provided a sense of security that we had also been without. Needless to say we fell asleep quickly and deeply. So deeply, in fact, that we didn't notice when three figures appeared at the mouth of the cave hours later.
"Ahh! Get your paws off me, you damn dirty ape... fox... THING!" Twilight's voice rang through the cave, reverberating off the walls and proving to be better than the most innovative alarm clock ever made in waking the rest of us up. Twilight was unsuccessfully trying to remove herself from the grip of a Kitsune Anthropomorph. The Kitsune held her mane in one paw, and a dagger in the other. Before it could reach the soft flesh of Twilight's throat and arrow pierced his hand, forcing him to wail and drop his blade.
"Celestia damn it! You fucking moon cursed are going down!"
"What?" I ask. Moon cursed? Instead of a sigh and lecture, the Kitsune rushed Arrow who was standing just behind me, and was promptly clothes-lined by Syntax. However, before the Kitsune hit the ground he used his downward momentum to strike a sweeping motion at Syntax's shins. Surprised by the motion Syntax didn't brace himself and fell flat on his face. Getting up to face the fox he received a quick but hard blow to his spine. Temporarily immobilizing him. Turning to the rest of us he marched onwards. Fury on his muzzle. Snake went velociraptor and charged. The fox calmly grabbed the head of the ferocious predator and used it's own momentum to send him flying into the cave wall behind him. Snake crumpled into a reptilian heap and became an unconscious monkey boy. Arrow shot at him a few times and the furry dodged the arrows like he would the pitiful throws of paper airplane by a toddler. Arrow, momentarily out of arrows, charged the Kitsune. The Kitsune grabbed arrow by the throat and raised him a good foot off the ground. Choking, Arrow tried desperately to claw the paws of death off of his throat, his legs feebly kicking underneath him. Technia stood behind the fox, ready to electrocute both him and Arrow with her signature taser. Raising the device her face met paw as the fox casually kicked behind him. Reeling, she charged him, fully intent on delivering her electric fury. The fox spun and used Arrow as a weapon, sending both him and Technia into the cave wall next to Snake. The fox slowly turned to face me. A smile slowly spreading across his face.
Confident I was about to get my pale ass handed to me, I was faced with two choices. I knew which one was wrong. But I really wanted to be wrong right now. I could either turn tail and run like the little bitch this fox would undoubtedly make me to be, or I could stay and not got out like a pussy. Try and make an effort to save Twilight. Ugh, fine. Let's get this over with. Pulling out my blades I spread my feet in a fighting stance, as the only thing I managed to learn from the previous scuffles was that charging him did nothing, and that he was a badass. The second bit information was only helpful in that it had me properly scared, keeping my adrenaline pumping. Seeing that I was not going to attack he moved towards me, pulling a katana from the larger of the two sheaths at his waist. He picked up speed and pointed the blade at me, no doubt believing I'd be an easy kill. "Time to die, Moon filth."
The fox's Japanese blade was about half a foot from my stomach when it, and it's wielder, stopped completely. I looked up from what I had thought was my doom to see the look of surprise on the fox's face. As well as the purple field of magic that surrounded it. The surprised fox whipped his around 180 degrees in an unnatural speed, then fell onto both his, back, and his face. His neck was twisted completely around, a bit of spine jutted forth, blood oozed out of the wound. It took me a minute to realize that the fox had not turned his head like that of his own volition, but rather his neck was snapped by Twilight, who was yawning.
The fight wasn't over though, there were still two figures standing there. One was a nervous man in a blue overcoat and black boots. A state alchemist, if memory served. The other was an obvious chi-blocker from The Legend of Korra. The chi-blocker tilted his head, and without looking away from us, raised a desert eagle to the back of his unwary partner's head. And fired. The blood shot backwards from the state alchemist's head, as if it was that, and not the forward momentum of the bullet, that propelled his now lifeless body to fall forward and land motionless and wide eyed on the cave floor.
"You guys mind if I join you? You look like you've been having fun. Or at least interesting times. And I've been bored out of my mind without my phone. Name's Pascal" The chi-blocker calmly lowered the gun. He acted as though he hadn't just murdered his own teammate in cold blood.
"Uh..." I say. "No...? You just killed your last ally. Why would we let you be in our group?" Pascal looked disinterestedly at his former ally.
"No, I didn't. He was sun loyal. I am moon loyal. Therefore we are enemies. I would have done the fox in sooner, but he was kind of a decent fighter. And quite paranoid, I might add."
"What is this 'Sun Loyal and 'Moon Loyal' stuff?"
The chi-blocker again tilted his head. Great. Just what we need. Another fucking masked man. "You mean you don't know?"
"No."
"The Holy Order of Harmony has begun to split in half. Word of what's happened with Twilight and Overture has spread all way around the circles. Those loyal to Overture are calling themselves Sun Loyal. Apparently he has a good relationship with Princess Celestia. However there are those that are wise to conspiracy, and we're loyal to you, Moon Priest."
"There are members loyal to me? Why?"
"Don't feed your ego just yet. You're nothing more than a symbol. That and you're genuinely attempting to safeguard Twilight Sparkle. You'd be surprised just how much people care for her." He sounded bored. As though that was a mystery that didn't need solving.
"Oh."
"We should continue heading west. There's almost a border in the circles as the east side, being closer to Overture, is mostly sun loyal. Moon Loyals make up the majority of the western halves."
"We were already heading that way."
"Then that'll make things easier. Come, wake your friends. They appear to be mostly unhurt."
-||-||-||-||-
"What do you mean Twilight killed him?" Snake asked, seemingly personally offended. We had walked the evening hours away, the wind was picking up as we neared the tree line and the sun neared the horizon. Ominous clouds roiled over the green and purple hills. Distant flashes of lightning lit up the gray evening sky, occasionally followed by quiet thunder. A light drizzle began to fall.
"I mean she magically reversed the orientation of his head. And ended his life." Saying that out loud I understood the feeling that had been in my gut since the incident. Not only had Twilight killed. She seemed unphased by it. I thought I was gonna be sick.
"Yeah, no. That's not possible. The ponies ain't capable of that." Technia butted in.
"And why not?" an irritated Twilight asked. "Are we not strong enough? Is that it? are we weak, Technia?"
"No! You're plenty strong, it's just, Killing is.. not something easily done." Twilight's hard look softened.
"Look at it logically. That thing wanted us dead. It wasn't going to stop unless it was itself dead. It's unfortunate that it came to that, but I feel no guilt. He had to die. He's dead. What's the problem?"
"B-b-but... you're Twilight Sparkle...." stammered Snake. His world yanked from beneath him.
"So. Overture is wrong on every point. Not just most of them." I point out "The ponies, aren't innocent. Our presence was never a real threat. All this time...." It begins to sink in for the others as I say out loud what they had all been likely thinking. Shoulders sag as we exit the forest, the rain falls harder and the thunder clouds completely envelop the sky, at this time of day it effectively becomes night. Though the sun is likely still above the horizon. The wind pushed at us forcefully from behind and our ears popped painfully as the air pressure dropped significantly.
"So.. does that mean you're not going to protect me anymore?" a now worried Twilight asked shouting above the wind, eyes wide in fear.
"What?! Of course we'll protect you. You may be not be the innocent ponies we thought you were, but you still don't deserve death." I said, shouting back.
"Speaking of," shouted Pascal "It would be best if we kept Twilight's actions in the cave secret. Many Moon Loyal would see it as a sign of Overture's ways being correct, others may simply want justice or may go on a rampage of what they'd see as a betrayal. The Sun Loyal would likely strengthen their efforts to find her, and they would become effective."
"Aww, I didn't know you cared." Shouted Snake.
"I don't." Pascal replied "I've simply made your goal my own, nothing like an objective to make a mission. And missions are more fun than free roaming the map, anyway."
"Oh." Snake replied looking forward, and away from Pascal who, despite my better judgement, trailed behind the rest of us.
-||-||-||-||-
The nighttime storm followed by the very dark night, and the absence of forest allowed for the fastest traveling we had yet accomplished. Within four hours were at he base of the mountain. The sparkling city of Canterlot directly above us. The clean sound of rushing water on rock drowned out all other noise as waterfalls from the city connected with the false delta of a real river. Snake had gone falcon and was scouting the area for HOH and an effective way into the city, the rest of us sat in the darkness of the city's moon cast shadow, resting our tired legs when Snake came back. Being a monkey boy with pointy ears again he sat, panting.
"You guys, have to see this." If I had a nickel.
"What?" I ask.
"Just, follow me. And Technia, could you make us some binoculars?"
"Binoculars? Just plastic and lenses?"
"Yeah."
"No, too difficult. But I can make some high tech military grade night vision binoculars, will that do?"
"Yes." Snake said simply. Not sure how to respond.
"What? The more high tech an object is, the easier it is to make. Don't ask me why." Ten minutes later we were one pair of high tech military grade night vision binoculars heavier and we had crested a low part of the mountain, allowing us to see southward.
"Look there." Snake pointed, leaning against Syntax to allow him a better judgement of where Snake was pointing. Syntax peered through the binoculars.
"No.... way....."
"What?" I ask, suddenly interested. Syntax, moving only his arms in shock, handed the binoculars to me. A field of Mountain Dew green covers my vision as the night vision takes the place of visible light. I'm glad I have my sunglasses on, or this would hurt. But that makes using the binoculars cumbersome. The field moves erratically as I try and stabilize the binoculars. Finally it settles. "Is that.. what I think it is?"
"If you think it's a fleet of frickin' tanks, then I think yeah." Snake said. In the distance we heard a familiar soft whine build up, and then an extremely loud blast. A huge red beam launched itself from somewhere in the mountain. The beam lined up directly with the tanks. Looking through the binoculars again I see that the forward most tank's right track has been damaged. The other tanks had stopped, and their barrels pointed in the direction of the Spartan Laser that had damaged their friend. Flashes of light rocked the night vision, about five seconds later the thunderous boom of the tank rounds being fired rocked us. Followed closely by the explosions created by the very rounds as they no doubt hit the ODST that was stationed here. Another beam of red hit some of the other tanks, this time the beam was narrow, an split in two. The Kryptonian with heat vision must be here. Clouds formed and and spun around the fleet of five tanks, lightning sparked within them. A man with blonde hair and red cape swung his hammer down, a bolt of lightning hit a tank. And the tank was pretty much unfazed. But a foot soldier who had been walking next to the tank was burned pretty badly. Though still alive.
Twin blue-white beams finished the soldier off as Iron Man, or rather, a geek who really liked Iron Man, began his assault. One of the tanks turned it's barrel an obliterated the red suited man. Turning him into a mix of red paste and mist in a single shot.
"Is it just me, or are these really powerful beings getting their asses kicked? And their attacks are not doing as much damage as I'd expect either." Pascal posed.
"Yeah, I thought that laser would kill a tank." Technia said.
"To be fair, Halo weapons kind of suck. I mean, 500 years in the future, interstellar travel, and all we can do is add an LED ammo counter to our assault rifles? Can't even really aim the things anymore. No sights on the gun. Knowing how much ammo you have is more important I guess." I quipped.
"Let's not lose focus." Pascal reprimanded. "We are under attack."
"By Americans, it looks like." said Syntax.
"Aren't you American?" Technia asked
"I'm Equestrian now. Maybe not legally, but it's the nation that I hold dear. And the one I'll fight to protect." answered Syntax.
"I'm Equestrian too." Put forth Snake.
"I'm down." Added Arrow.
"Sure, why not? I'll admit I feel a lot more loyal to Equestria than America right now, especially if they're the ones attacking." I add.
"Don't look at me, I'm already a pony. I think you know my answer." added Technia. All of heads turned to Pascal expectantly.
"I swear no loyalties. Only that I won't betray you six. Don't feel like seeing the mission failed screen."
"Is life a video game to you?" Technia asks.
"No, but it's entertaining to treat it that way."
"Okay. Well. I think it's time we kill some alien invaders, what do you guys think?" I ask, arms spread in question.
"Let's go." Pascal and Syntax said at the same time. Eager to taste blood. "Oh, you might want this back. I took it off you in the cave." Pascal handed Syntax a desert eagle. Syntax took it and looked in his holsters to find one missing. I could only imagine the glare he sent Pascal as he checked the magazine and holstered the weapon.
"You're a prick, Pascal. Don't steal my shit again."
"Whatever." he shrugged.
Moving towards the tanks we steeled our resolve with a battle cry.
"You," I point to Snake as we run toward the battalion of tanks that have luckily continued to be ignorant of our existence. "I've seen Teen Titans, go wreck shit." Snake nods and goes cheetah long enough to launch his humming bird form at rather excessive speeds. "Technia? What can you make for weapons?"
"I'm already on it." alongside her the ground is being torn apart as she summons the materials needed to create her latest gadget. I can only hope it's devastating. Glancing towards the tanks I quickly remove my sunglasses, making sure to keep them on my person so that a new pair doesn't rematerialize on my face. With my natural nocturnal vision I can't help but smile as a Tyrannosaurus Rex materializes in the midst of the slow moving fleet. Unleashing a spectacular roar straight out of Jurassic Park. The soldiers on foot turn to face the new threat and unleash a hail of bullets. Another roar and the dinosaur begins ripping into the humans. It's thick hide absorbing most of the ballistic damage.
"Syntax? How good are you with those guns?" Instead of a verbal answer he pulls them both out and squeezes off a multitude of rounds, nearly convincing me that they were sub machine guns rather than simple pistols. Refocusing my gaze on the growing tanks I watched as several soldiers went down. But not all. It's enough of a distraction and T Rex Snake flings a tank away before taking a form too small for me to see. A bright light flashes directly next to me followed by a loud boom. Convinced that one of the abrams nearly hit me I whirl. But there is no damage. Only a smiling grey unicorn and a rising light. I follow it into the night sky as it briefly blots out the stars with it's own light pollution. Flickering it bears downwards again, landing directly into the nearest tank.
"Gotta love Javelins. Thank you Battlefield 3." Technia laughs as she rips more material from the earth. The tank that was hit erupted into a small mushroom of fire which became thick black smoke that reached into the heavens. One of it's occupants made it out, bathed in flame and screaming. He writhed on the ground in agony before silencing. His charred corpse casting an orange glow on the grass around him. The fire that danced in the carcass of the tanks provided enough light to make the rest of the battalion visible even without visual enhancements. Natural or otherwise. Three tanks remained, flanked by at least fifteen foot-mobiles. The Javelin shot alerting them all to our presence.
"Twilight! Get me, Pascal, Arrow and Syntax into the middle of that. Then get you and Technia somewhere safe!" I ordered.
"I can handle myself!" Technia protested.
"I didn't say out of the battle, I said safe. You're a serious ranged combatant. You need range. Twilight! NOW!" I say, as the barrels of three tanks lock on to us. In a flash of white we find ourselves no longer in the darkness of the night covered fields, but within the orange light of fire lit tan armor. Before anyone can react I hop onto the tank nearest me. Intent on poking holes in it's driver an gunner. Pascal beating the ever loving shit out of soldiers and occasionally electrocuting them while Syntax proceeds to turn them into holey flesh cubes using a combination of his right hand pistol and left arm's Prototype blade. Arrow shot soldier after soldier in the face as it was the only area unprotected by their gear. After some trial and error I finally mange to open the hatch. Before I stab them silly I get a moment of inspiration. "I'll take that, souvenir, if you will." I reach down and grab a ring and quickly shut the hatch. Blocking their shocked faces. Scrabbling off the tank as fast as I can I chuckled as it's frame bulged slightly and the tank stopped moving entiely. The hatch that wasn't resealed blew open as the concussive force of the driver's pinless grenade went off.
Of course, taking the time to admire your handiwork is not a good idea in the heat of battle. And I was promptly reminded of that when a bullet tore through my left shoulder. Let me tell you, getting shot? SUCKS. The searing pain brought to me to my knees. We still had two tanks to get rid of and we were down a beast boy and a reckless bastard. That bastard being me, of course.
"We need.. to fucking BAIL!" I shout, as much over my own pain as the roar of battle.
"But we're winning!" Pascal shouted, appearing to enjoy himself. I was about to explain our predicament, when it became bad enough on it's own to render such conversation moot. On the horizon a field of headlights and armor created a cloud of dust as it approached. The familiar sound of chopper blades slashing the air grew and faded as they passed us by, heading directly to Canterlot. The ground force was roughly 10 times the one we were fighting. With APC's and jeeps and everything.
"Okay." Said, Arrow. "To quote Monty Python: 'RUN AWAY!'" And that we did. Syntax grabbed me in an attempt to aid me in our escape, causing me to scream like a little bitch. Looking back one of two tanks lined up a shot. Looking to remove our entire group from existence in a singular blast.
Eyes wide I began to chant loudly, "Move it move it move it run run run run RUN!" But the tank never takes the shot. It's massive barrel pointing to where we were mere seconds ago. Behind the tanks I watch the headlights of the various vehicles flicker off in quick succession. cascading from the center of the line. The six helicopters ahead of us have also doused their lights. Though I don't think they're doing it on purpose. I could tell because they were spinning and falling, their rotors still. As each one landed they exploded. Fire balls shot into the sky. Metallic debris rained down on us as we ran northward. Stabbing into the ground at our feet. Quick waves of physical sound rocked us during our sprint. Thick columns of black smoke leaned to the right, orange light flickering at the base of each column.
"What was that?" Pascal asked, slowing.
"I don't give a shit! Whatever happened let's take advantage and vanish!" I shout, despite the newly acquired quiet. The pain in my shoulder overriding my basic sense of decency. I curse the night's high pollen and dust count as some managed to find their way into each of my eyes, causing them to water. Or, if you wanna get technical about it, I cried. A lot. Pain does things to tear ducts. Don't believe me? Shoot yourself. Let's see how much dust is in your house on that day. Barreling towards the mountain I catch sight of Twilight and Technia sitting on the edge of a cliff face. "Twilight! Get us out of here!" I shout and soon after we're surrounded by a familiar purple light. When it dissipates we're once again in a new location. Unprepared, Syntax and Pascal trip over their own momentum. And I slam into the ground, sending a new wave of agony to tear at my shoulder.
"Soulless!" Twilight runs over to me, eyes wide at the dark crimson wetness that coats my trench coat. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I spit, "I bleed all over the place from bullet wounds every Tuesday."
"You don't need to be a dick about it. She's only worried, man." Arrow said, shaking his head.
"Someone hold him down." Syntax says, a field of purple magic the immobilizes me as Syntax leans over me, pulling out his first aid box. "This... is going to hurt. A lot." Wide eyed, I try to struggle against Twilight's magic as he uses the hole made by the bullet wound to help him stab me with pliers. The bullet seemed to cause less pain than this. Screaming I try to flail around, to no avail. With an emotionless expression on his mask, Syntax continues digging around the meat of my shoulder. He pulls out in in the pliers is a 5.56mm round, soaked in my blood. As he sews me up, causing me pain, but less than what I've experienced recently I hear a conversation.
