Celestia thought they were gone. She thought it would never happen again. She was wrong. They were never gone, only hidden; and they would come back to haunt her.
Equestria was always as mysterious as it is beautiful. Inhabited by mythical creatures, ruled by immortal royalty, magic, and many other things. One could only wonder how it came to be. Well, no civilization has a pleasant foundation. Princess Celestia, the pony who had founded its capital city, should know that more than anyone.
You know something funny about civilization? It almost never appears from peaceful terms. Sometimes, a new civilization would rise from the ruins of a previous one. Especially, if the previous civilization had engaged in aggressive behavior towards the new rival nation that threatened its ways in some form.
Unfortunately, that little shameful memory can damage the reputation of the new leaders. To save face, they would rewrite specific events in the past to where it would best suit their image. Perhaps, this where the phrase "History is written by the victors" came from. This has occurred countless times, since civilization first began on Earth. Though, that doesn't mean that it is an acceptable practice for some people.
Before the new era began, people were already not pleased with the way their ancient ancestors were treated in times when nations where conquered by foreigners. They would shake their heads at the images of the native inhabitants being wiped out and replaced by outsiders who knew nothing of this new world they discovered. Oh well, those days were long gone. There was no need to worry about it happening to them, right?
After all, it was a time of peace and acceptance. A time where people were more accepting and loving to their fellow people than ever before. The days of conquering and discrimination were a thing of the past and people could stay close to each other without shame, fear, hatred, or alienation. Yes, many agreed it was indeed a wonderful time in Earth's history.
Yet, it seems that some people don't go by those morals. What they remembered, before everything changed, was the winged unicorns. They were ethereal, beautiful, and fair. Their relationship with these creatures started of surprisingly peacefully, if a little awkward and tense, but only because they were so alien to them; It was only natural to be weary. Yet, over time, the tensions calmed as they better understood the winged unicorns.
They eventually became eager to learn of their abilities, so they sent their best and brightest to study the strange power the winged unicorns possessed. Magic, a phenomenon once thought fictional and even childish, turned out to be very real.... and it was beautiful. The winged unicorns were more than generous enough to teach them how their magic functioned and how they could use it for their own purposes, creating a new age of development and progress unlike any other seen before; an era of magic and technology. Truly, it was the most wondrous time on Earth, but they weren't alone.
To everyone's surprise, the winged unicorns were only one of many weird and wonderful creatures to appear on Earth. It's unknown where they came from or even how they came to be in the first place, like the winged unicorns, but they knew that some were willing to join civilization. The others, however, left to roam the outside world in solitude and secrecy, sticking o their own kind. Despite these new changes, civilization continued to remain untouched. That is, until the Day of Treachery.
No one knows why they did it, how it happened, or even what happened. All they know is that it was unforgivable. It was vile, cunning, ruthless, and cruel. They did NOT deserve such a fate; but no matter. That's because they have already found a way to pay the winged unicorns back.
{Equestrian, Present Day; Sometime before dawn}
The night sky was at its peak. The stars and constellations illuminated the bluish black void above while the ground remained only partly visible one's eyes. While the creatures of the day sleep, the creatures of the night wake. Fireflies, bats, frogs, and others all roam the land in their mysteries ways. Yet, one creature stands out from the others tonight.
It laid there, peacefully, on the mossy branch of a large tree, albeit with some discomfort. The jagged bark stung into its back, but it didn't care. A fire burned proudly within itself. It was on a mission. Probably the greatest in its entire life.
Finally, the creature decided that it had rested long enough and rose up. As it was sitting on the branch, it took a long look at the wilderness before him. It was primal, free, and untouched, just as he remembered. He would be lying if he said that wasn't hesitant. He knew all too well that the wild is a dangerous place, especially at night.
But, he had no choice. The wilderness was what stood between him and his goal. With a deep breath, he jumped off the branch and landed with a small grunt from the sudden pressure on his legs. He then walked towards the forest with his confidence slowly growing. As dangerous as it was, and arguably idiotic, the darkness would make it easier for him to hide from his enemies.
As he moved the dense vegetation out of his way, he saw a pair of his own people, one male and one female, sitting around a campfire at the opposite side of each other with stern looks on their faces. He instantly recognized the pair as his own team that he was tasked into leading for the mission. They were the best in the ranks, and they were more than willing to carry out their task to make things right. "To right all wrongs" was their motto; it inspired hope and a sense of justice to their soldiers.
He looked at the pair before him as they returned a determined gaze to him. That was all he needed to see. He could see the fire he had in their eyes. They were ready to right all the wrongs they had suffered. He was even starting to feel like they should just head straight to their destination and make their move right then and there!
But, he had to remember that he was on a mission for his home and his people. So, with clenched fists, he was already making plans for his next move. If he could arrive to his destination within the week, he will be able to make his move on time. By then, his voice will not be ignored. All of their voices won't be ignored.
Morning, and the trio of creatures had finally arrived at their destination. It wasn't easy, no thanks to the unforgiving environments that was the Equestrian jungles and forests and the viscous animals that called it home, but they could finally take comfort in that they could begin. The first of the group, the leader, was the first to speak with a rugged voice.
"Alright, soldiers. We made it. The Town of the Equines."
Indeed, it was a bit of a town; almost medieval in design and material. The stone foundations and walls and hay roofs made him feel more fortunate with the concrete and steel of his home.
But now, he and his team would need to set up camp.
"First Lieutenant!"
Another one of his kind marched behind and stood tall with both arms on either side of his body. He gave a salute as he spoke with a smooth, yet firm, voice; much more gentle than his commanding officer.
"Yes, Captain!"
"Me and the Second Lieutenant will be setting up camp further back, in case of any curious Equines. In the meantime, I want you to scout out the town and determine any defenses it might have. Report back the second you have it completely checked from inside and out."
The lower ranking officer replied, "Yes, sir!"
As he made his way, he quickly ducked under some bushes nearby. The Captain and the Second Lieutenant proceeded to unpack their bags. Though none of them said it, they could both tell from the look in each other's eyes. This was it; the point of no return.
The First Lieutenant would've instantly been spotted, had he not done that, especially with the number of equines of this place. He had heard stories of these creatures since he was a youngling, but the creatures in the flesh were even more perplexing than the ones mentioned in the folklore of his home. They were small... horses... that were very small, colorful, and... smiling. He could never understand what they had to smile about, nor why they would smile in the first place. Surely, they must remember what happened long ago, right?
Yes, they surely must remember! They must! Regardless, he had to continue on his mission. He will deal with what they know later. Though where could he start?
He made up his mind to scout out the natives' agriculture first, to see how these creatures were sustaining themselves when they seem to be incapable of wielding the tools his kind used for crops and livestock. Soon enough, he made it to a... a farm?! Oh yes, whether he would believe or not, he was witnessing what appeared to be a child's image of a farm to be very real. It was almost too real for his comfort. But, what bothered him the most who, or rather what, was apparently living at the farm.
There were two more of those tiny horse creatures, one male and one female, working on their massive grove of apple trees.
"More like an apple forest," he scoffed to no one in particular.
The male miniature horse was a large, red stallion with an oranges mane and tail and a sliced green apple on either side of its rear end. He was kicking the trees behind him, resulting in the hanging fruit to snap off of the branches and fall straight into the baskets set around the tree. The female was doing the same thing.
He decided to take a closer look.
As he made his way to the farm, he was finally starting to realize the true scale of this town. It was unbelievably tiny! The roof of the farmhouse was quite high off the ground, but it was just barely within his reach; and he was just under six feet tall. If he was this large in the Town of the Equines, then how had he not been spotted by now? Were all the creatures really this blissfully ignorant or was he just that good? He found the former to be more likely, but he wasn't going to take any chances, so he went to another part of the grove where the three equines weren't at. From there, he continued his observation.
The orange equine was standing before one of the many apple trees on the farm. She had a determined look on her face as she turned to the opposite way, facing away from the tree. She then lifted her back legs and slammed her back hooves against the bark of the rather small tree, shaking the whole trunk and branches until the apples finally broke from their stems and fell into the wooden buckets placed around the tree. Some of the apples missed the buckets, but the orange horse was quick to put them there before she placed the buckets onto a wagon that was strapped on the red horse. Once the wagon was full, the red horse pulled it out of the grove to the barn.
Meanwhile, the First Lieutenant was starting a particular interest in the farm's apples. He could barely remember the last time he ever had any such fruits, freshly grown. The most he had were dried for convenience or he discovered that they weren't ripe, much to his regret. Surely, they wouldn't mind if he were to take just one apple right? Of course it wouldn't. What they don't know won't hurt them. Just one... bucket? Yeah, one bucket.
He quietly moved in closer to another apple tree that was being kicked by the same orange horse. She had already freed the apples of their stems and most of them had fallen into the buckets. However, one apple landed off the edge of one of buckets and rolled on away.
"Consarnit!" she yelled before she went on after the apple.
The Lieutenant seized this chance and went after the nearest bucket he could reach. He grabbed it and though the apples made it heavy to lift, the small size of the bucket still made it doable. Feeling a rush of energy coursing through his body, he ran to the barn where he could gather any resources he and his team might need.
Applejack hated it when the apples rolled off as it was such a nuisance and a waste of time. With the apple in her mouth, she made her way back to the buckets when she noticed something different. After a brief inspection of the barrels, she gasped and dropped the apple in her mouth when she realized that one of them was missing! Some of her apples had been stolen! Snorting a gust of wind in rage, she sprinted all the way to the barn where she found Big Macintosh pulling an empty wagon for the next batch.
She ran up to Big Mac directly to his face and ordered, "Big Mac! Get the pitchforks! We got a thief in tha farm!"
Big Macintosh's eyes widened and his mouth gaped slightly but with an assertive "Eeyup," Big Mac unstrapped himself from the wagon before running back to barn with Applejack right behind him. After a quick search in the barn, they came back, each armed with a pitchfork in their mouths. With a nod at each other, they split up to opposite directions to search around the farmlands in search of the thief. Big Mac started his search around the farm as he examined any potential hiding places and poked his pitchfork into haybales and small areas the thief may lurking. Meanwhile, Applejack ran all throughout the grove, looking around every tree around her but she was having no luck so far.
Deciding that Big Mac may have better luck, the farm pony quickly retraced her steps until she found her way back to the bark, where she continued her search in such enraged and focused state, that she failed to notice a yellow figure that just barely reached her sight before crashing into it with enough force to skid across the ground a small distance. She dizzily rose from the ground with her vision gone blurry before she shook her head to clear it up. She heard a pained moan and she turned around to see Apple Bloom, her little sister, laying on the ground covered in dirt and her bow all crumbled on her head.
Applejack gasped as she went up to the little filly and gently lifted her with her hooves.
"Apple Bloom! Oh, mah gosh! Ah'm so sorry! A-A-Ah didn't see ya there!"
The farm pony froze at the sight of her younger sibling as the pain of guilt started growing in her chest. The little filly had a few bruises on her sides and one on her left cheek; her legs also had cuts deep enough to start bleeding. As she suffered these injuries, Apple Bloom just stood there in place as she rubbed her hoof on her head that was swaying around. Applejack was starting to feel the guilt grow in her chest even more, but she quickly ignored the pain and began leading her to the house.
"Ah'm sorry, Apple Bloom. Let's get you patched up, okay?"
The little filly only nodded as she groaned in pain again. When the sisters entered the house, Applejack gently placed Apple Bloom on the living room couch before she ran off to the kitchen. She found a cloth hanging from a rack, then grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol from a nearby drawer, and dipped the cloth into the alcohol before returning to Apple Bloom, whom was still laying the couch but was starting to gain visual clarity. After a brief warning, she started dipping the moist cloth into the wounds, causing the little filly to wince and hiss at the burning sensation on her legs. Applejack couldn't help but help want to cry at the sight of her injured sister in such pain.
Suddenly, the door was opened by Big Macintosh, pitchfork still armed in his mouth. It was released when he gasped at the sight of the injured Apple Bloom, but Applejack quickly caught his attention.
"Big Mac, the thief! Did ya find anything?"
The stallion shook his head and focused on his sister.
'Eeyup. Ah saw some weird tracks heading out of the farm and into the woods nearby. They look fresh, so he couldn't have gone far."
Applejack smiled. "Alright! Let's go get this sonovagun!"
The Apple siblings ran out the door, leaving Apple Bloom still laying on the couch. But, little did they know, she happened to have heard her older siblings. A thief in the farm?! How dare he! He's sure got some guts coming to steal from the Apple family! With what little strength she had, she slid off the couch and ran out the door as well.
She couldn't any tracks the Big Mac mentioned, but something did enter the corner of her eye entering the barn. She couldn't get a good look, but she knew that it wasn't an Apple. She immediately went after the figure and stopped inside the barn, only to find it... empty. There was no sign that anypony, or anything, was there in the first place. Feeling defeated, she turned back to the doors when they slammed shut in front of her. Then there stood figure towering above her.
Whatever it was, it was tall; defintely taller than Applejack or Big Mac. It was probably about as tall as Princess Celestia herself! As she froze in place with a gaped mouth, she almost found her voice when she was suddenly grapped by the scruff of her neck and lifted high off the ground, frightening her a bit. Then the creature growled.
"Be quiet, kid. If you scream, you'll regret it."
Apple Bloom tried to resist to the urge to scream, but she just couldn't.
Big Macintosh and Applejack returned with irritated expressions. Turns out, the tracks led to nowhere. It was all just a ruse to lead them away from his path. Now, they had no idea where the thief went. For all they knew, he was long gone by now.
Suddenly, they heard a scream coming from the barn, but it was soon silenced. Applejack gasped when she recognized the sound.
"That sounded like Apple Bloom!"
The siblings immediately ran to the barn doors when they discovered that it was locked from the inside. They tried ramming and bucking the doors open, but they just wouldn't budge. Then, they heard grunting and yelling along with more screaming. Apple Bloom's voice was heard again and it sounded like she was starting to cry, hitting the farm pony hard.
"Applejack! Help! There's a monster in the bar-MMMM!!"
"Back off! If either try to gat in anymore and the kid gets it!"
Applejack gasped in shock, her precious sister was being held hostage! She so wanted to buck this guy's in, but she wasn't in control here. The thief was and, apparently, he wasn't afraid to get his hooves dirty. The thief spoke again.
"Believe it or not, I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just want what I need. Tell you what, you let me go, and I'll let the filly go. Deal?"
Applejack couldn't believe the nerve of this guy! He dared to steal her family's prized crops, kidnap her little sister, AND tell her to let him go unpunished? This was unbelievable! Yet, Apple Bloom was left in his mercy. She could only imagine her fear and her worry as she was trapped with him. The thought alone almost made her tear up. Finally, she relented.
"Alright, take what you need! The apples, our tools, anything you want. Just... just please don't hurt mah little sister! Why are ya doin' this anyway?"
There was a brief silence, at first. Then he spoke again, "You wouldn't understand. You'll NEVER understand!"
Silence once again, then the doors mysteriously opened to reveal Apple Bloom sitting alone. She had tears rolling down her cheeks as she saw her big sister just beyond the door way. The young filly ran into her arms as she started crying and Applejack could only embrace her as she was just moments from crying herself. Still, she felt a greater emotion in heart that was unfamiliar to her, yet it was surprisingly fitting; hatred.
She now hated that thief for his crimes against the Apple family. First, he defiled their land of its resources. Then, he defiled their precious sister of her safety and comfort after she was already injured! From that moment on, she vowed that, whoever was responsible for this, would never get away with it.
It has been weeks since Sweet Apple Acres had suffered the incident with the thief, and there have been an increasing number of such incidents since. Of course, the news of it spread like wildfire across the town of Ponyville. Many ponies were shocked and scared at the fact that somepony out there was not only stealing some of Ponyville's precious resources, but was also willing to harm a little filly to do it. The result was that the majority of ponies living in fear as to what else they might do to them. Even the Mayor of Ponyville recognized the potential threat this person may be considering its attempt against the town.
Therefore, Mayor Mare decided to do something about it. After addressing a speech regarding the criminal's threats and actions, she requested the assistance of any ponies who would be willing to do their part in helping the authorities to find this criminal. Surprisingly, many of them did, including six ponies in particular, the Mane 6.
Siting at her desk, within a large chamber littered with shelves upon shelves worth of books, was the latest pony to be crowned Princess, specifically the Princess of Friendship. Twilight Sparkle was tasked to lead the Ponyville Watch in their investigation of the recent crimes against the town. For a while, the Watch has had several leads to the identity of the criminal but they've ended being dead ends, likely made by the fugitive him or herself to throw them off. Despite the frustration, they have discovered some strange things at the crime scenes they examined, rounded footprints and structural damage beyond a pony's reach being the most common.
These could simply be dismissed as the work of a Pegasus, if it weren't for the eyewitness descriptions. Admittedly, they are not always the most reliable accounts but the circumstances forces them to take any source of information into consideration. The eyewitness accounts were certainly odd to say the least. The details varied, but they all described a large creature standing on two legs with long arms and a slender, yet muscular build. It's also described as having little hair, although its body was mostly covered in padded armor.
That is why Twilight Sparkle had resorted to her castle library. She had yet to properly identify the creature described in the eyewitness reports and the vague details were not helping. There had already been numerous known species that resemble the descriptions, but there was no conclusive evidence that would lead to a positive identification of the guilty party.
And the worst part, the mystery might remain in its elusive state for as long as the reports continue to lack specific details. The culprit could remain unknown by name and species. He or she just might get away with their crimes.
This infuriated Twilight the most. She would never let these fugitives go unpunished!
As she slammed her face onto her desk, she failed to hear the doors being opened by a small purple reptile with green spikes running from his head down to his tail. Though he may not look like one, he is actually a baby dragon. As he entered the library, he carried so many scrolls in his arms that he could barely hold on to them and probably dropped one or two of them on his way. He will worry about later, though, because this is far more important.
