a creature (human) returns to the world his supposed "predecessors" created
for years, the great goddess Faust and her fellow divine beings known as "humans" are worshiped by nearly all sentient creatures in Equis. for they created the land, sea, and air in which the mortals thrive and live in. at least, that's what they believe..... drop a normal human in the middle of it and watch as ponies, griffons, dragons, zebras, and changelings try and gain their "blessing" from an unwilling "god"
before the dawn of time, there once the vast emptiness of the cosmos. And among this vast emptiness, came an ark. An ark in which it carries the beings only known by the name of their kind: humans.
Within this ark, Faust: the leader of the humans Looked out of their vessel and by her decree she said: in this part of the void, let there be a world! And so her fellow human, Eywa replied: i shall gather a thousand comets to form this world. And so, the world of Equis was born.
But Faust was not satisfied by the lack of light so she decreed: let there be a sun! And thus the other human, Centzon replied: i shall gather a hundred stars to make this sun, and it will revolve around this world. And so, the first day and night was created.
But Faust, gazing at the lit emptiness of the world decreed: let there be water! And another human, Kamui answered: i shall partly fill this world with water from our ark. And so the great oceans of Equis were formed.
But as Faust stares to the emptiness of the land, she decreed: let there be plants on both the land and water! Thus the other human, Aja replied: i shall put a drop of my tears to the soil of both land and water so life may grow. And so, the plants, trees, and flowers bloomed in Equis.
As Faust gaze from the ark to the now flourishing world, she stepped into the world and said: with my blood, the keepers of this world will be created. And so, she bit her hand, and spilled her blood to each patch of earth, cloud, mountain, volcano, sand, water, and all other parts of the world, bringing forth the very first fauna of Equis...................
a book was neatly closed in the golden oaks library as its librarian, and caretaker unicorn reads the title: the origin of Equis: the divine humans.
"twilight! dinner's ready!!!!!" a young voice called out in the kitchen
"coming!!" the unicorn named twilight answered from the library's front desk.
she took one last look at the Apocryphal book that has been the bible of nearly all sentient life in the planet ( including some ponies ) since the dawn of civilization, even the princesses don't know its origin, nor the identity of these "humans" whose only clue of their identity is the artwork and paintings in the front of the book. which is too similar to the cave drawings in the diamond dog den she saw in her adventures with her friends, and in the pictures of the walls in the zebrican pyramids in her encyclopedia.
"guess you're another legend for us" she stated before putting up the closed sign in the front door and trotted off to the kitchen.....
southeast of stableside: Early hours in the morning
A spring green unicorn mare gazes upon the rubble the random storm blew in the beach last night.
"thank Celestia it's Autumn. Or ponies could've been injured here" the mare stated while surveying the debris filled beach.
"as you said mayor Harvest, the weather team couldn't even control the damn cyclone. Good call on ordering the population to hunker down in their homes." a gunmetal gray Pegasus mare replied while hovering above the aforementioned mayor. "it's not like we can evacuate the town that quickly when a storm just popped out of nowhere Eastern Breeze" mayor Bountiful Harvests said
" call in some folk to help clean this place up. We'll need more than a dozen to finish this by today. I'll look around if there is anything that could show where that storm came from"
"on it mayor. Don't do anything stupid. "
After the Pegasus named Eastern breeze flew off back to to Stableside, Bountiful Harvests began treading carefully across the rubble filled beach while probing her surroundings with her magic..
After clearing away a path for herself, the mayor began rummaging through the garbage the storm brought in. But halfway through, something caught her attention.
A some sort of claw is protruding out of the sand. It's shape is something the mayor couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but it seems oddly familiar to her: it has five appendages instead of a Minotaur's 3 and it looks like it is made of some sort of black fabric material with metal shielding in some parts of it. What piques her curiosity the most is somehow, she can't magically grasp the thing
While she is by no means, a powerful unicorn when it comes to magic, she's not weak either. Yet this strange protrusion on the sand is already making her sweat from both exertion and slight frustration..
'what in Equis is this thing made of? My horn won't even lift it, is this made of some kind of oil? My magic just slips off of it' the mayor of Stableside thought to herself.
Not wanting to be outdone by an uncooperative object, she decided to stop using magic and decided to try her hooves in pulling it off the ground..
"HNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!" with both forehooves on the claw, she drew in all her strength in an attempt to dislodge it off the sand........ But to no avail..
"GAH" with a shout of frustration, she sat on her rump panting as she looked at the offensive thing with both anger and curiosity.
Until the claw suddenly twitched....
The unicorn had to blink twice to clear of any imagination in her head that the claw ACTUALLY twitched. Which could only assure that the appendage belong to somehow "living" being.....
With careful movements, Mayor Bountiful Harvests slowly approached the mysterious claw and prodded it with a hoof...
No response....
She tried again... No response
with curiosity taking over, she decided to try and sniff the claw for any scent of some sort
*sniff sniff*
GRAB!!
KYAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Without warning, the claw suddenly jerked out and grabbed the unicorn by her horn pulling her head down to the sand.
Bountiful Harvests struggled to undo the claw's grip but to no avail. to make matters worse, when the claw grabbed her horn, her magic was suddenly disabled by an unknown force
as she thrashed and tried to pull herself up, she didn't notice a growing mound just a few hooves in front of her. a mound that slowly grew bigger till it gave way to green and black colored helm...
harvests could only watch in petrified fear as the owner of the claw holding her horn slowly emerge from the sand like a monster.. but slowly realized what is the creature actually holding her..
there is no denying it. the bipedal body design, tall structure taller than the alicorns, and a flat face barely hidden by it's helm,
"a.. a human.... a real one...." were the only words mayor bountiful harvests could only muster as the human stood in it's full height....
then it looked down on her while still holding her horn in it's right hand
"Damn H.R. Pillocks... Seriously they can't even get that putting a lawyer in tech department won't do us any good" a 23 year old man grumbles to himself as he walk across the office parking lot as he lugs his bag with a frown.
While the job as a mechanical engineer in a Singapore based motor company is a dream come true for any 3rd world-er like him, it is not without flaws.
The grumbling gearhead drone on till he reached his destination.....
"Hello honeybuns" he coos as he reached his mount: a small 400cc touring bike. While it may be a second-hand, labor intensive ride, it's his pride and joy since he only bought it for 3000 Singaporean dollars and built it himself with an extra 500.
"Okay now time to go home, while riding in a middle of a downpour..... Oh yes!"
While it may not make any sense to those in four wheels, riding in the rain is both fun and relaxing to most riders since it cools them down and gives them a bit of an extra challenge to ride on wet roads..
With a suit up on waterproof gear, masked up under the helmet, and a push on the starter, the young salary worker rides off the enclosed parking lot and into the hard downpour through the city at night.
As lightning struck the clouds above, and droplets the size of grapes soak the rubber jacket, the rider pushes on amidst of it all. Eager to reach his small apartment..
'whoo boy.. It's getting harder to see' he thought as he rode through the expressway, trying to keep up with the other vehicles 'gotta stay at the lane to be safe'
What he is not expecting is a car from the other lane to suddenly swerve to his path. With a quick jerk, he narrowly avoided hitting the dumb driver. Only to end up riding through an empty car carrier truck...
As time slows to crawl, the Man's mind is surprisingly calm as he held on to the bike for dear life
"Welp, there goes my 5 year accident-free stay... And bet those boys are gonna have a laugh at this when i got out of the hospital. And i wonder how much i'm gonna pay for it?"
Those were the last things Vann had in his mind till he crashed into the sea......
1st pov: Vann
I don't know where i was.. When i came to, it was pitch black and i can't move, the last thing i remember was flying off the M.C.E expressway into the sea. It feels like i'm buried under something sandy
Thank god i have my helmet on or else I'd have a ton of sand in my mouth. I tried to move my left arm, in seems to be stuck, i tried my legs, feels heavy....
But my right feels free, provided that i can feel through my gloves, at first i try to move it.. Good it works! Now.. To try and pull my self off.....
I try to grab on to something, i felt a grip, and carefully pull myself up...
I got my head off, good. My left arm up and supporting, good it's still there. Got my upper torso up, great nothing's broken. Get my legs moving, strange. I should at least feel sore from that crash since i fell at least 20 feet into the ocean or something..
When i cleared my visor, i found myself in a beach. And nowhere near the south wharves....
I looked around, and i'm nowhere near civilization. Just a beach with a ton of garbage around me, and a plain filled with grass in front of me..
I looked down to see what i held on my right hand....
'okay... I'm holding a tiny horse...on it's horn?' 'a horned tiny horse?' 'a unicorn? It's too small for a horse... It's barely bigger than a dog......'
The tiny horse started to nicker while staring at me. "Oh sorry" i told the horse as i let it go which quickly sat on it's haunches. Shock clearly showing on it's cartoonish features.
Then it neighs at me then suddenly lifted it's rump in the air while putting up a failed ostrich imitation.
'okay. Maybe it's scared due to my helmet' i thought to myself. So i knelt down, unbuckled my chin strap, put up the front guard, then remove my helmet, then the mask.
And i gave it the most innocent smile i could muster.....
The tiny horse reacted by looking at me then started drooling like she saw a freshly cooked Bacon sandwiched by 2 pancakes with mozzarella cheese in between.
It stood up and slowly approached me like it's in a trance, and i stood up and backtracked away from it
"Whoa there horsey! I don't know what you really are, i don't know whether you eat meat or not, but i'm not gonna test that." i said as the mini-horse slowly continues to approach me.
I remove my right glove and held up a palm to it in an attempt to signal it to stop moving. Which it didn't and in fact, my bare hand made it move faster to me with half-lidded eyes and watering mouth.......
"Stopstopstopstopstop" trying to emphasize my hand signal, and hoping it won't bite my fingers off, i booped the horse's nose....
If there is a competition for the best new year fountain firecracker, this tiny horse's horn would surely be a winner.
As soon as my hand touched the mini-horse's nose/snout, it's eyes suddenly turned white, it whinnies hard, stood on it's hind legs, and the horn on it's head erupts in a cacophony of lights and sparks as if i unplugged a nuclear-powered outlet..
I could only stand back and watch the show till the horse collapsed in a heap.
A couple of seconds of waiting for the horse to move, i picked up a nearby stick an tried to poke it from afar....
*poke poke* no response..... Chest part's still moving so it's still breathing.......
'okay.. Don't panic. Don't panic. You just grabbed a horned alien horse by the... Well "Horn" when you show it your face, it suddenly turned semi-feral, and when you touched it, it basically blew up.... None of it was your fault clearly' i calmly thought to myself.
Thinking about it, i'm surprised that i'm not yet panicking despite all this.
Emphasizing on my current state of mind, i began to survey my surroundings again to at least know where i am...
Let's see... Garbage on my right, open fields in front of me, my bike under a boulder on my left, sea behind me, and a fainted tiny horse below me.....
............................
"MY BAAAAABYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
My brain finally panicked as i saw my only girlfriend being crushed by a disrespecting giant piece of granite.. I rushed to her side and lifted the boulder as big as a house and threw it to the side and pulled her off the crater. I quickly check every nook and cranny of my sweet darling for any damage, and thank god there is none..
"Thank goodness your okay" i said to my bike as i dusted her off then i suddenly realized.......
Did i just lifted off a boulder the size of a house?
I looked at the boulder where i threw it.. And sure enough, it's bigger than my apartment and it looks solid. I knocked on it a few times and it sounds solid as well......
'alright..... Either i'm in a movie set being pranked by some media outlet, or that monster energy drink i took before ain't normal' my mind could only explain to me..
A soft cooing interrupted my train of thought as i looked at the fainted tiny horse behind me. I don't know where i am right now, and surely a midget horse won't be useful in giving me directions...
'yeah, let's take it with us and find civilization. Maybe i could sell this horse to a local merchant in exchange for directions..' with my mind made up, i opened up my bike's glove box, pulled out a pair of straps, put the fainted horse at the backseat, and strap her on...
i put my helmet and gloves back on, started up my steed (thank god i topped the tank off before taking the highway) her purr is always a beautiful song to my ears, put up in gear and drive off the beach. and thank god once again i bought dual sport tires for her
i quickly come across a brick road not far from my starting point. and with my sense of direction, and my cellphone's compass, i head north. hoping against hope that i would reach civilization quickly......
Ch3: The holy language, divine presence, and blessed touch
Other than being the youngest pony in recent history to become a mayor, her term has beckoned one of stableside's most prosperous era since the town's founding as an agricultural town. Far outpacing both Appaloosa an the famous home of the elements, Ponyville..
Mayor harvests likes to think to herself that this happened because of her good leadership, and effective management. She never believed the humanitics that this is the blessing of the nature goddess Aja, (she's more sided to the alicorn belief) and they must pay tribute to her through a festival. Something that the mayor is more or less forced to agree.
Well, till she became the first pony to ever set eyes on a human. At first, she thought that all of it was a dream when she saw the human both up close, and and full height. When the human let go of her horn, she felt weak and a bit doozy. A few moments later, her mind recovered and realized she's in the presence of a mythical creature
"yo-yo-your Holiness! Forgive me for my rude gaze" she stammered as she prostrate in front of the human which to her surprise, winced at her outburst.
As she awaits for any sort of response to the creature, expecting a booming authoritarian voice, or a sudden magical smite, she wasn't expecting it to kneel down to her height and remove its helm.
What she saw made her swore she will convert to humanitism..
Its features is exactly what the human bible said it would be: skin as if made of amber, lips a soft as a cloud and pink that puts tulips to shame, eyes that far outdo even the most beautiful of pearls, and hair on his head that's darker than Luna's night.
In short: a beauty that puts the alicorns to shame....
"" I.... I..... I can't believe it...." were the first words that came out of her lips And like a moth to a flame, she found herself wanting to touch the Human's face, rub her cheek with his, give her body and soul to the very being she see in front of her (not noticing the Human's backtracking)
The Human's voice is like the bells of Elysium for bountiful harvests and the incomprehensible words he is saying is like a lyrics of an angel's song for her ears, she needs not to understand any of it.
When the human raised his naked hand in front of her, palm in front, she saw it as a beckon for her to touch the human's hand as if to receive something. Which she openly accepted as a blessing
The moment she touched the human's fingers, the whole world suddenly makes sense. The cycle of life and death, the rule of the cosmos, the existence of stars the boundaries of physics, the origin of magic, the magic of friendship, the true power of shaggy,........ Her mind could only take so much before she collapsed in the sand. The human's armored foot being the last ting she saw....
"hmmmm..... Huh?......" When the mayor of stable side woke up from what seems to be a beautiful nightmare, she feel like she's never slept in ages and the nap she just had is the best she ever had in her life..... Till she looked down and saw a sprocket and chain spinning fast barely inches from her face.....
"HOLY FAUST!!!! WHAT THE???" while she was able to reel her dangling head back to a safe distance, her barrel's seems to be tied down to the object that is carrying her. She looks to her right and once again saw the divine human's armored sole. Further looking up, she saw the man's back (as she remembered the face, while it was carved by angels) and finally realising that she's tied down by straps to a some sort of two wheeled contraption... A contraption that is too fast for her liking.....
"ummmm... milord? Excuse me?" she tries to draw the human's attention, but to no avail. She. Later realized that the human has his hands on a handlebar which means that he is busy controlling the machine that is carrying them both.. By her judgement, they seem to be heading north. Following the road to her town of stable side
Which slapped a dilemma into her face: she can't just let a human to just barge in to town! That'll cause an uproar! With the town majority being humanitics, those ponies will go ham if they saw a real human!!!
"M'LORD PLEASE STOP!!! PLEASE WAIT" she pleads as she furiously taps the human's midsection. It seems to have worked as the human with his helm looked at her through the mirrors on the handlebars and pulled off to the side of the road.
1st POV: Vann
Okay sitrep: its been at least an hour since I left the beach with a pony (albeit a tiny one) Mare (by the lack of balls, don't look at me like that. These horses don't wear anything so they're pretty much nude) strapped on my backseat. My phone is clamped to it's position on my left handlebar and so far: it shows that it is charging without any cord attached, so I'll need to get a look on that. And there is no signal to either of my SIMs so I can't get any calls. Nor the GPS is working.
As I contemplate my current predictament as I ride, a barely noticeable tapping on my thigh reminds me that my backrider is awake. When I looked back at it using my side mirror, it seems to whinnying loudly (I could barely hear since my GF had an open pipe) and tapping me hurriedly...
Judging by the look it's giving me, it seems to be intelligent. At least I think it is. I pulled off to the side of the brick road, put up my side stand, and get off my ride
"What's wrong lass, uncomfortable in the straps?" I asked her She replied to me by neighing and nickering at me while waving its cute little front hooves around....
"Sooooo... I picked up a sentient magical unicorn pony, whose horse language is well.... 'horseshit' to my ears, and it's trying to communicate..." I explained to myself as the pony kept on yammering..
I decided to shake my helmeted head no and it seems to get the message through, but she tried again to communicate by neighing slower and softer as if she's trying to make her language more comprehensible to me But since even that didn't work, I decided to unstrap her off my bike and lifted her up like a puppy. A puppy who's hiding her belly with her forelegs and blushing furiously....... 'Should I feel ashamed? I feel ashamed'.... I set her down the road, pulled out my phone from the clamps and cross legged myself in front of her.. With my phone in hand, I opened up the notepad and typed a sentence... Can you understand me?
She looked at my phone wide eyed then she looked at the roadside And her horn suddenly glowed and a stick came floating towards us "Why am I not surprised? Of course that is more than just a lightning rod..." I commented while looking at her horn. She then started drawing some sort of rune in front of us and looked at me expectedly... "This is gonna take a while" I groaned as me and the green pony/doggy begin our attempts to break the language barrier...
Canterlot
"And I told you, and your council princess Celestia. The forsaken forests is sacred to the griffons! It is where our first king, Shirdal received the blessing from the son of Adam. You're asking us to allow a RAILWAY to pass through it? the Griffin ambassador of Gryphus all but shouted while the solar diarch gave him a solemn smile
"While it may be a sacred land for the griffin kingdoms lord Harkness. But in order for both of our nations to prosper, we need to build shorter railroads between our states to improve the bilateral trade between us" a brown earth pony stallion stated in the pony side of long table.
"Filthy Rich. As good as an improved trade relationship is, we should still be able to respect the wishes of our neighbors. And if the land we want to Industrialize is considered sacred by the human believing griffons, it may be sacred to some ponies as well. Won't that harm us as well?" A white unicorn stallion replied.
"Bah! You're just a ape worshipper the same as the griffons fancy pants" a white blonde stallion rebutted along the line.
"Watch your tounge blue blood. You're threading on thin ice" a red she-griffin growled and the whole meeting turned into a trash-talk amongst humanitics and alicorn loyalist....
Amidst all of the madness, Princess Celestia massages her temples to ease a growing migraine. While she is glad for the loyalty her subjects have towards her, the racism that comes with having a "divine" ruler had caused an endless debate of the so-called "equine superiority" over their neighbors which always sour their international relations.
A knock on the double doors, and an entry of her secretary, Curled Quill. Grabbed the attention of the bickering groups " lunch break everyone " the unicorn mare called "Excellent! Why don't we adjourn this meeting for now, I'm sure most of us here are famished" the solar diarch stated. "Agreed" "I concur" "Yes we would" "Hmph" "Yes"
As the negotiation members file out of the room nobody noticed a piece of note flew from the secretary, to the alicorn *one of the two would like to speak to you privately your majesty* the hoofwritten not said.
With a nod to Quill, the princess of the sun teleported out of the room and appeared in a chamber filled with scrolls and maps. Sitting on the other end of the central table is an orange unicorn with red and yellow mane.
"Good afternoon Sunset" celestia greeted with a smile "Good afternoon Celestia" the mare responded with a court nod. Sunset shimmer is one of equestria's hidden heroes. While the elements of harmony handles the open problems of the state, sunset and the other members of the group called the Eclipse, handle the more confidential problems. So it is not very surprising that celestia knew them by name and treat the group members as friends.
"I suppose you have news about the storm's origin?" "yes. and as we have predicted: it's not just a storm. The magic signature indicates that it wasn't from Abadoon's fury, nor it's from the gales from the east." "from marelantis? Perhaps an accident in their part?" "I wish it was but our contacts there told that the seaponies are not connected to the storm. " "wendigos? They seemed to have turned active a few days before" celestia commented while nibbling a piece of fruitcake.... "we have a slight inkling that it was a dimensional rift" A cake filled fork stopped midway to a mouth..... "from which dimension?" "that we can't pinpoint. Starlight and your sister are on their way to stable side to asses the situation there and see if it brought anything.... Or anyone..." the ginger mare finished
Somehow, the solar diarch lost her appetite. Feeling that something big is about to happen......
And no progress. At first I thought this'll be easy: just teach the horse a letter, and she'll reply with one of her own... Nope, as far as I can collect on her, she had at least 5 digits and 45 letters. I only got 23 on me... With 9 digits (not including the combinations). Even my backseat's disappointed..
With that not going anywhere, and night's already here, I decided to get back on the road. She seems to be scared when I signalled her to get back on the backseat, so I put her in front Sitting on the tank
As we continue our travels, I finally caught sight of a town.
"Finally! Civilization..." I said to myself breathing a sigh of relief, till a dozen winged mini-horses suddenly swooped down to the road. Right in front of a bike going 90 kph....
With the brakes slammed, I pulled a mini stoppie and slingshot my passenger to the ponies in front of us With an audible plop, my makeshift pony projectile planted her rump straight to one of the winged pony's face. Sending her and the poor sod sliding through the Brick road....
Me and the other ponies looked at the two victims with mouths shut till one of the winged horses suddenly whinnied and rushed in front of me and began yammering while the others prostrated where they stood
"Ummmmmmm hi?" Were the only words I could say amidst the awkward situation.
"it speaks the language of gods!!!" eastern breeze proclaimed as he stand in front of the percieved human...
"PRAISE BE TO MEN!!!!!" his fellow human worshippers shouted as they rejoice the return of one of their deities...
"what the? Eastern!!? How in?... How did you???" the mayor stammers as she untangle herself from the pony she was piled in
"when I returned to the beach with a few pegasi, you were gone.. When we saw the strange imprints on the sand leading to the road, we though you were abducted by a monster. So we followed the trail until we saw you behind a contraption... A machine driven by a Human, and we saw you two heading back to stable side so we went past you and delivered the holy news to the town: the true makers of equis has returned to bring us to enlightenment!!!! We must-"
" hold up... YOU TOLD THE WHOLE TOWN????????"
"why yes of course!! But nopony believed us... For now. We must take our holy biped to to father sigil!! He must be told at once!!! The holy redemption of ponykind is upon us!! We must prepare!!"
"It shall be done brother Eastern" the mare mayor harvests got tangled into saluted before flying to the human, Nuzzled the human on its thigh, and flew back to town (as the human looked on, completely unaware of the events unfolding)
"Wait!!! We can't just- MFFHH!!!" mayor bountiful harvests tried to protest but was silenced when one of the pegasi put a wet towel on her nose. Quickly knocking her out....
The human saw the mayor fainting and tried to rush to her aid, but Eastern breeze hovered in front of the human. Blocking its path...
"don't be alarmed your evangelical holiness.. She's just tired after being doused with your divine presence.. Please follow us to our town so we may prepare your feast... The ponies of stable side shall bare witness to the beginning of a new equestria.. And the true unity of pony kind.... Eastern breeze proclaimed to the human as he bowed in front of it
It's face remained hidden under the helm, but as it looked between the bowing pegasi, the knocked out mayor, and the beckoning of the other ponies, it seems to have understood their message as spurred its machine to move. Following the group of pegasi while keeping the mayor in its field of vision with one of the claws in the pocket of its legwear.
When the group entered the town proper, the reaction of the local populance are mixed....
While the nonbelievers ran to their homes, those who were humanitics were in shock.
The moment the human crossed stable side's bridge, religious ponies could only come close to touch the as it slowly moved along the streets guided by a group of pegasi with the town mayor knocked out and on the back of one of the makeshift convoy..
The ponies lined up to the streets getting as close as they can get but not to block its path. Some are shedding tears as they clutch their five beaded rosaries and pray as they looked upon the human, others shakily attempt to touch it as it passed in front of them. Not one speaking out loud. Those who believed in the alicorns could only watch the spectacle from their windows.
One young earth pony colt suddenly jumped out of the spectators and and into he front of the human.
"Ummm excuse me sir? Are you really a human?" he innocently asked as she put his front hooves in the front wheel of the machine
The human stopped, swung out a stand from the contraption, and dismounted its vehicle..
And with fluid motions, the human removed its helm and mask, and gave a calm smile to the foal..
The gathered crowed swooned, wept, rejoiced as their fear of a fake human was abolished by his visage.
"Wooooow" as the young stallion admires the human's face he didn't notice that he was lifted up by the human and and carried him back to the sidewalk. Where his obvious mother was staring in shock
"Thank you" the mare said as she shakily retrieve her son from the human's arms.
"M'lord, please let us continue. Father Sigil is waiting for us in the chapel" Eastern breeze said as he bowed at the human's side.
as the convoy slowly reached the town plaza with the church of humanity behind it, a sudden flash of blue light and all of a sudden, the human at the center of the group is trapped in a lightning rune combined with a shield containing the human within. And complemented by arrival of an obsidian black sky chariot with an accompanying squadron of therstals formed behind it caught the rejoicing religious ponies off guard....