"So.... what the hell happened?" Pascal asked.
"EMP. Electro-Magnetic Pulse. Worked wonders, if I do say so myself." Technia answered.
"Technia, I could kiss you." Arrow chirped.
"I'm not gay." She responded.
"Good thing I'm not female then," Arrow responded, leaning in and puckering his lips. Only to receive a face full of hoof.
"I've only been a female for a few months. And I'm not gay. Nor am I even your species anymore. So don't do that again."
"Y'all suck." Arrow complained, rubbing his cheek. "Back on earth I was a dirty fat stoner, and I still got laid. Now I'm a hot piece of blonde ass, and I get none? You must be prudes." Arrow turns to Twilight who has released me. Syntax having finished his stitching. "Twilight, you wanna experiment with some inter species relations? For science?"
"You're disgusting, man." I respond. And it seems Twilight agrees as she bucks him right in his blue balls.
"That's okay," he squeaks "Kids are overrated anyway." holding himself he curls into the fetal position, eyes watering from similar dust that landed in my own eyes earlier.
"Hey, anyone seen Snake?" Heads twirl looking for anything green, but the search is violently interrupted.
"YOU GREY COATED BITCH!" Technia's head is impacted by a small, sleek black object. Pascal appears enraged. "Your stupid little EMP rendered my phone fucking USELESS!"
"Whoa, calm down there, man. Wasn't your phone already useless? Not like there's a lot of cell towers in Equestria. And it was probably off too, I doubt it's had battery power for very long. So the EMP didn't do anything to it." Technia reasoned, rubbing her head.
"Oh yeah." Calmly, as though he hadn't just beamed Technia with his phone, he walked over to her, picked up his discarded communication tool, and sat next to Technia. "Hey, Techy, mind charging this for me?"
"Had you asked a minute ago, I'd have agreed. But now? No way. Find an outlet."
"Well why not?"
"You mean beside the fact you just threw that thing at me? I don't know... could be anything really."
"That's not a good reason. Just charge it. I promise I won't throw a working phone at your precious pony head." He waves it in front of Technia, who is trying not to pay attention, glowering past it. Soon however, she caves. Probably not wanting to get hit in the head again. Her horn glows and the device beeps on, the white screen casting a soft white glow on the cliff edge. "Yes!" he pumps the air. And sits down, legs straight in front of him as he messes with his phone, talking to himself.
"Um guys?" Snake says, causing us to turn our heads.
"Snake! You're back, thank Luna!" I shout, opening my arms in an invitation to hug, genuinely glad to see him. He ignores the invite however, and continues speaking.
"We've got a problem. I did some spying. They've got a huge base about sixteen miles that way. And I mean huge. And it's only getting bigger. They've found a portal to Earth and are sending in reinforcements day after day. And there's a bombing run on Canterlot planned tonight. We've only got a few hours before Canterlot is destroyed. Everyone there will die. We need to do something."
"Twilight, we're inside the anti-teleporation bubble, assuming it still exists. Can you get us up to Canterlot? Preferably right to Princess Luna?"
"I think I have enough energy for that." Twilight's horn glew brighter than it had during her last two teleports. A light purple sphere of energy enveloped the six of us, and in a flash, the City of Canterlot snapped into existence around us. Bewildered looking ponies stared at us curiously, showing not even a hint of fear. Twilight collapsed, spent. Green arms surrounded her as Arrow lifted her carefully over his shoulder. Slowly we stood, cautiously eyeing the ponies. Wincing, I was the first to speak.
"Um.. which way to the castle?" Wide-eyed, which was saying something, considering the natural hugeness of their eyes, a white unicorn stallion slowly pointed a hoof directly behind me. "Ah, thank you kind sir." I gave a quick bow and power walked off. Trying to gain as much distance as I could without running and causing a panic. Arrow, Snake, Syntax, Technia, and Pascal marched closely behind me. Easily managing my pace as I was working against the fire in my shoulder. Ponies gave us a wide berth, but otherwise went back to their normal routine. The occasional glance our way the only sign that we were a wholly unfamiliar sight.
Approaching the hugely tall, most likely marble, structure none of our mouths failed to gape. As for sheer size the show didn't do it justice. It was probably three quarters the height of the Chrysler building. And made of a series of polished, seamless white towers that even in Luna's moonlight, sparkled. Each one topped with golden onion looking domes. The many towers beautifully accented by greenery. It occurred to me that the pony who had given me directions was probably wide-eyed not at our appearance, but at our stupidity, as the castle was kind of hard to miss. At the main gate two unicorn guards crossed their spears over it. Another two pointed their spears at us. "State your business, creatures."
"We're here with an urgent warning for Princess Luna." I say.
"We come bearing gifts." Pascal adds, nudging Arrow. Who then walks to the front of the group, still out of spear range. A sleeping Twilight snoring on his shoulder, hind leg twitching adorably. Contrasting the scowl Arrow wears on his face.
"What have you done with her!" A guard asks, not entirely politely, I might add.
"Shit all." Pascal says,
"She put herself to sleep teleporting us here." Snake adds. "Does that matter?! There's a threat against Canterlot!"
"Changelings?" A guard asks, appearing to believe our answers, but still not moving his spear.
"Worse!" Syntax shouts, irritation growing.
"That's it!" Pascal pulls out a nightstick that cackles with arcing electricity.
Whoomp
"What the--"
Smack
Ooof!
"Hey, wait I sur-" Thud.
Pascal holsters his weapon and wipe-claps his hands in a motion of success and completion. "Okay. Stage 2 complete. High Scores?" Pascal mimes writing in the air. "AAA. 'Cause I'm too lazy to do my real initials. But let's be honest, you all know it was me that got that number one spot." Technia facehoofs, and the rest of us resist following suit as we trail behind Pascal through the gate.
"We need.. to fucking BAIL!" I shout, as much over my own pain as the roar of battle. "But we're winning!" Pascal shouted, appearing to enjoy himself. I was about to explain our predicament, when it became bad enough on it's own to render such conversation moot. On the horizon a field of headlights and armor created a cloud of dust as it approached. The familiar sound of chopper blades slashing the air grew and faded as they passed us by, heading directly to Canterlot. The ground force was roughly 10 times the one we were fighting. With APC's and jeeps and everything.
"So.... what the hell happened?" Pascal asked. "EMP. Electro-Magnetic Pulse. Worked wonders, if I do say so myself." Technia answered. "Technia, I could kiss you." Arrow chirped.
"What have you done with her!" A guard asks, not entirely politely, I might add. "Shit all." Pascal says, "She put herself to sleep teleporting us here." Snake adds. "Does that matter?! There's a threat against Canterlot!" "Changelings?" A guard asks, appearing to believe our answers, but still not moving his spear. "Worse!" Syntax shouts, irritation growing. "That's it!" Pascal pulls out a nightstick that cackles with arcing electricity. Whoomp "What the--" Smack Ooof! "Hey, wait I sur-" Thud. Pascal holsters his weapon and wipe-claps his hands in a motion of success and completion. "Okay. Stage 2 complete. High Scores?" Pascal mimes writing in the air. "AAA. 'Cause I'm too lazy to do my real initials. But let's be honest, you all know it was me that got that number one spot." Technia facehoofs, and the rest of us resist following suit as we trail behind Pascal through the gate. ...................................................................................................................................................................................................
The castle wasn't just enormous on the outside, it was enormous on the inside as well. And while this discovery was not unexpected, it didn't deter the gasps that escaped us. In front of us was a long hallway with a fifty foot high arched ceiling. The ceiling that wasn't the evenly spaced enormous windows was gold and covered in fantastic art that would put DaVinci and Michelangelo to shame. The walls of the hallway were a snow-driven white, and had a number of doors on each one. Mirroring the wall opposite it. Each door led to a myriad of rooms each large enough to house my entire house. Stacked on top of itself. Fifty times. Door ways on each of the four walls in each room were large enough to fit an SUV. And each room seemed to serve a purpose. Ornate dining halls, decorative meeting rooms, and I think I saw one at the end that housed a bowling alley. Odd.
Trudging our way through the main hallway to what we assumed was the throne room, we weren't stopped at all. The guards only gave us funny looks. Obviously they thought we had permission to be here. Well, I certainly wasn't about to correct them. We arrived at the huge doors at the end of the hallway and Technia coughed. Attracting the attention of the guards stationed outside.
"Um... we're here to see the Princess of the Night. Princess Luna. It's vitally important. If we don't see her soon lives could be-" Technia's once slightly timid to now suddenly impassioned speech was interrupted by one of the guards.
"Yeah yeah yeah. Go on in. Seriously, you delegates take everything too seriously. I'm sure ponies will live if thier taxes are altered a few single percent points, honestly if was that important you'd bring it up to Princess Celestia."
"LIEUTENANT!" Snapped the guard next to him. "You know better. We don't need an international incident on our hooves because you can't use the few muscles you have active tonight to move your eyes long enough to watch your tongue!" The guard, identical to the other except for the addition of a grey five o' clock shadow, turned to face us. The fire in his face gone and replaced with a small apologetic smile. "I apologize emissaries, it's been a long week for my friend here. Princess Luna is waiting for you in the throne room. I have to say, I didn't know there was monkey kingdom on the other side of the world. Hay I didn't even know there were sentient apes! But you guys seem to be doing very well for yourselves. I hope your visit is fruitful and your kingdom prosperous." with a bow the doors behind him briefly glew white and opened revealing a throne room straight out of the show. Well the hallway was, anyway. I don't recall seeing the actual thrones in the show yet. But the stained glass windows and the banners were all there. In the center, right at the door, was dark blue alicorn who was laughing her flank off.
Once the lunar princess had composed herself she led us into the throne room and closed the doors behind her. She eyed each of us an introduced herself to Pascal, who completely ignored her, choosing instead to get revenge on some green pigs. Strangely, Princess Luna skipped over Technia completely. As though she weren't there. Curious about why Luna had been laughing, as well as to why she chose to ignore Technia, I voiced my confusion.
"Do you know how long it's been since I was Nightmare Moon?" was her response.
"No." I answered simply. Wondering where this was going.
"Five years. Five years I've spent every night here handling Night court. Guess how many creatures have come into this castle during that time with the express purpose of meeting me for any reason, business or otherwise?"
"Um.... 1,000?" At this Luna smiled a little.
"Less."
"950"
"Less, not even that may digits." Less than a hundred??
"90?"
"Divide by ten."
"What? Nine? That's it? Well, I guess with our presence you can bump it up to ten, that double digits at least." Arrow said, hoping to cheer up the lunar diarch.
"No, you fail to see my meaning. With your presence I can bump it up to nine. Before you beat your way in here it was one. And that pony was my sister. So you'll excuse me if I don't feel like introducing myself to some random pony who's finally got enough ovaries to set hoof in my throne room. Especially if she needed you as escorts."
"Excuse me princess, but a couple of months ago I walked on two legs and ate meat. Since I've been here I've been stationed in the Everfree. Believe me, if I could have been here and talked to you before then, I most certainly would have." Technia brought a hoof to her face, as though guiding glasses that had fallen down her nose back up onto her face. Of course, there were none.
Luna went wide eyed. "You were once one of these creatures? What was it you said you were called again?"
"Humans." She answered.
"Oh, my. I apologize for my blunder and outburst, miss..?"
"The name's Technia, Princess. And I forgive you completely."
"Please, I'm not your princess. No need for formalities here."
"Yes you are." all but Pascal said in unison.
"No--"
"This is all well and fun and all, really I was looking forward to the bowing even. A little surprised you people didn't do that right of the bat. Especially you, Moon Priest. But I believe we have more urgent matters than small talk and killing zombies with peas?"
Quietly, Syntax voiced what I, and more than likely everyone else was wondering, "Zombies with peas...?" Pascal waved his phone, showing the colorful game screen of Plants vs Zombies. Obviously eager to get on with it.
Of course, the subject change snapped me back to reality. Ah.. balls. I actually forgot about that. "Princess, we need to protect the city. I'm afraid that Canterlot is under attack." Luna eyes widened in anger.
"And thou think to wait this long to tell Us!" She stamped a hoof, her eyes flashed momentarily. All of us, surprisingly even Pascal, immediately flattened ourselves, the more vocal of us begging apologies.
"You people are really easy. You know that?"
Bravely, I hazarded a glance at the throne. And Luna was just smiling. "Did... did you already know?"
"This castle has more than walls you know."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Looking behind me she said "You see that image of Discord being vanquished by the elements? What is that image on?"
"A stained glass wind..Oh, I see." Looking through the image I could make out the field we had fought on. A flicker of light the only evidence of the tank scout force that we had decimated.
"So why isn't there like, a shield around the city? Why is everyone snug in their homes? Why isn't there a flurry of activity?"
"Well, I watched you defeat that force. Besides, Canterlot is the most heavily fortified city in Equestria. I'm sure we can handle whatever they'd throw at us."
It was Technia that spoke up, "We didn't defeat that force. We merely temporarily immobilized it. It's still coming. We have about an hour, assuming they don't send something else before they recover."
"I thought EMP blasts were permanent." Piped up Snake.
"Normally, yes. But the rules are slightly different here. Not to mention the Military has been working on EMP defense systems."
"Okay," said Luna "But if they're still coming it still doesn't matter we can handle--" She trailed off as Technia gave a huff and left the throne room. Only to come back dragging a very annoyed Pegasus guard from the throne room doors. "Um.. what are you doing with my guard?"
Technia ignored the Princess, instead she spoke to the guard she brought in. "Using your weakest, non melee attack, destroy that bust."
"Where those always there?" I whispered to Pascal who just shrugged and gave a non-committal "I dunno."
"I don't take orders from civilians."
Curious to see where this was going Luna urged him on. With a sigh of boredom the guard reached on his person and took a small knife bereft of a handle and threw it right into the mannequin's (ponyequin's?) head. Other than a small tilt back before regaining it's stance and a gleaming new eye accessory, the ponyequin remained unfazed. "Now Syntax? Sam order, try an keep it military." With a shrug Syntax pulled out a deagle and fired. The Night guard and Princess were on the ground covering their ears with their hooves. The rest of stood like nothing happened, apparently we've gotten accustomed to the noise of gunfire. Twilight, though, was now now very awake. And very annoyed. "DAMN YOU SYNTAX THAT WASN'T FUNNY THE FIRST TIME! AND... hello Princess Luna. Long time no see. Where are we? Oh, right." The ponyequin head was missing, as was most of it's neck. The wall behind it was sporting a new hole at the center of a spiderweb of cracks.
The pony night guard was obviously impressed, rubbing a hoof along one of the larger cracks. "That was your weakest attack? It blew a hole right through the marble!"
"You have war machines, right Princess? Or you at least at one time? Trebuchets? Catapults? Flaming arrows?"
"Equestria hasn't had much use for them in the last few centuries, but we had them before I was Nightmare Moon."
"If the guards throwing knives are analogous to Syntax's gun, imagine what your people's war machines are analogous to?"
"Holy horsefeathers we need to evacuate the city. Guard, sound the alarm! We need to get everypony out now!"
The guard, still entranced by the damage to the wall, jumped about a foot in the air before scampering off through the throne room doors, shouting the entire way. Not long after the sounds of an air-raid siren wailed in the distance. Out of the window I had peered through earlier the distant lights of the city began to flicker on one by one.
"Wow, the city seems so distant from this vantage point." I say, marveling at the illusion.
"What are you talking about? That window does not face the city." replied Luna, confused.
"They managed to override the EMP already?!" shrieked Technia, having realized what the lights I had seen truly were. Technia bolted out of the castle
"Where the hell are you going?" called out Syntax.
"There's something I need to do, gather all the unicorn and earth ponies together! The pegasi can fly away on their own!" She called back, the last sentence barely reaching our ears. Luna, Syntax, Snake, Arrow, and I exchanged nods. Each of us silently communicating, 'You heard the mare, get to work'. Twilight was out of the loop, still recovering from fatigue and that rather jarring wake up call. And Pascal was still just not givin' a fuck and was still messin' with his phone. Humming what I'm fairly certain was 'Hush Now Quiet Now'. For some reason, that gave me the fuckin' creeps.
Exiting the castle we were greeted by a familiar sight. Mind you, it was familiar because I watch action and sci-fi and the occasional bit of fantasy. So a medieval looking town freaking the hell out over a alien invasion? Familiar. Just the first time I've seen it in 3D, or acted out by cute ponies. Actually, the cute ponies made thier hysteria hilarious and I had to fight back chuckles. Though Pascal was having no such qualms.
"This...." he chuckled "Is the funniest Faust-damned thing I've ever seen." and the he lost it. Rolling with laughter he failed to stop even when Luna's death glare nearly ripped in half. Even continuing when she addressed her subjects. Of course, Luna's presence helped stem the panic and thus Pascal's levity.
"CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT. THE CITY IS UNDER ATTACK BY AN UNKNOWN AND POWERFUL RACE. EVERY PEGASUS NOT ON THE ROYAL GUARD IS TO FLEE IMMEDIATELY TO CLOUDSDALE. BRING NOTHING WITH YOU. UNICORNS AND EARTH PONIES ARE TO GATHER IN THE CITY SQUARE. ONCE AGAIN, BRING NOTHING WITH YOU"
Like a flock of startled pigeons, pegasus ponies that were peppered throughout the city took off at once. Their wings beating the air with the sound of feathers before becoming specks on the horizon minutes later. The remaining ponies, whose number had not appeared to shrink, were no longer screaming and running wild. The fires that had begun were even being put out as ponies made thier way to the city center. Though the ones on the edge burned brightly. At least until pegasus guards made some rain storms to douse the flames.
"How do they do that?" I wonder out loud. Until now I had figured that part of Equestria was myth. The storms that we had been graced with every dusk and dawn had been very natural in thier manner, despite thier Twilight-like need to be right on time.
"Oh, well it's quite simple, really-" started Twilight, once again conjuring her lecture glasses. I wonder if teaching people causes her eyesight to change?
"Okay, I'm done, are the ponies gathered?" Technia, sweating profusely, ran up to us. A small smile played on her muzzle. "Cause we need to get the fuck out here, like now" she pointed a hoof toward the approaching lights. They appeared to have halved the distance. Squinting. Arrow pulls out the night vision goggles.
"Uh, guys. We've got a problem. Technia's more right than you know. That's a bloody A10 on it's way here." Technia, Synatx, Arrow and I feel the color drain from our faces as ice grips our blood.
"Technia, for the love of Luna, please tell me you have a plan." Luna's only reaction to my turn of phrase is a raised eyebrow. But otherwise ignores it as she turns to a suddenly animated grey unicorn mare.
"Yes! Quite right! I need you all to follow me, and any ponies you want to live need to follow me aswell. Make that happen. We have but minutes before Canterlot is destroyed."
