With the help of the Switch, An inter dimensional superhero - Princess Luna has the chance to become a mother
Ever since her return from the millennial banishment, Luna is settling back into her duties as princess of the night. Things appear well at first, but eventually her heart starts to weigh heavy for one simple reason...
Motherhood, Something Luna always envied in her subjects and a joy that is seemingly destined to go un-granted. With having children naturally being an impossibility and the adoption of fouls forbidden to royalty by law. Luna starts to loose hope.
Everything changes when Equestria is visited by the Switch, a superhero with the ability to travel in-between universes. Not only will he show the ponies of Equestria just what humans are capable of... he may finally be the one with an answer to Luna's problem.
The Raising is the First in a hopefully several story saga and I would appreciate your feedback with this one. This story is a healthy mix of serious plot lines and comedic scenarios and I hope you Enjoy!!
Also If someone would like to design a cover art for me I would very much appreciate it!
I feel that this story is for everyone but I have rated it Teen due to violence, swearing and narcotic use.... But with the stuff my generation watches it should hardly matter!! XD
It was the middle of day time on a Friday afternoon, and within the land of Equestria all was well. The Sun blazed with its comforting light, the birds and animals chirped and scurried around their woodland homes and the Ponies that made up the populace hurried around with varying degrees of urgency to complete their daily tasks.
It was. In a word. Perfect.
And the ponies loved it that way.
The city that practically buzzed with such activity was the Equestrian capital of Canterlot, the hustle and bustle of the capital practically filled the air with a lively buzz as worker ponies carried out their jobs, a sharp snobbish edge coating this buzz as the nobles of the Canterlot elite chatted to themselves about their own worries and troubles, not sparing any thought towards the working class that were obviously beneath them.
Whilst the shining city of white cut stone and gilded rooftops was a bastion of culture and wealth, It was dwarfed by a gargantuan building that rested at the highest tier of Canterlot. That structure was a castle, one straight out of a fairy tale with high, circular walls and towering spires built of solid white marble with inlaid gold. The entire structure radiated power and wealth, mixed with no small amount of beauty with its surrounding gardens and decorations. The many windows dotting the exterior showing many prominent historical events in beautiful stained glass mosaics.
It was in this castle, more accurately in one of the spires protruding from it, that a pony sat. Within her chambers and by herself, this pony was sat on top of a large, luxurious cushion and occasionally sipped at a small cup of coffee. She was staring out of one of her many windows at the sprawling city below her.
The pony in question possessed many things that set her apart from the others of her race. Firstly, she possessed a pristine coat of Azure blue that complimented nicely with her flowing mane and tail, both darker in shade and covered in star like twinkling lights, flowing in a non existent wind. She possessed a pair of large, majestic wings that matched her coat and a tapering horn that protruded from her forehead, whereas almost all other ponies only possessed one... or neither. Finally, On her flank was an image, one that showed a crescent moon amidst a starry sky... one that showed her sovereignty over it and her penchant for shifting it across the sky twice a day.
She was Princess Luna, Ruler of the night and guardian of dreams.
Luna's large magical capabilities allowed her to focus her vision, effectively honing her eyesight like a telescope until she could pick up minute details of her city as it lived its life. She saw Earth ponies, proud and strong, hauling wagons of goods or working on construction projects to ensure that industry continued. She saw Pegasi soaring through the sky lanes above Canterlot, running errands or delivering packages to ensure communication was efficient. Then she saw the unicorns, using their natural abilities to perform feats of magical prowess for the betterment or entertainment of their kind.
Harmony was, at the very least, present at the visible level.
However, the monarch's attention wasn't focused on her city, amazing as it was... it was focused on one of the many parks dotted around Canterlot. Within the park itself was a small family, composed of a three ponies. A unicorn mother, a pegasi father and a tiny little unicorn filly.
Luna found herself smiling as she witnessed the father chasing the daughter around, making fake and playful snarls and growls that couldn't be heard from where Luna was watching. His daughter screamed and laughed wildly as she bolted towards the safety of her mother's arms, who had a book held in her hooves but gladly relinquished it in order to provide safe haven for her daughter. The father joined in the spontaneous hug and nuzzled his wife and daughter, his wife nuzzling back before they both turned their loving gazes to their child...
The scene of familial bliss would have caused anyone to croon in happiness, but Luna looked upon the scene and found she felt the opposite. The sight of a mother gazing at her child with love in her eyes only inspired sadness in the monarch... a cold, dulling feeling that forced a heavy sight from Luna's lips. the more she watched the worse the feeling was, until she found herself fighting back a tear that threatened to escape from her eye.
However, her gloomy pondering was interrupted by a knocking on the ornate doors of her chambers. She cleared her throat before answering in her practised regal voice.
"Enter"
The door lightly opened and a stallion trotted inside, sporting a styled mane and wearing a black suit, he bowed to Luna.
"Forgive the intrusion, your Majesty, But your sister requests your presence in her throne room"
"Very well. Thank you, Courteous, I shall be along shortly"
"Very good, your Majesty"
Courteous left the room with a bow and left Luna to herself. With one last glance to the city and the families within it, Luna emptied her cup of coffee and prepared a teleportation spell. Shortly thereafter disappearing in a flash of blue light.
*************
The first thing Luna noticed when she arrived in her sister's throne room was the table set out before her, she then noticed the large amounts of food laid across it, then that many of these dishes where her favourites. The last thing she noticed was the only other pony present in the room, this one also possessed a large set of wings and a horn. This pony, however, was slightly taller than Luna and practically glowed with a shimmering coat of pearlescent white, complimented by a similar waving mane that flowed with hues of blue, pink and green. reminiscent of a morning, on her flank was the image of a fiery radial sun.
This was Celestia, Sovereign ruler of the Day and eldest princess of Equestria
"Ah!" she cried as she practically leapt out of her seat to trot over to her sister, exchanging a nuzzle with the smaller princess
"Good morning, Lulu!" she said
"Morning, Tia" Luna replied, her voice subdued as she suppressed a yawn. It had been a long night and the coffee hadn't done it's job.
"Apologies for keeping you up, Luna, but I just couldn't let you sleep today away considering how important it is! Now come and have some breakfast"
Luna allowed herself to be guided to the table where she took a seat next to her sister, helping herself to some cherry jam on toast with another cup of strong coffee.
"So, Luna, you know what today is?" Celestia's smile hadn't faded and to a tired and slightly brooding Luna, it was beginning to become rather irksome.
"Friday?" she answered blandly, taking the edge off of Celestia's smile.
"No, Lulu, guess again?"
"The day you start a diet of only three cakes a day?"
"No..."
Luna raised her hooves to rub at her tired eyes
"I don't know, Tia, what-"
"Today marks an entire year since you returned to me! To Equestria!"
Now that gave Luna pause, whilst the memories of the atrocities she committed as the villainous nightmare moon where still very fresh and haunting along with the cold loneliness of her thousand year banishment. Her liberation and reformation at the hands of the Mane six had allowed her to put that behind her, still, it took devoting herself solely to her duties as princess of the night to cope with the shame and grief her actions caused. But a year?
It was true what the modern phrase said about time flying...
"A year? To be honest I had forgotten..." she replied dismissively with a shrug and this was enough to reduce Celestia's smile into a frown
"Forgotten? The anniversary of your return to the throne is no small thing, dear, I would think this would be important to you"
"It is! I... I've just been... preoccupied lately" it was this reply that made Celestia look at her little sister with concern, reaching across the table to caress a hoof with her own.
"With what, Lulu, is something wrong?"
"Its nothing, Tia..." Luna trailed off, not wanting to burden her sister.
"Luna please!" Celestia's voice suddenly became firm, her eyes glinted with determination "...I made the mistake of not listening once and It almost cost me everything I have. If something is weighing heavily on you, I'd like you to tell me"
Staring into her sister's eyes was all it took for Luna to relent and after a heavy sigh, she continued.
"Do you ever think that we've missed out? That even with all of our power and influence, we've missed out on some of Life's simplest pleasure's?"
"I'm not sure I understand, dear?"
"Motherhood, Tia"
The word silenced her sister and the room became quiet, Luna could see Celestia thinking about her response and it was several seconds until she replied.
"You remember the... conditions surrounding Alicorns and giving birth, don't you Luna?"
"I do..."
"Then you also understand that the chance of either of us conceiving a child is practically impossible"
"Yes, I do, Sister" Luna found the sadness filling her again as she was reminded of her personal realities and her heart grew heavy, Tia sensed this. "... However, I still find myself filled with a feeling of longing, of jealousy when I see a mother with her foal... I want that, Tia, more than anything! I want to feel the joy of being a mother, to hug my child when they're scared, to comfort them when they're sad, to smile when they're happy. I want to feel the pride at seeing them grow up to become a great leader. To watch them fall in love and get married, to have children of their own to love. I want the chance every other mare gets!"
Celestia suddenly closed the distance between them, circling around the table to bring Luna into a comforting hug. "I understand, Lulu, and I'm sorry but the most cruel fact of life is that some things just aren't meant to be...."
"But there are other way's, Tia!" Luna's tone became pleading and desperate as she looked into Tia's eyes, who responded with a hardened look, one made with the intention to refute a lost cause.
"You know the Tenants, Lulu, Princesses aren't aloud to adopt ponies and you know the reasons why!"
Luna wanted to argue, to demand an exception to the laws. She was an Alicorn! Immortal and all powerful! The laws of this land bent to her will, not the other way around! Celestia sensed the growing feelings of conflict and anger within her sister and quickly looked into her eyes.
"You may have think I've forgotten, Lulu, but I haven't... These feelings, these maternal desires where what drove you down that dark path over a thousand years ago... the grief of childlessness was what started your corruption into nightmare moon!"
Luna saw the tears gathering in her sister's eyes and it instantly caused her own eyes to water.
"Please, Luna, don't let that mare take you from me again! Don't let these feelings distract you from the good you are doing for Our little ponies!"
Luna felt the love and the pleading pour from the words, coupled with the anguish she felt herself... she did the only thing she could.
She cried.
Luna was reduced to sobbing as all the frustration and pain she had accumulated over the past few months came pouring out the surface. She couldn't argue with her sister... some things just weren't meant to be, and as much as that broke her heart she couldn't allow it to turn her against the subjects that had only just accepted her back into their lives.
When her sobs had reduced to sniffles, Celestia looked at Luna with a loving smile.
"Do you feel better?" she said as she wiped away a tear with a wing tip
"A little..." Luna gave a small smile with her reply.
"Good... I know how much these means to you, Luna and you should know that as princesses, we should not only be there for one, but for all our little ponies... we protect them, nurture their spirits and encourage them to live full and happy lives. They can find comfort and love with us, Luna, and if that doesn't describe a mother, I don't know what does"
Luna smiled at that, finding comfort in those words.
"Thank you, Tia... as usual you know what to say to make me feel better"
"It comes with age, Lulu, but please. Enough of these sad subjects... today is one of celebration! Let's have some breakfast and discuss the day ahead of us!"
"Very well"
The sisters resumed their meal, eating their fill of toasts, jams and cereals. Chatting amongst themselves about their respective duties, Celestia spoke of her recent diplomatic talks with the Lord chancellor of the Griffon territories to the east and his insistence on a personal visit to Canterlot, each letter accompanied by roses and flattering words that spoke greatly of his intentions... not reciprocated of course... Whereas Luna casually chatted about her time within the dreamscape, more accurately about a rather amusing venture in which a small colt cried out for help in battling an evil witch and her pet green monster... which was then revealed to be his mother at mealtimes, the horrifying monster was the dreaded broccoli which she insisting on making him eat. which the two then defeated using armour and weapons made of pots and cutlery.
Food eaten and royal stomachs filled, Celestia set about telling Luna about the day she had planned,
"You're going to love it, dear! The element bearers have been invited and they should be here any minute now! when they arrive we have a small party set up in the gardens; tea, cakes and scones with a quartet and even a firework display! Then we'll have a tour of the city so you can talk with our little ponies. Then we have a VIP booking at the new high class ice cream parlour in the city... and to round it all up, Twilight has asked if you'll attend Ponyville for your first nightmare night celebration!"
Luna giggled at her sister's enthusiasm and nodded, finding the day her sister had planned for her very appealing... especially the ice cream... Luna loved ice cream.
It was then that the doors where opened and one of the butlers totted in with head held high, he bowed to the Princesses before continuing.
"Excuse the interruption, your majesties, but the Element bearers have arrived at the palace"
"Alright, show them in please" Celestia replied
"At once, your grace"
As the butler left the room and several maids rushed into the room to clear away the leftover breakfast, Celestia and Luna stood and made their way over to their respective thrones in order to receive their harmonious friends. Once seated, Celestia turned to her sister.
"Remember, Luna, things have a way of working out in the end"
Luna smiled at that and gathered all of her doubts and fears into a sigh, after which she replied quietly,
"I hope you're right, dear sister, I hope you're right..."
When the Princess received the Element Bearers in their throne room, a small group of ponies whose careers, looks and personalities that couldn't be more different, but the same in their unyielding love and friendship for each other and their desire to protect the land and the ponies within it. Preparations where being made to complete Luna's party, a small and private affair that would be held at noon.
It was to be held outside, in a clearing within the majestic gardens of the castle, flanked by beautiful patches of wildflowers that seemed to catch the light of day. Ponies of all types hurried to make the area ready, a marquee had already been set up and filled with tables and cushions to accommodate the famous guests, A quartet was performing a warm up act to get themselves ready for the performance, treats in the form of rare and exquisite cakes, pastries and beverages where being set out. Behind all of this, hidden behind the marquee was a single pony working on the rigging for the fireworks, tying several fuses into the large cylindrical containers that housed the coloured explosives, measuring to ensure the display's timing would be perfect.
Coordinating all of these ponies was a particularly no nonsense mare by the name of Check list, light brown in colour with a stylish blonde mane, the mark on her flank was, unsurprisingly, a check list.
"Orderly!" she cried out at a random stallion that walked past "Is the guard presence on the way?"
"Yes, Miss Check list, they will be here shortly"
"Good, carry on. Water lily, is the royal bouquet ready yet?"
"Almost, Miss Check list, we're just putting together the finishing touches"
"Quickly, if you please, my dear, we don't have a lot of time. Tea Leaves!"
"Yes, Miss Check list?"
"Remember to place the blueberry tea at the front! This gathering is for Luna after all"
"Of course, Miss"
With the final command issued and her meticulous eye failing to find anything significant, Check list allowed herself to relax. Another job well done, she could treat herself afterwards, that was for sure. Maybe a trip to the sweet shop? or Donut Joes? or maybe even-
"What is that?"
It was Tea leaves that asked and everypony within earshot turned to him, he had his head slightly cocked and one ear was swivelling in the air, Check list raised her own and listened for this mysterious sound. For a few seconds she heard nothing except for the usual sounds associated with the castle at day time.
Then she heard it.
It was a low buzzing sound, like a bee hive but almost silent. normally she would pay this no mind but the sound seemed to be coming from thin air in the middle of the space set aside for the party. Casting an uneasy glance to Water lily, who only shrugged in reply, she made a step towards the sound.
Slowly but surely, the buzzing rose in volume and pitch until it was easily audible and more ponies where noticing it. Suddenly, there was a spark, or something similar as a small flash of yellow light appeared from nowhere. The ponies watching it gasped in shock and froze in place... staying still when another flash lit up, then another and another until the flashes expanded. Rippling and growing into a column of seemingly yellow lightning, contained within an almost immediate area.
"Should we get the guards, Miss Check list?" Water Lily said murmured.
"Yes. They should be here by now, Go and see what's taking them so long!"
Before Water lily could even move, the arching yellow lights vanished, taking the sound with them so suddenly it would have seemed like nothing had even happened. Or at least it would have, if there wasn't something left behind in the same space as the light. Whatever it was, it caused Check list's breath to catch and her blood to run as cold as ice.
*******
The young man materialised into the universe the same way he always did, knelt down on one knee with his fists pressed into the floor. The conversion process from pure energy to a physical form always took the wind out of him but by now he was used to the process so it passed quickly.
He stood up fully, being rewarding with a series of pops within his joints that drove the remaining weariness away. His recent entry to reality had left his senses dulled and his perception narrowed so he didn't sense the movement of the ponies behind him running for any spot of cover. He did, however, notice the white stone curtain wall on the other side of the magnificent gardens.
"Woah!" he cried as he spun to survey the castle behind him, gaping up at the high gilded towers and exquisite windows. "Look at this place, Jeeves! Its amazing!"
"Indeed it is, Master Switch, a truly awe inspiring building to be sure!" came a voice belonging to an eighteen century butler, only audible to the Switch.
"Well its reminiscent of medieval architecture... This is definitely better than barren wastelands or a Scorgon den... I wonder who built it?"
"Obviously people of refined taste, sir, judging by the gathering they had planned"
"Obviously! Look at this, pastries and teas and oh! Little chocolates!"
"Bio-signatures detected, sir!"
"Where?"
In Switch's field of vision, a small patch of marquee's cloth wall was highlighted in red, indicating the signs of life behind it. Not being new to this kind of introduction and knowing how intimidating it could be to literally appear out of this air, Switch slowly made his way to the open side of the large tent.
Stepping around the corner with his posture relaxed and his hands raised, Switch found himself stunned as he gazed into the eyes of the people responsible for the world around him, after several seconds of stunned silence he responded using the only word his brain would allow him to say.
"Ponies?!"
The ponies, namely Water lily, responded in turn with the only words her brain would allow her to say.
"The Monster found us!! RUN!!"
It was the only encouragement the terrified equines needed and each of them took off in their own direction, screaming at the top of their lungs as they did. Switch's eyes went half lidded and his expression went deadpanned.
