".....But we're definitely something" A group of five disgruntled adventurers are each dropped into separate areas of the planet Equestria is found. Of course, they are very annoyed at this.
Five 'heros' from the land of Haneton (pronounced Han-A-Ton, the locals are adamant about this) are rather unceremoniously dumped onto different parts of the world called Equis. None of them are all too happy about this. Their response? Much calmer than you would expect, this kind of thing happens a lot to them. Now, they are going to do all they can to meet up. Probably. Some of them can barley stand each other.
This story is my very first! I literally only made this account today! You wouldn't believe how long I've been lurking here.... Anyway! This story crosses the world of MLP with the characters from the latest game of D&D me and my freinds played (with permission, of course). Almost entirely homebrew as well! The characters are all pretty bad people by nature apart from, like, two (you'll see which when the story begins).
"Would you both shut up for ONCE!" Came a shout filled with rage from the only full human in the colorful cast wandering through the forest near the city of Ranmoria. In his defense, the two his anger was directed at had been arguing all day.
"Yeah, come on guys. This is a little ridiculous now." Said a much smaller, more feminine and rather young voice belonging to the little ice elf of on the team. Normally she would try and mediate any disagreements in the group but it appeared as though even her legendary patience had finally been broken.
"I'll be quiet when this asshole stops treating me like dirt!" Yelled the avian figure. It had an extremely feminine figure that was covered in skin, or rather feather, tight leather armor with two small but obviously sharp daggers held in her hands. She was an Otir. They were very rare to see outside of the floating Islands of Gorsum.
"I will be silent when this urchin finally takes some responsibility for her money!" This voice came from a figure who, upon first glance, looked human but with closer inspection his gills, sharp teeth and webbed hands became more apparent. This figure was dressed similar to a post american civil-war gentlemen, cane and bowler hat included. He was also wearing a mechanical monocle which appeared to give him a HUD on his left eye. The one thing that made this man seem dangerous was the small, triple barreled shotgun resting in a holster on his hip.
"How about you both mind your own damn business before I put you both on the ground!" The first voice roared yet again, stopping and turning to stare the two troublemakers down. This man was arguably the most intimidating of the group. He towered a full half-head above most of the others and was dressed in a leather duster, under which metal plates could be seen, with a bandanna covering half his face and a wide brimmed hat covering his head. One eye was milked over and a massive claw scar running through it. His hand cannons glinted in their holsters and his hand was eerily close to his favored knife.
"NO! I mean *ahem* no. Violence isn't the answer here, Ivan." The small Ice Elf said. She wore robes covered in glowing runes, showing her magical prowess. A hood covered her head but it did not obstruct view from her face and her eyes, glowing white and illuminating the area around them.
"I know your young, Elincia, so you won't know this yet but every so often you'll come across folk who only respond if violence is used. Its simply unfortunate that we're stuck with two of them."
"I don't think that's unfortunate." The final figure finally spoke. This one wore leather armor and a large cloak. Two short swords rested on his hip and a bow with a quiver of arrows was on his back. Nothing could be seen of his face except the green glow shining from his eyes and the large pointed ears coming from the side of his hood. "In fact, I think its a good thing. That stubbornness of theirs coupled with your ability to direct it has proven to be a boon time and again. Remember Malkoa?"
"Ugh, don't remind us of that vile barbarian, Alejandro. Please." said the half-human.
"Whatever you want, Swede."
"What's the matter, Swede? Did big nasty, Malkoa get dirt on your fancy clothes?" The avian said, sarcasm leaking from her tone.
"As though your one to talk, poultry. Did he not burn your wing feathers off, miss Pajara Voel? came the response.
"POULTRY!? Why I oughta claw your eyes out for th-"
A loud gun shot interrupted Pajara's threat. All heads snapped over to Ivan, holding a still smoking revolver into the air. He made eye contact with each member of the party before he spoke to them in a slow voice that barley holding onto not tearing into each one.
"I am NOT in the mood for this horseshit today. All four of you are going to shut up for the next hour of the journey or I'm going to lay whoever starts any more arguments out and leave them tied to a tree until I decide to come back for them. Don't make me do that because you know that I most certainly will. Is that clear?"