"HOLY BLEEDING HORSEFEATHERS YOU ALL NEED TO COME WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!" Luna screamed at the gathered pones. (I guess that works...) Who didn't hesitate to scream and calmly follow their Lunar Goddess. The disconnect between thier actions and and sounds was jarring to say the least. Technia led us, and the panicked ponies, to a large rectangular section of mountain that seemed to have been pulled out as though it were a drawer and the mountain itself the cabinet. On it sat a vary large cargo plane. And on that sat a myriad of badass weaponry. Once again, I was looking at something that simply did not belong. Anywhere. The back of the plane was open, creating a convenient ramp for it's passengers who were following a surprised looking Luna into the plane.
"Technia... how...."
"You see the weapons right? Well, That's not all I put on this thing. There's so much computing power in the cockpit alone I could probably send a probe to Uranus-"
"Really, Technia? Arrow is rubbin' off on you-"
"Shut up. As I was saying. Even with all that tech, to get this behemoth made was still taking too long. So I stuffed it full of weapons. Which is awesome considering what'll be in our rearview. Also, There are probably enough Xbox's and HDTV in the hold get a BTB match on Halo Reach going." I'm the last one in I close the cargo bay hatch and make my way to the cockpit.
"So where are we-" I don't finish my question when I see our pilot. Or rather, lack thereof. Leaning back into the cargo area and leaning away from a TV, I pose a new question. "So uh... who's piloting this thing?" Technia facehoofs.
Syntax bolts up and nearly runs at me, trying desperately to get in the cockpit. Of course if he'd have just waited, I'd have moved. But now it was an uncomfortable squeeze as muttered apologies and grunts fly every which way, and 12 limbs try and make thier way to freedom. Finally Syntax makes it into the cockpit and I have room to move around in.
"So, you can fly huh? Neat." I say, leaning on the cockpit doorway. Syntax says nothing while he flicks switches and his gaze hovers over every light. He grabs the intercom radio.
"Fillies and Gentlecolts this is your captain speaking..... I'm about to fly a plane, BOOYAKASHA!"
"Wait, what?" Once again letting his actions speak for him he grabs the gear shift thingy and presses forward, launching the plane in the same direction and me in the opposite.
"Ow... motherfucker"
"Flaps, flaps flaps, Ah! Here the are!" He flicks a switch and the plane jolts suddenly. The ponies letting out panicked gasps. "Shitshitshit, that was the landing gear." I hear him mutter, and he flicks the switch again. "...that could have been bad. Oh here they are. Duh." With more confidence than last time he eases the plan into the air. I breath a sigh of relief. But the feeling doesn't last. Just as the landing gear makes it's way into the body of the plane, this time on purpose. The aircraft and it's many, many passengers were rocked. Luna and I do a quick head count and we find that no one's hurt. Thankfully. I climb one of the ladders that leads to a 360° mounted machine gun with a glass dome. Using the handles on the gun to pull myself up I take a look around for what could have caused the boom. What I see makes my heart drop. Directly behind us, a massive tower of fire and smoke. Littered among the flames are are the remains of once proud and ancient buildings. The entire city has been reduced to rubble. The skyline forever changed. And, as if that just wasn't enough a loud thunderous crack can be heard even over the roar of the jet engines strapped to what should've been a propeller plane. The floor of the city. The floor that had been built to accommodate the weight of an entire metropolis, buckled. Gray and brown plumes of dust, smoke, and pulverized metal blanket the once great city as it falls of the face of the mountain. Snuffing out the majority of it's own flames in the fall.
"Your people are truly a force to be reckoned with" Startled, I nearly slap Luna across the face, or I would have, if she were not somehow resting comfortably outside of the dome. I note that, like me, she has a single tear decorating her cheek. "I'm sorry, did I startle you?" I rub my own cheek and try and play it cool.
"Nah, that's how I always react when greeted suddenly and out of nowhere."
She doesn't buy it, but ignores it. "What reason could they have for such violence?"
"I have no idea, Princess. I'm sure if I did, I'd either be famous for creating world peace or dead. The peace lovers on my world tend to have a nasty habit of getting assassinated. By the way, how are you doing that?"
She waves a hoof dismissively "We can fly faster than this. We might aswell be on a rather fast chariot, honestly."
"Hmm?"
"I mean, I. It's an.. old habit."
"Oh, right, The 'Royal We'." From beneath me an electric voice drones out, muffled by my position.
"Ladies, Gentlecolts and Bronies, we are arriving at the greatest little town you ever did see. PONYVILLE. Get ready for some awesome 'cause I think we're out of gas anyway. Hold on to your dinners, cause we're about to make an emergency landing!" The cheeriness in his voice his disturbing considering he basically just said "We're about to crash." And right on cue the tell tale sputtering of fuel-less propellers I'm not gonna ask, I'm not gonna ask, I'm not gonna ask. preceded the whistling of an aircraft in a nose dive.
"Welp" came Syntax's voice on the intercom "Looks like we're all about to die. If someone could do me a huge favor, and give me a hug, I'd appreciate it." This of course created even more panic, unbelievably. Though one white pegasus with blonde curly mane did try and make her way to the cockpit.
Through the utter chaos no one seemed to notice the plane slowing down gradually. Nor did any of them grasp the leveling of the floor beneath thier hooves. Though some did see the slow opening of the rear cargo door. That some being me, Arrow, Snake, Technia, and maybe four ponies. Eventually though, the ponies realized they should be dead by now, and weren't. And calmed down into a fearful, but relieved state of confusion before resting thier site on Princess Luna calmly standing the threshold. Once the last scream died Luna simply stated "You may take your leave now. You are safe. Twilight and I have guided you into a safe landing." The embarrassed ponies slowly made their way out of the airplane, slowly because it was packed tighter than a can of sardines up a 12 year old's ass. About a half hour later our group finally made it out of the claustrophobia inducing vehicle. Only to be graced with a very strange sight. Behind Luna, were six ponies. Six very specific ponies. One of whom I actually consider a friend already. But, that wasn't strange. That was just awesome. No, what was strange was what was written on the banner that was raised above them.
WELCOME CANTERLOT REFUGEES AND MONKEY CREATURE THINGS THAT ARE A LOT LIKE LAUREN FAUST Oh and you too grey unicorn that wasn't always a pony but was also a monkey thing
WELCOME CANTERLOT REFUGEES AND MONKEY CREATURE THINGS THAT ARE A LOT LIKE LAUREN FAUST Oh and you too grey unicorn that wasn't always a pony but was also a monkey thing
I just stared at the banner, or rather, two words on the banner. Lauren. Faust. I don't how long I was standing there, mouth agape. But it couldn't have been long because Syntax's reaction would later be described as "instantaneous".
"Fluttershy!"
"Eep!" Fluttershy managed to, at the same time, hide behind both her own mane, and Rarity. Though it wasn't needed. Syntax hadn't moved. He had merely gotten taller. Wait. What? Upon further inspection I noted that he had gotten purple aswell. His legs kicking in place underneath him as he tried to run at full sprint, his feet failing to find purchase. Following his arms, which were straight out in front and topped off by greedy, gripping at air, hands, I noticed Twilight's horn glowing above an expression of irritation and amusement. Ah, I see now. Good going Twilight.
"So, Pinkie. Are you gonna tell us what a 'La-rown fost' is? Or are we gonna hafta wait 'till another round o' monkey things show up in a falling metal can?" Applejack asked the ever smiling Pink demon.
"Nope! This is the only group of humans that we're waiting for." Pinkie smiled. I mean, smiled more. Okay, unless I say specifically, that she's frowning, let's just assume that she's smiling. And if I say she smiled... you get the idea. "And Lauren isn't a what silly, it's a who!"
"Well, who is it, darling?"
"She's my human friend from another world! We've been friends for twelve years, and three years ago she made a TV show about us. It's really good, too." turning away from the other mares present, she continued to speak to them though her eyes were glued to us. "I never thought I would get to meet real humans though! This is really neat!" Pinkie begun bouncing towards us, eyes running over our figures inquisitively while she made faces that an 8 year old would make in a mirror. Eventually, she sat down and looked at us sternly, though the smile was still there. I could tell that she was having a tough time keeping it off her face. Then she asked us what she tried to sound like a serious question. "Do you like bananas?"
"What?" I say dumbly. It occurs to me that this is the first time I've spoken to the Mane 6. Ah, good ol' first impressions.
"Do you. Like. Bananas?"
"Um, sure?" and then I kid you not, a friggin' paper bag with the Publix logo appeared at her side. She reached in and pulled out that megaphone and I just lost it. As did everyone else. The joke may have been old, but having it done by Pinkie Pie, not to mention in reality, was too much. Snake wet Hyena and fell like the rest of us, on his back. The high pitched laugh adding to our own. Pinkie couldn't help herself and followed suit. Well, she remained a pony. Every other pony, just stood there. Confused. And that, to me, was far funnier than the banana bag.
"Oh Pinkie, your fourth wall breaking skills are legendary." Arrow said, wiping a tear as his laughter began to subside.
"I didn't break the fourth wall, silly. I CAN'T break the fourth wall. Because there IS no fourth wall." Pinkie responded, killing our laughter.
"What?" said about three voices. Not sure whose.
"The fourth wall is when fictional characters know that they're fictional. I'm not fictional. I am as real as you. I just have a window into your dimension. As well as complete, total, absolutely whole access to the interwebs. By the way, you people are weird. But I like weird. And I'm very happy that me and my friends have become famous. All those smiles I brought! I could die happy."
"We're famous in another dimension?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Awesome! That must mean you guys are here to see me! Why else would you cross the dimensional divide?" she did a couple of mid-air backflips and was only met with stares of incredulity.
"What? I know some big words."
"That's not why we're-- what big words?" Twilight added.
Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively "Dimension, divide. yadda yadda. Had to look 'em up when I was reading Daring Do and the Curse of the Ancient Unicorn Mirror."
"Those aren't - whatever. Pinkie, how do you know all this stuff?"
"I told you, I'm friends with Lauren Faust. Creator of My Little Pony."
Before Twilight could repeat herself, I made my first full sentence in the conversation. "Yes, but how are you friends with her?"
"Oh. That's simple. I just cast a spell. We've been chummy ever since."
"But, dear. You're only an earth pony. How in Equestria could you cast spells?" asked Rarity, voicing Twilight's obvious curiosity.
"Oh. That.. um... You see, I'm the last of my kind, here in Equestria. The humans have a word for me."
"We do? What word is that?"
"Witch."
-||-||-||-||-
"Princess, it's been a week. No doubt your subjects are worried about you. With Luna in the woods your entire country has likely been in anarchy. Please. Go back to Canterlot. I will send you a letter as soon as I find Twilight or Luna."
"That's just it, Pink. Equestria needs me, now more than ever. I feel the threat. But like always, I still can't pinpoint it. Obviously Luna has something to with it, until I can find and subdue her. I am needed here. Besides, the Canterlot nobles can handle the governing fine. We just need to keep searching the Everfree. They can't hide for long."
Tragedy, unseen by Princess Celestia, floated next to Pink, her form largely transparent. "I got it!" She said, her voice more distant than her body and echoing off unseen walls. "Tell her that Luna has taken advantage of Celestia's absence and is now ruling over Equestria with a corrupted mind! Bah!" she hit her ghostly forehead with the palm of her equally ghostly hand. "Why didn't I think of that earlier. Once she sees how much her citizens need her she'll stay in the city and we can find the Soulless motherfucker ourselves and kill him like the bastard he is, right Pink!"
"Yeah, right. Of course." Celestia had gotten used to Pink's quirk of talking to himself. Unaware that he had gone insane with the loss of his sister and good friend. As the brain is opt to do, it coped in an unusual way. Externalizing his grief at the loss by projecting an image of his dead sister and the anger at his friend by making her the one to bear the rage. Now he was lead on his trip of revenge by a hallucination. Though he was convinced it was truly her. He was a sorcerer after all, if that kind of magic didn't let him see the dead, nothing would. "Um, Celestia. Luna is corrupted, right?"
"I know this, Pink. We've been over this."
"But the moon still sets to make way for your sun."
".... that it does."
"So if she's evil, but civil. Then it would make more sense that rather than outright attacking you to gain power, she would use subterfuge instead. And it's been a week since you've seen your throne. Maybe she's taken over completely by now."
With a gasp and a flash of golden light, the Solar princess disappeared. Leaving the Nordic Sorcerer to summon weapons and take a much needed rest. "When I find you Soulless, I will make you pay. And my sister will at last be able to rest in peace." and with yawn, he fell asleep.
-||-||-||-||-
Hours ago
Private Montgomery was admittedly nervous. Ever since he had gone through with his company a glowing, arcing blue sphere in the middle of Downtown Manhatten he had been nervous. The land he had found himself in was alien. And dangerous. The hills looked man made, the grass was purple, there were insects the likes of which he never seen, and more surprisingly, insects he was all too familiar with. One of which was drinking blood off of his face at the moment. With an audible slap he corrected the theft and continued walking with his company. A tank division that was behind another as they were headed to "Location Alpha." When it had been described to him he felt a wave of nostalgia hit him. It sounded just like Canterlot from a favorite cartoon of his. Though he didn't say anything. The other bronies may give him serious respect, but the other military he was with were nothing like that. Trudging through the field in the middle of the night he caught a glimpse of the city known to him only as Location Alpha. He gasped as he saw what was essentially a mirror image of Canterlot. Confident that he would see Canterlot perfectly were he looking form the other side.
One of his squad mates bumped into him in a motion that he read as, 'Why'd you stop. Keep moving.' but his ears registered a voice that said "Dude. Do you see what I see?"
Without thinking, he responded. "Canterlot." Realizing what he let slip he turned to his smiling squad mate in horror.
"Dude, brohoof?" Montgomery's fears fell, and he did the only sensible thing. He brohoof'd his new best friend.
"The similarities are striking. Why are we attacking this place again?"
"Apparently they're the ones that rendered Manhattan a waste land with that super radioactive bomb a few months back. We're here to kick some ass."
"I feel like this has been done before." Moore was about to respond when thier attention snapped back to the unit of tanks in front of them. A flash of red had damaged one of the tanks making a very familiar sound. "Was that Spartan Laser?"
"What's a Spartan Laser?"
"It's a weapon. From Halo."
"Oh. Then of course not. Those aren't real. You can't get attacked by things that aren't real."
"Really? Then explain that." Montgomery pointed to the tank unit a couple hundred feet in front of them. Where Superman and Iron Man had just fought. And lost.
"The hell?" a sudden roar resounded through the field as a green tyrannosaur erupted into being in front of them.
"HOLY HELL WHAT IS GOING ON?!?" Yelled Moore, shaking like a leaf. "Fire everything!" and he brought his M4 up to bear, screaming as he unleashed a hail of bullets into the impossible creature.
-||-||-||-||-
Present
Princess Celestia cried. She had expected the worst she would come back to was a power drunk Lunar princess. But instead, she had come to find an unrecognizable pile of rubble. She couldn't hear any screams, nor see any bodies. so she assumed that all her subjects had perished, thier bodies buried beneath the pulverized stone that was once Canterlot.
Princess Celestia cried. Her soundless sobs racking her body as her tears fell onto the unsightly grave of her beloved ponies. She stayed this way for hours as her thoughts came and went like surf at a beach.
'My dear ponies, you did not deserve such a fate.'
'How dare she! Luna will pay for her crimes.'
'It's not her fault, she was corrupted, again.'
'It was the fault of those damned humans!'
'Oh, I'll never forget you all, I loved you all so much.'
'I swear on my own name and that of the Goddess, I WILL return Luna to me. And when I do, I will personally kill every single human who dared touch Equestrian soil! They will fear me, and they will pay with thier lives!" at that she stomped a forehoof, her eyes went gold and a brief burst of flame engulfed her as her rage became momentarily physical. When she did, she heard a gasp. To her left was one those humans she had just mentioned. A female wearing the same pattern as those that had come to Canterlot over a week ago. Looking behind the female, Celestia spotted several more humans wading through the ruins. At the sight, she smiled. A very malevolent smile that caused the female to wet herself. And the the Solar Princess went to work. Gleefully and brutally murdering the infantry unit that had been sent to secure the site. She danced on her hind legs as she cast her magic about. Telekinetically grabbing hold of organs and body parts and ripping them off their perspective owners. Crushing skulls beneath her hooves and impaling bodies and cloth on her horn. Maddeningly licking at the blood that fell to her lips. She cackled at thier screams and tore the legs off those who tried to run. There were two who bowed to her the moment they saw her, despite what she was doing to thier brethren. But despite the show of loyalty, they were still human. And she crushed them as well. She could see the look of betrayal on the one's face as she snuffed the life of his friend. She loved the anguish in his scream, confused though, as to why he screamed 'more'. Though she happily obliged him, and ripped his head off his shoulders, taking a section of bloodied spine with it.
When the last human fell, she gazed over the rubble once more. Now fittingly filled with bodies and painted dark red with drying blood. She licked her lips and felt the pain of her loss subside a little. It would take a lot more human deaths to make it go away entirely, she doubted the number she needed was even available to her in Equestria. Plans would have to be made to arrange a trip beyond the limits of her knowledge so that she might one day be satiated. For now, there were a host of creatures in the Everfree that might point her in the right direction to her sister. She hoped that they would be unwilling to speak, as there were some interrogation techniques she hadn't used in millenia that she would like to bring back.
It had been an odd day for Lightning Cloak, it had been little more than a week since the incident with Twilight and Overture, and luckily he was able to resume his duties in Ponyville. Nopony had even asked him any questions as to Twilight's whereabouts. Spike had given him a few nasty glares occasionally but that was the extent of it. A day after the incident and the town had become aware of the disturbing lack of a purple librarian that was as much a fixture of the town as town hall or the fountain in town square. A week later and the town had been in a panic. Though you wouldn't know from first glance. You had to look behind the eyes of everypony. Whatever had caused Twilight's disappearance was so unknown and the steady and slow way that the townsponies became aware of it made running around and screaming quite the silly way to react. Ponies instead chose to stay indoors far longer than usual, not even daring to exit their homes when the sun wasn't out. Interactions were rushed and voices were shushed. Businesses that had no practical purpose like the Day Spa suffered from a complete loss of customers. Lightning Cloak couldn't help but be amused at their behaviour. On earth if someone went missing reactions would have been quite different. Candlelight vigils, Search parties and apathy would be the most prominent behaviour.
Last night however, the ponies went back to normal. Overnight. It started when Pinkie Pie stood in town square and shouted through a megaphone, that oddly enough said that it belonged to Princess Celestia, "HEY EVERYPONY! GET READY TO PARTY! TWILIGHT WILL BE BACK TOMORROW AND SHE'S BRINGING SOME REALLY FUN GUESTS!" And just like that, as though a switch had been thrown, the towns spirited lifted simultaneously. It was a strange sight, like he had entered a parallel universe where everypony was happy and the one he had come from was a place of fear.