"Twilight!" the baby dragon shouted. "You've gotta see this! It's about the-"
"Spike, don't!" Twilight barked. "Can't you see working on a very important case regarding the safety of Ponyville!"
Spike winced at her sudden outburst. "But Twilight, I just want to tell you that I found something in the eyewitness accounts."
Twilight sighed with a hoof on her face, "I'm not interested in those accounts anymore, Spike. They've provided no specific details about the assailants they claim to have seen. Not to mention, we've lost a rather large amount of tools and food all over town for the past month! Ponies are getting paranoid; I'm even hearing rumors about vigilantes running around and assaulting other creatures, accusing them of these crimes!"
"Y-Yeah, but what I'm getting at is-"
"I have been entrusted, by royal decree, to give a concise analysis of the crime scenes, examine the evidence with the help of the Royal Guard, and then capture who or what could've done all of this so we can bring him to justice! The problem is, I DON'T KNOW WHO OR WHAT DID ALL OF THIS! The descriptions are vague as hell, the culprit leaves no trace of him ever being there, and the conditions of the crime scenes don't suggest a specific M.O. apart from him only operating at night! Even the police couldn't get a clear look at him! He just... He just..."
Twilight started breathing heavily as her eyes were watering up. Shortly after, Twilight laid her head back onto her desk, quietly sobbing.
"I'm... I'm sorry." She sniffled "I just can't believe he managed get away from us for this long. How does he do it!"
She sniffled again and wiped the tears from her eyes. With a brief clearing of her throat, she faced Spike with a sad smile.
"Anyway, you said you found something in the accounts?"
Spike's eyes widen when he suddenly remembered why he came here.
"Oh, right-right-right." the young dragon stammered. "Well, I've been looking through some crime reports outside of Ponyville, like you said, and I found some hidden evidence scrolls these really weird names for the suspect ID and Species Description reports."
Twilight's ears perked up. She looked on with wide eyes as her hooves were placed flat on her desk. "Go on." she said.
"I did some checking and, as crazy as it sounds, it looks like the guy we're after isn't alone on this. In fact, some of the scrolls say there might some unknown species working as a large organization, systematically attacking other towns all over Equestria; and the weirdest thing about them is they've been kept under 'Low-end Felonies' and stuff like that."
Twilight listened intently, shocked at the apparent power these people have. How could they reach so far yet go unnoticed?
"Do you have proof of this?" Twilight asked.
"It's all right here." Spike replied, handing her a scroll tied in red ribbon.
Twilight grasped the scroll with her magic and levitated it closer to her. She stared at it for a moments before looking back at her young dragon assistant to ask, "Have you told anypony else about this?"
"Nope." replied Spike. "I wanted to come straight to you."
"Excellent! I'm glad you did. Right now, we'll need to track down every instance of these discrepancies in the criminal records. We'll need verification and documented evidence if this were to be approached with a full scale investigation."
Twilight placed all the books on her desk back to their respective places with her magic and placed the scroll into her saddlebag.
"Now let's go. The Royal Court will want to see this."
"Yes, sir! I mean ma'am!" Spike saluted as he and the Princess left the library together.
Somewhere in the forest of the equine town, the camp was finally set up, the others are in position, now they just need to say the word. But, they can only say it when they have their trust; the Equines.
For now, though, they need to figure out how to introduce themselves. Maybe, they can appear to be lost and ask for sanctuary. The Equines seem to be the welcoming type, so that could work. In truth, they didn't have to do much from that point on, only having to appear harmless.
The Captain laid on the ground as he contemplated the mission. Soon, he and his kind would make a new change in history. He wondered how, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to get away from that damn jungle and live in a decent house, not that run down shack he once hid in. A sudden disturbance in the vegetation caught his attention. In the brush, the First Lieutenant revealed himself and made his way to the Captain.
He said, "Captain Kin, sir."
"What is it, Lieutenant?" He angrily whispered.
"We might have a problem, sir. The Equines... They starting to act weary, even talking about vigilantes and search parties. Should we give the order now, sir, while they're still unprotected?"
"No." Captain Kin answered, "They on the alert. The plan will only work when we have them in a false sense of security." He smiled an eerie grin, "Besides, the boss figured this might happen."
The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow, "W-What do you mean, sir?"
"The Commander suspected rebels in our ranks. He hoped he would get rid of them during the Selection, but it seems like some them survived and are trying to disperse us. This can only happen when the Equines and the other creatures are being made aware of us in an aggressive manner, unlike as planned. Which means that they're trying to blow our cover."
Captain Kin crossed his arms behind his head and chuckled cruelly, "If only they knew who they were dealing with. Let those creatures find all the loose ends. We'll tie them up later. Right now, we need to work on our introduction. Be ready for practice in half an hour. You're dismissed."
The Lieutenant straightened his face and posture, "Yes, sir!"
He walked past the Captain and made his way to the rest of the camp. He saw many of his fellow people there, only to feel increasingly more alienated. The others all had weapons in hand as they sparred with each other. Some of them had bruised all over them, others had blood on their hands, but they all had a dark look in their eyes; the look of a killer. He didn't want to know what they would to the Equines.
Finally, he found his tent and entered to find his tent mate waiting for him inside, sitting on a dirty mattress. She kept a concerned look on her face as the Lieutenant joined her. As they were sitting, they reached behind their heads and unhooked a mechanism that held their helmets together, allowing them to remove their helmets. Upon removal, the Lieutenant's light brown hair fell onto his temples as did his tent mate's golden blonde hair, only hers cascaded all around just below her chin while she was shaking off her face.
The lieutenant started, "He's starting to wise up, Sarah. We need to get Kin to engage early so we can get to him alone."
"I know, I know, Jason" Sarah responded, "but how do we know if he'll even stick to the plan?"
"He dedicated his whole life to it. What else is he if not dedicated?"
Jason hung his head and breathed an exasperated sigh, "You know, he's changed. Ever since that man took him in, Kin... just changed. I don't even recognize him anymore. "
"Me neither," Sarah added, "but we can't give up on him. I don't care we do here anymore"
She lowered her head onto her knees as she hugged her legs, "I just want him back."
Sarah felt a hand on her head and she looked up to see Jason with a comforting smile. He said, "So do I. Whatever it takes, we'll get him back."
The nature of this situation has become critical. The perpetrator has gotten away for too long and she wanted it to stop now! The guards discovered the rumors of vigilantism to be true, as an Earth pony was captured accusing a Griffon of these crimes. Fortunately, he had already been detained and arrested for his offense. Still, it would be a matter time before others do the same so long as the criminal was at large.
That makes Twilight Sparkle's visit to her throne room all the more pleasant. Princess Celestia, the supreme leader of Equestria and Goddess of the Sun, has trusted Twilight in this matter and she knew she would find something that would help. Sure enough, she did.
"Princess Celestia," said Twilight, "I have reason to believe that we have found possible suspects for the investigation."
Princess Celestia sighed in relief, "Oh, Twilight. That is so good to hear. Maybe now, we can finally make progress. What did you find?"
Twilight opened the flap on her saddle bag with her magic, and revealed the same scroll from Spike. She levitated the rolled up parchment to the Celestia, where the ruling princess held it with her own magic in a shift from a violet colored to a gold colored aura emanating from her horn. The princess rolled open the scroll to see her report on her new findings. She scans the information written on the parchment until she suddenly stopped.
She stood frozen in place. She didn't seem to be alive until she started breathing heavily. It wasn't until Twilight saw her shaking chest that she believed that there was something wrong. The Princess of the sun was even starting to sweat and her coat was turning a paler white than it usually is.
She spoke up in concern, "Uh, Princess Celestia?"
Said Princess gasped lightly in surprise and broke out of her trance. She shook her head to clear her vision and saw Twilight looking before her with a concerned expression. She forced a convincing smile and said, "Oh, don't worry about me, Twilight. I was just surprised by the description of the perpetrator, including the name here."
She returned her attention to the scroll, focusing intently on a single writing. "Jay-son Mora-les," she read with a raised eyebrow, "Interesting name, to say the least."
The Princess rolled the parchment back and returned it to Twilight.
"Finally, now that we know of the suspect's name and his description, we only have to find him. Have you discovered where he can be located?"
Twilight responded, "Nothing for sure. Although everypony say that he heads into the Everfree Forest and disappears. He could be living somewhere in there."
"Bery well, then." The Princess of the Sun said with a proud smile. "I will send out a search party to locate, and hopefully, capture the perpetrator. Now, gather your friends and the Elements of Harmony. We may not know what he might be capable of if his very name is strange to me."
Of course, Princess Celestia." Twilight quickly turned and trotted out of Celestia's throne room and allowed the golden doors to close on their own. Meanwhile, Celestia remained on her throne now contemplating over the suspect in question. She reviewed everything she had learned in her head, now with a clear and calm mindset. She couldn't let herself be seen in a panic like that again, not in front of her former student or any of her subjects. She had to stand tall and stay stro for them.
The description seemed simple enough, a two legged creature standing around a surprising six feet tall with a patch of fur on top of its head and having long arms. Her eyes narrowed as her mind then stopped at the name and whispered, "Jason Morales" in a clear and confident pace. She would go on to say the name a second time before focusing on the first part of it.
"Jason. Jason. Jason. Huh. It has been a while."
Celestia let out a tired sigh before she stood up from her throne and walked towards one of the many stained glass windows that decorated the vast walls of this royal chamber, each one representing a significant moment in Equestria's recent history. For a moment, she only stared at the out world beyond the glass before she finally spoke ina shaky voice.
"So, even after all this time, after everything that has happened, you somehow survived. Then, please, please, end this peacefully. For both our sakes."
Celes closed her watery eyes as she sat down on the floor, struggling to calm herself down before she could even think about organizing her search party.
The atmosphere was thick with tension and fear. It was so thick that one could cut through it like a hot knife against butter. Now with the new details of the criminal released, everyone was on high alert. Not to mention, the details also caught the imagination of ponies and others all over town. Unusually tall, slender, agile, and strangely ape-like, these creatures have had people asking all sorts of questions. What are these creatures? Where did they come from? Why are they causing all this trouble?
But, those questions would be answered later. Right now, the authorities and the Mane 6 have a lead on the fugitive and they vowed not to let him out of their grasp. He will not escape justice this time!
At the dark of night, three of the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, led a portion of the Royal Guard as they patrolled the town. Everyone was vigilant; the Royal Guards were armed to the teeth and the trio leading them wore their Elements, in case the fugitive possessed any magical abilities. In fact, considering that they may have discovered a new species, it might either have no magic or a new type of magic never seen before. Still, they all had a job to do. They will all make sure that the job gets done and peace will be restored to Ponyville.
Right now, the three Elements carefully treaded along the main road, watching from all sides, while the others stayed in town in case the culprit makes his move out of sight. Rainbow Dash gently gilded in the skies above while Twilight and Applejack stuck to the ground. The three Elements scanned their surroundings as they made their way. All was quiet and all were left weary of it. It was almost too quiet and the silence never helped in easing everyone involved.
Worse still, the silence continued on and on. What must been mere minutes felt like hours. The search would have been called off if it weren't something unexpected. A feminine shriek from a distance pierced the silence, startling the search party.
With newfound determination, Twilight snorted and shouted, "Everypony, split up! Dash, follow him from above! Applejack and I will cover both sides and surround him!"
Rainbow Dash saluted with her response, "You got it, Twi!"
And with that, the leading trio separated into three groups. Rainbow soared higher up with Pegasus guards following her. Meanwhile, Twilight and Applejack began their charge. Both mares sprinted toward the sound; their sight completely focused on the dirt road ahead of them with a fire burning in their eyes. They reached a right turn and just spotted the faint outline of a two-legged figure before it sprinted away. Twilight ordered the figure to freeze, but her commands went disobeyed and the figure continued to run away straight to the Everfree forest.
Applejack growled and ran after him with Twilight and the rest of the Guard following her shortly after. From above, Rainbow Dash followed the other two mares and followed the figure as well, tracking his every move and memorizing them just after seeing. Whoever, or rather whatever, he was, he wasn't going to get away so easily. No matter how far or fast he goes, Dash would be right behind him. So with a cocky grin, she dived straight towards the figure with undivided attention.
Then, she rammed her shoulder into the figure and sent him skidding on the dirt. She quickly wrapped her hooves around him from behind, but his wide frame prevented her from getting a full grasp on him. Both the figure and Dash grunted as he struggled and writhed all around and Rainbow's grip was starting fail.
She shouted, "I GOT HIM, BUT HELP ME OUT HERE! HE'S A FIGHTER!"
Shortly after, the Elements and the Guard appeared and charged toward them. Applejack was the first to attack as she leaped forward and headbutted the figure's torso, instantly knocking the wind out of him. As he laid on the ground, the others joined in dogpiling the figure with Applejack being the most violent. She slammed his head, hit him, even bit him, while she cursed at him for scaring her little sister to death. She would have nightmares after her encounter with this fiend and now he was going to pay through the nose.
The three Elements seemed to have the fugitive in their grasp. He even went quiet and still for a moment. Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle's ear twitched. She could hear strange noises somewhere in the Everfree Forest. There were other voices, screams, echoing in the woods and they were growing louder and louder as time passed on. Suddenly, the surrounding foliage started rustling until other figures burst out and forced the Elements and the Royal Guard off of their companion. In the chaos, the new creatures battled the Dash and Twilight with almost immediate superiority by quickly overwhelming them.
Meanwhile, Applejack remained hanging on to their original target. She struggled to hold on to the fugitive's arm as he was nearly free. He shook and writhed even more until he finally loosened the Element of Honesty's grip enough to hold her by her front hooves. Then, he swung her around while she clung onto him however she could. She even bit into his uniform since her hooves they were nearly loosing their grip. With a growl of frustration, the fugitive slammed the farm pony into the ground.
She let out a muffled scream of pain when she hit the ground. Without any apparent effect, he continued to slam her to the ground and even started slamming her against the trees, into the vegetation, and even against the other ponies, hurting the farm pony and loosening her grip even more. With one more swing, he finally threw Applejack into a nearby bush.
Finally free, he shouted, "WE'VE BEEN MADE! FALL BACK!"
With that, the fugitive turned around and sprinted deeper into the forest. The other creatures immediately followed him after releasing their opponents. As they ran to the forest, two of the Elements and the Royal Guard tended their wounded while Applejack stood up and returned to the dirt road. For a moment, she looked around and saw all but one of the creatures retreating into the forest. Growling again, she went after the creature with newfound anger and determination.
She ran on and on for seemingly forever, but she can hardly keep up. For as long as she ran, the creature seemed to go farther and farther away. She went so far into the Everfree Forest that no dirt road could be seen, but she could still barely hear the creature she was after. Finally, she leaped from our of the dense undergrowth and landed into a strange clearing. As she looked around, the surrounding vegetation seemed damaged in some way, as if they were cut or broken apart.
The farm pony wandered around for a while; her confusion growing as she saw no sign of life in her current surroundings. No voices, no creatures, not the songs of crickets could be heard. Suddenly, she was startled by a thundering roar that shattered the silence. Then she was blinded by two bright lights in front of her, which was then accompanied by other pairs of blinding white lights surrounding her.
The lights suddenly grew larger until they broke through the vegetation. Applejack jumped back into the dense undergrowth and ducked down. There, her jaw dropped at what she saw. The lights were attached to gigantic metallic machines that rode on enormous wheels. As they rode away from the forest, Applejack froze in place for almost a minute before she shook her head and regained her focus.
She went after them again, but she was having even less success than before. In no time at all, they were leaving her sight and Applejack was left alone in the dark woods. Try as she might, she could never keep up with the machines. Her desperate attempts became pitiful as she was left alone in the dark. Finally, she stopped her chase and slumped to the ground, panting and her coat matted in sweat. As she laid on the ground, her voice started to tremble and her eyes started to water. She tried to catch the culprit responsible for attacking Ponyville and she just had him, but she failed. She failed Ponyville, her friends, even her little sister.
In a final act of protest, she screamed "DAAAAAAAMMMNN!"
Her cry could be heard all throughout the forest from where she left, and she was quickly taken back to Ponyville by Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. The latest victims, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, reported their encounter as did the other before them. Vinyl was about to leave home for concert until she spotted the creature sneaking up to Octavia's bedroom. She tried to defend her housemate and even fended him off from her. Despite Octavia's fear, Vinyl took some pride in that she had fought off an intruder in her home.
They may have learned something about their enemies but in the end, it was just another failed capture and the culprits are still free.
Deep within the forest, a large camp stood in a clearing that was made by the creatures that inhabited it. Even now, the sounds of their labor echoed across the woods. The creatures grunted as their axes and saws cut into the trees. The wood was to be used for making fire for cooking, warmth, and lighting. On another part of the camp, the warriors trained together either with weapons or bare fisted. They trained with a determined ferocity and some had even been wounded afterwards. Their wounds were only minor, fortunately.
The warriors were armed to the teeth with weapons of all kinds. They were mostly of the bladed variety, but they did posses other types as well. In their armory held in their transport vehicle: swords, and bladed staffs to name a few. They also received a weapon that is one of a kind; an arm-mounted, folding shield. The steel-forged shield was around five feet in diameter and was designed to expand and retract in a 360 degree motion, nearly covering the soldier for protection. Their armor was a simple yet effective build of red, ceramic-coated pads and vest that covered black clothing.
However, these weapons were not to be put to use just yet. The First Lieutenant, Jason Morales, had returned with small troop of warriors around him. He had been away from the main camp for hours and had been suspected by many to have gone rogue. So, the Captain had sent the troop after him, where they found him attacked by the Equines. They managed to save him, but he was not out of the woods yet. He was expected to be at a practice earlier that day, but he hadn't shown up.