"'Yes! look! Its a monster... run!'" he imitated flatly as he began to stride through the throng of panicking ponies "'Raaarr', he's come to take our children and livestock, hide the jewels and precious metals'"
"He's so hideous!" one of the passing ponies yelled, which caused Switch to frown
"Now that's just hurtful! You know what, I'm taking a treat for that!" he cried as he snatched a pastry from the table and waved it at the retreating back of the stallion.
"Well, sir, this introduction is certainly not going as well as I hoped" Jeeves said into Switch's ear.
"Yeah, I think i'll take that Scorgon den now..."
By now most of the Ponies had managed to run away from the monstrous invader, all except one... one who had just received a very big dose of adrenaline and courage. One who decided that he would fight this vile creature for the sake of his home and everypony in it.
One that knew an great deal about pyrotechnics.
Firecracker was his name, and he was currently hoisting the largest rocket he could find from the pile he had brought to the lunch, the pony's in charge had told him he couldn't use it! Told him it wasn't safe! Well, he'd show them when he saved everypony! Amidst the chaos he had dug the firework into the ground, and was currently aiming it at the monsters face. It lit and Firecracker's face split into an insane smile.
"Hey, Monster!" he yelled, causing Switch to turn around with a mouth full of pastry, he barely managed to before the firework screamed and launched straight at him. Switch threw himself downwards into a crouch that took him clear of the Firework's path.
"Are you fucking crazy?!" he yelled at Firecracker who, upon realising his plan of monster slaying had failed and who also realised he had just used his only weapon, ran away screaming.
Switch shook his head and turned... just in time to see the firework soar towards the side of the castle, it hit a spot in between two of the many windows and exploded in a fantastic display of colours and smoke intermingled with brick and mortar.
Switch looked at the raining chunks of stone and sighed.
"Ah shit..."
*******
Two minutes earlier
"I'm so glad your willing to come to ponyville for your first nightmare night, Princess!" Twilight sparkle, a purple unicorn with a lavender mane whispered with excitement.
"As am I, Twilight, I must admit that I am rather looking forward to tonight's festivities... but why are we whispering?"
"Because the girls don't know you're visiting yet, I want it to be a surprise"
"I am not sure that is a good Idea, Twilight, I think the other element bearers are still afraid of me. I would hate to scare anypony"
"Maybe they are... slightly.. uncomfortable. But what better way to fix that than a night of fun and games!"
"Well... alright, I just hope the citizens of Ponyville do not object to my presence"
"They're going to love you, Princess, I promise you're going to have so much fun tonight"
Luna nodded at that, assured by the words of her sister's student and she turned her gaze to the rest of the element bearers walking a short ways ahead with Celestia, with a motion of the head to Twilight, Luna closed the distance between them.
"Well, I'm glad that business with the Canterlot elite is going so well, But I must warn you to watch yourself, Rarity, unfortunately the members of the upper class can be rather... unpleasant with ponies they deem beneath them" Celestia said to the bearer of generosity, a white unicorn with a stylish purple mane.
"I understand, your majesty, and fear not! I will be resolute in any dealings with them" Rarity answered in a rather well spoken voice.
"I'm glad, I just wish I didn't have to make such warnings about my little ponies"
"Well. Not everyone can be as awesome as us, Princess!" A cyan pegasus with a chromatic mane shouted as she leapt into the air with a dramatic pose
"Not, I suppose not, Rainbow dash" Luna replied with a small chuckle as she joined in the conversation, Rainbow dash giggled back although it was obviously nervous.
"I am so Super Duper excited for this lunch party!!" Pinkie, an all pink earth pony with a permanent smile and a mane reminiscent of bubblegum, yelled as she hopped and danced around the place
"Its not a 'party', Pinkie darling, Its just a quiet luncheon between friends!"
"Any gathering with friends and food is a party, Rarity! and before nightmare night too! this is gonna be the best day ev-"
Pinkie didn't get to finish her rambunctious statement as suddenly the left wall of the corridor they where walking down was ripped apart in a spectral explosion. Nopony was ready for it and was therefore flung against the opposite wall, each of them collapsing to the ground with the wind knocked out of them and a piercing ringing in their ears, even the Princesses, with their godly powers found themselves stunned and breathless.
Each of the mares struggled to get to their hooves and peer through the smoke, even worse was the cracks that had spread from either side of the hole across the corridor. Rarity tried to shout to her friends as she struggled to stand up, she could make out the slightly coloured shapes of them through the chocking mist, she put a tentative hoof forward.
It was then that the floor decided it wanted to collapse...
With the roar of breaking stone, the floor listed lethally towards the gap in the wall with enough force to throw Rarity towards it. She screamed as her back hooves skidded across the tiled floor and out of the hole. A glance was all she had before she fell out of it completely, and in that glance she saw the others in relative safety away from the collapsing floor, she heard Rainbow dash yell her name and try to dive and catch her despite one of her wings being bloodied.
The only thing Rarity felt was the feeling of weightlessness as she began to plummet several stories past the many windows that the castle contained, she found herself to shocked to scream as the unforgiving ground rushed up to meet her. Only able to make strangled gasps, Rarity closed her eyes... and prepared to die...
But that death would have to wait as Rarity suddenly felt her deathly descent reversed, she felt the breath being knocked out of her lungs as somepony tackled her in mid air, carrying them backwards. That same pony wrapped his body around her and took the impact as they crashed to the floor, his broad fore hooves kept her still as inertia caused them to roll and bounce several times, Rarity hardly felt anything as this mystery pony took the punishment for her.
They eventually rolled to a stop and Rarity allowed herself to breathe again, her mind racing at a mile a minute she cracked open her eyes to find the world obscured by the fore hooves of her saviour.
"You saved my life..." she whimpered more to herself than him. The stallion only replied with a groan of pain as he unfurled himself from around her.
"I... I don't know what-"
Rarity froze when she saw Switch with a grimace on his face, immediately she forgot that this creature had saved her life and her instincts screamed at her to run, to get away from this alien thing. Her thoughts where cut off when the thing's yellow glowing eyes seemed to widen, he suddenly threw his arms up to roughly shove her to the side, launching her several feet to the left of him. Gasping in shock as she landed on her side, Rarity was about to berate him for his uncouth behaviour, monster or not! when there was a sudden stony crash, a pile of stone and mortar that had come loose from the gap in the wall above them came tumbling down with increasing velocity as gravity snatched hold of them.
Again, Rarity found herself speechless as sight of the mystery creature that had come to her rescue was replaced by a pile of rubble, unable to do anything except stare at it.
"Rarity!" Came a voice from behind her and she turned just in time for Twilight to throw her forelegs around her.
"Thank the princesses, are you alright!?" she cried with a cracking voice, Rarity brought her own hooves up to return the embrace.
"Yes, Twilight, I'm fine" she murmured, shock was starting to sap her emotions, leaving her tone flat and dull.
By now, either by means of flying or teleportation, the rest of her friends and both the princesses had arrived onto the ground level of the castle.
"Why happened, My little pony? When I heard you fall through that breach, I feared the worst!" Celestia asked
"Somepony caught me... snatched me out of the air..."
"Really?" Luna's eyes widened in surprise and she turned her head to gaze across the area "And where is this rescuer now?"
"He's under there..." Rarity pointed a hoof at the pile of rubble a short way in front of them.
"What!? Come, sister!"
Celestia and Luna wasted no time in using their extensive magical power to start shifting the rubble from the pile, the gravel shifted in piles and the largest boulders moved one at a time. It wasn't long before the concern on the Princesses' faces was replaced with confusion as a very non pony like hand was revealed, then a foot, then the semi metallic face.
Noticing that it was unconscious and had a rather nasty looking gash running across the side of its head. Celestia's natural maternal instincts replaced some of the wary confusion. She wrapped her magic around the mysterious creature and gently pulled it from the rubble, where it hung limply in the air surrounded by a golden aura.
Nopony had the willpower to break through their shock and silence descended over the garden... or at least it did until a very loud and tomboyish voice cut through the quiet.
"What is the damage, Captain Armour?" Celestia inquired over her ornate desk to the guardspony sat on the opposite side of it. He was a stallion, white in coat and two toned blue in mane and tail. He was sat proudly and with authority, clad in a suit of master crafted armour.
"Rather minimal, Princess, the hole in the fifth floor corridor's wall is already being repaired and should be done by nightfall" he replied, levitating a clipboard with a progress sheet attached to it.
"Very good, the damage was done by one of the Fireworks, yes?"
"Yes, Princess, apparently one that the guards forbade from being brought onto palace grounds"
"Apparently somepony decided not to listen... What of the ponies working in the garden at the time?"
"We tracked them down and they're all alright, but they're refusing to come back to the castle, Whatever you pulled from that pile of rubble scared the tartarus out of them"
"Understandable, if there is one thing ponies are afraid of, it is things they do not know"
"Indeed, Princess, and how is our... mystery guest?"
"I have a doctor tending to his head wound as we speak, he'll be left under guard supervision and I will talk to him when he wakes"
Shining Armour snorted slightly with a mixture of anger and concern "Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know what that thing is, let alone what it can do. I don't like the idea of you being in a room alone with it"
"I will not be alone, I will take my sister and the other element bearers to talk with him"
"Him, Princess?"
"I may not know anything about what he is, Captain, but I recognise a male when I see one"
"Very well, But still, we don't know anything-"
"Exactly, Shining Armour!" Princess Celestia demonstrated her remarkable ability to sound like a pony's scolding mother and it caused her Captain's ears to flatten against his head, she pressed on regardless "We don't know anything about him, all we do know is that he caused no harm to the ponies that ran from him and he saved Dame Rarity's life! We will not assume him to be a monster until he gives us a reason to, do you understand!?"
Captain Armour's military training kicked in, he subconsciously straightened to attention in his seat, "Yes, Princess Celestia!" he barked out
"Good, you are dismissed, Captain"
Captain Armour winced, but stood regardless and with a bow he took his leave. Princess Celestia looked up from the paperwork she was examining and sighed, remembering she had things to do before the guest inevitably awoke.
With a flash of golden light, Princess Celestia disappeared from the office and appeared in the castle armoury. A mix between a store room for the spare weapons and armour of the royal guard and a smithy for crafting more, the only pony in the space was a gruff looking earth pony stallion, one with his facial fur grown into a burly brown beard that matched his coat, A black blacksmiths apron was tied around his barrel. His eyes widened when he saw the princess approaching and he dropped to a bow.
"Princess Celestia, you humble this mere smith with your presence" He said in a deep, booming voice.
"Rise, my little pony, and please tell me what you have discovered"
The stallion quickly rose to his feet and turned to regard a piece of light grey armour lay on a nearby table, it had been pulled from the mystery thing's forearm with no small amount of effort and coercion using a pair of tongs, ordered to be examined by Princess Luna after noticing its unusual nature.
"Well... All I can gather about this stuff is that it's some kind of body armour, Princess"
"I had already gathered that, Iron Hammer, can you tell me anything else? What is it made of?"
"I have no Idea, your Majesty, Honestly I've never seen anything like it! Its strong, stronger than metal without being made of it! It's lighter than it has any right to be and so malleable it can bend to the touch. In short, I get the impression that not a lot of things could hurt somepony clad in a suit of it"
Celestia frowned as she regarded the tough piece of grey material.
"What about magic? Is it resistant to combat spells?"
"I'm not sure, Princess, Earth ponies such as myself aren't gifted in the art of magics..."
"Alright, stand back"
Without another word, Celestia channelled some of her magic into her horn, the tip of it lighting up slightly as a bolt of concentrated magic shot from it and struck the armour on the table. With a loud aggressive pop, fragments of material scattered everywhere, each glowing hot and matching the red hot hole now present in the armour's surface. It cooled quickly and Iron hammer picked it up to examine it.
"There's a metal mesh underneath the outer coating!" he cried with excitement "The magic burst open the outer layer but couldn't get all the way through... Amazing!"
"Yes, well as fascinating as that is, my little pony, It only leads me to wonder one other thing..."
"What's that, Princess?"
Celestia turned her gaze to the other side of the table, beside the obvious design differences, she could easily guess what it was. A scabbard... one that was strapped across the visitor's back and had also been taken for examination. Celestia warily eyed the handle protruding from one end of it.
"If the armour is this advanced... What are the weapons capable of?"
********
Headaches...
Switch hated headaches...
He had been conscious for several minutes but had kept his eyes shut to stave off the light that was no doubt filling the room. Sunlight was the bane of headaches! The people... or ponies in this case... never considered the adverse affect bright light had on head trauma sufferers. His own personal infirmary back at the base had controllable blinds on the windows. Took him two seconds to think of adding them...
But deciding that complaining inside his head wouldn't help him figure out the situation, Switch cracked open his eyes.
And there it was! The sunlight that stoked the fire in his head to an agonising inferno. Stupid windows... there they where on the opposite side of the room, laughing at his pain! Ignoring the pain as best he could, Switch gazed around the standard looking hospital room he was in, noticing the lack of any usual medical equipment such as ECG's or heart rate monitors. The floor was the usual polished linoleum and the walls where at pale green instead of the all white associated with such places.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Master Switch!" Jeeves called out inside his head
"Good to be back, Jeeves, how long was I out?" Switch replied under his breath to ensure none of the natives could hear him, he didn't want to risk spooking anyone by being the alien being that talked to himself.
"Six hours, thirty three minutes and twelve seconds, sir"
"Well, that's not so bad I suppose. Who put me in here?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but usual unconscious surveillance was suspended to repair damage done to your mask"
"Damage?"
"Some of the circuitry was knocked loose when you where almost buried alive, sir"
"Ah... then we're all fixed?"
"Indeed, sir!"
"Then lets have a full systems and H.U.D start up"
"At once, sir"
Immediately, Switch's entire field of view was lit up with dozens of digital markers. Each of them having a specific diagnostic or statistical purpose. Items within the room where systematically scanned and labelled, the armour's internal systems where turned on one at a time. When each of the digital subsystems within the mask had been initialised, Switch was left with a compass running along the bottom of his vision, medical information such as heart rate and blood toxicity was in a box to the upper left and different ammo counts for his inbuilt weapons running down the right.
Turning his head to the left, Switch noticed a pitcher of water with an empty glass next to it. Smacking his dry lips, he reached for it. There was a sudden metallic thunk as his hand was suddenly stopped by a very clunky and rudimentary looking handcuff.
"Well... it seems that the people didn't take so kindly to my timely rescue..." he murmured
"or the subsequent trauma you received as a result " Jeeves added. "But they did leave one of your hands unchained"
"And..." Switch looked down to his hip and with his free hand he removed the pistol he had slotted into a holster attached to it "... They left me my gun!"
"Obviously your captors don't have experience with firearms, sir, or they're just very trusting of prisoners"
The door to the room opened at that point, a pony with features that suggested she was a mare trotted into the room, she was wearing what looked like the equine equivalent of a nurses uniform and was pushing a cart with bandages and boxes of medicine on it... Painkillers... Killing some pain appealed to Switch a great deal. She was humming a jaunty tune to herself, and it continued in blissful ignorance until her and Switch's eyes locked onto one another. The nurse gasped and backed away, spilling medical supplies to the floor as she did.
All it took was Switch inhaling to start assuring her that he meant her no harm for the Nurse to scream and bolt out the room.
"Jesus Christ..." Switch whispered to himself as his head flopped down onto the pillows behind him. Two more ponies suddenly burst through the door, these ones where matching in height, stature and colour. Both outfitted with a long spear and a suit of golden armour. These same spears where levelled at Switch.
"Stay! Still!" "Don't! Move!"
The words where shouted at Switch with such slowness and with such emphasis on every syllable, it only lead to one conclusion.
"It appears the first group of ponies didn't inform them you speak the same language, sir" Jeeves said.
Lowering his hands slowly to his side, Switch used a tech-pad located on his non pistol hip to type out a silent message to Jeeves.
"It appears so... Let's keep up the act for now..."
*********
What followed after the shouted orders of the guards was twenty two minutes and thirty six seconds (Jeeves could conjure a clock) of utter, uncomfortable silence. It was weird that they could spend so long without moving or blinking. Switch was quickly considering throwing something at them to see if they would try to dodge it. But experience and common sense told him that such an action would have painful or perhaps lethal consequences. However, the stillness was eventually shattered when the door to the infirmary was opened and eight more of the exceptionally colourful ponies walked through it.
Judging by the fact that two of them were taller than the others and kitted out in shining regalia and crowns, Switch could only guess that the royalty who owned the castle had finally come to see him. He'd be honoured if his visit so far hadn't royally sucked!
Each of the ponies looked him over with mixed visible reactions, one of them with a pink mane and yellow coat looked like she was about to faint. The blue one with a rainbow mane looked like she wanted to kick the shit out of him....
The rest merely looked curious... That was at least something Switch had experience with, this not being the first world he had dropped unannounced into.
The white coloured pony with the weird waving mane and the golden crown stepped forward and cleared her throat, catching Switch's attention.
She reached upwards with a hoof, pressing it against her chest.
"Cel-es-tia"
There was a short silence after that... one in which, once Switch realised what she was doing he quickly found himself employing all of his willpower to avoid bursting into laughter.
"I know you're going to pay along, sir, but I don't think its the best idea..." Jeeves whispered
"Cel-es-tia"
After another second of silence and a blank stare, Switch changed his expression to one of understanding.
"Oooh~!" he called out, nodding as he pointed at her and replied "Celestia!"
Celestia's face split into a grin and she nodded furiously.
"Yes, Celestia!" she cried, then pointed her hoof at him, raising her eyebrow questioningly. Switch raised a hand and pointed a finger at himself.