All the others had looks of shame. Each was rubbing their hands, heads or holding their hands behind their back. Ivan put up with lots of their personal issues and helped keep each of them on the straight and narrow. He had earned the nickname of 'Team Dad' for a reason. Never before had he gotten legitimately angry at them. Angry Ivan was a scary thing to see. Just imagine a 6 foot 2 inches tall, 58 year old professional monster hunter shouting at you with a rage never seen before. Wouldn't you be scared, too?
"Sorry, Ivan." They all said at the same time.
"Good. Now get moving, were in Vampire territory and I want to be in Ranmoria before sundown." Ivan reloaded his weapon before placing it back into its holster. He turned and began marching down the road, the others not far behind.
Round about two hours later the group was allowed to speak again. The sun had begun to set and the bloodfiend vampires would be on the prowl soon enough. All members of the group knew this and had picked up their pace as they all knew what a hungry bloodfiend swarm could do to them. Even with their top of the line equipment, extensive combat experience, and strangely efficient unit cohesion in a fight then would be torn apart and eaten.
"Wait," said Elincia very quickly and with purpose. "Somethings happening."
"What is it? Should we be worried?" asked Pajara, worry in her voice. She didn't like being taken off guard.
"Magic. Lots of it. Extremely concentrated."
"Where?" asked Alejandro, his eyes looking inquisitive.
"Underneath us."
"What?" said Swede.
A large, blue, swirling vortex opened up beneath them and each fell in. The portal closed and the area was plunged into silence.
Ivan woke and immediately rose into a sitting position, both revolvers unholstered and scanning the area for possible hostile entities. When nothing was spotted he stood and looked over his surroundings. He was in the mountains."How the hell did I get here?"
It was then he noticed that he was alone.
"Alright, Where the fuck are you guys? Pajara, if this is one of your pranks then first off, how did you get Swede to agree and second what did you put in my drink?" No response came. The amused smile he had left and turned to a worried scowl. "Pajara? Swede? Alejandro? Elincia? Where are you?" Again, no response. Ivan sighed. "Shit." he whispered to himself.
"What the heck are you supposed to be?"
Ivan spun around, guns pointed at whomever had just creeped up on him. It was a bird......thing. Not an Otir like Pajara. It was on four legs for one.
"Me? What about you? I don't think I've ever seen anything like you before."
The creature looked confused, raising what should have been an eyebrow "I'm a Griffin, ya dweeb. Names Gilda. Now, what and who are you, and what are you pointing at me?"
Slowly, Ivan lowered his weapon and answered the 'Griffin' creature "I'm a Human. My name is Ivan and that was a very dangerous weapon. Where am I? And have you seen any others like me?"
She didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that she could have had her head blown off at any point within the last 15 seconds.
"Nope. Your the first Hyooman I've ever seen. You look hungry, follow me." Gilda turned and began walking up the mountain. Ivan's stomach rumbled and he began to follow. If this creature tried anything then he would easily put it down.
"Not all of them are Humans. Also, where are we going?" Ivan questioned.
"We're heading to Griffinstone, the home of the Griffins. Only reason I'm out here is cause I heard a weird noise and then watched you fall out of some weird hole. Also, don't bother asking why I'm helping you, I'm not sure myself."
"So the others are somewhere else, then." Ivan whispered to himself. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pajara was waking at the same time, just she was on a bed and looked to be on board a ship of some kind. "Umm......HELLO?" she shouted. She heard a crashing sound, followed by squawking. The door opened and a green bird man walked in. He wasn't an Otir. She didn't even know there were other birdfolk.
"Your awake, good. The Captain was getting worried." The stranger said, entering the room. "Come on," he said, helping her out of the bed. It appeared these people had the decency to leave her clothes on while she was unconscious, not like that one werewolf sex cult. She was lucky that the others had been close by when that little event had gone down and nothing bad had happened. Hopefully, she wouldn't need help here. "Lets get you to the captain."