Right now, he will have to explain himself to Captain Kin. In the far edge of the camp, an exceptionally large tent stood above the other's. The Captain's Quarters was guarded by two warriors armed with a longsword, who were accompanied by the Captain himself still wearing his helmet covering all but his eyes. Jason was pushed inside by one of the soldiers behind. The Captain followed him and Jason saw that Sarah stood in the Captain's Quarters as well with her hands held behind her, only she wasn't wearing her helmet.
The Captain directed Jason to stand beside her, to which he did, and the Captain sat in front of a desk. He removed the latch to remove his helmet, freeing his neatly trimmed, raven hair, and placed it beside him. He gave out a large sigh before he clasped his hands with a stern glare on his face.
He started, "Jason Morales and Sarah Hart; my own lieutenants. In all my years, I never thought I'd see anything like this. You two have put the entire mission at risk. Have you ever heard of a protocol!!"
Jason responded, "Leo-uh, sir. I've had second thoughts about the Equines. What if we're going about this all wrong? What if we just need to-"
"YOU only needed to show up to our sessions," Captain Kin interrupted, "not that it would help since it looks like even one of my best men couldn't take care of himself against a bunch of tiny, pastel-colored horses. How do you think this would look to my superiors!"
Sarah finally spoke up with a sigh, "S-Sir... it's my fault. It was my idea for Jason to leave the camp."
"Oh, really? Is that so, Hart? Care to explain why he should disobey my orders?"
Sarah Hart opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Suddenly, Jason shouted, "Because she did what she thought was right!"
Captain Kin's glare only intensified upon that act of defiance. Jason quickly answered silently, having realized his mistake, "...Sir."
"Well, then. If that's what you think, Morales, then I'd really like to wring your necks just to prove a point. But, if I do, it may raise some eyebrows amongst the other soldiers. If it weren't for your recklessness, I would even say, 'work well done.'"
Jason and Sarah perked up with eyes wide open. Did their Captain actually congratulated them, despite their disobedience? The two Lieutenants stared at each other for moment before Jason turned to face Captain Kin again.
He asked, "Uh... I'm sorry, Sir?"
The Captain smirked and chuckled a reply, "You see, Morales, while I had a bunch of people looking for your sorry ass, one of them found something... interesting. Observe."
He stood up from his seat and ducked down under his desk. He stood back up to reveal in his hands a large cage, completely covered by an old fabric, and placed it onto the desk with a clang. He finally removed the fabric to show the young Lieutenants another strange creature, laying unconscious inside. It very much resembled the Equines they were observing all this time in terms of body shape, but this one was different in everything else.
Instead of the multiple pastel colors, its coat was a strict pattern of a grey coat with black stripes along its back, legs, and its white mane. On its flanks as also what appeared to be a sun-shaped object, made up a swirl surrounded by small, triangular shapes. Yet, its most striking features were that it was wearing gold rings on its neck and left front leg, as well as two large golden earrings. Needless to say, Jason and Sarah were surprised by the sight of this creature. It was similar to what they had learned so far and yet, it was stuck out so blatantly in comparison.
Sarah Hart finally spoke, "Sir, is that a... a zebra?"
The Captain replied, "Yes. It was found living in a tree decorated with tribal masks and apparently brewing up a potion of unknown contents. Some samples have already been sent to a lab back home for study. Anyway, the reason why I'm showing you this is because, despite appearances, this zebra may be a native of the Town of the Equines. Because of this, we may be able to gain their trust."
Jason Morales turned to look at his Captain and asked, "How do you mean, sir?"
Kin replied again with a cruel smile and crossed arms, "Well, if this zebra does live in the Town of the Equines, they will no doubt notice it missing and go out searching. Meanwhile, we'll pretend to have heard word of this search and conduct one of our own. When we find it, we'll take it away from here and bring it back to its home, resulting in us gaining the Equines' trust and respect. After that, we can continue from there. What do you say to that?"
The two Lieutenants stared at each other again before turning to face their Captain. Surely, this is an act of deception that they shouldn't be a part of. Yet, their captain was already too focused on his improvised plan, let alone his mission, to be thwarted off and their first attempt had already failed. Jason's unsuccessful attempt at warning those two Equines about their upcoming approach had been bothering him since he was rescued by the other soldiers. If he couldn't stop this before, then what could he do in the future?
With a defeated sigh, Jason answered, "Okay then, sir. We'll do it."
Sarah turned to Jason with a shocked expression that quickly turned to that of anger. She opened her mouth to protest, but Captain Kin had cleared his throat at her with another stern glare. Feeling defeated herself, she decided to join in as well. Captain Kin was already pleased with his Lieutenants being obedient right now. He ordered the two soldiers to follow him as he left his tent. Once outside, they came face to face with another soldier twirling a knife in his hand wearing the same uniform as everyone else, except his helmet was nowhere to be seen and his left eye had a deep, x-shaped scar over it.
Captain Kin said to him, "Victor, wait until the zebra wakes up, then do your thing. I'll come in to pin you down while these two keep watch before we head out. After that, you follow us from a distance until I give the order. I already have someone watching over the troops until I start the next stage in our operations."
The soldier's blood red eyes stared at Kin for a moment before he giggled eerily, "Sure thing, boss. One thing, though. You don't mind if I have some 'fun' with the little thing, right?"
Kin narrowed his eyes, "I don't micro-manage."
With an ear-to-ear grin, he stalked around the Lieutenants and into the tent. They couldn't help but feel a cold shiver running down their spines as the man stared at them. His gaze was just unnaturally cold and disturbing, like those of a demon.
Sarah Hart spoke up, "Captain Kin, sir! You can't just leave the zebra with him! He's a psychopath! I mean, I'm surprised he's here in the first pla-"
"I don't like that sicko anymore than you do." Kin interrupted, "And yet, he's here for a purpose. He's here because the Commander recognizes his 'talents.' People like him, me, and everyone in this forest are here because we are about to make history. We've been dealt a very bad hand thanks to these creatures, and we've come here to pay them in kind. So you two quit your bleeding heart antics and do as you're told so we can finally take back what was ours! Now, let's go!"
Jason sighed as he followed the captain. Sarah opened her mouth to protest again, but nothing came out this time. Feeling completely defeated, she reluctantly followed Jason as the Captain and the First Lieutenant made their way to the armory. She looked behind her for a moment a deep pang of regret in her chest. What she would give to save that zebra. "May God have mercy on her" she thought to herself.
Zecora groggily woke up and pushed herself up. Mumbling in her native tongue, she dragged her hooves across the floor until she bumped into a metal bar. She shook her head to clear her vision and saw that she was confined into a cage. By now, the zebra's breath had started quickening as she looked all around her. Where was she? Why is she here? How will she get home?
She remained silent yet fearful until she heard an eerie chuckle in the darkness. She froze as she saw a creature reveal itself from the shadows. Zecora slightly gaped at the sight of the creature before her, appearing unlike any she had seen before. Even she had heard of the strange fugitive terrorizing Ponyville, but she had never imagined being able to see it. It stood taller than a Minotaur on two legs, its 'claws' seemed quite blunt, and its ape-like face was adorned with a red patch of messy fur on its scalp and two scars crossing over its left eye. Its body was also covered in some kind of black and red uniform.
Feeling startled enough, Zecora finally asked, "Wha-who-... Where am I, I beg you. Surely, with me, you have nothing to do."
The creature immediately widened its eyes in surprise only to return to a sinister smile.
"Well" he whispered, "you're the first of your kind I've seen and you've already caught my interest. So yeah, I do have something to do with you."
Zecora gulped as she started sweating, "H-How do you mean, pray tell? You should treat me kindly if you mean well."
The creature only chuckled, approaching the zebra uncomfortably close, and said "Actually, I don't like treating others kindly. In fact, I'll enjoy treating you badly."
Zecora could only back away as far as she could as the creature held a key in its "claw" and unlocked the cage. Try as she might, Zecora was helpless in the creature's grasp as he pulled out by the scruff of her neck. she could only shiver and pant in fear of what was to come.
"Oh, yeah. I'll really enjoy it."
Twilight Sparkle had reached the end of her rope. The fugitive was at hooves reach and, somehow, he had gotten away. To make things worse, he apparently wasn't the only one. If there happens to be an entire gang dedicated the same activities as the original suspect beforehoof, then it only raises more questions then answers. How long have these people been here and why?
At this point, Twilight was desperate for answers and she was willing to try anything that might help. She had already reported the bad news to the princesses which they responded with worry and frustration. She decided to reach out to others for assistance. Starlight Glimmer had already decided to join the mission and now she and Twilight were making their way to the Everfree Forest with the intent in asking Zecora for help.
Feeling uncomfortable by the awkward silence, Starlight spoke with a nervous smile, "Well, Twilight, it seems you've made a BIG discovery about this guy. Not only is he a new species unlike any other before, but he's also organized! It really makes you wonder what his deal is, like 'Why is he here,' 'Where did he come from," that sort of thing. I can only imagine what kind of background this guy has, and his culture and..."
Starlight stopped her rambling when she saw Twilight with her head down. Starlight sighed and decided to get back to the matter at hoof.
"Okay, I have to admit that I have no idea what you're up against, but that's all the more reason for me to help if I can. After all, you helped me become the mare I am now. I'd say it's only fair."
Twilight replied with a frown, "I know, Starlight, and I'm so grateful. I just don't understand what is going on. He's obviously highly skilled and has numbers on his side, so that will raise the stakes even more than before. If this goes any further, we might actually have to go into battle. That's not to say that I want to start a conflict with this person because I've actually been so interested in him like you said. I just want to learn what I can about him and his people. He could bring a new nation to light for all of Equestria to see and I believe that fighting each other would only keep us dista-"
"Twilight, Twilight, it's okay." Starlight interrupted, "I know that we'll try to be fair with this guy. If we're lucky, we just might come to an agreement and let bygones be bygones."
Twilight smiled at last, "Thanks, Starlight. Anyway, how are things with Trixie?"
"Oh, it was great! I can't tell you enough about how she's so funny and cute-"
"What?"
Starlight sweat dropped and chuckled nervously, "Uh, nothing, nothing. I didn't call Trixie 'cute' or anything like that. Hehehe."
The two mares were plagued by another awkward silence for a few more moments before Starlight uneasily spoke again.
"Uh... Oh! I think I see Zecora's hut from over here! We better get to her quick if we're going to bring the criminal to justice... and stuff."
Starlight quickly trotted to the hut with Twilight behind her, raising an eyebrow. Suddenly, the mares stopped upon seeing the condition of it. The door was barely hanging on to the last of its hinges and some of the decorative masks were damaged or missing. She was peering inside and saw that the hut was in even worse condition. Potions were spilled everywhere with glass shards scattered across the floor, furniture was overturned and broken, and shelves were left in pieces. Hyperventilating, Twilight searched all over the hut, but there was no sign of Zecora to be found. She ran back outside and saw that there were strange footprints in the ground.
They were and odd ovular shape and the strange marks and patterns within resembled the ones found in the tracks of the fugitive and on the crime scenes. This could only mean that...
"THEY'VE TAKEN ZECORA!" Twilight screamed.
Immediately, Twilight sprinted her way back to Ponyville with Starlight barely keeping up the whole way. The lavender princess forced her way around and through every obstacle in her path, ponies or otherwise, and sometimes even crashed into several of them but she made no attempt to apologize. She continued her panicked trek across Ponyville all the way back to her castle and into the throne room, where the rest of her friends were already sitting and discussing everything they know so far. When Twilight busted the doors open, the others flinched and saw her panting with bulging eyes.
Rarity went to the lavender pony and asked, "Twilight, darling! What happened? You look like you've seen something dreadful."
"Yeah. I mean you're sweating through your coat." Rainbow Dash added.
"I have." Twilight replied, "I went to Zecora's hut for help, but it's a mess! Everything's destroyed and she's nowhere to be seen. I think those people from last night took her!"
Everypony gasped in shock. Rainbow Dash was the first to respond.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go out there and find her!"
"Fer once, Dash's got the right idea. Who knows what kinda trouble Zecora could be in." Applejack added, partly because she saw another chance to find the criminal.
"Yeah! With my Party Cannon, I'll confetti that big meanie weenie so hard, he'll never wash it off." Pinkie Pie excitedly squeaked, "Seriously, it's impossible!"
"Um, I don't believe in violence but I'll still help however I can." Fluttershy said calmly.
"I'm coming with you." said Starlight, having finally caught up with Twilight "I'm personally not sure what you girls are up against, but it sounds like you could use all the help you can get at this rate."
"Of course!" Rarity added, "Anything to put that fiend away for good!"
Twilight regained her composure and nodded, "Alright then, it's settled. Let's go find Zecora and put an end to the criminal's reign once for all!"
And with that, the Mane Six, along with Starlight Glimmer, rushed out of Twilight's castle and made their way to the Everfree Forest. From there, they followed the tracks from the night before and went deeper than ever before. Along with them, Spike shouted out to the ponies to wait for him. But not before he already sent a letter to a trusted princess.
A crash knocked the desk onto its side and the zebra that hit the ground struggled to get back up. Before she could get away, Zecora was kicked into a corner by the same creature that she was left alone with in the first place. She shook her head to clear her vision after the impact and looked up to him, the creature, towering over her. He still had the wicked smile he had on before. He suddenly kneeled before the zebra with a piercing glare in his eyes.
"Oh, come on, now." he said, "Let's not make this any harder than it has to be, huh? Just tell me where your leader is and I'll see that you get patched up. If you're lucky, you might even get to enjoy some of our luxuries."
Zecora only spat out, "I do not trust your claim. So, cease your sickening game!"
The creature only chuckled in response, "That's unfortunate."
He snatched Zecora by the scruff of her neck again and lifted her up to eye level with him. As he pulled back a fist, she could only shut her eyes and wait for whatever fate would come to her. Suddenly, when she heard a muffled grunt, she felt her neck being released and fell back to the ground. She quickly stood back up and dusted herself to see that the creature was being held down from behind by another from behind. This one's face was hidden by a red helmet encrusted with a goldish cross over and between the eyes. There were two more of them apparently keeping watch at the tent's entrance.
Zecora's captor continued to struggle and grunt until the faceless one hit him in the head with its elbow, knocking him out cold. The faceless one pushed the captor aside and faced Zecora, sending an uncomfortable chill down her spine. His "eyes" were only black gaps with no color or pupils to be seen. The uncanny valley behind them was staggering to the point where Zecora considering running away. That is, until the faceless extended a "claw" out to her and spoke, his voice lightly muffled yet still both strong and gentle.
"Come with me. We don't have long before more arrive."
His face was still not a comforting sight, but Zecora had to admit that she was grateful for him coming when he did. With a sigh of relief, she placed a hoof in his "claw," but yelped when she was suddenly lifted up from the ground and placed her onto his shoulder, propping her up with a hand beneath her.
The faceless one shouted, "Alright, let's go!"
Immediately, they went off and made their way into the forest with seemingly no trace left behind. However, back at the tent, the creature rose back up and looked around him. The zebra was nowhere to be seen. With this, he giggled, "Good show, boss. Can't wait for the next performance."
Twilight Sparkle led the charge with the others right behind her. Once they reached a clearing, Twilight ordered the others to split up to cover more ground. They did so and everyone searched all throughout the forest wherever they could. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the sky and scanned the forest from above while the rest of the group scattered on the forest floor. While they all searched with renowned vigor and determination, none did so more than Applejack.
Ever since the fugitive escaped that night, she felt nothing but a dark feeling in her chest. It was unfamiliar to her, yet it felt all too fitting. If the farm pony didn't know any better, she would guess that she felt... hatred. Yes, she couldn't deny it to herself anymore. She hated that criminal, whoever or whatever he is, and she couldn't stand the thought of him running free anymore.
Meanwhile, Spike was on a search of his own. Though, his goal was to find the girls so he can figure what was going on! The last thing he remembered was that he barged in the girls who were talking about going after someone before they just ran out. Clearly, he was missing something back there and now he wanted to get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, he could barely catch up to them and eventually ended up lost in the Everfree Forest.
The young dragon wandered around the woods all alone. He couldn't hear any voices of anyone around him, recognizable or otherwise. He was simply left alone with no one beside him. The dark woods was not a pleasant experience to say the least; the shadows casted by the branches gave him the mental image of twisted, bony claws reaching out to snatch him, the dense foliage greatly impaired his visibility, and the distant calls of beasts unknown to him left him imaginings of monsters from the dark corners if his mind.
Then his fearful train of thought was interrupted by a large dragonfly buzzing around him. Irritated by the insect, he merely swatted his arms around until the bug flew away. However, dragonfly flew straight into a giant web and writhed around, squeaking in panic. Beside the dragonfly, a giant, black and red spider crawled toward its prey and proceeded to devour it, its exoskeleton crunching in its fangs as appendages fell to the ground.
Spike turned away and shivered at sounds of the carnage, "Okay. That was the freakiest thing I've ever seen."
Suddenly, foliage rustled wildly before and the noise was growing louder and louder as time went on by the second. Spike felt an undeniable urge to run away, but he could only stand there and tremble. With no apparent way out, the young dragon covered his eyes and prepared himself for whatever fate came for him. But instead, Spike only felt the wind knocked out of him by a massive blow to the gut.
Kin had nearly reached the edge of the forest, near the Town of The Equines. He and his Lieutenants continued their trek in the woods undisturbed for nearly ten minutes now. It seemed to be going swimmingly at this point to where Kin nearly had a smile under his helmet. That is, until his knee had suddenly collided into a purple, scaly reptile and tripped, falling face first into the dirt and forced to toss the zebra in the process.