"Milady! Stable side is in sight!!" A batpony yelled as he flew in formation with the chariot carrying the lunar diarch and eclipse agent..
"Good! Maintain speed and heading captain." Luna replied as they fly bordering the safe speed of the assault chariot while a light purple unicorn mare is analyzing a rune pointed at the small town ahead
"I can't get any connection from our contacts to the town Luna. There seems to be some sort of jammer interfering with the hex!!!" Agent Starlight Glimmer yelled through the howling winds.
While she may have been a convict for attempting to remove the alicorns from power, Starlight Glimmer's skill in magic is almost in par with Celestia's faithful student. And with her natural magic affinity against dark arts since she herself practiced it before being caught by the order of the Eclipse made her a valuable asset in confronting any if not, all magic anomalies covertly.
"we could be facing a centaur for all we know. It might've drained the town already so prepare capture and isolation spell!!" the princess of the night ordered as fixes her armor while they drew closer to the town.
"Your Highness!! The town seems to be assembling to the streets! There is something in the plaza guarded by the locals!!" A therstal mare yelled as she formed back in formation after flying ahead of the group...
"PREPARE TO MAKE LANDFALL!!! WE'LL GIVE THIS CREATURE A PROPER EQUESTRIAN WELCOME!!! Luna shouted in her usual canterlot shout and the chariot quickly made a steep dive to the town below
As they reached closer and closer to the town, the Eclipse agent shot off a powerful containment spell on the presumed anomaly once she came within range to the creature. startling the surrounding population
While the entourage was expecting blanked eyed ponies and a monster controlling them with some kind of magic, they're not expecting rejoicing ones with a two whelled machine carrying a mythical creature escorted by pegasi. At least not at night..
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!!!!???" shouted the leading grey Pegasus stallion as he looked between the trapped human and the princess of the night
""this creature is an unknown individual who have entered our country illegally. as a member of the governing body of this state, we must detain this creature even if he is a human" princess Luna said in a monotone professional manner. But her mind is already reeling from the fact that she and her group just recklessly shot a HUMAN of all things.
as the moon princess ponder her next move, the human believers quickly recovered from their shock and began attempting to break the cage their perceived deity was trapped in while others began yelling curses at Luna and her guards.
"TRAITOR!!!!!"
"IS THIS HOW YOU TREAT OUR ANCESTOR? ALICORN???"
"MILORD HOLD ON!!!"
*snort* "huh? whu? what in equestria?"
"RELEASE THE HUMAN AT ONCE ALICORN!!! YOU ARE IN THE PRESENCE OF A BEING GREATER THAN YOU!!!"
As Luna's guards held up a wall between her and an angry mob, she noticed the human inside the sphere looking at his cell.
then without even caring, he pulled a lever on his machine and pushed through starlight's barrier.. breaking the rune and shield without even getting a scratch..
Luna and her guards including Starlight could only watch slack-jawed as their most powerful containment spell was shrugged off by the human..
as he exited the cell, he dusted his shoulders off and gave the night princess and her entourage a flat look....
"WITNESS THE POWER OF MAN MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!!! FOR HE, THE MESSENGER OUR TRUE MAKERS SHOW THE -FFFFFFFFFF" one of the ponies near the human attempt to consolidate her belief of human superiority but was silenced by the human's hand clamping her muzzle shut.
The freed human got off his machine, walked through the confrontation of townsfolk, and to the lunar guards
"Halt human! You are not allowed to go near the princess of he night without her authorization" said one of the guards holding a shield as he attempts to intimidate the human with his spear.
The human answered by simply holding the spear's blade by the base and snapped it off the ebony pole, and pushed the remainder to the side as he moved closer to the lunar diarch
The guards were in shock. Other than their weapons being one of the most well built ones in equestria, it is also heavily enchanted with durability runestones to withstand a dragon's power and punch through its scales. And the human simply snapped it like a twig.
To add salt to wounded pride, the human, with his height and stride, simply skipped over the lunar guards' shield wall completely ignoring them
Starlight recovered from her initial shock and quickly set up another shield between her, Luna, and the human as he closed the gap between them. Luna glaring at the human as she tried to use her magic to either stop the human or enter his mind but to no avail. Even her personal guards and captain attempted to tackle the human down but the only thing they achieved was to hold onto the human by his waist as they are dragged and pushed along his walk.
"how in the stars is he this strong???!!!!" Her guard captain exclaimed as her attempts to restrain the human proved futile, even when the remaining guards began to swarm the human. Pushing and pulling as they too are dragged along closer and closer to the one they're supposed to protect with their lives
"stand back guards. if he wishes to face us, let him be." the lunar diarch proclaimed as she walked forward to rendezvous with the human. all while preparing her blades in case the human decided to be hostile.
till she felt a tug on her tail and looked behind her to see starlight glimmer staring at her wide eyed while holding her tail with her magic.
"are you serious?????" the Eclipse agent whispered at her ear as she approached princess luna.
"our subjects are upset of our brash actions earlier agent Glimmer. we must at least refrain their hostilities if we don't want this to spiral out of our control" the Lunar Diarch replied as she closed the distance between her and the newly pony-unwrapped human.
"greetings esteemed one. We are princess Luna of equestria. Princess of the night, sovereign of the Moon and stars, and the Guardian of dreams. May we ask, who are you, and why are you here?" the lunar princess proclaimed with a no-nonsense approach (even when her head barely reaches the human's chest even at her full height)
The human seems to understand her attempt and answered with a language she can't understand while holding his chest with his bare left hand in which he extend to the night princess palm up.
"That language. Is that dovahzhul?" Starlight Glimmer commented whiletaking notes of the human's physique at the princess's left side
"it is not. And we have never heard of this language before either" Luna replied with a raised eyebrow as she tries her translation magic to find meaning to the human's words.
The human spoke again albeit slower in an attempt to put his words through the language barrier while starlight began conjuring a recording gem to try and collect some words from the human's vocabulary.
Till the human decided to poke the lunar diarch's horn with his bare fingertip..
Without much of a warning, princess Luna suddenly felt her magjc levels skyrocketed beyond her body's limit. And her moon and stars started glowing brighter and brighter as they try to alleviate the magical surge their sovereign suddenly accumulated.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" With an incomprehensible scream of either pain or pleasure, the princess of the night's armor blew off it's straps due to overcharging while its owner's eyes roll-up in its sockets.
"PRINCESS LUNA!!!!!" starlight glimmer shouted as she rushed to the lunar diarch's aid by bucking the human in his belly. But just like before, he's unaffected. Surprisingly for the eclipse agent and the lunar guards, the human is trying to pull his finger off the alicorn's horn but, it is glued on to the long spiral on the midnight alicorn's head.
As quickly as it began, princess Luna and the human separated with one backpedaling away and another collapsed in a heap.
As the princess of the night's consciousness slowly fades, she made out a few words from the human. Ones that was she, and the surrounding ponies understood for the first time...
"Faal dovah in het ahst laat???" A giant emerald green serpent bellows as it listens to its red scaled brethren on the other side of the table
"Hi los ni folaas juni faal rot se iilah los ol sul nust lost daal. Rek said tol faal muz los tu'um faal land se keyye ahrk nust kriist wa ofaal ok kogaan" the crimson scaled dragon replied..
zebrica
"Mah has shown us the way high priestess... the great Albashar has returned to prithvi to bring the zebras back to their days of glory!!!" a zebra stallion wearing a Dastar proclaimed in front of table filled with other zebras.
"even if they have returned, the moon said that he has landed to Equestria. if they haven't found him yet, they won't let us enter their lands so easily" a young zebra mare replied from the other side of the long table.
"then me and my two brothers shall enter the land of Equines and seek our al-ansan and if we could, return him to our lands" an elderly zebra said among his brethren with their agreement.
gryphus: gryphon capital
"my king. please Allow me to take this mission i can assure you i'll bring the son of Adam to you by the end of the moon" a grey she-griffin said as she bowed in front of the ruler of the kingdom.
"my daughter, i know you are determined to prove yourself to the council. but what you are asking is far too much of a risk. you may believe what our warlocks are saying: that a son of Adam has returned to Equis, and he has landed in the south of Equestria. but we can't tell if it is just a jest by the lunar diarch, or she and her sister are fighting again. and you are the princess of this kingdom. sending you alone is something i will not allow. and letting you take a whole legion will be an act of war against the ponies" the elderly white bald griffon said as he stood up fom his throne.
"then let me at least take one of our best knights. it'll be easy since it's just one, and we'll enter Equestria incognito. please father... even if it's just a joke, but what if it's real? what if the HUMANS have actually returned, he may even reunite the gryphon kingdoms once again!" the young princess plead to her father as they exited the throne room.
"sigh*.... why do you have your mother's face.... alright alright you may go but, you will take my best knight: Ulfric with you... he'll make sure you won't get into trouble" the king sternly said to his daughter as they walked across the castle.
"thank you... but Dad, can i take another knight with me? i'm sure Gilda's knowledge in the Equine lands will be useful if i'm going to look for the human." princess Anivia asked his father as they neared her chambers...
"hmmmm..... yes that may be true. alright you can take her with you." king Talon said to his daughter with a smile.
"thanks dad... love you" the young griffon said as she gave her father a hug before closing her door...
"..........................move ahead of my daughter's group and make sure to keep her safe..." the old king whispered as he walked back to his chambers.
a silent flap of wings is his only reply.
??????????
"my Queen we cannot simply charge into stableside and capture the human. the lunar Diarch and her guards are there.." a disembodied voice said
"i never said we will charge headlong. the human and Luna will not stay in that town for long they'll have to move if they don't want their neighbors catching wind that they're harboring a powerful creature all to themselves. we'll plan our move from there. for now, keep watch of their movement pharynx. and inform us of anything about the human." a female voice replied amidst the darkness....
"so a human has finally returned to the land they made.... he'll make a good addition to my army" the female voice monologue as she smirked in front of a glowing pustule with a silhouette of an alicorn within...
Ch 5: a magical lesson, with a dash of an explosive temper
You may be wondering, why am I lying on a wooden floor, on my back, left arm up and being mauld (at least trying to) by a midnight blue talking she-pony, a sword on my right hand, a smaller purple horse desperately pulling the former's tail with its magic, and a couple of pairs of eyes looking at us from the front door.
Well, why don't we rewind to a few hours ago shall we?:
"HOly shit of Jesus Christ!!! What was that???" I exclaimed after getting my finger off this tall hybrid horse's horn.
Before i could even digest what happened the dog-ponies suddenly spoke..
In a language i actually understood..
"YOUR MAJESTY!!!"
"TAKE DOWN THAT HUMAN!!!"
"HOW??"
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM THERSTAL"
"PROTECT THE LORD AT ALL COST!!!!"
"DESTROY THOSE HERETICS!!!!"
"ENOUGH!!!!!!!!"
with a blast of a green shockwave, all of a sudden the chaos on my surroundings suddenly stopped. I looked back and saw the purple unicorn panting with her horn glowing green along with her eyes.
"You lot!! Get back in your homes. We'll listen to your issues tomorrow. Guards! Take princess Luna inside the chapel. And YOU human... Follow me.." The purple pony ordered as the mob dispersed and the leather winged horses picked up the fainted hybrid and carried her to the building near us
"Ermmmm... Can I first ask, what's going on here?" I nervously asked the purple horse. Which she replied with a glare..
"You either follow me inside, or get mobbed by the townsfolk. Take a pick.." She said as I noticed that her eyes glow at the same color as the ponies who welcomed me after the shockwave a few seconds ago...
Yeah..... Not gonna try and piss this one off...
"Hold on a sec. Let me park first" I replied and rushed back to my baby and started her up.
With a quick flick and kick, I put her in gear and rode up to the front door of the huge building overlooking the town plaza.
I pulled up the sidewalk, set up the side stand, and dismounted just in time for the horned purple horsy to catch up to me.
With a last glance at my trusty steed, i walked up beside the pony and followed her up the stairs. With the doors left ajar by the first party, we quickly entered the place..
And from there, I finally understood why I got such an overly warm welcome from these ponies......
While on the outside, this building looks like a normal Catholic church but on the inside, the whole place is lavishly designed With stained glass windows each showing a human with old fantasy-world type clothing and armor adorning each..
At the altar, is a pretty life size statue of a beautiful woman with long brown hair, wearing a roman tunic with a matching veil, at the center of a large diameter pool. on her arms is a bowl overflowing with water and at its center, is what seems to be an island complete with special effects like rolling clouds, ocean waves, and other things that would put even the best 3D special effects Disney and Marvel could offer to shame.
"Is lady Faust communicating you o great one?"
As I gaze upon the beautiful work of art, an elegant posh voice brought me back to reality. When I faced the owner of said voice, I faced a peanut butter coloured, gentle looking horned male mini-horse, with yellow hair and tail, light green eyes, and a clerical collar adorning his neck......
Thinking about it now, I may have just met the pony version of baron Humbert Von Gikkingen.....
"Who?" I asked the stallion as he approach me.
"Faust: the goddess of life, patron of knowledge, giver of souls, mother of Adam and Eve, and the all-maker of Equis.... Or does she envision herself in a different light perhaps?" The old stallion replied as he bowed to me...
"Errrrrmmmmm...... No i don't know this Faust lady. And i can't communicate like a psychic" I replied to him which gave me a quirked eyebrow from the stallion.
"Sigil! Good that we got here before they reached you" the purple pony said as she approaches us from the side.
"How's Luna?" The old pony asked the newcomer.
"Good, A bit winded out though. No thanks to our 'gracious human' practically overcharging her with mana..." The mare answered with a irritated glance my way...
Okay... I'm starting to hate this tiny horse....
"Listen here you pathetic excuse for an equine. First of all: I have no idea how I got here in.... Whatever this place is. Second: what the flying fuck are you on about? I'll be honest here, you guys made the first shot by flashbanging me the moment you guys saw me. Third: how on earth did I did a 'mana overcharge' on your leader? Do I look like a magician to you? For your information: I'm an engineer. Fourth: I may already have clue of what is going on but I'll ask anyway: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE????????" I yelled my last sentence at the purple tiny horse.
Strange... Why did the moon turned slightly red all of a sudden?
With a look at each other, the two little ponies gave me a solid eye contact before the priest pony spoke.
"Starlight, go cast a sound barrier spell on the church. And would you kindly come with me milord? We'll answer your questions in a more private area"
"*sigh* if it'll clear up this mess, alright. And can I please get something to drink?" I requested as I wear my gloves and began following the pony priest to the back of the altar.
"It shall be done"
After a few minutes of walking around the chapel's labyrinthian maze of corridors, we arrived at what seems to be the main office. With tons of scrolls and books neatly arranged on the left and right bookshelves. The office's decor was simple yet elegant: with a wooden cieling fan with stylish bulbs adoring it, and below is a pair of couches facing a small table at the center of the room, just adjacent is an office table with a matching swivel chair, and behind is a window showing the beautiful night sky..
Shame. None of these things could fit my size (my head is already reaching the ceiling)
"Milk on your tea or lemon?" The priest asked me as he prep some cups from a nearby cupboard.
"Milk please" I said
"Lemon" the purple pony responded as she got in.
"Good choice" the priest said.
"That is my own personal blend of tea. It is a little different from each time so, I can't guarantee the taste." The pony said to us as he levitated the beverages to us while I sat cross legged on the floor near the couch and the purple pony on it.
As I took my first sip, it is settled: this stallion makes the BEST tea in the world. I bet the British folks are gonna go nuts with his blends.
"Whoa... That's best tea I ever tasted!" I blurted out without thinking as is bottomed up my beverage.
"Then you are lucky. Then shall we tackle the questions at hoof?" the priest replied as he took a seat opposite of us.
"Oh! Of course" I replied as I put my cup and saucer down on the table
"Can we start with our own questions first? First of all: who are you?" The purple mare near me suddenly butted in.
"Just call me Vann if you don't mind" I quickly answered the mini-horse. Not wanting to mingle with her too much
"Alright then lord Vann, I am Father Sigil Tome. Reverend of this house of worship. Beside you is Starlight Glimmer. An old friend of mine. tell us, When you first entered the chapel, what is the first thing you noticed?" Father Sigil asked me with a smile.
"Errrrrmmmm.... There are human pictures all over the walls? deeeespite I never saw another living human around besides me? Aaand ooorr you guys worship my kind of some sort? Thaaaat a human is a kind of mythical creature in your culture?.... I'm not on earth anymore aren't I?" My last sentence filled with dawning realization (took my brain a whole day to realize this).
With a deep breath, he gave me a sad look
"I am afraid you are not in the world you belong to anymore sir Vann. This is Equis: the world inhabited by a vast plethora of creatures both sentient and non-sentient alike, and a land that your kind made eons ago... A world where your kind are considered gods" he explained to me with a serious tone
"Pffffffffttttttt.........HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!! WHUUUUT!!!!???????" I all but laughed at him as he said those final words like it's truth (like flat earthers and anti vaccination groups.)
"What's next? I am the chosen one who will bring enlightenment to the believers of humans? Wow great! Let me get my phone. It will be my bible huh? HAHAHAHAH!!!!" I laugh and rolled on the wooden floor while trying to ignore Father Sigil's confusion and Starlight's bemused glare towards me.
"You don't believe anything he said now did you?" The purple pony said as I catch my breath...
" the god thing? No!! Lady.... Where I'm from, magic doesn't exist period. And since I'm from a such a world, how on earth could I be a some sort of of cheat character like in a game or something?"
"You are one." the two ponies said to me seriously in unison.
The room was so silent, one could hear the soft billowing of the winds outside.
"Hang on a second.... Let me wrap my head around this..." I said as I stood up and walked up in front of the large window overlooking the village. "he's not what we think he was isn't?" I heard Starlight whispering to the priest.
"we can't say that for sure. He did overcharged princess Luna's mana reserves and an alicorn's mana reserves never overflowed nor emptied.. This is the first time in history that such a thing happened" the priest replied
"do you have anything here we can use to test him?"
"I'm afraid not. This facility was never built to accommodate anything like this......" the priest and the Mare droned on as i do my own brainstorming session over my current predicament.
If what they said is true, that humans are basically, a GOD TIER race here in their world, and that I can use magic (or something) here, means that what happened to the green pony and the big blue one was my doing, (Starlight said it was mana overcharging) then maybe I could be the Bruce Almighty of this world??
Thinking that way, I looked up at the night sky: a clear dark one with countless stars, and a silver hued moon giving a picturesque view of the town below us.
I braced my legs, and cupped the moon with my two hands.
'Here goes nothing' I thought to myself and stretched my hands in an attempt to enlarge the moon with it...
It grew more than 50 times its original size..
Okay...... That was a bit overboard......
"PUT. THE. MOON. DOWN!!!!!!" Starlight yelled behind me
I looked back and I saw a plethora or knives floating behind the purple unicorn and aimed at me while the priest pony looked at me with bewilderment
"I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i- didn't know it'll go big like that!!!!!" i stammered as i held up my hands trying to cool down the hotseat i'm in.
"Calm down Starlight!! put those knives down!!" Father Sigil said as he stood between me and the angry Mare
"calm down? CALM DOWN???? he just dragged the moon closer to the planet!!! do you even know what would happen if he-" Starlight attempted to push my defender aside till an empty teacup held by a yellow aura was shoved on to her muzzle effectively shutting her up.
"even if he did, will threatening him will do us any good? you just saw what he can do Starlight Glimmer. even before you entered my church... now calm down at let's try to be reasonable alright?" the stallion said as he hold down the mare's muzzle with the cup.
with a nod from the mare, the cup on her muzzle was removed, and the knives behind her slowly returned to the cupboard. but her glare towards me is still there
"sir Vann, did you or did you not do this?" Sigil asked as he faced me.
"Welllllll yeah... I think."
"You think?"
"Look.... When you said that I'm a god, I couldn't believe you.. But since you were that serious, I decided to test it.. And that's the result.... I'm sorry I'll try to fix this." I said to Sigil as I looked back at the moon and tried to push it back with my hands and nonexistent Jedi training..
Which actually worked.... Too much...
"Pull back sir Vann pull back" Sigil said as the moon zoomed out to a dot
"Okokokokokokokok here goes here goes here goes"
"Calm down sir.... Keep calm... That's it!! Now slowly, slooowly.... Aaaand stop" my newfound instructor orders as I held an imaginary rope still and slowly let go of it...
Letting out a breath I didn't know I'm holding.....
"Just to be sure here sir Vann...... You don't know how to use magic do you?" Father Sigil commented as he looked at me with worry...
"I'm sorry Father but like I said... I'm not from a world with magic." I replied with a newfound respect towards the tiny brown horse.
"Oh great!! He has magic that is stronger than the elements of harmony and he don't know how to use it..." Starlight replied behind Sigil.
"You can't blame sir Vann about that Starlight. And he already explained why." My ever loving saviour shot back at the bratty pony. And her only reply is to sip her cup gave me a sidelong glance.
"Please forgive my friend sir. She's a bit serious in regards to her position" Sigil explained.
"Nah don't worry about it. She may be a bit crossed over what happened at the plaza. Assuming that she's close to the hybrid horse I got glued onto." I replied to him with a smile
"Her name is Luna.... 'Princess'. 'Luna'. Sovereign of the moon, ruler of the night, and one of the diarchs of this country. And you just knocked her out. And that could translate to assault on Royalty. Which would land you straight into the gallows." The ever-so-caring purple smartass commented while sitting on the sofa drinki-.....
Royalty..... Ruler of a country.... Princess.....
My face might've paled since father sigil began shaking my leg while looking up at me worriedly.
A fast growing rumble and the office door blowing up knocked me out of my shocked stupor (shattering my teacup with a door handle. dousing the purple pony's face with the contents.)
"Giveth mé backeth mine own moon human!!!!" The big, glowy-eyed, navy blue pony yelled with a power of a stadium speaker at us...
"Geez lady!!!! Volume!!!!"
"Luna!? How did you recover so quickly??"
"Now, now... Let us all calm down... I'm sure we can come up with a solution for our problems he-" Sigil tried to calm down the snarling horse to no avail.
Before any of us could react, the big pony (Luna. That's what Starlight said) shot a light blue laser out of her horn aimed straight at me.
I could only cover my face with my arms and closed my eyes as I braced for any sort of impact....
5 seconds.........
10 seconds...........
Oooooookaaaaayyyy......
I opened one eye and look forward and saw a dozen laser beams hitting me in all directions.
And as it made contact to me, it instantly dissipates into a glowing, bright blue glitter dust. Scattering across the floor.
"Uhhhhh.... Whut?" I said as I peeked out of my arms and looked at the 3 ponies: one with a shocked expression, another with slightly widened eyes, the last with an eyeroll....
"HOW???" Luna said. Still with the loudspeaker switched on.
"Magic doesn't work on him Luna!! Calm down!! This won't solve anything!!" Starlight said taking a position beside Sigil while trying to match the angry hybrid horse's amplified voice.
"I thought you're on her side?"
"I am!!"
"So why are you here?"
"Just shut it will you?"
As me and the Starlight bicker, we didn't notice Luna conjuring a sword out of nowhere and charged at me with a roar. And just like before, my two protectors couldn't react in time and were shoved off by the blue big pony with her sword held by her aura and tip pointed at my chest.
But by luck, skill, and grace of a monkey on weed, I was able to grab the sword's tip mere inches from my chest
Luna, with eyes of determination, kept trying to push the blade through with her magic but somehow, I feel no force being exerted into it. Heck it couldn't even cut my gloves..
"Your majesty please.. I know you're mad about what happened a few hours ago but I swear!! I mean no harm!!" I try to reason to the blue horse.
"SILENCE!!!" she roared still on loudspeaker.
Mere feet away from my face......
As I hear the ringing of the bells in my brain, I stepped on a conveniently placed ball doorknob and tripped. Sending me on my ass and throwing off the sword I'm holding.
Luna, not wasting a moment, attempts to recover the sword with her magic as it flew above my head
Not wanting to be the first human kebab made by aliens, I quickly made a beeline for the blade and miraculously, I was able to grab it by the handle with my right hand first in mid-air. NFL style
But before I could relish my victory, I looked down and saw the blue she-pony barreling down on me as I fell to the floor.
With a thud, I landed on my back with the psychotic mare on top of me and without a pause, conjured a knife, bit the handle, and went for my exposed throat.
Not when I gave her a shambly left hook on her snout.... Which missed but knocked off the dagger she's biting..
But despite being disarmed, she still went for the attack and began to furiously gnaw on my raised arm...
"Luna!!! Get a hold of your yourself!!!!" Starlight yelled as she desperately tries to pry the very angry princess/bronco as the latter's drool from her tasty human rubber sleeve began to soak my face as I lie below her.
But she's not making any progress over it which is nice...
Not wanting to make any aggressive actions in fear of further conflict, I stayed in my position and wait for my cute little predator to get tired (or full) from eating rubber.
CLANG!!!!!!!!
Aaaaaaaaaannnnd someone decided to hit her head with a frying pan....
As the now unconscious mare with two horns fell on top of me, i saw a panting Sigil with a collection of yellow eyes looking at us from the hole which the door originally belongs.
"i'm sorry Luna. This is the only way" Sigil wheezed as he looked down on me and the big (but pretty light) pony....
I sip my mug of sweet chamomile tea as i lie on a mat under a Nipa gazebo on a beach resort.
As i enjoy the beautiful scene of the white sand beach, gentle rolling waves, and the smooth swinging of the coconut trees in front of me, my four sarong-wearing waitresses came with a plate of the biggest five tier pink cake with purple and cyan frosting I've ever seen and laid it down on the table beside me.