"Switch!" he replied
"Switch!"
Celestia turned around to the rest of the ponies and they all began to talk amongst themselves again, their conversation was edged with excitement. Switch could hear random words making their way out of the huddle... ones such as 'exciting', 'Scientific' and 'Species'.
He was about to signal to Jeeves to start analysing the conversation when one of the ponies left the huddle, She was the white coated one with a rather stylish purple mane and tail. Switch immediately recognised her as the one he saved from a sudden stop on stone. Her features where hesitant and she gingerly made her way to the side of the bed, unnoticed by the others engrossed in their discussion. Switch turned his attention to her and she nervously shifted before starting.
"You. saved. me" she murmured, indicating herself with a hoof and again enunciating every syllable, Switch frowned when he saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. She smiled and slowly placed a hoof on the side of the bed.
"Thank. you."
"You're welcome"
The pony gasped, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates as she brought a hoof up to her mouth, Switch's friendly smile helping her to keep calm.
"W-what?" she whispered.
"I said, you're welcome, and whilst I hate to change the subject, could I get a glass of water please? My throat is killing me"
"Y-you can talk?"
"Last time I checked, now, I don't like to be a bother... but how about that water?"
The second time was the charm and Rarity shook her head to clear it of her surprise, she poured a glass of water out of the pitcher and levitated it over to him.
"Rarity!" A voice signalled that the group talk was finished and the unicorn turned around to see the eyes of the rest of the group on them, the lavender mare stepped forward. "What are you doing?!"
Rarity looked between her friends and the Switch sipping at the glass. "I'm giving Switch a glass of water, Darling?" she replied as if it was blatantly obvious
"Why?!" the lavender mare cried
"He asked for one!"
It was just then that the Switch finished his drink, emitting a sigh of relief at his soothed throat that was loud enough to attract all the attention in the room.
"She's right, I did" he said.
What followed then could only be described as wordless pandemonium, a series of event that involved plenty of wide eyes, open mouths and shocked glances at others. It was then that the Blue monarch, who Switch guessed was a princess or a queen, stepped forward.
"You speak Equestrian?!" She cried, Switch rolled his eyes but it wasn't visible from behind his mask.
"I speak English, yes" he replied
"Then, why didn't you say anything until now?"
"Do you know what happened the last time I tried speaking to some of your subjects? They ran away screaming, said some very hurtful things, tried to take my head off with a firework and I was subsequently given a premature burial! Gives someone the idea they should keep their mouth shut!"
Understanding and sorrow crossed the faces of everyone in the room, especially the two monarchs, It was the blue mare that spoke again.
"I can only apologise for the actions of my little ponies, they can be rather skittish when it comes to... things they do not understand. But allow me to start afresh, my name is Princess Luna"
As if taking some unspoken queue, each of the ponies introduced themselves. Switch stopped himself from chuckling at some of the names, besides, his was Switch so he hardly had room to judge.
"Look, Its great to meet you all... you seem nice, really!" he said to them "But its hard to mend relations when I find myself your captor"
"You aren't a captor!" Celestia said with a look of alarm
"Oh really?" Switch replied "Well I'm just gonna get a glass of water..."
Inevitably, Switch's arm was restricted as the handcuff went taunt, he put on a look of severe confusion as he looked at it
"Oh! Celestia I don't wanna alarm you but there appears to be something restricting my arm movements! It's the darnedest thing but I'm not sure what's causing it. I mean it can't be this handcuff because I'm not-"
"Alright! You have made your point! I'll fetch a guard to remove the handcuff"
"No, its okay I've got it"
Switch suddenly snapped his fingers and the handcuff dissipated into a small flash of yellow light, it was a split second later when the manacles reappeared onto a nearby table. Silence reigned again but Switch casually sat up straight on the bed.
"Can we go somewhere else to talk? My legs are going numb..."
Tense enough that Switch, who could count himself as one of the most upbeat and overly talkative superheros, was rendered silent as a result of it. All he could do was sit on his cushion and twiddle his thumbs as he tried not to sweat under the unflinching gazes of Celestia and Luna, their earlier friendliness when introducing themselves and apologising for Switch's misfortune had seemingly disappeared and was replaced by a look of wariness, maybe even slight hostility as they glared at him. He couldn't blame them really, After all they had no clue of his abilities other than the one that allowed him to show up in their world, they had no clue what his kind was capable of and they certainly had no clue of how dangerous his weapons where. He knew they had his main weapon somewhere in this castle and where most likely examining it to determine how many lives were at risk by its presence.
It had been rather foolish to uncuff himself in front of them all like that and it had subsequently caused the none royal ponies to be sent away, Switch had then been led a short distance through the castle by the now seemingly angered princesses and a squad of armed guards, to a small sitting room. They sat on cushions across a small coffee table from him and Switch could make out the silhouettes of guards through the frosted glass pane set into the door. On queue, Jeeves performed a bio scan of the area and all of the guards that thought they where hidden by the walls of the room where highlighted with a red outline. Four outside the door and eight hovering outside, just underneath the windows.
However, Switch also reasoned that they wouldn't act unless they where given reason to. He resolved not to do so if he could help it, Besides, he realised with a sinking heart that they where just scared of him, of what he meant....
Everyone was...
*******
Luna took this pause to examine Switch, using her trained eyes to take in his appearance for the first time since she saw him. Her intuition told her that he was a young member of his species, with the taunt skin and energetic stature that came with such an age, His skin was covered up for the most part by his ensemble but his neck and lower face where shown to be peachy, if not slightly tan in colour. His hair was a dirty blonde, looking to be shaved short on the sides and longer on top, the front that would make up his fringe had been stuck up at an angle with what Luna could only guess was a hair product. Then there was the mask, covering the entirety of Switch's upper face, curling around the cheek bones and hiking across the bridge of the nose. It was a slightly lighter shade than the armour and glinted slightly in the light, at four corners of the Mask was a yellow metal tab, each with a matching line running out of it towards the eyes. The eyes where also surreal and Luna could guess that that was even by normal human standards, instead of the natural, blinking variants. Switch's eyes where covered with glass lenses, ones constantly lit up with a bright yellow shine, occasionally the lights would go dark when Switch apparently blinked behind the lenses. Amazingly, the sections of the mask separated by those yellow lines seemed to move and flex with the Switch's expression, enabling him to use body language even with his face obscured.
Now his suit really commanded her attention, she could see the bottom most layer of the outfit was a bright yellow colour, skintight with barely visible hexagons decorating its surface. Covering, or more accurately fastened around the bottom layer at many points was the familiar pieces of matte grey armour and whilst the design was alien, Luna could make out a chest plate, shoulder pads, bracers and greaves, armour covering ever necessary part of the outfit without being cumbersome or compromising movement. Then there was the trench coat, the same light grey as the armour, but interestingly sleeveless and ending just before the knee, it boasted a high backed collar and the lapels seemed to be pinned to the chest plate with shining yellow studs. Finally, to complete Switch's outfit, a chunky utility belt was wrapped around his waist and over his heart was a proud insignia, a yellow 'S' that looked like it had been spray painted onto the triangle that displayed it.
All in all it gave Luna mixed reactions, it looked like he was ready for combat. But was that because he was expecting to be attacked? or because he was expected to do the attacking? Either way, Luna would hear what she had to say. He did save one of her subjects, so she at least owed him that much.
*******
It was not often that Celestia found herself apprehensive, Thousands of long years of life had tempered her resolve to a diamond harness, she had assumed she had seen everything, done everything that could surprise a pony.
She had swam in the fire falls of the ruby islands, she had preened the emerald feathers of the rare Precious Gemwing, drank liquid magic that took five hundred years to distil, fought Discord, Sombra, dragons and demons in battles that should have claimed her life, seen marvellous and brilliant minds live their lives and pass away as she lived on.
But this 'Switch'? This stranger sat across from her and trying his best not to wither nervously under her gaze?
He scared her.
Not just him, but his appearance, his weapons, his abilities. What did they all mean? Where there others like him that could appear in other worlds? Where there more coming and Switch was just the first? A scout in what could be an invasion? Could she and Luna afford to lead her subjects in an all out war with these strange beings?
But Celestia caught herself, remembering the words she had shouted at her captain earlier that day, so far Switch had given her no reason to doubt his intentions weren't good. He had saved a pony's life and was injured as a result, which had to count in his favour at least. 'What if he only did that to gain your trust?' A nagging voice inside her whispered.
Pushing the voice to the back of her mind and deciding that nothing would get resolved without communication, Celestia cleared her throat to get Switch's attention and once she had it she started to talk with him, her voice sounding out with authority and sternness.
"Me and my sister have some questions for you, Switch" She said to him, backed by a resolute nod from her sister.
"I imagined as much, your majesty, ask away!" Switch said with a small smile and a chuckle that quickly died away as the looks from the Princesses didn't change
"What are you?"
The first question filled the space inside the room, it was soaked in curiosity and desperation. And judging from the wide eyes of Luna, both her and Celestia wanted the answer a great deal.
"I'm a Human" Switch replied simply
"Human" Celestia tested the word for the first time in her life, but her scowl deepened slightly "How do we know you aren't lying?"
Switch's expression shifted lightly, almost un-noticeably but Celestia caught it. It was hurt. Switch looked upset by her response and it gave Celestia pause, but he continued before she could dwell on it further
"You don't... but I'm not"
Something within his serious expression, his careful tone of voice as he replied told Celestia that he was telling the truth.
"Very well..." she replied "... how did you arrive here, in equestria?"
"I have the ability to travel between universes, yours is one on them"
"And are there others with this ability? Can we expect other humans to arrive here?"
"No, your Majesty, I'm the only one who can cross inter-universal boundaries"
"And just what are these 'abilities' exactly?"
That was when Switch began to grin, he leaned forward in his chair. slowly as to not alarm the princesses, and raised his hand. when he had it upturned and pointed towards the ceiling he flexed his fingers. Suddenly, bright yellow energy erupted from the palm of his hand, crackling and sparking like lightening except it forked in more angular and rectangular shapes rather than the zigzagging of natural lightening
"I have the ability to absorb and harness Displacement energy"
Celestia looked into this glowing palm of energy. Mystified by the crackling light.
"And what is displacement energy?" she murmured
"It a residual energy byproduct of kinetic energy that's radiated into the air whenever something moves"
Celestia heart quickened with a mix of confusion and disbelief, caused in part by being in a position of complete ignorance to the apparent science this human operated on.
"What are you?!" she almost cried in wonder as she looked up into Switch's eyes "Are you an explorer? A scientist? A soldier?"
"I suppose I'm a mixture of all three... Although the more accurate term I would use is Superhero"
"Your a... superhero?" Luna asked incredulously, tilting an eyebrow as she did "Like the power ponies?"
Switch blinked a few times with a blank expression.
"I don't know who they are"
"They are superhero's... popular in children's fiction"
"Then yes, like the power ponies, except I'm not fictional"
"Alright... before, you mentioned, what was the word, 'Universes'? What are universes?"
"Ah, I thought that you may not know... Well, in basic terms the universe is like a bubble, or a container that contains everything within your reality. In more advanced terms a Universe is all of space, time and the matter within it, which includes planets, moons, minor planets, stars, galaxies. Everything that exists as you know it is held within a vast, expansive space, the boundaries of which can never be measured. That space is a Universe"
There was a pause as the two sisters tried to process the information coming from the human. They of course knew as much about astrology as anypony alive, with Luna arguably the most researched and versed in the subject, having plotted the stars above Equestria herself. But this information, if true, could challenge and even advance everything that pony kind knew about the stars.
"So our world, the sun, the moon, the stars and other planets... all of these are located within one of these universes?" It was Luna that asked and Celestia keenly listened, actually finding herself excited at the prospect of learning more about this Human and where he came from.
"Yes, Princess..." Switch replied warily "... I understand that what I'm telling you may be jarring or confusing, But what I tell you won't change your world in any way. Only your understanding of how certain things work within it"
Another pause, this one in order for the two sisters to take a breath, the words of the Switch doing well to soothe the unease at these new concepts.
"And there are others? More of these 'universes'?" Celestia asked again.
"An infinite amount, each universe located with all the others inside an infinity space known as the Multiverse, universes representing every possibility all located within one larger reality. Many similar, but all of them different in their own way."
"And these universes are... connected in some way?"
"Well... yes and no. Think of the multiverse like a bowl of marbles, with each universe representing a marble within it. they're separate, with their own boundaries and space, but touching slightly on the edges, which enables someone like myself to travel between them."
"Then what made you choose ours?"
Switch sucked air through his teeth, thinking very carefully about his response.
"Well I chose it randomly. However, the truth is whilst I can sense the universes as I travel between them. I can't see the reality inside them and so I have no way of telling what the world I land on will be like"
Luna and Celestia's eyes widened at the answer.
"So you didn't know Equestria or its people where here....?" Luna asked
"... Until I appeared and I crashed your dinner party"
Stunned silence reigned again and Celestia found herself wondering if the rest of the day would be filled with these stunned pauses. However, the thought was quickly replaced with another... one that caused her mouth to slightly curve upwards, then widen into a smile, then let loose a single chuckle which was soon joined by others. Soon enough, Princess Celestia, Diarch of Equestria and ruler of the day, was howling in laughter.
"Sister? What has gotten into you?" Luna said, trying to be stern but slowly being infected by the laughing.
"I apologise, its just the absurdity of it.... Switch appeared in our world and with everything that happened between then and now, he had literally no clue what he was going to find when he arrived. I imagine this was one of the most eventful introductions to a world ever!"
The reply caused Luna to burst into laughter alongside her sister, with Switch quickly joining in. Slowly but surely the aura of unease and mistrust was seeping out of the room. The laughter was cut off abruptly when Celestia noticed something in Switch's smile.
"Wait..." she said quietly, but loud enough to attract the attention of the others.
"What is it?" Switch replied, suddenly looking apprehensive
"Your teeth..." Celestia murmured as she exchanged a troubled glance with her sister.
"Oh?" Switch said as he bared them in a smile, tilting his head slightly as if listening to someone, he ran his tongue above the upper row. His glowing eyes flickered with realisation when it ran over a canine, his eyes seeming to widen in understanding. "Oh!" he cried, looking very sheepish all of a sudden "Of course, ponies are vegetarians!"
"Yes, we are..." Luna replied "... And I am right in assuming you aren't?"
"Well... Human's are omnivorous, we can survive off of both vegetation and... y'know..."
Noticing the increasingly alarmed looks of both the Princesses, Switch quickly put his hands up passively and began to explain himself. "Although, I would like to say that the animals from the other universes I've visited aren't sentient. They are only capable of processing their instincts and don't have the higher brain function that we do, if they did I would never..."
"I... believe I understand..." was Celestia's response with a slight nod, she shook her head to clear her thoughts of the maniacal and gory images she had conjured "...Biology is not the fault of the species, you can not help what your diet allows..."
"Thank you for your understanding, your Majesty"
"Now, I believe I only have one more question. Luna?"
"I have one more myself, for now, Sister"
"Please, ask me anything, Princesses"
It was Luna that asked first.
"Your armour is most peculiar, what is it made from?"
"Well the under layer is made from a Teflon coated anti-slash spandex and the body armour is a titanium tri-weave mesh coated in an acrylic ballistic polymer... the coat is cotton."
Luna opened her mouth to respond, but couldn't when words failed her. A feeling that was very alien to her, but couldn't be helped when she tried to absorb these foreign and unfamiliar words. She settled for an uneasy nod. Finally, it was Celestia's turn to ask, and as she did she lit up her horn and teleported something that was locked within the castle armoury onto the table in front of them. It was the scabbard they had pulled off of Switch's back. Glinting grey metal with decorative yellow sections running down one side, a red oriental style sash tied around the handle.
"This is a weapon, correct?" she said as she motioned to it
"Yes, your majesty" Switch replied
"I have tried to unsheathe it, but I cannot. Is it damaged?"
"No, Princess, its DNA activated"
"DNA...?"
"Its complicated, but basically it means it will only work for me, or people I allow it to work for"
"And why do you carry these weapons? You must realise that this may portray you in an unfavourable light"
"Maybe it does, although as I said I have no clue what I will find in a universe until I appear inside it, unfortunately, not everyone is as reasonable as you two. I promise that these weapons are purely for the defence of myself or others, nothing else"
With the reply of the Switch dying down to silence, Celestia and Luna shared a look in which an unspoken agreement was reached between them. "Alright, please wait here while my sister and I decide what to do" she said, Switch nodded and settled back on the cushion as Celestia and Luna charged their horns. Disappearing in flashes of different coloured light.
*******
The two sisters appeared in Celestia's office, on a set of cushions a small ways away from the ornate desk and the stacks of paperwork on top of it.
"Well... This is a conundrum..." Luna said, chuckling slightly to break the tension. It didn't work as Celestia's face remained pensive.
"Indeed, Sister, It is difficult... have you any thoughts?" she replied, looking out of the window
Luna pursed her lips in thought, secretly grateful and proud that her elder sister was replying on her opinion this much, a stark change to the dark times a thousand years prior.
"Well. I saw no hint of deception in his words, and his actions where very brave and honourable for someone new to our world. He could have let Bearer Rarity fall and still answered our questions in exactly the same way afterwards... he did not need to save her and injure himself as a result. Yet he did"
"What do you mean, Lulu?"
"I mean that it is as if his actions where... instinctual. He did not know how we would react to his presence, in fact, he did judging by the way our subjects at the lunch party acted. One of them tried to injure him with a firework and the rest ran away screaming, yet he still saved one of our little ponies... To me that speaks of somepony that will put others before himself"
Celestia nodded slowly as she took in her sister's words.