"How? HOW! How could you not see that giant-ass lizard!" the Captain scolded to himself.
No doubt the zebra had also suffered a harsh landing as she returned, groaning with a slight limp on her foreleg. Meanwhile, Spike clung to his belly while he was struggling to catch his breath. After a long gasp, he finally regained his footing and shook the dizziness out of him. He saw first saw Zecora, but then he saw... them. Suffice it to say that these creatures were tall; one of the tallest he had ever seen in fact as it rose in frustration with the assistance of two others. The only thing that kept the baby dragon from marveling at them was the eerie, faceless helmets they wore.
Spike quickly ran to Zecora's side and tried to push him away.
"Zecora, get out of here! Quick! I'll warn the girls about his guy!"
Zecora pushed him away and replied with a smile, "No, Spike, that should not be for this one has reason to flee. He and his companions rescued me from my woe, thus I must assume they are friend, not foe."
"What do you mean?"
Zecora's brow furrowed slightly as she frowned, "I was held prisoner to be hurt until he gave my captor his just desserts. Never mind that now, we must make haste. I swear I've heard him threaten with endow to lay us to waste."
Kin rose an eyebrow at the zebra beneath him, "What the hell are you talking abo-"
Kin suddenly went quiet. He barely heard a desperate voice calling out in the woods. He was soon able to make out words as the voice sounded like it was getting closer, such as "This way" and "I heard something." Judging by the pitch, he assumed the owner of the voice must be female. Then the bushes rattled upon the arrival of another Equine creature, but with a purple coat, a horn, and a pair of feathered wings. The Equine gasped at the sight of the Captain before her, mouth gaping open as she started slowly backing away.
Then Kin heard another sound from the sky above. He instantly looked up to see a rainbow-colored blur diving toward him. With a rush of adrenaline, he leaped up and grabbed the blur by the front end and slammed it into the dirt. When the dust settled, he could see that it was actually a cyan blue... Pegasus? More rustling was heard in the bushes behind him and stood back up with the Pegasus in his hand, ignoring her grunts of protest.
When the other Equines leaped out, Captain Kin threw the Pegasus at them, knocking over an orange Equine who was charging at him head on. A white unicorn gasped at the scene and shouted, "How dare you, you brute!" Her horn started glowing a blue hue as she somehow hurled several rocks at Kin's direction with the purple Equine joining her shortly after. The Captain and his Lieutenants unfolded their shields, blocking every projectile. The pink Equine joined in the attack with a cannon she rode on the way and fired confetti. It was by no means effective, but it was unexpected surprise for the soldiers.
In the chaos, the blue and orange Equines stood up, dusted themselves off, and charged back to the warriors. To their surprise, they were quickly halted by the zebra who jumped in their way.
She shouted, "Ponies! There's no need to fight! These people have done an act of right!"
The purple Equine, along with the others, ceased her attack and faced her.
She asked in surprise, "Zecora, what are you talking about? This... guy... ponynapped from your own home!"
The zebra answered, "No, no, that was from another. He was ultimately stopped him, despite appearing like a brother."
The purple Equine looked behind her. The person in question retracted his shield and stood tall before her. With a nervous gulp, she cautiously approached him while trying her best to make a friendly smile.
She said, "So, you actually saved Zecora? I'd like to-"
"NO CHANCE, BUCKO!" yelled a tomboyish voice.
Immediately, the blue and orange Equines charged between the zebra and purple pony and ran face-to-face to the Captain. The blue Equine in particular faced him mere inches away with a intense glare.
She snarled, "You had us working day and night cleaning up the mess you made, so you're not getting away that easy. Give us one good reason how we can trust you."
With a glare of his own, Captain Kin replied, "Because I just saved your friend's life. Kinda like how I'm going to save yours."
The blue Equine rose an eyebrow in confusion before he pinned her down. Above them, a mechanical roar was heard as a great machine flew across the forest. It soon crashed into a tree line, crushing any vegetation in its path before landing perfectly on its tires. When everyone rose from cover, a voice spoke.
"Don't think this is the end, Captain. We'll have some more fun next time we meet. In the meantime, enjoy that little gift from me to you. Maybe you can make this interesting with it." The voice cackled for a moment before silence took over.
Suddenly the zebra shouted with a smile, catching everyone's attention, "Hey! You, approached by royalty. How kind of you to save the Element of Loyalty."
Immediately, the cyan Equine wriggled free and crossed her forelegs. The purple Equine returned to face him again with more confidence.
She cleared her throat and said, "Anyway, let's try that again. I'm Twilight Sparkle. You've already met my friends Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Zecora, and Spike. The rest here are Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, and Fluttershy. Fluttershy?"
Said yellow Equine popped out of the bushes and nervously crawled out in the open besides 'Starlight Glimmer,' whispering an apology.
'Twilight' continued, "If you don't mind, may you introduce yourself?"
Feeling confident about their trust, the Captain and the other two removed his helmet before he replied, "I'm Leon Kin, Captain of the Striker Elite. These are my Lieutenants, Sarah Hart and Jason Morales." The two removed their helmets and bowed respectively.
Leon, feeling generous, kneeled down and offered his hand to 'Twilight Sparkle.' The purple Equine replied with an extended hoof, which she gently placed into his palm. After an gentle shake, Leon stood back up and said, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions. First off, no, I am not your enemy. In fact, it seems we're all looking for the same person. To make this short, I've been sent here by my superiors to capture this man after being founded guilty of treason and deserting his post at the Ricano Military."
Twilight and the others stared with wide eyes. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, only scoffed and rolled her eyes.
Twilight replied, "Oh. Well, I can't say that I, or anypony else for that matter, believe you. But after what we had just been through, I don't that would be fair."
She continued with a now confident smile, "How about we go to my place and we'll talk about this further?"
After a moment of thought, Leon nodded in agreement. Starlight tried to make friendly conversation by asking him where he obtained the 'cool ride' to which he only responded by saying, 'They're standard Issue." And with that, the group made their way to the giant vehicle that crashed before. Leon activated with little trouble and he drove to return Zecora to her home first. Then, the rest made their way back to 'Ponyville' as Twilight mentioned.
The drive had been awkwardly quiet, despite the humming of the vehicle's engine and the rumbling of the tires colliding with the dirt road. The driver kept a strict focus on his view in front of him. The other passengers were talking amongst themselves for a while; two different species from seemingly two different worlds speaking in the same vehicle. One of which were the ponies who were native to this land. The other was so vastly different, it stood out from all other creatures known to the ponies, great and small, sapient and not.
All the passengers in the vehicle were sitting comfortably. Although, their was some struggling amongst them due to the ponies shifting themselves to suitable position in the vehicle. It didn't help that the vehicle was being put to use on a rough dirt road, causing it to buck and shift occasionally. Also, the ponies have commented and sked about the large turret pointing downwards in a resting position on the very back of the vehicle, which the others had only reluctantly answered with it being called a turret.
Twilight Sparkle, being the ever-so curious researcher, asked with a slight excitement, "Um, excuse me, but I've been kind of fascinated by you guys lately. You're all so... so... strange! Uh, no offense."
Lieutenant Jason Morales smiled at the lavender pony and answered, "None taken. We are 'humans.' We've come here on a mission, but I can't say much."
Twilight frowned, "Why not?"
Jason replied, "All I can say is that it's a matter of national concern. Considering that this is taking place in a completely different land, we can't be sure in who to trust in regards to our mission."
"I guess I understand."
In truth, Twilight didn't. She had experienced representatives of other nations who weren't adept at the customs of trust and friendliness, such as the dragons and the yaks, Yet, out of all them, these three were the most secretive. Surely, they would've tried to trust others. "Why wouldn't they, though?," she thought to herself. "This secrecy just doesn't make any sense!"
Not to mention, this 'matter of national concern?' That immediately sounded far too serious for her to ignore. Very rarely had she even heard of these things occurring in Equestria. What sort of problems does Jason's home of 'Lushiro' go through, she could only imagine. She soon sighed in defeat and decided to leave it at that for now.
The group continued their ride, the majority of them already seemed to be getting along well. However, two of them were not so friendly. On one hand, Leon Kin remained completely distant from the others and kept his full attention to the road ahead of him. On the other hand, Rainbow Dash was suspicious of these creatures from the start. She has kept a vigilant eye over them and only gave a minimal response to whatever 'Jason Morales' or 'Sarah Hart' had to say.
She was also a little bothered by Sarah Hart in particular. She was a little too friendly for her taste, giving her and her friends a weird smile and she always had a little twinkle in her eyes every time they look. Every now and then, she would even pull them in hug friendly hug! The others didn't seem to mind it, while Pinkie Pie even starting to relish in the act, but Dash wasn't convinced by these acts of kindness. In fact, Sarah's trying so hard to act friendly only put her off.
For all she knew, this was all an act; a ploy to get them to drop their guard so they can... do what? Well, she would never say it out loud, but Rainbow Dash had no idea why these people were here. Still, that didn't mean that it was anything good. Regardless, she was going to keep an eye on them.
After that, the drive remained peaceful. Leon maintained a steady high speed until Twilight Sparkle told him slow down after almost half an hour. They were approaching Ponyville and she was concerned that the citizens might be scared by the sight of him and his comrades; nevermind his vehicle. Because of this, Twilight suggested to Leon that he should leave it somewhere out of sight.
The Captain reluctantly agreed and drove behind some large shrubbery to hide. When the humans and the ponies left the vehicle, they slowly continued their way to Ponyville. By the time they reached the entrance, Twilight approached Leon as everyone gathered around.
"Okay, Captain Kin" Twilight said, "Before we move on, we need to go over a something."
Leon replied, though inwardly sighed, "Very well, then. What do you have in mind?"
Twilight smiled as she sat down, allowing Leon to get down on one knee to get closer to her, "Well first off, we are more than willing to accept you into our fine town for anything you might need. The thing is, the ponies here aren't immediately trusting. By nature, we tend to be easily spooked by something new. In this case, the sudden appearance of a new species. We'll have to take this slowly and introduce the three of you quietly to somepony I trust."
The young man, growing increasingly bored at this moment, casually shrugged, "Sounds fair. When do you think is a good time?"
Twilight smiled and opened her mouth with a raised hoof when she was suddenly pushed back by a rainbow-colored blur. Leon stood back up in surprise, but instantly relaxed once she realized who the blur hovering in front of him was. Rainbow Sash, was it? Anyway, the blue pony glared at him with a glare intense enough for even him to know that she meant business. Maintaining her gaze, she spoke up.
"Actually, before we do that, there are some other things we need to discuss."
Now, Leon was starting to get annoyed. All he wanted to do was to meet whoever the purple one said and set up wherever they put them so they could continue on their plans. Except, the blue one was stopping their progress to a screeching halt. The last things Leon wanted was delays. They could cost him too much for the mission to carry on!
With a glare of his own, Leon replied in a mockingly worried tone, "Oh, by all means! Please, share what you have to say ma'am. I'd surely hate to make a bad impression."
The other ponies and baby dragon looked at the captain with unimpressed and annoyed looks while Jason and Sarah quietly sighed with hanging heads. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had already started cursing under her breath as she only focused even harder on the human before her. It was as if there was nopony else but him and her. Here and now, she would make certain that this "Man" would know not to mess with her and her friends. Suddenly, Rainbow pointed a hoof at Leon's nose.
"Listen here, buster!" Rainbow shouted, "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? We're the Mane Six, the Elements of Harmony, and you'd be smart enough to know that we don't tolerate anyone making trouble for us. So don't you get any ideas or you'll be sorry. Got it?"
Leon couldn't help but crack a confident smirk, "I'll be on my best behavior."
"Oh, really? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!" echoed an unknown voice to the group's surprise and confusion.
In between Leon and Rainbow Dash, a white light burst in a brilliant flash, blinding everyone temporarily. After the flash had subsided, Leon had blinked and shook his head to clear his vision. But when he could see clearly, he saw something incredible standing before him. After a moment, his only thought was, "What. The hell?" There standing before him was a... creature? Its features, its appendages, its serpentine body, all together where they shouldn't be as the creature exhibited a carefree posture and attitude. Everything about it seemed so unnatural that he wasn't convinced it was real for moment.
However, Leon's denial broke when the creature turned to him and his lieutenants.
"To be completely honest, I doubt that." the creature said in a tone full of charisma and confidence. "I mean, look at the three of you. With everything you've just been through earlier this morning, you'd be having total chaos all over Ponyville in no time! Rumors, conspiracies, distrust, and most of all, mass hysteria! Oh, the panic you would cause. As if there wasn't enough of it already."
The trio of human quickly broke their stances and took defensive positions. With shields opened and their gladius swords drawn, the Captain stood in front while Sarah and Jason stood on either side of him. Leon tried to stand his ground, but this creature was unnerving to him. Everything about it was just wrong, disorderly, random,... chaotic? Leon gasped; this thing must be the same being he heard from folktales and campfire stories when he was a child.
"Chaos Dragon?" he whispered to himself.
Leon thought he was too quiet to be heard, until-
"Ooooh, I think I'll add that one to my resume!" a miniature voice squeaked in his ear.
Leon turned his head to his shoulder where he saw the creature again on his shoulder, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, propping itself with its claw on his neck and smiling smugly. While Sarah and Jason jumped away, Leon yelled out in surprise, shook the creature off of him, and slammed his shield into the ground. He only hoped that he killed it.
"My, my. Aren't we a bit jumpy?"
With eyes wide open, the Captain snapped his head up to see its face mere inches away from his own. He grunted as he quickly rolled back a distance away. Jason had pounced on the creature's back and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck while Sarah charged in with her sword in position to strike it down. Suddenly, a second flash of light blinded them for a moment before a third one appeared at their right, revealing it with its arms crossed.
With an offended scowl, it scoffed, "Well, now you're just being awful guests. I mean, all I've done is try to introduce you three to out humble home with the best welcoming I could offer and this is how you treat me! Oh, how rude!"
"Discord!"
The humans and 'Discord' turned to see Twilight Sparkle, whose piercing glare had already aimed at the strange creature.
She made her way to him and said, "These people are here from on an important mission, not sightseeing! We brought them here in hopes of giving them a place to set up and investigate the series of crimes committed in Ponyville. If Captain Kin's claims are correct then we're up against something bigger than we previously thought. So if you please jus-"
"Oh, my! You mean there's more to all of this than just some ruffian screwing around with other ponies' livelihoods?" Discord interrupted. "Well, why didn't you say so? I can just take all of you to Princess Celestia and we can settle this matter together! How does that sound? Good? Good."
Before Twilight could finish her sentence, Discord snapped his fingers and everyone in the immediate area had vanished in yet another flash of white light without a trace.
Princess Celestia had been pacing back and forth across her throne room for over an hour now. The letter she had received from Spike had the most troubling news about Ponyville yet, explaining that the culprit has apparently started kidnapping Zecora from her home! She could let out an exhausted and worried sigh. At his point, the criminal situation on Ponyville has become critical. It has become delicate enough to risk disaster at the slightest mistake.
Celestia continued on pondering until the sound of the doors creaking open and hoof steps reached her ears. She snapped out of her thoughts and turned her head to see her nightly sister walking down the room, approaching her elder sibling.
"Luna! Thank heavens you've made it."
"I'm glad to have made it, sister," Said Princess Luna. "I can only hope that I have responded in time. Even my Night Guard can only do so much."
"No, Luna. You have done whatever you can and it is always appreciated."
"Say, sister, about those reports? I am starting to believe that... they have returned."
Celestia gasped. She had seen the similarities between the suspect and them, but there was nothing conclusive.
She replied, her hoof holding her little sister's head up, "Luna, there is no need to about them anymore. They are gone."
Princess Luna took deep breaths to relax. Despite her worries, she knew that she had to keep a level head. She couldn't afford to appear unfit in handling this crisis. For now, Celestia would just have Shining Armor to prepare a squadron and help in facing the culprit. The elder sister opened her mouth a give out an order when...
*FLASH!*
A white light flashed throughout the room, revealing Discord, Mane Six, and... three other creatures. Celestia and Luna looked upon the scene in shock and confusion as Discord stood confidently while stumbled and slipped to gain their footing. However, what caught her attention the most was one of the three new creatures that stood before her. Once it finally stood up, the creature looked around in all directions with a panicked expression on its face. It finally ceased its frantic gazing when it ended up turning to see Princesses.
They stared at each other for a moment, quietly analyzing each other and considering their options on what to do in their time meeting. This creature was very striking in its appearance. Its broad and muscular body and its deep, yet smooth voice indicated to her that it was a male, like a young stallion. Its armor, however minimal as it only covers the chest and extremities, seemed simple yet strong in their design. The faceless helmet hanging off its straps was also easily noticeable with the bright red coloring shining in the sunlight with the stained-glass windows around them. Deciding to be friendly, Celestia gently cleared her throat.
"Greetings, sir." she calmly said with a small smile. "I see that you have met Twilight Sparkle and her friends. And Discord as well."
"What. the hell! IS ALL THIS!!" he shouted at the Princess.
Celestia stepped back in surprise. The new subject stood tall enough for him to look at her in the eye. This was far more personal than any other creature than she met, which were either much larger or smaller than her.
Still, she kept her nerve and responded, "Please, sir. I understand this might be a lot to take in. How about we-"
"I don't care what anyone does at this point!" Leon snarled. "Just keep all this freakiness away from me for five minutes, please? I need to sit."
Celestia nodded, "Of course. Take all the time you need."
At that point, the humans were left alone in the throne room to let them calm down and think things through. In the meantime, everyone else stood right outside in front of the doors. Twilight Sparkle and Spike stood before the Princess with everyone else right beside them.
"Well, Twilight. One minute, I had received a letter from your assistant about a kidnapping situation and then the next, you and your new companions suddenly appear before me with Discord's assistance, apparently. Care to walk me through on all of this?"