While it was no doubt a welcome change, it meant he had to follow his new standing order: Only venture into the Everfree if a change relevant to the Circles occurs in Ponyville. After all, it would be preferable to not have to hunt and kill another of the mane 6 or even a beloved background pony. Overture wouldn't know it, but the standing order to kill Twilight made Lightning a Moon Loyal Pony. But he wore the colors of the Sun Loyal. A conflict was building and Lightning's unique position made him the perfect spy. But for now, he had a job to do. Arriving at the Everfree treeline Lightning heard a familiar sound and looked behind him and up to the sky. What he saw made him sprint into the woods. Directly behind him a huge cargo plane with jet engines was hurtling towards the Earth.. Or whatever the locals called their planet. It was surrounded by a glowing blue aura and slowing, Obviously Luna's work as she could be easily seen flying next to it. Lightning trusted Luna, but wasn't about to wait to find out if she would succeed in preventing the crash.
-||-||-||-||-
Deep in a strange forest in a dimension filled with talking brightly colored ponies stood a hard line of strange creatures. All of whom could be identified easily as having two things in common. The first of which was that in one way or another they wore a combination of white and gold. The other was that each and everyone of them, despite the rigorous postures that they held in defiance to all that would do their unknowing charges harm, were extremely emaciated. Some even listed at various angles as they used every last ounce of strength they had to remain upright in sheer denial of thier situation. Many had small buzzing insects flying around and landing on them. The fact that most did nothing to deter the annoying bugs, even letting them use thier faces as dance floors, was a testament to just how much they had gone through in the past week. Food had become scarce, predator attacks were on the rise and to top it off the emotional roller coaster that was the combined effect of the Twilight Incident and the halving of the Holy Order of Harmony had quite visibly affected the Bronies of the Everfree. And if anyone had to bothered to ask, the bronies of the plains and mountains would no doubt shared similar experiences.
"Oh, look" said one such creature. A short, squat, hairless, neckless purple creature with three eyes, two legs, four tentacle like protrusions sprouting from his "head" and speckled with green dots said to a taller metallic biped with an unusual head structure. Two L shaped bars sprang from the ears and connected at the top of it's head. It's eyes were perfect black circles with tear-like indents in the metal below them. It's slim rectangular mouth made no movements as it responded in an emotionless and robotic voice.
"What?"
"The Outer Circle's got a new messenger again. Is he covered in blood?"
"It would appear that way."
"Man, that report can not be good. Don't want to be near Overture right now."
-||-||-||-||-
In a clearing in a strange forest in a dimension filled with talking brightly colored ponies stood a shoddily constructed stone temple. In it a few well fed creatures sat and ate, laughing merrily and talking about thier pasts in another dimension. In a corner a slumbering werewolf had somehow manged to have phallic imagery painted on his slightly smiling muzzle. As the draconequus and his high powered, well decorated in white and gold friends sat and laughed, they passed each other a small smoking piece of rolled up parchment with a particular dried plant ground and placed in the center. All in all it was a good time had by all. But of course it couldn't go uninterrupted. A new messenger from the Outer Circle had made their way back to the temple, covered in blood. The new messenger was a tall, highly muscled male human. His skin was ash grey and the only hair on his head was a well trimmed triangular goatee. The red tattoo that was like a ribbon draped over his form led the eye to the ornate red and gold armor and tattered skirt with Greek markings. His forearms were wrapped in chains that seemed fused to him. In his hands were vicious looking blades, his face wore a permanent scowl. He would have appeared threatening were it not for the very visible ribs and open sores that pockmarked his skin.
"Hello, Kratos. What can I do for you?" Asked the annoyed draconequus. With a voice that sounded like it belonged to a ten year old boy the once mighty man-child responded.
"My name is Jeffrey, sir. I'm here to report. We l-l-lost...." shakily, the ashen man raised a paper to his face "Thirty-four bronies yesterday. A pack of Manticore t-t-took 'em all out." The man began to tear up. "One of them was my dad. W-w-what are we gonna do Mr. Overture? I ... I wanna go home!"
"Your dad died doing something honorable. He protected the ponies. That is our job in life, little one. I appreciate your hard work. But you need to get back to your people now." when the man-child didn't move Overture added "Go on, shoo!" The child's silent tears began to flow more freely. Overture, annoyed by his presence, groaned. "How about this, to thank you for your services to the Holy Order, why don't you have uh..." Overture scanned the food stockpile for something he didn't like all that much. "...an orange!" He threw the round fruit at muscled skeleton. Jeffrey wouldn't say it, but he hated oranges. The texture and flavor were both abhorrent to him, and yet he acted genuinely when handed the fruit. With a gasp and wide eyes and the first smile he'd broken in days, which was considerably difficult to do given his form, he eagerly tore into the fruit as he turned and exited the temple. Savoring the flavor that somehow managed to be the most delicious thing he'd ever had. Though it was no different than any orange he'd ever had before.
Overture turned to face one of his layabout friends. "You, get fifty people from the inner circle and transport them to the Outer Circle. I can't have Everfree abominations on my heels. Make sure that whoever you pick is strong. All these deaths are nothing more than a serious breach in our defenses."
"Yes, sir, Overture sir!" a young asian woman with feline ears and tail saluted and took off.
-||-||-||-||-
In the same part of the forest as before where a cyberman and a disgusting purple alien stood, their attentions were grabbed by an attractive asian woman with nekomimi who was well known, as she was one of the solar monks, and one of the most sadistic sexual partners in likely all of human history. She inspired fear without having to utter a word as her reputation as a sadistic dominatrix rapist preceded her. Some, due to thier forms, were given a reprieve from that fear. Which was why all those made of metal, bearing an exoskeleton, or were simply without genitalia, were now being rounded up for duty in the Outer Circle. The Cyberman and ironically, the Chode McBlob copy were easily among this group. As the cat like succubus neared the duo, a scream rang out through the forest, swiveling all heads with the capability to move. Meaning roughly half remained stationary. Screams had been heard before. But they were almost always quieter as they originated from the Outer Circle. This scream was most certainly not from such a distance. Those few who could mustered the energy to make their way towards the sound, hopeful to save one of their own.
None of those who made it were prepared to see what they came upon. Suspended in the air by a golden aura a short, skeletally thin Italian plumber in red, white and gold with an obnoxious moustache was screaming in pain and his limbs flailed in a fashion not unlike those affected by the Cruciatus Curse from Harry Potter. Beside the floating man, was a beautiful white alicorn with a flowing prismatic mane and an image of the sun emblazoned upon her flank. Her large horn was aglow with same golden aura that surrounded the infamous drug addict. Her pupils were pinpricks and her voice was savage as she made demands of the screaming man.
"WHERE. IS. LUNA!? WHERE IS MY SISTER!!? TELL ME OR I WILL RIP YOU APART SLOWLY!!"
Despite the scene the sun loyal, in what could only be described as pure instinct, bowed before their princess. And despite white hot searing pain, the plumber that had become notorious for acquiring psychedelic mushrooms and distributing them throughout the Circles was able to gasp out a simple response. "She was. Last seen. With Twilight. We don't" he sobbed, "know where they are."
"You LIE!" and with a simple jerk of her head the man's screams became more pronounced as he grew in every direction. The sound of bones snapping, skin tearing, muscles ripping apart and blood pooling onto the forest floor assaulted the ears of the still bowing bronies.
Her front now latticed with the bright red of fresh blood, Celestia turned to the prostrate bronies. More of them lying to her. Their very presence was an affront to her sensibilities. She saw them for what they were, yet they continued to bow as though she would fall for thier false loyalty. It angered her. But she was not one to waste an opportunity, honestly if they had not shown up she wouldn't have killed the other one so soon. But he wasn't talking and certainly the gory show she put on might loosen the lips of her audience. With a voice that contradicted her appearance with it's sweetness, she asked those before her where her sister was. Unsurprisingly, they also feigned ignorance. Good, she enjoyed making them suffer. Though her patience was wearing thin. She grabbed the oddest looking one, a slick black creature with four legs, no eyes, and a complex looking exoskeleton.
"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!!" Celestia bellowed.
"IIIII sssssswweeeeeaaaaarr IIII dooooooonnnn'tt knnnnnoooooooooww!!" the foul creature hissed. She knew this speech impediment would make information gathering a chore even if it had been cooperative. Not knowing how to rid herself of such a beast she opted to stab every square decimeter with blades of pure sunlight. The one and a quarter meter long blades met in the innards of the creature and glew brightly as they stuck out of the limp corpse of the Xenomorph. Celestia tossed the carcass to the side and the glowing blades dissolved into mist. Celestia magically took a hold of the feline primate female and her eyes shown with barely contained glee. Of those present this one most closely resembled those that attacked her in Canterlot, somehow she knew that that was the true form of those present.
"You. You will tell me where my sister is. And I plan on hurting you bad. So for your own sake, speak up." the cat's eyes widened in fear, she knew she couldn't lie to her princess, but it would not end well for her.
"I- I- I- I- I- I-...." The cat began to cry and piss herself in fear.
"TELL ME WHERE LUNA IS!" Celestia's interrogation was interrupted when a pony named Lightning Cloak burst through the foliage.
"A witch. You've got to be shitting me." I said, flabbergasted.
"Actually, that explains some things" replied Syntax.
"What's a witch?" asked Twilight irritably, obviously annoyed that her questions were growing faster than any answers were. No doubt irritated that she was being mostly ignored.
"A witch is someone who can cast magic. Just not Unicorn magic." Snake offered. Twilight tilted her head in a sign of confusion.
"That's simply not possible."
"It's not just simple unicorn-y Magic. Witchcraft, that's non unicorn magic Twilight, is some really complicated stuff! It's way powerful by itself. And most spells and stuff require all kinds of bizarre ingredients and rituals. Though, being the last witch alive in Equestria my magic was so powerful those rituals were super useless. I had to use magic everyday to prevent worldwide disaster from magical build-up. Hammer space, Super speed, teleportation, all kinds of stuff or BOOM! There goes the world. The first time I realized my power was so huge was when I was a little filly. I tried to find out what flavor of cake I was gonna have for my birthday the next day and WHAM!! Future sensitive muscle spasms. I was so scared I didn't cast any magic for a week. My sisters thought I had gone on a sugar binge I got so fat. But that was just me about to go boom. Luckily I figured it out so I did a brief dimension hop. Good thing too, if I hadn't, this planet would be a young asteroid field."
"Whoa. So like, you breaking the fourth wall and stuff...."
"Once again, fourth wall doesn't exist. And you guys do know that MLP is not a window, right?. The episodes are BASED on true stories. Sometimes loosely. I imagine Lauren didn't think Spike finding wise old dragons and doing a little growing would too entertaining to young fillies. So she changed that. So don't you bronies think you know us, 'cause that'll be awkward! And awkward ruins parties, and since Twilight is back, LET'S PARTY!"
"Wait, party? What about Canterlot? This doesn't seem like the right time for frivolity." Snake said, looking down at his feet somberly.
"Everyone survived a human attack. I think that deserves a celebration. C'mon. I know you've always wanted to experience a Pinkie Pie party, let's go!"
And so we did. Everyone followed Pinkie to the Town Square and with a wave of her hoof, a party, sans guests and music, appeared. "Since my secret's out, I don't think I need to use the 'Party Cannon' thing." She said, probably reading my mind. Soon a white pony with an electric blue mane and violet-pink goggles draped around her neck started playing some dubstep. A fog machine-laser light combo lit the area. and everypony began gyrating to the awful ear shattering electric music. Funny enough the Canterlot snobs seemed to be having the most fun. I guess they were just happy to be alive. Snake, Pascal, Technia and I however, remained at the snack bar. Happily munching on various sweets and doing our best to drown out the dubstep. Of course, we failed miserably. But that didn't stop us from trying.
Syntax was somewhat unsubtly stalking Fluttershy, who seemed very sensitive to that and hid behind Rainbow Dash. Though Rainbow was oblivious to the perceived threat. All too focused on a blue pegasus stallion with a dark blue mane.
Arrow was sitting on the edge of the gathering in a circle with a minotaur who was in all likely hood Iron Will, Spike, Snips, Snails, and oddly enough Silver Spoon. Each one of the ponies and Spike appearing older than they did in the show. They were all laughing about something and passing around a joint. It looked like fun but I didn't trust myself to be near Spoon without punting her into a building, so I hung back, chewing on a chocolate chip cookie and silently begging for some death metal.
As the party dragged on it became apparent that the punch had been spiked. The laughing got a bit too loud, the dancing a bit too uncoordinated and everypony seemed to be losing thier battle with gravity. Arrow and Pascal were absolutely wasted and a sober looking Twilight was paying close attention to them and jotting things down in a small notebook. Syntax was bragging to a few ponies who looked mostly uninterested about how he successfully flew a plane despite the fact that his sole training was video games and flight sims. Of course I overheard that and thanked my lucky stars Luna and Twilight were with us on that doomed flight. Otherwise we'd all be paste. Thinking of Luna I spot her by herself looking at her stars. Stars that had begun to fade into the morning light and thunderclouds.
"Aww, man. Not this AGAIN! Every morning and every night for the past two weeks! Rogue thunderstorms non stop! Arrgh." and with that Rainbow Dash and a line of drunk pegasi flew off in another futile attempt to stop the twice daily storm.
"Hey Luna, what's up?" I said, sitting down next to her in the grass.
"The sun, it would seem."
"Um. Right, I guess. What I mean is, how are you? You look deep in thought."
"I am well. Though I am worried. I haven't seen my sister since I last met with your group. I know she is alive and well because of the magic she's been casting to raise the sun and alter the atmospheric pressure of her days, but it is quite unlike her to simply vanish from the castle for such long periods of time."
"I'm sure she's just vacationing somewhere. Good timing, I say. Our appearance here would no doubt be some serious added stress."
"Hmm, it is true that she has not vacationed in over a millenia. But she would warn me first, this much I know."
"Maybe she thought she did?"
"My sister's mind is like a vice. Something like that would not simply 'slip her mind'."
"I don't know what to say Luna, other than that I expect she's a very capable mare."
The drunken crowd at the town center several feet away from us became quieter suddenly, the dull roar and occasional laughter switched to low murmurs and the sloppy movements became sloppy bowing. This got the attention of Luna and I and we turned to see what the fuss was about. Luna's gloomy demeanor instantly brightened as she stood and galloped to the crowd, a wide grin plastered across her face.
"Sister!" At the sight of the cheerful familial reunion The mane 6 and my group, which I've just now decided I'm going to call The Brony Defense Force, or just BDF for short because it's easier that way than listing everyone's name or calling it "my group", had huge smiles on our faces as we expected the heart melting scene of a tight sisterly hug.
What we got, however, replaced our smiles with looks of abject horror. Just before Luna made it to the edge of the party goers Celestia frowned and glared at Luna. She lowered her horn and before Luna could understand what was happening, blasted her with raw solar magic. The golden yellow beam was the loudest thing I had ever heard, it must have been so hot as to have been two to three times the heat a lightning bolt made. Which, if you aren't aware, is five times the surface of the sun. The heated air created one hell of a thunderclap. And I'm sure many ponies lost most, if not all, of their hearing. The artificial silence and ringing added to the slow motion effect of the adrenaline pumping in my veins. A very surprised looking midnight blue Alicorn fell slowly to the ground as Celestia calmly and scornfully walked towards her, heedless of the panicking ponies scurrying every which way around her hooves. The Mane 6 and the BDF, myself included, made their way to Luna automatically. A near instinctual need to protect her overriding our logic centers that were begging to ask, "What just happened?", "What is happening now?", "Shouldn't we run AWAY from the clearly angry and mentally unbalanced goddess?"
As I became more aware of my surroundings and the ringing wore off, I could hear the screams of the ponies as they ran away, having finally picked a direction to flee to. That direction simply being, 'not here'. The speed of the world hastened and the colors, which I had not noticed had faded, became more vibrant once again. Rainbow Dash, the speedster that she was, was already in front of Luna's still, but not unconscious body. She had taken a defensive posture and was yelling at Celestia. But at this distance and level of regained hearing I could not make out the words. Sadly it seemed she would be alone to face Celestia initially as the rest of would not make it Luna before her.
"So, you've been affected too, Element of Loyalty? Honestly I thought you would be the last to fall under their influence. Once again I have underestimated their power. No matter, I can easily deal with you. But right now, I have to discuss things with my dear sister. Please move out the way, Rainbow."
"And let you hurt Luna again? No way!"
"You asked for it, traitor." And with that she levitated the cornflower blue pegasus who waved her four hooves around in fear and tossed her aside like so much garbage. Clearing her way to her broken, struggling sister.
By this time, the rest of us had arrived, making a wall of ineffective flesh to protect the night Princess from Celestia. As I looked at us gathered I realized Pinkie Pie was not among us. I wondered why for the briefest of moments before my attention snapped back to the Sun Princess in front of us.
"Humans, you dare to step foot in Ponyville? And I see you've corrupted the Elements of Harmony, I commend you on your strategy. But it will not work." The princess spoke dispassionately, as though any enthusiasm for life she once had had been sucked out of her. It was like she was in mourning.
"Princess, whatever's goin' on, we're not your enemy!" Technia spoke up, trying to be heard above the wind, which had picked up considerably, making Celestia's already unkempt mane dance wildly, framing her bloodshot eyes and tight frown.
"Snake, who was standing next to me in our makeshift defensive line. shouted to me. "That's not a natural wind. I think Celestia's getting ready to attack!"
"YOU LIE, HUMAN!" Celestia shouted at Technia. "BECAUSE OF YOUR KIND, CANTERLOT HAS FALLEN. HUNDREDS OF PONIES ARE DEAD! SLAUGHTERED FOR NO REASON BY YOUR BRETHEREN."
"Princess, what are you talking about? Everypony survived!" shouted Twilight, the furthest one to the left. Celestia snapped her focus to her personal student, the edges of her mane began to lick with flame. A flame that was slowly beginning to consume her mane.
"IMPOSSIBLE, NOPONY COULD HAVE SURVIVED SUCH DESTRUCTION!" The wind picked up speed and Celestia's regal mane and tail were now a yellow white inferno that was framed by a line of blue. Her eyes had become slitted and harsh golden-orange color. Her voice lowered and she lowered her head in preparation for attack. "I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"
Celestia let off two shots of magic, this time it held no heat capable of the earlier thunderous boom, likely Celestia herself had suffered the effects before. They hit Snake right in the chest, drilling a hole right through him, clean and precise. In horror we looked at him, and he almost a little too calmly looked down at his chest.
"Fuck me." he said, before falling to his knees, and then his face. Blood pooled from around his lifeless body. The Mane 6, the minimized BDF, and Celestia's gaze were locked on Snake's body. The perfect hole exactly where his heart should've been. Celestia was the only one who did not wear an expression of horror. In fact, she seemed prideful.