"Your words ring true, although we must consider this as rulers... As the protectors of the land and the ponies within it, we must consider any ramifications or consequences of welcoming this human to Equestria. What if this was all an elaborate act to gain our trust? What if we allow him to travel here at his leisure and he somehow brings others back with him? What if those humans aren't as noble as Switch apparently is? Make no mistake that, whilst at its best this could mean a blooming alliance with another species, at worst... It could mean war..."
"It is a possibility, this is true..." Luna replied, keeping her face thoughtful "... Although I do not think it befits us as benevolent and just rulers to assume the worst in somepony without any evidence to the contrary. And we agree that there is none?"
"Yes, we agree"
"Then I suggest that until he proves us otherwise, we give him the benefit of the doubt. It is not like you or I to judge someone that is different, Tia"
Celestia opened her mouth to argue but was quickly silenced by a firm challenging look from her sister, she sighed.
"You are right, Luna..." she said with her eyes lowered, a proud smile graced her face as she looked into Luna's eyes "...When did my baby sister become so wise?"
"I learned from the best" Luna replied with a warm smile, she got up and trotted over to Celestia, nuzzling her affectionately. Celestia returned it, but her face became determined once more.
"We are agreed, Lulu, but there will need to be strict conditions!" she said
"Of course, Sister, what did you have in mind?"
*******
Of all the situations the two sisters expected to find Switch in when they returned to the sitting room he was confined to, the scene they actually witnessed was certainly not one of them.
He was sat exactly where he was before and that was about the only thing that had stayed the same. What had changed was there where now six standard sized ponies sat in the room with him, each their own separate yet familiar colour.
More surprising was that they where all laughing and enjoying tea. Surprising enough that the two Princesses watched the scene with stunned interest
"...And then what happened, Darling?" Rarity said as she nibbled on a small cake
"Well, I screamed and ran out of the room before they could put any more seasoning on me!"
Again, the six mares but into laughter at the conclusion of what was obviously a funny story.
"You are such a riot, Switch!" Rarity cried through her laughing, wiping a tear from her eyes.
"Well, I try!"
"Yes, that was very funny..." Twilight murmured, however, she was much more preoccupied with examining Switch's hand, seemingly she had convinced him to remove one of his gloved gauntlets, which revealed a five fingered hand the same peachy colour as his face. Switch didn't even seem to be acknowledging Twilight as she held his hand in both her hooves, examining it intently as she manipulated it. All the while writing notes on a piece of parchment suspended in her magic.
"Opposable thumbs! Very similar to primates and monkeys in terms of biology, And there are three bones in each of these 'fingers'?"
"Yeah, and twenty seven in the palm itself"
"Amazing!"
"I bet it is... But we should really greet the Princesses" Switch said as he turned his head to look at Celestia and Luna. All of them turned sharply to stare at the Princesses.
"I see all of you have made yourselves... familiar with our new guest" Celestia said with a measured tone, again becoming the figure of a reprimanding mother.
As the element bearer's eyes slowly got wider and the sweat started to increase in volume, Twilight spoke up in shakily.
"S-sorry, Princess, we saw that Switch was on his own and-"
She was cut off by the raised hoof of Celestia, who stopped regarding the six ponies and turned to the human, who stood up to acknowledge her.
"Switch, I will be blunt. Me and my sister have discussed whether or not you will by allowed to remain in Equestria, we have taken into account your actions upon arriving in our land and your answers to our questions..." she started in her most commanding and most regal voice
"Of course, your majesty" Switch replied "If you have decided that I should go, I will. Without any fuss or arguments I will leave and I won't come back"
Celestia nodded and a tense pause followed. Everyone in the room looked at the Sun princess and wondered what she would do. Smiles started to appear when Celestia suddenly grinned and raised a hoof.
"Allow me, Princess Celestia, to be the first to welcome you to Equestria!"
Switch seemed to sigh in relief as he reached his hand forward to take Celestia's hoof. He shook it lightly, then did the same for Luna as he in turn offered her hoof.
"However..." Luna suddenly became serious, wiping the smile from Switch's face "...There are conditions to this decision, Switch"
"Of course, Princess"
"Firstly, when you spend time in this... universe... you will not leave the castle until we have spread word of your arrival to our subjects. The last thing we want is a panic"
"Agreed, your majesty"
"Secondly, you will Never, either directly or through inaction, harm or allow harm to come to anypony under our protection"
"Of course"
"Finally, you will disclose everything about your abilities and weaponry to us, in order to better understand them should we need to defend ourselves"
Switch frowned at that.
"I promise, Princess Luna, that isn't-"
"These conditions are not negotiable!" Luna replied with a firm glare, Switch held her glare for a few moments before he nodded.
"Of course, you're right, Princess"
"Good! And with that, I have one more question"
"What is that?"
Luna's face split into a friendly grin
"Do you like salad?"
*******
Three days later
"Hey, Rarity!" Switch shouted as he entered the large dining room of Canterlot castle, finding Rarity was making the most of the Princesses' extended hospitality by enjoying a quiet moment with a nice cup of tea and a few cakes, bite size of course as a lady must watch her figure.
"Ah! Switch, darling!" She cried as she lowered the cup and turned to him "I didn't expect to see you, last I heard you returned to your own universe?"
"Only to grab a few essentials, the Princesses are allowing me to stay for a while to carry out some research"
"Very interesting, Darling, I'd imagine that Twilight has already offered up a trove of information"
"You have no idea..."
Switch took a seat across from Rarity and she kindly poured him a cup of tea.
"I understand that Pinkie pie is looking for you as well, Darling" Rarity
"Oh yeah? What for?"
Rarity didn't get to reply as a sudden pink blur shot out of an unseen recess, when it slowed down enough to show details, it was revealed to be a very excited Pinkie pie. She landed on the table whilst miraculously avoiding breaking anything
"To plan your 'Welcome to Equestria' party, Silly!! There's so many details and this is the first Human themed party in Equestria! Do you like cake!? Because if you do that would be so amazing because I love cake and that would be something ourspecieshasincommonandthatwouldbeamazingbecausethenwecouldhavecaketastingsand-"
"Pinkie!" Rarity cried, silencing her eager friend "Please try not to overwhelm the poor dear, he can only answer if you let him"
"Sorry, I'm just super excited!" Pinkie cried whilst devouring one of the little cakes that Switch was reaching for "I still need to plan so many things, like the music. What kind of music do you like, Switchie?"
Switch didn't miss a beat as he took a sip of the tea, replying over the rim of the cup whilst staring into it
"Old school rock and heavy metal"
Looking up after a moments silence, Switch grinned sheepishly at the stunned stares of the two mares
"Whatever's good for you" Was the second response
"Okie dokie smokie, Gotta go, the balloons won't arrange themselves!"
Suddenly balloons appeared from within Pinkie's mane, floating into the air and stopping when the cords holding them straightened. The cords where also tied around Pinkie's barrel and she was suddenly lifted into the air, quickly floating towards and out of the door suspended in the air.
Rarity turned to apologise for Pinkie's absence but found Switch staring at the door with a deep pensive look on his face.
"Is something wrong, Switch?" she said, Switch didn't take his eyes off of the door, however, and his face remained thoughtful.
"Does she always do that?" he asked her.
"Who, darling, Pinkie? You get used to her"
"Yeah, but has she always been able to defy gravity like that?"
Realising that these statements where more like direct questions than rhetorical statements. She answered
"Yes she has"
"And she conjures items and objects at random?"
"All the time!"
"Defies the laws of physics at will?"
"Well, yes but its always harmless... most of the time..."
"What's her family like?"
"Her family?" Rarity was starting to wonder why Switch was so interested in her friend, almost no one had seemed to wonder this much about Pinkie pie. Instead just being content with realising that Pinkie is just being Pinkie when the pink pony performed an otherworldly feat.
"May I ask why you want to know, Darling?" she said warily
"I'm just curious, that's all" Switch replied, it was enough to convince Rarity, who nodded
"Well, her family are rather interesting..."
"Are they all like her?"
"Oh, not at all! And that is what's so interesting, they're rock farmers. All of them. They lead very... simple lives. Almost completely without modern luxuries. Pinkie has told us that whilst she and her sisters where being raised on the rock farm, there was no talking or smiling. And herself describes them as being a tiny bit boring"
"No kidding?! Is she adopted?"
"Well... I'm not sure, Switch, It certainly has occurred to me in the past but it has never come up in conversation"
Switch nodded whilst pursing his lips in thought, seemingly satisfied with the answer.
"Thank you, Rarity, this has been very interesting... I hate to dash but there's something I have to do"
"Oh, not at all..." Was all Rarity could reply before Switch had gotten up from his seat and practically dashed out of the room, she frowned in confusion at the sight "...Until next time?"
***
Pinkie was humming a lovely tune to herself as she floated down the gilded corridors of the castle, after all, she had composed it herself and everypony had to have pride in their work! She was just deciding what to call said masterpiece when she spotted something peculiar... something delicious!
There, in the middle of the hallway, was a teeny tiny cupcake! White frosting with a small cherry on top, it practically called out to be devoured by a passing pink pony. And relying on a personal pinkie promise she had made to herself to never let cake go to waste. Pinkie dis-attached the balloons and trotted over to the treat.
Seconds later, after the small cake had met its untimely demise, Pinkie noticed another one further down the corridor.
Well... she couldn't break a Pinkie promise...
It was this way, slowly but surely, cupcake by cupcake. Pinkie was led down the corridor, passing guards at their stations who didn't shift in the slightest at the sight. One stretch of corridor and a corner later, Pinkie, too engrossed in finding and consuming all the free tiny treats, didn't notice when she was mysteriously led into a side room.
Sat in the centre of the room was a pile of six cupcakes, the treasure at the end of the trail, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. With the added factor of now being extremely pleased with herself, Pinkie didn't notice the door slowly closing behind her.
The next moment, However, gained her complete and unwavering attention..
"Sha'gruk Es Kein Kongal!"
"Eh'Shul Kail!"
The first comment came from a mysterious presence somewhere in the room, one that Pinkie couldn't see. The second statement...came from Pinkie herself...
She was now sat on her hindquarters, straight backed and to attention, one hoof over her heart and her face deadly serious. Her eyes widened in panic and she gasped, covering her mouth with both hooves. A figure dropped from the ceiling, landing on two feet with a loud thud, the figure stood up straight to reveal the Switch with a smug grin on his face, he only said one word to her.
"Gotcha!"
Pinkie started to ramble, her tone much different in that it was panicked and frantic.
"W-who me? I-I'm just thought we where... S-saying random things to each other. In a made up silly language. B-because that's what friends D-do! Yeah, that's what we do!"
Switch's had deadpanned whilst pinkie rambled out her explanation.
"Veriki Cas'ka va'truga"
He didn't shout out this one, instead keeping his tone even and calm. The sentence had the desired effect as Pinkie's nervousness increased tenfold, her eyes becoming like dinner plates and sweat starting to visably drip off of her. However, she remained silent.
"Oh dear, Pinkie, you have to venerate your ancestors when called to...."
The words where obvious bait, both of them knew it but it didn't stop Switch repeating them.
"Veriki Cas'ka va'truga"
Pinkie started to whimper in desperation, shifting on the spot.
"C'mon, Pinkie, you know what happens if you don't reply.... You'll bring shame to your forefathers, be shunned by them when you reach the glowing planes... And you don't want that. So I'll say it one more time"
"Veriki...Cas'ka... va'truga"
"Ish'pi Veriki Gro'daken Fra'kai! Ul shu'dan va'truga!"
Pinkie practically screamed out the words, putting every ounce of passion and energy into it that she could. The same passion couldn't be seen afterwards as she sat on the floor with her head down, eyes staring at the floor and dripping with tears as she realised she had been caught.
"They have no idea, do they?" Switch said to her, causing her to look up at him "All of the random acts, conjuring objects out of thin air, defying gravity and the rules of reality at will, doing things that no other pony can do... And they reason 'its just Pinkie pie being Pinkie pie'. They have no clue..."
Pinkie didn't respond, continuing to stare at the Switch with teary eyes and continuing to look petrified. Anypony that saw her would have trouble recognising her, there was no happiness in Pinkie at that moment, her mane was straightened and hung around her face and ears. She was sat with a sagging body as if the energy had been pulled from it.
"You're a Drifter"
That comment caused Pinkie to physically flinch, as if she'd been slapped... But Switch wasn't done
"They have no idea that I'm not the only being that didn't come from this universe, that in fact their best friend and one of the lands greatest protectors is actually a being that left a universe behind in her infancy to settle in this one. That the purpose of her species is to drift out into the multiverse to find a world to live in. Beings composed of pure displacement energy until they settle into physical forms... That their connection to other universes allows them to perform amazing feats that set them apart from the others in their world..."
The words died down into silence, only punctuated by the sniffles of Pinkie. Switch continued to stare at Pinkie, However, his tone was very neutral and his body language very calm. There was a long, drawn out pause until Pinkie finally spoke, her voice broken and strained from crying.
"You caught me..." she whimpered "... I'll get my things and leave, no one will see me again"
That's when Switch frowned, seemingly genuinely confused.
"Why?" he said, that was when she turned on him, her eyes angry as she took the chance to let her anger and grief out.
"I know the laws! When a Drifter is found out they have to leave and live by themselves, away from everypo- everyone they know... Everyone they care about!"
"I believe that's only if the person who discovers them demands them to"
If it was at all possible for Pinkie's eyes to get any wider, in that moment they certainly did as she looked at Switch in astonishment.
"You mean... you aren't going to make me leave?" she murmured, which caused Switch to look utterly baffled
"Why would I do that?!" he cried. His expression became sympathetic and he knelt down, beckoning with his hand, which caused Pinkie to cautiously walk towards him
"I don't have the same attitude when it comes to Drifters that many others have. Plus, I couldn't deprive Equestria of one of its protectors, could I? Everyone would be mad at me!"
"You mean it?!" Pinkie cried as her eyes started to brim with tears of a different kind. Her frown slowly being replaced with a wide smile as her mane regained some of its poofyness.
"In my experience, Drifters only want one thing... To be happy and unique in the world they settle in. And that's not a crime to me"
Switch suddenly felt something rocket into his chest and wrap around his neck as Pinkie hugged him. He brought his hands up to hug her back and they stayed like that for a few seconds.
"Thank you..." she whispered into his ear, causing Switch to chuckle.
"No need for that" he said, putting her back down and standing up "Now c'mon, let's stop all this seriousness and get back to enjoying the day"
With a sudden pop, Pinkie's mane and tail sprang back to its unique, puffy form and her characteristic smile returned to her face.
"Okie dokie, Switchie!" she cried out as joyously as ever "I'd better get going, I still have your party to plan after all!"
Pinkie turned for the door, but before she could reach it she was stopped.
"Hey, Pinkie"
She turned around to look at Switch, who was still smiling.
"Don't suppose you could conjure me a Twinkie?" he said with a smirk
Pinkie gave a knowing smile at that and reached into her mane, withdrawing her hoof holding a small yellow cake treat, complete with plastic packaging. She threw it to Switch, who nodded in thanks.
Switch bit into the cake bar when Pinkie left the room.
"I do believe you've gained yourself another friend, Sir" Jeeves said into his ear. Switch smirked at that.
"Yeah, I believe I have..."
*******
"Alright, Switch, as we discussed this is a demonstration in which me and my associates here will gain an insight to your abilities" Princess Celestia said, motioning to one familiar lavender mare practically buzzing with excitement and three other well dressed academic ponies holding clipboards.
The princess, the ponies and the superhero where in the Guard academy's sparring hall, located within the grounds of the castle. Its walls and vaulted ceilings where composed of the same marble of the rest of the castle, even boasting a large ornate window on its far wall. The major difference of this room being the lack of anything breakable.
"No problems, Princess! Always happy to show off!" Switch cried as he stretched his arms.
"Then I will turn you over to my little ponies, these four are some of Equestria's foremost scientific minds and they have designed a series of tests, I will be here to monitor and observe during the examination" Celestia looked over to Twilight, who nodded and looked to the others. After an unspoken agreement between them, she stepped forward.
"Alright, Switch-"
"Hey, Twilight"
"Um... Hi.... anyway, this first test is to determine your strength. Firstly, I want you to pick up this barbell"
With a flash of Lavender light, a standard barbell appeared in front of Switch, he looked at it before shrugging and picking it up, hoisting it over his shoulders.
"We want to get a picture of basic human attributes and then how your powers sets you above others in your species. So we will ask you to perform each test with and without your powers"
"Alright, that seems fair"
"We're going to use density spells to make the weights heavier, as soon as it becomes too heavy I want you to drop down to one knee"
"Got it"
Two of the scientist ponies lit up their horns and the weights at either side of the bar started glowing in turn, it was only a few seconds before Switch dropped to one knee.
"Two hundred and fifty pounds" one of the scientists said "Below average for a pony"
Twilight jotted the results onto her sheet, turning back to Switch
"Alright, now with your powers please"
Again, the test was repeated, however, before the spells where placed on the weights, Switch's arms and legs started to glow, a bright yellow light shining through the edges of his armour. As the weights started to get heavier and heavier, everypony present suddenly began to stare in utter bafflement as the human didn't budge, it was at least half a minute before Switch suddenly grunted with the exertion and dropped to one knee.
Twilight looked to one of the other ponies in the room staring wide eyed in shock. She raised an eyebrow in expectation of his answer.
"Thirteen tons..." the stunned stallion murmured.