"thank you" i said while i kiss each of their left hand before they take their positions at the four corners of the mat
With gentle hands, i slowly pulled the cake close to me and lifted a slice up to my face. and gave it a slow, long, tentative on the icing
it taste like Lychee jelly: sweet, with a pinch of saltiness.. in short: just right for my tastes.
i feel my maids poking their fingers at my face while i kissed and licked the entire lower tier of the cake.
"hahah!! please don't!! it kinda tickles, and i'm trying to enjoy my meal here!" I told the maids but they wouldn't listen.
not like i could care when my food tastes this good.
as my food starts to secrete its sweet smelling creamy white filling between the tiers, the maid's poking intensify to the point it's starts to get annoying.
i swatted a few fingers off, but they kept on going... to the point they began poking my whole body..
with my patience wearing thin, i decided to ignore it for the last time and took a slow, intimate bite on the lowest tier of the baked goodness
the cake's screaming and sudden thrashing caught me off guard.
...............
"LET ME GO YOU ANIMAL!!!!!!!!" a female voice screamed at my ear as my brain rebooted itself back into the waking world.
"huh? Whu?? Whe-" my brain deleted my dream from its hard drive when a pair of hooves hit each of my eyes with lethal accuracy.
While i felt no force being exerted to those limbs, the sharp edges of those two solid ends are more than enough to give my eyes a sting
"OUCH!! WHAT'S BIG IDEA HUH??" i shouted as i rub my eyes in pain while the offender scrambled off my bed.
Turns out, it was Starlight. With a visible bite mark on her rump, completely encasing her butt brand with teeth markings.
"FIEND!!!!!! CARNIVORE!!!!!! PREDATOR!!!!!! PERVERT!!!!!! HENTAI!!!!!!!" she screamed while glaring at me with a beet red face at the far corner of the room while covering her self with her hooves like she's been stripped of clothing.
I don't get it. She's already strutting around in public in her birthday suit.
"may i ask? What are you doing in my room" i inquire my visitor as i continue to rub my stinging eyes.
And right on cue, the pony priest: Father Sigil opens the door and enters the room
"Starlight? What's taking you so long? I know you are not in good terms with Sir Vann but we need him to-.... Oh......" Sigil said as he stared down at me and Starlight.
"HE TRIED TO EAT ME!!"
"WHY WOULD I EVEN PUT ANY PART OF YOU IN MY MOUTH???"
"YOU JUST DID YOU APE!!!"
"Before you two start bickering, could we please get to the main issue?" Sigil asked as he broke me and Starlight off.
"what issue" i asked as i looked out the window. Still dark out.
"no thanks to you, Luna can't lower the moon right now. And since you're the only other option available, you'll have to do." starlight said in her usual annoyed tone.
One of these days, i'm gonna bitchslap this mare.
"as much as i would like to help you two, but a bit of a reminder: I don't know how to do that, Nor I know how to use magic, And what do you mean 'lower the Moon'? Isn't it supposed to do that on its own? I mean, it should right?" i asked the two mini-horses.
"it may be in your world Sir Vann but here? The two diarchs of Equestria namely: Princess Celestia and princess Luna, controls the sun and moon respectively. And since we're yet to inform Celestia about your existence, we made a decision to use your abilites as a divine being to lower the Moon for today. Since we've seen you manipulate it with ease" Father Sigil explained to me.
while the logic engine of my brain's trying to process the complete bullshittery it just heard from the mini-horse in front of me, my dumb side decided to go 'fuck it! thinking sucks!!' and convinced me to just roll with it.
"hello?" i asked as Father Sigil looked away with a hum and Starlight with a 'like i give a fuck' face.
"you guys have any ideas how to lower the moon"
"there were no books or tomes regarding of how to lower the celestial bodies. eventhough before the time of the alicorn sisters, it was said to be done by the unicorn's lodge but, their records have been lost to time" Sigil explained.
"aww come on... Just swing those lanky arms of yours downwards like you're shoving down a blanket in a washing machine" Starlight butted in.
As annoying as she is, she maybe on to something.
Following her instructions, and remembering the stunt i pulled, i went back to my ancient Jedi training and gripped the moon with my hands.
And slowly, pushed it down into the horizon. And quickly gave way to the rising sun.
"hey... Ape... You still in there?" i heard Starlight behind me.
"huh? Oh.. Yeah..."
"there we go, the sun has risen. Why don't we head out for breakfast? I'm sure we are all famished after not eating dinner last night." Father Sigil suggested.
"yeah... I could use some coffee right now.." i answered while holding my head.
As we walked along the chapel's corridors my mind began to roll in data along with some questions as i scan both my surroundings, and the ponies in front of me.
so this ain't a dream.... Or is it still is? Sheesh.... This is still a hard reality to cope with... somehow i'm in a world where humans are the same as the world i was from: apex predators... the only catch here is that there are more sentient creatures here than on earth... Father Sigil said that there are many more talking creatures here other than horses, And they all worship humans.... if these mini-horse greeted me in such a way when they first saw me, i wonder how would the other human worshiping creatures react if they saw me? adoration, fear, hell.... i could only imagine....
"something in your mind sir Vann?" Sigil asked in front of me.
"Kind of... Pardon me but, what's with the brands on your ass cheeks?"
"ass cheeks? Stable side has no donkeys staying or living here..."
'huh? Ohh right... These guys are horses' "i mean those marks on your rear ends"
"Ohh you mean the Cutie mark. These symbols define the special talent a pony has. It appears when a pony has found their calling in life. Mine symbolises my affinity over summoning magic, while Starlight's about her skill in controlling raw mana." Father Sigil explained as he pointed at his butt mark. 'Wow dude... That's one hell of a tattoo'
"Ohhhhhh... So it's like a résumé but, magical."
"Per se" accounted the pony priest.
"any explanation as to how we humans were discovered and looked upon as gods here in your world?"
"unfortunately None. The existence of humans are known by all creatures in Equis. As to how? The only clue we have were the Quran of the Zebra tribes, the Bible of the griffons, the Elder Scrolls of the dragons, and the iron tablets of the diamond dogs. As to who authored them, no one knows"
"And to you ponies? What made you acknowledge us?"
"It was the book of Das Kampf. An old tome held by our kind even before the unification of the tribes. Each race had their own interpretation of it but, all define you humans as a godly species. There's even a legend where you humans were the ones who made the three tribes after our alicorn ancestors betrayed humankind but that's being debated till now."
"Betrayed us?"
"it's better you read it yourself. You can read right?" Starlight butted in as we walked along.
"not your alphabet though"
"Huh?"
"Tried to read one book in the room I stayed in last night.... It's still the same weird text like the one the green pony showed me when i landed here"
"Interesting..." Father sigil commented.
"Well.. That was a bummer" starlight spoke.
"And why is that" I looked at starlight
"Your translation spell sir... It is rather.... Innovative. To say the least" Sigil said.
"How so?"
"You just said that you don't know magic Ape... You wouldn't understand"
"And what's the connection between my translator and my inability to read your alphabet, lady?"
"Geez ya primate... You're a privy one"
"You guys said last night that I'm an OP boi here in your planet.. Knowing that I could whip up something new, that could potentially upset the balance of this world, political or otherwise, I have every right to know whether or not it'll be used for any nefarious reasons"
"............huh......... So you have more than half a brain in that head of yours... That's a relief to hear."
"Just what is your problem huh Missy? I've done nothing to you."
"Please forgive my friend here good sir... Her relationship with the princess of the night is a little complicated" father Sigil said as he stood between me and the lilac brat as I closed the distance between us.
"What? She's Luna's self-proclaimed lover or something?"
"IT'S 'PRINCESS' LUNA TO YOU YOU DISRESPECTFUL ANIMAL! DO NOT FORGET THAT SHE IS A ROYALTY OF THIS KINGDOM!! AND YOU ARE JUST AN ILLEGAL ALIEN HERE!!!" Starlight yelled behind Sigil
'Huh..... I might have struck a nerve on her. Better struck some more...' I thought.
"She's more than just 'the princess' to you isn't it?" i said as i stared down at her as her face turned slightly red before hiding it behind her mane
I'm pretty lucky that these horses are barely taller than a golden retriever
".............that's none of your concern human...." she shot back at me. Barely a whisper.
"Back to the original topic at hand, we truly wish we could explain to you the details good sir. But it is what starlight said.. You're new to the world of magic so explaining the spell you just accidentally made is too complicated" Sigil suddenly voiced out a little louder than normal in an attempt to defuse my heated argument with starlight.
"Alright alright fine... But any chance either of you two would teach me magic?"
"I'll be honored to Sir Vann"
"Not on your life monkey"
"Yeah yeah yeah I know cous for some re-" I failed to finish my sentence when misstep the stairs and fell..
Luckily, one of my companions materialized a tree branch out of the wooden wall beside me to grab onto. Saving me from an embarrassing scene which starlight would most likely laugh at.
"Thank you father Sigil" I said as I pulled myself back up the stairs.
And see both ponies are looking at me with an expression of mild shock.
"Are you sure you don't know how to use magic?" My salty lilac unicorn said as she eyed the tree branch with curiosity.
"Neither of us conjured this branch good Sir...." Sigil commented beside me...
"Sooooo..... I made this?" In said as I looked back at the branch. I pulled a leaf out and sure enough, it's alive. Trailing back to its base, it's showing that the branch is actually GROWING out of the wooden wall. Like the wall itself is a living tree until recently.
"I think we all should get a proper breakfast before we begin some research" Father sigil chimes in as he appraised the branch.
"If that research is about what I can do with this 'magic', I'm in." I replied as the the extremist brain cells within the left and right lobes began murdering each other. .....................
A few minutes later, we arrived at a luxurious dining hall somewhere inside the chapel. And I'm starting to wonder how on earth does this all fit in a chapel? And how much money the enclaves are making to be able to afford having such luxuries?
Starlight pulling out a chair, and Father sigil sitting on it was a bit strange for me but, I didn't ask about it.
Not a few moments later, a group of ponies came pushing trolleys filled with food came in from the two adjacent doors. Eyes still glowing green like from last night.
Their eyes were ignored by my brain as it focused my eyes to the food on the trays. Expecting a hearty breakfast filled with bacon, pancakes, maybe a cup of java rice or two (don't blame me!! I'm an Asian so of course I'll crave some rice).
And to my utter disappointment, it has nothing but leaves, (even the bacon is clearly, made of tofu.) with a few flowers, and some mashed potatoes. Well at least they got eggs.
"Bless us o Faust, and this thy meal, Which we are about to receive, From thy bounty, Through the maker, our lady, Faulshion...."
I heard Sigil praying while his front arms are spread, angled downwards like a wedge
Of course they would have a prayer here....
"Hey monkey. A quick question: what made do what you did last night?" My ever graceful lilac horned pony asked as she took a seat right of Sigil's.
"Which one: the first meeting? Or second meeting?"
"Both... In that order"
"Huh... Oh right! My first thoughts on meeting you and your crew were that you guys are a group of bandits trying to wreak havoc" I stated.
"Of course you have prejudices" she replied with an eyeroll.
"Hey don't blame me Lady!! Black armoured, bat winged, and cat eyed ponies suddenly flashbanging you and putting you in a anti-sea bear circle ain't a good way to be introduced to. And in my defense, I took the peaceful approach and it worked in my opinion." I laid it down thick on Starlight.
"Excuse me. 'Peaceful' approach? You nearly killed on of our princesses monkey."
"Do I look like I know that was gonna happen? Missy I never had any superpowers till I came into your world!!"
A hard object hitting a solid flat plane broke our bickering.
Me and Starlight simultaneously looked at the source of the interruption and saw the pony priest: clearly pissed off with organs pulsing around his face and yet, giving us a gentle smile.
"Could we just enjoy our breakfast? Please? And Starlight, could you be a dear and take a tray to princess Luna? I'm sure she'll be glad to see a meal ready for her when she wakes up. Oh and take a tea set with you" Sigil calmly suggested with a smile (with a psychotic smile ready to wring up mine and Starlight's neck)
Faster than a bullet, the lilac mare jumped off her seat, levitate a tray and quickly egressed the dining room. Leaving me with an angry male horse with a stepford smile.
"Sorry Father" I spoke with a barely contained fear.
"You better be" Sigil replied.
As they distribute the plates among e two us on the table, my mind replayed my fall, and subsequent salvation by the tree branch. All while staring at the vegan bacon in front of me.
With the scene from a certain movie playing on loop in my head, I gazed upon the bacon. The pathetic imitation of a glorious meal. And slowly clasped my hands below my chin....
I felt the winds pick up around me as I encase the bacon within an imaginary cylinder, lifted it off the porcelain plate, and with all of my focus into it, ran a ring throug the bacon's length. Slowly turning it from an object of heresy to all meat lovers, to the divine meal only eaten by kings and victors
I could faintly hear Father Sigil's awed voice, and the windows being forcibly opened by the wind swirling around the vegan bacon as it is brought to salvation from the corruption its makers brought upon it
When I opened my eyes to see my handiwork, I saw not just a real pork bacon, but the fact that there ere two magic circles on both ends as it is levitated a foot off the table and being shined on by a golden ray of light coming out of the ceiling. As if the gods of this world themselves has bestowed upon me this meat.
"Impossible.... A new type of hex.. Not even the Element of magic has ever achieved such a thing.. No.... Even the diarchs could not make one......." Father Sigil murmured as he stared at the floating piece of meat in front of me.
Honestly, my mind was once again... Ceased all functions as my logic engine showed the blue screen of death due to the braking of the laws of physics and common sense. Thus putting my crazy side to just say 'forget it.... You did that for the bacon yes?' And just ate the aformentioned meat in mid air.
After the blessed breakfast, I decided to try again the magic I just learned, and start experimenting on the utensils near me.
And at the corner of my vision, I see Sigil conjuring up a book and pen and began scribbling on in while looking at me.
At this point, the left part of my brain is pretty much shot up to even ask any questions and group my collected spoons and forks together.
And just like before, I aimed my palms to the objects, not closing my eyes this time, and use my Jedi training to order the atoms to do some cardio without using heat.
And surprise surprise!! It worked. The silver utensils melted like butter on a hot pan. As I looked on, I put my palms up and lo and behold! The mercury like metals floated on mid-air and balled itself up like water in zero-G.
"Damn..... I wish I had this back at the office" I said to myself as I converted the ball of metal to a piston, spanner, and a knife.
Which surprisingly, took little to no effort to do. Which is too good to be true for me as the remnants of my left lobe began reminding me of all of my engine designs that never took off due to the manufacturing team saying: this is too simple!!, this is too complicated!!, make it smaller!!!, it cannot be built!!.
Well news flash Mr. Putri with a-fuckin-D!!!!!! I'll prove to YOU and your bandwagon of smelly vegans that IT COULD BE DONE!!!! AS SOON AS I GET USED TO THIS POWER!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! I monologued as I stared down at my work...
Till a cough knocked me out of my daydreaming of vengeance
Do you know that feeling when you were a kid? When you know you have done something so bad, you know your mom is gonna go apeshit for it? Or that one time you messed up a company project so hard, you now have a 90% chance of getting fired?
Yes... That feeling....
When I looked a the peon who dare disturb my internal speech, I came face to face with a dark blue big horse with both a horn, and wings attached to it....
Then it all came back to me....
The horn touch, the attempted murder, and Starlight's warning...
My inner wage slave took over my whole conscience and smashed my head to the floor in front of the Princess of pony land..
"I AM TERRIBLY SORRY YOU MAJESTY!!!!!! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE A PRINCESS!!!!! I SWEAR I NEVER KNEW I COULD DO SUCH A THING BEFORE I CAME TO YOUR WORLD!!!"
During the founding of their beloved equestria, she and her sister: princess Celestia, had ruled equestria with love and compassion. Till she fell into corruption and was banished to the moon for a thousand years.
But after her confrontation with the new bearers of harmony, she's now doing her best (and damndest) to both correct her past mistakes, and win back the hearts of her subjects.
Starlight Glimmer was her unsung achievement. Once a Pony determined to usurp her and her sister and bring her own 'true harmony' to equestria by removing the cutie mark, is now one of the best sorceresses the order of the Eclipse can ever have.
And also her very first friend she made herself without the help of the bearer of magic...
From the hushed battles between races as each try and gain power over their neighbors, to loose ends the crown needed cleaning. She and Starlight were at the thick of it in any fights the order of the Eclipse got into.
The anomaly recorded in southwest equestria was supposed to be just another routine investigation for her group. Agent Shimmer said it was some sort of magical dimensional rift but she paid that information no mind.
She now wished that she did after getting her mind nearly fried and her virgin body almost violated by mana over surge courtesy of the first human since her ancestor's ancestors days..
She doesn't know what happened after her first over surge, but she awoke from a sudden tug from her horn.
At first, she groggily paid it no mind and tried to return to the loving embrace of the blanket she's under. Till she saw the moon's luminescence increase on the wall in front of her
When she looked back, she saw her moon suddenly drew itself close.... Too close to the planet.
She sprung out of her bed and quickly attempted to push it back but somehow, her moon doesn't obey her command.
As if someone stole her moon. With it her night.
She tried to control her stars but to her shock, even they won't listen to their sovereign.
She tried to gain access to the dreamscape but she was shunned away before she could reach the door.
Panic slowly creeped up to her mind as the embodiment of her cutie mark, her very talent, her reason of existence was taken away from her.
She quickly casted a tracking spell to know whoever stole her night. She quickly got a ping, and the signature is all too familiar for her horn.
The human stole her night.
With a will of a princess, she threw open her bedroom door. Startling the few guards posted to guard her but she paid them no mind and began following her trail.
"y-your majesty!?? Please return to bed!! You just went through a mana surge!! You must not move this much yet!!" one of her guards complained as he galloped after the lunar diarch
"not now guardspony. A national crisis is happening as we speak." Luna said as she galloped after the track her spell is showing.
The therstal guard didn't respond but instead, he galloped back to the opposite directon.
"I'll call for reinforcements" he calls back.
She only gave a nod as she sped through the chapel's hallways till she reached a set of double doors where her tracking spell ends.
Throwing all caution to the four winds, she switched on her royal canterlot voice and blew off the doors with her magic.
"Giveth mé backeth mine own moon human!!!!"
............................................
Princess Luna stirred awake fro her bed as she feel a pounding headache as her sister's sun warms her back from the chapel's window.
"Oh thank Faust you're awake..." A sigh of relief was heard from the door as Starlight Glimmer walked in with a tray held by her magic.
"Ugh... Starlight?? Where... H-HOW CAN THAT BE??????" The lunar princess's mind recovered and updated to the ongoing anomaly which is the sun raised without her lowering the moon.
"Luna please calm down.... Here drink this first. I'll explain" her agent said as she lifted a cup of neighpon tea to her.
"Ok first things first, what do you remember last night?" Starlight asked as she took a seat near Luna's bed.
Then once more, the mind of the Lunar diarch updated as it recovered more lost memories. She remembered her panicked actions last night: her grand entrance, her spell's failures, and her attempted murder of a deity...
Luna shakily drank her morning tea as the future consequences of her anger-borne decisions creeped up into her mind...
But was put aside by the loss of her night..
"Mine night has been stolen b-"
"Try to reconnect your magic to your moon. See for yourself" Starlight cut the princess of the night off.
And much to the latter's surprise, she felt her beloved night reach back to her, the stars calling her, and the door of the dreamscape opening its doors to her once more.
Like everything that has happened last night was just a horrible nightmare.
"Where is the human right now?"
"In the dining area with Sigil.. Apparently, it never stole you beloved night. Just hacked your control over it for a short while.. it did lowered it though while you were sleeping."
"Any chance that he explained why he provoked our guards last night?"
"it thought we were vagrant bandits.. The nerve of that ape....."
"Why he touched our horn?"
"Thought it was being ignored"
"Why he didn't fought back against us last night?"
"it doesn't want any trouble it said."
"We see... Thank you my friend"
"I-I-it's nothing!! Really!! That's what I'm supposed to do as your agent right??" The Eclipse agent stammered as she turned her head Away from the bed. A slight blush failed to be noticed by the princess of the night.
"We will speak to him personally and explain our brash actions last night" princess Luna spoke as she tried to leave her bed but was stopped by a pull from her tail, and a hoof on her tuft .
"You just went through a mana oversurge Luna. Norway in tartarus you leaving the bed" The eclipse agent proclaimed as she stood over the lunar diarch.
"But we must! It is part of our duty as princess and leader to take the blame for for our actions"
"It was just an accident!! Sigil already cleared it up for you and the human."
"Even so, we must speak to the human with regards of his powers. And an explanation to how he came here."
"We'll have plenty of time for that once we get back to canterlot tommorow for now, get some rest"
"We will move tonight Starlight Glimmer"
"Huh? Is because of the moon last night"
"Yes. No doubt the neighboring kingdoms is already acutely aware that a human has entered our lands. It is most likely their spies are now at work of tracking him down."
"Huh, makes sense... But I'm not leaving you with it."
"We won't be alone, as thee said: Sigil is with our human yes? While we brief our human of our immediate departure, could you-"
"Prep up the citizens the usual way. On it. Just-just... Don't do anything stupid again.. Alright?"
"Do not worry my friend. Our mind is clear of panic this morn. Thanks to your tea."
"Hnnnnggggg........ Oh alright.. Just be careful around that... Thing.. I'll at least walk with you there" Starlight surrendered as the lunar diarch disembarked her bed and exits her room with the agent. Saluting their guards as they walked by.
"Any explanations as to how he is able to suddenly learn our language?" The princess of the night questioned as they walked.
"it didn't.. Some sort of spell was suddenly casted on it and it's able to communicate with us without any aid from glyphs or enchanted items. And the spell is a new matrix. We could actually consider it a revolutionary hex design"
"Did he casted the spell?"
"it doesn't believe in magic. Apparently, the world it came from is devoid of it so it doesn't know how to cast any spells. So that is pretty much impossible given it's current knowledge."
"He might have unconsiously casted it onto himself."
"it can't even read basic Equish Luna... How in equestria is it be able to cast spells?"
"We see... Has Celestia been informed of our find?"
"I used up the last dragon parchment to write her a letter"
"Any replies yet"
"We're waiting"
"Anything else worth noting while we are in slumber?"
"Magic is completely useless against it. ANY Magic. Whenever a spell hits it, it quickly turns into fine magicule dust."
"We noticed his immunity to magic... But the magicule?"
"We don't have the equipment needed to test its purity. But your tussle with it made at least 250 grams worth"
"By the sun... 250?"
"Yep! 250."
The two mares pondered on as they reached the doors to the dining hall of the chapel
With the departure of Starlight, and a final check over herself, princess Luna nodded to the stationed guard and steeled herself in confronting the human with a level head this time.
While she's expecting an angry human who would smite her as soon as she enters his sight, or be enslaved by the human and enter her mind, or be asked by the human to earn her repentance by the use of her body, she wasn't expecting to see him with a Loony grin as a ball of some sort of silvery liquid changes shape in front of him while it is levitated by a glow similar to his raised hands..
And completely, and blatantly. Ignoring her.
"Extraordinary... To be able to freely manipulate the composition of such metals so easily.. Only discord is able to do such magic" Sigil Tome commented as he wrote down something on a book infront of him.
"Damn... Wish I had this back in the office." The human commented with a smile as the metal changed its shape into some sort of... Something princess Luna can't decipher what.
Then another one that looks like some sort of tool.
And into a dagger (which put the night princess on guard instinctively)
But, seeing that nopony is noticing her presence, she quickly undid her defensive rune, and coughed...
twice....
as two pairs of eyes turned to her general direction, one stood up and groveled while another walked up to her...
"Luna! you were supposed to be in bed!!" Sigil exclaimed as he greeted Princess Luna.
"we understand your worries Sigil. but we must speak to the human urgently......." the Lunar diarch lost her words as the awkward silence between her and a grovelling human descends down on them.
"ermmmmm.........."
"I AM TERRIBLY SORRY YOU MAJESTY!!!!!! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE A PRINCESS!!!!! I SWEAR I NEVER KNEW I COULD DO SUCH A THING BEFORE I CAME TO YOUR WORLD!!!"
"nononononononono.... T'was us who are wrong.. if we could have taken a more diplomatic approach instead of letting our emotions take control last night, we wouldn't have crossed swords."
"B-b-but.. I kinda made the wrong assumptions when we first met.."
"It was us who made the first hostile actions towards you good sir... We and our men should have spoken first"
"Now now now... Why don't we all agree that we all come off to a bad start hmmm?, so why don't start over?. Sir Vann, allow me to introduce Princess Luna: Sovereign of the moon, ruler of the night, and one of the diarchs of the kingdom of Equestria: the land of ponies." Sigil stated with a forehoof introduction.
"Greetings esteemed human" Luna commented with a slight bow as the human stood up (and with a clear mind, she kinda saw him as rather good looking.)
"Princess Luna, this is Mr Vann.."
"Great honor your majesty" the human (Vann) bowed in his own human way.
"Please call us Luna. As thou may have been informed about your kind's role in this world." The lunar diarch answered as she raised for a hoofshake.
"Huh?.. AH!! yes of course.. The god thingy" Vann said as he lightly shook Luna's hoof.
"If we recall to our talks with Starlight.. You came from a world devoid of magic?"
"That's how I left it yes."