"NO!" Arrow sobbed, collapsing protectively over Snake's body. Tears streamed down his face. The rest of us broke our attention once again on Celestia. As one, all of us, with the exception of the ponies and Pascal, let out a war cry. Bringing whatever weapons we had to bear. I charged at her with my dual short swords drawn, wanting nothing more than to cut off her head, consequences be damned. I couldn't get close though due the barrage of gunfire the was making no effect. The bullets were stopped inches away from her, floating in midair like she was fuckin' Neo. Arrows stacked neatly inches from here eye also floated, creating a surreal scene.
"You think that's enough to defeat me?! HA!" Celestia released an outburst of magic. Every bullet and arrow was sent away from the sun Goddess at a rate mirroring their speed upon impacting her magical shield or telekinetic field. The bullets tore through each of us, and only one lethal hit registered. Ponyville would no longer have beautiful custom made dresses. As Rarity's wide eyed lifeless body hit the ground Twilight began to cry over it. Begging her Princess to stop even though she herself was bleeding from several bullet wounds in her legs and a couple in her left shoulder.
None of us had any fight left in us. I wasn't sure if I was going to live. In movies, when you're shot low in the abdomen like myself, it was a 50/50 chance you'd be dead before too long. Not one of us had zero unaffected limbs. Fluttershy was crying loudly, easily having the lowest pain tolerance of all us. Luckily she was also the least wounded, a single arrow in one of her forelegs. That almost enough to get me going again, but the pain shooed that little heroic thought away and I crumpled.
"EXSAEVIO CAESUM TEMPUS CAPRIGENUS PERCURO!" A high pitched, but angry sounding voice was heard from a distance. But loud enough to rival the Royal Canterlot Voice and in a flash, the lesser wounds among us vanished, making Fluttershy fully healthy again and Pinkie Pie was growling at Celestia who, like Pinkie Pie, had teleported. Something must have happened during that teleportation because Celestia was sporting several bleeding cuts, her mane, while still the shape of fire, had returned to it's usual colors and her eyes, though still slitted, had also reverted colors. Celestia was sweating profusely, looking a little bedraggled, though her expression reflected none of this. Her rage filled stare locked onto Pinkie Pie.
"CAESUM TEMPUS GLACIES IMPETUS!" Once again Pinkie and Celestia teleported. Pinkie's mane had was now matted down in sweat but she stood easily. Still growling at the Princess. The Princess appeared bowed. She was panting and her mane was neither ablaze nor flowing. Her eyes had returned to normal and her coat was dirty and full of scabbing cuts. Many more fresh and bleeding cuts and gashes also littered her form. Ice hung from her horn, wings, and snout.
"Do you give in now, Celestia?" Pinkie asked, catching her breath.
"How..... are you...... so powerful?" Celestia asked, clearly needing more effort to breath than her opponent.
"That doesn't matter. Do you concede? Do you surrender? Or do I have to kill you to protect my friends? I beg of you, Celestia. Don't make me kill you."
"Fine, Pinkie. You win. But you will regret it. I assure you." and Celestia lay down, curled herself up, and fell asleep.
Pinkie looked at Celestia as one might look at an abused puppy, full of sorrow and a kind of unwarranted guilt. She spoke three words, once again in latin. Though much quieter this time. "Carcer, Ascendo, Collige." lines of what seemed to be liquid metal surrounded the princess, before solidifying into a cage. Pinkie looked at us, most had fallen unconscious due to their wounds but Twilight, Fluttershy and I remained awake, though I felt myself slipping. "That will hold her, the act of touching the bars of the bars will make her really sleepy. Maybe we can find out what happened. That's not the Celestia we know and love. Not by a long shot." Pinkie looked sadly at the two bodies she had been too late to save. "Do humans have funerals? If so, we need to start getting those underway."
"What... just happened?" I asked. But I never got an answer, because I passed out onto the grass.
Peviously, on IBDF "Oh. That.. um... You see, I'm the last of my kind, here in Equestria. The humans have a word for me."
"We do? What word is that?"
"Witch." -- "Everyone survived a human attack. I think that deserves a celebration. C'mon. I know you've always wanted to experience a Pinkie Pie party, let's go!" -- What we got, however, replaced our smiles with looks of abject horror. Just before Luna made it to the edge of the party goers Celestia frowned and glared at Luna. She lowered her horn and before Luna could understand what was happening, blasted her with raw solar magic -- Celestia let off two shots of magic .... They hit Snake right in the chest, drilling a hole right through him, clean and precise. In horror we looked at him, and he almost a little too calmly looked down at his chest. "Fuck me." he said, before falling to his knees, and then his face. -- The bullets tore through each of us, and only one lethal hit registered. Ponyville would no longer have beautiful custom made dresses. As Rarity's wide eyed lifeless body hit the ground Twilight began to cry over it. Begging her Princess to stop... -- "....I beg of you, Celestia. Don't make me kill you."
It had been a week since the confrontation with Celestia at Pinkie's Block Raver. Today was the funeral for Snake. Rarity's funeral was being post poned. Namely, because she wasn't actually dead. A day after the fight I learned that Rarity's death was a feint. An attempt to appeal to Celestia's good side. Failing that, her tactical side. The bullet had merely grazed her left shoulder, the pain kicking Rarity's natural predilection to drama in high gear. In the heat of battle a spark of inspiration guided her drama to more constructive acting. Using a quick bit of magic she had guided the wound to a more fatalistic location. An illusion that she completed with the sudden stopping of motion and sound, followed by the more awkward fall that was unlike her previous dramatic losses to gravity that usually landed in a more comfortable location, namely her favorite "Fainting Couch". Twilight, who's special talent was magic, caught onto the act quickly and fell in line. Also hoping to derail her fuming mentor.
Celestia had been sleeping for the entire week. Pinkie's conjured cage keeping her in a near comatose state. An IV had been set up to keep her as healthy as possible without eating solid foods or getting regular exercise. The cage itself was being cleaned twice daily from the Solar waste. A task Luna insisted on doing herself. A task nopony fought her over. When Luna was not doing her bare minimal royal duties, eating, sleeping, or cleaning Celestia's cage, she sat silently next to the cage. Crying without sound as she looked miserably at the poor condition of her sister. Pinkie Pie and Twilight took shifts studying the princess. Trying their absolute best to determine the cause of her breakdown. Electrodes and candles decorated Celestia's head and cage respectively. It was bizarre scene as Science, Unicorn Magic, and Witchcraft combined to aid a Goddess that pissed herself in her sleep while inside a glimmering cage. I had half a mind to take a picture and get Technia to make copies so that I could really piss off that bitchy mare should she ever get better, as I was often reminded that her behaviour was WAY out of character.
Not that I would, though. No matter Celestia's condition I didn't want to upset Luna, and to humiliate her sister would have most certainly succeeded in doing just that. I had for many hours sat with the night princess, quietly offering her company which she never denied. Nor did she outright accept it either. Not until the night before Snake's funeral when she had ever so slightly leaned on me. Neither of us said a word. Still as silent as we, and many many other ponies. And even the most the BDF, had been the entire week.
With Snake's funeral on the horizon there seemed to be an unspoken agreement that the longest period of quiet most of these ponies had known would end. Somehow, we just knew that it was time to talk to each other again. If for no other reason than that the United States Military, however impossible it was, was still out there. And still a threat. And no defense could be mounted if the most verbal among us was Big Macintosh. That day Luna and I were woken up early, roughly two in the afternoon. The only two truly nocturnal creatures in Ponyville. Arrow had returned to his crying over Snakes grave. The grave had already been dug and Snake had already been buried. The tombstone, if you could call it that, was being placed today. Marking the end of Snake's story.
Everyone was seated in neat little organized lines on the grass. Funerals, being the scheduled outdoor gatherings that they were, were never rained on in Equestria. Often times cloudless skies and a warmer than usual sun meant that somewhere close by a family was grieving. The correlation of beautiful days and death held a strong impact on Pony society. The celebration of Nightmare Night, which wasn't actually named after Nightmare Moon initially, hadn't started taking place at night until a solid century into Luna's banishment. Today's funeral, however, had a few clouds and a somewhat dimmer sun. Luna wasn't strong enough to give her planet two hard pushes a day and mess with the water content in the atmosphere. Thus cloud manipulation had become a more difficult job as the formation of said clouds became greatly more unpredictable.
The turn out was bigger than I expected. Luna had said that the novelty of the situation had probably been the main draw. It wasn't often their beloved princess killed somepony. Many who still had unflappable faith in thier princess did not attempt to hide their happiness at Snake's demise, believing that Celestia was infallible and so the humans must be devils of a sort. Though not surprisingly it was most of the Canterlot ponies that showed support not for thier Princess, but the group of traitorous apes that saved them. They thoroughly believed the BDF had come with the same humans who had destroyed Canterlot. But though we were demons, we were inherently good, and so broke rank and warned of the attack. Even rescuing them in the end. No one had the energy to tell them different.
-||-||-||-||-
The funeral over, ponies had begun to speak to each other. A dull roar followed the crowd as it dispersed and ponies made their way into town. Doing what they could to regain a sense of normalcy that had all but vanished. The Canterlot ponies had taken up residence in the local hotel. A too large building that had rarely seen customers and was on the verge of bankruptcy now filled to the brim with guests staying so long they were practically tenants.
Another unspoken agreement had the mane six, the BDF, and Luna gathered around Celestia's cage. Twilight spoke first. "Pinkie and I think we know what might have happened." There was a long pause. It was broken by Luna, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Well?"
"Celestia is showing early signs of... The Nightmare."
"What? But I thought you guys got rid of her on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration?" I almost shouted
"You read too much fanfiction, Soulless." Pinkie scolded me lightly. A tight smile on her face.
"Huh?" I responded, once again showing off my excellent conversation skills.
Twilight giggled, "Pinkie told me you'd say something like that. 'The Nightmare' isn't a mare. Not a pony, nor even a separate entity. It's a condition. One unique to Alicorns. Alicorn mental health and emotional stability is notoriously, well, unstable."
"And you let two of them rule you?" Asked Technia. Twilight glared at her, though Technia showed no sign that it had affected her.
"As I was saying, Alicorns require several things to function normally. Sleep, meditation, peace, and above all, love. Pinkie's examination the Princesses memories has revealed that she's been roaming the Everfree non stop with, and no offense guys, a bunch of assholes and one particularly crazy human with a serious case of bloodlust. She's barely slept. Let alone meditated or eaten healthy. We've even found evidence of meat in her digestive tract. Not unhealthy for a pony but it goes against her values fairly extremely. The scene at Canterlot took what would have developed in another few years and brought it forward in the span of hours. She would be a full blown Nightmare alicorn in just another day had Pinkie not stepped in."
"Whoa." said Syntax, the word repeated by the rest of us save Pascal, who was bored and watching a bird fly from tree to tree, idly fingering his phone while he waited for the group meeting to disband. "Wait, what was that about meat?"
Twilight's eyes widened in realization momentarily "Oh, right. Sorry." looking over each of us her gaze fixed on me and trotted over. "Soulless, on your knees please."
"What?"
"Oooh! Damn dude! I didn't know you clopped!" Cried Arrow, trying his best to find humor in, anything really.
"And in Public too, Shame Twilight." Chimed in Rarity.
"Shut up. Both of you." Snapped Twilight, though she failed to hide the smile on her face. Curious, I did as I was asked and got on my knees. And Twilight leaned in and said "What do you see?" and opened her mouth.
"Teeth, tongue. A green haze?"
This earned a hoof to the stomach, "Buck you Soulless, what do you notice about my teeth?" and she opened her mouth again. And that's when I noticed it. All the normally visible teeth were square, but the ones in front were not cubed, like molar. But flat. Like human front teeth. Canines rested just behind the visible teeth.
"You're.... you're omnivoures?! No way..." I breathed
"Biologically, yes. The caloric intake required for the brain power used by sentient creatures is too high for grass and leaves alone. Which is what an herbivorous species would eat without the aid of agriculture. Ponies were a rather efficient predatory species back in the day. Things you've likely attributed to "Herd Mantality" was more likely "Pack Mentality.""
"Whoa," I mimicked Syntax. "Wait, then why is Equestria like, super peaceful. Shouldn't your predatory nature make you more violent?"
Twilight returned to her spot. "We have our moments, but so far the consensus of our peaceful ways is the wiring of our brain. To put it simply, we're extremely empathic. The very idea of causing somepony else pain, of any sort, causes about the same amount to ourselves. It was an effective survival behaviour that eventually extended to would be prey once agriculture had gotten good enough that hunting became less necessary for survival. As a species we've been vegetarian for about 6,000 years. Our teeth have actually changed as a result. Pony mouths used to be filled with razor sharp-"
"Twilight, this is fun and all, but I'm BORED!" Pinkie's voice. I took a look around. Me, Technia, and Syntax, were all leaning forward, enraptured. But everypony else was lying on their back or sides, some fiddling with random objects like grass, others engaged in low conversation with each other. Pascal was even brave enough to vocalize his frustrations at the mini game he was playing on his phone.
Blushing, Twilight looked at the grass." Right, sorry Pinkie. Not often I have eager students. It was too much to resist."
Without sitting up or drawing his attention away from the game, Pascal spoke up. "What are we going to do about The Nightmare?"
"Oh, that's easy! Nothing!" Cried Pinkie, a huge smile on her face.
"What? We can't just-"
"Silly filly, Celestia's been asleep for a whole week, not to mention her sister's been showering her with love! Sad love, but love all the same!" With those words spoken the IV glew red-pink as Twilight carefully magicked it out of Celestia's forleg. and Pinkie mumbled some latin and the cage liquified, seemingly into the ground.
For the first time in a week the great white Alicorn stirred. Groaning, her eyes fluttered open and her head lifted up. casting her eyes on those of us gathered.
"Oh.. um... good-" Celestia looked at the sky and back to us, "-afternoon everypony. Um.. I'm-" and without warning Celestia's eyes bulged, a howl escaped her.
"Ow, ow ow ow ow Somepony!" Though everyone jumped, Luna was the only one who made her way towards Celestia, and immediately began massaging her right hindleg. Calming the Princess of the Day quickly. Sighing, she said a quick thanks to her sister but blushed when she noticed everyone's stares of confusion and mild terror. "What? Have you never gotten a cramp before? They hurt!"
The sound of epic facehooves were heard clear across town. Even managing to echo once on the oddly shaped mountains.
In a clearing in the Everfree, a Discord look-alike was brooding on his makeshift throne, brooding. It had been weeks. Weeks since the red pegasus pony Brick Build had burst through the low foliage claiming having seen the traitorous Moon Priest. Weeks since the first OC pony went Lunar. Weeks since he had last seen Princess Celestia or his Sun Priest Pink. It had been about five days since he had been informed of a well organized military force of humans that had destroyed Canterlot. Since then Overture had been miserable. He had failed in his one objective, and it hadn't been half a year. Scouts in the south were still actively trying to find the base of operation that launched the attack, but no word had been heard as of yet. Though Overture still had hope. Hope that these soldiers would be found. Whoever they were, they were going to suffer.
Things were going to shit around him. Bronies were still succumbing to the elements. The growing conflict between the Eastern Sun Harmonics and the Western Moon Harmonics had recently become fatal. A filthy moon harmonic the first to die in a fight. From what he could tell it was one of the pure humans. One of those that changed just enough to be attractive. He had stood up to the strong Superman when a pony had accidentally entered the woods in the north. Following Overture's standing orders the superhero killed the pony, the human didn't take that too well. The death of a brony, by a brony, as a direct result of the new division of ideals was essentially the Holy Order of Harmony's Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The North and South circles had erupted into a near constant fistfight or verbal fight. Luckily it seemed both sides were trying very hard not to kill, but it was unlikely that would stay that way for long. And as much as Overture would like to separate them, it would open up too large a hole in the circles. Allowing threats access to Ponyville. And that just wouldn't do, no matter what else happened. The un-tainted, purely innocent ponies, were not allowed to feel fear. Not allowed to be unhappy. And Overture would be damned if he wouldn't give his all to do everything in his power to make sure that never happened.
His yellow eyes once again found themselves resting on the image of Twilight. He reread the word "Learn" over and over again. Sighing to himself he wished someone had thought themselves The Doctor. Or maybe even Doc Brown. But no one was time travel capable. The closest was the Doctor Pony, Time Turner. He had a sonic screwdriver that could only make noise. The brony behind those large brown eyes had explained he liked the idea of a Time Turner that had merely gone insane and thought he was Gallifreyan. His thoughts were interrupted when the Ponyville Spy calmly walked up to him.
"My Lord, they have been found."
After a brief pause in which Overture slowly turned his head to focus on the pony, he simply asked, "Where?"
"Ponyville, sir."
...... Overture, had failed again. It was far too likely that all of Ponyville was lost. Sighing, head down. He called in his surrogate lieutenants. "I want the Solar loyal separated from the Lunar traitors. We'll be making a move on Ponyville tomorrow night. Get it done." The lieutenants bowed and left backwards. "You, leave me. Return to your post." Overture said to his spy.
Little did Overture realize, he had just sent word of the attack on Ponyville to Shirotora, current head of The Moon Harmonics.
-||-||-||-||-
Tragedy was raging. Absolutely livid. Though Pink couldn't have been calmer. He was in the same place he had been for the last two days. Resting with his back to a tree while trying to find ways to get the Moon and Sun halves to kill each other. The search for Soulless had been fruitless and Pink had given up, much to Tragedy's chagrin. Tragedy's bloodlust, which needed to be sated immensely was focused now starting a war. If he couldn't kill Soulless, the he'd be more than happy to kill his ilk in the mean time. Though the change in goals meant his sister would never calm down. Fuming at every little thing. Strangely even when he had been stung by a bee she reacted far more than he did, even yelping in pain.
So far they had been somewhat successful. Kidnapping Noteworthy and dropping him right in the middle of the eastern and western halves forcing the Solar Superman to follow his orders. In creating a situation where a pony was murdered right in front of the idealistic lunar bronies Pink finally manged to rile up the halves. Though what came after essentially amounted a slap fight. He needed to do more, he couldn't keep silently killing Lunar Harmonics at night. It wasn't violent enough and each had to look natural. Another dropped fly, victim of the Everfree. But soon someone might catch on that a lot more Lunar Harmonics were dying than Solar. They might even take note that the highest concentration of deaths were in the north. At the border between sides.
When Pink opened his eyes he noted that Tragedy was beating the hell out of his tree, mouth frothing in rage. A usual sight these days. But what was unusual was the movement of the eastern members of the Order. All of them were slowly making their way east. The closest western Order were inexplicably asleep. Curious as to why his conflict had done the opposite of what he wanted he deigned to follow the Solar bronies. Maybe this was good. If nothing else it sure was different. And different, no matter how bad, was most certainly welcome.