"Of course," Twilight replied. "Starlight and I were going to visit Zecora for help when we discovered her home in ruins. We managed to find her with the three you met, Leon, Sarah, Jason. After that, we reached an understanding and decided we'd meet with you."
Twilight shot an annoyed look at Discord, "That is until somepony decided to cut our discussion short."
The draconeques only scoffed with crossed arms, feeling unappreciated again. Princess Celestia ignored the last comment and nodded with understanding. The rest of the group continued helping Twilight explaining in further detail.
Something about this had bothered him for the past half hour or so. For once, Leon Kin, the Captain of the Striker Elite, was shocked. He had already heard tales of strange and horrific monsters back home in Americano. Hell, he had even seen and fought such monsters! Though, the thing about them was that they were biologically reasonable. There was no magic or special powers, nothing supernatural at all! And yet here in this land, not only the ponies exhibiting magical abilities but that... creature. There was nothing reasonable about it.
Everything about it was just a haphazard collection of body parts and abilities! Yet, he knew some things about it from his childhood stories, stories about the Chaos Dragon. He always thought they were simply myth due to the sheer inconsistency of details, but perhaps the creature's existence would be enough to prove him wrong. Not to mention, those two equines with their shining adornments and their sparkling manes flowing like water. They almost seem... angelic. He could wonder to himself who they were.
Right now, though, he didn't care. He looked up from the steps he was sitting to see his Lieutenants scattered across the room. Sarah was laying on her back with her arms crossed behind her head while Jason wandered around aimlessly.
Leon finally decided he had enough of all this thinking and sitting around and stood up. His Lieutenants immediately took notice and stood before him side-by-side.
With newfound confidence, Leon said, "Alright, here's what we're gonna do. I don't know what this place is or any of the creatures we've met so far, but I won't let that distract us from the mission at hand. We must remain focused and determined to see this through. Understand?"
The Lieutenants answered, "Yes, sir!"
"Good. Now, let's go."
And with that, the humans walked just before they reached the doors. Their large and tall frame was imposing, but it was nothing unlike those back home. After a deep breath, the trio pushed the doors open and saw the magical creatures who were waiting patiently for them. The white Equine and the smaller, blue one were standing in front of the other creatures with calm expressions. At this point, he knew that these two were of a high authority of this land. Given their attire, their stature, and their attitude, they were probably the rulers.
With hands behind his back, he said, "Ma'am. We are ready."
Finally, Leon could relax and feel a bit more at home in this rather otherworldly land. Not three days upon exploring and he had already seen things that disproved many things he thought - no, knew - weren't real! And yet, here they were standing before two winged unicorns with sparkling, flowing manes and their disciple after speaking with a bunch of talking Equines and being teleported by a living abstract with the charisma of an aristocrat! What a world this is...
Oh well, he'd just report all of what he could confidently describe in his message back to camp. Right now, he and his Lieutenants have three VIPs to discuss matters with. The two species stood across from each other on a beautifully adorned table that seemed large enough to seat many guests at once. The purple one, Twilight Sparkle, could barely contain her excitement as she had a quill and parchment in her magic resting before her. However, the other two were far more calm and restrained.
One of them stood taller than the rest. An Equine with a snow white coat, like the plumage on her large wings, and a long, pointed horn on her head. Her mane was made up of several colors, ranging from pink, blue, and even a shade of green. Her younger sister, on the other hand, had a deep blue coat and plumage and an equally blue mane that sparkled like the stars at night. The two of them also wore horseshoes, necklaces, and crowns that matched them in thematic color.
As soon as the everyone settled, the white Equine cleared her throat.
"Alright," she said. "Why don't we start off with introductions? I'm Celestia, ruler of Equestria. This is my sister, Luna. She rules alongside me. I'm sure you have already met Twilight Sparkle. She currently rules nearby Ponyville."
Said Equine gave a shy smirk as she waved quietly. Leon and Jason simply nodded in response while Sarah waved back with a big smile.
Leon responded with a small bow, "I am Leon Kin, Captain of the Striker Elite. These are my Lieutenants, Sarah Hart and Jason Morales. We were sent to this land to search for rough striker who broke ranks. He gained a platoon of soldiers to follow him in committing acts of terror against the public. We've captured most of his men and shut down his operation, but he and the rest of his platoon managed to escape here in... Equestria, is it? Anyway, we could only confirm that he is setting up somewhere in the forest, but his location currently remains unknown."
The Captain crossed his arms and sighed, "I do apologize for bringing this upon you and your people, Your Highness. From what I understand, you lot don't exactly approve of it."
The princesses frowned, Twilight most of all after having seen the violence of the humans' mission herself. Celestia herself was surprised by the circumstances herself. Nevertheless, she remained steadfast to the Captain.
She said, "I understand, Captain Kin. However, my duty to protect my little ponies will remain as it always was and I will ensure their safety in the midst of your mission. I also have the Royal Guard under the command of Captain Shining Armor. If you ever feel the need, he will be more than happy to lend you a helping hoof. I have already sent word of this to him."
Leon gave a small smile, "That is very much appreciated, Your Highness."
"Surprising for these creatures to have their own military despite their apparently gentle nature," he thought to himself. "Perhaps they aren't as peaceful as they claim."
"E-Excuse me! Um, may I say something," Twilight suddenly spoke with a raised hoof. She started off confident only to retract slightly after all eyes focused on her.
"Of course, Twilight," Celestia responded. "What is on your mind?"
"Well, I've thinking while our new visitors are with us now, if they would be willing to share anything about their home, Lushiro. They mentioned some bits and pieces, but nothing definitive."
Twilight's smile grew wider as her excitement grew. She was even clapping her hooves and her wings had spread proudly.
"I mean, it's just so exciting! A new species from a new land, both unlike anything we've ever seen! There could be so much we might learn form each other's cultures!"
Celestia giggled at her little pony's giddiness. She was always eager to learn whatever she could about her world since she was a little filly. Even Jason and Sarah smiled in amusement, especially Sarah. Leon, however, was indifferent. He wasn't a fan of sharing their way of life; something that was previously kept to the humans and other creatures of Lushiro for thousands of years with no outside force having ever intruding on them.
Still, this could help these creatures in gaining their trust. He would just have to appear comfortable with them for the time being. Besides, with the power they posses, what harm could a little sharing really do?
"Well if you are curious about our ways, I suppose that we could answer a few questions," the Captain said.
Twilight smiled widely and bounced all over the table, squealing and laughing to her heart's content. She even took to the air a couple of times as her wings starting flapping unconsciously. All except one were bewildered by the display with the one being Sarah, who could barley hold in her own excitement as she looked on in adoration. Suddenly, Twilight was stopped when a golden aura engulfed her body and gently lowered her back to her seat. With a gentle smile, Celestia released the excited pony, who quickly calmed down and sat straight with a nervous smile.
"Uh, hehehe. Sorry about for that. Where do we start?"
If it weren't for the guards standing outside, or even the lock being put in place, the door would've been knocked down from its hinges. The reason being that Dash, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Starlight, and Discord have all been crowding to get a closer look at the situation inside. Ever since Twilight and the Princesses were left alone with the humans, there has been an unceasing tension in the atmosphere. Rainbow Dash had even threatened to bust her way inside and speak with the human in charge herself, but she had quickly been denied that opportunity by Applejack when she lassoed her to the ground. Meanwhile, Starlight Glimmer, the more level-headed pony of the group, had sat away from the group with a hoof under her chin and a thoughtful face.
Besides Starlight, everypony had resorted to listening to the sounds on the walls. They were all eager to hear, but Pinkie Pie was the most curious of all of them.
"What's going on?-What are they talking about?-Why is it so quiet?-Are they even talking at all?!-Are they even in the same room?!-SOMEPONY TELL ME!!"
She constantly ran side-to-side across the walls as she tried to find the best spot to hear the conversation inside. As her curiosity grew, so did her antics. Sometimes, she would climb all over the walls and even somehow hang onto the ceiling in her search for the perfect spot. The rest of the ponies have tried do the same, without nearly the amount of energy as Pinkie, and have also failed.
"Ugh, this is so stupid," Rainbow Dash groaned. "After a month of crap and saving Zecora, we come back home on that... thing... with those Strike Team guys, then we finally get to the bottom of it and we don't even get a say in the matter?! RIDICULOUS!!"
"Ah know, right," said Applejack. "Ah mean Twilight of all ponies should know that we all need ta be together on this! Who know what we're up against now!"
"Uh, girls" whispered Fluttershy before she was suddenly interrupted.
"It is such a travesty indeed," said Rarity. "Oh Twilight, that poor dear. How is she going to do this with those people and the barbaric acts they've committed?! It is just horrendous!"
"Um. Girls?"
"Yeah, what the heck just happened back there," said Dash again. "Are they in a middle of a war or something?! And look at what they've done with Zecora! What's wrong with them?!"
"I can hardly say for sure, but what I can say is that it simply will NOT stand and we will make sure that they know it!"
"You know it, sugar cube. An' Ah jus' can't stand that guy's attitude either, the tall one. He's actin' like none o' this matters to him while his friends are jus' takin' orders from 'im, no questions asked."
"Girls?"
"Heck yeah! Who does he think he is? Those guys who use their friends for their own use are just a pain in the flank!"
"Here, here," Rarity cheered.
"Gir-"
"Oh, that's just cute," an all to familiar voice chortled.
The mares turned to see Discord laying peacefully on a hammock mysteriously strung into the castle's structure, but exactly where it was attached could not be seen. After sipping the last of his chocolate milk, or rather drank the glass while the milk itself retained its shape, he tossed his out the window without a care before it landed with an explosion. He got off the hammock as it magically disappeared and leaned his claw against the wall.
"It's obvious that there is only one thing to do at a time like this."
"And what exactly might that be, Discord," Rarity asked with suspicion. "Because if your previous attempt at helping us is of any indication, then we probably wouldn't like it in the end."
"She's got a point," Starlight added. "That was reckless back there. And judging by their reaction to you, I think that Leon, Sarah, and Jason haven't seen creatures like those in Equestria. It's possible that they might be only sentient species in their homeland."
"Oh, don't be preposterous," Discord chuckled as he playfully ruffled Starlight's mane. "Those people in that room are our guests and as such, it is our responsibility to welcome them in our humble home. First, obviously, we should take a listen in there. I wonder what juicy secrets they have to share."
With a snap of his fingers, Discord summoned a stethoscope already set in his ears. He placed the diaphragm onto the wall, searching for a spot to listen to. Finally, he stopped and listened in. He immediately started giggling and gasping at whatever he must have been hearing. This really caught the ponies' attention, especially Rainbow Dash who practically snatched the stethoscope from the draconeques' possession as she demanded to have her turn.
"Hey, gimme that!"
The draconeques crossed his arms as Rainbow Dash used the device for herself, but she did not hear anyone speak. In fact, no matter hard she tried, she didn't hear anyone at all. Suspecting foul play, she took off the stethoscope and inspected, in her own crude fashion with shaking and tapping the bell with her hoof, until the device suddenly collapsed and turned into a swarm of flies that left as quickly as it appeared. She glared at Discord with an unimpressed and somewhat annoyed look on her face as the draconeques was trying not to laugh.
"You know what? I fricking hate you."
"Hey champ, what has two thumbs and doesn't give a crap," The draconeques asked before pointing said two thumbs to himself. "Discord! How ya doin'?
Everypony else could only facehoof.
"I see," said Twilight in fascination. "So, Ricano is actually two states inside of a territory?"
"Yes, and no," Leon thoughtfully replied. "You see, Ricano is a state, but the founders of the Striker Elite have formed their own tribes near the main villages thousands of years ago. This eventually led to them needing their own societal class which now inhabits the province of Andea within the Northeast of Ricano, near the mountains. From there, the soldiers follow leadership of the Commander but he also follows orders from the Emperor, who has power over all of Ricano."
"That is interesting," said Celestia. "However, I couldn't help but notice that your people seem to have an unusual focus with their military forces. I mean, as you said, your fellow soldiers live in their own class in society. That, in and of itself, is unusual to me."
"I understand, Your Highness. Though, I just hope you realize that this place is very different from Lushiro in many ways so far."
"Oh? What doth thou mean," asked Luna in her olden tongue our of formality.
"Well for one, Lushiro is much harsher than Equestria appears to be," Leon said with a slight hesitance in his voice. "The weather can be unpredictable with flash floods, thunderstorms, earthquakes, drought. We would also often come into conflict with other creatures threatening our homes to the point of fighting."
"Fighting," Celestia asked in surprise and concern.
"Yes, fighting. Mind you, it doesn't happen all that often but it does happen. They mostly occur with creatures we've had 'issues' with in the past who hold a grudge. We did manage to make alliances with some species, but we could only come to an uneasy peace with others through trade and guarding our borders."
The three ponies looked on with wide eyes. They could never imagine a world where fighting between different people was considered the norm. It all sounded so brutal, barbaric even. They have met plenty of creatures that were far from peaceful, but even they were never known to be violent or aggressive. Besides that, some of them had even became allies of Equestria over time. While it was pleasant to hear that the humans of Lushiro had achieved the same, the fact they still have enemies was unexpected.
"My word," Celestia continued.
"Yeah," Twilight added. 'I-I'm sorry, but this all sounds... disturbing."
"Indeed," Luna also added, except with slight admiration, much to the surprise of the other two. "We have never known such hardships as bitter enemies and natural disasters, nor has anypony beyond our borders. It is remarkable you make a living despite them."
"We've learned to make do with what we have," Leon said, simply contented. "I admit it can get a little... ugly, but please understand. It's a necessary evil in order to achieve any kind of peace in an otherwise dangerous world. Of course, we couldn't have done it without help. The creatures we've aligned with were invaluable to us on the battlefield."
Before the princesses could nod in understanding, Twilight gasped with her hooves covering her mouth. Her eyes started sparkling when she pounced to the humans in excitement and joy with a quill and parchment still at hoof, ever so eager to learn what she can about their new guests. Even if the action had somewhat startled them.
"I almost forgot about that! If Lushiro is as isolated as you said, then there must TONS of other species you've encountered throughout your history! How many are there? What are they like? How did you manage to form allegiances with them? I mean, with the environmental and cultural aspects we've gone over so far, it must have been such a-"
"Ahem!"
Twilight instantly stopped as she looked behind her to see Princess Celestia placing her back to her seat with her magic again. This time, Celestia had a more serious look on her face, lacking the understanding and compassionate smile she had not to long ago. After a brief moment of peace, and Twilight's second apology, Leon cleared his throat before continuing.
"Yes, well, anyway. We have, in fact, encountered many different species. One of them is our closest ally, the Carnotaurs. They're giant, bipedal, predatory reptiles covered in spikes and horns. In the ancient times, their great strength and speed made them powerful companions during combat. Then there's our rivals, Wyverns, ferocious and ruthless flying reptiles with toxic venom. Of course, there is also some of the more obscure species, such as the Jaguars, the river-dwelling Munuane, the mushroom-like Kayeri, the insectoid Abuhuku, and the ape-like Mapinguari."
All three princesses listened with great interest, Twilight being the most studious of all as she was constantly talking notes. She would only stop to ask how to spell a certain name or two. The Wyverns Leon mentioned had her interest the most due to his descriptions of this creature, with leathery winged forearms, horned faces, and spaded tails. She even wondered aloud if they might be a distant relative of the dragons. The humans were quite shocked at the existence of dragons after hearing from her own experiences with dragons after believing them to be myth.
Soon, everyone continued their conversation until they finally got the matter at hand... er, hoof? They started by considering how the people of Equestria would take to their new guests. They were confident that, the princesses' blessing, the humans would be able to set up base to begin their investigation and even walk among them if need be. Of course, there is also the matter of cooperating with the Elements of Harmony; the six ponies they had met before. Leon, Sarah, and Jason have expressed their concern regarding this, even commenting on how Rainbow Dash had been rather distrusting.
Princess Celestia had only told them to give her time and get to know her. She sounded so sure that, somehow, everything would work out. Leon couldn't share this feeling, but he was willing to trust her since she is the ruler of this strange land and she clearly knew more about it and its inhabitants than he or his Lieutenants did. After they've come to a stopping point, Celestia ordered her guards to take the humans to their guest rooms. The guards complied and they all left the room to go their separate ways for the day.
No one knew what tomorrow would bring, but they did know that it may bring the toughest challenges they all had faced yet.
After some scolding from Fluttershy, Discord had finally agreed to help her friends in getting a closer look at the room inside. With a snap of his fingers, everypony was able to see through the wall with his own transparency spell. They were even able to hear their conversation, despite it being slightly muffled. Except for Discord, they were taken aback by the some of the more "ghastly" details, as Rarity put it, but they continued listening until they've finished and started leaving the room.
"Oh, shoot! They're coming," Rainbow Dash harshly whispered as she zipped back to her place with the others.
Discord immediately removed the transparency spell just before the doors opened. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had thanked Leon and his Lieutenants for their patience and cooperation. They returned to the throne room while the guards led the humans to their rooms. While everyone else was making their leave, Rainbow Dash halted and looked around for a second before she snuck away in front of Leon, her face mere inches way from his. Her stealth was so keen that he actually jumped. Probably for the first time in years.
"Watch yourself, buddy. I've got my eye on you," Rainbow Dash whispered, pointing her hoof at her eyes and then at Leon's.
He could scoff as the Pegasus flew off with her friends. As he returned to his Lieutenants, Leon could only hope that he could get this phase of the plan over with.