"Does your history ever mentioned ponies"
"Not in the way you're thinking I'm sure. Talking equines only existed in our fairytails and legends. Back in my world, humans are the only sentient life but, with a whole world filled with creatures we consider as mythical? No.. Not any that I recall."
"We see... Perchance you would-" Princess Luna was cut off when a dragon mail popped out in front of her. Bearing her sister's seal.
when she opened it it reads:
Sister: the news your team brought to me is a bit alarming to say the least. a HUMAN? of all the creatures we could have faced. If starlight's words were accurate that it cannot (she insisted to not tell me the gender) use magic, but can summon large amounts mana, enough to overflow an alicorn's reserve, then he could be a danger to both himself, and to others. as much as it would be advantageous for it to be teleport-ed here to Canterlot, our spies back in HQ had an intel that something is planning to attack the capital on cadence's wedding (which is a day after tomorrow) captain Shining Armour has set up an increased security around our city, including the disabling any teleportation spells, a no-fly-zone. and i invited the Elements as well. since we had no other alternatives, i already sent Knight One to pick you and your team up (along with Sigil Tome. He's needed by the precogs) from there along with the human. we'll plan our next move as soon you're onboard. please stay safe.
Celestia.
"what does it say?" Sigil asked Luna, only for her to give him the letter
"this sounds bad..." murmured Sigil reading the letter.
"sir Vann as much as we would like to continue this chat, we need you to come with us"
"huh, why?"
"As our agents had said, you and your kind are considered gods and your interference over our night the previous eve gave our neighbors an inkling that we harbor a human in our country. No doubt they must have sent spies to either confirm your existence or capture you. it is best that we leave the town quickly and take you to a safer place"
"errrrrmmmm..... this may be a bit offensive but.. won't they be unwilling to kidnap me since i'm... well.... a 'god'.. pretty sure they would just want to talk to me or just confirm that i'm here right? if they want to bring me to their country, maybe it's best that i go with them?" the human inquired the two ponies in the room.
"there is a chance that they would try to dissect you, make you their slave, or turn you into a lab rat" Sigil answered grimly to the human
"or make me their god-king" the human replied optimistically.
"and put thee in a cage and be raped by countless females. Sir Vann please... we may not have been the best hostess since your arrival in our kingdom, but we implore you... trust us just this once.. we promise that no harm will come unto you." Luna begged as she lowered her head to the ground in front of the human
"geez.. if you're willing to go that far, alright" Vann relented as he knelt and reached out to Luna's head.
"thank you Sir Vann... any chance we have time before Knight One arrives" Sigil asked as Luna stood to her full height.
and right on cue, a hex call contacted the Lunar diarch as the three exited the dining room.
"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzttttttttttt....................team midnight, team midnight, this is Knight One. we are on approach to stableside. ETA 6 minutes"
"understood Knight One. we will rendezvous a few miles off the station. Meet you there"
"well that was rather fast, let's meet up at the main entrance. i'll prepare my things" Sigil replied as the human and two ponies egress the room.
after making up with the princess that i nearly killed, (accidentally by the way) and getting a short brief from her while Sigil left.
as we reached the chapel's main hall, i saw one of the most gawking scenes i ever seen so far in this world:
there is Starlight Glimmer, standing in what seems to be a giant magical circle, the pews has been moved to the side as she shut her eyes and grit her teeth as her horn shines like a hand flare all while the circle surrounding her increased it's luminescence.
As the shining circle reached its all time brightness, the pony in the middle suddenly jumped straight up so high, she actually reached the ceiling (which by he way, at least 4 stories high) then plummeted so fast, she's like a purple lightning.
as soon as she made contact to the floor, the entire circle exploded at her hooves and sent a shockwave which surprisingly, just passed through the church walls like a ghost.
"right on time Starlight! we must hurry.. Knight One is well on its way to pick us up along with the human"
"oh good we-wait.. wat?" Starlight said flabbergasted.
"we are leaving today. along with the Human. our new objective is to take him to a more secure area to keep things under wraps"
"yes i get the 'put the human in a safe place but, now?"
"we're afraid so, are the local population taken care of, i take that spell as a yes."
"yeah. they're good"
"ummm... can i ask? what do you mean by 'they're good?" i question the two mares.
"do not worry about them sir Vann... it is best that they don't remember that you came here"
a glare from the purple one stopped me from asking further.. but hey! secret agent stuff ain't my thing so better not ask too many questions. (Father Sigil more or less told me what they are)
"we will meet up with our tranport a few kilometers from stableside station. tell the guards to form up"
..............................
after a few minutes, we left the town (a little sad tough.. i never had the chance to say goodbye to the locals) and we're well on our way to the meeting point.
surprisingly, these ponies is actually on their way to the industrial age since they actually had a working train. the tracks are a clear sign of it.
My first thought of their trains was a stephson's rocket replica.. with wooden wheels and overly colorful wagons....
i was not expecting a humongous, 10 wheeled jet-black steampunk war-train with multiple ballistae poking out on the train's boiler and accommodating wagons which made this train at least 50 meters long or more..
"i see that you're impressed sir Vann. this is one of the few personal trains the crown uses in their trips across the land. along with the sky chariot and the airship. our sister also chose this for more low-key trips for both local & international businesses on the continent.
'if this is low-key, i don't want to know what are your normal modes of transport' i thought to myself as i load up my baby into one of the train's wagons.
"Luna, where are headed for anyway and why use an armored train?" father Sigil asked the question I've been planning to ask.
he's also wearing a white tuxedo with a matching tophat ( i swear... this horse is the pony version of that cat baron in ghibli)
"the train is going to Stalliongrad. Starlight and Sir Vann will be transported by train. while we and Sigil will teleport to the capital's outskirts."
"Me?" Starlight exclaimed.
"With her???" i continued.
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!" we both sounded our mutual disapproval at Luna's plan
"it think it's best that i stay with Sir Vann instead of Starlight" Fatther Sigil followed with a suggestion.
"we think so too but, alas we are urgently needed at Canterlot due to the intelligence we recieved. and besides, they won't be in the same wagon anyway"
"well that's a relief" i said.
"yes indeed" my soon-to-be traveling companion agrees.
"then it is all settled! Sir Vann and starlight will be travelling together till they reach the safety of their destination. while sigil and i will head to canterlot. best of luck to you two" the midnight mare told us with a smile and vanished with flash along with sigil.
without an exchange of words or pleasantries, me and my babysitter quickly went on our seperate ways. me at the back near the caboose, Starlight in the front just behind the tender.
as i made myself comfortable with my baby, the doors closed and the whistle was blown: signalling our departure from the town of stableside.
two unicorns: a lilac filly and an orange colt are standing at the center of a bridge "...Ah... umm... hey," the filly opened her mouth falteringly.
But try as she might, the words would not come out beyond that point. No, she no longer even knew what she was going to say. In her heart was the perhaps unreasonable but compulsive feeling that if she did not say something here, she would regret it, and nothing else.
"...Starlight?."
—As she stood paralyzed like that, the colt turned a troubled expression towards the filly.
she certainly hadn't wanted to make the boy troubled like that. It was true that she had spoken selfishly to him more than once, but that was because she knew the colt would accept it to the bitter end. she hadn't wanted to make him look like that... as if he didn't know what to do.
—And yet... she didn't know what she should do either, and...
Even though it must have been the same for the orange colt... No. Rather, even though it must have been far harder on him than it was on her, she only made him troubled, and could do nothing. The moment that tears seemed about to come to her eyes at her own wretchedness, his hoof gently brushed her head.
"It's alright." "Ngh...!"
Even she could tell that he was putting on a brave face.
since the colt, named Sunburst was an exemplary unicorn from the start, it is not surprising that when he earned his cutie mark, which he gained after saving his friend from a accident, he received and invitation to study at Celestia's school of gifted unicorns.
Which also means he will have to leave his home for the capital of equestria: Canterlot. All while leaving his friend: Starlight Glimmer back at their town.
"...I'm sorry."
"You've got nothing to apologize for, Starlight. And besides, I'm sure my parents had their reason too."
—Sunburst smiled at Starlight reassuringly.
His parents only briefly explained him of their sudden departure. and must also have been uneasy about his only friend (and so is her.) in a new world, but he was still concerned for her. She felt grateful to him, but on the other hoof, she felt a strong pain in her chest. A feeling of powerlessness was slowly but steadily coiling itself around her heart, so that she wanted to bawl. She's sure it must have been because faint tears were coming to the colt's eyes. Sunburst respect his parents more than Starlight did. There is Norway he could go against their wishes to get him a future over leaving his friend. He was the same age as her and it must've been impossible for him to say no to their parents.
—If she had power, she would make sure he never had to make a face like this, but...
Sunburst had always protected Starlight. No matter when, he had been standing in front of her and leading her onward. It was the first time he had shown the filly such a pained expression. He looked worn-out, somehow. She wanted to show him her appreciation, but she had nothing to give. The influence to make his parents reverse their decision; the power to make his cutie mark disappear, the magic to heal his heart... She possessed none of these.
"Besides... a happy face suits you better than looking like you're about to cry Starry."
"Oo"
Those words finally released the waterworks.
So far she had desperately avoided crying, but now her eyes grew moist, and tears fell from them in large drops. She wiped more than once at the corners of her eyes in an attempt to restrain them, but the tears flowing down her cheeks absolutely refused to stop. Sunburst saw the tears which would not stop although starlight scolded herself that he was the one who should be crying, and quietly conjured a handkerchief with his magic.
"Honestly... You're such a crybaby, Starry."
"But..."
"And anyway, it's not as though we'll never be able to see each other again."
"You're... probably right,... but..."
a call from a mare from the other side of the bridge interrupted the foals final moments signalling Sunburst's departure.
"Well... until next time... okay?"
"...Okay."
As the two children exchanged these brief words, the colt was already walking off to where his parents were. While he allowed his steps to falter and looked as if he were about to turn back several times, he did not stop. she continued to watch his back, wanting him to turn back... wanting him to stop.
—Sunburst, who had been waiting before the gate just like that, merged...
his parents, noticing the filly, bowed their heads in respect. But she was the one who needed to do that. she was the one who needed to make a heartfelt apology to that family, who had to leave their town for their son to reach his true potential. As if charmed by those feelings, the filly bowed her head very deeply.
—By the time starlight raised her head, sunburst and his parents had already gone out the gate.
The family's backs slowly receded as they walked down the road paved so that carriages could pass easily along it. Even if she had tried to pursue them, the iron grill of the gate marking the border of their little town would have prevented her. she felt as though her heart would be crushed by that gate, which seemed to insist that they would live in different worlds from now on. But the pony who would have protected her from that feeling was no longer at her side. Sunburst, who had guided and protected her was... no longer at her side.
—The moment she thought that, something warm spilled from her eyes.
"... Huh...? How strange..."
she muttered at the tears brimming from her eyes in large drops. But... it should be fine. After all, he had told her they would be able to meet again. she could rely on that promise.
—Still... in spite of that... for some reason...
"They won't stop. Now that Sunny's gone... the tears... the tears... won't stop..."
............................
"... I can't sleep..."
—That murmur echoed futilely in the moonlit corridor.
After that, the filly had stood before the gate and cried herself out for a long time, until her mother brought her back inside. her mother, who at first had been angry at her daughter for slipping out on her own, had perhaps been beaten down by the filly's persistent crying, and had given her the day to rest. Thanks to that, she had cried her heart out in my room until she tired herself out and fell asleep...
As self-derision rose in her heart, it remained a fact that she wasn't getting sleepy at all. And she hadn't even had dinner, so her stomach was empty. Continuing to endure the hunger until morning seemed impossible, so perhaps she should go down to the kitchens and pilfer some bread. So thinking, she walked along the nighttime corridors.
There was not a single light in the usually candlelit corridors. The moon's pale light shone from the furnished windows, so it wasn't really dark, but she could not deny that there was a peculiar atmosphere, almost as if a ghost would jump out the moment she turned the corner.
—... Oo... Thinking about that sort of thing frightened her more than it should...
as she shakily trudged along the moonlit corridors of her family's home, she could see the light of a fire illuminating an area of the adjacent wall. When she turned my gaze in its direction, a very slightly open door entered her view. A light was still burning her father's study; that meant her father was probably still working.
like a moth to a flame, the little filly trotted to the light like it's her safe haven from the darkness of the house, she approached the door. The moment she stretched out her hoof to reach that light, which seemed to illuminate her own cowardice (and apparent loneliness), conversing voices reached her ears.
"You certainly seem to be in a good mood."
"well of course. After all, my daughter was touched by the lady herself to give Sunburst his destined cutie mark."
—... Touched?
Her father's voice sounded as if he were in a better mood than the lilac filly had ever heard him in. When, intrigued by that, she quietly peered through the gap in the door, the figure of her father seated on a couch met her eyes. Reclining and emptying the glass in his magic, his massive figure was more slovenly than she had ever seen it. the stallion that she looked up to other than her Sunny, wasn't there, drowned by the seductive pleasure of liquor—and what her father would call a traitor was there in his place.
"lady Faust... you say? isn't that a bit of an overstatement on your part?."
"What's that you say? Surely it is only natural for the goddess to pick us true unicorns to enact her will upon ponykind? On the contrary, that tainted mudblooded couple should want to thank me for the favor of my daughter helping their child gain his cutie mark today."
"As you say." —...!
A nervousness ran along the filly's spine at her father's cold words. Judging from the contents of their conversation... the "mudblooded" her father spoke of must be Sunburst's parents. But... she couldn't possibly acknowledge those words. After all... Sunburst's parents were such kind, gentle ponies. If the two of them and her friend hadn't been there, she probably wouldn't be who she was now.
—But... there was no way she could ever assert that...
As she was, she could do no more than peep in. To put it more plainly and comprehensibly, she was a "bad child." Even at the best of times, if she barged in there and told her father what she thought, she still couldn't believe that she'd be able to make him agree.
—... Why must I... still be a "child"...? the filly thought to herself..
The sense of powerlessness she had felt at doing nothing but watch her best friend go revived within her heart. She averted her eyes from the figure of the father she had respected drowning in wine. When she turned her gaze to the stallion her father was still talking to like that... there was a face that even a child like her knew well.
—the priest of the church of humanity'.......
The magnificent, bearded face belonged to a stallion who had given her magic lessons on several occasions. There was no mistaking that he held one of the highest ranks, even within the church of humanity. A stallion such as that was chatting cordially her father, not even rebuking him for his horrible words. That fact caused the filly's small mind to shake violently.
—'How...? Why...? monks were supposed to be more...'
They were supposed to be noble and magnificent, weren't they? At least... didn't the teachings of humanity, the clearest symbol of the goddess Faust's authority, have to be ponies that everypony ought to respect? And yet... she could see no trace of that ideal in the stallion, who was as slovenly as father, his collar open and pouring wine into his mouth.
"But it seems that i gave them a little too much for their service. since i even gave them a home in canterlot's middle district. "
"getting their son to bond with a noble's daughter ... was it? Quite a smart thing to do, for commoners."
'.........!!!!!!'
—At the broadly grinning stallion's words, the filly almost raised her voice in spite of herself.
It wasn't as if she had made any particular secret of it. Most of the ponies on the estate knew that she and Sunburst always played in Starlight's free time, and for the several days since her return from playing, she had always been talking about him. But the priest wasn't a resident of the estate; he shouldn't have known about that. Still... the stallion was speaking as if he already knew all about it...—
—What could it... mean...?
Judging from the circumstances, the reason he knew was that her father had told him. But why would her father have needed to tell him that? The answer was already lodged in the base of her throat, but it wouldn't come out, almost as if her heart was refusing to acknowledge it. A frustration as if she were on the verge of completing a puzzle, but a single piece short, was causing her breathing to become ragged.
—'No... I can't stay here...!'
If the filly stayed any longer, she would end up admitting something she didn't want to admit. If that happened... she didn't feel confident that she could remain who she had been until now. At least, there was an instinct screaming that inside her. And yet she showed no sign of moving, as if her hooves had been sewn to the floor. her gaze was flitting back and forth between the two of them again, and it seemed she had no intention of turning back.
"It's not a laughing matter. I've heard that my Starlight didn't even appear to be annoyed by it... I feel terrified just thinking about what could have happened if I had been any later in taking steps."
"Ha ha ha. Girls around that age want a little adventure. They soon realize that it was a youthful indiscretion."
"I should hope so... After all, if she doesn't, there would have been no use making such investments just to ship them out of here."
"huh? you're not gonna let them return here?"
"of course not! I'll have to make certain that my Starlight is surrounded on all sides by those befitting the Glimmer family."
—No! ...Noo!!
her heart wailed, not wanting to admit the truth in front of her eyes. an pouring all of her remaining strength to her limbs, she galloped away from that door....
with ragged breaths, the filly slowed down, and sat to the cold, hard ground at the town's central plaza...
crying, weeping and in denial of what she had witnessed in that room.
"was it.... my fault?" the filly sobbed as she looked down to her hooves as her heart aches as if it is being ripped apart by her confusion and refusal to accept the things her father just said.
till she looked up to the fountain.
and saw the statue of a human woman holding a bowl.
'Surely it is only natural for the goddess to pick us true unicorns to enact her will upon ponykind?' 'my daughter was touched by the lady herself to give Sunburst his destined cutie mark.'
her father's voice echoed in her mind.
she stared deeper to the statue at the center of the fountain. its eyes looking down on her as if appraising the filly, its smile like it is mocking her of her weakness, and the bowl its carrying as if to prove a point that it owns her world.
"No...... it was your fault..." the filly whispered in anger as she stared at the statue.
"it was all YOUR fault" she said louder lightening her horn as her anger grew while gazing up to the statue. not noticing her glowing flank.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!!!" she yelled as she unleashed all of her stored mana and fired a crude, but powerful kinetic spell to the statue atop a fountain.
"I DIDN'T DROVE SUNNY AWAY!!! YOU MADE ME DO IT!!!! YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME!!!!!! YOU TOOK AWAY MY SUNNY!!!!!!" the filly yelled as she cast spell after spell to the statue. turning it into rubble. ...............................................................................................
"hey... hey... Starlight... you awake?" a voice spurned the eclipse agent to the waking world.
when she opened her eyes, she saw a dark orchid colored face with opal eyes, right adorned with a scar, and a rose mane cut to a mohawk.
"hey tempest..... yaaawwwnnnn.... whaat thyme is it?" the lilac mare questioned the invader of her bunk as she craned her neck upwards to get her horn to reach her back to scratch the root of her tail.
"2000H to be exact. you were asleep the whole day" the unicorn with a broken horn replied as she descend down the ladder from the upper bunk of the cabin where Starlight slept. "you were thrashing about.... had a nightmare?"
"naaahh.. just a bad dream.."
"what's the difference?"
"a nightmare shows what you fear, a bad dream shows your bad memories."
"huh.. never heard that one before..... where did you get that?"
"somewhere"
"where are we right now?" starlight asked her fellow eclipse agent as she gaze outside the window as they exit one of the sleeper cabins in the accommodation wagon of the war train
"we just went past Hoofington a few hours ago we're on our way to the neighkong delta station to refuel"
".................................. i see. any news on our cargo?"
"he's tinkering with his bike right now.. odd human i say... you think he's an angel of the Omnissah?"
"i heard he's some sort of 'development' engineer... so maybe that's not far off. if so, we may have to fight off some folks from the machine cult" starlight said as she lags behind tempest"
"huh? you? the all true hater of humans and the faiths surrounding them, acclaiming such a thing as believing a human is actually- AAGH!!! the orchid mare failed to finish her sentence when the lilac mare tackled her to the wall
"it never told us what is that contraption it loaded on called either.... and the neighkong station was closed down days ago..."
"even tempest shadow: our #4 best pathfinder, would now that but you don't. and we're already in canter valley.. the hills were a giveaway" Starlight said as she conjured a psychic blade and pushed it against her captive's throat
"so.. 'tempest' care to tell me why are we going to canterlot?"
"Cough* cough* what the Buck are you talki-ghlrgghlrg..." The accused doppelganger never finished her sentence when another rose colored hoof suddenly jabbed the side of her neck. the hidden blade under the bracer puncturing a hole through her artery.
Starlight had to look away when the fake tempest was engulfed in green flames and revealed an odd looking creature..
It appears to be a pony/insect hybrid of some sorts
"Geez pisspot..... Took you that long to realise that?" Another Tempest shadow: this one adorned with armor and an axe strapped to her back, said as she withdrew her hoof. Dropping the now dead bugpony with a thud after starlight let go.
"I'm trying to get some info shitbag" Starlight shot back as she looked at her partner.
"You look like hammered shit... Any news?"
"Tried to reach our cargo as soon as I realized we were hijacked.. All rear cars are swarming wit these things. Fought my way back here to grab some backup. Turns out we're the ones left in the car. Either the guards are fighting these things, or they're all gone.
" Buck..... We'll have to get to stop this thing before they take us to the capital.... Any luck in cutting the couplers?"
"They glued it shut. Not even magic could scratch it."
"So we'll just kill the engine then."
"Yep. And fighting more of these things"
"Isn't that nice?" Starlight said as she opened up one of the wagon's weapon cache and put on a pair of braced mantis blades on both of her forearms.
With a few flicks, the blades sprung out of its stowed position from the side of her arms to the front of her hoof, another flick, and it's stowed back in satisfying its user that it's in perfect working order
"Never was the armor type huh" the rose colored unicorn chirps
" nah.. Got one for both of us right here" starlight said smugly as she pointed out her horn.
As soon as they kicked open the door to the next forward wagon, they were greeted by a dozen blue bug eyes. Each clearly casting a murderous glare to the duo.
"You're saying?" Tempest said jokingly as she draw her weapon.
While to some onlookers, the mares are outnumbered and outgunned 'Surely they won't survive on this one' some may think.
But for the two best friends-slash-rivals-slash one of Eclipse's best agents.. This is just Tuesday.
Amidst the cacophony of metal and magic clashes, two distinct battle cries can be heard.
...........................
Changeling drone #2547 is just a other changeling drone.
Unlike its warrior or noble brethren, it doesn't have a will of its own. It simply follows orders from those of higher ranks within the hive mind.
Its orders are just as simple: get to the rear wagon, capture the biped, and bring it to captain pharynx.
Disguised as a lunar guard, the group of changelings knocked on the last wagon where the human is staying.
"Who is it?" The biped asked behind the door.
"Sir Vann this is guard Deadeye. We received orders from agent Glimmer to take you to the forward wagon for debriefing." The changeling said in its mimic voice.
"Dafuq" the human said as a reply.
" we repeat: We received orders from agent Glimmer to take you to the forward wagon for debriefing." The changeling tried again to persuade the human into opening the door.
"Lord Vann what are you on about? those are just the lunar guards right"
"what are YOU talking about? all i hear are clicks and hisses. the guards i met before weren't crickets."
with a clear sign of somepony that isn't their own is with their target, the fake lunar guards blew open the door. typical of how guards are supposed to act.
when they saw what's inside the wagon, they saw a green unicorn on top of some boxes, the two wheeled machine they were told about, and the human.......
the human yelled as he stood away from the changelings.
can he see through their disguises? one thought and looked around it and its companions and they're still looking like lunar guards yet... the human is acting like any other creature that saw a changeling.
fear.
till their captain spoke through the hive mind.
"the spies are on the move. hurry up and capture the human" the multi-toned voice said through the hive intercom.
with their disguises clearly not working on the human, they dropped it and showed their true forms. scaring the green unicorn to bury itself into the contents of the box it's standing on
"s-s-s-s-s-ss-stay back" the human yelled as he draw a toilet plunger (why is there a toilet plunger in a cargo wagon is not an issue for the drones) and hold it down menacingly....
at least trying to.
"you see this? huh? th-this is a... plunger?.... a HOLY plunger!!! i can use this to smite you to hell you xenomorphs you hear me?? you wanna get s-s-smote?? Smitten?? smate?? what's the bloody word...." the human looked down as he searches the right word...
which the changelings saw as an opening.
one changeling quickly rushed ahead and tried to subdue the human by implanting their paralyzing venom by biting him..
not noticing a piece of rope on the floor.
as one of its brethren planted its face to the floor, the rope it tripped on was pulled.
pulling down a rake on the left.
the rake pulled a wire from the ceiling.
the wire pulling up a crate from the back of the wagon.
the crate dropping a ball on to a gutter inside the wagon.
the ball rolled down the gutter.
hitting a leaning ax by the wall.
the ax guillotining the two wheeled contraption's headlight off its bracket.
sending the now removed headlight rolling down and resting glass side up to the human's feet.
the wagon's air suddenly turned cold as the changelings saw the human's hand balled into a fist, and black and red miasma began steaming out from the floor and circling the human.
and with a low, menacing growl he said:
"you"
"are"
"already"
"dead.........." it was this moment that drone #2547 knew....
one wagon in front of the train's caboose: a few hours ago..
Vann's POV.
"So what does a 'development engineer' do o gracious man?" A batpony asked me as i pull out some of my baby's plug boots.
'I could never get a hang of these mini-horses calling me this way' i thought to myself as i unscrewed the spark plug for any sign of bad burns in the fuel mixture. (Carburetors require re-adjustments every 4k kilometers or six months at the minimum. Specially if you're running on a raised needle and a re-jet at least 10k kms or annually)
"Well.... We're more or less the inventors of products which the company sells for profit"
"a maker of atronacs and forger of souls" one white pony clarified (at least he think so)
"oooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" the rest said in unison.