-||-||-||-||-
In Blackwood Forest an artificial clearing housed several metal buildings and a few log cabins. In between the buildings a network of worn earth provided pathways for the bipedal inter-dimensional aliens and their various vehicles. Antenna and radar dishes dotted some of the buildings. Trees had been cut down in an ever expanding circle that seemed unnecessarily large. The base of operations inside the clearing could have fit at least ten more times. At the edge of the clearing a mine had been started. Ores and gems considered rare and highly valuable on Earth were commonplace here. Halfway between the edge of the base and the new tree line a single oil pump worked slowly, pumping out black crude that would eventually power millions of car on Earth. On one of the many pathways stretching from the base two identical lines of humans marched synchronously after a single human, their gruff strange musical yells falling in line with their heavy footsteps. A jeep drove by them carrying two higher ranking officers and parked in front of one of the log cabins.
Inside the said cabin Stone eyed the two officers as they made their way to another part of the building before snapping his attention back to the private in front of him. The soldier wouldn't ordinarily be receiving such harsh treatment, but it had a real shitty week for Stone. Marines were dying left and right from the local flora and fauna as well as several mining accidents. A couple of marines had gone missing, witnesses saying they saw strange bipedal canines abduct them, and in this land, it wasn't an easily dismissed explanation. Scientists and congressman from home were up his ass 24/7 demanding results, and to top it all off Location Alpha had been completely destroyed. That was not the intention. The entire city had fallen off the map. Quite literally. It was only supposed to be heavily wounded, with no chance of rebuilding within the decade. The attack was supposed to be more or less a display of power. And you can't have a display without an audience. And dead people make a poor audience. After the initial bombing the aliens were going to be given an ultimatum. Stay out of the way or be destroyed, maybe even enslaved. The initial team sent in to find anything of worth, namely a survivor, had found one. And that survivor had killed all but one of that team.
The sole survivor of Location Alpha's destruction matched the description of the land's monarch. A description which might've been tossed out the window if it were not for the recorded radio chatter from the night of the attack. The survivor had gone on about pop culture icons and prehistoric animals attacking them before they had even arrived. The recorded chatter all but confirmed the crazy man's ramblings. Though it was still difficult to digest, many soldiers still refusing to believe such a far fetched tale. Some, but not as many, still found it difficult to believe a hostile EMP was able to temporarily shut down their ground assault. After all, the architecture seen had hinted at a more medieval society.
The monarch's presence meant that the shock and awe and subsequent "negotiation" were utter failures. However, if their monarch was still alive, then she only need be located once again. Wherever she resided would be destroyed, many of her subjects killed. This time heavy bombing would be left off the table, it was far too effective. They would continue the slaughter until she begged for them to stop. And when she did, the "negotiation" would finally commence. And no matter how things fared, they would make an example of the alien Queen who so arrogantly killed american soldiers.
Deep in the caves of the Foal Mountains, a young adult dragon was crying in pain and fear. Blood like angry paint on his face. Tears streaming from his eyes and cutting the red art in straight lines as he ran from his attacker. Hobbling on his now good leg he felt hope rise in his chest when the light of the outside world finally came into view. However, before he could stretch his thankfully still good wings and finally escape this new hell he heard a thunderous roar behind him. If he had anything left in his bladder he would have spilled it right then as the roar became a terrifying thunderous voice. "You will not escape me, dragon!". Whimpering, the dragon pumped his leg faster, even risking the pain of his badly injured leg. But it was to no avail, a grey blur burst from the shadows of the cave walls, barrelling into the dragon. The dragon let out a cry that he himself could not hear over the roar of the beast that had him in his claws.
With a glint in his eyes the beast spoke once more. "You have one more chance dragon, promise to go home. Leave this place. Tell your kin that Ponyville is protected. And that threats such as you made will be responded to in kind. I have no qualms about killing those that would do harm to ponies. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes L-lord Shirotora s-sir!" The trembling dragon that had only hours ago claimed that he would lead an attack on Ponyville that would leave all of Equestria defenceless from invasion mwa ha ha, wiped his face and flew in the opposite direction of Ponyville with his tail literally between his legs. Stopping to talk to other dragons that had been watching on the cloud bank some ways off. It amused the white tiger when those dragons flew away faster even than his quarry had. Though he supposed that was due to his injuries.
Leaning back on the nearest cave wall he allowed himself a sigh and closed his eyes. It had been a long day and he had finally, after all this time, managed the chaos magic he just knew he had. And was able to use it to do his job for once. Months of surviving on the unforgiving mountains for no real purpose had made him irritable. So he was in a good mood now that he knew that his presence wasn't for naught. And even if he never fought again and died on this mountain. He would have served a purpose. His spirits were so high, even, that the sound of a hologram being activated, a sound he had been dreading, wasn't able to wipe the smile off his muzzle. Standing up, he walked on his hind legs to the corner of the cave where a stormtrooper's holo-communication device waited. A tiny, blue, transparent pegasus pony hovered just above the device wearing a mask of grim determination.
"Sir, the Solars are launching an attack on Ponyville. It appears Twilight found her way home."
Shirotora glared at the hologram. "And how did the Solars learn that, Lightning?"
"I told them, sir. You know he has that anti lying charm active. And if I waited to tell him it would have activated the same alarms and I'd be dead. You'd have no line of communication into this side of the Circles, sir."
Shirotora sighed again. He couldn't fault Lightning, as much as he wanted to. He had a job to do as much as he did. And right now, as always, the job description was simple. Protect Ponyville and it's citizens. And it would seem that for the first time, that would require physical contact with those citizens. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little excited. But he was scared too. For a battle was guaranteed, and his life was not. And should he fail, far more than bronies were at risk.
-||-||-||-||-
We stared at Celestia and Luna while they nuzzled each other. Well, most of us were staring. Arrow was glaring rather obviously, but he made no moves toward Celestia. No doubt he wanted revenge for Snake's death.
"Um... I'm really sorry-" Arrow, likely not wanting to hear it, huffed and walked off. Leaving the rest of us to deal with Celestia. Celestia appeared hurt, though she did not attempt to halt him or apologize further. Slowly, and unsteadily, she made her way onto legs that had been in disuse for a week. When she finally managed to stand she took a look at her surroundings. Many of the Canterlot nobles were walking around the park along with Ponyville natives. Finally her eyes rested on us. And a single tear fell down her cheek.
"Oh, my dears, I really am sorry. I- I-" she lowered her head in shame, but no one offered her forgiveness. But I felt that something had to be done, and while Snake's death had been an indirect result of Celestia's Nightmare, it would be a while before I could truly forgive her. But I could at least tell her I wasn't averse to the notion of one day forgiving her. Carefully, I walked up to the quietly crying princess, and rested an arm around her back, just below her neck. This appeared to shock the princess and she stared at me without any attempt to hide her shock.
"Why--?"
"No, if you're wondering, I don't forgive you. Not yet at least. Though I think in time I may, you weren't entirely in your right mind after all. But... Snake was a good friend of mine so-"
"You don't know, do you? Young human?"
"Know what?"
"I don't... I don't deserve your forgiveness. And, I'm sorry, but you must know of my crimes. And I'm afraid I'm too much of a coward to speak of them. This... will be unpleasant. Prepare."
"Prepare for what?" but Celestia elected not to tell me, and instead rammed her horn directly into my forehead. My eyes opened wide and I screamed in panic.
"Shhh, relax. You are in no real danger." It took considerable effort, but I did mange to relax, and to my surprise I felt no pain. Shakily I reached up to my forehead where her horn met me. I took my hand away and examined it to find no blood.
"This is a spell I designed millennia ago to read minds of accused criminals, unfortunately it works both ways so I had to stop using it. But now I intend for you to see my memories, so just relax and allow me my sense of justice." I did as I was told and a flood of images and sound invaded my mindscape. I struggled against it at first but then what I assume to be her freshest memories bubbled to the surface. And I was horrified. The Canterlot aftermath, several American military members combing through the wreckage of the once great city. Reduced to smears of gore and screams. The feeling of cathartic release as she rips a human in half. I look on in horror as two military bronies are crushed beneath her hooves.
Bronies? What are-- oh no....... Celestia asks in my mind, and in response I flood hers with fond memories of discovering My Little Pony and the fanbase. All the memes that made me laugh and cringe. The countless fanfics. The feeling of peace and happiness the community gave me. My favorite pony list. Going to BroNYCon for the first time and how excited I was. And I get images from her in return as she sorts out words said to her by Overture On our world, we came to know of yours. We followed the adventures of your student, Twilight Sparkle, and those of her five friends....Celestia seems to reel from the information casting a new light on the next scene as she moves to the Circles in the Everfree and tortures more bronies. Celestia pulls her horn from my head and together we empty our stomachs. Well, I do. Celestia merely dry heaves.
"What happened?" Syntax asks, clearly concerned. Before I answer I feel my forehead, hoping that I don't find a massive hole. I breathe a sigh of relief when I don't.
"Celestia killed.... a lot more than just Snake." I breathe and with that statement all those present gave Celestia hardened looks. Though the humans were surprisingly softer than the ponies. Celestia is once again lying down, sobbing quite a bit as Luna holds her closely. Despite everything she's done, I don't want to hate her. I don't want to dislike her. And I don't. I... like her. And it makes me feel guilty. Aren't I supposed to hate murderers? No matter what the reasoning? But... I can't bring myself to feel anything stronger than pity. Cursing under my breath I give Celestia another hug. When the others see me the ponies gasp in shock, while the rest of the BDF, sans Pascal, make their way to the Sun princess to be a part of the group hug.
"I... forgive you Celestia. I, probably more than most, feel your grief and regret. And I know this will haunt you for ages, so I want you to know that I forgive you." She doesn't stop crying. If anything it only seems to worsen the tears. So I just hug her silently and let her. The others each murmur reassurance to Celestia, though probably half seem somewhat conflicted.
-||-||-||-||-
An hour later and we had managed to get Celestia into a more jovial mood. It took a lot of comfort and love. The Mane 6 finally managed to join in once they saw our forgiveness as mostly genuine. Though they still seemed sceptical of it, and wary of Celestia. Murder was a much heavier crime here. Much heavier. It was difficult for hem to wrap their minds around our being so forgiving. They were at once appalled by our "indifference" to those killed, and greatly impressed by our willingness to forgive. Of course we weren't indifferent, we just pushed it to the back of our minds.
"Luna?"
"Yes sister?"
"If you go Nightmare due to jealousy of me ever again, so help me I will beat the ever loving shit out of you."
"What?! Where did this come from, sis?"
"Do you know how popular you are to the humans, Luna?"
"No?"
"Let me put it this way. On this, internet thing of theirs, there's a "Tumbler" dedicated to me. At least, sort of."
"What's a "Tumbler"?"
"It's a like journal that anyone on the planet can see any time they want. Anyway, someone made a comic about me. And do you know how they portayed me?"
"No. I do not."
"AS A RAPIST! They even called me "Molestia"!"
"I'm so sorry sis-"
"Don't be. It was well done and funny. NOT THE POINT! Do you know what happened next?"
"Must I respond?"
"Of course not. Anyway, they introduced a minor character into their little comic. My sister. And do you what she did in the comic?"
"....."
"She played games with her crush! That was it! And guess what? "Gamer Luna" became such a hit that they added her name to my comic and she got tons more attention. Their audience is a bunch of sex crazed males and the rapist me got less attention than gamer you. On MY OWN COMIC!" Celestia bursts out laughing. Clearly enjoying herself. I get a momentary flash of Celestia worrying herself to sleep that Luna wasn't getting enough love in her life. This news probably made Celestia extremely happy.
"Really? That's odd."
"That's not all. I appear in an episode of the show. No one says anything. You appear, and everyone's screaming your name until five minutes after you're gone.
"They made a roleplay based on a civil war between us. And I have practically no members, art, or music while you have SO MUCH. They all love you so much. Luna, I am so happy for you." and Celestia nuzzles her sister who appears frozen and wide eyed. She blinks and her eyes rest on me.
"Is this true?"
"Um... kinda. Well, actually it's slightly exaggerated. And I've seen you in plenty of fanfics, Celestia."
"Not as many as my sister."
"Did you really get all that from my mind, Princess?"
"Uh, yeah. Actually. I have ALL your memories. 25 years is nothing for my mind to handle, and you have my memories aswell, though you will find them harder to access and if you try too hard it will give you a very bad migraine." Well, that explained the memory flash.
"Hey, this sounds interesting and all. But well, a doozy's about to happen. And it doesn't feel like a good one. So, humans. I need you to come over here please." Pinkie pipes up sweetly
"What?" I say
"Why?" Technia asks
"What's going on?" Syntax asks.
"It's nothing much, but well, we need a lot of defenses. And let's face it. You guys are weak."
"Hey"
"No I'm not."
"I'll have you know I have guns."
"Guys, honestly. You're weak. All the bronies are. Something went wrong with the spell that sent you here and your full potentials remain locked. All I need to do is correct on part of the spell and..... done!"
A flash of light spills from all those present, and I feel like I had been sleeping for two months and I finally managed to get up and pour myself a cup of coffe. I feel.... alive.
"Allright. I understand some things about your world. Like levelling up in video games. So I'm gonna use that formula to let you all know what just happened.
"Technia. Simple builds are now as easy to make as complicated ones and your unicorn magic is at the same level as most other unicorns.
"Syntax. You now have unlimited clip and your aim is 99% accurate. As well as a 1st degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do."
"Aww man, Tae Kwon Do sucks."
"Too bad. Pascal, you can now actually use your chi-blocking abilities. While there are no benders you will be able to render an enemy limp with a few well placed punches. Oh, and your phone has an infinite charge."
"Nice."
"Soulless, your flying skills have improved by 50% and your abilities with swords now rival Deadpools." My jaw drops "Well, I couldn't actually read the comics. So I have no idea if Ryan Reynolds portrayal in Wolverine Origins was accurate. But that's what I meant."
"Just.... how much time did you spend on the internet, Pinkie?" Technia asks worriedly.
"Only about a week a night" Pinkie responds innocently, either not noticing, or completely ignoring, the glare that Twilight was sending her way.
"A week a ... what?"
"Time manipulation magic. You can get a LOT done in suspended time." She says in a chipper tone, still smiling. We all scratch our heads as we try and understand just how much internet the hyper mare has consumed, only to come out confused and impressed. As I was about to ask about her age I was saved from making that mistake when Arrow finally made his way back. Once he was close to us he briefly flashed white.
"What was that?"
"Oh. You leveled up, Arrow! Now all your arrows are 100% accurate and do three times as much damage. Not to mention each arrow can include whatever device you want. Like explosives or a net. Just like Green Arrow!"
"Huh? Really? That's cool."
"Oh, and all your weed is 200 times stronger and lasts twice as long!" At this Arrow visibly brightens
Pink Death, the solar priest, has gone insane with grief. It was his actions that resulted in Noteworthy's demise. He is trailing the solar brony retreat.....
The circles have gone to war, the spark that ignited the powder keg was the death of a pony by a solar brony.....
The American military is searching for Princess Celestia.....
Pinkie's witchcraft has unlocked the full potential of the spell that sent our heroes here, but only on said heroes.....
Shirotora, head of the Lunar Bronies, has received word of an impending attack on Ponyville by the Solar bronies.....
Gamer Luna is more popular than Molestia.....
Arrows infinite stash is now bangin'.....
And now, IBDF continues..........
-||-||-||-||-
Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had gone to thier perspective homes. It was getting late in the day and they all had things to take care of. With Celestia awake and the sisters no longer fighting, even indirectly, the world's weather had returned to normal. Leaving the weather ponies a lot of clean up to take care of. Rainbow Dash was unusually slow to leave our group as a result. That just left the current five members of the BDF; Myself, Pascal, Syntax, Technia, and Arrow with Pinkie Pie, Twilight and the Princesses.
Pinkie's earlier warning of a "doozy" had us all on edge. The Princesses included. Last time Pinkie had a doozy a Hydra had been involved. It may not have been the doozy, but it was still involved. Of course the same reasoning was floating around our heads as well. So we weren't too shocked when we heard a familiar roar. Although, that's not to say we weren't shocked. I mean, that particular roar was pretty darn unexpected.
"Sweet Celestia's perky nipples, is that what I think it is?" Asked Pascal, ignoring the wry smirk and raised eyebrow of the owner of said perky nipples.
"I doubt it. Pretty sure Hulk was the biggest among us.", said Technia, looking eastward towards the sound.
"Snake was a tyrannosaurus once." put forth Arrow
"Yeah, but he could shapeshift." replied Syntax.
"Maybe we have another shapeshifter?" asked Technia
"Well, I can say this. If we do. It's not technically ours." I reply.
"What do you mean, Soulless?" asked Luna.
"It came from the Everfree. Everfree is under complete Solar control."
"That's.. yeah that can't be good. Wait, I have an idea!" and like that Technia ran off into a nearby field. her horn glowing and the ground beneath her trembling.
"Well..... alright then Technia. What's your idea?" I asked, knowing full well she couldn't hear me. Getting the response I expected, none, I turned to the others. "Well, while we wait for.... whatever she's doing... what do you guys wanna do?"
"Um...."
"Ano....." Seriously? The Japanese um? Okay.....
"Yeah, I uh... " Great. We're in Ponyville. And we're bored.
"Ooh ohh! I know!" Pascal, excitedly jumped in place, raising his arm like a kid in school.
"Uh, yeah. Pascal, what you wanna do?" I wasn't confident this would be anything fun... or legal.
Pulling out a baton he pressed a button on it, and it started to arc electricity. "Can we see what 3,000 volts of electricity does to a pony?!" And I was right.
"No, Pascal. That'll probably kill 'em. And if it doesn't, it would certainly hurt 'em. Why would you even....."
"But what if it was an Alicorn?" He asked, his tone like a child begging for candy at the checkout line. I think the green lenses on his mask even manged to get bigger.
"C'mon, man. No."
"But, Celestia could take it." at this Arrow started to beg me with his eyes too. Since when did these bastards start asking my permission for stuff? I'm not their damn leader. Though I'm not gonna let Celestia get electrocuted for fun and profit.
"No no no no just.. no. What is wrong with you?"
"All kinds of things." he responded in an eerily chipper tone. Briefly balancing on his toes as he did so.
"Yeah well--" I was interrupted as that roar from earlier sounded again, this time louder. Glancing Technia's way I saw massive amounts of molten metal spewing form the ground, slowly taking shape. It had to have been fifteen stories tall, and it looked like it was gonna take a while. Whatever the hay it was, it probably wouldn't be finished by the time freaking Godzilla of all things got here. Which it now seemed it was doing. If the rhythmic and increasing seismic activity was anything to go by.