The experiences this land of "Equestria" had to offer was... interesting. All was already set for their attack against the natives, but all was quiet. A little too quiet for Captain Leon Kin's liking, although Lieutenants Jason Morales and Sarah Hart have quickly grown as comfortable as they could in their new living spaces in spite of their large size in comparison. They could hardly even fit in their beds! At least Princess Celestia promised them they would be getting bigger ones crafted just for them.
Regardless, the second phase of the mission could now begin. Now he would only have to wait for Princes Celestia and Princess Luna's word. Along with the company of Princess Twilight Sparkle, Captain Kin and the Princesses had agreed that while the next best move is to introduce them to populous first, it would be better to spread the news of them first. Apparently, despite all they've said about friendship, they are initially untrusting to anyone new. Princess Celestia assured him that it had nothing to do with him, his soldiers, or his species; only that their prey nature can make them nervous to new things suddenly appearing in their lives. There were even a few instances of mass hysteria over such occasions.
Captain Kin understood her concerns and continued his duties with his Lieutenants. Back in their room, Lieutenants Jason and Sarah were peacefully staring out through their window. They were watching the ponies form outside the castle and beyond, observing the wealthy members of high society and admiring the work done by the caterers and restaurant owners. Of course, there were the occasional snobby brats who took their position in society far too seriously. Jason and Sarah's response was a scoff with an eyeroll. They were far too use to such characters, such as a Wyvern representative or some of the Emperor's advisors, to really give a damn.
Leon cleared his throat, spooking his Lieutenants but still grabbing the attention. As they stumbled in position and bowed, Leon dismissed them and left them to their spots where they can continue observing the outside world. The Captain took his seat in a small table that was provided to them by the guards who escorted them. It was barely a full day and there is already a lot to consider. The government, societal customs, the mannerisms of the inhabitants, even the currency; it was all unfamiliar to him.
The princesses had already assured him that the process would be taken slowly enough for him and his Lieutenants to adapt, but the Captain kept his suspicions. There was no way that he was willing to trust a foreign ruler just yet. The room remained quiet for a few minutes until a knock at the door had their attention. Leon went to the door and opened, revealing Princess Celestia with a pair of guards beside her, armed with spears.
The princess said, "Captain Kin. Lieutenant Morales. Lieutenant Hart. If you're ready, we'd like to get started."
"Of course. Lieutenants," Captain Kin said.
Kin's soldiers left their spots again and they followed their captain and the princess as they all left the room. They continued down the hall; Leon and Celestia walked side-by-side with the guards in between them. They all kept quiet for a long while until they've approached a door that stood tall over them.
"Now, Captain Kin," Celestia spoke as she and the human faced each other, "I understand that Equestria is much more than what you expected. After all, you mentioned that magic and the like are fictional in Lushiro. I can only imagine the shock you've had when coming here."
"It was a shock, I'll admit it," Captain Kin sighed, "but I'm still willing to proceed and so are my Lieutenants."
Celestia smiled, "I'm glad to hear that. However, I must tell now that we still have a ways to go before we can investigate the crimes your rebels committed."
Then, Celestia's smile disappeared, "Behind this door, we will be joining others in discussing the details of this matter. Not just the crimes, but also the rather exceptional circumstances in which they occurred. Unfortunately, the fact that they were the first introduction to a previously unknown nation may give the impression of a foreign attack, maybe even a declaration of war. Please understand that any aggression our guests might have is merely out of concern. They don't yet know what to make of all this."
Leon nodded in understanding, "I'm familiar with this. The Ricano government is still in uneasy peace with some creatures themselves."
Then, with the help of her golden magic, Celestia opened the door and revealed yet another world for the humans to see. Inside was a large room with a round table standing in the middle. Sitting in the seats were other creatures. Some of them were recognizable to Leon thanks to his interaction with the ponies, such as the black griffin and the blue dragon. Others, however, were a surprise for him, like the green pony-like creature with shimmering insectoid wings and eyes.
They all turned back and stared at the human guests with either contempt or curiosity in their eyes.
Celestia cleared her throat and said, "Greetings, friends. I thank you for coming here on such short notice."
She took her seat in between the other creatures, "By now, I'm sure you've heard of our new guests and their arrival to this country. I have invited you all in hopes of clearing the air and ensure everypony that we have new allies as well as new enemies. That is why I introduce to our new friends."
As she showed a hoof to the humans at her side with a confident smile, Celestia continued, "Everypony, meet Leon Kin, Captain of the Striker Elite, and Lieutenants Jason Morales and Sarah Hart."
At the edge of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle remained alone in her library of her castle, brooding over the facts they've shared together in the morning light shining over her. There were numberless things scattering in her head regarding the humans. She could never imagine such a violent and dangerous way of life from what Leon Kin had described. Even the dragons hadn't had such hardships in their history. They always remained apex predators since the ancient times with their only rivals being bigger dragons.
The rival creatures and natural disasters Leon had mentioned could only suggest that his people have no control over the weather, nor could they have any peace in their homes while they have enemies around. In comparison to her peaceful home of Equestria, Leon's home of Lushiro sounded harsh and violent. Of course, Twilight was always eager to learn about a previously unknown land through its representatives, but she was now starting to realize how lucky she and her friends actually were all this time. They had engaged a potentially dangerous species without considering the consequences.
"It's a wonder that I haven't accidentally started a war," Twilight thought to herself, her anxiety growing as she went on. "Apparently, Leon and his people have been... battling other people for some time and... we could've just gotten all of Equestria confronted by a highly militarized culture that wouldn't hesitate to attack. I mean, they probably could've told someone of authority but Equestria is foreign to them.
"Twilight," a voice softly called out, but it was unnoticed by Twilight.
"In that case, I can't blame them for being so secretive. Then again, that kind of behavior might seem suspicious."
"Twilight," the voice called out again, slightly louder.
"Oh, Celestia. I just hope I didn't make a bad first impression on a newly discovered nation. I was just investigating a crime! I didn't mean to offend anypony!"
"Twilight!" the voice shouted, finally snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.
The young alicorn shook her head quickly. She looked behind her to see Spike, her assistant, standing behind her with a concerned expression.
He said, "You were rocking back and forth on your chair with a crazy look. Are you okay?"
"Oh. Uh, yeah, Spike. I'm fine. Hehehe."
The young dragon wasn't convinced. He crossed his arms with a disapproving frown. Apparently, that was all it took for Twilight to drop her act as she finally gave out a sigh.
She said, "Okay, Spike. It's about those humans we met. You know, Leon, Sarah, and Jason?"
Spike nodded after he uncrossed his arms and relaxed his scowl.
She continued, "Well, now that I've gotten to know them and their ways a little, they're practically nothing like us! The differences between us are staggering!"
"You mean besides the obvious," Spike chuckled.
"No, I'm serious here," Twilight interrupted, "Leon is the captain of a very powerful military. So powerful, apparently, that it's placed in its own caste in human society. They even have a whole province to themselves! Don't you know what means?"
"I dunno," Spike replied with a shrug, "We've got some awesome new friends?"
"NO, SPIKE! IT MEANS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE STARTED A WAR!"
Twilight shook the baby dragon to a blur as she screamed, which made him dizzy for a moment when she stopped. He shook his head to regain his composure. He quickly flinched with wide eyes when he saw Twilight pacing around the library. The young princess hyperventilated while sweat seeped from her forehead, her mane and coat getting matted as a result.
"This is bad, Spike! This is really REALLY bad," Twilight panicked, "I think I just angered a powerful military leader and my friends and I could've started our first case of international conflict in Equestrian history! For Celestia's sake, I haven't even considered the sociopolitical situation about this, nor have I thought about the-"
"Twilight, get ahold of yourself," Spike shouted with his claws on Twilight's cheeks.
The Princess of Friendship looked at Spike's face, full of worry and concern. After a moment's silence, the baby dragon released Twilight so that she could sit down. She started taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She immediately could feel her heartbeat already starting to reach its resting pace.
"I'm sorry, Spike," she sighed, "It's just that Leon and his soldiers come from a land we've never heard of. I'm worried that we've made a bad impression."
"Hey, you'll be fine, Twilight," Spike assured her, "I think you made it out alright. Yeah, Leon might be a jerk, but he didn't seem to hold a grudge. Who knows? Maybe he'll learn to like you. Maybe you just gotta give him a chance."
Twilight gave a small smile and said, "Thanks, Spike. You're right. Maybe he doesn't have any hard feelings about before."
"Of course he doesn't! He said so himself. He's only here to catch a crook and, from what you said, he's even sorry about bringing it here in Ponyville!"
"Yes, yes, yes! He DID say that!"
After saying that, Twilight took a moment to contemplate about Equestria's human guests. Despite the disturbing descriptions Leon Kin gave her and her fellow princesses, he seemed duty-bound and determined to capture the rebels he mentioned and gave them his respects. He didn't even seem all that threatening, just... grumpy? Whatever the case may be, he just might be a valuable ally in this mess. And so, she finally made her decision.
"Spike, get my things," she ordered with a smile, "By now, Princess Celestia might be showing Leon, Sarah, and Jason Equestrian politics and traditions. When they're done, she'll want someone to look after them while move to a new base. Knowing her, she will more than likely entrust that duty onto me, which is why we need to be prepare with everything they might need."
"You got it, Twi," Spike saluted.
Afterwards, Twilight and Spike spent the rest of the morning tidying up the castle and organizing the library for the humans to use. There was no doubt that the new Captain and Lieutenants would be expecting full cooperation in their staying in Equestria after the events of the day before. For better or worse, Twilight knew that she and her friends might be involved in something bigger than she thinks. And yet, she couldn't help but feel just the tiniest bit excited for what the future might hold.
"What do you mean 'classified'," the blue dragon yelled, "You can't just keep secrets from us! Not after all the trouble you people have caused us!"
"That is enough, Ember," said Celestia with her hoof raised, "This is his first instance of attempting contact with another nation outside of his own. Let him open up on his own."
Ember, the Dragon Lord scoffed in frustration and then slumped in her chair with her arms crossed. The green "changeling" beside her, which Leon learned his name was Thorax, King of the Changelings remained silent during Leon's and Ember's conversation. He was actually very curious about the humans but he was still fairly new to making relationships with governments outside his home borders. Regardless, Thorax was willing to help Celestia in cooperating with their guests.
The meeting continued on, but the tension still rose. The oppressive atmosphere kept everyone at edge, but none were more so than Leon and his Lieutenants. The feeling of mysticism from these other creatures was barely overwhelming. The Griffin, the "Minotaur," and others were completely unlike any that Leon had seen in the Misty Jungle and Grand Meadows of Lushiro, though seeing the Draconeques might have desensitized him a bit. "Ember" had the aggressive attitude they expected from her kind, despite being nowhere near the size they've been described. And not to mention the Changeling, "Thorax" was it?
Leon had been observing the insectoid equine in secret. How he thought he was being sneaky, looking away when their eyes meet. In reality, the changeling was a terrible deceiver. His attempts were far too obvious in that he smiles too much, whistling like he wasn't paying attention, and that he doesn't bother to hide the sweat that was practically flowing over his face. The Striker Captain honestly felt offended that someone else would think that he was this stupid.
He soon ignored him and continued his conversations. They have made progress in understanding the bigger picture of rogue soldiers hiding in a foreign nation. Leon had explained their aggressive tendencies, such as rioting, pillaging smaller towns, and falsely accusing political figures of lies and deception. Many of them had suggested to start a peaceful negotiation with the rebellious forces, but Leon was having none of it. He instead offered the opportunity to have them all captured and returned to Lushiro to be punished at the maximum sentence.
The others were surprised and even appalled by Leon's proposal.
"Um, Captain Leon, are you sure you want to go that route," asked Celestia. "Surely, you don't mean to take such drastic measures. I must say that, by taking that course of action, you could risk appearing... how should I put it? Um, ruthless?
Leon let out a louder groan than he intended with his fists clenched.
"Just so you'll know, Princess, we take such heinous crimes like this very seriously. They can encourage the rebellious to go against authority and eventually go rogue. It's situations like this where I, the Captain of the Elite, need to set an example for everyone else who might think about straying away from order. We're already starting to lose trust from the people with riots disrupting the peace and vigilantes running around at night taking the law into their own hands!"
The room went silent for a moment. Then, the Griffin leader spoke.
"Well, what should we do now, Princess," he asked, "It appears that we've reached an impasse."
"Indeed," the Minotaur added, "I find Captain Kin's decision to punish these criminals disturbing. Regardless, he and subordinates are the only people in this room who know how to handle such people."
Thorax raised his hoof before starting, "You may have a point there. I think we'll have to trust Leon in how to apprehend them for now. Maybe we can discuss how we actually deal with them afterwards?"
Princess Celestia pondered intently. She wished the resolve this issue as quietly with as little conflict as possible. The problem is that the only person who could help her with this new threat doesn't seem to care about the consequences of his own actions, only that the criminals are captured and punished. And the fact that Leon wishes to "set an example" is suggesting something troubling about his motivations. If this is what the Captain expects of his men, then what does the Commander expect?
She almost didn't want to know.
Celestia finally decided to leave the subject and said, "All right. For now, I say that we should only focus on finding those responsible for these crimes. We will discuss any possible extradition when we get to it."
And with that, everyone agreed unanimously. After saying their thank you's and goodbyes, the other creatures left the room while Celestia and the Strikers remained alone as Jason and Sarah silently standing behind their Captain as usual. However, Leon did notice Throax taking one last peek at him before leaving with the others.
Celestia said with narrow eyes, "Well, it appears that we still have a few things to go over. Your attitude, for example."
"My attitude, Your Highness," Leon asked with a scowl.
"You give off a negative image with your aggression and lack of trust. I understand you being weary, but it would be unwise of you not to trust anypony here. Not to mention that ponies here would be hard-pressed to trust you as you try to hunt down ne'er-do-wells like quarry."
"I only ask that you understand why that is. You know, found a new nation, magic being real, and all that."
"I do. I'm just saying that you shouldn't use that as an excuse for your actions."
"I'm not!"
Suddenly, Celestia stamped her hoof, her mane splaying out and eyes glowing bright green with streams of purple smoke.
"Captain Kin! You are a guest in Equestria and you will abide by its laws!"
The Striker Captain and Lieutenants immediately leapt in front of Celestia. They deployed their swords and shields and took a defensive stance. The princess eased her fierce gaze after seeing their reaction and took a breath to calm herself down.
She sighed, "Oh, please forgive me. It's just that this has been a little stressful."
The Strikers slowly lower their stances; Jason and Sarah hid their hands behind their backs while Leon slightly bowed in respect.
"I understand, Your Highness," Leon replied, "Just please remember that such magic powers as yours are still very strange to us."
"Of course. My apologies."
With that over, they shared a few more words or assurances before they left the room and went their separate ways. Princess Celestia returned to her throne room while Leon decided to talk a walk out in the garden. He heard that it was a lovely place to visit. Therefore, he ordered Jason and Sarah to stay in their room to which the Lieutenants complied.
As Leon made his way down the hall, he could have sworn that he saw a way that lead to the garden while they were walking to their meeting. However when he found it, he seemed to have gotten himself lost. Instead of the garden, he stumbled upon just about every other room in the castle. The kitchen, the training room, the courtroom, even Luna's bed chambers to which he slowly and quietly left since Princess Luna was sleeping... for some reason... complete with a sleep mask and a stuffed animal in her hooves. Perhaps she is in charge of nightly duties?
Anyway, he continued his way throughout the halls and he still hasn't found the garden. The whole time he was growing increasingly impatient and angry with his predicament to the point where it was threatening to burst. Suddenly, Leon grabbed his head and yelled in great frustration before he started sprinting blindly in the halls. He continued uninterrupted for a while until saw a door too late. Before he could register the door, Leon crashed into it, breaking the door open where he could barely see three ponies in armor who were startled by Leon's entrance.
He reacted out of instinct and grabbed a hand claw from one of his many pockets on his uniform. He placed it in his palm and plunged the spikes into the polished floor behind him, slowing him to a halt before them with a trail of scratch marks following him. After Leon stood up, he was suddenly threatened by two Pegasi armed with spears and wearing silver, stylized armor. The Striker Captain immediately responded by unsheathing his sword and deploying his shield into a defensive pose.
One yellow pony with black hair shouted, "Hey! Who are you and what are you doing in Canterlot!"
The other one, somehow shining a brilliant green like an emerald, yelled, "State your business! You better not be doing anything funny here!"
Leon gave a surprised and look and replied, "What are talking about? I was just trying to find the garden for the Gods' sake!"
The yellow stallion asked again, "The garden? What for? Is that where you've been hiding!"
"No! I was trying to find a place to relax! I'm a damn guest!"
The emerald stallion scoffed with a smile, "Yeah, right. Princess Celestia never described anything like you. She said he's confident and strong. You, on the other hoof, are clearly reckless barging in like that. I thought you were gonna crash into us!"
"That's enough!" a voice shouted over the other three.
The trio turned to see yet another stallion, a pure white unicorn with hair several shades of blue. He was wearing a red uniform over his chest with gold highlights. The white unicorn walked over to them with a serious look on his face directed towards Leon while the other two walked away.
The pony said, "What's your name?"
Leon replied, "Leon Kin. I'm sure Princess Celestia mentioned me to you?"
The pony gave a smile, "She did," he placed a hoof on his chest, "I'm Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard and Prince of the Crystal Empire. Why don't we just calm down and talk a little? You know, get back on the right hoof."
Seeing no reason not to go on "Shining Armor's" terms, Leon put his sword and shield away and kneeled down to face him more easily.
Shining kept his smile as he sat down and said, "So, you're the guy the Princess told me about in her letter, huh? I gotta say you're actually taller than I imagined."
Leon responded with a sly smirk, "And you're shorter than I thought."
Shining snickered at the comment. The two Captains continued playfully insulting each other while the two guards watched in disbelief. They were shocked at how quickly the human and their Captain managed to get along. They might even be good friends!