"THAT'S WAY FAR OFF THE MARK YA OVERLY CUTE YET, DUMB, AND KIND OF FREAKY HORSE!!!! AND THIS IS THE THOUSANDTH TIME YOU OVER EXAGGERATED WHAT I SAID!!!!!!"
I screamed like a death metal vocalist.
In my head.
Cause i could only give these ponies my best imitation of a smile of a man named harold.
"A little more simple than that." Was all i could reply. We've been at this for at least an hour after the train left the small town. Even though i wanted to sternly correct the ponies who at first, stayed away from me (I.e. hiding behind crates or peeking through the door attempting to catch a glimpse of me), their pleading, teary eyes as they looked at me from afar is powerful enough to melt even hearts of steel beams.(I had a niece..... And yes I'm pretty gullible to cute things) So I coaxed them to come closer. (And I am now regretting it)
But hey! At least I got more info out of them about their world and their country's history.
but their history is somewhat a bit overcomplicated for me (I can at least compare their history to that of Poland's or Israel's).
"all right ya little runts!! back to work and stop bothering the human!! Go on git!!!" a big (as big as a st. bernard dog) unicorn stallion roared as he entered the wagon.
with a collective 'aaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwww' from my audiences, they all stood up and filed into the one exit. as soon as everyone in the wagon except the the Sarge is left, he suddenly looked left and right, and up and down. before briskly running towards me till he's a few feet away.
"can you sign my horn?" the stallion said in a straight face while blushing.
'Oh god just why???' My mental agony persisted as I looked at the overly-manly stallion looking at me like a fangirl.
"Maybe some other time" I said as I went to the next plug.
The power abusing, semi-macro horse trotted away with his head hung low. Leaving me alone with my baby and is finish up her daily check-ups.
As soon as he closed the door, a constant thud like someone hitting ones head to a wall can be faintliy heard if one presses their ear to the wall.
'If this is what you have to deal with everyday Jenna, I'm really sorry for my teams' lunacy' I thought to myself as I lie face down on the floor. Thinking back about the things me and my team did to get our project through. And more or less stepping on some of the H.R. & P.R.s toes.
Speaking of things, I opened up my bag (which is thankfully intact despite my crash and early burial) and check the items I brought with me from earth
This is what I got: - My old laptop and hard drive: still works - a book about mechanics (dunno why I got this) - lucky wrench - flashlight - a jar of nutella (never went to work without a full jar) -some pens and papers (used and unused) -a jar filled with fresh leaves of cannabis (was with a crazy project with a friend...I swear I don't smoke these things) -my old phone and tablet -receipt from my last fill up - my swiss knife.
achoo! as I lay down the contents of my bag in front of me, a muffled sneeze reached my ears.
I swivel my head around and crop up my ears to make sure I'm not imagining things like a muffled sneeze.
ah----ACHOO. yep. Not imagining it.
I quietly put my things back in my bag and stood up. Looked around to find the source of the noise, and I quickly noticed a yellow sack squirming slightly.
I slowly tip-toed my way to the sack, slowly creeped up a the opening end, and open the flap.
staring at a spring green back with caramel hair and tail shaking violently was not on my list of expectations.
as the head slowly turns to look at me, i realised it was the green mini-mare that i first met at the beach.
"ummmm hi-WHOAFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" was all i could say when my first encountered alien lunged straight to my face. giving me a full face of green belly fur.
i don't know what she said, but i'm having a time of my life eating iced tea flavoured fur.
i'm being sarcastic here.....
when my O2 sensor began calling in for a resupply, i tapped my fuzzy facehugger somewhere on her body.
a gasp and an increase of her body temperature ain't a good sign.
but yet, i gripped her on the very spot where i tapped her, put my other hand on the opposite side, and pried her off my face.
And now I'm staring at a wide-eyed, beet red mini horse as she sits on my palms like a plushie, which means I'm currently holding her a few feet of the floor by her butt.
Me unconsciously kneading said butt that made her 'eep' only made things more awkward as she looked away from me with a tomato face.
'Seriously brain? I know we're backed up as it is butt-PWEH!! BUT come on!! She's a HORSE!!!' I mentally screamed at myself as i put her on the floor with an awkawrd silence between us..
"So ummm..... How did you get onboard?" I asked the mare after a few minutes
"I heard your conversation with the princess milord. And heard they were planning to wipe our memories of you from our minds. I can't accept that! Stableside... MY stableside is the first pony settlement to see the return of humanity to Equis and the princesses will just sweep us under the rug? No! Nor-bucking-way we're taking that lying down! We were chosen as the new disciples of humanity aren't we? We were the first ponies to lay eyes upon the sacred bipeds since time immemorial and we are not to spread the word if it?? No... If the citizens of ponyville were able to take pride in harboring the elements of harmony, we ponies of stable side will proudly hold the title as the first town to receive the hand of the gods!!!"
My green pony monologued on top of some boxes as I sat cross legged below and in front of her
I had to blink twice to remove my illusion of a flag of the USA waving behind her.
Seriously why the US flag?? i'm not even a yank.
"Your zeal is impressive miss...."
"Bountiful harvest milord" the mare said with a bow from the top of the crates.
"Bountiful harvest yes.. I'm terribly sorry....... But I'm not a god...
" what?? That's impossible!!!"
"Whoa there miss hear me out for a few minutes: You see, the humans you and your kind talking about, and the humans that I hail from, are clearly from two different races. While the humans you believe are basically the creators of your world, the human race i am born to doesn't have such powers. Granted, when i landed here i gained powers i'm not supposed to have in the first place but, that doesn't count that i belong to same human race your religion has thought you about. If you count authors of books or fanfiction novels world makers, then maybe we do but, not in the level you and any other races living here are thinking about."
"But.... You have given me the gift of knowledge when we first met!!!"
"I don't know how it happened that way.. I just touched your nose didn't I?"
"And you are immune even to the most powerful magic spells!!"
"Maybe that happened because i'm from a world DEVOID of magic?"
"No..... No.... I refuse to believe this!! Humans, humans are our makers yes? and you are a human right?? Touch me... Touch me again!! You'll see!! Your kind are our makers!!" She exclaimed as we locked eyes at each other...
"Listen miss harvest i-" *knock knock* a few knocks on the wagon's door broke our eye contact.
The green unicorn quickly dove back into her hiding spot as I turned my attention to the door.
"Dafuq?" it sounds like something is trying to cough while shoving an inhaler down on its mouth
"Lord Vann what are you on about? those are just the lunar guards right" Bounty asked me from her hiding spot as she saw my perplexed face
"what are YOU talking about? all i hear are clicks and hisses. the guards i met before weren't crickets."
and then i realized: we weren't discreet as we should've, and bountiful harvest wasn't supposed to be on board.
the door being blasted down by the ones behind it was my confirmation.
when i saw my visitors well.....
the first thing it made me think is someone decided to try and make a ponified xenomorph with a mix of fallout, and retain the pony size but failed miserably on all counts...
and the legs have holes on them.
a lot of holes.
too many holes.
waaay too many holes.
..........
...........
..............
...................
Brain: oh i forgot!! we have trypophobia!!!! initiate panic mode!!!!!!!
with my brain finally getting back to speed, i planted my whole body back up to the wall as far away from the weird looking creatures as possible.
I roared as i threw my holy plunger (modified) to a bug pony's arse end as it tries to escape through the window and with the chain attached, yanked him back to me. my unnatural strength, and the bughorse's desperation brought a part of the wall with him back to me.
not when i spun him like an Olympic hammer thrower and mowed down the surrounding bugs with him, and the wall he's clinging on to, before releasing the bug to the hole we made.
if there is one thing that ANYONE shouldn't do when i'm around is tarnishing MY BABY GIRL!!!!!
"M'lord look out!!!" Bountiful harvest shouted a safe distance from me.
after finishing off the previous wave of the vandals, another suddenly burst out of the boxes and swiftly dog piled me.
well... this is less comfortable than the pony pile.
and with a swift shake, the changelings came flying off me in multiple directions. Hitting random objects and their brethren as they were thrown off their bucking homo sapiens.
I heard a loud hiss and saw a female looking bughorse pointing her holey (don't look and their fucking legs dammit!!!!) Hoof at me like she's barking orders towards her fellow bugs.
'So she's the leader of this swarm....'
Not a microsecond later, the remaining bugs simultaneously fired their horns at me encasing me in some sort of green glass box. Then encased in another box, then another, and another.. Overall trapping me under 4 layers of this glass box..
A boxception huh?
well hello there lady. I suppose you don't mind having to exchange a few words with you.. Namely about your entourage destroying someone else's work..." I said while trying to hide my boiling rage to the black mare.
And the only reply I got from her was another hiss and a triumphant smirk from her.
"So this is how you wanna play it huh?" I said as I put my hands behind my back and look around: I found miss harvest trapped in a green box like me, the circle of these bug horses glaring at me with horns alight with magic, and the she-bug gloating at me and the green mare.
"I know you can understand me lady so I'll make this quick: you either set me and my companion free, and talk to us diplomatically or, I'll just wring an apology out of your throat." The alpha bug's change of expression confirms that she CAN understand me but, she only put her victory smile back on and gave me another hiss..
"I'll count on five" I warned as I remember my first time being put inside a magic shield.
"Five" the female bug's smile faltered.
"Four" the surrounding bugs grit their teeth in concentration as they double up the shield's intensity.
"Three" I saw miss harvest covering her eyes and ears while encased in her box.
"Two" the alpha glared at me and lit her own horn while I put both of my hands on either side of my cage.
"One" and with a flick of my fingers (and a little knowledge on fluid dynamics), my cube confine blew out with a loud bang, the bug's horns cracked as their owners yowled in pain, while others exploded and fell where they stood, and the alpha bug was blown a few meters away from me. Her curved horn showing a sizable crack in the middle.
As the bug recovered from her dazed state, she looked around and saw the carnage as her brethren lie dead or dying around her, and me cracking my neck and looked back at her. She only scrambled to the door leading to the next wagon.
"still not giving up? Fine by me. " I said as turned my attention to miss harvest. She's a little dazed, and her captor's horn is split open like a banana peel.
"You Alright?" I asked miss harvest.
"I'm alright m'lord don't worry about me. we should get to the next car. That bug-mare may have more of her minions in store for us"
"agreed"
"Pardon me m'lord but, does that- *ahem* she mean that much to you? Your machine that is"
When she asked me that question, memories of my constant overtime to get a raise, long nights in my garage as I put her together piece by piece, hours and hours of searching junkyards and on the net and flinging in the money just to get some of the parts that she needs, (she's a rare beauty and finding any spare parts for her were a daunting task) and shedding tears of joy as she sputters to life for the very first time...
"yes... She is my greatest creation....." I accidentally said that one with a low tone. Which made my companion to slightly backpedal away from me
And how did that came out like it was said by some eldritch cyber lich?
when we reached the door, i signalled my companion to stay at the side while i kick down the door.
obliterating it instead.
Aaand I'm getting peppered by green laser beams.
And did i saw those bugs getting massacered like they're in the Somme?
As I peer through the bright green beams hitting my face, I saw a some sort of of defensive barricade. With a pair of bughorses wearing some sort of armor crouched behind it with their horn firing laser beams at me like a machine gun.
Not seeing the lady with the pair, i slowly walked forward with one arm covering my face and the bugs replied by intensifying their barrage on me.
As soon as I reached the barricade, the two stopped firing and looked up at my face. Shock and fear clearly etched on their insect faces. I gave them a flat look before swinging my plunger sideways. Wrecking their wall, blasting another hole on the wagon, and sending the two defenders flying off the train.
"Miss harvest the coast is clear" I called to my companion as she peered at the opening.
"M'lord, please refrain from damaging the train any further... We might hit something important."
"I'll keep that in mind" I said as I opened the door to the next wagon.
then someone decided to throw a flashbang bomb straight into my face temporary blinding me.
When I regained my vision, I have no time to avoid the lady bughorse diving on me with a fireman's ax.
The ax hit my cheek, slid down my face, and lodged itself between the in-built neck brace of my jacket, and my actual neck.
As soon as it lodged itself to my neck, the bug tried to withdraw the ax from me.
It didn't budge
She tried again
It's stuck (namely because I'm keeping it lodged with my neck)
I gave the wannabe barbarian my best death stare which froze her in terror mid flight and Let go of the still stuck ax.
She fell on her rump, looked back at me in fear, and began crawling away from me
Like the fabulous Jason Voorhees, I slowly walked after the bug, pulled out the ax by its head from my neck, and held it one handed with the head scratching the floor which only adds up to the bug horse's terror.
She tried to fly, but i quickly threw my toilet plunger straight to spread bug wings. Warping one and cracking the other before she could escape.
the bug, now with no other means of escaping, crawled further. And me being pissed off as I was, drove her back to a corner, raised the ax over my head,
where did that lightning came from?
And dropped it straight down on the screaming female bughorse below me.
Impaling the head between her legs, dividing her tail hair equally between sides.
What? You think I'd hit a woman (wo-bug? She-bug? Buggette? Dunno.) Sorry but momma didn't raise no savage. And besides it got the desired effect anyway: the bug's pretty much out of the count. If white eyes and bubbling mouth is not proof enough.
"Ummm milord?"
"Yes"
"Well....... We could've interrogated her for information"
"Oh... Well shit" I said as I looked down at the fainted bug pony (and trying my best to ignore the legs..)
As we survey the wagon, (which seems to be filled with parts of a train locomotive.) a faint thumping and a gurgled screaming grabbed our attention to one of the large wooden crates.
Me and my companion took position on either side of the lid and with a nod to each other, i slowly pulled the lid open...
Well.... That's a 7 on the disgust meter...
It seems that a pony was shoved into some sort of greenizh birth sac filled with some glowing yellow liquid (kind of like the ones that you get when you break open a glow stick) and the smell.... It's like someone left a seafood sandwich out of the fridge for weeks...
My companion's regurgitation snapped me out of my perusing and saw that the pony within the sac is trying in vain to rip open his slimy confine.
I pulled out my swiss knife, flicked the blade out, and gashed open the sac. Spilling out the contents and doubling down the smell..
And miss harvest ran to a corner and evacuated her lunch on the wrong end of her anatomy.
"*cough* *cough* *wheeeze* FAUST DAMM PLOTHOLE BITCHES!!!! THEY AIN'T GETTING AWAY WITH THIS SHIT!!" The rescued pony (stallion) screamed in an afro-american English (sounds like one of those gangsta rappers in Hollywood movies)
"It's alright now. It's alright. Take a deep breath, relax now okay" I tried calming the horse..
He's a chocolate brown stallion with a charcoal black tail and he's wearing a white tank shirt, blue jeans, and a black bandana wrapped around his head.
"Yeah... Thanks dude. Ya saved my- HOLY SHIT YOU'RE THE HUMAN!!!!" he screamed as he prostrate in front of me.
"Hey now.. No need to be so formal young stallion(?) Anyway what is your name?" I asked the horse
"Coal Joint your lordship. stoker of this here war train: the knight one" the stallion replied
"okay Coal Joint.. can you explain to me what happened to the train? and please don't call me lord.."
"thanks lord-i mean, sir err- master.... We were supposed to make a turn on chariot hill when all of a sudden my cap't all suddenly burned green and began blasting everypony in the engine. Me and the mechanic tried to get away but more of'em bug things came outta nowhere and bagged me and my buddy fore we could put up a fight. Shoved me in here sac and left me."
"okay... you know where this train is going now?"
"if my math is right, and those mountians... aww hellll naaaaaaaaawwwww"
"what is it?"
"them bugs are taking us to canterlot"
"canterlot?"
"the capital of equestria milord" bounty explained to me after finishing her business.
"don't tell me... someone in your government wants to publicize my existence to topple the sisters and obtain power themselves? or these bugs just invaded your entire country because of me?"
"Whatever they plannin, we gotta stop this bandwagon fore they get to the city! We can't let every pony know you exist yet!!"
"Cause it'll cause an uproar I know. Anyway with this much infestation going in on the train, you think we have time to stop this?" i asked my two companions
"I may still be an apprentice yet, but yes we can. We may still have a few more minutes fore we reach the bridge."
"If those bugs are already swarming this train, I doubt we will reach the engine in time" miss harvest commented as she looks out the window counting the wagons that we have to go through.
I looked around the wagon and seeing the parts littered around me, something clicked in my head.
"Excuse me Mr. Joint, how good are you ponies in handling heavy Gs?"
"What are you on about M'lord?" Bountiful harvest asked me.
As starlight stood up after being thrown to a far wall by a giant bug pony, another emerald lightning bolt struck her back. Wounding the already bleeding unicorn.
"Is this the best of what Luna's guards can do? You can't even beat a bruiser!!!" A masculine voice proclaimed as he stood beside a giant version of his kin.
And said kin is currently pinning down and slowly crushing a caughing tempest shadow on the chest under its hoof.
"Do you actually think that you can defeat ME with such tactics? HAH!! You ponies really don't know what we are do you?" The stallion mocked as he towered over the fallen agent.
"Let me do your little group a favor and replace you and your team with better versions of you.." The male bug said as he fired up his to finally put badly wounded mare out of her misery.
"Goodbye little pony. Don't worry though, I'll make sure your replacement won't fail 'equestria' this time" the bug said with a sadistic smile as he prepares his spell.
*BANG* "MA"
*BANG* "AAA"
*BANG* "AAA"
*BANG" "AAAM"
*BANG* "MAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!"
Time slows to a crawl while starlight watch as a train side rod carrying a shrieking stallion blasts its way through the wall, yellow and brown streaks trailing behind him, impaling her opponent on his barrel, impaling the giant bughorse in the chest creating an insect kebab, before failing to pentrate the far side of the wall. its alive and dead passengers aloft by a few meters.
As she stood back up and peer through the hole her apparent savior made, she saw the human, with the mayor of stable side looking back at her a few wagons away.
A bug limb dropping in front of the lilac unicorn made her scan the wagons the stallion punched through: remains of their insectoid invaders splattered across each and every wagon between her and the human kept her from asking any questions.
"Hi Ms. Glimmer! And who's your friend?" The human asked like nothing happened.
after a brief introduction, and a few questions, the herd of ponies with a human finally rid the train's cab of the hijackers.
with only a few minutes left to spare as they just entered the tunnel under the capital city.
"dammit they even glued the throttle!!" the stoker yelled in frustration as he tries to seize control of what is about to be a runaway train wreck both figuratively and literally.
While starlight and bountiful is trying to douse the flames with the trains' water in the tender with their magic, tempest and the human are shoveling the coal out of the firebox.
The human looks at the brown stallion trying in vain to pull the throttle lever back.
"So you just need to pull that back right?"
"Yeah, them bugs warped nearly all of the controls including the throttle"
"Excuse me" the human said as he used an iron bar to keep the door open and stood up while starlight and Tempest looked at the human.
Held the lever with one hand.
And pulled back hard.
Snapping the steel beam like a twig.
And increased the train's already dangerous speed.
"Whoops......" the human could only say as he looked at the lever while the ponies looked at his handiwork with shrunken eyes.
"YOU DUMBPLOT!!!!!!!" starlight barely managed to scream before a violent lurch ran through the entire train. A thunderous crash drowned out the rest of Starlight's rambling. The sudden jolt sent the last awake passengers flying high up into the air, and through th cab roof thanks to the human's back. The survivors managed to get one last good look at the train as it flew off a tight curve in the tracks, propelled by sheer speed, wheels spinning wildly on air as it sailed towards what seems to be an underground train junction.
.......................
As the ponies in the great castle of canterlot are makng their final preperations for the upcoming wedding, a glass of water on the table made a small ripple. And a white alicorn suddenly clutched her chest wit her hoof before Collapsing near a mirror.
"Your majesty!" A equally white unicorn exclaimed as she rushed to her mistress's aid.
*sigh* "I'm alright Raven don't worry about me." The princess of he sun replied as she shakily stood back up.
"Don't lie to me Celestia.. Are you alright? What's wrong?" Her secretary: Raven inkwell questioned. And Princess Celestia knows that when her secretary used her name without the honorifics, she's being serious.
"I felt a great disturbance in harmony. As if a dozen voices cried out in terror, and was suddenly silenced.. I feel something terrible has happened.... Call my sister at once.." The solar princess ordered as she tries to pinpoint where the disturbance originated with her magic.
"Should we postpone the wedding tomorrow? This sounds too serious." Raven inkwell suggested.
"No... This wedding is too important to the kingdom.. And to my niece. We'll just double the security and put the elements on standby.."
"As you say... I'll send a messenger to your sister." The unicorn answered as the return to making the final adjustments on the solar diarch's dress.
……………………………
"will you stop pacing around Sigil? what has gotten in to thee?" Princess Luna asked as she chooses between two necklaces held aloft with her magic as her maids held more around her.
"starlight and tempest were supposed to send us a dragon mail a few hours ago... they haven't reported yet." the peanut butter unicorn explained as he look out to the balcony peering down to the moonlit city.
"they will be alright my little pony.. those two are one of the best pathfinders Equestria ever had.. second only to Daring Do. we are sure they can handle anything fate put up against them." the lunar diarch reassured the Eclipse seeker agent.
"I could only hope i'm as confident as you..." Sigil Tome said inder his breath as he fixed his tie for the hundredth time.
………………………………………..
"what do you mean you lost them!!!??" 'Cadence' shouted in her mind as the report from her minions regarding their mission came.
we're terribly sorry your majesty but,the train crashed when it reached the station. and we can't reach it due to the cave in from the crash. We also couldn't contact Stictus and Milano for reasons not yet known. a voice in her head replied fearfully.
'i don't need your excuses!! Give me results!!!' the pink alicorn screamed internally before slamming the connection shut.
'No... This is not the time to panic... No one is aware of my plans yet, and I got that lavender unicorn and her guards trapped in that cave. I still have this under control.' The princess of love thought to herself as she paces in her room.
"All you alright darling? You seem to be agitated. A little too excited for the wedding?" An accented voice rung across the room as a sapphire unicorn mare with a dark purple mane entered the room from the bathroom.
"Oh!! Sorry Rarity.. Maybe a bit yes..." The princess of love replied to her bridesmaid.
"Don't worry everything will be fine. Twilight maybe a bit jumpy as of late but that's only because of the security I'm sure of it. You know how she tends to over think things" the bearer of generosity reassured the soon-to-be bride.
"Thank you" 'cadence' replied.
............................
"*cough* *cough* whew.. that was a crazy ride.." was the first words that came out from the orchid unicorn mare as she returns to the waking world after getting thrown off the train.
as she looked around her surroundings, she quickly noticed that she is currently buried under the debris of the train she just been forcibly evacuated from an unknown time past.
luckily, the debris that buried her came with a top opening door which she quickly went to and pushed open. and with more luck on her side, brought her to the now ruined underground secret train station of the capital.
keeping the door open and further inspecting her surroundings allowed the eclipse agent to find their valuable cargo. currently standing in front of another pile of train wreckage looking at something on his hand.
before she could even call out to the human, the fur on her nape stood on edge as the mana in the cave began to converge towards the human.
she was only able to make out what the human was holding: some sort of a black metal tabloid filled with some sort of language she couldn't read from her distance \
but before she could peruse any further, the cave began to shake as the mana around the human starts to swirl around him like a tornado.
and shifting from a colorless miasma, to a ebony color.
the color of black magic..
the unicorn with a broken horn never got the chance to stop the human for the door she is holding aloft with one hoof received a sizable boulder from the cave ceiling.
punching through its thin wall and conking the orchid mare on the head.
as the cave shook, a lavender unicorn lost her balance while traversing the its dark confines.
"whoa there" a gamboge colored pegasus stallion said as he caught the the made with his side.
"Thank you flash sentry" the unicorn replied as she regain her balance.
"No worries twilight. Any idea what was that?"
"Probably just the subway rolling past.. Means we're getting close to the station" a therstal Mare answered as she leads the small herd through the cave complex with her superior night vision.
"Oh thank Celestia!! We can finally get out of here" a grey unicorn Mare exclaimed as she look around her surroundings for any signs of their objective.
"But.. We haven't found Princess cadence yet!" Twilight refute while looking back at the path they took.
"Don't worry miss sparkle.. As soon as we reach the station, we'll call for reinforcements and look for her." The therstal reassured the bearer of magic as the latter trails behind the herd..
As twilight gaze at the little group of guards that got caught by the impostor along with her, she touched her horn or mostly, the ring on it that stops her from using her magic.
'She's right. We can't handle this ourselves... Not with our group like this.. But why do I feel like something's wrong?' The lavender made said to herself as she looks behind them one last time before galloping back to keep up with the group..
ch10: and those that tasted the bite of his sword named him....
A cold breeze carrying the stench of moat blew in, and made the lantern flicker.
Although it was night, the very few crystal spires scattered around the cave walls assisted a bit in illuminating the cave
but the bulky shadows of the boulders danced in sync with the flames and crystals, projecting a writhing dark monster onto the cave paintings.
Four ponies stood in a row, a young pegasus stallion wearing a badly damaged suit of golden armor, and likewise poorly equipped three mares fumbled through the darkness.
The one leading at the front was the light brown Pegasus stallion named Flash Sentry who was bearing the lantern, followed by the batpony named Umbra, and the grey unicorn mare known as Silver Spell in the rear.
And the third pony in was the trembling lavender unicorn mare named twilight, clutching the mace given to her by her companions tightly.
The one who suggested this formation was the SIlver Spell herself.
With this, as long as there weren’t any forked roads along the way, they didn’t need to worry about being ambushed from the back.