"The captain?" she asked. Leaving the cabin she was in, she found herself on an airship. It was high above the clouds and gave no indication of where she was.
"Yes, the captain. Captain Celaeno commands this ship and wanted to talk to you when you woke up." The bird person in front of her informed. Another one of the not-Otirs landed in front of them, having just jumped from the crow's nest. This one looked female and was wearing an impressive hat. It also had a peg-leg made out of some kind of diamond. She began talking.
"I'm Captain Celaeno. This is my ship. How did you get on board?"
Elincia was cold. She hadn't been cold, truly cold in a while. For the briefest second she though she was home again, in the Yakaza mountain range. Then the events that brought her to this situation came back and her spirits sank. Getting up, she found herself in a field of freshly fallen snow. In the distance was a city that looked to be made out of crystal. Coming from it was a small fleet of flying chariots. It was here that she froze. These were unknowns.
Normally she would try to use peaceful means when meeting someone new. She would do that now but it looked like whoever these people are, they were bringing lots of soldiers with them. That could only mean that they wished harm on her.
She'd spent so long thinking that she hadn't noticed her subconscious had decided for her. She also hadn't noticed that the chariots had landed. A tap on the ice shield she had formed around herself brought her back to the now. A pink unicorn with wings was looking at her through the magic barrier.
"Would you mind lowering the shield? I just want to talk. I promise."
"How do I know that, huh?" Elincia demanded, slightly shaking with terror. She had never been alone for so long.
"How about we start with introductions? My name is Cadence and I'm the Princess of the Crystal Empire." The pink horse said with a small yet friendly smile. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alejandro was in a desert. That much was obvious. The sand surrounding him seemed to go on forever. Well, except for the spire in the distance. That was covered in many different plants and was the obvious place for the wood elf to make his way toward.
Wood Elves had the ability to turn into their spirit animals. Alejandro can turn into a dire wolf. Taking his secondary form, he began to charge toward the strange building with the hope that the locals were friendly or at least tolerated Elves. It was rare to find accepting species since the colony war. Granted it was their own fault (attempted genocide of all non-Elves would cause mass amounts of racism in the rest of the races).
At the half-way point he was intercepted by a strange bug-horse-moose hybrid. To stop it from possibly attacking him he felt it would be good to retake his previous form.
"Woah!" Yelled a confused voice. "Uh.........You, creature! State your purpose in the changeling lands!"
"Just a lonely traveler, good sir. Looking for my lost companions. Mayhaps, I can speak with whoever is in charge and figure out where I currently am?" The creature gave him a suspicious look before indicating a 'follow' motion with its head. It turned and began walking back to its.....castle? Hive? What does one call that thing?
"My name is Alejandro. Might I know yours, my friend?"
The creature groaned before responding "I'm Pharynx and I'm not your friend. Why do all the outsiders think I'm their friend? When we get there you'd better keep those swords and that bow where they are. The changeling Kingdom might be reformed but it doesn't take kindly to outside threats."
Mr Yuri Swede (preferring to only go by his last name) was an aristocrat, a cold-blooded capitalist and a cut-throat business man. He had gained a reputation for only caring about money and despised anyone who had less than a thousand gold coins in the bank. He was also currently falling from the sky. There was only one reasonable thing to do now. He screamed a scream of shocked fear as he fell closer and closer to a city hanging off of a cliff.
After oh, fifteen seconds or so of falling he finally hit the ground. Luckily, a building cushioned his fall. Crashing through the glass ceiling of what looked like a palace from above.
Mr Swede was able to remain coherent long enough to see a large, white horse like creature look at him in worry. He was also able to croak out a pathetic "ow" before being knocked out.