And so it continued like this, each test to determine human capabilities done both with and without Switch using his abilities. The speed test, which simply consisted of Switch running a lap around the outer edge of the room, showed again that standard human speed was slower than an average pony. However, at the start of the power lap, small wedge shaped constructs appeared under each of Switch's boots, bursting outwards in time with his steps. Such a technique caused Switch to be propelled around the room at astounding speeds, furthered by his abilities to change direction instantly with a kick of the foot. A process that Switch called the 'Skim-sprint'. The agility test was interesting, it revealed that even without powers Humans where surprisingly agile, able to use their articulated limbs and flexible spine to dodge, duck and with surprising efficiency. The test involved harmless bolts of magic being shot at Switch, who in turn had to dodge them. He excelled but eventually a lucky shot by one of the scientists caught him in the thigh. Then came the test with powers, during which Switch again astounded his small audience... by simply disappearing...
With a flash of yellow crackling energy, Switch vanished from view, causing the ponies watching to gasp and stare until less than a second later he reappeared with another crackling flash at the opposite end of the room, when questioned he simply revealed that the ability was a less powerful version of the universe jumping, which allowed him to cross vast spaces almost instantly. This power was dubbed 'shifting'
Finally, Twilight swept her hoof to highlight Switch's weapons on the table, she kindly and warily asked what they did and what they where capable of. The small handheld device was explained to be a 'Pistol', a form of long ranged weapon similar to a cannon, but much smaller and able to fire many times without reloading. Switch explained that practically all the ammo was non-lethal... although a more deadly variety was kept on his person as a last resort. Then came the main article, the one which peaked the curiosity of Celestia a great deal. The scabbard, the same grey as his suit but with a metallic sheen to it, decorated with alien yellow symbols running down the outer edge. Switch called this weapon the S.W.A.P, a shortened version of a Suitable Weapon from Any Perspective. With his wrist, Switch turned the handle whilst it was sheathed, each time a click rang out, sounding slightly different from the others. He then withdrew it, revealing a different weapon for each click.
First was a small baton shaped object with an end that could electrify on contact, a 'Tazer' Second was a long staff that could be charged with Displacement energy at either end Third was a larger version of the Pistol, one that could apparently change its internal clip size to fire practically any ammo, dubbed the 'Any-gun' Finally, the weapon which caused a nervous tension to fill the room, a sword, a short sabre with a razor sharp edge running down one side that glinted in the light. Switch tried to explain that it was only to be used in extreme life and death scenarios but settled for sheathing it out of sight.
With all examinations completed, there was only a singular task to be completed.
The doors to the hall where opened and a royal guardpony was led through it, as soon as he saw Switch his mouth twisted into a deep frown. It was no secret that many of the royal guard viewed Switch with hostility, making the most of a pony's natural wariness of unfamiliar things.
"Our lest test is designed to test your efficiency in combat, Switch, and it is very simple. We wish you to spar with this guard"
Upon hearing this Switch appeared to grow apprehensive whilst the guard started to grin at the opportunity to hurt the human with no repercussions
"Is this necessary?" Switch said "I mean... I like sparring as much as the next guy, but I prefer to fight under more casual conditions"
It was Celestia that spoke up before Twilight could, trotting forward to step by her student.
"Whilst I appreciate your hesitation for violence, you did agree to show us your abilities... I believe this falls under our agreement"
Switch sighed at that before nodding.
"Yes, your Majesty"
The guard didn't say a word as he trotted forward to stand opposite Switch, starting to stretch his forelegs in preparation.
"Alright, this is just a minor sparring match and therefore no lethal techniques are to be used at any times. The match will end once we determine that one combatant has the upper hand. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Princess Celestia!" the guard cried whilst standing to attention. Switch only nodded, his casual demeanour replaced with an almost calm one as he didn't take his eyes off the guard. Celestia used her magic to conjure a small bell and after a few seconds... she rang it...
The ponies spectating barely saw Switch move...
Once second he was stood stock still... the next a metallic thud rang through the room and Switch had switched positions so he was now stood side on to the guard, only Celestia with her advanced eyesight honed over thousands of years had seen his hand clench into a fist and whip around to smash the guard across the jaw.
The bravado and maliciousness that the guard had shown had all but disappeared as now his jaw was hanging slack and his eyes where wide with shock... until they rolled back into his head and he slumped to the floor without a sound.
The audience gasped as Switch looked over to them, surprisingly looking rather ashamed of his actions.
"I..." Twilight trailed off as she swallowed nervously "... I think that's enough for today..."
"Hold on"
Celestia walked across the fresh hold that marked the boundary of the training area, her eyes set with determination and her mouth set into a grim line. Twilight and the academic ponies looked at her nervously.
"It seems that we underestimated your skills, Switch" she said "It seems you have powers far beyond that of my little Ponies, certainly beyond the training my personal guard receive"
"Um... Thank you, Your highness?" Switch replied rather timidly
"Therefore, It seems the only course of action is to give you an opponent that is in your league..."
Switch chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he did
"You mean like... a bunch of guards?" he said, it was then Celestia's turn to chuckle, a rather predatory grin stretching across her face
If, in the interest of cosmic coincidences, a pin where to have been dropped within that room and within that moment. The echo it would have made would have sounded like the tolling of a grand bell.
There was silence, not the kind that comes within a lull in a conversation or during a time where quiet is required. This was a complete absence of sound, a void in which the only ones present dared not utter a sound for fear of what was coming.
An Alicorn princess of the Sun stood at one side of the training area, a human superhero stood at the other, both as still and intense as statues.
Panicked concerns from a purple unicorn had already been addressed, worried questions had already been answered and an excited hero had readily agreed, finding a challenge from the ruler herself so much more appealing than a forced conflict with one of her subjects.
And so, in the moment, the two combatants did nothing but stare at each other, the motherly, kind and caring side of Celestia and the laid back, wisecracking side of the Switch both replaced with stony features as they did nothing but gaze at their opponents.
Twilight, swallowing the nervous lump that had formed in her throat at the thought of her beloved teacher fighting like a drunken stallion, turned to one of the other professors, a unicorn with a dark red coat and white mane.
"High honour, your PhD specialised in combat and martial arts, why are they just staring at each other?" she whispered, almost silently for fear of breaking the tension in the room. High honour smirked, finding her ignorance most entertaining.
"They may be still and silent..." he replied, just as quietly as Twilight "... but do not mistake them for doing nothing, the case could not be more different. This is a standoff, plain and simple... it is clear that Switch has extensive training, and his abilities make him extremely powerful. And the Princess, as we know, has honed her already amazing skills over thousands of years... they are both skilled and experienced enough to know this and this stillness you see is them analysing each other, meticulously examining for both strengths and potential weaknesses."
Twilight nodded, taking in High honour's words, she turned her view back to the two combatants "What comes next?" she murmured. causing the professor to smirk again...
"A show of strength"
As if taking some invisible queue, Celestia suddenly whipped her head back, rearing back onto her hind legs and pawing the air with her front ones. A deep, resonating whinny rumbled from her throat and her face became a snarl, making the princess look feral, almost bestial. At the same time, Switch squared his shoulders, narrowing his glowing eyes menacingly as he bared his teeth, flashing the canines amongst them, his throat seemed to glow a pale yellow as he suddenly growled, a loud and chilling sound, a rumbling hiss that sounded scarily reptilian in composition.
In response the Princess slammed her hooves back down onto the floor, cracking and splintering the marble as if it was glass. However, the true spectacle came when her body was enveloped by a shimmering golden light, one that swirled around her entire frame. It vanished as soon as it appeared, and her audience visibly gasped at what was left behind.
The Princesses looks where the same as before but now she was clad in a suit of glimmering golden armour, glistening plate metal that seemed to give off its own light. Embossed with elaborate swirls and patterns of the sun and boasting a large purple gem on the breastplate, its quality showed its obvious master crafted origins. Plates of gold where tied around her four legs, and sections of overlapping metal surrounding her body and flank, an ornate centurion style helmet was placed on her head, sloping down the sides of her face whilst her mane protruded through a golden crest, blending seamlessly into a large plait that hung behind her shoulders.
It was elegant, awe inspiring, and at the same time, terrifying.
If this affected Switch in any way, he did not show it, in response he shifted the position of his arms and legs, bringing his arms upwards and clenching his fists as he squared his feet, his entire frame suddenly tensed at once, every muscle locking with power as a brilliant display of yellow lightening burst from his body. Arcing in the nearby walls and floors with unnatural rectangular shapes for a few seconds until it suddenly died down, being replaced with nothing but a dull glow that surrounded his frame.
Twilight couldn't take her eyes off of her mentor, finding the comparison between her usual kind and caring mentor who she loved like a mother, and the armour clad warrior staring down the Switch almost nauseating. She wanted to protest against this fight yet again, but silence had once again fallen upon the room and she found she wouldn't dare break it.
Unknown to the ponies within the room, a small family of Doves had flown into the stone eves at the top of this large room. Furthermore, upon feeling the raw energy that was saturating the air. Each suddenly felt a very large urge that simply screamed "get out of the way!". Therefore, it was unsurprising that each of the Doves took off for the nearest window... the largest in such a hurry that one of its primaries was shaken loose.
The single, gossamer white pinion drifted downwards in slow circles in the air directly above the two fighters, neither one so much as glancing at it at it floated down towards them.
Fifteen metres...
Silence.
Ten metres...
Silence.
Five metres...
It brushed across the floor with barely a sound.
The change in the room within a fraction of a second, was nothing short of amazing...
As if taking some universal cue from a simple feather. Both combatants leapt at each other, bending their legs and rocketing forward from the spot with enough speed that they distorted into two blurs. Both of them shooting straight for each other.
They collided with a force that shook the foundations of the room. Switch was lent forward with his head slightly bowed, his arm fully extended in front of him and his closed fist connecting with Celestia's gold plated hoof. she too had placed all her weight behind her strike and now the struggle was evident as both combatants strained against each other.
They suddenly leapt backwards, both with graceful flips to gain space, only to rush inwards as soon as they touched the ground, this repeating several times as the princess and the hero continually lunged at each other, smashing together with a blast of force that rivalled a thunderclap and each time straining against the other's strength.
During the fourth charge, the tactics seemed to change as both Switch and Celestia threw themselves into a round of close quarters melee, their forms blurred and indistinguishable to their audience as they attacked and defended with the strength and precision of legendary class warriors. A visible maelstrom of air and raw energy was beginning to whip and circulate around the room, aggressive currents that pulled and tore at the manes of the spectators present and more than once Twilight had to pull the hair out of her eyes or blink away the aggravated tears.
“Why are they both fighting so hard!?” She yelled over the commotion “Surely winning doesn’t mean that much to them!?”
"It isn’t about winning…” she heard highest honour saying beside her, she turned to look at him with a befuddled expression, but he remained focused on the fight. Not taking his eyes off of it for a second.
“... It isn’t about winning…” he said again, as if sensing her confusion
“This is about pride, about proving their strength to each other… look at them both, the strongest of their respective species locked in combat… right now, it isn’t Celestia against Switch. It’s a human against a Pony. They will both seek to show the strength of their race to the other and if they don’t give it everything they have. They’ve doomed their people to look weak, inferior to the other. And knowing them both, neither Switch nor Celestia is prepared to let that happen…”
Their skirmish suddenly took to the air, both combatants held aloft by their own power. Switch using solid energy constructs as stepping stones, which appeared and vanished within seconds and with complete synchronisation with his movements. Celestia had spread her magnificent wings outwards and wasn't needing to flap them to keep airborne, in fact using their manoeuvrability to aid her momentum when evading or attacking.
They clashed again with another explosion of dissipating power, Celestia using her wings to fend off attacks whilst using her golden horseshoes to jab and strike with deadly efficiency.
She threw another, one that Switch had apparently predicted as his articulated hand darted upwards to catch it. The fingers closing around her hoof, he flashed a cheeky grin as he brought his other hand back to strike the Princess. But that quickly disappeared when Celestia suddenly whipped around, using her wings to pirouette through the air. She became a blur, an indistinguishable form of white that pulled the surprised Switch with it, turning him momentarily upside down. With her amazing control of speed, Celestia stopped instantly and in a position that allowed her to lash out with her front hoof. The strength of the princess painfully transparent as her hoof suddenly lashed out, and fuelled by magic it moved faster than the observing ponies could see. When it connected, however, they certainly heard it...
It connected with a boom that rivalled a thunderclap, the air around the impact distorting with the force.
Switch's eyes seemed to shoot open within the mask and his mouth widened in pain, spittle flying from within it as he tried to cry out, the only sound he could make being a strangled wheeze. Twilight sighed, figuring surely now the fight was over, a direct hit from the Princess? No one could continue after that!
Switch suddenly snapped his head up to look at the princess, who gasped in shock. His eyes narrowed and his mouth shifted into a snarl as he growled, increasing in tempo and ferocity as he countered. His knee, now precariously close to the Princess, swung across in a savage arc, fuelled in turn by crackling displacement energy. It collided with Celestia’s cheek and carried on past it, dragging her head along the arc and scraping across the edge of her face plate. Her eyes clenched shut in pain and a grunt escaped her lips as a thin line of blood sprayed from the edge of her mouth.
Twilight tried to avert her eyes at the sight of her beloved mentor being hurt but found she couldn't, the clash of these two titans keeping her eyes glued to it as her heartbeat sped at an almost dangerous pace.
Both Switch and Celestia couldn’t stop their descent and they found themselves crashing to the floor, both collided with a bounce that sent them skittering away from each other. There was a momentary reprieve, a silence in the battle as both combatants slowly got to their feet, the focused hostile expressions of narrowed eyes and upturned mouths not leaving either of them.
Just as soon as it had started, the silence was shattered as Switch and Celestia leapt at each other again. Both throwing a flurry of punches and kicks whilst fending off attacks from their opponent.
This dynamic was disrupted as Switch suddenly shifted just in time to avoid a blow from Celestia, a second later he appeared in the air above her with his hands clasped together.
He brought them downwards, a savage hammer fist that forced Celestia straight down to the floor, shattering the marble into a fine cloud as he did. He landed with his feet either side of Celestia, who had enough time to throw her wing in the way as he started to bring a hail of punches down onto her. It looked like the fight was over, like Humans were about to be proven the strongest of the races when Celestia pulled her wing back in an interval between the punches.
Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her pupils dilated. However, they were not this way for long as suddenly they lit up… Not in the way of arcane power or the soft glow of benevolent magic. But in a way that demonstrated Celestia's position as the Goddess of the Sun as her eyes suddenly burst with its brilliant light.
The full solar light of the sun itself beamed straight into Switch’s eyes and he reacted as anyone would, crying out in surprise and extreme pain, he staggered back with his hands covering them .
Celestia capitalised as she shot to all four hooves, planting her front two down into the earth as she span her back two around in one fluid movement. She lashed out with them simultaneously in a classic, old fashioned buck. The primary method of Pony protection. A standard earth pony could use a buck to shatter solid wood with enough practise, as was shown with the element of Honesty on her farmstead.
The Princess of the Sun and an Alicorn however….
All the ponies present cringed as the blow connected, definitely hearing but practically feeling the bones in Switch’s arm bending with the force of the impact as he ineffectively tried to shield himself with it. He was launched backwards, leaving the ground and sailing in an arc before crashing into the marble twenty feet away, rolling to a stop a few feet after that.
A low groan filled the air as Switch slowly moved his arms to his sides, using them to push himself up. Thick yellow blood dripped from his mouth onto the floor and he breathed through clenched teeth. Standing up fully, he couldn’t stop himself from swaying on the spot. Celestia's expression changed, slightly and only for a second but he noticed it all the same…
She was worried, concerned about him. It seemed that even in combat she couldn't suppress her caring side…heartwarming, but unnecessary. In the first interaction since their battle had started, Switch’s mouth curled into the smallest smile and he nodded, almost unnoticeable. That was all the incentive Celestia needed as her wings snapped open to their fullest and she prepared to attack once again...
If Switch was at all worried about the impending blow from Celestia, he didn't show it. In fact, he showed the complete opposite. His eyes going dark as he closed them and his form becoming relaxed with his arms by his sides, he slowly let out a breath and then slowly took another in, as he did a faint and almost mist like aura started to radiate off of him.
Deciding she didn't like whatever Switch was doing and being unwilling to give him a chance to carry it out, Celestia swept her wings downwards. Propelling herself from still to almost supersonic in no time at all.
She was halfway across the room in a second, when there was a sudden twitch in the superhero's arm, almost as if it flickered for a second. This on its own could be counted as rather unremarkable, However, what accompanied it was nothing short of extraordinary...
There was a flash, more like a spark than anything as a yellow shape appeared in the air inches from Celestia's head, causing an astonished gasp from Every pony in the room, which only worsened when the construct lashed out with a speed that seemed to slow down time itself for the monarch, realising the danger, Celestia didn't dodge so much as flinch out of the path. The blow missing by less than an inch. A split second later the Construct dissipated, replaced by another to her other side, this one striking at a different place.
Celestia was instantly and overwhelmingly thrown back on the defensive as she could only defend herself from these shapes as best she could, managing to evade most but still receiving the occasional agonising blow to her body.
Repeated sightings also lead the audience to discover the nature of these energy constructs, and the revelation chilled their blood.
They where all Switch...
Within milliseconds, glowing yellow forms identical to him appeared and lashed out before disappearing and being replaced with another. At times the numbers even seemed to increase, with three or even four copies materialising at once to strike Celestia with deadly coordination and precision. All the while, Switch was still stood where he had before, the only difference being his whole body was now flickering, blurred and distorted.
Frustration mixed with pain in a dangerous combination as a copy punched Celestia straight across the muzzle and she suddenly let out a war cry. An animalistic bellow that vibrated the air and pierced the hearing of the audience. A intense blast of golden magical energy erupted from her being, blasting the copies into nothingness and causing the air itself to crackle and spark as it was saturated with magic.