As long as the vanguard didn’t mess up, the rearguard was safe and only needed to focus on supporting him.
"……It should be fine….right……?"
Still, the whispers of the lavender mare was filled with uneasiness.
Ever since they were teleport-ed to the cave, and the beginning of the search for the underground train station, her anxiety had only became worse and worse.
"We still rushed in even though we know next to nothing about our opponents……"
"Geez, you worry too much twilight. i thought it was the element of kindness who's supposed to be the worrywart."
The Pegasus' jovial voice didn’t match the atmosphere of the cave as it slowly disappeared in echoes.
"Even foals know something about changelings right, right? my grandmother used to me tell stories about them every night"
"Is being a good listener to an old hag something worth flaunting over? How unsightly, please stop bragging." Silver spell commented as she watch the path behind the herd.
"Besides, you always cry in fear when grandma finishes that story."
The thestral mare teased the the Pegasus in a low voice, yet the stallion retorted with a "I didn’t cry!!".
Umbra sighed as if she was helpless, yet she seemed to be enjoying it.
"Heh, even if they cut this loser up into minced meat, I’ll still send them flying! So don’t worry!"
"Hey, saying I’m a loser is too much isn’t it……"
The lantern shone on the Flash Setry's' dispirited face, but then immediately cheered up and raised the sheathed sword on his shoulder.
"It’s fine. Even if a dragon shows up, we’ll figure a way out even if it’s just the four of us!"
"……hope that's just not hot air."
Silver Spell mumbled softly, making Umbra chuckle. The sound of their voice overlapped with each other in the cave.
Worried if their voice would lure out some unknown thing from the depths of the cave, twilight didn’t dare to make a sound.
"Still, we would go become the new heroes of Equestria. Right?"
In order to go along with the nodding stallion and mare, twilight could only smile silently.
The smile was as ambiguous as the the impostor of her foalsitter, hidden in the darkness without anyone finding it out.
Would it really be like that
No matter how uneasy her heart was, twilight could't voice her question for what happened to her and their current dilemma kept on gnawing at her heart.
combined with a feeling of powerlessness with her magic bottle necked, only added to her anxiety.
He said "Even if it’s just the four of us"
Yet, they have only met recently. How can he have that much confidence?
Twilight knew that they weren’t bad ponies. She understood that.
But……
"Still, we should have prepared before we started exploring the cave……we didn’t even bring something with us……"
"Even if you say it like that, what can a bunch of useless junk do in our situation?"
The Pegasus didn’t mind the lavender mare's voice, showing that his courage was exceptional.
"And I am more worried about the kidnapped princess……if she were wounded, we could treat them too, right?"
"i can still use some small scale healing magic even with the binder."
"Then it won’t be a problem!"
I can only do it three times……
No one seemed to hear the lavender mare's unclear mumbling.
"It’s good that you’re so confident, but you wouldn’t get lost now, right?" Twilight reminded Flash Sentry
"Come on, we’ve been walking a road straight as an arrow until now. How could we get lost?" Flash sentry replied
"I wouldn’t say so. After all, you get carried away so easily, so I have no choice but to watch over you strictly." Umbra butted in
"Aren’t you the same……"
Flash Sentry and Umbra are actually foalhood friends and both joined the royal guard the same day.
It had been an uncountable number of times where they quarreled on the journey.
Twilight followed between the two, clutching her mace tightly as she chanted Celestia's name repeatedly.
'Please let us find that pace quickly and peacefully'
This prayer of hers had not echoed in the cave, but assimilated and disappeared into the pitch black darkness.
Maybe it was because her prayers has been heard by the Solar princess. Or it could be that she was immersed in listening the sound of the prayers.
"miss sparkle, we're slowing down. please Keep up the line" the silver unicorn pleaded to her
"Ah, sorry……" the lavender sheepishly replied as she picked up the pace
In the end, the one who first noticed something was off was none other than her.
As she was reciting her prayer, the grey mare that urged her on. Just as she was about to hurry up and keep up with the formation, suddenly——
*crumble*
A slight sound that sounded like rocks rolling entered Twilight's ears.
"……!"
"Miss sparkle? are you alright?"
With a shudder, Twilight froze in her steps. concerned, the Silver Spell questioned her actions.
Graduating with flying colours from the Royal Guard Academy, the unicorn mare who was proficient in incantations couldn’t understand the student of the solar diarch in front of her.
She was jittery and incomprehensible. this mare doesn't feel or acted like the heroine of Equestria the other guards told her to be, and it got even worse when they had began exploring the cave.
"I just heard the sound of something collapsing……"
"From where? In front?"
"behind us..."
Due to the lavender mare that had stopped moving, their distance with the two others grew further.
Yet, the two ponies in front who was still quarreling didn’t notice the situation behind them.
The grey unicorn sighed as their surroundings grew darker with their only source of light went further and further away from them.
"Are you sure miss Sparkle?, haven’t we’ve been walking in a straight line ever since we started? What could possibly be behind us---------"
Silver Spell turned her head back.
What happened next was her monotone voice changing into one more of a surprised cry.
"Changelings?!"
The cave wall had collapsed. No, it was actually dug through.
From the tunnel emerged numbers of hideous monsters, who then proceeded to surround both of them who were unfortunately walking at the end of the line.
Monsters with insectoid eyes, legs filled with holes, mouths filled with sharp teeth, horns curved upward like a scythe, and wings that belongs to a disgusting bug .
They were Changelings.
"HUH!?"
The grey unicorn made an unnatural sound. lowering her head with the galea adorning it. proof of her graduation from the Academy, she used her tongue that had turned stiff to recite an incantation.
while to most unicorns, incantations are already obsolete due to the improvements on rune and hex design and technology but, it had and advantage: it may take longer to cast, but it costs a lot less mana in comparison to runes. perfect for any unicorn who had a magic binder on their horns
but still, It was not as poweful as runes.
FIRE INFERNO SUN
"YOL!……TOOR!……SHUL!"
The grey unicorn concentrated on reciting the incantation that she had engraved in her heart. What came out of her mouth were powerful words that could even change the world.
Forming at the tip of her ringed horn that was as large as a hoofball, an arrow of flame emerged and flew towards the face of a changeling.
What came next was the disgusting smell and the crackling sound of meat burning.
"That’s one down!"
Silver spell was smiling bravely due to her concrete victory as she felt high spirited.
To be able to cast this incantation successfully again gave her a massive boost in her confidence.
"YOL!……TOOR!……SH-AAAGGHHH!!!!!"
Yet, there were just too many opponents.
Before the grey unicorn could finish chanting, the slender limbs of hers were grabbed by the changelings.
Unable to react in time, she was pushed hard against the rugged cave floor.
"HUH!? WHU!?"
Her helmed head hit the cave floor with a loud thud. With her vision blurry, her helmet was taken away right in front of her.
'Ah, hrk……g-give that back! That gear is not allowed to be touched by bugs like like you……"
For Silver Spell, that helmet is not just a symbol of her achievement, it held the meaning of her pride.
Yet, right in front of the grey unicorn that was screaming frantically, the helmet was crushed with a boulder with a hard crunch.
In an instant, the calm mask of the royal guard unicorn disappeared as it contorted into one of rage.
"B-bastards……YOU BASTARDS!!!!"
she struggled with her arms and kicked with her legs that she had barely trained.
But what she had done was wrong. The enraged changelings immediately used an obsidian dagger to stab her gut without a moment of hesitation.
"—AAAAAAGGGHHH……!?"
The miserable cries of the grey unicorn who had her organs torn echoed within the cave.
Of course, the rest of the herd——No. Twilight naturally won’t just sit and watch.
"AARD!!!!"
the lavender mare used her own incantations to unleash a powerful kinetic blast from her horn.
Of course, even with its obsolescence, the librarian still studied the art of incantations.
Not to mention that she was able to improve the original incantations by shortening the words and adding her own wordings in it.
Yet, the lavender mare's attacks were superficial.
Moreover, due to her state of panic, she was unable to truly focus her incantation to a solid spell and had no luck of hitting the insectoid creatures effectively.
The kinetic blast hit one of the crystal stalagmites, only cracking it in the middle
Fortunate or not, the changelings hesitated and stepped back a step.
They either thought that she doesn't have a binder, or just hated to be hit by her. Either was just a coincidence.
Grabbing that window of opportunity, twilight quickly dragged Silver spell out from the group of changelings.
"you're gonna be alright……Hang in there!…..!?"
She didn’t get a reply.
"HELP!!! SILVER'S BEEN STABBED!!!! she quickly called for the others as her front hooves was dyed in a dark red color.
The grey mare still had the black dagger stabbed into her gut.
Her stomach was cruelly cut open, with her insides clearly in a bloody mess.
With such a horrible sight in front of her, twilight couldn’t help but gasp.
"ha……ha……"
Yet, her ally was still alive. Although she was convulsing, she wasn’t dead yet.
"There’s still time. I have to save her."
Twilight bit her lip, cleared her mind, and focused.
Another flaw in using incantations is that they require pure focus and a clear mind while pouring one's very soul into the words they are saying
"O dh'oine squaess, hi roch uin bor -o gurth an hen cuil na- vet na bui- cin with hen emel."
Holding the mace in front of her chest, the tip of twilight's horn came a flicker of light that glows brigher and brighter. And with the incantation complete, she lowered her horn and placed the tip on Silver Spell's gaping wound.
It is said that the first incantation was taught by the elk's human god of words: Tolkien to the magically adept creatures of the world.
Twilight recited her own version of the doe's prayer as if she had even focused her whole soul in it. At her horn, the bright light turned to a brightly glowing smoke and seeped into the female guard's gaping wound.
As the light slowly dispersed, the belly that was cut open slowly healed.
Of course, the changelings wouldn’t just wait for this long process to end. But——
As luck would have it, Flash sentry had finally noticed something was wrong behind and immediately came flying to protect his comrades.
Spitting the torch aside, he held his sword with his teeth and pierced through an insect’s throat.
Making the bughorse shriek in pain
"Nfkst!!"
Pulling his sword out from the corpse, he turned around and killed another changeling. The sword came slashing down vertically at the insect's barrel. instantly cutting it in two. Green blood splattering the cave walls.
"What’s the matter huh!? COME ON!!" The stallion roared between his teeth
The word ‘Bloodthirsty’ can be read in flash Sentry's eyes as he glares at the other changelings in front of him
"Wait, you can’t fight them all alone!"
Unfortunately, he's still a relatively new guard with little to no experience in the field of battle
Before Umbra could say a word , a green spell had already grazed Flash Sentry's stifle. Leaving a charred streak of fur and skin on the stallion's left hindleg
"RRRRRRFFFFFF!!!!!!!" the pegasus screamed while keeping his sword on his mouth.
The one who wounded the stallion was a changeling with a long laceration in its chest. Flash Senty's sword had become dull from constant slashing and stabbing against chitin that he failed to strike a crippling blow to the bug.
As the pegasus lost his balance, his body turned awkwardly at an angle. Still, he swung his sword desperately and finally manage to kill the creature.
But in a moment, another changeling had jumped on his back in an attemp to tackle him down……
"BRRCK! UFF!!!"
The pegasus spread his wings open to fling the changeling off, but a loud bang could be heard as left wing was shot by another changeling from afar.
It was the end.
The lamp that discarded on the floor burned out, leaving the crystal spires to glow on its own. Leaving an eerie, shadowy illumination of the pegaus stallion's fate
In the near pitch-black darkness, hoarse cries and pain filled whinneys could be heard clearly, making one worry with fear.
Because he forced himself to be brave, and even due to fact that his armor was damaged, Flash sentry's equipment could barely even protect him
The only effective protective gear he had left was a single leather breastplate.
In the end, he couldn’t escape the fate of being pulled down, torn up to pieces, and dying just like that.
"……Ugh! How did this happen……"
Umbra, who was too late to help stood frozen in place with a pale face as she watched the stallion she secretly hold dear to her heart do in front of her
She shook off her trembling and got into a fighting stance——To be able to do this in this kind of situation, she was quite composed.
"……The two of you, run!! Go to the station!!"
"B-but……!" for a student in the study of friendship, twilight couldn't abandon a friend. specially in their situation
But hearing the thestral's cold tone of voice, twilight wanted to ignore what the former said. But she understood, that with such a situation unraveling in front of her, she was powerless.
On her back was is Silver Spell, who was gasping for air weakly as her conscious slowly disappeared little by little even though her wound is mostly healed around the Black blade jutting out of her abdomen.
The changelings closed in slowly at the remaining prey.
They initially looked like they were cautious of the thestral mare, but still rushed at them in the end.
Twilight looked repeatedly at the Umbra, Silver Spell, and what is left of flash sentry who was still getting mutilated by the insects.
Seeing that both of them still didn’t move yet, she barred her sharp fangs and hissed at the bugs in front of her.
"SHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"
with her mind made up, she gave a powerful roar and galloped into the midst of the changelings.
tilting her wings at a downward angle, she wall ran past the main swarm and land behind them. kicking and slashing each one with the clawed horseshoes she have on her hooves
'I can’t die here. i have my duty as a guard to defend my country. equestria won't fall under these bugs!"
"I can never ever forgive them, especially for killing Flashy!!!!!"
She sent a quick swing that she had trained long and hard in boot camp into a changeling's exposed neck, instantly cutting its throat.
The changeling fell with an audible gargle as its green blood spread across the floor. She bucked the body away and turned to lob off an insect's horn.
It was spot on.
The bughorse's curved horn flew off as it cries in pain before receiving a straight hit on the neck with a bladed hoof
In the same moment, she took the opportunity to use her right hind hoof and use a technique she invented herself.
using her wings to propel her lower body, she sent her bladed hind hoof to deliver a wide, far reaching sweep hitting Two changelings who were caught in it flew backwards into the cave wall. Blood spilling out as soon as gravity took them back to the earth.
"WHA THE!!???"
Yet, another changeling easily caught it as it bit her hoof.
The strength of its jaw made the thestral mare creak as her face went pale.
Ordinarily, changelings were only as tall as a normal pony. Yet.....
"*snort*"
the grunting, snorting, smelly bug was very large outdoing the celestial sisters in both height, and girth.
Pegasi, and even more so thestrals, are rather short, but she really had to raise her head to look at it.
Her caught hoof made a crunching noise as the pain made her scream loudly.
"Hey!! Ouch!! Stop it!!!!"
Suddenly, the giant bughorse swung its head hard and threw her towards the cave wall.
What happened next was the dull sound of something dry cracking.
The shock, concussion, and pain, rendered Umbra incapable of making a sound, but the changeling once again threw her. This time, towards a crystal stalagmite. Cracking its surface, then back to the cave wall.
"OOF!!, AGH!?, OUGH!! ARGH!!"
She made sounds that even batponies would find hard to make as she spit a mixture of blood and bile on the floor.
The leftover changelings immediately swarmed her.
The therstal mare cried out as the insects began to trample her and teared her already battered armor.
Towards the ponies who dare ruin their Queen's plan, they had no mercy.
The mare who faced their wrath made a sharp cry.
But they're also after one other thing from the therstal mare: her feelings towards the pegasus.
For changelings, emotions are their main source of nourishment.. Love being one of the most valuable.
But in the noisy environment, twilight heard Umbra's plea..
"——R,run……"
"……! Sorry……! I'm so sorry........!"
Twilight folded her ears shut in an attempt to drown out Umbra's cries as her heart and soul is being siphoned out by the starving bugs like a parasite echoing throughout the cave as she stumbled while escaping with the other unicorn on her back.
She dropped her mace and went to full gallop, When she felt like she was falling, she stomped hard on the ground to regain her balance to keep running.
In the near total darkness, she couldn’t see the rugged rocks on the uneven cave floor properly, but on and on she forced her legs to move.
"……rry……s,sorry……sorry,sorry…." She muttered as tears flow down her cheek.
If only her friends listened to her. If only she just faced cadence's impostor alone, if only she's capable of just ripping the ring off her horn so easily, if only....
She desperately gasped for air as she opened her mouth painfully.
There was only the faint glow of the crystrals to guide her directionless path Even though she knew that she was forcing herself to run deeper into the cave……
What scared her the most was the sounds of hoofsteps and buzzing wings coming from the chasing insects coupled with the echoing clicks and hisses nearing her.
She never stopped running, not even stopping to look back.
Even so, all she could see was the faint path.
The old mare's tale saying that changelings are just simple minded, insentient creatures was correct.
But, what if 10 or more changelings rushed towards you with the simple orders to kill, what would you do?
even the personal student of the solar diarch never considered such details.
Alone, she is weak, inexperienced, non-violent and unlucky. Not to mention the number of changelings were just too many.
These kind of things……never happened to the lavender mare in her life till now.
"Ahh!!...."
Twilight stumbled on a piece of rock and fell clumsily.
Her cheek was scratched painfully by the gravel, but she was more worried about her last companion she had let go from her back.
Twilight hurriedly scuttled to Silver spell's side.
"S,sorry! Are you alright?"
"*cough* *wheeze*" was all the grey unicorn could muster as reply as foamy blood formed on her mouth.
Because she had been galloping this whole time, she didn’t notice Silver Spell's whole body convulsing and having a high fever. Her sweat had already soaked her wool gambeson through.
"H,how……!?"
Twilight initially suspected that she made a mistake in her incantation at the heat of the moment
Thinking about that, she used her precious time for escaping to remove the remains of her blue armor along with the undershirt with her hooves to inspect the wound.
But the Healing indeed had an effect. Although it was slightly stained with blood, the belly fur was smooth and didn’t look like it was even wounded in the first.
"…W-why? What should I do in this situation? What should I……"
She may have read the basics of elementary first aid, and practiced some healing spells during her free Time as a filly but, she is by no means a trained doctor or a medic.
The lavender totally had no idea what she was supposed to do next.
But then, even if she used the incantation again, would Silver Spell be healed? Or should she find some other way to this?
Not to mention, she was in the state of panic. Could she even recite the incantation properly?
"Ummm, AHHH……!?"
Unfortunately, a moment of hesitation could be fatal. An immense pain overwhelmed the the lavender mare as she fell to the floor before she could even scream.
At the side of her peripheral vision, she saw a bright green streak from the darkness, and then she felt a burning pain in her right shoulder next.
Turning her head backwards, she saw her lavender coat burned off exposing a charred piece of her skin.
She didn’t wear any protective gear, so the spell easily went through and emptied its lethal payload straight to the lavender mare's slim shoulder.
The only ones protective gear in her herd was the guards, and they too already had their armor damaged.
But again, the primary reason was because the isn't enough of it to go around for them.
Whenever she moved her body even by a little, the charred muscle and tissue cry out in protest. It felt as if she was being clamped with a pair of hot pliers.
"Ahh.... Hah.. *Hic*"
All the twilight could do was to weep tears of pain as she looked at the changelings with tears flowing down her face.
There were only two changelings who were approaching her.
Fangs barred out from their muzzles.
Maybe suicide by biting her own tongue was better now.
But as the student of princess celestia, she cannot do such thing, so she was bound to face the same fate of her short lived friends.
Will she be torn in pieces, or will she lost her emotions, or was she going to face both?
The lavender mare's teeth began chattering uncontrollably.
As if she wanted to protect her fellow unicorn, twilight hugged her tightly. Suddenly, she felt her lower body becoming a little warm.
As the changelings smelled the stench, their faces contorted with disgust.
Twilight closed her eyes as she chanted her mentor's name.
Yet, salvation didn’t arrive.
But——
"……huh……?"
In the darkness, a ray of light could be seen.
It was likeluna's moon shining proudly in a evening sky engulfed in darkness.
That small, but bright clear light slowly approached her.
At the same time, she could hear unusual yet firm steps.
The insects turned their heads in curiosity. Did their comrades let another pony get in?
And then, looking over the changeling's head, she saw it....
A tall, bipedal creature.
It is clad from top to bottom with a some sort of armor On its left shoulder, a bright white light burns with such pureness that shows it wasn't just a simple torch.
"——No……! Don’t come here……!" Twilight tried to warn her could be rescuer, But her tongue had frozen with fear, causing her to be unable to mutter out a single sound.
She felt very embarrassed, because she didn’t have the courage like Umbra, Flash Sentry, or even rainbow dash.
The changelings probably thought the same too. That a powerless pony like her could wait.
Both of them turned to face the creature. One of them lit up its horn and launched a spell towards it.
The spell was below average at best. Not to mention the changeling's marksmanship was also subpar.
But in the pitch black darkness, the changelings had an absolute advantage over them.
With a normal pony’s eyes, it would be impossible to dodge the oncoming spell——
And the creature was hit almost at the center, hitting its shoulder.
But instead of the creature falling to its knees, the spell blew out into bright, yellow sparks. not even fazing the biped as the thumps of the armor on its lower limbs continues.
The other changeling who didn’t notice this abnormality jumped towards the creature.
Aiming for the slit between the shoulder and the neck, it stabbed with the dagger hard.
"*GASP!!!*" twilight gave a sharp cry. After the cry, all she heard was the sound of glass shattering.
Something under the armor had stopped the dagger.
The insect felt confused, but swung its dagger again
Grave mistake.
With a heavy thud, the creature shoved the insect hard against the cave wall.
threads glowing crimson grew out and around the arm holding the insect in place.
And creep towards changeling
The sound of it’s shrieking cry as the open orifices on its body began to vent out flames shocked the remaining quadrupeds to their core.
The changeling struggled desperately. But because it was being pushed hard against the wall with an armored limb, it couldn’t even reach for the monster's helm.
In the end, the bugpony could no longer move as its limbs limped towards the ground, and with a pop and crunch, its ligaments gave and dropped each of its limbs to the cave floor
Only did the the creature released the remaining charred exoskeleton of the now dead insect and it fell to the ground shattering like glassware.
Striding over the remains, it continued walking.
This situation was completely baffling. The one who felt fear towards the situation in front of her wasn’t the lavender mare herself.
The changeling that fired the spell stepped back unconsciously. Even if it abandoned its kin here, it would have been understandable.
Because it was never ordered to face an opponent of unknown origins, just to kill the remaining ponies in the cave.
But then, the obstacle behind the insect was no other than the bearer of the element of magic.
Twilight finally made a move.
Even if she was shot with a burn spell, wet herself, scared till she was unable to stand and kept relying on her dying friends,
She still used her arm that was still movable to slightly lean in front of the bugpony.
Her movement was an instinct without any further thoughts. Her resistance were also actually futile.
But this futile resistance was enough to make the the changeling hesitate for a moment.
At that moment, it became its first time to be confused of what to do.
But before it could make a decision, a loud crack like a snap of a whip, erupts behind the changeling as its head was turned to smithereens in a mere split second killing it on the spot.
and dousing the element of magic with green liquid and brain matter.
As it ended the fight capable of making even Rainbow Dash feel nauseous, the creature stepped on the corpse of a changeling.
Its coal black armor, built from some alien material as black smoke seeps out of the cracks and crevices.
on one of its arms, a magic circle glowing red rotates on its axis as it binds itself on the creature's wrist like a bracelet.
Meanwhile, a mare lay paralyzed on the ground, shivering in both pain and fear, her shoulder burned. her face had twisted unbearably from her sweat and tears.
"——This... What is it??"
Twilight felt that she had seen a creature like this before
While she endured her fear and pain, she asked him.
"What are you?"
..............................
Back at the train:
"WHAT THE BUCK DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE???????" starlight yelled at a batpony stallion as they make head or tail of what happened to them after the crash..
"L-L--L-Like I just said agent shimmer... The human was already gone by the time we woke up!! We looked everywhere i swear !!" The batpony stallion replied shakily as he hid his face his hoof while Lying in front of the fuming eclipse agent towering over him.
"That damm monkey.."
"He may have a reason to leave us after pulling us out of the wreck starlight.." An orchid mare with a bandage on her head said while approaching her fellow agent.
" why didn't anypony even told him of his importance???" the lilac unicorn lectured to the remaining ponies and to herself around their crash site.
"neither did you starlight. and you were supposed to be one guarding him in the first place" Tempest shadow shot back as she aid the mayor of stableside in lifting a piece of wreckage in search for any more supplies that the could use.
but despite all this, everypony is pretty grateful to Faust and their supposedly captors for a few things: first: the cocoons the bugponies used to hold them in the train's caboose more or less saved them from any major injuries during the crash. second: by the time the guards woke up from their slumber, they're neatly lined up on the cave floor a safe distance from the crash site which they believe was done by their human cargo.
which is nowhere to be found by the time the first guard woke up.
not everyone came out alright though as some guards were found to be unresponsive and looking into space with their eyes devoid of any life. and any attempts by the medics proved futile.
"ummm.... ma'am? we think you might want to see this..." a grey unicorn stallion barely spoke as he prostate behinf the fuming eclipse agent.
starlight only gave a slight nod to the stallion as he stood up and took the lilac mare to one of the intact cargo wagons. with a glow of his horn, the door slid open revealing its contents: a few assorted weapons line up the shelves, a few scrolls neatly stowed in a glass box with a book on its side, and a huge iron vault that is pried open like a paper bag.
all bearing the cutie mark of a pony starlight least wanted to be entangled with:
Lighting up her horn, starlight fired a simple spell, lighting up prints on the floor and the vault door.
Footpfrints and fingerprints littereing the room was all she needed.
"any idea what was in the vault?" starlight's cold voice shook the stallion's already weak will as he struggles to answer the mare.