Princess Celestia had her guard carry the (what she can only assume is) human to the infirmary. It was very lucky that none of the nobles were petitioning at that time or they would have been crushed immediately. Celestia knew she'd need some help with this and began to write a letter, beginning in the same way she had been for almost eight years now:
Dear Twilight, An issue has arisen and I must meet with you as soon as possible. The fate of Equestria may be at stake. Please try to keep this quiet, the last thing we need now is to incite panic in the citizenry. Celestia
Swede's eyes fluttered open slowly. The feeling in most of his body was also returning, mainly in his arms and legs. His ears were greeted by a strange beeping noise. When he was finally able to open his eyes they were assaulted by a ridiculous amount of light. He groaned and attempted to raise a hand to his head but it was held back by some kind of wire filled with blood. For a second he thought some dastardly villain had captured him and was harvesting his blood for some evil plot. That was until he was able to gather his thoughts and remember that this was a new medical technique that some of the larger cities in Haneton had begun using.
His head turned to the door and he watched what looked like a unicorn walk into the room. It was wearing a white jacket of some kind and was reading something on a clipboard. It didn't look like it had noticed he was awake. Swede cleared his throat to get the unicorn's attention. It raised its gaze from the paper and stared at him with a shocked expression for a solid 10 seconds.
Swede broke the awkward silence with a friendly "Hello!" That appeared to snap the creature out of its stupor and it responded in a male voice.
"H-hi? Um...How are you awake right now? You should have been in that coma for another month at least!"
"I...don't know. Begging your pardon, good....Doctor?" At the unicorn's nod, swede continued. "Might I know your name?"
The unicorn seemed hesitant but complied. "My name is Doctor Sawbones. Can I get your name? For the medical record?"
"Of course, I'm Yuri Swede but I'd much prefer being addressed by my last name."
Sawbones wrote the name down on the paper then said something about fetching the princess to speak with him and left. Swede sighed, hopefully this Princess can answer some of his questions. He had plenty.
Celestia was sat in her office. It was finally time for her break. She was in the middle of devouring a rather large slice of Banofee cream cake. Her assistant, Raven Inkwell, had told her that if she would have to change her diet soon or face the consequences of her choice in food. She nearly dropped the piece on her fork when the royal physician, Doctor Sawbones, slammed her door open and began yelling about someone waking up.
"Sawbones? Sawbones, calm down. Get your breath, use your words. Whose woken up?" She asked, using her usual motherly tone in an attempt to calm the obviously panicking medical professional.
Sawbones took some deep breathes then responded to his Princess. "Th-the creature that crashed through the throne room roof has woken up. I came to get you to speak with him, like you asked."
Celestia's eyes widened. It shouldn't have been possible for anything to be awake after a fall like that. On top of that, Twilight wasn't even in Canterlot yet, nevermind the Palace. It looked like Celestia had to begin talking with her new guest sooner than originally expected and by herself. Well, better now than later.
"Take me to his room, Sawbones. Lets see if we can find out anything about him."
The door to Swede's room opened and in walked the large white horse that he'd seen before he passed out on the floor. This must be the Princess.
"Hello! My name is Yuri Swede, I'd bow but I'm currently a bit.......restrained." He began. The horse let out a chuckle and sat down in the cushioned seat next to the bed.
"I wouldn't expect you too anyway. Honestly? I find it very uncomfortable."
"I can imagine. So, I expect we both have some questians that the other may have answers too."
"Indeed. Would you like to go first? Or shall I?"
Swede thought for a moment. This Princess was unlike the other royals he had dealt with back in Haneton. She seemed much more......kind and caring then the ones he was used to. Perhaps he should change his usual strategy.
"Might I go first, highness? You do have me at a disadvantage in this situation."
The Princess smiled and nodded. Swede began simply enough.
"Well, starting simple is always good. What's your name and what is my current location?" Swede asked while looking around the room. The window showed he was in a city and likely an important one if a member of the royalty had a castle within it. The architecture also looked regal. Everything appeared to be made out of some kind of marble with very high quality wood making up everything else.
"I am Princess Celestia and you are in the Royal infirmary of Canterlot Castle, in the city of Canterlot. Canterlot is also the capital city of the Principality of Equestria. Might I know how you arrived here? You did crash through my throne room ceiling."