The roar sounded again. This time it was uncomfortably loud, and it's footsteps were making noise too. It seemed Ponyville's residents were finally taking notice. Most had stopped what they were doing and were worriedly watching the Everfree. That stopped though as 1998's New York Godzilla burst into view, followed closely by what could only be the Solar bronies. What the hay were those morons thinking? They were supposed to be invisibly protecting Ponyville. Invisibly. As in not so flippin' visible! Maybe Overture snapped and decided to make an appearance?
Wait, Godzilla the brony just crushed a house and it looked like he was trying to eat ponies? What was going on? "Guys, Godzilla must've gone insane in his current form. We need to snap him out of it!" snapping to attention, (and whatever counted for attention for Pascal) they ran behind be. All of us waving our arms to get Godzilla's attention.
"Dude! What the fuck are you doing?! You're hurting ponies!"
"That's the idea, Padre de la Luna." came an all too familiar, and highly aggravating voice.
"Overture," I hissed, not bothering to turn to look at him. Can't believe I liked his music, once. "Why are you doing this? This goes against all we stand for!"
"All you stand for. Ponyville may be lost. But this is for the good of all of Equestria. Y'know, the greater good? A concept you seem completely unable to grasp, it would seem."
"And you call yourself a brony, I will see that you pay for this!" Knowing I couldn't take on the irradiated lizard, I decided to take on it's master. Pulling out my swords I smiled, "This is gonna be fun.". But to my dissapointment, but not my surprise, he vanished in a pop of light.
"DOUCHEBAG!" I yelled, hoping he'd hear me. Meanwhile behind me, the terror of Tokyo had actually managed to chow down on a few ponies, the sight of which nearly made me cry out in agony. I may be the size of a bee compared to it. But I was prepared to sting.
I, of course wasn't prepared for it's thick hide. And now I was down a sword. Fuck. I thought about running after the monster to retrieve the blade when I noticed something in the sky. Pointed, and oddly shaped for an aircraft, it struck me as familiar. Which I need to stop weirding out about. We're all from Earth. We've all seen the same shit. No matter how odd we are it's all familiar.
"It's the mother fucking Batman." I breathed in awe. Then I realized it technically wasn't actually Batman and stopped being awestruck. Though that didn't last long as the pilot was certainly impressive in his (or her) impersonation of the bat when they launched out of the batwing and glided down to the battlefield. Before landing, he tossed an explosive at Godzilla. Well, at least someone finally managed to get his attention. Though, I don't think the bat was really all that ecstatic at the results. As he only managed to piss him off. Launching toward the dark knight his attention was grabbed by a rather tall black man in a green jersey sporting the number 36. Clearly confused, the dragon like creature did nothing as the basketball player laid into it. Just continued to stare at the man, clearly puzzled as to why the human thought it possible that some mere martial arts could possibly hurt him. He couldn't even feel the punches. Smirking, he prepared to eat the little nuisance when a blonde haired little human boy launched himself at the man, apparently trained in a superior martial art.
Batman, seeing his friend getting laid into and losing, seemed to summon his car out of nowhere. Jumping into it he sped to the pair in an attempt to break up the fight. Unfortunately they didn't seem to notice as the car's engine noise was blotted out by the war cry of a white tiger and the rest of the Lunar bronies who were cresting the hill to the west. The crunch of metal and shattering of glass, however, was easily heard afterwards. Seems batman survived though.
Smiling at the back up, I leaped into the fray. So many pop culture icons were fighting each other it was like a ten year old's drawing. I felt a little bad as I cut off heads and limbs of people I liked from TV. There's just something wrong with beheading the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, y'know?
Our forces had essentially been cut in half, however, as so many Lunar bronies aided in the second mass evacuation Equestria had seen this month. And we were getting fairly beaten back. All around us was chaos, and if there hadn't been so much on the line, I would've sat back and munched on popcorn as I enjoyed the hell out some seriously epic fights.
Ozzy Osbourne was fighting Justin Bieber. (Apparently the Canadian's head tasted fairly bad, as after the most spectacular beheading I've ever seen, Ozzy retched)
Time Turner was fighting Screwloose.
Bloo was fighting Dexter. (The short nerdy ginger)
John Marsten was kickin' Eastwood ass.
Alien and Predator were fighting Michael Meyers and Chucky.
Master Chief was sitting on Duke Nukem "C'mon, say it...."
"No."
"Say it and I'll get up."
"Fuck you!"
"Suit yourself...."
"Alright alright, I give! I give!" sigh "Power Armor is awesome, and I'm super jealous."
"And.....?"
"It's not for pussies...."
"Was that so hard?"
"Get off of me!"
I looked around me for batman, intending to help him with the main weapon of the Solars when I finally spotted him charging at some Russian looking soldier wielding an AK-47. With a well placed batarang he knocked him unconscious and immediatley set his sights on the next solar brony, a tall skinny white kid with a stove top hat. Startled at being targeted by none other than batman he made a grab for his fallen comrades gun, and managed to drop my faith in the bat completely by actually managing to down him. As I had been right by the bat I smiled rather than become fearful as I knew my new skill with my remaining sword would redirect all the bullets that would come for me back to the tall kid.
To our mutual disappointment however, his gun clicked, not tied to the weapon himself the ammo wasn't infinite. Fearing for his life he fled back towards the Everfree.
"That's right you better run!" I shouted gleefully.
"You're welcome." Turning around I saw a T-1000 shifting back from a larger form. I wasn't sure what he had been as I caught the transformation's tail end. But whatever it was had elements of blue and red. Damn it, and I thought I had scared him off.
Well, no need to be bitter about getting my life saved, possibly. "Thank---" at which point the top half of my possible savior disappeared into the gaping maw of Godzilla. "...you." I finished lamely. Faustdammit.
Looking back at the bat I noticed he was still alive, barely. I went to help him up when the skinny kid figured he'd finish off the caped crusader, having returned with a machete. Before he could make it all the way to the prone superhero he tripped and fell. Attached to his leg was a whip, which surged with electricity causing the skinny little fuck to spasm.
"Pascal, you just saved Batman's life. Nice goin' man."
"Really? I just wanted to fry someone. This guy's on the opposite team, right?"
"Uh, yeah man."
"Cool." Taking a bite out of a chocolate bar nonchalantly, he casually electrocuted the the skinny steam punk kid again.
"Where'd you get--"
"Pinkie Pie"
"Right. Carry on."
Godzilla the brony, meanwhile, continued to rampage Ponyville. Much to my chagrin.
"Hey, Syntax!" I called out.
"What is up!" He called back, laughing. Apparently having a grand ol' time.
"Can you shoot the beast in the eye? If he can't see, he can't eat!"
"I don't agree with your logic, Soulless, but either way I can't get a good shot off at this angle. Here," he tossed me a gun, "You got Deadpool's sword ability, maybe you inhereted some of his aim."
"I don't agree with your logic, Syntax."
"But....?"
"But nothing. Your logic is as holey as a changeling priest."
"Whatever man, find someone who can aim then. Prick."
"Hey, bats?" he groaned as turned over, his midriff riddled with holes. Think you can hit that thing in the eye with a deagle?"
"I think I can do that." she said. Huh. "Give me the gun..." still lying on her back she aimed past her feet, her arm trembling in her weakened state. Finally she fired off a shot. However, right as she fired, likely believing the shot to hit, Overtrue appeared on the battlefield just long enough to toss a ninja into the path of the bullet. The ninja's hand exploded. He howled in pain, though he could barely be heard over the din of war.
Two angels, one of which I had fought with when I arrived here, came out of the Everfree carrying someone, likely a friend or the Solar's secret weapon. I dreaded who they could be if it was the latter. They carried him by the armpits while he stroked a Captain Morgan pose. As they got close I could hear them singing.
In the eyes of a ranger, The unsuspecting stranger, Had better know the truth of wrong from right,
'Cause the eyes of a ranger are upon you, Any wrong you do, he's gonna see,
When you're in Texas, look behind you,
'Cause that's where the rangers gonna be.
"Oh, you have got to be fuckin' kiddin' me." I moaned.
"What?" Pascal asked obliviously, still torturing the the Lincoln look-alike. I was about to answer when Chuck Norris answered for me. By kicking Pascal square in the nuts.
"Are you fucking kidding me dude? A nut shot! Seriously?! I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna wear your intestines like a Gala dress you piece of-" I tuned out Pascal and focused on Norris. If this guy was half of those Chuck Norris jokes he'd a force to be reckoned with.
"I am Chuck-Fucking-Norris! I will kill you all! Ah ha ha ha!" Readying my one blade, I took a defensive stance. Seeing me do so, he smiled and slowly made his way toward me. No doubt relishing in the fear on my face. He was nearly in reach when he suddenly disappeared from view. Looking around quickly I saw to my right the broken body of Chuck underneath Bruce Lee.
"You think too highly of yourself, Chuckles." he said, before casually walking back into the heart of the battle.
Taking in my surroundings I was greeted with a wonderful sight. No, it wasn't the entire town of Ponyville on fire. It wasn't the hundreds of dead bodies that littered the ground, it wasn't the vast amount of blood that ran into the storm drains as though it rained the stuff, it was the complete lack of ponies. They had all been safely evacuated. Which also meant our own forces were going to get stronger, soon.
-||-||-||-||-
Meanwhile, just outside of Ponyville
Stone looked through his binoculars at the battle taking place. Without removing them from his face, he brought his radio up his mouth.
"Sgt Hall, report."
"Here sir."
"Those mushrooms you found, and put in our food?"
"Uh.. what about them sir."
"Get rid of them, and make sure no one ever uses them again."
"Dude! What the buck are you doing?! You're hurting ponies!" / "That's the idea, Padre de la Luna." / "Overture," ... "Why are you doing this? This goes against all we stand for!"
"It's the mother fucking Batman..."
"Hey, bats? Think you can hit that thing in the eye with a deagle?" / "I think I can do that." ... "Give me the gun..."
Godzilla roared as the Hulk landed on his face. "Just throw them away, sergeant." / "Yes sir."
And now, IBDF continues....
-||-||-||-||-
With the entirety of our own forces now in the conflict we were finally pushing back against the Solar bronies. But it was a grueling battle. We might have been doing better were it not for the surprising amount of effort the Solars were putting into killing Technia. Hopefully whatever she was building was worth the forces we were spending to protect her. I think we all had faith that whatever the hell she was making would put down their own massive weapon. The frustratingly still living Gojira.
Thankfully the Lunar ponies head, a strange bipedal/quadrupedal tiger with a cutie mark calling himself Shirotora had some military experience from home, and was putting it to good use organizing us into a fighting force that more than made up for our lack of firepower and numbers. I couldn't help but draw connections to the three hundred some spartans at Thermopylae. Using organization and tactics against a more powerful, but chaotic enemy to stem the tides.
Whereas during the initial engagement individuals from each side merely tried to take out as many from the opposing side as possible, resulting in a spectacular town wide display, now lines had been clearly drawn and the battle had calmed down somewhat.
Shirotora, some Lunar bronies I didn't know, and the others I had been with since the Everfree currently made up the the forward defensive line that protected Technia as the the massive tower of molten lava she was controlling was cooling and forming into a towering steel humanoid. Though it still seemed to be a while before it would possibly be functional. The glances I caught of it as I fought the Solar bronies sparked recognition, but I couldn't quite place it. The fight in front of me took far too much of my attention anyway.
I found it funny how frequently both sides would shout the same war cry as they launched at each other with intent to kill. Had anyone told me a year ago bronies would shout "For Equestria!" at each other before driving home a blade into each others stomach, I'd laughed at them. I found that even the more die hard bronies would rather talk about their favorite pony than do anything fanatical like that. Yet, here I was, doing the same thing myself. A part of me felt some slight embarrassment at the action, however, the screaming and the reminder of what I was fighting for helped to keep me strong.
And strong I was. As was the rest of the BDF. Pinkie's little "unlock" having done wonders for our capabilities. My dual short swords flashed in the fading sunlight and glistened with blood. Not all of which was red in color. I used my wings to kick up dust and aid my movements to avoid fire from the Predator. I slashed open the Xenomorphs head so quickly and neatly he didn't even notice and continued to fight for a moment before he fell over, decapitated.
Pascal was laughing in maniacal glee as he brutally and mercilessly beat the ever living shit out of a single brony. Only bothering to knock back his healthy attackers while he reduced his victims to a pulverized mess of gore. He was absolutely ecstatic when a firebender, who looked quite like Mako, attacked him.
I felt pity for the Mako look alike.
Syntax was taking cover behind the remains of one of Ponyville's many homes. Easily picking off Solar bronies. Though I couldn't see his face he seemed quite calm. Reading his surroundings tactfully, and clinically.
Arrow was getting the stuffing beat out of him. He was pretty high and uncoordinated and as a range fighter, wasn't getting a lot done in the multiple melee scraps he currently found himself in.
The manly black dude from the old spice commercials was throwing diamonds and and remarkably sharp tickets to shows-of-that-thing-you-like from horseback at oncoming Solars.
Trevor and Johnny Klebitz were hitting each other with baseball bats, reminding me of the game I had only gotten three days of play in before I was transported to Equestria. If there was ever a reason to go home.....
A werewolf who went by the name of Were, because fuck originality, was doing some serious damage to a group of vampires and couple of vamponies. Apparently healing from nearly every wound inflicted on him. I had to hold back a chuckle when he, after having defeated the last of the group, ripped the leg off of one of the corpses and carried it over to Shirotora, who was using his claws to cast magic I've never seen before in addition to using them and his own teeth as blades. It was quite a sight as Were dropped the leg at Shirotora's back paws and panted, wagging his tail. Shirotora ignored this in favor of continuing the fight. Resulting in a whining wolf pushing the leg closer with his nose.
My amusement at the situation was cut short by the sound of a loud foghorn. And I do mean loud. Followed by an equally loud voice coming from massive speakers. Though I couldn't see any.
"Oh, yeah! It's Kaijū stomping time mother fuckers!" Everyone stopped fighting to see that, despite the best efforts of the Solars, Technia managed to finish her machine. A dark gray, with the occasional red striping, Jaeger.
Though this one had a massive screen as a kind of face plate, showing the maniacal, gleeful expression on Technia as she was undoubtedly inside of it. Though we could only see her face, it wasn't hard to judge the rest of her. The Jaeger giving away all her movements. Which currently consisted of slamming a fist into an open hand.
Wait, wasn't she a pony? Fuck it, she was human once, I'm sure her brain can figure it out.
The battle beneath her failed to resume as both sides, some still locked in mid fight, watched in awe while she stepped over us, preparing to crush a lizardy head in her hands.
Like unattended children at a fireworks show, all of us moved toward the titans despite the obvious danger. This fight would no doubt be entertaining, and the winner would determine the outcome of the war. No matter how many we killed, or put out of the fight, it was up to Technia and Godzilla to win. Now I know how Harry's team felt whenever they played Quidditch.
For a brief moment the two did nothing but stare at one another. Then Godzilla unleashed a roar, shaking his head as dog might when drying off as he did so. Technia responded by slapping him across the face, sending him bodily into Town Hall.
"Shaddup. You talk too much." Cheers went up from the Lunar bronies at the death of Godzilla. All that time and effort, and that was all it took to kill him. A back slap to the face. I couldn't believe my eyes.
Which was, of course, the right thing to do as those little bastards lied to me. As Technia celebrated her surprisingly easy victory she was hit from behind by an enraged irradiated saurian. A total of ten homes were lost underneath her. I vowed to do everything in my power to fix up Ponyville if we won, if I had any power left that is, all that I had was given by Overture, and clearly Shirotora had earned his spot at the head of the Lunar bronies. Maybe I'll just talk to him afterwards.
Godzilla lay over Technia's Jaeger, pushing on it with his forearms in an attempt to get up. He finally succeeded in doing so but wasn't on his feet for long. A double row of metal parted from the Jaegers back and slid to the outside, revealing a dozen massive guns, six in each row, that simultaneously opened fire on the beast, irritating it and knocking it back.
As she got up the flaps that revealed the guns folded back in, but the metal on her back continued to shift and move slowly forming a new weapon. A titanic sword that had no right to be used as such that she flung around with surprising ease.
"Time to die you piece of shit." and with that she lunged forward, sword to her side ready to be thrust forward. Godzilla was too quick, however, and side stepped her advance using his tail to trip her. She didn't let that stop her from her goal, though. As she fell into the remains of Town Hall, she quickly turned her torso around, using her added momentum to fling the massive sword in Godzilla's direction.
Thinking itself momentarily victorious it didn't bother looking back at the machine, instead letting out a roar of triumph before getting back into the fight. That was all Technia needed. Godzilla's roar was cut short as a hulking building of a sword pierced its throat. It wasn't an instant kill though. The makeshift crowd continued to watch and listen to the monsters wet gurgles and watch as gallons of blood poured beneath it as it fell. First to its knees, then finally its head. Its eyes never closed when it finally died.
Having learned her lesson the first time, Technia ignored the screams of disgust when she crushed its head underneath one of her huge metallic feet.
"I will show no mercy to any brony that threatens the life of a pony. Surrender, join us and together we may yet better the lives we have destroyed today. Surrender and live. Those of you who wish to harm ponies under Overture's falsehoods of the greater good, know this: Within the span of 12 hours I, with little effort, built this machine which killed the one and only God motherfucking zilla. If you think you can stand a chance I urge you to try." At that she ripped the sword from the corpse and slammed it nearly halfway to the hilt in the ground between the front lines. It was still about four stories tall.
Just about every Solar brony made signs of surrender and walked to stand with the Lunar bronies.
Finally. Finally we could repair the damage we caused.
The weeks following the battle of Ponyville had the residents slowly trickling back home. The Mane 6, just hours after the battle, had finally gotten their hooves on the Elements. They used them anyway in hopes of returning everything back to normal. However, the Elements failed to accomplish much as far as normality was concerned. Overture had been turned to stone, those that were injured but alive were healed, fires were put out and loose debris was vaporized harmlessly. The corpses of all the felled bronies returned to their natural, pre-Equestrian forms. But they did little for the mental health of, well, everyone. They didn’t repair any of the true damage to the town, and they didn’t raise the dead. Twilight had said that the reason the elements failed to heal the emotional and mental wounds was that it wasn’t something that could simply be given. It had to be worked for and earned. So nearly all the ponies remained afraid of the bronies, the Canterlot crowd again going against the norm and being the more accepting bunch. Even if only minimally so. It would be months until they would get over their fear. And when they did, it became anger.
Despite their anger we all did our best not to let it get to us. As we had since the beginning we would be quiet and keep our heads down. Even when they threw things at us. We would do as we were asked without question so long as it wasn’t the CMC or equally destructive foals doing the asking. Many of us were forced to sleep in the street. Those few ponies that were open to us would still refuse those of us that looked like we came straight out of a horror movie. Can’t say I blame them, really. On Earth that’d be a sure fire way to earn a Darwin Award.
