> The Fire of a Thousand Suns > by Android55555 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earth year 2073 The glowing signs and giant holograms advertising trivial items like toothbrushes and lighters towered over my city. A city of huge apartments and massive buildings where the lower leveled Gifted worked in their cubicles making sure society could run smoothly for those of us who choose not to subject ourselves to such trivial matters. I on the other hand was making sure nobody was trying to do anything stupid like start a gang war or blow up a whole city block. Low and behold nobody was, which was exemplary and also quite upsetting, I was starting to get bored. That's when HE showed up. “You remember what I said I would do to you the next time I saw you in MY city?” I stated my words laced with venom. “Oho no I don’t Pyrathis though it's not like you could do anything to me anyway.” “Oh no god please anything but using water my only weakness, NOOOOO” I shouted dramatically while falling to my knees, this served the purpose of not only being fun but also warning all the civilians in the area to get the fuck away, which they did in a very timely manner. “Stop with the acting Py we are only here for you.” “You and who else Zandar? Not like you could convince anyone in this city to fight me.” “Good thing she isn’t from round here then you can come out now Freya” A tall and fair skinned woman with blonde hair came out of an alley behind Zandar, her beauty could only be described as godly though. “Oooo you got a fake goddess to come fight me I’m soooo scared” I said but then I looked into Zandar’s eyes and saw that he actually seemed afraid of this woman, which could only mean that she was at least as powerful as I am. “Py I ask this of you not as a high tier but as an old friend please don’t fight her, I’ve seen what she can do and its beyond both of us combined please don’t fight back,” “You know I won’t Zandar not after what you did last time you said that,” Then he did something I wasn't expecting. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but you brought this on yourself” And with that he jumped at me his hand wrapped in a soft blue glow as he tried to have it make contact with my face. Seeing this coming I opened my mouth and a line of fire no more than an inch thick came out of my throat aimed for his fist and right before they collided with a small white dot appeared and my stream of fire disappeared into it. Now without anything in his way Zandar’s fist met my face with a loud crunch knocking me back and almost lifting me off my feet and while I was still surprised he tried to get me in a sleeper hold but I wouldn’t allow that, Burning off my shirt a pair of wings made of flame sprang up from my back and I heard Zandar shout in pain before letting go of me allowing me to take to the air and when I got into the air I couldn’t see where Freya had gone, then I felt a tingling sensation on my back and the comforting heat I normally feel when flying had disappeared replaced by a massive wave of dread and loneliness followed by gravity taking hold of me once more sending me towards the sidewalk and probably a sprained ankle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Zandar running toward me surrounded by a vortex of water and ice, and a smirking Freya. “WHAT DID YOU DO!” I screamed while falling, “HOW DID YOU DO IT?!” Landing on the ground with a sharp crack I screamed in pain while Freya slowly strode from behind Zandar, “I simply sent your flames to the space between dimensions,” “THAT’S BROKEN AS FU-”I was silenced by her hand covering my mouth. “We know sweety that's why I’m here, because some powerful people wanted you gone and gone you are now.” “I tried to warn you Py I really did,” my focus shifted to Zandar, “Now look where you are now broken and in pain about to be floating around in between dimensions forever” what he said next made me furious, “After all no one will miss you” The last thing I saw was both of them laughing before everything disappeared into a white blob... Have you ever been falling asleep and a sudden sensation of falling takes over your whole body? That's what this place felt like, constantly feeling like you're falling but aware that you aren't but that doesn't take away from the terror of wondering when you may suddenly stop falling and splatter across the ground that may or may not be there, and it certainly doesn't help that my ankle is still broken and sending painful shocks throughout my whole body. The area its self was a blur of colors and old memories as well as whispers and screams of both pain or pleasure, I'm not good at telling the difference, but none of that was the strangest thing I could see or hear, that honor belonged to the floating blue police box that I saw fly right by me on my left. Seems like the Brits weren't joking or crazy when they made Doctor Who. But the TARDIS just flew right on by me and as it did it left a hole which I could see though, and on the other side was a dark and damp forest almost on the verge of being a swamp which then changed to a mountain with a massive city on it and it shifted again to a barren waste and that was when I fell right into the rift and left the void. I was expecting to appear close to the ground but lady luck decided to give me the finger today as I flew out of the rift and was thousands of feet in the air. My first instinct was to make my wings but when they wouldn't form I just ignited my hands and feet which became covered in a soft flame but failed to slow my decent any reasonable amount, shouting in anger and fear I tried igniting my whole body burning the rest of my clothes and finally managing to slow my fall to a point where I would survive impact with the ground, but DAMN it still hurts. Meanwhile in Canterlot The solar princess was getting tired of the daily ritual of the day court, some snotty noble would walk in complain that something didn't go his or her way and want her to fix it she'd say no or yes depending on if it should be fixed and have a happy or angry noble leave only