Swede laughed then explained that he and his friends had been traveling to a city to stay the night before moving on. He also spoke about how the strange blue portal had sucked all five of them into it. He asked if Celestia could tell him if any news of their whereabouts was found as it was obvious that they hadn't all been dropped in the same place. Celestia, of course, accepted the request. Soon after the questions turned to how things are in their respective worlds. Both Swede and Celestia were shocked at how different their respective planes of existence were. Swede was unable to believe that any place could not be constantly fighting itself and Celestia couldn't bare to think about the amount of suffering the people of Haneton had to go through on a daily basis.
"If things are as bad as you describe in your home then perhaps it is good that you have arrived here." Celestia said, sadness filling her voice and her head looking down.
"I'm inclined to agree with you Princess. Some members of my group may not though. For three of them, violence is their life. They know nothing more and are probably going to look for a way back." Swede spoke with pity for those he was thinking of. He didn't think he'd ever have pity for Pajara but apparently she had grown on him.
"Anyway, I'm sure you have many duties to attend to and I need my rest. Perhaps we can talk again some other time?" Swede said, turning to look out the window.
"Indeed. I will be here tomorrow with my former student, Twilight Sparkle. She will have many questions so you should probably prepare yourself."
Celestia walked to the door and left. Perhaps now she can finish her cake. She had much to think on, as well.
The walk to 'Griffinstone' was not nearly as long as Ivan expected. Apparently, Gilda was the only one to hear the noise of that portal. Pop-Smack, she described it as. The entrance to Griffinstone was a large gate which had been broken many years ago with no guards or defenses of any kind. To Ivan this was incredibly foolish as any evil doer could just wander in. Then again, he doubted anyone would try to attack a city of natural predators located at the top of a mountain.
"So you've got no idea how you got up here? What, did you get blind drunk or something?" Asked Gilda, with a very confused voice and a raised eye feather. She walked into the town and headed for one of the weird tree huts on the other side of town.
"For a moment, I thought so. Now? Not as much. Any idea where the rest of my group might be?"
Ivan was looking around and noticed that the locals were staring at him. Ivan didn't like that. They were also whispering. Ivan didn't like that, either. Before Gilda could respond to his question he stopped, turned around and shouted.
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL STARING AT!? WHAT'S SO INTERESTING!? IF YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM THEN YOU'D BETTER SPEAK UP RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"
The locals all stared at him. Each looked shocked. Some movement from the crowd caught Ivan's eye as a blue griffin, shorter than the rest, pushed to the front and spoke up.
"Dude, no-griffs got a problem. We're just wondering where you got that wicked scar from!"
Ivan was stunned. Every where he'd ever been his scar had done nothing but disgust and frighten people. This Griffin, who couldn't have been older then 15 or 16 from his size and physical stance wanted to know how he got it? Not only that but all the others did as well? That was a new reaction and not one he was expecting.
"You want to know.......how I got my eye ripped out?"
"It was ripped out!?" The little Griffin excitedly yelled while bringing his claws to his beak and using his wings to hover a bit above the ground. Ivan looked the kid up and down before responding.
"What's your name?"
"Gallus!"
"Do you want to hear the story, Gallus?"
"Heck yeah!"
Ivan looked back at Gilda with the unspoken question lingering between them. She nodded before continuing on her way. Ivan motioned for Gallus to follow them. The rest of the Griffins went about their day in that usual Griffin manner.
"Ya know, I kinda want to hear that story as well. So when are you gunna tell us?"
"When we're somewhere private. I don't like talking about it."
Gilda looked back at Gallus who was following around four or five steps behind them. She looked back at Ivan and told him about how Gallus was a bit of a trouble maker and it probably wouldn't be any good if Ivan had the young Griffin following him around. Ivan explained that in his experience, some scary stories and a little respect was the best way to fix a delinquent's attitude. Gilda seemed skeptical but accepted the reasoning.
The three of them entered Gilda's house. Ivan and Gallus sat in the front room. Well, Ivan attempted to sit down but it was made difficult because of the fact that the chair was made for a quadruped and not a Human. Gilda had gone to retrieve a sandwich for Ivan. When she came back Ivan began the story of how he had lost his eye.