A single breath, that was all Celestia managed to get until she heard the sound of something launching from the cracked floor... whipping her head towards it, she came face to face with the Switch himself. He had used her recovery to close the distance and was now rearing his arm back for the final strike, his hand was open palmed and the crackling lightening of displacement energy was filling it.
Again, time seemed to slow for Celestia and she was able to make out every single detail of that one moment. She saw the dust and debris that had been carried in the wake of Switch's leap. She saw his clenched teeth and the determination that was fuelling the blow. Reacting on pure instincts refined over thousands of years of long life. Celestia charged her own horn with magical energy, her vast experience allowing the process to happen instantly. A ball of pure magical energy appeared at the tip of her horn and she thrust it, with as much intent and purpose as her battered form would allow... Straight into Switch's open hand...
She would later come to regret that decision very much...
This was for several reasons... the first being that she had no idea how raw magical energy would react with unfiltered displacement energy, therefore this decision was nothing but reckless. The second was that she was so close to the results of this combination and had not witnessed it from a much safer distance. However, the third and definitely to most prevalent of reasons why she regretted this venture was simple....
It Hurt... A lot...
For a fraction of a second the two energies seemed to mingle, almost harmoniously within their own spaces. Until of course this union was smashed as these two alien energies rejected each other. Destroying each other and themselves in the form of a loud and fantastic explosion.
Neither Princess nor Superhero touched the floor after the brilliant burst of light erupted from in between them. The force sending them both backwards at a rate faster than either one could move on their own. Celestia collided with the solid stone wall at one end of the room, the force behind her impact shattering most of the wall itself, which began to fall as several chunks of massive stone, each several tonnes and accompanying the princess on her painful fall to the ground.
Switch impacted the space just above the ornate stained windows that decorated the other side of the room, instantly destroying every single one held within the mighty stone frames, and therefore he was accompanied by a rain of broken glass that caused an almost musical clattering as he fell back down to earth.
Once they both impacted to floor, there wasn't a sound from either of them...
"We need to get a Doctor! or Luna! or somebody else! This has gone way too far!" Twilight shouted as she tried, quite unsuccessfully, to avoid hyperventilating.
"Wait!" High honour said as he held out a hoof to stop her, when Twilight opened her mouth to argue, he spoke.
"It isn't over yet..."
Twilight's pupils shrunk down to pinpricks as, right on cue, there was a shuffling from either side of the room.
Celestia was the first to emerge, rising from the stony rubble slowly and almost definitely painfully, a small shower of pebbles and dust flowing off of her back... Switch also rose to his feet, although he took longer than Celestia had, and had to pause as he noticed something in his hand. Bringing it too his mouth, Switch clasped something in his teeth and quickly yanked it out of his hand before spitting it out. A large shard of glass, now dripping with glowing yellow blood.
They looked across the room and regarded each other yet again, nothing different about the way they looked. Still seemingly willingly and able to carry on the greatest showdown of Equestrian history...
Yet, all they both managed was a shaky step forward before something else materialised between them.
"That is Enough!"
A voice that itself shook the room filled the air as a brilliant blue flash of light lit up between the two combatants. Luna, with all her power and majesty, imposed herself between Switch and Celestia. Her face deadly serious as she held a hoof out to each one of them. Despite this, both of them still wore the same stony expression and didn't take their eyes off of each other.
"This is a sparring match, nothing more, sister!" Celestia said
"Your 'sparring match' will become a lot more serious when you both bring the castle down around yourselves! Look at the damage you've wrought!"
For the first time since the match started, both combatants turned their attention to the room around them and as they did, their expressions became increasingly ashamed. And for good reason...
The room was, simply, a mess... giant gouges and grooves had been dug into the marble floor as well as the walls and ceiling now being crisscrossed with cracks and gaps where the stone had been dislodged. Dust and debris littered every surface in abundance, mixing well with the shattered glass at the end of the room. A draft could also be seen disturbing the dust and grime, as the wind blew through the open frames of the destroyed window.
Switch shifted himself so he was stood by Luna's side, Celestia copied him using a small teleportation spell.
They didn't say anything, only seemed to look at each other solemnly as they regarded the damage they had done to the room and each other. Celestia moved first, her wings suddenly sweeping low until they almost brushed the ground at either side of her. She then reclined her head, slowly until she was bowing before him. Switch immediately did the same, although first he placed his hands into an alien position, one open palmed and the other closed in a fist, pressed into the palm of the open one. He too bowed in respect.
The atmosphere in the room went through a profound change, the tension the held the audience rigid bled out of them, with Twilight going so far as to visibly sigh in unspoken relief. Highest honour also puffed out his cheeks as even he felt a small modicum of relief. Celestia’s wings folded up into their natural positions by her sides and she stood up fully, Switch doing the same.
Twilight could wait no longer, therefore she bounded over to her mentor, avoiding the largest stones and mortar that threatened to trip her.
"Princess Celestia!" she cried, causing her teacher to turn and face her with a look of surprise, as if she had forgotten that her student was watching the fight.
"Yes, Twilight?" she said in her usual motherly tone.
"That was... it was.... Are you okay?!"
"Okay...?" Celestia said in utter bafflement, her face become a frown and twilight's blood chilling as she feared she had suddenly hit a nerve. "Okay...?!" Celestia cried again, holding the stern expression for a few seconds before suddenly bursting into laughter, loudly and joyfully.
"Oh Twilight... of course I'm okay! That was the most fun I've had in years!!"
Twilight jaw dropped, unable to stay closed under its own power as she tried to process the princess's words. However, Celestia had turned around to face Switch, a kind smile now gracing her features.
"I had thought you where a mighty warrior, Switch, but I had no idea just how incredible your skills where!"
Switch chuckled before he replied.
"I can't take all the credit, your Majesty, you had me on the ropes more than once. Your skills far exceed mine!"
"Oh no need to be so humble! You done your people proud this day, I never imagined anyone could last this long against me, let alone put up the fight that you did!"
The conversation between the two of them drifted into the two off them as Twilight's eye lid suddenly started twitching, her brain had long since given up trying to decipher the situation and therefore she was left infuriatingly clueless.
"Don't think too much about it" came a voice from her side, and she looked up to see the face of Princess Luna, who wore a sympathetic smile as she realised what Twilight was going through.
"They're happy with each other..." she said, stunned.
"That is martial artists for you... to them fighting is not something to be seen as hostile or negative, to them, fighting is pure and honourable. I'd wager their friendship has only grown much more stronger as a result."
"But the fight seemed so... serious..."
"A battle between two people as strong as they are always will, but it was mutually agreed on by both of them. And I'd also wager it was a valuable training exercise, therefore, there was never going to be any true hostility between the two of them..."
Twilight and Luna where both pulled back into the conversation as Switch and Celestia suddenly turned and, as a pair, started to make their way towards the doors of the room, or at least the one that had remained on its hinges.
"I imagine there is still some dinner to be had! I will send for the palace chefs, I imagine you're hungry?" Celestia said to Switch
"Starving!" he replied.
"Prefect, although for now I must return to my chambers and see about getting this dust from my mane!"
"Yeah, I could definitely use a shower too"
"Shall we say... the royal dining room in half an hour?"
"Sounds great! See you then!"
Both Celestia and Switch where suddenly enveloped by different energies and where promptly transported from the room. Meanwhile, inside the mind of Twilight sparkle, the sense and deduction regions of her brain has gathered their hats and coats and where promptly handing in their resignations, stating that the reason for such a decision was unfair and stressful working conditions.. coupled with more work than they could ever get through.
This of course had an affect on Twilight as, with sections of her psyche making sure to slam the door on their way out, she reacted in the only way she could...
"WHAT?!"
*******
Switch and Celestia appeared in their respective rooms at virtually the same time and both reacted in very much the same way. Namely, they both instantly collapsed to the floor, any remainder of their jovial expressions lost and they let go of the pretence the fight hadn't affected them.
"Ow,ow,ow,ow,ow,ow,ow...." Celestia murmured as she massaged one of her wings that was throbbing with a deep and tearing pain.
"Jeeves, activate the P.R.S..." Switch groaned as he placed his back against the side of his bed, breathing deeply as a fiery agony shot through his leg.
"Pain Reduction System online, sir, pain reduction imminent"
Switch sighed in relief as the pain slowly shrank away, the result of the extremely efficient painkillers now flowing through his system. Meanwhile, Celestia had just finished using her magic to repair her broken wing, as well as several horrible looking cuts and bruises.
Both combatants thought back to their match and both immediately smiled at the thought of it. No regret shown in the slightest as they both said the same thing to themselves.
"What a fighter!"
********
A loud, clear series of knocks rang throughout the room as Luna rapped her hoof against it, standing in silence for a sew seconds before there was a response.
"Come on in!" The foreign accent of the Switch came back through and Luna used her magic to slide the heavy door open.
The room that Switch was currently occupying was a guest suite for the palace, built for bipedal creatures such as visiting Minotaur dignitaries and very recently for a human, it was fairly ordinary by royal standards, although to anyone not accustomed to such decorations they where rich indeed.
A huge four poster bed was set into the centre of the room, set much higher off the ground than a pony bed and covered in rich burgundy quilts with cream white pillows. Most of the exquisite marble floors where covered in expensive imported rugs. To fill the space, several sofas with a large coffee table in the middle of them and a large ornate desk where dotted at various key points around the room.
To complement this pony made furniture where some human innovations. A large mechanical device had been set against a free wall, one that Switch called a "computer". On a table to one side was an amazing, smaller device that could make several different types of coffee within seconds. Finally, a large flat device that had been hooked onto a space in the wall, one that could show movies without a projector, this one he called a "Television", and already Celestia had asked to buy one... stating she was very interested in the show Jeeves had mentioned known as "the desperate housewives"
Noticing that Switch wasn't in the room himself, Luna made her way over to the room's balcony, one that overlooked Canterlot city. The man himself was lay down on the stone Bannister that surrounded the balcony, a large pillow behind his head and one leg hanging freely over the outer side.
He turned to face Luna and respectfully started to stand, but Luna stopped him with a dismissive wave and conjured a pillow in order to sit down next to him. She frowned slightly when she saw something clasped in his fingers.
"You smoke?" she asked quietly, no judgement in her voice so much as curiosity. Tilting her head to regard what she recognised as a long cigarette, he chuckled before nodding.
"We all have our vices, Princess... I couldn't help but notice a metric tonne of ice cream in the castle parlour... with an angry note threatening people with exile if they dipped into it"
A light shade of pink spread across Luna's cheeks as she 'Harrumphed' most indignantly. Although Switch likely didn't notice as they had both turned to regard the night sky.
"An exaggeration I'm sure!" she retorted, before Switch silently shook his head.
"It isn't... Jeeves weighed it all. In fact it was just over..."
Luna's mouth worked silently as she tried to come up with a response, settling for a moody snort when she failed.
"Anyway!" she cried "I came here tonight to get to know you a little better, if that's alright with you?"
"You don't know enough?" Switch replied, not angrily but in fact with an amused smile.
"I know that you love Lasagne and that Eric Johnson is *Ahem* the shit..., although I'm given to understand that in your world, this is a compliment"
Switch laughed at that, loud and heartily before turning to regard Luna again.
"Can't argue with that! Go ahead, Princess, ask away"
"Aright, If your permitted to tell me... what's your real name?"
"I don't know"
"Switch is your superhero name, or an Alias?"
"It's my only alias..."
"I don't understand..."
Switch suddenly sighed, frowning as he regarded his cigarette. Luna got the impression that she was unearthing something unpleasant, however, curiosity was burning within her and she felt compelled to know answers so she remained silent.
"I wasn't being evasive, Princess..." he started with a distant and sad tone "... the simple truth is... I don't know what my real name is..."
"You see... Most humans have the luxury of being born and growing up with a family that loves and nurtures them. They are born and get their entire lives to decide who and what they are... Unfortunately, I didn't qualify for that privilege..."
Luna didn't say a word, only listened as the Switch recounted his story but finding herself feeling more and more sorry for the normally jovial young man.
"I was born with a unique biology, with genes and DNA set into an order that gives me a certain resistance to energy, both in resisting and storing it... I don't know how they managed to get me but all that matters is they did... either as a baby or a child but honestly they could have wiped my memory, so I could have been older." "I was taken to a facility... somewhere... and that's when they went to work. Fusing my entire body, down to the cells, with raw displacement energy, implanting bio augments to aid the process as well as grafting this mask to my face. Their trials must have been a success for me to be alive but something inevitably went wrong... I don't know what, but the facility was abandoned and I was put on Ice"
Switch noticed Luna's confused expression at his phrase and quickly corrected himself.
"Cryogenic hibernation... they froze me... kept me asleep in sub freezing temperatures for... weeks? months? years? I don't know... but the fact the earliest I can remember... Is waking up"
There was a small silence and a loud exhale as a cloud of smoke left Switch's lips.
"Maybe it was an inbuilt failsafe... or maybe the compound ran out of juice... but all I know for certain is that one day I fell out of that Cryotube and onto the floor of that factory... I remember hacking up this freezing blue goop that filled my lungs and looking around with my vision blurred and shaky. In a way I had only just been born and so I didn't even know what my powers where... let alone how to use them... so of course they went haywire. Before I was pulled from that place and thrown around the multiverse like a goddamn pinball, I saw some letters on the side of the tube I had fallen out of..."
Switch put his finger into the air and the tip of it glowed yellow, he swirled it in midair and left behind a glowing trail of yellow light. When he had finished, Luna's gasped at what she read.
S . WITCH
"Switch..." she said to herself in disbelief, turning to regard the young human in a totally different and heart wrenching light.
"I bounced around the multiverse, shifting from random place to random place at random times, not knowing what I was going to experience and praying I didn't land in a world that would kill me. It took days but eventually I managed to calm myself down enough to stay in one place... Slowly and with the help of a truly great man... I managed to gain control of my powers... to use them for the betterment of humanity. Eventually, I gained friends and with that came training, equipment and experience, enough to allow me to master my abilities... to use them at will to travel the vastness of space... all the while hoping to answer the simplest yet most difficult question there is..."
The next words Switch said to himself more than Luna and he frowned as he said them, a morbid curiosity filling them as he spoke...
"Who am I?"
Switch took another silent drag of the cigarette, there was the tiniest of sounds. An almost silent patter as a tear drop fell from the Princesses eye, she tried not to sob at the plight of the superhero.
"So you know nothing? Truly nothing!?" she said, in her own way desperate to hear him deny it, but all Switch did was nod his head in confirmation, suddenly reaching up to tap a finger against the outer rim of his mask.
"Amongst many other cool things... this mask comes with an inbuilt inter-networking neural interface, basically it means I can 'download' certain information straight into my frontal cortex, the knowledge centre of the brain. Luckily, my makers decided to upload the English language so I could speak... Literature so I could write... knowledge of biology, chemistry and physics. I managed to find a few files buried within the data banks but all I've managed to retrieve was a detailed plan of the 'induction process'... and the name of the wonderful bunch that did it to me..."
Switch frowned once again as if a bad taste was filling his mouth.
"The Scion Project..."
"But that's it... that's all I know about myself of all people! My name... my family... my age... my birthday... my home... all... deleted... as if it meant nothing"
There was silence on that balcony, for what could be said after such a revelation? Luna silently chastised herself for ever doubting the Human lay to her side, such a story could not be made up, no level of suffering this cruel and malicious could ever be a work of fiction. So Luna found herself doing the only thing she could, the only thing that made any semblance of sense at that time...
She slowly reached her hoof up and gently rested it on his arm, Switch didn't try and stop her and only inclined his head slightly towards her, with a voice broken out of sadness and grief and with tears welling in her eyes. Luna whispered...
"I'm so sorry"
"Ah..." Switch scoffed as he waved a hand dismissively "That's alright... after all it does come with some pretty kickass perks!"
The tension was broken with a small chuckle from both of them, when Luna looked down to the floor afterwards, the same sadness still in her eyes, Switch turned to regard her.
"I'm not the only one with a bad story, am I?" he whispered, causing Luna to sigh in defeat.
"No, you aren't. In fact, I believe I can understand your pain better than anyone... I imagine by now you've heard of the events that happened a millennia ago?"
Switch only nodded in response, casting a sympathetic glance at the princess, who continued on.
"The truth is... whilst I'm eternally grateful that I was spared from the evil that consumed me. And whilst I have been reunited with my people and my sister, who I truthfully love very much... Since my return, I've never felt further away... And the heart wrenching thing is I can do nothing about it"
"In what way?"
"In the most ironic of ways... I am a ruling monarch with arguably more freedom than anypony alive as well the having the power to draft and change the laws that govern my people. And yet still I find myself infuriatingly bound by laws of my own... ones that stop me from achieving that which I desire most"
Luna looked over to the Switch, the tears she was holding back now flooding from her eyes. Both in parts sadness and relief at finally talking to someone.
"I want a child, Switch, more than anything in this world... I want to be a mother, to have someone to nurture and guide again, to love something with the same intensity that me and my people once had for each other. I want a little bundle of happiness and pure joy that will make me both happy in good times and frustrated in bad, one that will truly view me with no fear... somepony who will feel safe and carefree in my presence... somepony who won't see me as... as some kind of monster"
Switch had been silent so far, more than happy to listen to Luna's problems, after a pause he suddenly spoke.
"So why can't you?"
Luna laughed bitterly before answering.