"I GAVE YOU LOT A SINGLE JOB, AND EVEN THAT YOU CAN'T DO?????" a furious roar echoed throughout the spacious chamber within the crystal cave.
"like i said general Pharynx. the two other ponies who were with the element of magic are surely dead. but we lost contact to the pursuers before we could confirm the status of the princess's protégé. the othe po-urrrgggghhhh...." the drone being questioned failed to finish its statement when the changeling noble liftied it off the floor by the neck with his magic.
"in other words: YOU IMBECILES FAILED TO FINISH THE JOB!!! GET BACK IN THERE KILL THAT WHORSE FOR GOOD!!!!" the changeling stallion roared as he threw the drone back to one of the cave's branches. and was quickly followed by its brethren.
"this is why i asked the queen for more officer changelings.... no matter. as soon as the job here is finished, i'll start my own hive and leave that old hag. with my future herd here." the ripped male changeling said under his breath as he gaze around the shackled Mares lining the walls before ogling the pink alicorn trapped inside a cocoon. he couldn't help himself but to fantasize about what he would and could do to the princess of love that, he ended up humping the cocoon itself with his drool sprinkling its walls.
what could this mysterious biped think when it’s looking at her, shivering and staring at it to the point of forgetting her pain in her shoulder.
Without a moment of hesitation, it walked to the front of the lavender mare and put one knee to the cave floor.
Shocked, Twilight gasped as her body shuddered. and for the first time, she is thankful for the ring on her horn. For if her connection to the ambient mana is not muted, surely at this distance, the pure black energy billowing out of the biped would've surely drove her into madness.
Even though the strange stalked lamp strapped on top its shoulder was providing light, she couldn't see anything behind the tinted glass visor of its helm.
The creature spoke something with a low, masculine voice to Twilight which she couldn't understand and reached out to her horn, but she quickly recoiled out of its reach
Even with her panicked, and tired mind, her knowledge on the workings of a horn nullifying ring is still clear to her: including that any attempt to forcefully remove the ring with magic would cause it to explode. amputating the horn along with it.
and the creature's claws are wrapped in so much raw Mana that, before it even made contact with the ring, Twilight felt the intense heat of the ring as it nearly blew up.
"No!! Don't!!"
her outburst made it clear to the biped as it flinched and held its position.
But the lavender mare's actions sent pain through her shoulder reminding her of her injury
The creature seemed to notice her discomfort as it pulled a few items from the saddlebag strapped behind it and placed it in front of Twilight in a neat line: a roll of bandages and rubber film, a tin can, and a bottle of potion.
Twilight was never given a chance to question the biped as it conjured its own type of magic circle under each item
And each item floated up and towards the Mare. the can came first as it opened itself showing its contents to be salve, a hoof sized blob detached itself to its container and spread itself across the lavender unicorn's burned shoulder.
Twilight nearly screamed in pain before a sizable chunk of stalagmite suddenly found itself lodged horizontally in her mouth ( courtesy of the biped ) which she quickly bit down as to endure the pain.
It didn't take long for the salve to finish spreading on her shoulder before the film and bandage unraveled itself and wrapped the mare's shoulder and limb securely on her with a sling.
All that is left now is for her to drink the potion.
But Twilight's gaze wandered between the small bottle and Silver Spell. It is clear to her who needed it more.
"About that.. can you give it to her instead?" Twilight asked as she gestured towards her last remaining comrade.
when the biped followed her gaze toward the pony in her arm, the fallen grey unicorn, it looked back at her and slowly shook it's armored head sideways.
Twilight couldn't understand why the biped would ignore the mare who need it more than she did until the creature put one of the digits of its claw on the Silver Spell's throat while looking back at the former.
She finally realized that her last guard's belly was no longer moving.
The lavender unicorn held her breath as her arm carrying her fellow unicorn tightened.
the biped appraised the corpse of the grey unicorn while it pulled out a piece of the dagger that broke between the gap of the armor on its own shoulder.
On the blade, some black, sticky and ominous substance could be seen.
It only took a second for Twilight to realize it was poison. just from the pungent smell animating from the broken obsidian. and piecing the two together, she realized that her actions may had been futile from the start.
Twilight hugged the corpse of her fellow unicorn as she cried out in anguish.
But.
She couldn’t do any further. there was no way to save the Silver Spell.
After all, even if she did knew the blade has poison, she know next to nothing of any detoxification incantations.
neither drinking the healing potion nor standing up, all Twilight could do is weep as she sit frozen in place.
Amidst her mourning, she noticed the creature using one claw to close her fallen comrade's eyes, and the other conjuring up an image of a red cross and a drawing of a some sort of cart in front of her.
The biped then used its now free claw to point in a direction where more of the same symbols popped out of each crystal spire littering the cave walls.
It took Twilight a few seconds to conclude that the biped is showing her a way to a safe place in the cave. or maybe the very train station she and her group was looking for.
while her gaze followed the metaphorical bread crumbs the creature laid out for her, she noticed the biped returning to its full height while looking back at the dark side of the cave where she came from.
Then she remembered her other companion Umbra and the fact that she may still be alive.
But the very station they were looking for is maybe the very place this monster came from. and that is also not very promising.
But this creature saved her life! then maybe the path it is guiding is TRULY a safe place after all, she might even find help.
And the same creature is also letting off a litteral aura of black magic which is setting off alarms in her head.
Another issue that cropped up is the princess of love. After seeing what the changelings can do, the worry for her foalsitter only grew.
After contemplating her choices, and the biped now walking the path she escaped from, Twilight hugged the the now cold body of her fellow unicorn before laying it down on the cave floor.
"I'm sorry.."
"Wait!!! I-I’m coming…with you!"
No matter if it was going to the direction the biped pointed, staying put, saving Cadence, or Umbra alone, Twilight couldn’t accept any. Following him (by the voice) was her best option.
The biped looked back at the mare, and pointed at the potion he left for her.
Between her breaths, Twilight gulped down the solution in the bottle. It kind of reminds her of Applejack's cider.
The pain on her shoulder slowly faded away.
Twilight's mind recalled the ingredients for a potion thanks to her sessions with Zecora, Although it didn’t have the miraculous effect of healing wounds, it was enough to be used as a painkiller.
She instinctively sighed in relief after emptying the bottle and savoring its soothing effect on her wound.
"I’m done." she answered to the biped, as it stepped into the barely lit corridor of the cave. Its lamp's bright white beam showing the way.
Walking with firm steps, he didn’t even turn to look at the Mare.
Before leaving, She made a quick turn back at Silver Spell for the last time.
Biting her lower lip, she nuzzled the corpse.
In order to stay close, Twilight galloped towards the mysterious biped with the best of her three remaining limbs could do.
I promise i'll come back for you. she whispered as she looked back at Silver Spell before resuming her chase
New skill unlocked: elementary first aid. synchronization to user: 45% LM/DM ratio: 0 to 7 warning warning. Stability at risk. Please re-adjust Vann's POV:
Great!! Now i have a limping pony to worry about.
And why the hell is she whinnying at me? her mouth's been on the ON and OFF switch since she began following me.
Well too bad Missy. My translator magic has pretty much worn off. (maybe) so your words are back to horseshit.
Speaking of horses, For some unknown reason, we didn’t meet any bughorses since we walked on this route in the cave
Instead, what greeted us was what is assumed to be pony innards scattered everywhere.
With the rancid, revolting smell of blood and viscera filling the cave.
Upon setting her eyes on the remains of a fellow pony, my crippled companion couldn’t hold it and started regurgitating on the ground.
'Well, at least he brought a couple of the bastards with him...' i said to myself as i noticed the some black bug corpses around the main puddle of blood.
I noticed a gladius sword that may have belonged to the dead pony among the litter, put it back to its sheath nearby, and strapped it between my back the my bag.
I feel like a witcher. even if i'm not trained to wield a sword.
I also collected more of these black knives littering the floor which surely belonged to these dead bugs.
My lavender companion wiped her mouth as she looked at me with eyes of reproach, but i don't care. Not like anyone else would be using this anyway.
And i have an inkling feeling that ring on her horn is doing something to her head. Cause other than me being human, there's no need for her to follow me. She should have just followed that path I showed her and be done with this.. Maybe there is something lost in our translation?
The purple pony began swiveling her head around as she's looking for something, then looking back at me while neighing and whinnying.
Guess she knows the pony who died here.. and maybe she had another friend here?
I aimed my headlight down to the ground and noticed something.
There were some fresh hoofprints, blood stains, dirt and signs of something being dragged across.
It seems that her other friend was moved to the deeper parts of the cave, though i'm not certain if he or she is still alive.
I found a few strands of forcefully pulled out long dark blue hair which made me conclude that there's one more pony in this Mare's group.
And noticed the said mare looking at me with pleading eyes. As if she's asking me to help her..
With the language barrier not helping us, i aimed my light at the path ahead.
Best guess is that these bugs can see clearly even if it’s pitch black. Better double down the light and pay attention to any sounds.
Using my new powers as a bonus, i mentally recited the inner workings of a mic as i whip up a magic circle in front of me, and listened carefully.....
In the deeper parts of the cave where my light couldn’t reach, sounds of approaching steps and buzzing could be heard.
bug horses.....
They probably heard the ruckus i made back there and knew something is up so they came to deal with the intruder.
This is bad.....
For them...
What weapon would you use when your stuck in an enclosed environment with only two directions to go?
With my companion hiding behind a boulder, i magnetized a few pebbles around me, collected them to a pair of medium sized circles on my sides on a neat line like a belt, and pointed a finger like a gun, lit up a magic circle at the tip, and took aim at the oncoming roach intrusion.
As soon as the first blue insect eyes reflected the light of my girlfriend's head, his/her face contorted to like that of a deer in the headlights.
skill upgraded: basic, to adept marksmanship. new technique acquired: spray and pray. synchronization to user: 60%
As soon as i finished off all of my ammo, i was rewarded by a morbidly beautiful picture of a long cave corridor surrounded by a green ooze that came from the basically minced bug innards reflecting my beam and the glow of the crystals in the cave creating a green hue like someone cracked open a glowstick and splattered it on the cave walls.
I'm pretty sure I just made Bob Ross proud...
The purple mare peeked out from her hiding spot then looked at me with eyes as small as pinpricks with her mouth agape...
"don't know how that worked either..." i said to her like she could understand my human tongue.
After i marveled myself enough with my obra meastra, i continued on my merry way. With my purple pony tailing behind me with a visible green tint on her cheeks.
"What are your abilities? cause i'm pretty sure that horn of yours means your a magical pony yes?" i said with a complement of my attempt in sign language.
She raised her head, and paused for a few seconds... Well at least i tried...
But as luck would have it, something may have gone through the language barrier as she pointed her own horn with a hoof and looked at me questioningly. I gave her a nod which she replied by lighting up her horn.
and it's barely even noticable. maybe she's a weak one? maybe that's why she's here? as a sacrifice for these things? Dunno.. i'm overthinking this.
After a few more minutes of following the trail of blood and hair (poor pony..), we came across a wider and more spacious part of the cave along with a huge assortment of green glowing sacs hanged at the ceiling of the cave. and each sac is showing a pony contained within them.
"We're nearing the boss room. get ready." i said to my purple companion as we stood in front of a pretty big door made of the same resin as the one these bugs used to glue the train.
With an assortment of potions and weapons lining up the sides. Yep! Definitely the boss room.
"So, should we enter quietly?" i asked my little crippled companion as she eyes the door with her body vibrating like a phone on silent mode but nodded yes.
I gave her a thumbs up before i slowly opened the two doors with the help of my untrained yet, overpowered arms.
And peeked behind the door.
Only to see a giant green fireball coming right at us from behind the door.
Time slowed to a crawl as i ran back to my purple pony and shielded her with my body as the doors were blown away by the emerald inferno.
Engulfing my back as the Mare in my arms screams.
'HOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
'huh?' While i was expecting myself to have an honorable death protecting a maiden, i was instead greeted by a tunnel of green fire in front of me and the heat i'm expecting wasn't even there as my back feels like its being splashed with lukewarm water.
'okay..' 'That's it...'
WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS???? I WANNA HAVE A WORD WITH THE DEVS!!!' my brain roared as both lobes finally gave up on trying to comprehend everything that happened to us from the last 48 hours.
As soon as the flames died out, i put my companion down but she stayed in her sitting position while looking back at the now slagged walls of the cave in a shocked stupor. (thankfully, the flames didn't reach the ceiling where the cocooned ponies are hanged.)
As i turn my head back to the now non-existent door, i saw what seems to be a male version of the female bug-horse i met at the train. His ripped quadriplegic body, long muzzle, and nice locks of green hair is a pretty clear indication, standing on top of a huge spherical cocoon. Its size almost dwarfing me, And inside, a silhouette of a pony with wings and a horn can be seen within the glowing liquid.
When i surveyed the main room with my eyes and nose, There's a dozen or two Female ponies lying on the ground like puppets with their strings cut, And more of them shackled on the walls and ceiling, the pungent smell of a wank sock permeating the hall, And a few puddles of greenish white slime originating from the scattered Mares, Suffice to say, i'm more than sure they have gone through a lot of cruel treatment from this bug.
'Okay.... this prince charming bug-horse version is gonna loose his balls' i said to myself as i gaze at the Beet red bug-horse like i just opened the door to his bedroom while he is in mid-fap
synchronization to user: 80% Unlocked: M auto routing LM/DM ratio: 0 to 8. warning warning.. stability at risk. Routing excess DM to: offense skill tree. New skills unlocked: Combat kinesis Wall run teleportal: support type Accelerator rune Reflex support Auto targeting Active protection LM/DM ratio a 0 to 8. Rerouting ineffective. Please readjust.
"Cadence!!!!!" Twilight shouted after recovering from her shock and looking back at the origin of the flames.
Captain Pharynx meanwhile standing in front of the cocooned princess of love, is trying to find an explanation to how the human was able to reach this part of the cave.
'No... It can't be...... How did it got here??? It's supposed to be trapped in the station along with the Eclipse agents!!' the Male changeling asked himself as his attention was completely on the biped.
Hoping to use the Intel he gathered concerning the human, the changeling noble put up a confident façade as he stared at the human. And said human is cracking its neck and knuckles along with black smoke seeping out from what seems to be a neck brace built in to the armor.
"So you think getting yourself a new friend will help you save your precious princess? Ha!! You fool!!" The changeling said with a mask of confidence on his muzzle while planning his next move.
"What did you do to her?? Where's Umbra??" Twilight interrogated the captain. Her fear all but gone and replaced by concern for her friends.
"Oh?, that Therstal Mare? well too bad little pony.. it felt good making her scream though." the changeling answered with a smile as the Lavender Mare found her lunar guard among the violated mares littering the floor of the cave.
With stains of tears and lifeless eyes adorning her once proud face, and a beaten body like a ragdoll made the lavender Mare lose her composure.
But before she could vent out her growing anger towards the changeling in front of her, another loud crack pierced the tense atmosphere and a black knife nearly hit the changeling in the head if it wasn't for his reflex. Passing to his right and nicking off the tuft of fur on the tip of his ear.
"HAH!! you missed!! do you actuall-EEEK!!" Pharynx wasn't able to begin his monologue to belittle the false god when the knife that was thrown at him suddenly did a complete one-eighty back to the changeling noble.
Cutting off his tail with the dock, and a sizable chunk of his long green mane
And he just went to the salon for his mane and tail....
That cost him half of his annual salary....
The human on the other hoof, was able to both dodge the returning dagger, and catch it in mid-air. While the Lavender mare stares at him with a bewildered look.
The biped inspected the blade that returned to him as he twirled and spun it around, before shrugging his shoulders and looking back at the now crew-cutted changeling.
Before Pharynx could even unleash his wrath on the two invaders, the human suddenly threw a dozen more daggers at him in speeds that wasn't even deemed possible.
The changeling was able to put up a pyramid shield on him and the cocooned princess of love below him just in time to deflect the incoming blades. Sending sparks flying across the room as the seem to be sentient daggers flew towards the changeling, be repelled by the emerald shield, only to suddenly flip its direction back to Pharynx. Never even losing its momentum.
As pharynx is focusing on maintaining his shield to sustain the relentless assault, he saw the biped charging at him like a bull with both arms steched forward and claws balled to a fist aimed at him.
Not a second past, the changeling noble teleport-ed out of the human's way, as the biped failed to correct his course sending him towards a cave wall. Colliding to it and sending a cloud of dust.
Not wasting the opportunity, the changeling noble shot a powerful explosion spell of the ceiling above where the human collided, sending the sharp stalactites and stone down onto the recovering human, Burying him under the rubble.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! SO MUCH FOR BEING A 'SUPERIOR BEING'!!! I HAVE FOUGHT PONIES BETTER THAN YOU!!!" the changeling noble proclaimed as he mentally praised himself for defeating the human so easily.
"Now where is that purple unicorn..." Pharynx asked himself with a dark mirth on his muzzle while scanning his surroundings for the solar Diarch's student.
Not noticing a rock the size of a bowling ball flying towards him, hitting the side of his face, knocking off a few teeth, ruining his chiseled face, and sending him flying to the mouth of the cave where the door once stood.
Dazed, the changeling noble shakily stood up and looked back to where the rock came from,
Only to see the human standing unscathed, and carrying overhead a boulder whose size should not be possible to lifted physically, and charging towards him once more.
Panic overcoming his senses, General Pharynx grasped the nearest object his magic could get a hold of, and threw it straight to the human.
Lucky for him, he threw a barrel of flamable slime his kind use to forge metals. Hitting the biped on his legs.
As soon as the barrel's contents doused the the human and the floor, Pharynx quickly followed it with a flame spell. Engulfing the human in red flames as it slips on the slime, throwing the boulder, overshooting the changeling, and falling face first on the cave floor.
'Is it dead?' the changeling asked to himself as he slowly closed in on the burning biped.
Terrified, Pharynx let his legs move on its own as he tried to put some distance between him and the human. only to find his hooves to be glued on the cave floor by a cyan hue.
Only then did the changeling general realized that the lavender mare he was looking or had slipped past his guard, and was able to free the princess of love using a sword she commandeered.
And now one of the Mares is looking at him with hostility in her eyes while the other has both eyes closed.
Thinking fast, the changeling conjured a long range teleportation rune in an attempt to escape to the safer parts of the cave and regroup his forces.
"Is it over?" Cadence with her eyes glued shut asked Twilight as she tries to open her eyes to no avail.
"..........Yes........." was all the lavender mare could say as she held her gut shut while trying to keep herself from throwing up once more in the sight of the recently blown-to-bits changeling noble in front of her.
And the biped violently rolling on the cave floor in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
"Cadence, I need you to so something for me.." Twilight asked he old foalsitter.
"As long as it doesn't need me to see, alright" the pink alicorn replied.
"It's alright... I just need you to pull something of me okay?"
"O.. Okay"
Twilight gently put Cadence's two hooves on her shackled horn.
"Can you feel the ring?"
"Yes?"
"I need you to turn it"
"To the left, or to the right?"
"Left"
"Okay"
Twilight had to grit her teeth in pain and it an attempt to muffle her screams as blood oozes out of her horn due to the spikes of the ring running across the spirals of her horn.
The sounds of roars and approaching buzzes from the room entrance did not help either.
Amidst her enduring the pain, she noticed the now standing biped making a gesture in her way with the short but chunky digit of his claw pointing upward, while the remaining four curled inward before he set a pair of his unique runes on each of his arms along with a collection of pebbles rolling and floating towards him.
"What was that??" The princess of love asked terrified as she heard the roar.
"Trouble. So please hurry up!!" Twilight urged Cadence as the familiar sound akin to a buzz-saw ripped across the room as the biped unleashed his signature attack on the approaching swarm of changelings once more.
With a scream, the ring was finally removed from her horn and not wasting any time, Twilight cast a healing and removal spell simultaneously on both of them. A skill that only a few unicorns could master.
"By Faust above! Where are we?" Cadence exclaimed as her reopened eyes scanned her prison.
"Not now!! We need to stop the wedding in the castle!! Help me with the teleportation spell!!!" Twilight screamed amidst the growing roar of the biped's magic which she took as a sign that the changelings are closing in.
'Please just hold on a bit longer' the lavender mare prayed to their defender as she and the pink alicorn poured all their magic into the growing magic circle to cover as many ponies as they could.
teleport rune detected. Linking user to source. CAUTION!!: containment protocols ineffective. prepare for DM surge in: 60 seconds.
After what seems like an eternity, the teleport rune is finally ready and with a final push, Twilight, Cadence, the ponies in the chamber, and biped all vanished in powerul flash of light. Blinding the attacking insectoids in the process.
In the great throne room of the palace of canterlot, Spike the little dragon is mustering all the will and concentration he could muster within his little body as he walks along carrying the precious two rings on a pillow he is carrying.
'Keep calm keep calm keep calm... You got this spike. Rarity is watching you so you better put on the best show you could do. Even if twilight isn't here' the Drake thought to himself as he focuses on matching the rhrythm of the music with his approach to the bride and groom in front of the solar diarch.
As soon as he reached his designated position he knelt and offered the rings to the ponies in front and said his lines.
"Princess Cadence, Shining Armour it is my great pleasure to-WHAT THE!!!!!!" Spike exclaimed as the rings and pillow he is supposed to offer was replaced by a pair of ebony black flanks with a marehood in the center.
A flash and a sudden downpour of falling ponies in the throne room and the sudden appearance of Twilight sparkle and ANOTHER but frazzled princess Cadence shocked the guest.
And nopony noticed a black smoking body falling from a height greater than the falling ponies and landing like a sack of potatoes.
DM surge in: 40 seconds With an ovoid shaped object rolling away from the completely black body.
"WE OBJECT TO THIS MARRIAGE!!!!!!!" Twilight and the other pink alicorn shouted in the middle of the tone room.
" TWILIGHT SPARKLE, " shouted Celestia from her place before the bride and groom. "What is the meaning of this. How did you even get in?"
" And what are you doing, you were supposed to.....?" 'Cadance' put a hoof to her mouth before she could draw attention to herself. *ahem* "...why are you ruining my wedding...why don't you want me to marry your brother?"
"Because her brother is meant to marry Me," growled the beaten Cadence staring forward with a look that could kill. "And I am the real princess Mi Amore Cadenza!!!!!"
"I don't understand,"said Applejack among the gawking group of bridesmaids. "How are there two of them?".
" I don't know how you found her," 'Cadence' said with a scowl. " But its too......"
DM surge in: 20 seconds
She was interrupted when a loud crack was heard across the room and a short sword flying towards her with a black vapor trailing behind it originating from the other end of the throne room.
DM surge in: 19 seconds.
All attending screamed in terror, But Princess Celestia put up a golden spherical shield to protect the bride and groom.
17
While she was successful in blocking the physical object aimed at her niece, the black miasma enveloping the blade punched through her shield. Hitting the dressed pink alicorn within making her scream and writhe in pain as the miasma began to wrap itself on her body. All while Shining Armour having not moved, his expression turning blank.
15
Twilight's friends and Princess Celestia watched the scene with opened mouthed shock, before tracking down the individual would do harm to a royal. Or even an alicorn.
What they saw made the ponies to go pale as a tall bipedal creature stood in front of the main entrance to the throne room
13
Then they notice the Cadance within the golden bubble voice change. It was now lower, and with a slight echoing quality. They looked just in time to see the image of Cadance melt away like butter in an oven, and in her place was something they never imagined. It was tall, like Princess Celestia, a shiny black carapace visible in now fading smoke that glazed over its gossamer wings, hole riddled hooves, fanged muzzle, and the crooked horn atop her green maned head.
10
Her eyes flew open, revealing slitted green pupils, her screams of pain vanishing behind an enraged snarl. Her horn glowed, as bright green flames surrounded her, fizzling away the remnants of the smoke.
Amidst all this, the biped took a rose's stem, a pebble, and a ribbon before using his magic to both enlarge, and putting these items together
8
" Wha...what is that thing?" Whimpered Fluttershy, cowering as her friends surrounding her put up defensive stances.
"A changeling," answered Twilight." A metamorphic creature that imitates loved ones and gets stronger by feeding on that love."
5
"BWAH AHAHAHAHAHAHA, oh how right you are, " laughed the abominable image, all the wedding guests minus the groom, the Princesses, the bridesmaids, Spike, and Twilight fleeing the room as her laughter snapped them out of their shock and induced panic. " And as...."
4
Her monolouge was cut short when she realized that nopony among the guests noticed a creature standing near the entrance looking at her with a frightening smile.
3. Translator app repaired.
And on its side, a long, strange, primitve looking weapon is resting on his shoulder.
While for most ponies, it means nothing, but to the dragons who have lived long before the alicorn sisters, this weapon is strikingly too similar to a mythical weapon they fear above all else.
2 synchronization to user: 100% maker tier skills unlocked.
And with a lavish and almost insane smile adorning his now exposed face, images flashed before Twilight's eyes as her mind finally realized who and what saved her and her foalsitter.
1
"hey queen bug horse!! Ever heard of the skyrim space program?" the human asked the changeling queen
DM surge is now in effect. All M users please keep your distance.
.........................
Canterlot castle basement
A cellar was blasted open by a light blue blast of magic, followwd by a lilac unicorn suddenly popping out from the hole.
"COME ON!!! WE HAVE TO HURRY!!!" Starlight yelled at her companions as they rushed to reach the surface.
As soon as she and her group opened the secret door in the kitchen, she quickly looked out to the open window.
"Hey what's wrong? You found hi-" one of the stallions in her group asked the eclipse agent as he looked out the window to the city....