"Well, I should probably give you some information on my life before I get to this," he said before gesturing at his eye "I was born in the city of Cold-Forge. It was a dark, wet, polluted city but it was home. It was there that I learned to hunt and kill the creatures of the night. You will likely know them as werewolves and vampires. I despise them. More than anything else. I lost my eye to an alpha werewolf named Lycan. That was some years later. Before that I and my close friend Aninalda founded a guild of hunters. We called ourselves the Golden Blade,"
He was interrupted by Gallus letting out an awed whoa before apologizing and laughing awkwardly.
"I and a hand full of my fellows had tracked the beast that took my eye to the Bahal forest. We spent two whole weeks in that forest and in that time Lycan slaughtered my soldiers. We went in as a group of 38 and only I left. It had saved me for last and was determined to feast on me. He'd caught me off guard and disarmed me. If I hadn't had my trusty dagger then when it lunged to tear my head off then I would have lost much more. It took my eye and then I took its life. I kicked it in the head and went for my guns. I let it bleed out in that clearing, calling for a pack which would not come,"
Ivan had adopted a thousand yard stare through his telling of the event. Then a smile graced his lips. He leaned back and opened his long coat, revealing a thick layer of white fur on its inside.
"And the bastard has been keeping me warm ever since."
Gallus looked completly mesmurised. He was quiet for a while before exclaiming 'cool!' and rushing to feel the fur in Ivan's coat. Gilda seemed just as focused before shaking her head and chuckling.
"Maybe your not all that much of a dweeb after all. You've not got anywhere to crash tonight, do you? Want to stay here? I've got a spare bed."
Ivan nodded his head and thanked Gilda for her hospitality. Gallus demanded another story from the Human. Ivan laughed before delving into another tale of heroics.
That night, Ivan slept. As with most nights he kept one eye open, watching for his most hated enemies. He knew that they likely only existed within books hear if the reactions of his audience's reactions were any indication. Old habits died hard though and it was for his own piece of mind. This had saved his life on more than one occasion. He did not know it but it would save his life that night as well.....
Cadence's smile grew at the fact that she was able to, at least, get a name from the strange creature in front of her. It seemed very young and quite possibly terrified. Cadence had to try and calm her. At least she assumed it was a her.
"Ok," said Cadence "Why don't you lower that shield. We aren't going to hurt you."
Elincia looked the Cadence up and down then directed her attention to the soldier who appeared to be the highest ranked. His armor was gold and purple and his helmet had the largest plume. She wasn't the most experienced when it came to anything non-magical and non-Ice Elf but she was able to work out that the one with the nicest looking armor was usually the one in charge.
He appeared to understand what she wanted and had the rest back away from her. Elincia took a deep breath and lowered her shield.
"I trust you. Please be nice people."
"You don't need to worry about that, the crystal ponies are as nice as they come. As their Princess, I kind of have to be just as nice,"
Cadence took a step closer and continued speaking.
"I've already said this but my name is Cadence, Princess of the Crystal Empire, and this is my husband, Shining Armor." She said, gesturing at the officer who smiled in response. He stepped forward and continued where Cadence left off.
"You must be freezing out here. We should get you back to the city and get you warmed up. Come on, you can stay in the castle until you figure out what your doing." Shining Armor spoke with a warm smile.
"Actually, this is my ideal temperature but I wouldn't mind going inside."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The group arrived at the castle. The ponies had stayed relatively quiet through the ride and Elincia was fine to meditate in that time. When they landed she and the royals were led to a large dining hall where she was given a mug of hot cocoa and a blanket. She denied the blanket as she didn't want to be too warm. That would kill her.
"If this isn't too forward can I ask what you are? and why you seem to not like warmth all that much?" asked the Princess, sipping from a cup of tea.
"Its perfectly fine. My people are extraordinarily rare. I expect questions every time I meet someone new. I am an Ice Elf. My species have a natural resistance to the cold and too much heat will kill us almost instantly." She explained.
The two ponies were taken aback by that comment. Too much heat would kill her? What kind of existence was that? Neither realized that too much heat would any living thing. Also, who just comes out and says they might die if the heating is a degree too hot?
Elinicia looked down at her mug of hot chocolate. Where were the others? She had to get to them. They'd become her anxiety safety blanket and she had to get back as soon as she possibly could.