"Pony's have their laws... Alicorns have the tenants... You see, Alicorns have always been the ruling caste of ponies. Every monarch in new equestrian history has been an Alicorn. This, coupled with our unnaturally strong power and lifespans, gave rise to a new kind of Laws and boundaries, in order to keep us in check. Firstly, our abilities to conceive children was altered, to ensure the Alicorn population couldn't increase to... dangerous... levels"
"Therefore, as it stands now, Alicorns can only carry foals when they mate with someone truly special, someone unlike any other in terms of heart, soul, and meaning. A true love... one that only occurs once in a lifetime."
"Princess Cadance and Shining Armour"
"Exactly, those two share a true and unrequited love stronger than almost any other. They found each other and therefore they may in the future be gifted with a child..."
"And have you... ever...?"
Luna looked up to stars at that, examining her work with a meticulous eye as memories, both beautiful and horrifying, where brought to the surface.
"Once... but things where simply not meant to be and he was... taken from me. And therefore the gifts that came with such a thing were denied to me"
"I'm sorry. But there must be another way, right? Adoption, maybe?"
"I have considered such a thing too... at times with as much intensity as the more, natural, method. However, another tenant forbids the adoption of Pony kind by members of royalty. Such a thing was made to protect the Prospective parent more than anything else, for what fate is worse than having to watch your child grow old and die, as you live on?"
"Jesus..." Switch said as he ran a hand through his hair, blowing out another mouthful of smoke "So basically...?"
"Basically , there's nothing I can do about it..."
Switch chuckled and it came out muted, shaken with disbelief as he turned and shuffled on the balcony so he was facing Luna, nothing was said as a sad silence descended on the two of them.
"What a pair are we, huh?" he murmured, Luna chuckled too before replying
"Yes... what a pair..."
Luna stood up slowly from her pillow, gracefully bringing her wings around to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"Forgive me, but it is getting late and I have duties to attend to... If you'll excuse me"
Switch stood up respectfully as Luna started to leave.
"Luna?"
The princess of the moon turned to look at the superhero, not failing to notice that he had used her name rather than the usual formalities he employed, but she was glad of it, finding it felt much more fitting.
"I'm sorry this happened to you, you don't deserve it... and for what it's worth... I think you'd make a great mom"
Luna smiled in sincere gratitude, before reclining her head in acknowledgement.
With nothing more needing to be said, she merely left.
******
The next three months could be described quite easily as eventful...
Switch visited Equestria at least a few days a week, seeing it as a form of vacation from his travels of the multiverse and his duties as a Superhero. A chance to unwind and visit his new equine friends, however, this meant them having to get the train from ponyville, as the general public didn't yet know of the alien creature staying at the palace.
Celestia and Luna quickly grew to see Switch as a close friend as they grew to know him more. His personality showing him to be joyous and carefree, yet serious as the situation demanded. He was confident and charismatic and this made him extremely likeable. To the joy of Twilight he was revealed to be a scientist at heart and they spent many long hours exchanging and discussing scientific theory, to the even greater and more flamboyant joy of Pinkie, he was revealed to love parties in all shapes and forms... as well as showing a penchant for pulling pranks... Much to the annoyance of Celestia, who more often than not found her sugar replaced with salt. Of course, she responded as one of her stature and maturity should in such a situation... by slipping fire pepper seeds into his food.
Over the course of a single night and making use of his natural charm, coupled with copious amounts of alcohol, Switch completely erased any hostility the guards felt for him. And by the time morning came around, Switch could be seen singing drinking songs with several members of the royal guard, the rest having passed out a long time before.
Deciding at this point that Switch no longer deserved a guest quarters in the castle, the Princesses gave him a large circular room in one of the towers, giving him the freedom to do whatever he wished within its walls. Using his powers to bring object from his own universe, Switch built a space that was a complete harmony of living and working. One quarter of the room was walled off with steel partitions and a bed, completely different from the pony variants, was placed within it... A large T.V was added, as well as smooth metal cabinets and wardrobes.
The rest of the space is what commanded the most attention, it was a laboratory blended seamlessly with a workshop. Metallic counters dotted the space, each one holding a different scientific instrument or apparatus, a collection capable of measuring or creating anything. Lockers lined the walls not filled with windows, each holding armour, weapons and gadgets for the Switch's use. Dominating an entire section of wall was a massive computer screen, its processing systems and input hardware fixed into the floor below it. It was from here that Jeeves worked, helping his friend and master with anything he needed, as well as using an automated system to serve refreshments... should the need arise...
It had seemed that any pretence of an unholy war between the two species had been just that... and every pony and human within the castle was looking forward to a brilliant and harmonious future together.
*******
"LUNA!"
"LUNA!!"
Switch's voice echoed off of the inside of the castle walls, carrying through the hallways and archways as he ran through them.
"She's never in her goddamn room..." he murmured to himself "Jeeves? Track her down, please!"
"Of course sir, but this castle is filled with over four hundred bio signatures, and as you thought it best to keep the Princesses DNA off the system... it will take some time...."
"Perfect..."
Mid stride, Switch dissipated into a flash of yellow light, reappearing a second later in the guard barracks. Used to such a thing by now, the three guards sat around a nearby table laying cards didn't so much as flinch.
"Hey guys!" Switch started, causing them all to look up at him and wave in greeting "Any of you seen Princess Luna?"
All of them shook their heads, apologising for their lack of help. Switch sighed in frustration before turning towards the door. Before he disappeared, he turned back around.
"By the way... Silver shield is hiding cards in his mane"
Switch vanished and two of the guards scowled at the third, who grinned sheepishly before diving from the chair and out the door. The other two in hot pursuit.
Switch shifted into the kitchen. "Luna!?... No"
He shifted into the gardens "Luna?!....No!"
Into the observatory "Luna?!"
There she was, plotting her latest constellation ideas on a large blackboard before double checking the proportions of them against the night sky. She set her pen down before turning away from her work.
"Yes, Switch?" she said, clearly not impressed by the loud disruption of her work.
"Luna! I've got it! I've finally found a way to help you!"
Being taken completely by surprise did nothing to help Luna's confusion.
"Help me with what?" she replied, taking a step towards him. He couldn't possibly mean...?
"I've found a way for you to get what you want most! For you to become a mother like you've always wanted!"
The confusion was suddenly cast aside as hope rose within Luna's heart. the possibility of a solution causing her heart to flutter wildly.
"You have?! What is it? Quickly!"
Switch looked into Luna's desperate eyes and smiled widely, both thrilled with himself and for Luna. But deciding it was cruel to keep her waiting for his answer. He spoke...
"Adopt... a human?" Luna replied, smirking as she shook her head in disbelief, any hope she momentarily felt being shattered in the process. The frustration only heightened when Switch nodded furiously, the wide smile not leaving his face.
"Yeah! Think about it, Luna, Its a way for you to become a mother without breaking any tenants!"
"No"
The response was final and serious, and Luna turned around without another word before picking up her chalk and resuming her work on the stars. This caused the smile to slowly drop from Switch's face, he made his way over to where Luna was working before hopping onto a nearby desk. He picked up and random book before opening it to a generic page, leafing through its contents whilst occasionally glancing over at the Princess.
"Why not?" he murmured, keeping his eyes on the book.
Luna, who by now had been doing her best to ignore the Human, sighed in exasperation before almost slamming her chalk back down.
"Do you not remember our conversation, Switch?!" she cried "It is forbidden for Royalty to adopt!"
"Ponies...."
"What?!"
"It is forbidden for Royalty to adopt Ponies... It doesn't say anything about Humans"
Now that gave Luna pause, because it was true. The tenants had never accounted for the arrival of another species from a different universe. Therefore technically, no rules would be broken.... maybe....
"No!" Luna shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts "Its impossible! I don't know the first thing about caring for a human child"
"First rule of the Multiverse!" Switch said as he hopped of the desk, sensing her internal dilemma and seeking to drive the point home. "Nothing is impossible! And I imagine its not that different from raising a foal, right? You feed them, clothe them, change them, make sure they're healthy and happy... it doesn't sound so far apart"
Another good point, Luna realised, before sighing as she brought up the most prevalent and heart breaking reason of all.
"And what about when this human grows old? What if I spend a lifetime loving them just for time to take them away from me? I won't do that, Switch, not to them or myself"
"What if you didn't have too?"
There it was, the one statement that could possibly have awakened some hope within the Princess and it had suddenly been said. It was, however, infuriatingly vague.
"Explain, now!" Again the hope was mixing with frustration and no small amount of fear.
"Come with me..." Switch held out his hand, Luna only stared for a second before putting her hoof into it, there was a yellow flash that filled the entirety of her vision as well as a feeling of sudden weightlessness, before her sight returned and she found herself in the Switch's lab. Thankfully this wasn't the first time she had been shifted, as the first time ones body is converted into displacement energy before being reconstituted into physical matter came with the unfortunate side effect of nausea and severe vomiting... very severe vomiting...
"Now..." Switch said as he left her side and approached the large screen dominating the wall "... This science is relatively new even by multiverse standards... so you may not understand everything I tell you"
"Alright..."
"Okay, Jeeves?"
Upon command, the large screen blinked to life, a single green life stretched across the centre of the black screen.
"Yes, Sir?" the robotic butler replied, the line bouncing and dancing in time with his words.
"Give me a full image feed for the chronochamber"
"Yes, sir"
The line on the screen was then replaced by a crystal clear shot of the inside of a glass chamber, one with a small podium in the centre of it and mechanical tracks set into a gyroospheric pattern around it. It matched a piece of equipment sat in another part of the lab.
"Alright, sorry about this" Switch said to Luna as he suddenly snapped his fingers. There was a short but intense sting in her scalp and a single shimmering strand of her mane appeared in his fingers. Curious to see the point of all this and remembering the warning he did give her, Luna decided to let it slide, settling for a stern glare in his direction.
Switch shifted across the space of his lab, arriving at the machine which had it's interior displayed on the big screen. Gently opening the glass panel lid, he placed the strand of Luna's mane onto the podium inside it before closing and sealing the chamber, which hissed as the vacuum seal expanded within the lid.
He shifted again so that he was close to Luna, before putting on an uncharacteristically serious expression. Luna recognised the look and prepared both herself and her mind for a torrent of otherworldly information.
"Until now..." Switch began, as the lights were suddenly dimmed in the room "... you've assumed that your immortal lifespan is the result of your magical prowess, that your connection to the magic that saturates this land is the reason for your significantly long life..."
"And it isn't?" Luna replied patiently
"Not completely. It certainly plays a factor in your longevity but it is not solely responsible... If it were, anypony with enough magical talent could theoretically greatly expand their life beyond normal limits. Therefore, in terms of you and Tia, it can only come down to biology."
Pressing a finger into the tac-screen mounted on his forearm, Switch changed the large monitor in front of them to show a collection of single cells, each a pale, almost translucent blue.
"These are the cells preserved from the last DNA sample you provided for me... I noticed several things after examining them. Firstly, the cellular coating around every cell is much thicker and dense compared to other ponies, which explains your unnatural strength and resistance to damage. But the really interesting feature is the rate of cellular mitosis. Mitosis is basically-"
"The process of a mother cell doubling its internal chromosomes before dividing into two identical daughter cells"
"You've been reading the material I gave you!!"
"A little in my spare time, although I must say the diagrams on human reproduction where a tad... graphic..."
"Yeah... I told Jeeves not to include them"
"You bloody Liar!"
"Switch, If you could please..."
"Oh! Yeah.... So, yours and Celestia's cells divide and subdivide at a rate faster than any other type of pony and with much less effort and energy usage. This both explains why your are able to heal severe injuries faster than most and is the most likely explanation of your near immortality... therefore if we activate the chronochamber, which-"
"-Suspends the specimen within an isolated tessellation field to simulate the passage of physical time?"
"Look at you, Princess! Exactly, as you can see, the chronochamber has now simulated the passing of three thousand years and the strand of your mane is in perfect condition"
"I understand, Switch, but what I'm failing to see is the relevance to my... problem."
"Bare with me, Princess... You see, if the reason for your longevity is biological, then that means it is by definition hereditary!"
The screen suddenly changed back to its usual green line and the lighting of the room returned to normal, Switch's excitement seemed to virtually spit and pop like hot coals as he continued.
"Last week I visited another universe for the first time, the introduction was much less... eventful than in this one and I managed to land on another planet of humans"
Luna nodded, genuinely curious but also desperate to find out the Switch's point.
"Now I've found and involved myself with dozens of human civilisations, but this one was unique. Unique in the fact that they where ridiculously advanced in molecular biology. One area in particular being especially interesting..."
The large screen changed once again to show a single blue word upon a white background.
"Inplacement?" Luna read aloud, cocking an eyebrow in confusion.
"Yes! Unfortunately, both you and thousands of other people who want a child find that for several reasons, they are unable to... and therefore, society in this universe came up with a unique solution."
An image of a newborn human baby came up on the screen and Luna was unable to resist a small maternal smile. However, even she was able to notice that something seemed... off somehow, almost as if the baby was missing something.
"Blank slates..." Came switch's voice, grabbing her attention once again.
"Blank slates, Infants grown and born composed of the same ninety-nine percent of DNA that all humans share but lacking the one percent that makes us unique. This one percent... this minute section of genetic code is to be retrieved from the very parents wishing to adopt. Taken via imprinting at the moment of first contact between parent and child and grafted into the genetic makeup of the newborn itself... creating a child in the parent's likeness and making what was previously impossible quite achievable. An Adoption started with familiarity and trust. A true implacement"
Luna had to slowly and carefully sit down as she tried to process what the Switch had just explained to her. Scientific theory swirled around her head and information seemed to float around in chunks that desperately wished to be pieced together.
"So... If my immortality is hereditary..." She began slowly
"Yes~" Switch encouraged with a smile
"And the child will take my DNA for its own...."
"Yes~!"
"Then it stands to reason that contact with myself will grant the child some form of immortality!"
"Give her a hand ladies and gentlemen!" Switch cried as sound effects of applause and cheering filled the room, courtesy of Jeeves and several wall mounted speakers, before Luna's heart could swell even further, Switch held out a hand to stop her.
"You know that nothing is guaranteed, Luna, even though the science supports it, we can't rule out the possibility that merging your DNA won't work..."
"Then what do you propose?" Luna said with a frown finally wiping the smile from her face, Switch seemed to consider for a second before answering.
"I'll take that strand of your mane and merge it with a DNA sample from one of the kids, then run it through the Chronochamber, if it holds steady for several thousand years... then that, Princess, that is when you become a mom"
Silence descended upon the rooms as the words sunk in, for Luna, time itself seemed to slow... could it really be true...? could her dream, that for so long she thought impossible, finally be about to come true? Could her second chance finally be delivered to her? She thought of all of these things as she regarded the Alien being in front of her, a young man himself prepared to help her with no thought of reward, a human prepared to trust her with raising with one of his own kind. As she looked up at the screen into the peaceful, sleeping face of a baby human, she realised that it didn't matter what species her child would be, human or pony, her love for it would be as genuine as her love for her sister and her parents that had long since left the world.
He really was a true hero.
It was humbling, and Luna couldn't help but feel deeply honoured at the prospect.
Honoured... and overwhelmingly ecstatic
"Oh Switch!!" Luna cried, elation and pure joy filling her heart as the realisation that her dream could finally be realised started to sink in, she suddenly found herself jumping at Switch, throwing her arms around his neck and practically chocking him as she laughed in pure glee.
"I can be a mother!! I can finally become a mommy!!" Luna yelled and shouted through her laughter, tears streaking their way down her cheeks and matting the fur underneath it.
Switch laughed at her joviality and returned her hug heartily, eventually setting her down and snapping his fingers, the glistening strand of hair appearing within them.
"I'll head over to the birthing universe and conduct the tests, in the meanwhile, I believe a certain sister of yours would be ecstatic to hear about her new potential title"
Luna gasped as she realised she had forgotten all about Celestia
"You are right! why, I will go and inform her right away!"
******
Luna envisioned the many possible reactions of her sister as she skipped and hummed to herself on her way to the grand courtroom. However, never in a million years would she foresee the one she received.
"No"
It was sudden, it was final and it absolutely brokered no argument.
Luna felt her blood run to ice and her throat seize up as her normally kind and loving sister now regarded her with a deadly serious glare, the single menacing word being the only reply given to Luna’s recollection of the afternoon.
“I...I don’t understand, sister?” she murmured after a long pause.
“You don’t?” her sister said as she cocked an eyebrow, the serious frown never leaving her face “Then let me simplify it for you, Luna... There is no way in Tartarus I am letting you adopt and raise an alien from another universe!”
“Wha-? Why?!” Luna gasped, shock and hurt and confusion all numbing her as she looked at her sister in horror
“Why?! You know why, Luna! The tenants? The laws? Or did you forget them completely in your pursuit of motherhood?”
“As I explained earlier, sister...” Luna had now started to raised her voice to match Celestia’s as the tempers of the two sisters started to rise with their voices. “...The tenants don’t apply in this situation!”
“They most certainly do, Luna! All you have done is try to find loopholes and conniving ways of avoiding them, nothing more!”
“Why are you so against this?! Why are you so determined to deny me the one thing that I want?!”
Now that gave Celestia pause, her stony and hostile expression softening for little more that an moment but it was still noticed by her sister. They did nothing but stare at each other as Celestia apparently worked up the courage to reply, her mouth often opening and moving with silent words.
However, as quickly as it arrived the sympathetic expression vanished as Celestia’s face turned back into a frown. She stood up from the table they were sharing and turned to leave.
“We will speak no more of this, Luna, my decision is final...”
She made three steps before she felt it, passing across her coat like a breeze that made the hairs stand on end.
Raw, unfiltered power.
Realising the implications of this, Celestia slowly turned around. When she did, she couldn’t stop her eyes widening in alarm as she saw her sister.