"So... Should we go back down?" the pony asked sheepishly.
ch12: Put a changeling in a blender, and you'll get a dark coffee smoothie
In the middle of a beautiful city park, a snow white earth pony mare with a golden mane is focusing on the canvas on an easel in front of her. Filling in some trees on the side, slowly brightening the sky, overall trying to immortalize the picture in front of her.
GOOOOONNNGGGGG!!!!!!!
A ring of a gong can be faintly heard in the distance but the mare is too engrossed in her work that she paid it no mind.
and the ripple appearing on her water bucket was ignored as well.
Then a slow, gentle puff of wind made her stop and look around her.
Out of the blue, she suddenly dropped her ink palette and paintbrush and galloped away from her prized equipment.
they're here!!! THEY'RE FINALLY HERE!!!!!!! The little pony screamed in her mind as she galloped across the park. Startling anyone who passed her.
They don't matter to her. Not yet anyway because for now, she must prepare.
A carriage pulled by a flock of ostriches is rolling on a leisurely pace across the open desert.
at the reins, two zebra soldiers are bored out of their minds as they gaze ahead of the carriage.
"I spy somethiiiiiingg....... yellow."
"Sand"
"Correct"
"I spy something........ blue"
"Sky"
"Right"
"I spy somethiiiiiiiiiinnnggg...... Golden dust."
"Sand."
"Right"
"I spy something--"
"Sky"
"Hey! i haven't sp-"
"It counts."
"but i haven't eve-"
"It. Counts."
"alright, alright...... Sand..."
"uuugghhhh can something please happen!!!!!!" one of the zebra guards yelled at nowhere as they moved along the empty desert.
He doesn't have to wait long when one of their passengers suddenly popped its head from the carriage window.
"Our driver!!! Our driver!! Make haste!! The location of our Albashar has been traced!!" a relatively young zebra priest shouted at the two guards as he clambered on to the top of their carriage with his head turning in random directions.
"But sir Zeacult, we've been on the move for three days now and the ostriches are in need of rest! so maybe we shoul--" one of the Zebra soldiers tries to protest but he was cut short when the zebra zealot held his face in close proximity to the guard. almost making their lips contact.
"Young guard did i stutter? or you left your eardrums in the capital's gutter?" the zebra priest's low growl was more than enough to spur the other guard to force the ostriches to full gallop.
"Do you have to jinx it?" The guard whispered to his companion after the latter was dropped back to his seat by the young priest.
"why does it have to be this jihadist anyway?" the other zebra whispered back as they pick up the speed with the priest still on top of their carriage.
High above e volcanic sands of the continent's southern coast, a serpent with an inconceivable length soars above.
Even without a pair of wings, the great white snake flies with the grace of the clouds.
Unbeknown to the onlookers below, a medium sized carriage is strapped at the nape of the Leviathan drake.
Contained comfortably within it, is a rather small dragon barely taller than the equestrian alicorns.
Its cyan scales polished to perfection, is complimented by the brass armour covering its upper torso.
And the regal aura blowing out from its meditating form completes the proof that this drake belongs to the higher side of the dragon hierarchy.
"Dii kulaas. mu los tu'um faal land se keyye" a booming yet, hushed voice spoke through the mind of the little drake as it meditates within its chamber.
"Thank you Quetzalcoatl" the cyan drake replied openly with a feminine voice.
"Hmmm... Lady Ember? May I ask why are you speaking in Equish?" the voice asked through the drake's head.
"Just refreshing my languages Lucoa. Since our quarry is well within the land of the ponies" the little drake named Ember explained to her escort.
"Of course your majesty." Was all the giant serpent replied as they push on towards their destination.
"Of all the time this train could be delayed, why does it have to be now??" A light brown she-griffon yelled in frustration as she lie on one of the long passenger seats of the wagon
"Could you behave yourself just for once Gilda? *You have seem to have forgotten who we are escorting here*" a Navy blue male Griffon wearing clothes that fit a noble scolds the female griffon.
"It's alright Ulfric. She had all the right to complain. Other than that, you really think the equestrians already knew about the hu-err i mean the *package*?" a silver, female griffon asked while reading a map she held on her talons.
"With the time, the moon, and the location where it pointed, i'm more than sure the equines are already tracking the *package*. Aja forbids that they already have it in their possession" the only male griffon in the group explained.
"We apologize for the current delay. Please have patience for our train will return to our schedule in....." Mare wearing a stewardess outfit is trying to address their wagon, but her voice is was drowned out by the complaints of the different races in the wagon.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!
A loud, ear shattering ring of a bell caused the whole wagon to fall into a muted silence as its passengers held their ringing ears.
"HOLY FLOCK!!! WHAT WAS THAT????" Gilda yelled in an attempt to hear herself as she held her ears with her talons.
"I don't know... But i bet my bear coat that probably have something do with our *package*" Ulfric said as he helps their youngest companion get up. Who is relatively unharmed, but dizzy from the sudden noise.
A changeling, wearing silver armor and helmet hides under the shade of the forest a few dozen meters away from the white walls of the equestrian capital.
with its above average size, emerald locks, and snake like eyes, it is apparent that this changeling belongs to the upper hive of their society.
General Thorax sir, attempts to regain communication on captain Pharynx has failed, and the signal from our queen is late. should we be worried? a voice spoke through the changeling's head as it gaze at the purple bubble enveloping the city.
"Don't worry Jubilee. our great Queen Chrysalis won't be caught so easily, and even is she was, she'll be able to handle herself well against both the celestial sisters, and the elements. Besides, we have a sizeable group of infiltraitors already with her so she'll have more than enough firepower to deal with them. " the changeling noble named Thorax spoke with confidence as they await the signal of their queen to storm the castle and takeover Equestria for the good of the hive.
However: the changeling general had a lingering feeling that something went horribly wrong.
From the start, Thorax was completely against their queen's plan to conquer Equestria and subdue the ponies in order to gain a quote-unquote 'limitless' amount of love energy from them.
And to some lings like him, that seems too good to be true. For one: they can't force the ponies to make love energy by simply telling them to. And second: ruling the ponies with an iron fist will surely not make the local population happy thus, not gonna make any love energy. Or even any form of energy a changeling can consume for that matter.
But alas, with the way exposed changelings are persecuted, and how the other races in general look at his kind, a diplomatic approach is more or less a pipe dream for changeling kind.
And with the current food rationing his hive has to undergo just to survive, the changeling general is already aware of their situation.
They're more or less out of options at this point. And so, taking over another and forcing another species to submit for the sake of their survival is pretty much their last, desperate option.
At least, that's what the loyalist lings are saying.
As Thorax wanders in his own thoughts, A shock wave suddenly burst forth from the shield bubble. sending a force so powerful, it sent the changeling general off his pockmarked hooves and onto his back before he even realised it.
With his head still spinning, and ears ringing, the commander of the changeling invasion army shakily regained his footing and assessed what just happened.
His vision is still blurry but, he was able to make out a gaping white crack on the shield. As he followed the gash moving up to nearly the top of the dome, Thorax was able to see the origin of the huge, web like cracks that is now slowly enveloping the shield protecting the city.
At the epicentre, The changeling general's now clear eyes couldn't fathom what they are currently seeing: the huge insect wings, bent like a piece of glass art, hangs limply on the back of the black barrel which itself thankfully suffered less than the former, but was embedded flat on the shield along with the side of her face.
All in all, the changeling Queen looked like a splattered bug on a train's windshield.
After a few tense seconds, the almighty queen of the changelings slowly peeled off of her untimely plastering like a piece of old duct tape and fell back into the city.
For what seems like an eternity, the changeling commander finally recollected his wits and quickly barked orders.
"ALL LINGS!!!!! FORGET THE SIGNAL! THE SHIELD IS FAILING!! ALL UNITS CHARGE INTO THE GAPS AND FOLLOW YOUR OBJECTIVES!! CHARGE INTO THE CITY!!!!!!! ONE SQUAD ON ME!!!! SECURE OUR QUEEN!!!" Thorax roared within the hive mind as the dome starts to disintegrate which was followed by the ear deafening buzz of a million insect wings swarming into the capital.
something's whispering within a cave but it is barely audible.
"tw.......ight......"
A consciousness slowly appears, yet fades so quickly.
"TWILIGHT!!!!!!!!"
"GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" A lavender mare screams as she was abruptly pulled back to the waking world.
"oh thank Faust you're alright!!" a small purple dragon exclaimed as he hugged the recently awake unicorn.
"Huh? Spike? whu? Whe?" Twilight's rattled brain tried to recap her own multiple near death experience for the past 24 hours.
And like some dark revelation of her mind, her vision travelled a few moments back in time:
*************
DM surge passive effect (terror aura lvl 1) is now in effect.
"Hey queen bug horse!! Ever heard of the skyrim space program?" The human's two toned voice asked the changeling queen from the other end of the throne room But before she could even digest the question, nearly all ponies within the room went into full panic as they scrambled to leave the the throne room and put some distance between them, the black magic wrapped, and seem-to-be demented, angry divine being, and the exposed princess impostor.
"I care not for your ramblings you false god!" Queen Chrysalis answered with a smug grin.
"That you may creature. But Your whatever you're planning, it won't succeed," Chrysalis heard a stern voice approach, turning in time to press her horn to Princess Celestia's. "but now that you have been revealed by this human....I can protect my subjects...from you!"
Alert!! Alert!!: DM corruption detected at: Central Processor.
With a flap of her wings, princess Celestia took off to the air, and unleashed a bright beam of golden magic from her horn. Chrysalis countered with an emerald beam of her own, gritting her teeth in concentration. As the elements and the real Cadence watched in awe and fear..
At the corner of her eye, Twilight noticed the human's head and arms suddenly going limp but yet, he remained standing. But she was too engrossed to the ongoing clash of magic to even pay adequate attention to the human.
But to everyone's surprise, Chrysalis began to gain the upper hand, her beam overpowering Celestia's and approaching her. Then the green beam slammed into her, blasting the Princess out of her elevation, and to one of the throne room walls, her crown flying off her head, before dropping back to the floor. Chrysalis looked at herself in amusement and pride.
Node isolation successful.
"Shining Armour's love is even stronger than I thought,"she said smugly. " Devouring it has made me even stronger than an alicorn!"
Conditions met for divine title: #Unhinged#: 2/5
"Princess Celestia!!" Twilight's friends shouted, galloping to their fallen leader. Completely forgetting the other growing threat in the room
"Now as for you-" "DINGALINGALINGALIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOUR TIME TO ANSWER IS UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Chrysalis tried to address the other main threat in the room.
But she should have dealt with him first.
As the stone end of the human's hammer bid her head good day is slams itself on to her snout. followed by a powerful magic explosion. sending twilight and her friends flying out to the throne room walls. Her vision blacking out before she hit the floor.
*****************
After the brief flashback, Twilight regained her vision back to the present, and was now able to view her surroundings.
The throne room is completely thrashed as lunar guards ponies are running in and out of the area following the orders barked by a lilac unicorn.
The giant stained glass window that was behind the royal throne was completely obliterated along with the throne itself. leaving a giant hole overlooking the now defenceless city due to the caster of the shield protecting it is out of action as an inconceivable number of black dots swarm in like locusts on a wheat farm.
And near where the changelings meet the city, an explosion erupted sending a hundred black dots into the air.
As the chaos ensues on the capital of Equestria, her heroes are in their own form of shock after tasting the enraged power of the one they thought to not exist. (at least to some of them)
Cadence is on the ceiling with some Batponies as they desperately try to pull out the hanging Shining Armour who's only recognisable by his white flanks and shield cutie mark due to his front part being buried deep into the ceiling.
Fluttershy and Rarity are huddled together weeping as they held their five beaded rosaries and an accompanying grey book as they whispered prayers at each other.
Rainbow Dash is sitting in a corner, hugging herself, while rocking back and forth as she looked down at herself while whimpering something about some things she had done, while Applejack is shaking her. Trying to snap the Pegasus out of it.
And Pinkie is sitting on a theatre couch, wearing 3D glasses, and eating from an assortment of snacks surrounding her as she looks out of the gaping hole.
"Where's the human???" Twilight asked spike with her barely contained panic as her dragon assistant tends to her wounds.
"We don't know. After princess Celestia woke me up, the human was gone. Some lunar guards came in and helped patch us up."
"Where's princess Celestial?"
"She left for the tower to recover the elements" a midnight blue alicorn answered behind twilight.
"Princess Luna!!-ouch.." The lavender mare tried to show her respect to the princess of the night, but the pain on her shoulder reminded her of her injury.
"You may not need to bow bearer of magic. And we thank you for finding the human in time" Princess Luna spoke as pieces of armour made of meteorite steel are being pieced together on her body by a yellow aura coming from the peanut butter coloured unicorn beside her.
"wait... you KNEW about the human?? -*smack!!*BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!! Twilight asked stressed as Applejack gave the cyan pegasus a hard slap on the cheek and an explosion occurred somewhere in the city.
"we confess yes. the human was found at our kingdom's south coast the day before yesterday after the storm. he was supposed to be transferred to a secure place but alas. it seems that he was brought here by these creatures. And for reasons we yet to know," the lunar co ruler explained to twilight as the leather straps on her armour are being adjusted.
"okay! so a mythical creature actually exists, it's pretty mad, and now it's currently on the loose here in Canterlot, and we're gonna use the Elements of harmony against it along with the changelings yes?" Twilight asked with hope to the midnight alicorn.
"Are you barking mad Twilight?? You are going to use the very tool the children of Faust made for us against them??" Rarity protested in their conversation.
Rares!! Fer Pete's sake don't go spewin' that "hooman makah" hullabaloo now!!! In case ya Lost yer memory from ya hitting' the wall, that thang jus' came up n' nleash' a big ol' blast dat nearly killed us!!!" Applejack shot at the white unicorn from her position
"He may have accidentally harmed us. But that only happened because we were caught in the crossfire when he saved us along with princess Celestia from that mean black pony" Fluttershy said with a little louder than her usual whispered voice.
"WOOOO!!! that must have hurt!!" Pinkie cheered from her seat as she watches the ongoing chaos in the city.
"ENOUGH!!!!!!" the princess of the night roared with her royal Canterlot voice to the bickering element bearers effectively gaining their attention.
"aren't you all ashamed of yourselves right now? you are the elements of harmony yet look at you all! fighting amongst yourselves due to some petty difference over what deity you believe in, while the kingdom you have sworn to protect is in danger!!!" the princess of the night scolded the six mares.
"Princess Luna's right!! we shouldn't be fighting right now when there's a bad guy wreaking havoc on Canterlot" the rainbow maned Pegasus said after recovering some of her lost bravado.
"B-but this could be Faust's way of sending help to us!! We shouldn't interfere with her son's work lest we'll be rejecting her herself!!" the element of generosity protested.
"Generosity... we have met the human ourselves.. we can assure you he is not a son of Faust.. and if he is, then it is all the more reason we should aid him in banishing this threat on our land. And it should be fine for the human for as child of the great mother, he will be immune to the effects of the elements is he not?". 'at least we think'*pop* *crash* SHINING!!!" princess Luna explained to Rarity as the chaos ensues on the city and Shining Armor is finally freed from his untimely use as a nail and unceremoniously dropped back to the floor.
"Lu-err... your majesty. i didn't mean to interrupt, but i think we're gonna have some more company" the unnamed lilac unicorn spoke as she looked down on the castle gardens with the clear view of changelings popping out of the gutters and drainage like rats on a flood.
*xxxxxxxxxxxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........* "Tsuki! this is harvest Moon! we're in a bit of a pickle here on the 5th floor on the way to the vault! there's bugs crawling all over the upper floors! chances are they're also on their way to your position over!" a disembodied, female voice can be heard amidst the static coming from a floating rune materializing near the Lunar Di-arch.
"As expected......... Tell Taiyō to take the backup route. Our team will try to slow them down from here. Out. And Element bearers, stay put until our further orders." the Princess of the night spoke to the floating rune, then to the mane six.
"Already got the folks on the barricades, with a fresh shield spell set up around the perimeter" the lilac unicorn said as they walk out of the throne room leaving the element bearer in the care of the medic ponies.
"And one other thing Luna: i thought you were gonna help that human in the fight?" Starlight asked the lunar diarch as they leave the hearing distance of the occupants of the throne room.
"As much as we desire to aid our ally in battling these invaders, what Tempest and told us about what she saw, we believe it is best that we won't interfere with his battle" Princess Luna said. Not noticing the Eclipse agent stopping behind her.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" Starlight asked the midnight alicorn prompting stopping the latter on her tracks.
Chrysalis landed hard on the roof of small shop, smashing through it's fragile tiles, landing on the shop's stairs, creating a crater of wood and truss as she lands, and unleashing a tide of dust. Her battered carapace still held enough to protect her even after its absorption of the impact, but she was still left dizzy at the sensation.
When the dust settled, a middle aged stallion slowly peeked down of the crater the changeling queen made for herself.
"Thanos is coming......." was all the stallion murmured before galloping away from the crater and out of the shop. slamming the door shut behind him
The noise roused Chrysalis to her senses, shaking her head to stop her pupils from spinning. She stood up and looked to Canterlot Castle from the shop window, her body is still smoking, with a few creaks and cracks adorning her once pristine chitin.
'Thank the hive mother i collected this much love energy from that stallion.. or that shield would have failed ' The changeling queen thought to herself as she prepare a self healing spell on her body.
If not for the sudden spike of pain worming its way up her horn like a bolt of lightning. making her grind her teeth in pain.
"MY QUEEN!!!" Chrysalis heard a voice from the hole she made on the roof. looking up, she saw one of her trusted generals: Thorax looking at her from the hole in the roof with an assortment of changeling drones with him.
scanning user data bank... blueprints available for: 20-lber licorne (modified)
"Thorax, what took you so long?" asked Chrysalis as the drones descended to her along with the general.
scanning area for crafting materials... materials collected.
"We squeezed through the shield as soon as it started to crack, after your impact" replied Thorax as the drones began their work in healing their sovereign, noticing his queens slightly on edge tone. "What happened, my Queen?"
"The human has somehow escaped Pharynx's army. and it's now going nuts here on the surface." explained Chrysalis, trying to ignore the pain radiating from her bruises and the cracks on her horn and carapace as they were mended by the drones. "The Intel we gathered left so much to be desired: he wasn't supposed to be this powerful, nor he's able to control his power to a degree such as this..
re-acquiring target.... standby...
"WHAT? HOW??" the changeling general asked, his voice full of shock. "But her majesty has been feeding..."
"I DON'T KNOW HOW, WHAT, OR WHY!!," screamed Chrysalis in frustration. "Thorax. don't bother with that..... thing............Go to the castle, and deal with the element bearers and their blasted necklaces before our problems get any bigger... And call Pharynx up here so we could at least contain that bipedal monster "
"Your majesty... We lost all contact with general Pharynx an hour before the start of the wedding... Along with the best troops we had..." the changeling general confessed to Chrysalis. Prompting the changeling queen to slowly look at him. Disbelief clearly showing on her features.
target located.
Before one could even speak, the Feelers of every changeling in the room felt a strong congregation of magic.
firing
A very STRONG congregation of magic.
And it suddenly bolted towards the house they are currently in at an alarming speed.
Out of instinct, the changeling queen quickly fired up a teleportation spell for her and her group just before a glowing red orb the size of a shot put ball punched through the shop's wall, then detonating with enough force to obliterate the two story building like a potato in an oven.
While the ex-occupants of said building looked at the debris shower of what was left of the building
"Awww dammit!! missed!!!" A two toned voice was heard from the roof of the building the changeling group are hiding beside in..
"Go to the castle.. now..." Chrysalis ordered her general through the hive mind
'B-but my queen...' general Thorax tried to complain
'THAT'S AN ORDER!!!' The changeling queen barked as she dashed out to the back of the building, and took off. The back of the human standing on the rooftop was wide open and unaware of her presence.
'I'll send my guards and Jubilee's army to aid you' thorax said in the hive as he dashed to the castle along with his small contingent.
Taking the initiative, Chrysalis fired a powerful spell normally used to kill dragons invading their hive at the human at near point blank range. the love energy she had in store doubling the lethality of her spell with the bright green blob of flame, being a clear sign of it.
As the spell finally made contact with the biped, Chrysalis's hope for a beautiful obliteration of the the human never came instead, the spell dissipates into a shower of fine emerald dust. Wrapping the unfazed human like it was being thrown a party in its honour by the element of Laughter.
As Chrysalis lands on a nearby roof of another building, the human simply ran one of its claws on its back and the bone club strapped on it before suddenly facing the changeling queen. Giving her a clear view of the strange object it is carrying.
it looks vaguely similar to the pink pony's party cannon yet, if it was set vertically, it would almost exceed the biped's height, it is naked bronze instead of coloured blue, with strange ornaments adorning the entire tube and it sits on a some sort of frame/rig with handles on some places for the human to hold on to instead of having wheels.
It was easy enough for the changeling queen to jump onto the nearby roof of another building to get out of the orb's way and let it hit the building she was previously standing on top on. Obliterating it in a similar fashion as its previous victim,
The follow-up shot aimed at her was what she was expecting to follow.
But not a multitude of them at once.
With their speed increased two-fold.
Not wanting to be vaporised, Chrysalis jumped off the roof where she stood and made a beeline away from the human as she felt one of the orbs got close enough to burn a few strands of her tail.
"Now where do you think you're goin??" She heard the human call out. With a quick glance behind her, Chrysalis felt her green blood slightly ran cold as she saw the human jumping between buildings on hot pursuit of her. its cannon firing relentlessly at her.
"Could you at least stand still?"
But they are a little ways off their target (her) which is nice.
'so he can't hit a barn door from a few paces, this'll make things a bit easier for me...'
As soon as the biped landed on the next roof, the changeling queen fire a kinetic spell to the building. Sending the human down to earth along with the collapsing shop. Kicking up a fountain of rubble as it collapses.
"well... that went better than expected.. a little too well if may say so." the changeling queen said to herself as she landed a few meters away from the settling dust of the building where the human was buried in.
'My queen. This is Jubilee. we got a visual on you and are approaching you from behind now' a familiar voice resonated within the hive mind as the buzzing of a thousand inset wings can heard slowly closing in on the changeling queen.
'Good.. we'll seal this bastard here, and we'll move on to the castle' Chrysalis answered as she took a few steps closer to the cloud of dust.
But she stopped when she saw an unmistakable silhouette of a biped standing within the cloud.
"Of course you'll survive that... it'll take more than a stomp to kill a parasite anyway" Chrysalis said as if to mock the human who is currently trying to Egress from the ruins and dust of what seems to be a metal shop.
"listen here 'human'... Why are you even fighting us? This doesn't even concern you is it? So why bother? How about we make a deal: you leave this city, and the ponies, and we'll guarantee you safe passage out of the country, and you won't have to bother yourself with any of this." the changeling queen negotiated with the biped as the dust finally settled.
But the biped is preoccupied with dusting himself off, and shaking his ranged weapon of debris that got into the barrel.
"I'm sorry what were you sayi-oof! ouch! whoa.." the human asked whilst tripping and staggering on some limestone and I-beams as he clumsily exited the ruined building.
With one eye twitching, Chrysalis spread her four insectoid wings wide in an attempt to strike fear to this creature who dared disrespect the rightful sovereign of the changeling hive.
"I SAID GIVE UP AND WALK AWAY BEFORE I DESTROY YOU YOU WORTHLESS APE!!!! YOU ARE OUTNUMBERED, AND OUTMATCHED ON ALL SIDES!!! CONSIDER YOURSELF FORTUNATE THAT I AM WILLING TO SPARE YOU!!!!!!!!!" the enraged queen roared in her own form of royal canterlot voice.
While the human gave her a flat look while covering his ears with one of his digits on each hand.
"If you are really this dense? then maybe they will drive my point through" Chrysalis spoke with oozing arrogance as the deafening buzz of her backup's wings heralds their arrival. and all are giving the lone biped their best attempt of intimidation by hisses and clicks.
'Come onn..... take the bait... JUST RUN FOR KYTINN'S SAKE!!!' the changeling queen mentally screamed with her breath held as her facade of confidence strains as she eyes the human for any reaction.
The human looked at her, then her army, then back at her, then at its ranged weapon.
20-lber licorne status: damaged. repairs are currently unavailable.
The human decided to holster its cannon on its back and draw out its hammer.
And started walking towards the changeling queen
And Chrysalis's eyes were already betraying her still smiling face.
'Okay.. Calm down. I can still deal with him without confronting him... hopefully...' she mentally reassured herself while giving a hearty laugh at the human.
"You're approaching us? Instead of running away, you come to us?" the now internally panicking changeling queen taunted the biped.
The grinding noise of the human's hammer on the cobblestone road was the only reply she received.
"this is not about whatever you're planning to do with these creatures bug.. the human said while it slowly closed the distance between him and the changeling.
within just a confused blink from Chrysalis, the human was already in front of her.
Hammer poised for an overhead vertical swing.
"This is about avenging my love..." the biped whispered.
Before hitting the cobblestone road in front of the changeling queen.
..........
...............
The next thing that came to the changeling queen's mind is to question her life choices
While looking down on the city of canterlot high into the air..
User passive status: partly unstable User active status: unknown. Alert! Alert! DM surge penalties are in effect: #madness# #blind rage# Hull intergrity: 100% Maker tier skills active: Master transfusion M deity Divine title Achieved: Obliterator