"Are you alright?" questioned Shining Armor "You've been staring at that drink for like two minutes now."
Elincia raised her head to look at the two worried royals. She must have been daydreaming for a while there.
"I'm fine. I'm just wondering where my friends are. We all went through the same portal but they didn't land in the same place as me. They could be in danger o-or already d-dead!"
"Calm down, calm down. You said you had friends with you? Maybe we can help out. Are they the same species as you?" said Cadence rushing over to calm the panicking Elf-girl.
Elincia took some breaths before responding.
"No, no, I'm the only Ice-Elf in the group. There is a Wood-Elf, Alejandro, but he's the only one who looks even vaguely similar to me. Ivan is a Human, and our leader even if doesn't like saying it. Mr Swede is a half-human/half-murling and Pajara is an Otir or Birdfolk. One or the other, it depends on her mood. We did have another at one point, a Tiefling named Xarakas Maukson, but he....he fell. We met Pajara after that."
"Oh, I...I'm so sorry for your loss." Consoled Cadence looking over at Shining Armor.
They all sat in silence for a few minutes before Shining Armor spoke up. "I've never heard of any of those except for Humans. If we send some letters out to the other kingdoms then I'm sure that at least one of them will know where your friends are."
Elincia's eyes went wide and she smiled. She thanked them for thee kindness they are showing to a complete and total stranger. Never before had anyone given her such courtesy. Every Inn demanded that she pay full price for a room even though she was technically a child by Human standards and as such was entitled to a discount on her room. Now, she was being allowed a room and food for free in a castle. If only those supremacists could see her now!
After the letters were sent off the every other Kingdom done on this continent, Elincia asked if she could be shown to a library of some kind. If she was in a completely new world then there might be new magic to study! Hopefully something which could improve her current set of spells. Maybe something more.
She was nose deep in a book entitled 'The Fundamental Aspects of Advanced Elemental Magical Skills' when the door burst open and a small Alicorn flew through the door, shooting beams of magic through the the walls and ceiling all while giggling innocently. A number of Guards alongside Cadence, Shining Armor and an orange unicorn with a ginger mane and beard came crashing through the afterwards. Each was trying to grab the (what looked like) baby. Each was failing.
Eventually, Elincia placed an ice barrier around the flying child. Mainly because the roof had broken and was about to fall on top of it. The child seemed happy as it placed its hooves on the ice and drew little pictures on it. Cadence thanked Elincia for her assistance and explained that her daughter, Flurry Heart, some times lost control of her magic. She also introduced Sunburst, the royal crystaler. Elincia didn't know what that meant but could tell that he was a wizard at least. She invited him to her study session to help her learn more about the local brand of magic and she, in turn, taught him about the magic she was used to.
Pharynx had led Alejandro into the small jungle that surrounded the spire. Pharynx noticed that the creature he was leading to the Changeling Kingdom had been incredibly quiet for the duration of the journey. He was fine with that, he hated talking to outsiders. Ponies were about the only ones he was willing to tolerate. Speaking of the creature, it was looking around at the foliage with....was that amazement? Wonderment, perhaps?
"What's with that look on your face?" he asked with a raised (what should be) eyebrow.
"Hm? Oh, its just....my people are incredibly in tune with nature. We understand it on the most complex of levels. We literally speak to trees. I'm just amazed by the plants here. How do they survive in a desert like this? What magic do you use?" Alejandro asked, looking at the bug-moose walking with him.
Pharynx groaned before talking.
"This will probably sound like a child's story but this whole place is run on the power of....'love' and slowly spreads the more the hive expands."
"The hive? So your insectoid in nature, then?"
"A couple months ago, yes. Now? I have no idea. You should probably ask the King these questions. He'll know more."
The rest of the journey was quiet. Pharynx kept an eye on the stranger, who had returned to examining the flora along the path. It wasn't long before they met more changelings and some of them found the bipedal creature fascinating. Those changelings followed along and whispered to each other. Alejandro paid them no mind, still keeping focus on the plant life.