Suddenly, the front entrance was opened with bang, to which they all turned their attention. At the entrance, the stood Twilight Sparkle with a smile on her face and a confident gait. Spike meanwhile was standing behind her as he struggled to hold a tower of supplies.
"Princess Celestia! I'm here," she shouted, "I'm sorry if this is inconvenient, but I was sure that you wou-"
Twilight stopped when she saw Shining Armor and joyfully shouted his name as she ran to hug him. Leon only stood there, silently perplexed by Twilight's sudden act of affection to the other captain. After embracing Shining Armor for a moment, Twilight noticed Leon behind him.
"Ah-oh! Hey Leon!" she said as she released Shining. "I see you've met my brother, Shining Armor."
"Your brother?" Leon said with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course! Also, I trust that both of you have been getting along?"
"Yeah, he's cool." Shining responded.
Leon only shrugged with a smile, "I like him."
"Which is why I'll deal with him last." he thought to himself.
Shining Armor assured the other two guards that everything was alright and dismissed them. After they took their leave, Leon, Twilight and Shining Armor decided it would be best to go to Princess Celestia for any further actions to take, now that the Captain of the Striker Elite has met the Captain of the Royal Guard. Meanwhile, Shining Armor and Twilight helped Leon on his way to the garden. When they arrived, the trio sat down on a bench to talk.
They've come to know each other a little better as they talked. Well, Leon got to know Twilight and her brother anyway. He just share additional history of his home land, including one of the most important moments in Lushiro history.
"So Captain Kin," Twilight said with curiosity. "You said that Ricano was attacked by a flock of Wyverns and your people were driven out into the wilderness, right?"
"That is correct," Leon answered.
"Then, I have to ask: How did you manage to get your home back? It seems to be such a daunting task?"
"It sure does," said Shining Armor. "The way you described those Wyverns, they must be some mean sons-of-guns."
"Heh. They still are," Leon scoffed with a sneer. "Anyway, we've been wandering around in the wild for a while, eking out a living wherever we could. We continued moving near the mountains until we met another creature that was already living there."
"Really? What was it," Twilight asked.
"The Viscachas," Leon answered, "A large, bipedal, rabbit-like race that lived in the mountains when the two of us met. It was an uneasy peace, at first. The Viscachas are herbivores and didn't approve of us hunting animals for food. They were even afraid that we would take their vicuna livestock or even their children for ourselves. And it didn't help that the monks and their students were proficient martial arts of self-defense. Eventually though, we learned to work together with the Carnotaurs' help and attack."
Shining Armor and Twilight payed closer attention to Leon's story, now interested. Leon smiled on the inside with arrogant pride and continued.
"It started out slow. We were hiding out at the bottom of the mountain, waiting for any Wyvern patrols passing by to take out. When the coast was clear, we sent the Carnotaurs on the offense. Meanwhile, humans and Viscachas fought side by side in between. It was hard for us. Many were injured, or have lost the fight, but still we persevered and before we knew it, we won! The Wyverns retreated back to their homeland and we reclaimed our home. In time, we helped each other with everything, helping our wounded, rebuilding our houses, and advancing together as a society. We weren't just an army, we were allies, brothers in arms. Even with new threats appearing, new enemies, new nations discovered, we stood together and fought together to this day."
The two ponies looked on with fascination with Twilight being the more obviously fascinated. Despite her opposing views and opinions on the violence of Lushiro, she still respected Leon, Jason, and Sarah for their courage and determination. Needless to say, the story helped her better understand Lushiro from Leon's perspective. It wasn't a savage land full of monsters and bitter enemies. It's a tough land, for sure, but its inhabitants were still strong, brave, and honorable.
As noon went by, the three of them continued talking for a while longer. Despite his reservations, Leon found these two Equines to be pleasant to talk to. They are also appear to be very close as brother and sister. He actually... liked their company.
"Ah, Gods! You better not be getting soft, Kin," Leon thought to himself in rage, "YOU. ARE. ON. A. MISSION! Get close to their blind spot and get to it or the Commander will have your HEAD!"
And with that, the trio decided that they should pay Princess Celestia a visit. Surely, she would want to discuss important matters with them, along with Twilight Sparkle. Hopefully, the conversation would be a better one to have for everypony. Leon silently cursed himself for picking up Equine nomenclature.
Chapter 9: Getting To Know The Mane Six Better (Part 1)
After a couple of weeks of speaking with Equines with power and understanding their customs, Leon Kin and Lieutenants Jason Morales and Sarah Hart have quickly adjusted to the new, more peaceful, way of life. To say that it was an adjustment for the Strikers would be fitting to say. For Leon, he actually started to appreciate it. For too long he had dealt with the likes of the Wyverns and their Camaztoz bat slaves, or the Serpents in their ancient temples in the mountains; all dealt him many headaches insisting that he was a spy whenever he was sent to them for negotiations. This new sense of calm around this strange city known as "Canterlot", seemed to be an easy target for their plans. However, maybe that was the trick. Maybe it was all an act for them to get their guard down?
Leon sighed in doubt; it all seemed far too genuine.
Anyway, the trip to "Ponyville" was about to commence for the Strikers and their newfound guide, Twilight Sparkle. She was tasked by Princess Celestia to take them to her castle to begin their integration to pony society and culture. As expected, the young princess was thrilled to have received her duty and already began preparations for nearly every possible destination and ponies-of-interest she had already planned for them to visit. Her friends were obviously on the top of the list along with their homes as well as their homes and the duties they perform.
They flew to Twilight's castle via flying chariot and unpacked their things inside upon arrival. Once they all got comfortable, they went out into town with Twilight as their guide.
For about an hour, the group was going through some popular destinations and briefly chatting with some ponies they meet along the way. Then they decided to settle down for a bite to eat at Twilight's favorite restaurant. Sarah couldn't help but smile as Twilight gorged herself in "hayburgers" and "hay-fries". Jason finally spoke up when something came to his mind during this new adventure.
"Excuse me, Twilight. How is it that you've become a princess? I mean, you don't appear to be related to Princess Celestia."
Twilight ceased her chewing. Her eyes went wide after realizing that her face covered in crumbs and condiments. After she quickly cleaned herself, she smiled confidently with a small amount of pride as she stood tall.
"Well, I'm not actually related to Celestia. I earned my title after I performed an incredible act of ingenuity; completing an unfinished spell created by Starswirl the Bearded in order to defeat Discord and save Equestria with the help of my friends."
Twilight momentarily gave up her confident stance and relaxed a little. She even gave the tiniest frown that only Leon could see.
"Why do you ask? Does royalty work differently in Lushiro? I mean, Celestia and Luna have remained the rulers of Equestria for thousands of years."
"The Emperor's title and power is hereditary. It's been that way since the first cities of Ricano were built over 500 years ago." Sarah answered with an eager smile.
Jason joined in, "The same is done for most of the royal family in the capital city of Guantanamo, such as the Priesthood who offer spiritual aid soldiers after battle; or the Commander's personal guard, the Shorn O-."
*SLAP!*
To Twilight's surprise, Jason shut her mouth with both his hands. To his right, he could see Sarah with her eyes widened in terror while, in his left, Leon was equally wide-eyed but he still maintained a vicious glare at his Lieutenant.
Jason quickly stuttered, "I-I-I'm sorry, Princess! Forget about that last part!"
Twilight was left concerned. What could possibly have these brave warriors so spooked? She tried to ask what Jason was about to say, but he would soon deny it while trying to look away. Sarah was even harder to get any word out of; her eyes completely out of view. She finally gave up when Leon turned his glare to her.
"We. Do not. Speak. Of them!"
After of sigh of defeat (and slight discomfort from the sudden tension), Twilight decided that they should leave the restaurant and move on to the rest of Ponyville. They started by making their way to Rarity's dress shop, the Carousel Boutique. When they arrived, the humans and pony had entered the shop but there was no sign of Rarity.
"Rarity? Rarity, are you in here?" Twilight called out, but no answer.
As a matter of fact, there was hardly a sound in the Boutique at all. It was as if the building was just abandoned with no one in sight. This didn't sit well with the Strikers, Leon especially, as they clenched their fists. They were aware that there wasn't likely any danger lurking inside the shop, their instincts were ingrained into their brains due to years of rigorous training and experience. They just couldn't take any chances in this strange land.
"Twilight? Darling, is that you!" shouted a gentle voice elsewhere.
Twilight turned her head and saw something... surprising. There she stood, a snow white unicorn mare hiding in the numerous fabrics seemingly thrown together in a pile. The fabric pile shook violently as the mare inside was. Twilight approached the pile and removed the fabrics with her magic and revealed none other than Rarity, huddled to herself, shivering and sobbing.
Perplexed at the sight, Twilight said, "Rarity! What are you doing here under all this mess?"
Rarity suddenly wrapped her hooves around her friend an a hysterical fit of tears.
"Waaahhh! Oh, Twilight, it was awful! Just absolutely dreadful; and just mere days after bumping into those hooligans in the forest, I don't I can take much more!"
Sarah quickly ran to Twilight's side (or rather pushed her out of the way) to comfort Rarity in her arms.
"Hey, hey, hey, easy! What's wrong, Ms. Rarity?" she cooed as she stroked Rarity's back.
The mare soon calmed down and wiped her tears with her hoof. She even gave a small smile at the woman's act of kindness.
"Oh, Sarah, you're such a dear! I was just on my way home when I had realized just how stressed I was due to our... recent encounters. Anyway, I was in the kitchen for something to treat myself to calm my nerves and..."
Rarity started shivering again, "That's when I saw it!"
"What is it, Ms. Rarity?" Sarah asked again.
"I couldn't believe what I saw. It beyond my worst nightmares! I.. I... I'M ALL OUT OF BUBBLEGUM BIRTHDAY CAKE FLAVORED ICE CREAM!!"
The group only stared at Rarity as she continued bawling, no entirely sure what to do. Meanwhile, Leon looked on in an agitated disbelief. All this despair for ice cream?! He hoped the rest of "Mane Six" weren't this dramatic.
Rarity calmed down later on and she started to converse with the humans, all seated on the dining room table.
"Eh, please forgive me for all of that. I tend to let myself go a little." she said with an embarrassed giggle.
"That's... Uh, no worries, Ms. Rarity." Jason answered.
"Ohohoho, darling! Thank you but there's no need for formalities. Just call me Rarity. And Sarah, I appreciate the 'gesture', but you may stop now."
Sarah reluctantly withdrew her hand gently stroking her back.
"So, Rarity," Twilight finally began, "How's about you show our guests around the Boutique? I'm sure they would appreciate the effort you put in you work."
"Oh, I would love to, Twilight darling! Come, come everyone and welcome to the Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and manifique!"
The tour of the Boutique was rather calm and uneventful despite the Rarity's earlier outburst. Leon found it rather pleasant really. He never really cared for the wardrobe in Rarity's shop, but he was more than willing to revel in the serenity therein. Sarah marveled at the many dresses and other clothing in Rarity's collection while Jason, while not into the clothing as much, he would still compliment the shopkeeper as he was genuinely impressed with the intricacies in the designs. Sarah even met Rarity's cat, Opalescence, which Sarah especially enjoyed despite the cat's annoyance with her.
All in all, the tour ended rather well. With Rarity having been met, Twilight decided that Pinkie Pie would be next on the list. The humans agreed and followed their Equine guide.
Next up was Pinkie Pie who works and lives at Sugercube Corner. Apparently, she was the most excited of the Mane Six to meet their new human friends. Leon couldn't help but feel dread at this encounter. From what little he saw from her, be it bouncing around or grinning ear to ear, Pinkie Pie appeared to be unpredictable and chaotic in her own right. It actually made him prefer Discord over her. At least he was more in control of his powers while she acted like she was on the edge.
The quartet arrived at the doors of Sugarcube Corner. The building resembled a giant gingerbread house, complete with decorations resembling icing and various candies. It even had a giant cupcake with candles at the very top! A bit of an elaborate design in Leon's taste (no pun intended). Jason and Sarah, on the other hand, were amused by the design. Sarah even said that she thought it was cute.
Once they went inside, the humans were immediately hit with the smell of all kinds of sweets. They had everything: cakes, muffins, cupcakes, ice cream, and many other desserts and pastries. They whole group was greatly interested now, even Leon. He might not be into this childish style, but at least he would have something good to eat.
When they took their seat, they were immediately approached by Pinkie Pie herself.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Hi, Twilight! Hi, Leon! Hi, Jason! Hi, Sarah! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner, everypony!" she shouted with unbelievable glee.
Pinkie's sudden introduction nearly spooked the humans out of their seats while Twilight was only mildly surprised. She seemed completely unaware of how her actions were affecting those around him. So happy and carefree she seemed! Unfortunately, this didn't sit well with Leon even if his female Lieutenant actually enjoyed the pink Equine's hyperactive nature.
Immediately, Pinkie Pie began showing her new guests with various special orders of the day. They politely declined the offer having already ate, so Pinkie simply chose to chat her friends. But she was still carrying the dishes for some reason.
"Hey, Pinkie?" asked Jason, now more confident in getting to know the Equines better. "How long have you been working in Sugarcube Corner?"
Pinkie excitedly perked up and quickly answered, "OH!! For as long as I can remember! And my bosses, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, have been super duper spec-tuber-tactular! I can't tell you how much I love working here, giving delicious treats to ponies and wishing them a happy and fun day!"
Leon immediately tried to tone out the pink one out by covering his ears while the others weren't looking. He couldn't believe the amount of energy she could spare just to answer one simple question! How is she not out of breath by now!
It seemed practically superhuman!
Suddenly, Pinkie said, "So, how'd you three ever come here in the first place? Looks like a LOOOOONG walk from from Lushiro to here!"
Jason nervously answered, "Uh, uh, we sailed here! On a... boat! A big boat!"
"Ooooohhhh, how big was it? Was it a battle boat? A steam boat? A flying boat!"
"Pinkie, I think that's enough for now. They're still trying to get used to Ponyville?" Twilight politely interrupted.
Jason quietly sighed in relief. The ship could NOT be revealed until it was finally to invade the land. However, the simple lie of a normal boat seemed to have satisfied Pinkie since she never asked about it again. She did think of offering a treat to Leon though, seeing that he wasn't particularly happy in her eyes. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind him, offering him a slice of simple strawberry cake on a plate.
"You seem a teeny bit grumpy, Lee. Wanna try some delicious cake? It's delicious!" she sang at the last sentence.
Leon had actually considered taking the pink Equine's offer, if only for her sake at least. But it would be dishonest of himself. He refused to lie about what he likes to eat. So, answered cautiously, not wanting any outlandish reaction if Rarity was anything to go off of.
"Yeah, about that. I won't lie to you, Pinkie. I don't like cake."
All of the customers in the Corner snapped their heads to Leon, gasping in a collective shock. Even Twilight Sparkle stared at him frozen with a gaping maw. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie only stood in place while the cake fell from her grasp. When she hear the sound of plates crashing, she shook her head and cleaned out her ear.
"I-I-I'm sorry. Did you say something, Lee?"
"I said 'I don't like cake'." Leon answered, genuinely confused.
Pinkie suddenly shivered and started sweating from her brow. She desperately tried to hide her stress with a big smile, but it did so poorly.
"Oh! O-Okay, wow! Um, I don't think you should... Errr, y'know."
"Say that I don't like cake? Why shouldn't I? It's true!"
A second of silence passed before Pinkie suddenly pulled out a large dictionary and pair of glasses out of nowhere. She began furiously flipping the pages like she were desperately trying to search for something in book's contents.
"Those words! Is it possible to use them together in a sentence like that!"
Meanwhile, the customers continued to gawk at the human trio in disbelief, particularly at Leon himself. He started feeling uncomfortable as the Equines' gazes continued to pierce through him. As Pinkie continued rummaging through the book, he motioned to Twilight that they should leave the establishment. As they did, Pinkie was starting to actually tear the book apart, screaming about how one couldn't possibly like cake.
In the end, Twilight could only say "Well, that could've gone better." The humans couldn't agree more. Meanwhile, in the castle of Canterlot, Princess Celestia suddenly felt that something was... wrong. The best she could describe it as is a "disturbance" of some sort.
She only said, "I don't why, but I feel like kicking Captain Kin for not liking something that everyone likes."
Chapter 10: Getting to know the Mane Six Better (Part 2)
Twilight Sparkle had to admit to herself that the last two introductions with Rarity at the Carousel Boutique and especially Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner left a bit to be desired. "It could've gone better", she would said to herself in her head. However, she did take comfort in that they went rather smoothly. Rarity acted professionally as ever and Pinkie was... well, Pinkie. She has always been extremely passionate about her career as a baker.
However, there were still three more friends to introduce to the human trio and she was already going through a menagerie of scenarios how it might go. Rainbow Dash was suspicious of them from the start, especially with Leon. Applejack was also weary herself, but she seemed more trusting than Dash if only a little. Fluttershy might be the least trusting of them all! While she has learned to stand up for herself and be more confident, she can still relapse into the cowardly Pegasus Twilight first met when the situation gets serious.
How could she not be afraid of Leon and his friends after witnessing their violent acts! Despite her worries, Twilight knew that she couldn't know for sure until she sees for herself. After all, if Fluttershy could stand up to a giant dragon then why not a mere human? She would have to go to her cabin outside of town and see for herself.
Fluttershy's cabin was quite a sight for Leon. Everywhere he looked, there was a critter scurrying around. A few rabbits here, a couple of skunks there, and just about every other animal everywhere else. He even spotted a bear laying on its belly near the cabin! And standing on top of the bear, giving it a message, was Fluttershy herself. Just as he noticed her, Twilight shouted her name, grabbing the Pegasus' attention.