“Your decision?”
The words filled the ballroom with a deep and terrifying rumbling echo, fuelled by the power of the Moon monarch’s hurt and anger. Luna herself was floating off of the ground, her awe inspiring wings stretched to their furthest at either side of her and her mane cutting through the air.
“YOUR DESCISION?!”
The stone walls started to crack with the power of Luna’s voice and she floated downwards and landed so that hers and Celestia’s noses where inches apart, the latter unable to do anything but stare in shocked silence.
“You seem to forget Celestia that we are sisters! We are both princesses! You are not the queen and you are not my mother!! WE ARE EQUALS!”
“Luna-”
“Silence!! I come to you with wondrous news, and you reply to my joy with anger and intolerance! I don’t know when you changed... But I remember my sister relishing, nay, living for the opportunity to teach and nurture young minds. But you are not the mare I remember and you remain convinced you can control me! This will Not Stand! I have been through enough pain and sadness in the last one thousand years to allow a chance like this to slip through my hooves!”
Again Celestia’s mouth was working silently, the angry frown she had now replaced by fearful alarm as her younger sister berated her like a misbehaving school foal. Luna suddenly stepped forward so that their noses where practically touching and their eyes where mere inches apart.
“This is happening, Celestia, So I advise that you get used to it!”
Luna turned from her sister and stormed towards the door, her crackling aura of energy dissipating as she neared it. Just before she left, she slightly turned her head and spoke to her still stationary sister.
“If you interfere with this... Either with myself or with Switch... you will answer to me, sister. You have been warned"
It was then that Luna left the room, the guards on the other side of the door actually breaking their stony facades when they physically flinched at her anger.
Celestia continued to remain still, unable to take her eyes off the door Luna had stormed out of. Never, in all her years, had Celestia felt so overwhelmingly unnerved. Sure, once, centuries ago her sister had tried to imprison her, even kill her when she had become nightmare moon. But time and empathy had eroded any anger or hurt she had felt.
But this time was different, this time she had been berated and lectured in a way very similar to the way she did when her subjects required it. There had been no grief or sadness in Luna's words that could have led her back to darkness, this time their was only unfiltered rage. At both her sister and the laws that bound them both.
Celestia had no doubt whatsoever that Luna meant what she said, if Celestia interfered and stopped this adoption from happening, there was a very high possibility that she would loose her sister forever. Or even worse, that Luna would revert back into the demonic mare that had separated them both in the first place and would once again have to be banished to the moon for another millennia.
Celestia sighed as she came to a haunting and sickening realisation...
This would be happening, and there was nothing she could do about it...
However, her shocked face suddenly became an angry frown as she snorted indignantly.
But that didn't mean she had to like it.
*******
It had been two weeks since the sisters had had their disagreement and the atmosphere around the castle had been visibly affected by it, the two princesses hadn't spoken and single word since and only saw each other when absolutely necessary,
The staff did not go unaffected, the guards seemed to be even more on edge, eyeing everything with more stony suspicion than usual, The cleaning staff rushed to tidy the rooms in order to go home earlier and the food prepared by the chefs lacked its usual unique flair.
The only one unaffected by all this was a seemingly carefree young man, who whistled whilst he walked and cracked jokes when he talked...
"I think Celestia's pissed with me..." Switch called out as he strode into Luna's room without even knocking, something that Luna was much to preoccupied to notice as she gloomily stared out of her favourite window.
"What makes you say this?" she replied after a few seconds.
"Well I haven't seen her much since your little... 'discussion', so I went to talk to her today. Opened the door to her study with my usual gorgeous charm, "Hey, Tia! How's it going!?".... And then she threw a vase at my head..."
"She threw a vase at your head?"
"Yes, Ma'am"
"And you only think she's angry at you"
"Well I didn't want to assume... you'd be surprised at how many ridiculous customs there are out there... So I'm right in saying ponies only throw vases when they're angry"
"Yes, Switch, ponies only throw vases when they're angry"
"Ah... noted..."
"Is their something you wanted? I'm not really in the mood to entertain guests at the moment"
"Ah, well I wasn't sure if you remembered, Princess, but today is the day we're gonna receive the genetic material for your compatibility test?"
Instantly, Luna was jolted from her sulking as she jumped from her seat, going from grumpy to surprised to ecstatic in the space of a second.
"Holy Tartarus! That's today?! Why didn't you come and get me sooner, Switch?!"
"I was busy dodging a porcelain vase, did you know that ponies throw them when they're angry?"
"This is no time for your jokes, Human! To the lab!!"
Luna's horn flared to life and she dissipated in a flash of blue light, presumably to Switch's lab. The superhero himself looked at the space she had just occupied with a neutral expression.
"I mean... it hasn't even arrived yet, but don't let that stop-"
"Genetic material arriving, sir!"
"Well shit... one point to dramatic timing..."
It was then that Switch disapeared with a flash of his own.
******
Switch found Luna shifting on the spot like an excited child as he appeared within the lab, her wide eyes regarding an object she had apparently just seen materialise out of thin air, set in the middle of a designated zone marked out in the lab, a space for all incoming displaced equipment and materials to arrive safely.
The object itself was a large, pear shaped metal container, about two feet tall and wide with a handle on top to help transport it, it was mainly a polished grey metal, but also sported yellow lines running across the joints to complete an all too familiar colour scheme. There was also a large opaque window set into one side that Luna could not see through.
"Alright!" Switch said after a second of silence "Science time..."
Switched stepped forward and lifted the container off the floor, depositing it carefully onto a nearby table. Carefully undoing the latch that held the window closed, he opened it to an angle that blocked Luna from seeing the inside of the housing, before she could crane her head to get a better look, he withdrew a small, envelope sized object, closing the window when he did.
"That's it?" Luna said in disbelief as she regarded the small metallic box in Switch's hands.
"Nope..." Switch replied as he opened one end of the box and tilted it, a second later a small chemistry tube filled with what could only be a small sample of blood fell into his hand. "... this is..."
"That's it?!"
"Yeah, its only a sample, Princess, what where you expecting?"
"Then why did it arrive in this huge metal pear?"
"Believe it or not, crossing a physical boundary between universes can be ever so slightly... completely detrimental... for biological matter, now I have bio augmenting implants in my muscles to counter the effects, but this..." he held up the tube with the blood in "... doesn't. Hence the huge metal pear"
"I see" Luna said as she processed the new information, yet more in a sea of knowledge she had learned regarding something completely unknown to her.
"Now..." Switch said with uncharacteristic seriousness "... This is the moment of truth, Luna, are you ready?"
With a large breath to smother the nervousness and apprehension in her core, Luna nodded
Switch nodded back before snapping his fingers, for the third time another stand of Luna's mane appeared in his fingers. He gave another snap and a small petri dish materialised onto the table in front of him. Popping the lid to the small sample tube, he upended the small amount of blood into it before slowly and carefully lowering Luna's hair into it.
Using her sensitive Alicorn hearing, Luna began to heard a faint, almost inaudible sizzling coming from the dish, Switch held the hair within the blood for a few seconds before withdrawing it, discarding the hair into the nearest trash bin.
"Jeeves, full analytical scan please"
A small red light appeared from one of the implement suspended above the work table, shining onto the blood for less than a second before the large screen exploded into a series of charts, diagrams and text. Switch crossed his arms and brought one hand up to rest on his chin, a sign that Luna had learned meant he was deep in thought.
"Red cell count?" he said to the room.
"Unchanged" the room replied with Jeeves' voice
"White cell count?"
"Unchanged"
"Oxygen carrying efficiency?"
"Increased by thirty six percent"
"Really? That's cool... Blood iron count?"
"Unchanged"
"Now..."
Switch lent forward to glare intently at the screen, taking a breath to prepare himself for the most vital question of all.
"DNA merge viability?"
There was silence for a few long terrible moments as information flashed across the screen, Luna hardly daring to breathe as scientific information far out of her grasp. Switch doing nothing but staring intently at the screen.
Finally, there was a small beep as Jeeves finished his calculations
"Ninety six percent"
Switch let out the breath he had been holding and looked over to Luna
"Ninety six? Is that... good?" Luna asked, dreading any answer he would give, however, she suddenly felt her heart start to pound within her chest as Switch smiled and nodded.
"That's really good, Luna... between two completely different species... I've never seen numbers this high"
"Truly?! Then does this mean-??"
"Wait..."
Luna stopped her revelry before it truly began to look at Switch in confusion, in response he motioned over to a forgotten but vital piece of equipment slotted amongst the others.
The Chronochamber
"We don't know if any of this will work unless we run the sample"
"Then please don't dally! I have to know, Switch"
"Alright.."
With a tense and almost sombre air of ceremony, Switch carefully lifted the petri dish with its valuable cargo before carrying it over to the chronochamber, depositing it inside on the plinth. The glass door was sealed shut and a mechanical whirring filled the air as the machine turned on.
"Alright, Jeeves, start the chamber. Incremental years sped by a factor of five"
"Of course, Sir, and might I add, Princess Luna, I wish you the best of Luck"
"Thank you, Jeeves"
Luna found herself staring at the small puddle of blood within the glass dish. Staring at technology that wouldn't have existed in her own wildest dreams before a human hero found her world. She found herself praying to any deity that would listen as a blue glow filled the Chronochamber.
Silence filled the room as neither human nor pony dared to speak, single seconds turned to tens then dozens before just as quickly as it had started, the humming died down and the machine once again grew still.
Luna looked from Switch to the machine with wide eyes, feeling a nervous sweat start to form as no explanations were given, no indication to the outcome of the experiment.
"Switch?!" she cried, searching for something.... anything!
Switch didn't reply straight away, his eyes remained glued to the chronochamber and his mouth was set into a neutral line, when he did reply it was muted, almost in disbelief.
"Nothing happened..."
Luna felt her breath seize in her throat and her heart break into fragments as the Hero's words reverberated within her head. Nothing? Nothing?! The first shred of hope she had felt in a dozen lifetimes was dashed upon the jagged rocks of reality.
A sob left her mouth before she could stop it, one quickly joined by another as grief overwhelmed the princess. She spun away from this equipment that had given her belief, wanting nothing more than to return to her chambers and never come out.
"I should have known!! I should have known it was too good to be true!! I should have seen that this was never going to work! That I would never get a chance to be truly happy again!"
Luna had worked herself into a frenzy, tears pouring from her eyes and her every breath emerging as a strangled sob. A terrible state of mind that mirrored one she had been in a thousand years prior, a thought that didn't help in the slightest. A sudden yellow light filled her vision as Switch suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Luna! Luna!" he said quickly, holding his hands out flat to calm the Princess down, looking her in the eyes as he placed his hands on her shoulders, his concerned expression and gentle manner managing to calm her down enough for her to listen to him.
"Luna..." he said again, his characteristic smile returning.
"Nothing. Happened."
Her heartbroken expression turned to confusion, although his smile managed to ease her heartache, it wasn't until he spoke again that it was numbed completely.
"We just simulated the passing of six thousand years! and Nothing Happened!"
Everything in Luna's world shrank down to those words, she tried to pull a conclusion from the statement but found that she couldn't, her mind refusing to cooperate.
"Then that means?" she whispered
"It means you better get ready for a lot of sleepless days, Princess..."
"Because you're going to be a mom..."
Luna blinked once. Twice. Three times.
"Once more..." was all she managed to mumble
"I'm sorry?"
"Say that once more, please"
"Your going to be a mom, Luna"
The words gave her pins and needles as they entered her ears. And when they did, that's when Luna broke...
Her sadness, her overwhelming joy, the years of isolation, the frustration she felt with her sister, the relief that her waiting was finally over... all these feelings mixed together into an avalanche of emotion that could only escape in one way...
She cried.
Luna broke down sobbing in a complete, crazy mixture of sadness and joy, releasing all of her emotions at once as she wailed in the middle of Switch's lab, to any of her subjects she would have made an almost pitiful sight. Princess Luna, the monarch of the moon and one of the all powerful Alicorns governing Equestria, wailing like a foal. To Switch however, she was the most normal being in existence, he couldn't imagine anyone going through what she had whilst keeping up it so well together.
And so he did the only thing he could, he gently moved his hands to her back and pulled Luna in close, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting embrace as she cried. Luna didn't resist, finding the small amount of comfort a welcome island in a sea of confusion.
They stayed like that in silence, Luna sobbing into Switch's shoulder and him remaining silent as he gently stroked her back in a gesture of comfort. If anyone else had been present, they would have sworn they saw a single tear fall from the bottom of his mask to splash silently on the floor.
When the crying had finally died down and was replaced with sniffling, Switch gently pushed Luna away from him to arms length.
"Better?" he asked quietly.
"Yes... I feel better" Luna replied, bringing a hoof up to wipe away the tear tracks that had matted her fur.
"Good, now... no more tears, no more sadness, no more misery. This is the first day of the rest of your life. Yours, and your child's... now when do you wanna meet them?"
A glowing, butterfly filled excitement filled Luna's soul as she replied instantly.
"As soon as is physically possible, Switch, today if it can be done"
"Today it is!"
Switch stood and turned to the metallic container the sample had arrived in, hoisting it off the table as if it weighed nothing, he turned to the marked out arrival space and placed the container within it.
It was then that Switch seemed to freeze, a frown filling his face as he seemed to debate something within himself, he turned back to Luna who looked at him with confusion.
"I have to know, Luna..." he said, staring at her now with what could only be seen as suspicion, he stepped closer to her so that they stood eye to eye
"When this happens... when I bring this kid to you, this all becomes real. This child will be helpless, in an alien world with no one but you to depend on. You will need to nurture and protect them, to put their needs above your own, to make sacrifices and endure heartache to see them grow and thrive. When I bring this child to you, your dreams become very real... make no mistake when I say I'm trusting you with the life of one of my own kind... with the life of a human. If something goes wrong It isn't just on you, its on me and I'm not sure I can live with that if it does... and so I ask you, Princess Luna, Alicorn monarch of the moon and Princess of Equestria..."
"... Is this completely what you want?"
Luna regarded the human for a few seconds in silence, when she spoke there was no hostility in her words. Only pure honesty, the kind that couldn't be bought or faked.
"Its all I've ever wanted, Switch, now don't ever ask me that again"
The answer brought the smile back to Switch's face and he chuckled.
"Its all I needed to hear"
Switch suddenly lent back down and picked up the pear shaped container again before setting it down onto the table in the exact same spot as before, only this time, he opened the opaque window and stepped aside, motioning towards the inside of the container.
Guessing what the motion implied, Luna slowly made her way towards the container, slowly and meticulously lowering her head to peer inside. It was a moment she would remember for the rest of her life...
Inside the container, lay within a space much larger than Switch had led her to believe, was a small baby human. Sleeping peacefully wrapped in a large white bundle of fabric, it matched the picture she had seen weeks prior and Luna found the maternal instincts she had craved for so long returning with a vengeance. She reached forwards with her hooves, being the gentlest she had ever been, she delicately slid them underneath the child and lifted it through the opening and out into the light.
Luna found herself crooning uncontrollably, pulling the baby close and cradling it in her forelegs, taking in every detail of its tiny little face... its cute little nose and its adorable little eyes, she spotted a symbol, a circle with a diagonally pointing arrow, printed in black amongst the white of the fabric, it wasn't a symbol used on her world but she recognised it nonetheless thanks to the material Switch had given her.
"A colt... he's a little colt..." she said with a heartfelt smile
"Yeah, they don't reveal the gender until you adopt them, just like in nature I suppose?" Switch replied
"I've always wanted a Colt"
"Remember, Luna, you need to make contact"
Luna nodded as she remembered the conditions behind this adoption, so with a deep breath to steady herself, Luna raised her free hoof and gently brushed it across the baby's cheek, instantly she felt a pulling sensation spreading across her hoof and again the almost silent sizzling sounded out.
The change was as instantaneous as it was astounding.
The first thing that changed was the hair... its white and wispy strands suddenly exploded in both thickness and colour, growing out across the baby's head like grass and even extending down to the back of his neck, suddenly resembling a pony's mane the same royal blue colour as Luna's. The tip of his little nose flattened slightly, reminding Luna of a pony's snout and finally his skin seemed to pale ever so slightly, not enough to look remotely sickly but enough to contrast nicely with his new mane like hair.
Luna only felt her heart swell as she took in the newly transformed child, Her newly transformed child, She saw herself in this child in more ways than one now and that made her love him all the more.
"He is cute isn't he" Switch said with a wide grin on his face.
"He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life" Luna replied without taking her eyes off the baby
"He's going to need a name, Princess"
Luna looked over to Switch slyly
"Any suggestions, Uncle Switch?"
"Ah... lets leave that until he can talk at least, eh? I think I just felt myself age a millennia..."
"Hmm...." Luna mused, ignoring Switch's comment "How about.... Starlight Destiny?"
"Jesus, Luna, give the poor little bugger a chance!!"
"Then what would you suggest?"
"How about... Blue?"
"I'm not going to name my child after a colour, Switch, have some imagination!"
"Alright... how about....Jericho?"
"Sounds a little hostile, what about? Orion?"
"Nah he doesn't look like an Orion... What about Maximus?"
"Ursa major?"
"Samuel?"
"Ursa Minor?"
"LEROY!"
"Not a chance in - Wait... what are these?"
Luna motioned to a series of letters and numbers, printed down the edge of the cloth
"That's an ID code, so they give the right baby to the right people"
Luna read the wording printed on the cloth to herself.
C4R V3R
Luna regarded that random assortment of letters an numbers and found something, something that almost seemed fated and natural, a sign from a mysterious power that brokered no argument. Therefore, Luna looked down at her new son... and decided...