Eventually, they entered the main area of the hive. The throne was empty and there was no sign of any royalty that the wood elf could see. Pharynx told him to wait there while he went to find 'that air headed softy of a brother' in the 'feelings forum'. Alejandro sat cross-legged on the steps in front of the throne and went over the events of the previous hours in his head. A noise attracted his attention and he looked over at the hall. He could spot a small shadow trying to move out of his vision. He smirked. His eyes always spotted what was wrong with something. It looked like a changeling child was a bit shy and he was the only one around.
He waved over at the shadow and called out:
"Hello! How are you?"
The shadow sank back further. Alejandro got up and walked over, slowly. He raised his hands to show they were empty and crouched down in front of the creature which shrank back even further.
"Come on, I won't hurt you."
He reached his hand out and held it there. The small changeling looked up at him, still covered in a shadow, and slowly, very slowly, reached a hoof out and placed it in Alejandro's hand. The changeling then stepped out of the dark. It was light blue pale pink frills in stead of a mane or tale. On its back was what looked like ladybird wings. A horn came out of its forehead and its eyes were a sea-foam green.
"Hi, my name is Alejandro. Who are you?" he asked with as friendly a voice as he could muster.
The small changeling looked up at him.
"....I-I'm O-Ocellus."
"Hello, Ocellus. I noticed you were watching me from over there. Is there something you want to ask me?"
"Oh, um, if that's okay?"
Alejandro nodded.
"I-if its n-not too rude, um, w-what are you?"
The ranger let a small laugh escape his lips and shook his head. He explained that he was a Wood Elf, one of many types of elf, and gave a small description of what made him him. That seemed to grab Ocellus' attention and she asked about how he came to arrive outside the hive.
They went through a good question and answer session when they were interrupted by a voice from the other side of the room.
"Pharynx told me that we had a visitor! Hi! Welcome!"
Alejandro turned around and his eyes met a large changeling who was primarily two shades of green with splashes of orange across his torso. His wings seemed to be more towards a butterfly's than anything else. Two large, orange antlers were positioned on his head with a horn between them. He had a large, warm smile on his face.
"My name is Thorax, and I see you've already met Ocellus! Its good to see her coming out of her shell."
Ocellus' face turned slightly red near the cheeks and she let out an awkward giggle before excusing herself. Thorax motioned for the visitor to follow him. Alejandro was led to what looked like a meeting room.
"I'm tremendously sorry if I have in anyway disturbed or interfered with anything hear," the Elf began "but this was the only place I could see which looked to have some civilization around it."
"Oh, don't worry. I was just on my break and the other changelings are really hard to get annoyed and even then we have the forum."
"You are most gracious, my Lord."
Thorax's expression changed to a look of uncomfortableness at the words 'my' and 'Lord'.
"Please don't call me that. The only reason I'm in charge is cause I spearheaded the reformation of the hive. When people call me things like that I get a little....uncomfortable."
"I can understand perfectly. I'm just so used to royals and nobles being stuck up and expecting you to kowtow at their feet."
"Thanks. Anyway, what can I help you with?"
"Well, to explain I need to go into a bit of history if what I'm going to tell you is to make any sense."
And with that, Alejandro dove into both his personal history and the history of the group he is travelling with. He began with how his home village in the forest of Elderglade was destroyed by soldiers serving the Imperium of Terra and a large bandit/mercenary gang. He told about how he was adopted by a human couple and how he joined the Green Legion, a Wood Elf resistance movement , as a ranger. He then told of how he met the ones who would become his closest friends in the Free City of Seldun. He told, with a great fondness in his voice, how each of them had their own abilities and skills. Specifically, he told of Elincia's ability to detect large build ups of magic. He then explained that a portal simply spat him out in the desert.
"......So please, may I request your aid in finding my companions?"
Thorax was stunned. The individual in front of him had grown up in and lived through a great many battles. He likely had more combat experience than the whole hive put together. Thorax told him that he would do all he could to find Alejandro's friends. It was then that another changeling slammed the door open with a scroll caught in its magical grasp.
"Thorax! We've received a message from the Crystal Empire!"