When Fluttershy finished caring for the bear, she reluctantly welcomed her guests into her home but not looking at them in the eye. This immediately made Twilight concerned by Fluttershy's demeanor. She was never much of a conversationalist, but she hadn't tried to hide her gaze from anyone since the day she first met Twilight. This didn't seem good to her.
"Hey, Fluttershy?" she cooed. "There's nothing to be afraid of. These are our friends. Isn't that right?"
Twilight looked back at the humans for confirmation. Both Jason and Sarah nodded with Sarah being more enthusiastic with a big grinning smile. Leon just shrugged before he nodded as well. This suited Twilight at the moment and, to her surprise, Fluttershy seemed a bit more comfortable. The Pegasus even lifted her head to look at the humans. The humans were quite an immense sight for her; their great height and striking armor were incredibly imposing as they basically dwarfed the equine residents. However, they haven't done anything to cause concern so they were left alone. This is why Twilight ever considered introducing the humans to her friends in the first place. She just hoped that it would go well.
As for Fluttershy, she couldn't help but want to cower away in some hidden corner. She had heard what these people can do, seen what they had done to Zecora, and heard about the nature of their homeland. It was all so terrifying to her that she quickly left Canterlot to return home after their encounter with Discord. She hadn't left her house since out of fear that she might see the humans again, especially after hearing about what happened with Pinkie Pie.
Still, Twilight seemed to have gained their trust and the humans didn't seem hostile to her. So she was willing to trust Twilight in welcoming her new guests.
Inside the hut, Fluttershy was sitting on her couch alongside Sarah because she found her to be the most gentle of the human trio. On the other hoof, Twilight and Jason were each sitting on two other chairs while Leon was leaning on a wall nearby. Twilight was about to start speaking before Sarah suddenly cleared her throat, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Umm. So, uh..." She stammered. "You have a thing for animals?"
In Sarah's eyes, it seemed like a fair assumption due to the menagerie of critters scattered around the house observing the situation. The only exception being a small and surprisingly grumpy-looking rabbit sitting right next to the Pegasus.
Fluttershy's ears immediately perked up, if only a little, and she turned to face Sarah.
She quietly answered, "Oh! Y-yes, I do. I've always loved caring for animals since I was a little filly."
Sarah replied with some excitement, "Really? That sounds really nice of you, Fluttershy!"
She put on a confidant smile for Fluttershy to plainly see. In response, the Pegasus seemed to have calmed her composure and even let a tiny smirk appear, even if it was barely visible. This was more than enough motivation for Sarah to pet the adorable pony, but she put a lot of effort to resist the urge. It was better to wait for her to grow more comfortable with them before she would consider it.
Not that the idea wasn't tempting at all. Also, the strange, angry-looking rabbit was giving Sarah a nasty look.
Meanwhile, both Jason and Twilight were impressed by Sarah's success in befriending Fluttershy. Twilight was relieved in that Fluttershy was starting to warm up to her new guests. The young princess had been worried that good relations between them could never be made, but she was happy to see them at least establish a sort of middle ground, as was Jason.
Meanwhile, Leon was not in such a good mood, specifically with his surroundings. Most of the animals were relatively harmless. It was the yellow Equine's bear that gave him some concern. Based on his experience with and knowledge of Lushiro's bears, they aren't particularly dangerous, but this species was well over twice the size of the spectacled species and thus several times the strength. He might not be able to do much if the bear attacked.
Yet, the animal remained in place. In fact, it appeared to be intimidated by Leon as it would quietly move away from him every time their eyes meet. Was this normal behavior for Equestrian bears? Actually, he didn't care.
"Oh! Mr. Jason, is it?" Fluttershy spoke, "I heard that something happened to Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner earlier today. Is she alright?"
Jason chuckled, "Pinkie's fine... I think. She was just freaking out over Leon not liking cake."
Fluttershy gasped with her hooves over her mouth and her eyes widened considerably. For a moment, Twilight started panicking internally. Will Fluttershy start losing her mind like Pinkie Pie did? Is she going to sick her bear after the humans for their heresy?! Well, she admitted the second one probably wouldn't happen.
She was surprised when Fluttershy finally spoke. "Is that true, Mr. Leon? You don't like cake?"
Leon shrugged, "Too much frosting. What about it?"
"Oh, no! N-N-Nothing wrong!" Fluttershy said, waving her hooves rapidly. "It's just that I never met anypony who doesn't like cake before. It's such a delicious treat."
"Sorry to disappoint."
Twilight decided that she shouldn't push her luck any further. She decided that she and the humans should leave.
"Well then, I'm glad that we're getting off on the right hoof, Fluttershy, but we still have Rainbow Dash and Applejack left to meet. Another time, maybe?"
Fluttershy nodded in understanding, allowing her guests to make their leave.
Now, they make their way to Sweet Apple Acres, where Twilight hoped to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash. It is where the two would hold their contests of physical prowess, after all. Sometimes, these contests would go so far that it would end with both Dash and Applejack actually fighting each other. That would be problematic if relations turned sour, especially since Rainbow Dash had already expressed her distrust to the humans and to Leon most of all.
Still, Twilight knew that this had to be done in order to at least get the two sides to better understand each other. It could even help clear the air if she is lucky.
Twilight had already approached the wooden fences when she heard distant grunts and shouting somewhere in the area. She was about to investigate the source of the noise, but Leon suddenly beat her to it. He quickly walked past the young princess, startling her, and entered Sweet Apple Acres grounds before Twilight could even say anything about it. As for Leon, he simply continued walking to find out where the noise was coming from.
Despite Twilight's objections (or the apparent lack thereof), Leon was confident that he could take care of himself against this "Rainbow Dash". He had already confirmed that he saved her from the vehicle that was sent to crash toward them. Additionally, many have claimed that she was a tough fighter; one who had come toe-to-toe with powerful enemies. For her sake, he had hoped that these rumors are true.
Anyway, Leon finally found out what was causing the noise when he looked around the corner of a large barn. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were both standing in the middle of a field, sitting across from each other on a wooden table and sharing intense glares. They appear to be doing some sort of hand-wrestling competition since both Equines were wrapping their forelegs together and straining immensely. Well, it was actually Dash who was straining hard enough to sweat.
In fact, Applejack appeared to be in complete control of the situation. She had a smug smile on her face and she wasn't moving a muscle.
"You best be givin' up now, Dash." Applejack chuckled amusedly. "Ya might got the muscle, but ya ain't got the stamina."
"No way, farm mare!" said Rainbow Dash indignantly. "I'm not done yet!"
Rainbow Dash continued to struggle against Applejack's strength. Dash was an athletic and agile pegasus, but, as Applejack stated, her opponent had the superior durability and stamina. As an Earth Pony who lived her entire life on a farm, she had gained an impressive amount of endurance.
"Ya sure 'bout that?" Applejack retorted. "'Cause ah don't see that in ya right now."
Rainbow Dash decided to ignore the farm pony and continue the game. Try as she might, however, she could hardly even get her to budge. Applejack was even daring enough to let out a yawn which further irritated Dash.
Meanwhile, Leon was starting to enjoy the show from behind the barn. He was especially enjoying the blue winged Equine's struggle to overpower the orange Equine. It was just amusing to see that "Rainbow Rash" being in a not-so glamorous position after she had previously threatened him not to act suspiciously.
Finally, Applejack decided to end the contest and moved her forearm. The sudden movement almost threw Rainbow away from the table and the impact kicked up a cloud of dirt everywhere. Applejack heartily laughed at the pegasus' rather elaborate loss. And so did Leon.
Rainbow Dash stood up and shook the dirt off her fur, growling in frustration. Then, as she was hearing Applejack's laughter, she heard laughter from a voice she thought sounded familiar for a moment. And then it hit her! She looked toward the sound and saw that human ("Leon" was it?) clutching his belly while on his knees, laughing hysterically. Suddenly fueled with anger, Rainbow Dash flew towards the human and pinned him to a nearby tree, their faces barely a few inches apart.
"HEY! What in the heck are YOU doing here?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "I thought I told you before! NOTHING! FUNNY! PUNK!"
Leon was growling in mild pain from the sudden impact, but mostly in frustration for being caught off guard so quickly by such a brash creature.
"Nothing like what you might think." he shouted back. "Your purple friend was bringing me and my Lieutenants here to meet you and the orange one over there."
"She is Twilight Sparkle, I'm Rainbow Dash, and that's Applejack. Get that through your head!"
"What in tarnation is goin' on 'ere?" Applejack shouted from a distance.
They turned to see Applejack looking around the barn to see Rainbow Dash and Leon. They then heard Twilight Sparkle shouting as she ran to them and Leon's Lieutenants were following right behind her. "Leon, Dash, stop!"
"What are you doing, Twilight?" Dash asked. "I just got think crudbag right where I want-"
"Leon isn't here for trouble!" Twilight replied. "I was bringing him here with Jason and Sarah to meet you and Applejack, but he just ran off before I could stop him!"
"Oh really?" Rainbow Dash turned her attention back to Leon "You thought about going rogue and sneaking up on us, pal?"
"Ya know what? Dash got a point." Applejack interjected, walking to Leon and Rainbow. "Why would you be sneakin' around here when you got Twilight with ya?"
Leon attempted to object, but thought better. He had to admit that this was a foolish course of action. He caused a bit of trouble just to watch someone who annoyed be put in her place. How childish, petty, and immature! He gave out an annoyed sigh.
"You're right. I made a mistake in chosen to satisfy my own curiosity instead of following Princess Twilight Sparkle's orders. And for that, I... I apologize."
The rest of the group appeared to have relaxed, but Rainbow Dash remained tense and alert as she kept Leon pinned. She kept her intense, accusing glare focused on him. Despite her small size, Leon had to admit that this blue Equine was deceptively strong due to that fact that he could barely free himself. He faced the winged Equine and... just now noticed something peculiar in her teeth as she grinded them in anger.
Are... are those fangs? Why would she have fangs!"
Indeed, Rainbow had two pairs of fangs and they were rather small, granted; no bigger than a human's canines. But the discovery of these sharp teeth was no less surprising. Whatever strange purpose this trait may have served, Leon quickly put it aside.
"That's enough, Rainbow! Let 'im go!" Applejack suddenly commanded. Rainbow Dash looked behind her to see the farm pony glaring at her. Dash was surprised by Applejack's sudden change from curious to commanding. It was as if she was actually decided to defend this prick!
"Are you crazy, AJ?!" Dash asked incredulously. "He was sneaking around the place and-"
Applejack did not give up her harsh gaze. In fact, she only intensified it when Rainbow Dash tried to object. This eventually resulted in the pegasus relenting her aggression and releasing Leon. Leon had started to rub his shoulders to soothe the minor ache from having small yet solid hooves pressed onto them, much to his annoyance. Rainbow Dash let out a sigh in defeat.
"Alright. Fine. If Twilight says you're cool, then I guess you're cool. But, I said it before and I'll say it again: Nothing. Funny. Got it?"
Leon quietly groaned, but he reluctantly replied, "I understand. Nothing funny."
And so, the atmosphere had thinned significantly. Both the humans and the equines have started to relax and have even started to engage in a conversation.
"So, uh... Ah heard that Twilight's been showin' ya'll around the place." Applejack said, trying to make a more peaceful experience for everyone involved. "How are ya'll likin' it so far?"
Twilight couldn't help but worry about the answer to that question. So far, the humans' interactions have shown some moderately successful progress, but there were obviously some hurdles that were still present. Rarity and Fluttershy had been the most promising so far due to the friendly introductions and peaceful ends, albeit on some rocky foundation. Pinkie Pie was close to a complete disaster with the way she was panicking at the idea of somepony somehow not liking cake!
As for Rainbow Dash and Applejack, they could react in myriad ways. Dash could start acting recklessly and go on accusing the humans of something suspicious, kind of like how she accused Twilight Sparkle of being a spy went Nightmare Moon returned. On the other hoof, Applejack was less likely to start any trouble but she wasn't a stranger to it. Particularly, if the trouble in question was caused by deception and lies.
In short, anything was possible with these ponies. Regardless of what would happen, Twilight could only trust in her friends and do whatever she can to make their interactions as peaceful as possible.
Sarah Hart was the first to answer Applejack. She did so with a confident smile, much to AJ's pleasure and Dash's annoyance. "It's lovely, mam. It's surprisingly peaceful too. Normally, Lushiro can be pretty noisy since Ricano is right next to a really lush jungle."
Leon Kin answered second. Though, he didn't make such a friendly face like Sarah did; not even a smirk. "I suppose this town is... serviceable. It isn't what I expected, this 'Ponyville', but I still appreciate it." Both the humans and the ponies briefly stared at Leon, disapproving of his uncaring attitude. Rainbow Dash was especially so as she was quietly grinding her teeth in frustration.
Meanwhile, Jason Morales was starting to get worried. This was the same place that he kidnapped that young filly and threatened her for apples. It was done to get the forces some extra supplies from the land, but he could never forgive himself for attacking this family in their home. That was one of the reasons why he left his post at their base camp in the first place. He would've hoped to ask for forgiveness if he weren't caught by those two Equines in that strange divided house.
It didn't help that Applejack, that little equine's sister, was standing in front of her. Jason shuddered imagining what Applejack would do if she found out.
"I'm with Sarah on this one. It's a beautiful place you got here." he said, not realizing that he was getting cold sweat.
Applejack's smile returned. They all went inside the house where gathered in the living room. Rainbow Dash and Applejack took their seat on the opposite ends of the couch while Jason and Sarah decided to sit down on the floor when they realized that the furniture was a tad too small to accommodate them. Leon only leaned against the wall again, like he did in Fluttershy's cottage, but his head was mere inches from touching where where the wall meets the ceiling.
Rainbow Dash kept her accusing glare ever since the humans appeared. Truth be told, she never trusted these weird creatures. Their appearance, their mannerisms, and especially their technology gave Dash feeling uncomfortable. Something about all of these things appear... alien. It didn't help that these creatures were from an entirely separate continent that she never heard of before and remembering what little she heard from Twilight, they almost sounded like savages fighting monsters and villains.
It sounded awesome to her but she'd never say that out loud. I'd fight a Wyvern blindfolded and one hoof tied behind my back. Rainbow assumed rather arrogantly in her head. I mean, Spike wasn't so tough when he went through his weird growth spurt... until he he got really gigantic... but that doesn't count!
Rainbow Dash just didn't trust them as far as she could throw them, especially after everything they all went through went they first met. Besides that, she turned her attention solely on Leon Kin while turning back to the conversation between Sarah Hart, Jason Morales, and Applejack on occasion. She didn't really care for whatever they were talking about. Then, Leon caught sight of the rainbow-maned Equine out of the corner of his eye but she didn't look away; she actually kept her glare.
Leon returned the harsh gaze with his own. Both the Equine and the human stared at each other with increased intensity. It felt like it went on for several hours despite the fact that it was actually a few minutes. Eventually, Twilight Sparkle noticed the two of them glaring at each other and loudly cleared her throat, instantly grabbing their attention. While Twilight was glad to have helped the humans make a decent first impression, she felt that it would be best to end things here and now before Rainbow Dash and Leon start taking their rivalry further.
"Well now. Ah think it's safe ta say that ya'll ain't half bad. Hope ta introduce ya ta Apple Bloom soon." Applejack said with a friendly smile.
"I'd love to, Applejack!" Sarah replied excitedly with a modest bow. Jason, on the other hand, simply stayed quiet in his guilt. Meanwhile, Leon and Rainbow Dash stood beside each other, still maintaining their atmosphere filled with their rivalry.
Suddenly, Leon spoke, "Word on the street is that you've recently joined a sort of military from your home town. The 'Wonderbolts' I believe."
Rainbow Dash was slightly taken aback by Leon's attempt at conversing that came out of nowhere, but she saw it as an opportunity to one up him.
"Heh. You bet! The Wonderbolts are the most awesome team EVER! You should see one of their performances sometime! They do all kinds of tricks and stunts and maneuvers and all sorts of cool stuff!"
Leon raised an eyebrow in sarcastic amusement, "So they're glorified circus performers."
Perhaps the sound of shattering glass could be fitting after Leon said that. Rainbow's eyes snapped open and her pupils were reduced to tiny dots while the blood vessels inside became visible. She slowly turned her head to face Leon, screeching like old metal and one eye twitching.
"S-Say what now?" Rainbow asked with restrained anger.
"The Wonderbolts do tricks, you said." Leon replied nonchalantly. "The Striker Elite doesn't do tricks. They partake in real battle and protect the people from danger."
Rainbow Dash turned further to face Leon directly and gave an even harsher scowl than before.
"Hey! The Wonderbolts aren't pushovers you know, they can kick butt too!"
Leon smirked wickedly and replied, "Oh do they now? I'd like to see them demonstrate."
The rest of the group quickly noticed the banter and they couldn't help but stare in awe. Not only did Rainbow Dash get Leon's attention, she even had him consider a challenge against her! Twilight in particular was curious if they have more interactions with each other in the future because of this. However given how they're interactions are now, she hoped that any aggressive tension between them would be kept to a minimum until they can find some common ground.
Rainbow Dash quickly calmed her demeanor, now that she realized that she has an opportunity to one up this jerk. She smiled smugly and crossed her hooves as she flew up to eye level to Leon.
"Actually, Iwill show you on their behalf!" Rainbow Dash said. "I'll show you how a Wonderbolt can do more than just 'circus performances' and you can show me how a Striker can kick butt. So go ahead and impress me. We'll start this weekend!"
Leon narrowed his eyes in genuine interest as nodded once, "You're on."
The group could only stare at Leon, Jason and Sarah were especially shocked that their captain had actually accepted the rainbow maned Equine's challenge. Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle only sighed in worry as she hung her head.