for the next one to come in and do the exact same thing. Her only hope of salvation was that Twilight would send her a letter or that a message was received from an ambassador that required her attention. But a new thing was added to that list today as a large fireball came into view across the valley and past Ponyville in the Badlands. I wonder what could cause that? she thought And it must be quite powerful to be able to be seen from here. "Princess! What should we do?" asked one of the guards. "Send a squad of guards to escort Twilight and some other scholars to go see if they can recover anything from the landing site," "At once your highness!" Sighing the solar diarch stood from her throne and teleported to her chambers where she started a letter. Dear Twilight Sparkle, As you have probably seen an unidentified object has crashed in the badlands, due to your inquisitive nature I have sent a squadron of guards with some other scholars to see if they can find any object of interest. I have sent for an airship to pick you up in one weeks time, I hope you have a fun and inspiring journey. With love your teacher Celestia. > Chapter 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Badlands The room I see when I wake up surprises me as I was expecting to awaken in the crater that must've been left from my impact. The room itself is dark and appears to be made of a dark stone almost like volcanic rock, there is no noticeable furniture or even a door, at least none that I can see, shifting my focus onto myself I find that my wrists and ankles have been shackled as well as my leg being put in a crude cast. A hole in the wall opens up and someone walks in, surprised I stare wordlessly as the hole closes up again. "You are a very interesting creature aren't you?" they say with their voice shifting, "None of my scouts across Equis has ever seen something like you." "Well I did fall from the sky didn't I? Almost like I was cast from Heaven." I laugh before I start coughing up blood. "So you can speak then, we thought so when we did scans on your physiology, though I can now see that you have some internal damage." she walks over to me and cups my cheek in her hand. "To think that you could survive such a fall is impressive, my drones probably couldn't, but your skin is so soft. How did you live?" "Luck, really. How long have I been out?" "Around three days, tell me do you know where you are?" The woman asks. "Underground? Other than that no, being thrown through spacetime does mess with your head some. Where am I and should I be afraid?" "Many would be in your position, you are in the Badlands, specifically you are in the main Changeling hive." "Pretend I don't know where that is please? The woman sighs before the wall opens up again and two short men walk in and pick me up off the wall and start carrying me through a massive series of tubes that remind me of organic ant tunnels before we replaced them with robots. After being thoroughly lost the ceiling open up and the two people carrying me start flying with a buzzing noise like a beetle that took flight. Once outside I see nothing but scorched earth and dead shrubs. "Welcome to my kingdom." the woman solemnly says. 3 months later Being briefed on Her Majesty's plan for the assault on Canterlot was time consuming, after all of the infiltrators got through the shield and Her Majesty has taken the brides place it's my job to remove the main threat of Twilight Sparkle, the sun here is weak, so weak that I can barely use most of my favored attacks from Earth, mainly breathing fire, I was also warned about all of Miss Sparkle's friends. Most seem like they'll be no issue to deal with, but two could be problematic, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both are athletes and are quite strong compared to the rest. Everything else should be taken care of by the royal guard. "PY! Everypony has started to move out we're waiting on you before we can move out!" Commander Formic shouts from across the hive, "Her Highness can barely wait! Just imagine all our people well fed and fit, A new dawn for all Changelings will rise." "Yeah yeah I'm coming just getting some last things done before we go!" I holler back before quickly turning and shoving some stolen bits into a pouch just in case the plan goes awry and I need to make a quick get away and need to hide among the normal ponies. Tying it to my belt I run down to the main opening and see Formic tapping his hoof on the stone. "Any longer and I would've sent a messenger to the Queen saying you had deserted, let's get going and feed our people." "Yes sir!" I still don't get how they eat love, it just confuses me that you can eat an emotion. But who am I to question the logic of this place, I live with giant sapient insects. Walking out of the hive and out into the Badlands proper we start the long march to the nearest train station so we can get to Canterlot and intercept the so called Princess of Love before she can get married. Man, Canterlot looks just like the kind of place you'd see from a high fantasy novel, a city built into the side of a mountain, with towers and spires coming out at impossible angles and beautiful gardens. So full of nice flammable plants and ponies, I feel kind of sad for them, not knowing what will happen to them in the coming days. Most likely they become slaves to feed the Empire or work in mines to collect resources to fuel our growing armies. Not that any of it matters, everything is built on all of us doing our parts at the right times. Lucky for me I get to run around following this purple unicorn try to figure out what's wrong with the bride. It's both sad and amusing that she can't tell. She is supposed to be a magical prodigy and she can't even tell an illusion is going on right in front of her. Pitiful. Unfortunately even after these past months my flames aren't as strong as they used to be, so I can't just burn her right as the conflict starts, I need to be more cunning than I used to be. A massive explosion that rocks the main castle cuts my train of thought. Guess it's showtime.