The Princesses made sure we were getting along with the ponies. They did their best to get the bronies and ponies acclimated to each other. But there’s only so much you can do to convince a group to accept another when they first saw the second initially as naught but extremely violent monsters. Waging war, bringing death, spilling blood, and destroying homes. We were advised by the Princesses to act precisely how we were acting to facilitate better brony-pony relations faster. Apparently they’d soon get over it and treat us better. Due to ponies empathic nature they’d stop seeing us as mindless monsters soon enough and probably feel guilty for their previous actions.
“Honestly, you’re all likely to see a few weeks of being treated like royalty before things mellow out. A guilty pony is a generous pony.” Princess Celestia had said.
I didn’t see it happening. I mean, in my head I juxtaposed freaking GODZILLA on a damn rampage with a miniature Godzilla getting the royal treatment a few months down the line. It was comical in how little sense it made. Never mind the fact that the little asian boy who was the shapeshifter that would forever be known as Gojira was dead. It’d be like the jews doing something similar for Hitler. Or more accurately, the Auschwitz survivors. Well, okay, not that bad. But still pretty bad. So I seriously didn’t expect the kind of treatment Celestia promised. I was prepared to live the rest of my life getting pelted by eggs, flower pots, boots, and the occasional knife. See? Forgiving. Only the occasional knife.
However, the Princess, being the immortal ruler of ponies, shockingly had a deep insight into the pony psyche. I know, right? Who’da thunk it? About a year after the battle we saw a dramatic increase in the quality of life for us. Ponies started mirroring our actions: Acting kind to us, feeding us, helping us build more homes to house the brony population. They began inviting bronies to parties (although Pinkie had been doing that from the start. At first only the invited would show up, but soon no one would come to a party that even a single brony was invited to. The parties were damn right depressing.) Pinkie couldn’t be happier, the city had finally begun to heal. And now it was bigger than ever.
Yes, that’s right. The city of Ponyville. It had become Equestria’s new capital, and was now broken into three districts. Old Ponyville, New Canterlot, and Little America. Three guesses as who lived where. On the outskirts of New Canterlot stood two Castles. One reminiscent of the previous Canterlot Castle, though smaller, dwarfed the second Castle that, while sizeable, could have been mistaken for the former’s lawn art. It was a blue crystalline tree that held a purple, somewhat classic looking castle aloft. Princess Twilight Sparkle’s new home. Yeah. This past year or so has been nuts. I mean, a lot of us had thought when we got here that Twilight wouldn’t actually go Alicorn. That it was creative license by Hasbro and DHX. But, apparently Lauren can see the future even in an alternate dimension and is still pulling strings behind the scenes of My Little Pony.
Thanks mostly to Technia, Ponyville City became the most technologically advanced city in all of Equestria. The wonders she brought to the city made it the number one tourist spot on the planet. And as a result the city was continuing to grow and diversify as people from all over moved to town. I knew I was looking at the beginnings of Equestria’s Shanghai. Technia alone, however, couldn’t handle the strain lifting an entire city, nation, or planet on her shoulders. Luckily she hadn’t need to. What things she did make were studied extensively and recreated.
A number of new mines, lumber yards, and oilfields had opened up around Ponyville City to get the materials needed as ponies couldn’t easily replicate Technia’s clean removal of resources with even their strongest magic, not that they had given up trying. With our guidance all of these new industries were pollution free. We may not have been the silent defenders we once thought we were but there were some things about humanity that we didn’t want to visit upon Equestria.
Among the new industries and infrastructure of Ponyville City was an airport. It wasn’t all that big as the global infrastructure couldn’t handle any 747s we could make, If you couldn’t land it elsewhere there was no reason to launch it. Right now the majority of the aircraft were zeppelins of Equestrian origin, though we had a few small prop planes out and about. The knowledge of how to build larger aircraft, airports, roadways, electric cars, green power plants, solar panels (Celestia was particularly happy with that one) among other things had already been released to the public and just about every major city was in a race to advance.
The bronies had mellowed out significantly since the battle of Ponyville. They still had their altered forms, whatever magic had been cast upon us could not be undone. At least not here. And a way home was still being looked into. The Holy Order of Harmony, however, did not die out. New leadership under a John Constantine gutted the previous order and built it back up from the foundation. The division of solar/lunar still existed, though now it had more to do with ideological rather than geographic differences. The Solar half was more about rules, order, and atonement for the battle. Whereas the Lunar half was more about freedom, celebration, and progress. Despite their differences they got along extremely well. My position as the Lunar High Priest remained. As did Pink’s.
Pink himself claimed that he was feeling far better. And I was inclined to agree. Initially. He seemed far slower to anger than anybody I’d ever met. Which alone would be great. Unfortunately the way he would occasionally talk to someone that wasn’t there when he thought no one was looking made me worry for him. I had been thinking of trying to get him to see a therapist in New Canterlot, but then he disappeared. I wasn't worried, he could handle himself and likely just needed some space and quiet. Which if he were being reasonable he hadn't need go far. It's been relatively quiet here for a while now.
Other than an escape from Tartarus by a centaur by the name of Tirek, apparently a G1 villain according to some of the other bronies, everything has been completely and utterly peaceful. If you don’t count the shenanigans of the Mane 6. Which I don’t. Rambunctious they may be, but they didn’t tarnish the peace. And I was thankful, if wary, of the peace. I didn’t expect it to last. There was a formidable military somewhere out there. With tanks and assault rifles who knows what else? And somehow, it had become impossible to find.
If that wasn’t enough the disappearance of dozens of unicorn ponies in several cities and towns had the public visibly tense. Other than a few peaceful demonstrations outside local Police Departments and Guard Houses demanding action and answers it hadn’t really escalated too much as of yet.
-||-||-||-||-||-
Currently a few of us, namely myself, Pascal, Syntax, Princess Twilight, and Princess Luna were searching the woods some miles to the southwest of Ponyville City for any sign of the foothold location of the United States military. Unsurprisingly we found nothing. Again.
“I don’t understand. Even if they’ve moved, there should still be signs of their presence. Cleared woods, vehicle tracks, something!” Syntax complained, saying what we were all thinking, and for a few of us, had already said before.
“And I’ll say it one more time. The Elements must have returned them home when we fired them over a year ago. And don’t say they were too far away. Discord’s chaos spanned the globe and when we sealed him back in stone everything returned to normal. Everything.”
“Hey. That reminds me. Where is Discord?” I asked, suddenly curious.
“In truth I believe he met a grim fate during the Fall.” said Luna, shaking her head with just a hint of sadness.
“Wait, but wasn’t he supposed to be reformed?”
“AHAHAHAHAHA!” We all stopped and looked in mild concern at Twilight when she fell to the ground in hysterics. Eventually she came up for air and wiped a tear from her eye with a flick of her hoof. “Ahh, that was probably one of the funniest jokes I’ve heard in some time, Syn. I’m glad that even during a time of crisis you can find it in you to make ponies laugh. Pinkie’s been rubbing off on you.” She took a few breaths and extended her hoof repeatedly in calming motion and forcibly brought her smile down. “But it’s still a time of crisis and we need to find more clues as to the whereabouts of the unicorns. Let’s go.”
“I… wasn’t joking?” I heard Syntax mutter as we all resumed our trek through the woods. Though if anyone but myself heard him they showed no signs that they had. There were more important matters to attend to, like finding our quarry, no matter how adamant Twilight was that they’d been returned to Earth.
Silently we trudged on for a couple more miles and several more hours before the Princess called an end to today’s search and teleported us home. Or, to be more precise, her home. She couldn’t very well teleport us each to our own home as people need to see us leave the palace just as they’d seen us enter. For all ponies knew we were just discussing politics as heads of government for our districts. If they knew what we were really looking for it would incite a panic.
I headed home, nodding to Technia, Arrow, and Rainbow Dash as they headed inside the castle behind me to begin the day shift of “politicking” with Celestia. Breathing in the pre dawn air, feeling the wind whip at my lunar garb, I drank in the peaceful atmosphere of the City as the Dawnbringer woke and completed her duty.
I woke up the next evening like any other, hanging upside down from a metal bar in my room meant for that exact purpose. My roommate, a werewolf, still playing a card game of some sort in the back room with two other bronies and three other ponies, if their conversation is anything to go by. The voices of the ponies sound like they belong to Noteworthy, Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia if memory serves. Their dull conversation and smoke lightly wafting through the air and up the stairs. I righted myself and landed with a muted thump on the carpeted floor of my small bedroom. Thankfully it was big enough to stretch out my wings, if only just.
I throw on my “religious” garb, admiring it in the mirror. At first I was adverse to such clothing, especially as I couldn’t take off whatever I was wearing without it simply reappearing on me. But when Rarity was paid by some lunar bronies to make it I couldn’t deny that it looked pretty awesome. For the priests, and later the “monks” we got long trench coats made out of what I thought was leather, but in truth was a fabric made from an exotic plant native to the Willder. Another wild forest located some distance south east of here. The coats came in two appearances, one Lunar, the other Solar. Lunar trenches were a midnight blue with purple trim, while the Solar was white with gold trim. Each had a large cutie mark of their respective princess emblazoned onto the center of the back. My moment of self admiration was disturbed by the dual sounds of my growling stomach and a particularly loud clink of glass from the game downstairs. Time to get a bite.
Downstairs, rooting through my fridge for breakfast, even after all this time, was still a novel experience. The dietary requirements of bronies being more varied and out there than Rainbow’s mane. No matter how often I asked him to demand that guests bring their own food my roommate insists on being prepared. It’s nice and all but I still feel queasy when I reach past a brain to get to the milk. Where we get the more exotic foodstuffs without Pink is still a mystery.
Oh, that’s new. Bagged blood. Guess he’s gotten over that silly rivalry with Steven. He must be here too, it’s been drained slightly. Good ‘cause I’ve got a bone to pick with him.
“Hey, Steve I-” I say, entering the room containing the game. I don’t finish however as Steve isn’t here. One of the other bronies was a Custom Job, a term we’ve begun to use for bronies like myself and Syntax whose looks are completely unique and maybe only borrow bits and bobs from popular cuture, but not quite the wholesale grab of those like Arrow. The other, sitting in a high chair, was Rocket Racoon. I was right about who the three ponies were though.
“Sorry, Carl. You seen Steve around?”
“No. Thank Celestia.”
“Oh. Are you aware there’s blood in the fridge?”
His eyes briefly flick to Vinyl. “Other people drink blood, Soulless, not just Steven.” he says, with just a hint of malice at my name. Carl’s one of those sticklers for birth names, and was never happy that I referred to myself as anything but. Personally I side with ponies on that. Names should have more meaning than whatever pre set bunch of sounds your parents chose out of a baby name book. But now is not the time to get into that... again. Steven’s been a bit of a nuisance lately for Little American PR.
“Okay, well, if you see him, send him to me. He and I need to have a talk. Oh, and another thing, the blood’s gonna go bad. Someone opened it.” Vinyl shrank in her seat a touch but I didn’t give it any consideration. “Hey, wait, wasn’t Noteworthy here?” Octavia and Vinyl went a bit wide eyed but again I ignored it. Carl, Tom, and BlazeIt420 (admittedly someone who should probably be called by their birth name) just looked confused.
“Who?”
“Noteworthy. Blue stallion, likes to play the piano? Nevermind, I gotta go. You six, erm, five, have fun.”
-||-||-||-||-||-
Making my way through the streets I couldn’t help but marvel at how clean Little America was. Especially when compared to what we did to the Everfree after a mere four months of residing within. The air itself seemed scrubbed clean of impurities save for the smell of smoke from the occasional barbeque and recently cut grass. The skies were clearing from the day’s rain; pegasi pushing back small white clouds. Leftovers of the larger gray ones that watered the town. The occasional puddle the only other evidence it rained recently, the air surprisingly dry as evaporation wasn’t a natural process here. An apparent remnant from Discord’s centuries long reign.
I almost made it to New Canterlot Castle when Technia pulled a Pinkie Pie and appeared right in front of my face, nearly a quarter of which was made of smile.
“Dude! Soulless! You won’t believe what I made today!”
“A Particle Accelerator?”
“Nope, guess again.”
“A coltfriend?”
“Eew, no. Still technically a lesbian, or “Fillyfooler”, or whatever. No, c’mon. Guess.”
“I don’t know, I give up. What’d you make?”
Like a magician’s assistant she waved over to a previously unseen bit of cloth covering… something. “It’s a Tridoron!” and she pulled the cloth to reveal a steel grey car of some sort. Though it looked like the most cumbersome thing I’ve ever seen.
“The hay is a Try-der-on? And if you say it’s a car, I should inform you that you’ve already made like, thirty of those. And they’re better.”
“Hmmph. You’ve got no taste, Soulless. This isn’t just any car, it’s a car that can transform!”
“Autobot or Decepticon?” I ask wearily.
“Neither!” She shouts, an eyelid twitching. Clearly she’s not happy with my ignorance. “It can turn into two other things, not one. It’s from Kamen Rider Drive!”
“And that is…?”
“It’s a Japanese TV show. Think of it like… like Power Rangers meets Knight Rider. Only it’s the guys belt that does the talking.”
“That sounds really stupid.”
“It’s not!” Technia fumed, visibly turning red.
“Okay, okay. Sheesh. Besides, I thought you weren’t gonna try fictional machines. Something about a coma?”
“Yeah, well, I couldn’t help it. Pinkie let me use her internet and I was just reminded of so many things that I was like, fuck it, if I end up in a coma at least I tried.”
“What if you died?”
“I didn’t, did I?”
“Damn it, Technia, you can’t just risk your life over something stupid. I mean, look at this. Would you really want this..” I wave to the machine “to be the last thing you’ve done on this Earth?”
“A couple of points, Soulless. One, what I risk my life over is none of your fucking business. Two, the hay it does it matter what the last thing I do is? At this point I am like Equestria’s Leonardo Da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, and Nikola motherfuckin’ Tesla three times over. I’ve likely made as much impact on this world’s history as Princess Twilight Sparkle. Maybe even more, not that I care. And three, fuck you Soulless. I wanted to show you something that I was proud of. An achievement that up until a scant few hours ago I thought was impossible due to the imaginary nature of the components and mechanisms that I usually see in hard, solid detail when I do my usual stuff. And I have to catch this shit from you? You should change your name. Get a title to go with it. Soulless doesn’t do you justice. Later, Captain Buzzkill.”
It’s been a while since I’ve fucked up this bad and I can’t muster the neural power to formulate a response. Even if I could I doubt I could work the jaw to close, let alone speak. I guess she got tired of waiting for a response, that or my perception of time was slowed and she turned and left immediatley. I’m fairly certain I hear her mutter “Fucker.” as she made her way to her car. Which I still thinks looks goofy. But I think I should keep that to myself from now on.
“S-sorry, I-” I say to the sound of receding engine and a dust cloud that marked where she once was. Good thing, too. I feel I’m gonna need more time to formulate a more genuine apology.
-||-||-||-||-||-
Twenty minutes later and I was fuming as I ascended the comically long stairs to the Castle proper, muttering all the while. “Excuse me for being worried about your safety. Ungrateful little….. fuckin’... damnit Soulless, why couldn’t you have just lied to her and said you approved? I mean, fictional machines… that’s gonna open just about every door ever. Aw, Luna damn it. Now she can make Galactica ships and freaking orbital cannons. And I pissed her off. Stupid stupid stupid.”
My wings twitched behind me, subconsciously trying to wrap around me to hide my shame. My new biology is weird. My wings are like, “Hey, I know you’re feeling embarrassed, so how about we blind you so you walk into walls and fall down stairs? That’ll make you feel better.” With a thought I forced them to remain behind me and compressed so I can walk through the entrance of the castle. As I made my way to Luna's quarters I began to hear arguing. It grew louder as I got closer. Eventually I could make out words. It sounded like Twilight Sparkle and Pascal were at each other's throats. Again.
"You're the pretty pony unicorn princess with super magic. If you can lay a beat down on that ugly-ass centaur I think you can manage to help me take off this freaking mask!"
"I've already told you. The magic that cast this curse upon you is far more potent than I am currently capable of. Even with the added magic of all life on this planet I would have a hard time removing your curse. Also, I'm an alicorn now."
"Who the fuck cares about what kind of pansy ass horse you are? And I didn't say shit about the curse, I just want to see another color other than green! I want to breathe unfiltered air! I want to shower! MAKE ME NORMAL YOU PURPLESMART CUNT!"
"Hey, Pascal, Dude. Calm down. That's what she's saying. She can't. Whoever, or whatever, did this to us, she can't undo it. It's why you're stuck wearing that mask. Why we're all stuck the way we are." I said, walking though the portal of Luna's chambers.
"Easy for you to say. You're vision is improved. And you can fly. And shower."
"Yeah, okay, I do have it easier. Sure, direct sunlight burns my retinas and I have to sleep upside down. Sure my new blush has sent me down a few staircases and made me vow never to visit the Crystal Empire ever again, but yeah. You're right, I do have it easier. But does my relative ease at life suddenly invalidate what Twilight is saying?"
"Ha see I-" Pascal stops celebrating for a moment to process my words. "Okay," he deflates. "I just, I want to go home. This was fun for a while but I'm not feeling it anymore."
"If you truly feel that way, young human, you may take time off today's activities."
"I meant Earth you stupid--- nevermind. I'll take you up on that offer. Good Eve, Luna" he said with a short bow to Luna. Turning away he silently, and depressingly, left the room. It felt weird to see Pascal that way. Dude was kind of like Pinkie. If Pinkie was a sociopath. A lot like when Pinkie leaves a room the silence nearly became a physical thing.
"So. That happened. Off to the forest?"
"Off to the Forest."
-||-||-||-||-||-
Location Unknown April 6th, 2015CE 21:38
If you could see it. You would be impressed. Immensely so. But chances are the builders didn't want you to see it. So even though it was about a mile long you wouldn't see it if you were standing on it. All you'd see is undisturbed forest. But if the creators tired of being amused by you walking through them and their stuff like an ignorant ghost, avoiding invisible trees that have long since been cut down, and deigned to give you the sight they see, you would be presented with something utterly foreign to the planet you're standing on. An expanse of trodden earth and asphalt. Upon it vehicles and buildings of varying types. Strange bipedal creatures walking, running, marching through it all. The sounds that you couldn't hear moments before would overwhelm. Engines and orders and chanting. But, if you were unlucky enough to have been a pony, the next sight would make your heart sink.
The reason that they let you see. The reason that they let the others see. To use the horn on your head to make sure no pony else does. That no pony else will ever find you. The only other ponies who will sympathize with you are the other collared, emaciated unicorns. But they'll do nothing as the gleeful creature in tattered furs in front of you laughs sadistically and snaps the collar around your neck. They'll watch with sympathy or dead eyes while he leads you to your new position.
You knew you should've ignored that human and stayed home.
